Ashlin Barry on his way to winning the 2024 men's junior 17-18 time trial national championship in Charleston, West Virginia(Image credit: USA Cycling / Snowy Mountain Photography)
Lidia Cusack rides to victory at the 2024 women's junior 17-18 time trial national championship in Charleston, West Virginia(Image credit: USA Cycling / Snowy Mountain Photography)
Ashlin Barry (EF Education-ONTO) won the junior men’s 17-18 crown and Lidia Cusack (DCdevo Racing Academy) won the junior women’s 17-18 time trial title on the first day of racing at the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships.
Barry, who lives in Canada but with dual citizenship races with a USA Cycling licence, sailed around the course in 20:39 for his first US national victory. David Lapierre (Hot Tubes Development) rode two spots behind Barry and was just under three seconds slower, earning the silver medal with a time of 20:42.
Noah Streif gave EF Education-ONTO two riders on the podium as he edged Joaquin Medina Garzon (Hot Tubes Development) by four-hundredths of a second for the bronze medal.
Barry’s teammate William “Gray” Barnett, the junior men’s 15-16 national champion last year, was the final rider on the course and stopped the clock at 20:55, good for seventh place from the 44 riders in the field on the 10.5-mile (16.9km) course.
Cusack, a two-time US women's junior 15-16 road champion in 2022, was the first rider down the start ramp for the single loop around downtown Charleston, West Virginia on Tuesday. Her marker of 22:55 was never threatened and she went from the hot seat to the top step of the podium to collect her gold medal.
Her DCdevo teammate Alyssa White, who is from West Virginia, finished 31:38 back for the silver medal and Helena Jones of TWENTY24 Aevolo took the bronze, another 11:13 back. Jorja Bond (Boulder Junior Cycling) was the only other rider to finish within a minute of Cusack, taking fourth place 55:06 back.
The junior races opened the six days of racing from Charleston, West Virginia. The mountain town on the western slopes of the Appalachian mountains in the eastern US, was selected as the new host for the US Pro Road Nationals from 2024 to 2028.
All courses for the time trial, criterium and road race events are based in downtown Charleston, the start and finish lines located at Haddad Riverfront Park adjacent to the Kanawha River. Across the three road disciplines, 18 stars-and-stripes jerseys will be awarded to men and women in Junior 17-18, under-23 and elite divisions. This is the first time that USA Cycling has featured road events for Junior 17-18 and all U23 riders at the same venue and same calendar dates as the elites.
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. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
