Sophia Wellmeier (California Academy) soloed to the win in the Junior Women's road race at the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships in Charleston, West Virginia on Friday.
Liliana Edwards (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group) could not hold onto Wellmeier's wheel on the final lap and finished second, 30 seconds down, after the pair spent the majority of the race off the front together.
Lily Nguyen (Twenty28 Aevolo) was third as one of only 12 riders to finish on the same lap as Wellmeier, 4:46 behind the race winner.
"This is my first-ever road race. I’m usually a mountain biker for Bear National Team, and I just hopped into Road Nats under Team California because I was like, ‘Might as well try something new!’" Wellmeier said later.
"It was a pretty tactical first lap. We kind of punched it a little bit up the climb, got a little bit of separation. And each lap from then on, just killed it up the climb.
"It was just me and Lily, and on the last lap, we just went all out. Luckily, I had a small gap, and I just dug a little hole into myself trying to maintain that."
A select group emerged after just one hilly lap of the 14.5km circuit. Along with the podium finishers were Sofia Tripcevich (Monarch Racing), Isabella Kroutil (Twenty28 Aevolo), Heidi Hansen (Fount Cycling Guild) and Adeline Hamilton (Boulder Junior Cycling).
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
By the end of the first lap, the escapees already had 1:17 on the rest of the peloton, but soon that group would come apart as well.
At the end of lap 2, Wellmeier and Edwards had 1:26 on Nguyen and Hansen, while Kroutil chased in between the pair and Tripcevich and Hamilton, who were over two minutes behind.
The gaps just kept growing across the final two laps, with Nguyen now chasing solo ahead of Hansen, while Tripcevich and Kroutil were losing more ground, nearly four minutes down with one lap to go. Hamilton was caught by the remains of the peloton.
On the final lap, as Wellmeier made her winning move and Edwards chased, Nguyen remained in third, Hansen was passed by Tripcevich to take fourth, while Kroutil cruised in for sixth.
Results
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Pos.
Name (Team)
Time (gap)
1
Sophia Wellmeier (Team California Academy)
1:34:38
2
Liliana Edwards (Ccb Kenetik P/B Levine Law Group)
0:00:30
3
Lily Nguyen (Twenty28 Aevolo)
0:04:46
4
Sofia Tripcevich (Monarch Racing)
0:05:49
5
Heidi Hansen (Fount Cycling Guild)
0:05:52
6
Isabella Kroutil (Twenty28 Aevolo)
0:06:24
7
Emma Louise Jimenez Palos (City Bikes Miami Racing)
Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
