USA National Road Championships: Alyssa Sarkisov wins junior women's road race title

Alyssa Sarkisov (DC Velo) claimed the junior women's road race title, sprinting to victory by a bike length over Jorja Bond (Boulder Junior Cycling). Sarkisov's teammate Lidia Cusack rounded out the podium after leading out the sprint.

"It feels amazing," Sarkisov told Cyclingnews. "It feels like it's not real. I keep thinking maybe I'm wrong - maybe I didn't win that like, It's just crazy!"

The three riders were part of a six-rider leading group that went clear on the second lap, with Helena Jones (Twenty24 Aevolo), Haylee Johnson (Competitive Edge), Alexis Jaramillo (Fount Cycling). Alyssa White (DC Velo) and Sawyer Hundhausen (Byrds) were part of the original move but lost contact in the finale.

"We were all together going up the hill on the last lap, which kind of surprised me," Sarkisov said of the breakaway. "There were no attacks or anything. Some people tried to attack on the downhills, and then there was one attack by Helena Jones (Twenty24 Aevolo) with maybe half a kilometre to go. 

"I was like, 'oh, shoot, this might be it'. And then I come to Lydia, and I was like, no one's pulling, no one's bringing her back. This is gonna be it. 

"She pulled me to the front, caught her, and then she lead me out and I started sprinting, and I got the sprint and she was still third with the lead out."

The victory was Sarkisov's third title but her first in the 17-18 juniors and earns her an automatic bid for the UCI World Championships in Zurich in September, and Cusack was more than happy to help her since she earned her place with a victory in the time trial earlier in the week.

"I got the win on Tuesday, so I have my spot at Worlds. So I figured just got to help her get to Worlds," Cusack said. "Now we're both going."

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