White earns first UCI victory at NBX Gran Prix of Cyclocross

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Sixteen-year-old Emma White (CyclocrossWorld.com) claimed the first UCI win of her young career today at the UCI C2-rated NBX Gran Prix of Cyclocross in Warwick, Rhode Island ahead of Laura Van Gilder (Van Dessel p/b Mellow Mushroom Pizza) and Arley Kemmerer (C3-Twenty20 Cycling Co.).

White took control of the women's event from the start and gaps immediately opened behind her in the twisty, rooted sections of the course. Kemmerer was the first to connect with White halfway through the first lap and Van Gilder made her way to the leaders a short while later.

Behind the lead trio, Christina Birch (JAM Fund-NCC) led the chase with Amanda Carey (Stan's NoTubes Elite) and Mo Bruno Roy (Bob's Red Mill p/b Seven Cycles) in tow. White continued to set the pace at the front, and by the halfway point the front three had extended their lead over the chasers to nearly 30 seconds and it looked certain the winner would be coming from this group.

While Kemmerer tried to gain control of the front on numerous occasions, White constantly battled back to regain the lead. Coming out of the long, beach run with a half lap remaining, White extended a lead of a few bike lengths and she immediately attacked, opening up a gap of five seconds over a hard-chasing Van Gilder. White rode flawlessly for the rest of the lap and held on for her first ever UCI win, finishing a mere two seconds ahead of Van Gilder and 23 seconds ahead of Kemmerer.

"I knew I needed to lead through the last technical section before the finish, so when I saw I had a small gap coming off the beach, I just went for it," said White after taking the biggest win of her career. "I've been watching these elite races my entire life," White went on to say, "and I'm so excited to be in these races now. This is probably the happiest day of my life."