Katherine Sarkisov (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group) claimed the under-23 women's road race title at the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships in Charleston on Saturday.
Sarkisov jumped from a six-rider chase on the final lap to catch and drop the two-rider breakaway to claim the victory, crossing the line 37 seconds ahead of her teammate Jorja Bond. Chloe Fraser (Winston Salem-Flow) took third, a further four seconds later.
The 2025 U23 road champion, Ella Sabo (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28) led the chase group across the line, 2:37 after the winner to take fourth place ahead of Katherine's younger sister, Alyssa Sarkisov (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group).
"The race plan went super well, we really followed our team plan. We got two girls up super early, within 3k I think, they went up the road with Chloe, and that move stayed away until pretty much the last lap," Sarkisov said.
"I went on the Bridge climb last lap, and I was able to catch one of my teammates, E.B. ,[Ella Brenneman], who is up the road, and she gave me the pull of her life just over the crest of the climb to really get the gap extended, and then it was just solo until the Wertz climb, and there I caught the last two girls and was able to get a gap. My teammate Jorja, who was in the move all day, she finished second, and so it was really an amazing day for the team."
Under cloudy skies, and temperatures hovering around 23 °C, the 20-rider under-23 women’s field faced a 92.6-kilometre course, covering two laps of the 14.5km junior course, including the Wertz Avenue climb, before crossing to the other side of the river to add on the Bridge Road climb across three laps of the 21km elite course.
Three riders, Chloe Fraser and CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group teammates Jorja Bond and Ella Brenneman, pulled away early in the first lap, increasing their lead the first time up Wertz Avenue (2.3km at 5.5%) to push their lead to over three minutes at the end of the two opening short laps.
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At the end of the first big loop, the trio had a lead of 2:16 on the peloton down to 12 riders, with CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group using their numbers to put four riders at the front of the group.
The next time around, Brenneman fell off the pace, leaving Fraser and Bond together at the front, with a 1:57 gap on a six-rider chase group with one lap to go. The chasers included Mia Aseltine (Competitive Edge Racing), Lauren Aggeler (SpeedBlock-Terœn Elite), Kylee Hanel (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment), defending champion Ella Sabo and CCB Kenetik duo of 2025 junior road champion Alyssa Sarkisov and Katherine Sarkisov.
Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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