Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo) improved on her time from last year by 1 minute, 23 seconds, setting a new course record of 29:38.21.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
A USA Cycling official scans Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO SVB) TT bike for irregular heat signatures. All bikes were scanned before they were let into the start house.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
As the highest placed returning rider, Amber Neeben leaves the start house wearing number 1. She finished 2nd in 2021 and again in 2022.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Zoe Ta-Perex (Lux CTS p/b Specialized) in the start house watching the clock count down the last few seconds before her launch.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Emily Newsom (EF Education-TIBCO SVB) finished 6th overall, behind teammates Lauren Stephens and Veronica Ewers who finished 4th and 5th respectively.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Alia Shafi (Font Cycling Guild) attacks the first climb of on her second lap.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Zoe Ta-Perex left it all out on course winning the U23 competition and finished 3rd overall.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Pro women's podium: Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo) 1st, Amber Neeben 2nd, Zoe Ta-Perex (Lux CTS p/b Specialized) 3rd.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo) scorched the 23.2km course and won the US women’s time trial national title. Four-time US time trial champion Amber Neben repeated as the silver medalist, 44 seconds off the winning pace of 29:38. A surprise among the 27 riders in the field was 20-year-old Zoe Ta-Perez (LUX-CTS p/b Specialized), who held on for the bronze.
Thomas was the only rider to go under the 30-minute mark for the full two laps along the banks of Melton Lake on a familiar 11.6km flat course. 2021 silver medalist Neben was the final rider on the course, but could not make up enough time, leaving Thomas to savor the first national title of her career.
“It feels really great. I worked hard at time trials and I finished third here many, many times in a row and haven’t really gotten it together,” Thomas said after the finish. “Really what I was trying to focus on doing my best time trial. I can’t control how fast anyone else goes. I think I PR’d it by something like 40 seconds, so I was just really happy with my effort. This one is really special and I’m just really happy.”
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Lauren Stephens (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) recorded the fastest split time from the first of three waves of riders, clocking 15:54. Once the final wave took the course, the split time kept getting lower, with Thomas posting the only sub-15-minute lap, recording a time 19 seconds faster than Neben.
With her third-placed finish in the overall, Ta-Perez also took the U23 honours for women. She put in a solid ride that was well ahead of a trio of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB riders - Stephens, who was fourth 27 seconds behind the youngster, Veronica Ewers and Emily Newsom.
“Oh my gosh, it feels amazing,” said Ta-Perez, after accepting a stars-and-stripes jersey as the top U23 woman in the TT and wearing a bronze medal from the elite standings. “My only goal, really, was just to focus on the execution today and it’s amazing when it goes to plan.”
Ta-Perez last raced US Nationals in 2019 when she won the junior time trial crown, and went on that year to finish seventh in the junior TT at the world championships in Yorkshire.
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One-third of the field was comprised of riders from two teams - LUX-CTS p/b Specialized fielded five riders in the race against the clock, and EF Education-TIBCO-SVB with four riders. Four of the five LUX riders were eligible for the U23 division.
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. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.
Stay up to date with all of the action from the elite women's and elite men's Unbound Gravel 200 as they tackle more than miles of gravel grinding for a signature event in the Flint Hills of Kansas
