The start of the men's race was delayed for an hour and fifteen minutes and was shortened from 17 laps to 15 laps by a heavy thunderstorm that blew into Knoxville.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
It was still raining heavily when racing got underway at 2:30 PM ET.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Racing was dynamic from the gun, with a number of different riders trying to escape from the field.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
A few different groups formed off the front early in the race.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Despite the rain, the crowd on Sherod Hill threw quite the party.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
By the middle of the 4th lap the race had been blown apart into multiple smaller groups on the course.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Many riders who were out of contention stopped for refreshements on Sherod Hill.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Fans assisted with courside beverages.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
The laps were shortened this year and the feedzone moved from Cottrell St to onto the James White Parkway which gave riders more space to grab bottles.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Business in the front, party at the back.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Tyler Williams snuck away from the field solo, and was able to build up a sizable gap by himself.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Then a few laps later Quinn Simons bridged solo, to Ty Williams and the two of them working together set off alarm bells in the peloton.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Eventually two Arizona natives, Tyler Stites and Brandon McNaulty, attacked the field together and started to bring down the gap to Simmons and Williams.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Men's pro podium(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Men's pro podium.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) rode solo to his first elite men’s title at US Pro Road Race National Championships Sunday afternoon. Tyler Williams (L39ION of Los Angeles), who had ridden most of the second half of the race with Simmons in the breakaway, held on for the silver medal, trailing by 37 seconds.
Tyler Stites (Project Echelon Racing) made an outside move around the final corner under the flashing lights of the Tennessee Theatre and sprinted past Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) to secure the final podium spot in downtown Knoxville. The duo finished 1:49 back.
“You know I have like 10 things on my list that I wanted to win and this was one of them. I wasn’t supposed to be here [at US Road Nationals]. I took a last-minute flight home, coming off of one of the worst days of my life on the bike," an emotional Simmons said after his victory, referencing his respects to Gino Mãder, who died after crashing at this year’s Tour de Suisse. "I just feel super lucky, racing with my brother, my dad jumped in the team car for the last few laps.
“I had two sets of legs with me today, as motivated as a rider could be. Now I go to the biggest sporting event. You know, I’m always super proud to be American and now I get to show it. Now I get to enjoy the jersey for a whole year.”
The men’s 115.6-mile (186.1km) road race was delayed for more than one hour to allow a line of storms, with heavy rain and lightning, to pass the area nestled on the western slopes of the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Tennessee. The field of 119 riders began with light rain falling.
With the late start, USA Cycling reduced the number of laps on the 6.8-mile course from 17 to 15, making the event 102 miles, rather than 115.6 miles.
“When they shortened the race, we had to do everything to make it super hard. I know the harder it is, it’ll just whittle the guys down,” Simmons said after the race.
The reduced distance did not reduce the amount of drama in any way.
How it unfolded
A small group of riders attacked on the first lap but it was all back together with 94 miles remaining in the marathon race, the roads wet for the competitors and dampening the festivities of the fans lining the one-mile climb of Sherrod Road.
On the second pass of Sherrod Road, major fragments of riders spread across the slope, the front led by Simmons, alongside the Human Powered Health duo of Gage Hecht and Chad Haga. A trio then got away - Hecht, Robin Carpenter (L39ION of Los Angeles) and Riley Sheehan (Denver Disruptors). The chase group behind included 13 riders.
With 80 miles to race, Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) and Joey Rosskopf (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) took the reins of a 13-rider chase group to catch the lead trio, who were 20 seconds up the wet road.
Another 20 miles in and the lead group still contained Carpenter, but he was riding with teammate Kyle Murphy along with Stephen Bassett (Human Powered Health), Cade Bickmore (Project Echelon Racing), and local favourite Stephen Bassett (Human Powered Health).
There was a quiet period during the mid-point of the race until Tyler Williams launched his attack, and was soon at the front of the race in time trial mode with a 25-second advantage over nine chasers with 40 miles to go. From that group, Simmons made a move to catch the L39ION rider and then it became a two-rider race for victory.
Simmons and Williams built a 2:30 lead after the 13th pass over Sherrod Road, while behind McNulty hit the accelerator on the climb and was matched by Stites, the only rider to hold his wheel.
By the penultimate lap, Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) and Tyler Williams (L39ION of Los Angeles) rode solo at the front of the race, with the tandem of McNulty and Stites fighting to make the catch behind.
Simmons then was able to drop Williams after the descent of the final climb, riding 1:24 seconds ahead of Stites and McNulty. It was the Trek rider who then rode the final six miles solo to the victory.
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
