Emily Newsom (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) was looking to move up just one step on the podium in a return trip to Big Sugar Gravel, following a second-place finish in 2021 at the inaugural event.
This time around the stakes were higher, with the 104-mile gravel race the sixth and final event in the Life Time Grand Prix series, and the outcome deciding who would enjoy a new benchmark of earning opportunities for pros with a $250,000 prize purse, split evenly among the top 10 women and top 10 men.
The top step remained evasive, as newcomer Paige Onweller rode solo for the Big Sugar victory, 6:39 ahead of Newsom. But Newsom used the strong effort to move from seventh in the series standings to a tie in fifth with Alexis Skarda, 16 points behind series winner Haley Smith.
“The course was awesome, super hard and technical. I'll be back for sure, landing on that top step one of these days,” Newsom told reporters in downtown Bentonville.
“I feel really good that I could deliver today. I know I didn't get first but I'm pretty stoked with second. Paige [Onweller] was super strong today, so I’m happy for her.”
She’s getting used to second place, which in the end does always mean you lose. After finishing third in her first appearance at a big-time off-road endurance event last year, Unbound Gravel 200, she said would ride it again. This year, in the second round of the grand prix series, she moved up to second place, and scored big points.
“There I've had a lot of bad luck in the last couple races. So I'm so happy to have everything gone perfectly.”
On the road, Newsom has been a hard-working domestique at races, including this year at Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées and Tour de France Femmes. She has noted on her social platforms she suffered from fatigue this year, from racing and travel. Gravel has given her some freedom to ride for herself, but she missed Leadville 100 MTB to rest and recover.
She returned to off-road at Chequamegon MTB and finished 10th in the rain. Big Sugar on Saturday put an exclamation mark on her season.
Half-way through the race, Ruth Winder’s solo attack had been brought back and riders knew there were new opportunities to make a statement, against each other and the wind, blowing a steady 15-20 miles per hour for the entire five-and-half-hour adventure.
“There was a whole bunch of us together. In the beginning I was really trying to get with a group of men. I got gapped and fell back to a group and it was Sofia [Gomez Villafane], Rose [Grant] me, Sarah [Sturm], Alexis [Skarda], Paige [Onweller] and maybe another one. So a lot of us all together and gradually people just fell off.
“As always when we are mixing with the men, it’s important to position well. If you're trying to stay with the lead group, you'll probably just destroy yourself. So it's this delicate balance of finding a group of men who are stronger than you, but not too much stronger.”
Newsom gradually remained with just Skarda, and as the duo reached the final checkpoint near mile marker 73, Onweller was well ahead with a lone lead of 3:45.
"I was watching Alexis and I could tell I was stronger today on the hills, and she was starting to suffer," Newsom told Cyclingnews as she sat on the ground just beyond the finish line, embracing her seven-year-old daughter Marijke. "But I was pretty sure at some point, she wasn't gonna hang on anymore. So I just focused on really trying to stay on the wheels of the guys and not worry about the women.
“I think I did pretty good with that. I know what I need to work on. But I'm happy with what I rode.”
Gravel racing always involves luck, and Newsom said she had enough to get her on the podium.
“I was a little nervous with the gravel, because a puncture is very easy to happen. But thankfully, I had no punctures at all and my tires were awesome.
“I have done for the season,” she emphasised. “It is a great time. Ms Marijke and I are just going to hang out and have fun.”
