FULL RACE: USA Cycling Pro Road Nationals 2024 Elite Women's Road Race

we get ready for a full day of professional racing Brad soner here alongside Lauren Hall as we get ready to take a look at a new course here in Charleston Lauren after several years down in Knoxville I'm excited to see how this new course plays out this year no doubt Brad 95 starters today and uh right into Bridge Road climb and everyone has already been talking about this race is going to go from the gun hard as possible so we've already got Riders lined up ready to go yeah this one has really broken into two major climbs the women will do six laps on the circuit but it's two times uh two climbs on each lap so really 12 climbs total but the first one comes just a few kilometers in and we've talked to a lot of Team directors and riders that are saying that initial selection could come on lap number one so it would be crucial to be on your toes and on your game for the early part of this race the beauty of being locked out of my hotel room for 4 hours I got to talk to everyone pre-race essentially last night uh writers directors and yes this has been the talk of uh the weekend right now is talking about the Bridge Road climb and the start of this race well perfect conditions for racing today high temperature forecast just over 80° the rain should hold off unlike our unfortunate Criterium Racers on Friday night who got absolutely soaked here in Downtown Charleston but we are thinking that this one is going to stay dry for the most part today currently 61° out there there's some fog along the river that should burn off and we should be in for a good day racing Lauren these are great conditions for a long day of racing here absolutely perfect start to the day 60° and uh yeah they there are talks about the later half of the day the later half of this race too for the women and uh fueling properly is going to be key let's talk about some of the top names in this field I think you got to look at last year's Podium second and third place returning defending Champion Khloe dyert is not back to race so we'll be looking for Karen Lecky the winner of Friday night's Criterium to add her 7 fourth National Championship should be looking to add a 75th after a second place last year scholar Schneider also backed third place on last year's Podium she'll be back with her Squad uh wearing number six for the Miami Blazers there's also a lot of big names on this list that are going to be some wild cards a lot of twos and threes with smaller teams we talked about some of the European riders coming over any big names on this list that you're keeping an eye on heck yes human powered Health Ruth Edwards Lily Williams two outstanding riders that I'm looking for and of course Kristen fauler EF education easy post Kristen just lost out on the TT and I know she had been gunning for that that was on Wednesday so look for her to be lighting this race up and then of course the numbers of DNA Pro cycling Virginia's Blue Ridge 2024 they're going to be a major factor purely by the depth of their roster they're going to have a lot more cards to play than some of these smaller Euro based teams now you're exactly right and it's always about the numbers game if you can get into the break and how you set that break up and like you're saying that numbers game and yeah we'll see if DNA can uh get a couple of riders in there Virginia's Blue Ridge 2024 also looking to get up the road so uh and we can't count out F cycling oh my gosh what a surprise Friday night that was a lovely race yeah F almost getting there with Elizabeth Dixon taking a daring solo flyer in the Criterium she was caught inside the last 30 m before the line maybe less than that by Karen lecki so I think Fountain is going to have a little chip on their shoulder that certainly gives you a little extra motivation after getting caught at the wide like that I was talking to Heidi friends life uh life life plus Wahoo and yeah pre-race and she was just talking about uh yeah Elizabeth kind of played her cards early and uh came up a bit short but uh yeah I would imagine that Elizabeth will be out there today of f cycling up the road and trying to go for a win K be didn't give us much information after her Criterium on Friday night but we'll see if she can come back and add another National Championship to a resume as we're just a few minutes away from a race start we're going to take a quick break here on Flow bikes and when we come back we'll have the start of your Elite women's Road National Championships I ride because I love it I ride from the friendships that develop on the bike I met all my friends through cycling I ride my bike because it's part of my soul I ride because it's awesome I ride to find stories I ride to find rhythm in my life I ride because it makes me happy I ride for adventure I ride to be a part of something that's bigger than myself [Music] you've got a premium carbon frame like van art so aerodynamic it defies the lows of physics and a smooth group set like Wonder poool shifting breaking precisely you've got the same fast wheels as vingard with the mat black finish like Mariam Voss you've got a leak helmet like Roman B cutting through the air like a falcon and the coolest kit on the pelaton like Aras and the passion and courage of Cannonball Cavendish yeah you got it all but you haven't got the cotton tires the pros ride until now [Music] welcome back looking at the start line where we are about to meet some of the top riders in this field getting ready for our call-ups to start the day here Lauren this is one of the few road races in the world where call up probably matters here with the clim coming so early into the race it's uh very rare that a call up would matter in a road race but it's going to matter here no doubt and we've seen these Riders here already we had human powered Health basically lined up warming up on their trainers right at the start line so that is not uh normal I would say per se for uh for this race so here we are having these call-ups yes it's extremely important for today's stage looks like they're going to bring Karen lecki up first after winning the Criterium national championships on Friday she'll be looking to add her 75th National Championship today for EF education canondale yeah I don't think this course totally suits Karen looked for her to do some early work for her teammates well her teammate Kristen Falkner going to get a call up right next to her in the pink jersey there another EF education Canada rer on the front row maybe better suited for fauler here yeah 100% these are power climbs and this suits uh Christen fauler to the T then comes Skyler Schneider third place last year now riding for the Miami Blazers team Schneider can do this one today she can climb and Sprint so if this comes down down to a scenario like last year where we had a small group coming to the line together I wouldn't be surprised to see Schneider able to go to the line here not at all she was there last year in that select group she was definitely right on Khloe's wheel last year so we'll see if she can repeat this is actually Samantha Scott up next I'm not sure if Natalie Quinn didn't take the start or miss the call up but Scott up next for the lotto Destiny ladies team she'll be another big factor to look out for and then Virginia's Blue Ridge 2024 with Emma Langley starting here they've got a lot of cards to play on that team there's three or four riders that could be major factors on these clins for Virginia's Blue Ridge oh 100% Shaina Palace uh excuse me shann is on DNA procycling but yes Emma Langley is definitely someone we're going to key in on uh Emily rri also on that team and then Lauren Stevens up next for sinisa cycling your 2023 gravel National Champion Steven's been having a great season as well Redlands heila all going well for some early season American road racing and someone else that missed out on the TT that is looking for today uh for a good result Ruth Edwards up next for the human powered health Team these two were all over the front in the criteria I'm talking about Edwards and her teammate next to her l lily Williams how do they pick who's going to be the leader in that duo both of them just have to make the break and then from there have the conversation uh equally strong Lily had such a great spring season and uh calm cool and collected this morning they're also going to give Veronica ERS a call up the next EF education canadale rer making her way up on the left side of the line there Chloe Patrick also going to get a call up for sinisa cycling your U23 Criterium national champion this is a real talent to remember get used to hear in Khloe Patrick's name agreed Brad I think Chloe has a a long future ahead of her ahead of her good morning Lauren let's wake up uh yeah and looking at Veronica your EF right there I would imagine that she's going to be a Workhorse for uh Kristen ful today and then CCB LaVine Law Group also going to get a couple call UPS they'll start with Betty Hy number 46 and then Lizzie Gonzalez also going to get a call up nice to see some young Talent on the front row here a U23 cyclocross national champion in 2023 so be looking for those uh kind of pink and blue jerseys of CCB racing these days Brad you have to be an all-around athlete and do all the different disciplines and why not it's a good way to kind of stay focused in training throughout the season and throughout the year talked about the life plus Wahoo team Heidi frons getting the next call up into the second row here we're running into the same real estate issue that we did earlier buty it's a good problem to have when you have this much talent in your pro women's pellaton Heidi is such a strong Rider she was on the podium last year top five last year uh definitely looking for her to have a good day today so that is fron in the green kind of tie dye life plus Wahoo Jersey then it was Nicole Stein getting a call up for sinisa pro cycling DNA putting M Kaya mcferson up on the front and then is was Ella brenaman the next CCB LaVine Law Group rer that's another really strong young talent to keep your eye on number 43 Olivia cumins also getting a call up to the front row and then Sabrina hazes for the CCB LaVine Law Group along with her teammate Cassidy hickey and then Kayla Davis rounding out the call-ups here on the front row so 21 Riders getting a call up here that's a lot of call-ups but the yeah that's that's all right look for DNA Pro cycling to have Michaela mcferson today all right sounds like we are just about ready to get started but before we begin we will pause for the singing of our national anthem for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] ohen there's always something special about the national championships here on the national anthem just hits a little harder on National Championship morning doesn't it these jerseys are coveted jerseys uh in your career and today is going to be a great day a worthy winner Riders getting their final instructions right now not much you can tell them six laps 127k fastest Rider wins pretty much and uh maybe where the feed zone is and when feeding opens and closes all right they're getting ready to send them off a reminder we will award our U23 champion in this field very similar to how we did the Criterion races so you'll hear us talk about the U23 battle and the elite battle as we get ready to roll in the 2024 USA cycling Road National Championships we are now just 127k away from having a new National Champion Chloe Patrick straight to the front for her teammate Lauren Stevens again we talked about everyone was so nervous about this first climb coming right out the gate essentially so I would imagine that everyone has warmed up which isn't totally a a normal thing to do before a road race you do warm up before your Criterion because it's a shorter race but you know you're thinking 127 km uh I'm going to get warmed up but uh I would think a lot of these women have already been uh tapping into that central nervous system waking up the this morning getting ready for this first Bridge Road climb yeah so this is the turn onto the bridge here and basically as soon as they get over this bridge they start climbing out of the river valley up from the canala river Brad they're climbing right now yeah got a little step up just to get on the bridge the elevation to get them over the river and you can see why GL Patrick is bringing laoren Stevens to the front so early the other part of the climb it's also relatively narrow it'll be easy to get caught out on the back of that group and so the just the positioning being inside the top let's say 20 going to be super important when they get onto the narrow section here we'll see it here in just a bit but you can see how steep some of these climbs are just leaving the river here and here we go right into it Lauren Stevens going to take to the front out of the saddle and set the tempo early F cycling also making their way right to Lauren's wheel essentially up beside her and right behind Lauren is uh EF education doesn't look like anyone quite ready to attack this group yet but they are making sure that they move up and hold on to that position you see these rers on the left side of the picture just making sure that you're not caught out in the wrong place this is uh an easy place to make a mistake early on and think I'm just going to sit in I'm going to relax but it's again it's not you it's the rer in front of you or in front of them that lets a Gap open up and now it's your problem and there will be some Riders struggling already on this climb right out the start of this race because there's going to be more sprinters than not than climbers and uh this is a steep long climb 2.1 K's 5.5% average Peaks out at 22% Brad I mean this is oh man you know so you can get called out some will get called out and if you're anywhere near someone that's struggling in the beginning of this race yeah you have to put forth such an effort just to move up when uh this is the this is the product of that right here so if you are a potentially good climber or potentially good uh qualifier for for today's race like you're in a bad position back here say one of the bigger differences here than Knoxville the past few years even if you're not a great climber it's really hard to even be there and contribute like there were a few rers that would be able to hang for three or four Laps on the climbs contribute to their team and try and help out the team leader before they blew up but we're going to see a lot of rers that blew up on lap one and they won't even be there to try and help the team for the rest of the day exactly and that's why Lauren Stevens wasn't going to go from the gun she's essentially going to want to keep her teammates as long as possible to stack those numbers in her favor you see all the major teams making their way forward Here Comes DNA getting some numbers up there sinisa checking back in after Klo Patrick dropped off Lauren Stevens to the front and EF canondale continuing to set Tempo up there in the pink jersey seems like that's going to be a story for a lot of the day today typically we get a pretty good feel for who's in charge of this field and it's looking like maybe sisa EF and F going to be our three big players today yep and followers are going to be Skyler Schneider Alexis Magner uh Karen is there just trying to like I said this isn't I wouldn't say this is not Karen's uh type of course she's already got another National Championship uh for her this weekend and for her team uh she's just going to try and follow over these climbs as much as possible and and be a good teammate for uh for her two other teammates howy friendss of Life plus waho to the right of your screen in that green jersey very definitive color easy to pick out just following Wheels looks like Lauren de cenzo on the front more of a gravel racer these days but she did start her career in road racing someone we haven't talked about yet is Lauren de cenzo and someone that will definitely be a factor a wild card in this race today she's super strong great climber and not afraid to basically just put it all out there and uh take her chances now the Mad scramble at the back to get back on there is a a flat section on this course it's not all ups and downs they run along the river for a little bit after they come back into town they'll do sort of a a criterium circuit and then it runs along the canala river before they get to the second big climb of the day so if there's anywhere you're going to catch on that's going to be it but it's only maybe 2 miles long maybe a little more so not a ton of opportunity for rers to catch up here again a lot of the conversation was this first climb and then it rolls through to the second climb essentially so it's uh if they if anybody is off the back and they're looking for flat sections it's going to be a while quick look over the shoulder here front maybe not where you want to be right now look for a little bit of help yeah Lauren wants to keep this Pace High but uh doesn't want to do all the work by herself the thing is is once you've dropped off some of these uh Riders off the back of the pelaton Brad you kind of want to keep them gone and if if you sit up that gives them a chance to get back so we have talked about these riders in their perspective of wanting to get back and then you go back to the front of the race and you're talking about L to cenzo and trying to keep the pace hard not wanting the pelaton to come all back together she wants to play the numbers game the less that she has to work with the better her chances of winning all right so now working their way down coming off of this clim this is our first look at a lot of this on camera I know you had a chance to ride a little bit earlier I did a lap yesterday I had to do a lap of the course but uh just in the Rolling Hills uh just outside of Charleston it's gorgeous uh it's hard I only did 41 miles and it was uh towards the end of the ride I was thinking wow this is a these are brutal roads out here this is uh there's not much rest for the wicked again found cycling to the front also playing the numbers game you kind of get a sense you've been over the climb now you get a sense for who's in the pelaton and uh start to get your game plan together see how people are feeling this isn't too early to to tell if you're going to have good legs or not but uh if you don't have good legs you just B basically have to hang in there and do your best and try and see if you can't come around later and uh like we said potentially catch back onto this group but EF education cidel is not waiting they're going to use the Descent to their advantage here maybe the safest place to be too get to the front stay out of trouble f with three Riders starting I don't think Quinn took the start so that's Falkner ERS and lecki ERS is pushing the pace here a bit F following hadti FR jumping across to it human powered Health just going to take their time to get back to it thinking that this isn't something technically going to go right now this is the dropped group off the back of the pelaton no huge surprises in this group again if you're not a climber this is not the day for you we'll see if this group can hang together and stay in here back up to the front well we thought the selection was going to be made on the way up this climb but it's seems like this selection is really being made by Veronica Ur on the way down yeah you can't really see around some of these Corners uh with this rock wall up against uh the left side of the the riders coming down and it can kind of seem like a tricky descent a little bit more of a closed road with that rock wall that your depth perception can be thrown off just a little bit and if you're not a comfortable descender this can be um very unnerving Lily Williams to the front right now kind of giving a look over her shoulder right there seeing who's there seeing what's uh become of the pelaton on this first descent you can see the look back over the river at downtown Charlston then they're basically heading to a hill on the other side of the river here so this group already back into town all one long line coming off that descent and then it'll Bunch up right here everyone's going to take a sip uh from their bottles kind of give a look around shake things out uh not for long because F going to send someone off the front here this is the flat section that I was talking about where everyone was supposed to recover and get back in I think F heard that plan and said what if we try and make it a little more difficult problem is no one's going with her and this is going to just result in one Rider away someone else is trying to come across now looks like a DNA procycling but the pelaton not too keen on that I Love the Way Fountain has been racing the last couple years so certainly one of the most aggressive teams in the American races here not afraid to make moves they bring big numbers to races and uh yeah they're certainly not sitting back and letting you other teams play things out here sisa back up to the front Lauren that looks like the bike race right there yeah but no going back to what you're saying Brad is Fountain cycling has been aggressive there you go they're going to go again yes you know this is kind of Jennifer wheeler who runs and owns this team talks about the uh Joda Pro aspect and yes these are not the most experien uh riders in the pelaton but what do they have to lose and the best way to learn how to race and how good of a racer you are is to to be aggressive and to kind of learn your limits and you know you don't learn a whole lot but just following the pelaton around and seeing what comes or say who I wonder who won but you definitely know how get a sense for racing if you are putting yourself out there off the front uh learning your competitors uh right there face to face DNA and sisa going to get away it's great racing on the front aggressive early on here DNA checking the radio getting some info at this point Lauren uh do you know who's left in the group if you're a rider on the front here are you kind of taking inventory of how many your teammates made it over that first climb you should definitely be taking inventory and at least lay a on on your teammates and um if if you can have a quick conversation it's worth having uh because there is the pre-race game game plan and then the race is started and then there can be uh that's gone out the window and we're going to have race plan number two so all these teams have a captain on the road who basically makes the call as the race plays out and uh as they've talked to their teammates to see how things are feeling and shaking out so uh we'll see if things change and uh yeah DNA procycling is is a team that should have numbers here in this pelaton and having that conversation only the road is crucial to to uh to your your Victory today Lauren de cenzo coming back up to the front she she does not have any teammates today she is solo but uh Lauren is like I said turned to the gravel scene and she is very used to just Racing for herself F cycling trying again they are definitely looking for a break today I would think that's probably their best bet we saw that Friday night in the Criterium Elizabeth Dixon had such a great ride almost taken it all the way to the line such heartbreak for her but uh also I'd say that they definitely celebrated second place what a great result for that team La sweat showing off their Jersey up towards the front of the group as well nice to see they made some selections here Sun starting to come up burn off that fog a little bit and water's just going to roll past the convergence of the canaa and Elk Rivers here before cross the river again heading up the climb rail in these Corners all right I think they are headed towards their next climb found cycling back to the front again L cenzo right there EF education canadel sitting behind F followed by sisa all teams represented up here back to single file up here near the front let see how quickly it kicks up here the other part about this climb it is uh sort of winding so you can lose sight of rers in front of you if you just get 10 or 15 seconds up the road it's really easy to get out of sight of the Chasers behind you so we'll keep an eye on that as we get ready for our second climb of the day we're going to take another break here from Charleston West Virginia we'll be back with more from the USA cycling national championships e e e e e e talking about not necessarily too terribly technical in town but uh from the looks of that descent coming off of uh the first climb of Bridge Road climb that was a little bit technical it seemed that uh some Riders were in a bit of difficulty already talk about the runin to the finish here I mean the last corner like is this a criterium style finish if there there are six 8 10 Riders together 100% you we do have enough uh racing in town that that will prove uh to be a factor you're exactly right so that's why we keep talking about having the numbers up there having the representation so these few Riders I'm going to say like your Kristen Faulkner's uh your Lauren Stevens they want a couple of their teammates up there to set things up for them they got to survive first though the sprinters have to get there uh Karen River Karen lecki sorry did not have the confidence I think on this course that she had going into Knoxville last year just not sure how those climbs are going to affect her so I think that's the big question is how do the sprinters or the riders that will have a Sprint at the end of this climb handle uh these two climbs per lap right and again we're talking about sprinting but I you could say basically in this road race the Sprint is going to be more um 500 meters 1K not your typical 150 meter sprint that we've used we're used to seeing especially in Criterium racing we should be picking up live pictures here again shortly as they just make their way up and over the top of that climb here you go front of the group as we're now starting to see some more separation here this group was about 30 last time we saw them before we went to break but now looks like about 10 Riders into a selection here and I think let take Renzo up there yeah right back at the front again uh like I said she's not afraid to race her bike really hard at the front no matter what there is to lose uh and she's going to be our wild card today it's been an incredible career for Lauren de crescenzo coming back from a TBI that nearly ended her career but has really found an incredible I'll call it second half of her career I guess there's a pre-bi and post TBI uh timeline here but uh finding success in both rvel gravel and Road here the skills translate pretty well for these long distance tough days no doubt in the other Riders your your EF your DNA they're basically going to say you know what thanks Lauren we uh we just picked up a unofficial teammate by having her on the front right now driving this pace human powered Health sitting second wheel right there uh and yes this selection is getting smaller and smaller already and we're just on the first lap if you're hoping for an easy day Lauren de crescenzo on the front is your worst case scenario here because this is what de crescenzo does she is a long range solid effort constant power type of Rider and I think she's going to try and use those skills here early on to try to thin this group out I would too see if you can get rid of some of these World Tour teams maybe try and get rid of one of the EF Riders get rid of some of the sinisa and Fountain jerseys that were in that group just so you're not so outnumbered it's not one verse six one verse two or three is a little more manageable for someone like d Renzo with no teammates exactly right and this is this pelon's broken up into three big groups right here towards the back of that third group I do believe it will all come back together again this is just like going going to be the name of the game today is just this Slinky effect and this will happen lap after lap and you just eventually run out of energy uh not able to get back to that front group and the front group will continue to go harder and harder throughout the day so uh if you are struggling at the back first lap it's going to be a long day for you human powered Health right here to the front this looks like Ruth Edwards setting pace Ruth uh also coming back to the road scene uh she had retired a couple years ago tried her hand at gravel and decided you know what I I really missed the road racing uh signed back home with human powerered health and has had a bit of a a tough spring she um is coming back from uh crash that she had in the spring and has been at home for a bit and just outside of Boulder Colorado and her husband Zach is here today as well so she's got uh her family here it's another one of the special elements of the national championships one of the few races for a lot of these Riders where your family can come down you get to see them and they get to see you actually race your bike in person instead of watching on TV at 4:00 in the morning right this is the one place that um when I was raising my family would all this was almost like a family vacation for them it it's one of the most stressful times of the year for me because I definitely wanted to split my time I was so excited to see my family because you're right Brad I mean you only get to see you sacrifice so much as an a professional athlete and you only get to see your family once or twice a year uh maybe maybe once more but yeah this was you know such an important day on the calendar um but you also want to see your family and spend that time with them too so um such a great weekend for everybody and we have seen in this hotel just that's right at the start finish how many families have you talked to and uh we've had the Juniors racing here the U23 racing all week so it's been it's kind of been like a family like atmosphere right here at the hotel um everyone coming in and out it's been really nice to see rers just rolling past the West Virginia state capital saw the capitol Dome on their left hand side one of the unique landmarks on this course little reset here things calming down and this is the opportunity to get back on to the back of the group through the feed Zone here so a few rers with loaded pockets on the first lap expecting uh lot of calorie intake Today part of that may be uh you know teamw workers carrying a little extra for the teammates I I saw Betty Hy earlier with like 15 gels sticking out of the back pocket no those are all for Betty I'm going to guess uh it's going to be a long day um you need a lot of fuel that has been such a popular conversation these last couple years is more carbs is better that used to be the you'd go out and train with the see if you could just have a banana in your pocket and never actually eat it for hours and hours but now obviously that mentality has gone out the window and we've moved on to smarter thinking thank God uh that uh calories are really good for your body as an endurance athlete seeing Kayla Davis right back here serious cycling Kayla is an upand cominging Rider out of Agora Hills and found going to get right back to it yep they went right through the feed Zone and you know we're talking about the climbs are hard the descents are tricky but uh F also wants to make the FL that's difficult for others foun andisa DNA one two and three here May the most impressive thing about f is the way that they're riding in the face of some of the biggest talent that they'll face all year these F Riders uh won't come across many EF education cidal Riders and most of the races that they're doing but in what is maybe their biggest event of the year they're not shying away from riding at the front here no doubt and a lot of these front Riders have gone on and signed uh with other teams and again that's kind of Jennifer Wheeler's motto is like she wants to find the talent and then send the talent on let them have that confidence let them have that experience at these spring races uh here in the US and hopefully let that talent show here at National Championships so others uh other teams can say you know what hey that's uh that's someone like to have on our team all right so Riders getting ready to make their way back through the line here complete their first lap that'll leave just under 80 miles of racing total to a 91.2 well F was just putting in an attack there and had a bit of a a little bit of a chain issue gave her a bit of a bobble kind of unsure looking down at her bike right now shake things out first lap sorry that'll be 65 miles to go when they get through the line doing 78 miles total over the six laps we'll get a count on the Riders as they come through that is going to be our sort of Baseline for this group right here and I would expect that number to get smaller and smaller each lap single file through downtown here there's 1K back to the line so this is also a preview of what that finishing circuit looks like that we were talking about uh certainly not a straightforward running the good news is the road is plenty wide but you saw our criterium race on Friday you know how important those Corners can be Virginia's Blue Ridge 2024 making her way back up towards the front found back to it you can see they've slotted the cars in behind them that means the commissars also believe that this will be the selection of the day as sisa going to hit the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] line Chloe Patrick back to the front leading her teammate Lauren Stevens through that start Finish Line because right after that comes Bridge Road climb so we'll see if another selection is made here as it was in lap number [Music] one Lauren actually just laid off of Chloe right there there she didn't want to be right at the front starting this climb she kind of wanted to now put the pressure under everyone else see what they're doing how they're riding get a sense for how they're climbing and F takes advantage of that and puts in a Counterattack great shot here of the pelaton crossing the bridge there's Betty Hy at the back that's the the gels I was talking about earlier number 46 there as some stragglers make their way back through the line laor what do you do if you're in this scenario I mean if you found yourself off the back uh what's the game plan now how do you adjust you keep riding you keep and you keep hoping you always hope and pray Brad and uh yeah you're you're basically hoping that the pelaton sits up uh and that you can get back on again and once you get back on then you you have to make continue to make an effort to move back up to the front of the pelaton if anything if you have anything left anything if you are pedaling a bike you have something left you go right back up to the front and you help your teammate in some capacity if it's a Betty h house you give up a gel to someone uh or a bottle you ask if they need anything and just say hey you know what and you have that conversation of I'm not feeling too good I've been off the back just to let you know where I am uh so that's and then other than that um you just ride a couple more laps try and get the most out of the day that you can and usually in those laps you kind of go through the the mental game of what has just happened and you try and process that so when you get off the bike you can actually be around uh The Spectators and have a conversation and not be so upset so yeah those are some of the details Skyler Schneider a little bit off the back here not looking too worried as the fans cheer them on Jake Kenzo going to hit this again in the red jersey up on the front these are sort of the wild cards I would say l crescenzo and the entire Fountain Guild up on the front have been uh the biggest factors so far yeah that and sesa has definitely been up there Khloe Patrick has kept Lauren Stevens safe and and doing as much work as she can for Lauren see another sisara coming up right now try and get an ID on some of them unfortunately Katherine sasov is uh towards the back of the pelaton not the right place to be while your teammates are on the front 42 riders in that front group first time across the line and looks like that number about to shrink watching Ariel Koy at the back here with Kayla Davis number 90 there Elizabeth Dixon is also towards the back of this pelaton see if she can't get her way back sorted to the to the front of this pelaton these Riders up the front not doing any favors see Stevens getting right on to di Renzo's wheel The Unofficial feed Zone up here so laurren talk to me about the game plan for de crescenzo today on a solo day why be so aggressive early on when there's so many other strong teams here that could ride the front well we see her mostly aggressive on the climb uh or if the pace drops below something that she feels comfortable with so you have to be aggressive that's that's her card to play if she waits for she's there's no way that she's going to Sprint against uh Karen or uh three or four teammates of DNA procycling like she has to take her chances going up the road and pulling out two three five Riders and looking for a small selection so she is going to spend that energy to try to do that bring your Heidi friends up the road uh and see if can't get someone to work together um but yeah she's always going to try and keep this pace somewhat High to her Advantage knowing that uh just try and pull away some of those teammates from the likes of the Christen fers and Lauren Stevens It's Working remember 42 was the front group last time they went through the line I guess that's closer to 20 now how long can de Renzo do this I mean does she try and stay on the front the whole race no way yeah she'll she'll lay off on the flats uh on The Descent maybe let someone else come around uh but yeah she won't be on the front the entire race but she'll she'll monitor that effort as best she can and and again just try and hope that someone wants to come around her and stay at this speed and pace talked about some of the names up at the front looking at some stragglers at the back now Kenzo leading it through kloe Patrick up there with sisa cycling her teammate Lauren Stevens sitting third wheel right there Ayah Shafi is the fountain Rider who's been up at the front Ken Le Becky making the selection Alexa Magner in there Erica cleer also making that split first time through saw a lot of Veronica Ur up there along with hul France rugal Billy Williams we saw Samantha Scott Ashley fry really all the names to be expected making this first split I guess I should really be looking at the other side of the split see if there's any names that didn't make it in it was surprising to see Skyler off the back having such a good result last year again different course different results and I'm guessing this group probably won't come back we could probably move move back up to the front of the race New Jersey coming to the front I think this is a Virginia's Blue Ridge 2024 Jersey up on the right hand side of the picture crzo trying to get off the front moved over flick the elbow just can't cannot get out of this position Karan Lecky said no way thank you very much I think dig frenzo can be happy with the outcome of that effort got what she came for forcing the selection here so job done let someone else take over now no better person to lead this descent than K Karen lecki one of the best bike handlers in our pelaton Kristen fauler on the front now [Music] see if EF comes back to the front here remember we saw veronik 's first time on the way down here pushing the pace Renzo going to take over on that those bike handling skills have also gotten really good with uh the addition of a little more gravel racing a little more experience in group racing riding in the pack so uh she's also taking up mountain biking I mean as you have to do with the the gravel scene that she is in uh so that's definitely going to help her technical skills is this descent technical enough that like you need good descending skills or is good enough good enough here no it's it's definitely you're you uh you need to have the good skills if anything every single descent you need to have good skills not just because of The Descent and the road but also for the pelaton that you're basically moving around in like a school of fish so you always have to be aware of what your competitors are doing around you and uh those that aren't as comfortable you can they don't take a smooth line and so you have to have your skills and your confidence and set up well to expect those that aren't as good kind of coming at you uh making some some Maneuvers that may not be the best choice what a beautiful Road what I wouldn't give to have an open road for this descent being able to rail that one back onto the bridge now quick trip back into town and they'll go back out to warts Avenue climb I'll call that about 20 Riders their view from up above here we'll get a full rund down of those names as they hit the line they will score for them there and we'll let you know all the names in this selection because we've really only been seeing the same three four five names up the front so far right back on Canal Boulevard they'll come back through the feed zone They I don't know that I'd pick up too much going uh back out to the uh Works climb I would almost wait until I come back in after you've come down the oakd Drive road just see if I can't uh save as much weight as possible Billy Williams takes over on the front looks back Fountain takes over this is aggressive racing just 46 minutes into the day here I'm loving the way this one's unfolding early on here yeah found has to be a little bit careful though cuz I can't see how many numbers they have left in the group here so if there's only one of them she definitely needs to be mindful of everyone else that she's dragging around and I think that's exactly the case here if it's just one left then uh she should manage those attacks a little bit better and try and get a select group instead of dragging the field around even though la chenzo is on the front right now I can tell this is not a fast pace Melisa Robins right there Virginia's Blue Ridge 2024 Veronica 's right beside her Fountain moving back up Karen lecki on the radio my new favorite thing to watch is Lauren day Renzo tried to get off the off the front she's like I don't want to be here she's tried everything and now F says all right we'll take over beautiful that one going to go with her Lauren has to be confident enough to go to the back of the pelaton and then put an attack she's right now she's attacking off the front of the race which is essentially just dragging everyone with her it's that's going to be a big ass to get any separation from Lauren de cenzo to the pelaton see if we can't pan back and see yeah this is uh lawen essentially just bringing the group back together she ought to have a conversation with f see F's got one waiting in the wings fourth wheel back there they can to counter it yeah the old one two from F but you want to talk about animating this race so far found owns this one Lauren can't chase everything down and she should uh she has to be smart with her intentions here and that's what we were talking about how long can Lauren stay on the front and be this aggressive and pull the make this pace hard not that long if this is going to be the case so um she has to take a Gamble and let something up the road or try and get up the road with with a fountain cycling uh Fountain Guild Rider so now this is the product of that so she doesn't have any matches left sesca says uh we'd like to try and get up the road put a little pressure under EF education canadell little split see now this is where D Renzo gets into trouble trying to close these little gaps it's these microtransactions that you end up paying for later on in the day and uh they are not doing dienzo any favors here it almost seems like the paton's ganging up on her a little bit here Ayah Shafi on the front giving a look over the shoulder seeing it's all back together now sisa also saying hey look we were just covering don't want to do any more work think spring is coiled we'll see if maybe Fountain has one more in him see Lily Williams just coasting in there figuring out how to be as efficient as possible sitting in that nice little pocket of slipstream someone we haven't talked about Laurel konz and someone that I think if she puts in a heart attack she could definitely put some pressure under the rest of this Paton or what's left of this pelaton she also has her teammate Emma Langley there and we haven't seen them at the front for a good reason why they are trying to hide plenty of other teams to do the work no reason for them come forward here's Ruth Edwards starting to scoot up Becky in good position here you go Goldman Sachs etf's going to have a go at it this is their new signing Andrea sear take one sisa Rider with her think it's rubal field not looking too [Music] worried see if these two can Cooper op at Al they're not going to do much good on the climbs maybe if they get off onto the flats it's a good Gap though that's the kind of attack you want to make if you're going to get away you got to go all in got to make a big move and sear did that yeah I think the pelaton will let this these two uh roll out a bit so uh this may be our first significant break of the day all right we're going to keep an eye on it as they make their way up we'll take a quick break here from the USA cycling cyc cross [Music] [Music] what are gter sunglasses six sunnies for fixie skitters $25 sunglasses for your $10,000 road bike viant dirt shields for single track cycle cross Adventures gnarling no bounce frames for the MTV Trails basically good to sunglasses kit out your [Music] face so take me to my hometown my hometown is your hometown it's got a home team in a river in the middle take me to my hometown my hometown is Hometown got the gold the [Music] on take me to my homet my hometown is your hometown got a home team and a river in the middle home my hometown is your hometown got to at camc our Focus has always been on building better health care for you our new Center for Learning and research combines Cutting Edge technology with hands-on experience for Physicians nurses and other caregivers using specially designed simulation rooms and Robotics with expert instruction our Learners expand their expertise because you deserve ve the most advanced care possible now and in the years to come welcome to the future of [Music] medicine welcome back just under an hour into our Elite women race they are up on the second climb on course right now we're going to pick them back up here in just a bit but moreen let's take a little inventory of what's gone on so far sort of where we are now the selection has been made it was 40 we're down to about 20 who is in the best position right now based on what you've seen honestly this is really good for sinisa we have one of their Riders up the road with Andrea SI of Goldman Sachs and this is great for Lauren Stevens she can lay off and now you've got all the pressure on everybody else on EF education can andell on DNA procycling Blue Ridge 2024 so this is good for sesca um now is this break potentially going to stay away the entire race that's the game cble you never know and unless someone else does the work and this is where Lauren de cenzo is the wild card cuz she's probably going to do the work to bring this group back which is unfortunate for sinisa but great for the others I talk about the other teams in this scenario they've been pretty quiet you talked about Laurel kenon that Virginia's Blue Ridge 2024 DNA has been able to sit back this is really great for them because they haven't had to do any work early on aside from what they need to do to make the selection so are they loving this right now yeah yeah I would think so again the ones and twos that are left that uh we haven't really talked about uh they're again just letting the race play out in front of them so yes this bodess well for them we're going to get a look at that front group here in just a bit again we are expecting to see it down to about 20 Riders up on the front EF education canel is the other team that was really aggressive early on we saw Veronica Ur sort of drive that first Breakaway but it seems like now that the selection is made they're kind of starting to settle in a little bit here as well yeah again you have to let the race come to you we talked a lot on Friday night about being patient we really never saw Karen Lecky put in any solid attacks until the last corner of the Criterium so that's exactly what's going to happen today you have to be patient and it will be you know you just have to let this race play out and come to you and it's it's a frustrating thing at times but it is a very important key to being a good bike racer all right live images again from the top of the climb here just went through the little feed Zone there as Jak Kenzo going to get back on the front and hit the gas again doesn't look like they split the group that last time up this climb they're on the second climb of the circuit here so we'll see if they get any space on the way down or if this selection sticks around for another couple laps I think we might be hitting an equilibrium here but uh we'll see we'll keep an eye on it talking about the strategy for de crescenzo here certainly a big gamble taking the this much work early on but I guess in a Solo scenario like this you got to take some risks you got to take some gambl you might as well swing big swing for the fences here and see what happens that's uh that seems like what D Kenzo is trying to do here that's and that's exactly what she is doing I was just talking about we were just talking about Laurel konz and being a factor in this race and she's at the back of this pellaton right now suffering see Lauren Stevens locked in right behind de Renzo these two know each other well they've faced each other many times they've spent many long days together in very similar scenarios where they're really just rotting the front taking PS swapping position up there so this is not a new scenario for either of these Riders no they definitely know each other in multiple disciplines uh and again Lauren Stevens is uh saying you know what today we have another teammate Steven's going to use her strength and numbers with that sisa Squad there is Lecky looking pretty comfortable was wondering about Ka Schmidt we hadn't heard much from her but she is in there the jco Lula Rider just tacked onto the back of that group Samantha Scott also making the selection really no surprises uh out of this group yet talking about names that didn't make it into the front group but I don't think there are any favorites that have been caught out just yet this is this course is so truth-telling you cannot hide on these climbs if you are having a bad day or trying to come around uh it is just everything is telling the truth right here at the front of these races looks like Kristen fauler back to the front The Talk good chance to recover here I mean uh there is the opportunity where you don't really have to pedal on the way down I guess so you do get a zero that power meter out a little bit get some rest in the legs Kristen comes from a rowing background um makes for a very mentally tough athlete also a background in finance so uh someone that can probably play the numbers game while [Music] suffering L Kon is right here just hacking back on the back of the pelaton another look at your state capital little conversation for the EF Riders get a little strategy going here before they start climbing again this is also your opportunity to communicate I guess uh the calmness that it's going to be in the group also coming up to their feed Zone again so you'll see a lot of the Riders take on a last bit of fuel they'll ditch a bottle and grab another bottle to the right side of the road and if you don't need anything you want to stay to the left side of the road and get out of the way just like Kristen's doing right here might be Veronica excuse me it's also a place to drop any of your trash you'll know it get it will get picked up [Music] see if F gets back up here remember they were attacking on the flats earlier the tricky thing Brad everyone feels good for at least the first hour and a half yeah yep minus those are off the back that's just a whole different story but uh if you do have good legs you you feel like a million bucks for at least an hour and a half not a lot of urgency back here you see Catherine sarov sisar rer having a chat with her teammate Lauren Stevens little smile there Stevens looking nice and relaxed this is a great Dynamic here the veteran Laurence Stevens and the upand comer sarov uh there's a lot to be learn for number 15 here from the guidance of number eight also back here of Orion cycling we've got Anna D dvos what was her last name again thank you very much yeah she was uh she was having a good ride at Redlands this year um and this is where we were first starting to talk about Anna so good to see that she's made this s select group yeah talk about a rter that's been flying under the radar not for long though dooski has been super consistent I think that's the biggest thing riding inside the top 10 top 20 for both Redlands and hila back up to the front with Allison rugal for sisa been doing a lot of work today she has been the front rider for sinisa and then you see Riders like Lauren Stevens just hanging out that's how you use a teammate right there I mean Lauren Stevens might as well get the biggest draft that she can at the back of this group than sit up second or third spot especially if there's no concern about a split happening they're not on the climbs yet as they work their way back through downtown Charleston rer starting to move up oh there's an attack up at the front a few Rider going to respond to that it almost seems feudal to attack on this flat section when there's so much racing that's going to happen on the climbs Maybe you get 5 6 7 8 seconds on the flats but that's nothing when you get onto the climb so we like to call it the Sprinter Shuffle if uh if you can you can if you can get off the front before the climb and then basically go your pace of the climb instead of having to go the pace of a Lauren stevens or Kristen fauler or Veronica ERS oh my gosh it makes your life so much easier and the idea is that yes they will catch you on the climb but hopefully by the time the climb is over you've made it intact on just to the back of the pelaton so you can recover towards the Descent and uh yeah you can also call it waterfall uh there's there's all kinds of names for it for for us attacking on the flats before the climbs but we are seeing attacks come in this Paton off the front uh unfortunately we can't get a read off up at the front but if I had to take a gander I would think it would be a Lauren de cenzo back at the front setting a high Pace leading into this clim nice look at the Caravan behind been pretty quiet for the cars so far today I haven't seen a lot of rouers back in the cars yet part of that is because of the nature of these circuits here you get plenty time to go through the feed zone so really no reason to use the cars unless you need mechanical support cenzo going to lead him back through downtown here with a couple EF Riders on her wheel [Music] last turn of the city circuits coming back through the start finish everyone on their radios having a conversation with their directors you don't really want to go back to the team car if you've got the radio use it going backwards only uses a bit of energy and especially once you come through the start Finish Line it's so close back to uh The Climb so now seeing four laps to go on the counter just over 50 mil of racing left and eight more climbs good to see Kayla Davis here of serious cycling um a young upand cominging Rider uh super gung-ho um she was at Redlands BOS classic and really going for the time trial and had an unfortunate accident so good to see that she's turned the corner and back to racing this is actually Taylor Kirk white up on the front the Goldman Sachs ETF Roder we think we saw earlier here but Kirk white going to take a look off the front with Allison mugal here looks like they don't have too much of a gap maybe 35 seconds or so that's pretty good I think we lost our lead Moto there for a minute and we should see them back up here shortly missed those two going away but confirming Kirk white and mugal might be a little bit more than 35 seconds see if that Gap doesn't come down on this climb right now Kirk white going to stay on it putting the effort in here now this will be also a tell for mugal whether she works in this group or not that'll tell us whether they sent mugal up as uh Insurance defense in this Breakaway or if she's going to try and have a go at it with Kirk white here I'd say definitely roll it out for a minute um you kind of wanna if you're G to get a gap you want a one minute Gap so at least your team car can come up and talk to you uh and kind of give a bit of strategy but uh on the climb right now it's just kind of all bets off just both of us just let's get over the top of this and see what our Gap is and see how we're feeling but yeah I would imagine that uh definitely the two of them are working Kirk white also a new signing to that Goldman Sachs ETF Squad Ariel Koy in a bit of trouble back here of La sweat oh there's your answer on mugal she's going to work and now Kirk white just locking in staring at the stem keeping an eye on those power numbers don't look at your heart rate you know it hurts talking me about the sinisa strategy today they bring a deep team Lauren STS Tess Edwards Ashley fry Alison mugal you're looking at here Cara O'Neal Clare Windsor kloy Patrick Katherine sarov and Nicole Steins with a roster that deep you've only got I think three of those rers made the selection here so how do you play the numbers Lauren if you're in this group I'm going to put you in your in the team director chair now so take your Sprinter hat off you don't have to worry about waterfall climbing anymore you're now driving the team car behind the race how do you use the numbers for sinisa in this scenario just as they are doing uh you essentially leave Lauren Stevens to her own vices uh she's definitely going to be the rider that they are working for today and you put other teams under pressure and how do you do that Lauren can set the pace on the climb how she wants to that puts pressure on other and then you send your Rider up the road or you have Riders to basically cover for Lauren Steven so anyone trying to go up the road that she feels is a threat you can kind of use one of your teammates to weld it back together or as they saw right here is basically sending a rider across in the break and representing uh and just doing as best you can for as long as you can and that just puts pressure under others and and you know what that puts pressure under Lauren de chenzo that is welcoming it and wanting to bring this back and you're just using up your competitors uh by the use of your teammates and yeah that's this is smart racing banisa today this one going to get tacked back but Force some effort out of rers like d crescenzo and then Lauren is not going to Counterattack any of these moves quite yet I would think she would probably wait later in the race um or honestly wait until a Veronica yours a Christen fauler hadti FR does that uh she wants to keep as many of her teammates as possible as long as possible um and so that means she wants to keep the pace let them dictate the pace and once they've now just caught been caught by the pelaton um trying support Allison as much as possible and and uh making sure that she stays with the group up and over the rest of this climb and through these rollers and can got get a bit of rest on The Descent see what Becky tacked on to the very back of this group the longer you bring a sprinter towards closer to the Finish Line the it's almost like the better they get uh you can start to smell the Finish Line if you're a sprinter and uh all of a sudden the climb doesn't hurt near as bad so they are going to not want to bring Karen too far into this race so we're going to call this group 30 across the line last time through doovi the last one across for Orion racing with Taylor Kirk white Alison mugal rolling well although looks like that's going to be it for Kirk white and then it goes de crescenzo Falkner ERS dick Stevens Cassidy hickey is in here Ruth hul has made it Nicole Steins for sisa Laurel kones for Virginia's blue rids 20124 Erica cleer in the selection DNA has Shaina Palace into the group and then Virginia's Blue Ridge Melissa Rollins comes with Lily Williams Karen Lecky Kylie spearing and Heidi frons all making it Ashley fry 19th across the line for sinisa Emma Langley is in here Samantha Scott Katherine sarov we talked about for sisa Ariel Koy the LA sweat Rider and then comes Kayla Davis Betty Hy Andrea seir kaai Schmidt Aliyah Shafi Elizabeth Greer and Anna doovi your 30 riders in that front group from 95 to 30 this keeps trending that direction there's not going to be anyone left in four laps from now wow hard brutal course [Music] good news is they started early in the day and uh didn't have the hot conditions that our Elite men are going to face later this afternoon so these rers leav to get a prime spot for the 8:00 a.m. start time here looks like things are calming down a little bit not for long howy friends just getting to the front and again talking about just being comfortable in a descent she's not necessarily I wouldn't say that she's necessarily trying to pull away she'll be putting a little pressure on those on The Descent if uh if you're going to make it uncomfortable for me on the climb I'm going to make it uncomfortable for you on The [Music] Descent it's been interesting how much a factor The Descent has been so far today I think we when we were looking at this on paper we really thought about the way up both of these climbs but they're uh they're opening gaps on the way down too and it really started with ERS the first lap for EF education here's the Becky at the back but not looking too uncomfortable is she at the back by choice or by necessity right now I don't know that's the the sign of a good uh good bike racer is kind of this poker face like her body is not moving around they are kind of going on this descent right now she's going to be super comfortable back here and that's fine um you know she's not really rocking back and forth dropping her head so uh not quite sure but I would say that if she had her choices she would rather be near the front but it's such a select group group now I think this is okay Le Becky could certainly get there if she wanted to we saw her roll up to the back of that group and then just sit on so I think she's all right letting her teammates do the work up here at the front guess the other difference to talk about with Lecky this year compared to last year her runup to the national championships was a little different because she was the Criterium national champion last year she made the decision to come back to the us a couple weeks ago and get some Criterium races under her belt for the 2024 season so little bit more time at home little time in the US no jet lag to adjust to now living in in Pennsylvania with her husband Nate yeah and you you could say you know Kristen fauler had uh a good run up to National Championships winning a stage at the VTA feminina so uh she's definitely gunning for today's race have an attack right there off the front three routers off the front Lily Williams human powered health sisa and Virginia's Blue Ridge behind her William's not afraid to put some power into those Corners yeah I was going to say this is the first attack that we've seen uh come come from one of our I'd say top picks of the day lily just kind of not not too sure on that uh nobody was rolling through with her you're going again this is good for Lauren is where you're you've got enough teammates to play with here and and you're going to send one of your teammates to cover that and and definitely not roll up up the road with Lily Williams she is a huge threat I would say um and just sit on and and Lily knows this and back to the pelaton interesting year for the women's pelaton in an olympic year it's always a little different that run up to the Olympics kloe dyert deciding to sit this one out in anticipation of her Olympic bids so these rers will have a little different schedule in 2024 if they are on the Olympic program there's only a few rers that that will affect but certainly changed the dynamic a little bit when you lose names like Khloe diger out this group yeah Chloe an automatic for the Olympics winning the World Championships time trial last year so uh she is Comfortably watching at home no pressure for her um but yeah Lily Williams is uh named to the long list for the track team beautiful shot along the river here get a look at Erica Clevenger Run for the go for Graham team for number 62 on the front dorenzo having a little chat with some of these rers moving up here again Clevenger was uh a a professional Rider Road Rider uh couple years ago and decided to step away from cycling and has uh just come back to training and racing and wanted to come back and and give national championships another shot so we're glad to see her back in the pelaton saw Le Becky and Stevens having a little chat at the back of the field didn't look too intense I think it was some friendly banter they're getting back to work now Kirk white back in it after attacking off the front suffering on the climb she's back into this selection with her teammate Andrea Seer both of these Riders late season signings for the Goldman Sachs ETFs team I'd say that was a pretty good pickup for them I would say so too and I think they only started the day with three Riders so uh to have two right here in this front group and and to have Taylor go in the break smart move smart racing see dienzo drops the bottle and then moves to the opposite side of the road there's some good experience being shown here looking pretty chill out there right now right now yeah it moved to the left hand side of the road we have seen crashes in in World Tour in in these pelons before just from erant bottle so uh just be safe get out of the way sis get taking inventory making sure Stevens's got everything she needs oh yeah see that's what you worry about that's Erica cenger what just happened you know sometimes those low speed crashes can be the most damaging you hate to see this this is kind of tough to watch watch and yeah that's what we're talking about like you just have that little bit of a lull and you may take your hands off the bars trying to move your bottles around whatnot and that's unfortunate to see bit of conversation happening right there between Ruth Edwards Lauren Stevens it looks like let's hope ER is okay had the team doctor there or sorry the race doctor right there so someone right there on site to check in on her at the lower speeds when things calm down uh you know we saw a lot of riders using the opportunity to find their teammates grab some food grab a bottle that's where you open open the door to uh just tiny mistakes that are going to maybe move you off your line a little bit could have just been a touching of Wheels but exactly you just take your attention off uh the wheel in front of you and that's what happens see if we can go back and take a look before the crash ah she was moving off to the side is the issue oh man yeah just like I said just uh call the wheel in front of her unfortunate incident here just under 90 minutes in to to our Pro women's race that'll send a little shock wave through the field that puts you on notice a little bit and now Lecky going to get to the front that might be a little enough to say maybe I should move up a few spots they're also about to get ready to hit this climb too so that may be part of it as well the Ws Avenue climb is 2.3 km long 5.5% not terribly steep but enough to do damage [Music] nice got the signs out for the Riders cheering them on it's been so fun to talk to the locals and honestly they come up to us you know we we're out having coffee or lunch and they come up to the tables hey are you with the bike race and we're so glad you're here uh we're excited to watch the race it's it's been a lot of fun and I think that's kind of been the thread throughout the week um is the it's been a very welcoming Community Charleston is all in on the national championships that's for sure got a chance to chat with the mayor here on Friday night we got a new cycling fan in her as well yes we do Karen to the front of the race EF education canondale can basically set the pace it looks like they'll continue to do that as they work their way up 45 miles to go we're going to take another break here e e e e it's something I look forward to every single day it's what I know like it's who I am all I'm thinking about is the Finish Line I rage for progression and I rage for improvement just to have fun and go really really fast I race for team I race for women my favorite is definitely Psy the cross techy mountain bike riding it'ss like a balance 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Serra is here to help you get what's next with our best-in-class connectivity cyber security cloud and collaboration Solutions whatever your business dreams we have the network and services to get you there SRA proud sponsor and official technology provider of the USA cycling Pro Road National Championship everybody wants a secure financial future you include it right the problem is your investment advisor is over here your tax specialist over there and your insurance agent someplace else and you're in the middle wondering how do I make this work for me it's confusing frustrating and ineffective worry no more we are vinalia wealth where do all your financial professionals are brought to the same table so that you can become the focus start being the one everyone places in the center be the one vendal one welcome back live images over the top of Charleston West Virginia where our Pro women out on course have about 44 miles of racing left here a little over an hour and a half of racing underway about 30 Riders have made a selection all the favorites are in there and they are going to make their way back up three more times up over these circuits and up over the climbs Lauren no real big surprises yet I mean everyone that we expected to be in that front group is there and no one that we expected to be there isn't yeah 100% uh we are seeing the Riders now come down from the climb Oakridge Road and they will come back into town and we've kind of seen uh we lose footage up there but uh every time they've come back down we've seen this bit of Separation here and then it usually comes back together through town and again it will only be a matter of time before that will not be the case that uh folks will just continue to drop off the back and they will not make it back anymore that was Kaa schmidtt that we just saw looks like she's in trouble out of this group so this will force a smaller selection group and I'm wondering if the second group that we see here just at the back will be able to get up here or if Lawrence St is going to keep driving this one up here yeah this is interesting cuz now we have seen some of the favorites to the front Lauren Stevens followed by Kristen fauler followed by Lauren de cenzo so uh the pressure is on the pace is being pushed here this dropped group right here has to make a a concerted effort to get back to the group to that front group Becky not looking real worried number two going to let these rers in front of her do the work to bring him back sitting right on the wheel of anad darovi here number 77 and now Lecky looking back behind her maybe realizing the urgency of the situation I'm going to say Brad Lauren is telling her teammates to push the pace when you have this many uh represented for sesca yeah this is the time you've you got everybody Under Pressure right now you've isolated Kristen fauler probably your your biggest threat laa cenzo is on her own so is just going to be one-on-one eventually and that's what Lauren Stevens wants this may just be the experience of Lecky here believing that she'll be able to get back into it if she needs to but the Situation's not getting much better here this is a dangerous line to walk at the back of this group yeah I I I don't think this is experience for Karen back here I think this is uh the pace is being pushed forward right now and this is a product of it she's probably like I said we we saw her go start warts Avenue at the front and try and set the pace as much as possible but I would imagine that uh Lauren Stevens is going to wanted that pace to be high and put uh all of these Riders under pressure and that's I think this is the product of that so now two sisa one EF got two bike links off the front here but sisa definitely the aggressors right now Christen fauler just sitting third wheel she's not she is going to have a Keen Eye on the front of this race Ruth Edwards right on L cenzo's wheel this really speaks to the difference in the way that you ride when you have teammates versus how you ride when you don't we're seeing Lauren Stevens dispatch her Riders up to the front for sisa and fauler is kind of forced to sit back and let those moves happen and just kind of watch because she doesn't have the numbers that she had earlier and the numbers that sisa still has on the front they're still in there lecki is hanging on to the back but it's not like she can send Lecky to the front and say let's hit it no and Kristen is basically not going to rely on Laur de chenzo either we've seen that uh the previous couple lapses everyone kind of sat off and let Lauren de cenzo essentially manage this group but Kristen is not uh willing to take that gamble anymore and just taking fate in her own hands doesn't look like anyone was spit out of the group I think small group came together yeah get back on the radio or mugal I think up here yeah I was just going to say I would if I was directing Sinar I I'd tell them all right lay off a bit we're just dragging the field around now everyone's not even pedaling so uh save that energy for anything left on these rollers in between the climbs Emma Langley reaching into the Jersey as Lecky makes her way up she's going to chat with fuler here oh what I wouldn't give to hear this conversation you got me for a little bit longer how can I help how you feeling reassure Kristen that she's uh doing the right things in the right spot seeing what's going on behind Kristen you know uh if anyone was off the back with Karen I'd say Karen's probably the most experienced racer in this pelaton So Co Stein Mets up on the front doing some work now for sisa she's been pretty quiet so far letting the other team needs to do the work early on and now it's Stein Met's turn to drive the train and a droski back here Orion cycling and this is a really relaxed tempo right now what they're really doing is just racing on the climbs and then the time in between the climbs just waiting to get to the next climbs well this just the race has Whitted down to the yeah the few going for it so yeah this is no one wants to put forth any effort because they're all saving it for the clim they all want to save it for the Finish but uh you have to get there the fountain Riders used all their attacks early on here I normally would have counted on them to get to the front at this time and launch some [Music] attacks heidy fron up on the front the green jersey here looks like she found a little help in the group some of the solo Riders helping each other out I think that's uh Kylie spearing and um I think they are sharing a vehicle and support it's pretty common in these races oh here's the second group they're about to make it back up here so I'd expect them to make contact I think that's going to be all 30 that were there last time so that'll be it for that split we get another update as they come across the line but I'm expecting to see the same 30 names here it's another one of the tough part about Nationals you talk about having to share a car share a mechanic a lot of times these rers won't have the full team support that maybe they have for most of the season and so you kind of have to figure out your own mechanic your own transportation your own travel that kind of stuff Lily Williams back to the front and off the front I'm surprised that she was part of that drop group there and this is what you do for your teammate Ruth Edward sitting in the pelaton in that front group and then when that back selection group caught back on and you don't have much left you basically sacrifice whatever you do have and make this race hard again well Ruth Edwards did a little work for Lily in the criteria we saw them locked in together with Edwards doing most of work on the front Williams sitting second wheel I don't know how much you can really pay that back in the road race but if you can this is what you're doing y Williams Again part of that Olympic long team racing on the track on the vrone laen how does that affect the season for Lily Williams I mean how does she fit a naal Championship into what should be an Olympic run up here yeah I think after this race she will start to really focus in on track efforts and track training which is significantly different than Road training so uh less distance more intensity and uh Lily is so strong and so focused and yeah so she's going to do what she can to help Ruth as much as possible today but yeah Lily has had a great spring I'll say that again she's uh she's been over in Europe had good results on the road in the spring Classics but yeah I think uh from now until July she'll really lock down and just hone in on that individual or not the individual Pursuit team Pursuit uh for the Olympic bid the season is so unique for a lot of different Riders that maybe race in different disciplines if you're going to run a gravel season we've also seen a lot of riders embrace the national championship here just because it's a good long road race to get in before this big block of American gravel racing coming up over the next few weeks so there's not uh many places you can get 170 127k road race in and that's pretty darn good prep for a 200 or 300K gravel race you're exactly right uh even some of the guys talk to U and that's exactly what tomorrow or today is going to be for them as well is just make the most of the day and get a good training session out of it if you can but gosh I would love to win a National Championship Jersey today not a lot of urgency to chase Williams down on the way up the hill heref going to keep two up near the front as yours will sit at the back here and all the gap's opening up first switch back up it's Ka Schmid it's going to be another sinisa Jersey check that [Applause] actuallyy fry maybe story here is really going to be at the back of the group it's going to be who survives the tempo being set up here by sisa and EF canondale there's a few Riders just on the rivet again you can let 8 10 maybe 12 seconds open up over the top we've seen it a few times but one of those times it's going to come back to bite you you can chase back on once you can chase back on twice maybe even three times but eventually your luck will run out if you're not staying with the with the front group here know and this is just a product of sinisa having numbers and basically setting tempo for Lauren Stevens right here Kristen fauler is like I said keeping a Keen Eye on the front of this race uh she is definitely gunning for today Lauren de cenzo in a bit of trouble from the early work that she had done Virginia's Blue Ridge 20124 back here as well this looks like Melisa Rollins Emma Langley in a bit of difficulty aiyah Shafi right beside Emma Karen Lecky just like you're talking about off the back just a little bit and has been successful in being a product of the chase group coming back together when it flattens out Ruth Edwards just behind Kristen fauler hotti friends right there in the green jersey life plus Wahoo punching d crescenzo off to the right hand side of the picture here left hand side of the pelaton keeping her nose out in the wind as they go up and over and this is what makes it so tough they keep the effort on ride through the hill I think shafy going to be the last Rider to tack on at the back of this one see that dark green Fountain Jersey back there I'm not sure if I see Edwards in this group Williams yeah right there she's just in fourth fifth wheel there you go to the right side L cenzo looks like she's gone up the left side to put a bit of pressure on S this was fading a bit Melisa Robbins has moved up Rollins excuse me and now Lecky becomes the back marker for this group it's almost like an elim Elimination race you can't be the last one on uh de crzo going to do what she does best here put the hurt on this this field I guess I can't even call it a field anymore we'll call it the group bunch of rers getting pulled off here on the finish line and really this is your race right here to single file all maybe a good time to start taking inventory on teams and numbers in this group we talked about this earlier when Fountain had four or five Riders up there what an advantage that was for them that Advantage is now gone and uh you got to look at the team numbers here EF with I think down to just two doesn't look like yeah I don't think Veronica has made it back so yeah and you might be losing kin I've learned not to count Karen out until she's like well gone because 100% there's no doubt on that uh yeah human powered health is just down to one even though they only started with two looks like Virginia's Blue Ridge has two with Emma Langley and Melissa sinisa is the one with most numbers right now I think that they have three yeah here's a look at some Riders wrapping up early here we'll pull those Riders off the Course once they are out of the envelope they only keep a closed road for the rolling group on the road a lot of these rers didn't really have Ambitions of trying to be there at the end if you're a Criterion racer a sprinter it's not your disciplined to do these long road races also this is our first year here in Charleston first year getting a look at this course and now you know you've you've got a whole year to know what to train for and expect for next year coming back here to Charleston so uh everyone's kind of a little shell shocked but you know what go back to the drawing board and know what to expect for next year just under 37 miles of racing left now I just don't see the Panic or urgency in Lecky at all it makes me think that she's just fine being back here but she'd like to be at the front she didn't want to show you panic Brad okay all right well it's working she's doing a good job cuz I'm not seeing Annie at all D Renzo going to counter faler La crescenzo certainly the MVP for me so far today doing a majority of the work in this group not afraid to be aggressive which is all the more impressive for a rider with no teammates Out Here solo fuler out to the side here what's the thinking here why go to the other side of the road for Kristen ful I think just more of comfort on this descent coming back into town more than anything uh you get a clear line of the road clear line of sight essentially kind of get a run on the Moto right there too descend a little faster than expected I think waiting to see where that second group ends up if we just get a glimpse of them on camera and looks like that Gap might be growing here is back to Le Becky as they roll their way back over the bridge now onto the flats group comes back together and the Becky able to catch back on know saw it's amazing how calmness gets on the flats Lauren it is like night and day difference between racing on the climbs and racing on the flats here yeah everyone kind of just gets a sense for uh what has happened because you you have the climb and then kind of the rollers and then a Prett technical descent so you don't really have a I mean you you can kind of look around and but yeah this this is the time to to grab the fluid get a sense for who's here have a conversation and this is the chance for the dropped group to remake contact and we've seen that time and time again lap after lap and like I said you're eventually going to run out of uh them sitting up on on the flats here there's enough flat though that uh you can't keep rolling it hard and expect to break the group up is such a big road also there's no Crosswinds headwinds or anything like that so just bodess to a regrouping conversation for sinisa there's really nothing you can say at this point other than how you're feeling I think that's maybe the biggest piece of information being exchanged in the group it sounds like yeah and it's obviously the Gap to the drop group is not too significant because they are still barging the cars so even if you wanted to go back and have a conversation with your director you right now you can't um and they'll keep those cars back there and you also can't get a feed so if you've missed a feed through the feed zone or if you need anything from the car you're not going to get that until that group is completely gone little smile there from De cenzo to chat with I think Rollins well it has been a storybook year for the sinisa cycling team lot of success in their early season we saw Lauren Stevens come off of an overall win up at tour the heland Silver City New Mexico also won the queen of the mountain competition there so ready to climb but the style of racing here at Nationals is unlike anything that uh they've faced the circuit races at Redlands and hila maybe somewhat similar but the difference is that the climbs are at a much smaller interval here than they are on somewhere like sunset in red ones yes and Lauren Stevens is leaving flying out tonight to go to Brazil for pan Els so no rest second group has just caught on to the first group and it looks like someone attacked right out of it that front group Lolly gagging for lack of a better term and that allowed group number two to come back up and Lily Williams to attack in the exact same way that she did last time her group caught the front group Lily just doing what she can for her teammate to keep this race on and not have them just roll around like you have seen uh a little while ago and even though this is going to mean uh disastrous for Lily in the end that's that's what you do for your team you fall on the sword and and hope that Ruth is going to come out ahead job done for Lily Williams and de crescenzo has a few words for her and says all right if you want a ride we'll ride that's the thing is Lily you know she goes off the back off the front and sets that pace high and that lures Lauren cenzo into saying yeah I want to go hard that Lauren loves to race hard so this is extremely fr trting for her right now uh but that's the name of the game you have to know how to be adaptable to all scenarios and yeah this is not the situation that Lauren wants nice move here for Virginia's Blue Ridge 2024 like Laurel konz and this is the danger of letting that second group come back up beautiful attack off the front great form here kenona is still looking back over the shoulder seeing if she's going to be getting any help anytime soon not looking like it he should still have some teammates back in that group now that came up with that second group Ruth hul was in there along with Emma Langley we talked about Melissa rolands so that's four for Virginia's blue rid 2024 in this front group including your solo Rider away here what's that you say Brad not sure if you can hear the barges along the uh canal and Elk Rivers here I love it it was actually really cool during the Criterium on Friday night they had a few barges along the river that were blowing their horns on the last lap it was a felt like a real American Stadium experience down here it's a great ride for konis gone she opened up it's going to be at least 20 seconds here 32 miles for a solo effort for Laurel konis here from Virginia's Blue Ridge 2024 not going to get any help in the Breakaway so she has got to lock into this one and decide whether or not she wants to try and solo for another 32 miles to try and win the national championships here all right so we'll keep an eye on that as the Gap continues to grow up we're going to take a break here from Charleston West Virginia when we come back we'll see how this Gap is doing with one ride our way off the front e e e being joined in the booth now by mayor Amy Goodwin who has been a key part of bringing the races to town and our newest cycling fan here in Laur and I have learned so so much over the past couple of months with cycling but man o day it's I'm studying yeah well I am really studying student yeah you got a couple of the best here to teach you Lauren our our resident expert here I know you had a chance to hang with us for the Criterium on Friday night and then a little longer Road Race here you've also been getting some of the community members into things I know you're giving away bikes you were at some of the parties out on course the vibe here is just amazing in Charleston what is it I mean what is it about Charleston that makes you guys love bikes so much you know it's so fun well I think this is I'll go backwards we love people so much and one of them I call them the pink team the EF Education team and so uh one of their coaches uh had their uh bikers at a Airbnb on the west side and he said you know we pulled in really late at night and I was thinking I'll just get him something to eat real quick and he said and with that here comes a guy from next door with with a pan of homemade pepperoni rolls and I heard you were coming please let me let me know what you need he said been the next morning we walked out on the porch and there's somebody else saying hi do you need breakfast what do you need so that's just kind of who we are in Charleston West Virginia um you know as I talked to you the other night Brad you know growing up in Appalachia Appalachians that's what we do we like to take care of people we like to feed people um we like to make sure everybody's okay so um and we like people who are here you know it's it's not just me hosting or the CVB hosting it's our entire community so um we're really happy to have everybody here it was so fun to talk to the parents of the cyclist and the spouses of the cyclist that's what's really neat to watch it's not just learning about this amazing sport but talking to them and as you duly noted Brad yesterday we gave away 100 bikes to children in our community who didn't have bikes or outgrew their bikes and you know this as a cyclist yes um you got to see it to be it yes you do and so giving away those little bikes one dad told me Amy my daughter has wanted a frozen ala uh bike and you can't get them apparently it's very hot on the market um but she's two and a half and she got on that bike and she left them she great it was really neat but also you know our young girls um who were watching some of these young women right across the line that's empowering and that's inspiring you know this yes and this is one of the unique things this year for USA cycling having the Juniors and the u23s leading up to our Elites today so like you're saying you've now got these kids that can see the Next Generation that are just right in front of them was like I can do that I want to do that so yeah you're 100% right it was a fun experience and then yesterday we had local Riders um who did part of a little bit of downtown and Bridge and the community that came out for that that was also really really cool again and you know I mentioned the other night I'm a I'm a hockey mom my kid plays hockey and he plays uh for our University um you know a couple hours away he's been on his dad's pelaton for the past 3 days great which my husband has been trying to get our boys on the you know a hockey kid on a bike is really interesting to watch um but why was he doing it because he was inspired by some of these kids that are his age 20 years old that are out doing it and he said he literally said the words I don't know I thought it was kind of cool Mom okay okay you know those are big words eloquently as a 20-year-old can say that's cool mom um and so that's what we want in Charleston West Virginia we want to be inspiring we want to take care of people yes this the economic you know we didn't talk about this but the economic impact that our businesses are seeing we literally had a restaurant run out of like four of their specialty items and had to go to their food provider and say buddy can you can you come into EV I need an early shipment tomorrow um that's what I want to see one of our Merchants down here who was selling these custom t-shirts that she made specifically for the race she now has to take special orders and by the way shipping them to Alaska Florida Colorado um that's what we want and yes the economic impact is monumental we know this though about sports tourism and travel tourism we know this um but what people need to be reminded of as well is when you're sitting there as my husband and I were with one of the young men who got to be one of the three on the podium he said my son has been cycling since he was 4 years old this is the coolest little city well that's what I want you to regurgitate when you leave here right that's the coolest City and oh by the way he's they're from California he's staying with friends of ours next year at their home they connected here they started talking about their California rots they're spending next year here already been invited uh back to spend the weekend with that's what we like to hear that's what we like to hear but we wouldn't we wouldn't have the opportunity if it weren't for you bringing us to Charleston wel you with open arms and we're so excited that this is just year one of five years that you all will be here so we're looking forward to it and now all the restaurants know that cyclist are endurance athletes and we love to eat a lot got to double on those food up like some of them are like oh boy um our weight staff and our uh intake we we got to pump that up a little bit we love it from two new Charleston fans it's nice to have one new cycling fan in the booth with usal good one thank you so much for all that you've done thank you for all the hard work for your entire team I know it takes a lot of work to bring the national championships get back out there and enjoy the day we've only got a few hours of bike racing left today so I'm going to let you enjoy the day today thanks for all your here go all right Amy Scher good one checking in with us here in the booth as we go back out to live racing out on course we saw a short attack from Ruth Edwards going away and now looks like uh is this Heidi fron going away solo definitely we saw uh trying to go up the Bridge Road climb Ruth put in an attack and Heidi FR is basically count ing that through town right now just under 30 miles for this effort sinisa trying to pull off the front here trying to get EF to do a little bit of work in that group back behind him I wonder if there was something that Edward saw that caused her to go away something that fron saw to cause her to follow is this group maybe starting to fall apart are they starting to get ANS out there and like you said never count out Karen Lecky she is still there fr's going to be in a tough spot here all by herself no one even thinking about going up to join her right now and there is the wild card lecki today looking better the longer you take her the closer you get her to that Finish Line uh the better it is for the EF Education canondale team bronze looking nice and steady here still looking back over the shoulder this Gap probably 15 maybe 20 seconds we'll get an updated time here shortly but this is a big ask for one Rider against the talent back in this field there's a good look we'll call that 20 seconds race radio reporting 22 in the Gap here I'll bet you that grows Lauren Stevens still has numbers here there's still three sinisa Riders even though uh Karen lecki is still here for Kristen fauler Karen is uh basically a product of the pace of sinisa she's not up there participating uh pulling through Heidi looking back kind of shaking her head not really an ideal situation for her to be up the road solo she would have liked to have gone with one other Virginia's Blue Ridge sitting right behind uh EF education canelle christen's F Kristen fauler Anna davosi right there a good ride for her and Orion and she's got a lot to be proud of surviving with this group for a rider that was trying to make a name for herself in the sport without Ayan racing team dski in this selection little under two and a half hours in speaks a lot to her Raw Talent really is amazing the variety of backgrounds that these Riders come from from Pure bike racers like Lecky to New Riders in the field like lur kones we saw getting away really didn't start racing at a high level until the pandemic that Co era she was a zift rider that was discovered by the Virginia's Blue Ridge 2024 team yeah and that's exactly what mayor Goodwin is saying with her son you know he is a hockey player but he jumps on the pelaton and gets it's like this is actually pretty interesting I'd say a lot of these athletes can come from different sports into the sport of cycling cycling is something you can do on your Strider bike when you're 2 years old up until 80 90 years old I I do a group ride in Durango and we have uh a 91-year-old uh guy that joins us on our on our group ride on a ebike so it's it's something you can do your entire life Lecky in her favorite spot in this group I don't know if it's your favorite spot but it's her claimed spot for the last couple of laps I mean she could move up here right they're they're they're cruising at this point where she could she could get to the front this is a clear choice that she's going to sit back there well and if is willing to do the work I mean this is a good point uh she doesn't have to be or doesn't need to be up there sesa is uh they've got the numbers they're controlling the front they're setting the pace looks like that group has gotten even further back now talking about what would be the third group on the road that second group of riders that were with the main group before Heidi R said goodbye to them so is fron thinking here that she's going to solo for 27 miles I mean is that uh within the realm of possibility for Heidi today Ah that's kind of a thought but uh I would think more so anyone attacking out of the group that is left and where they attack the idea would be nice p and in the sky would be that uh the last select few attack right at the perfect timing which would be at the top of the last climb and Heidi can tack on the back of them and save anything for the Sprint finish that is just a a dream scenario for Heidi uh but uh yeah unfortunately I I would think they're going to probably just let her stay out there hang out to dry as they like to say uh but now she's strong mentally and physically and uh this is good for Heidi out there one of the happiest persons in the pelaton we'll see how happy she is over the next 26 miles so France is out of sight right now for them they have just made that final turn onto the start finish stretch in the field zero urgency for sisa on the front fron is going to build a big gap quickly here part of this is the consistency of riding on the flats I mean this field has really established a rhythm on the course where they hit it really hard on the clim then they take this flat section to recover I think France has now realized that after four laps and said look if they're going to ride like this on the flats I can get away from this group right you you can uh with the expectation that that Gap will come down 100% on the climb on Bridge Road climb just keeps whittling down come they're giving fron a minute four Gap now across the line Stein Mets and Fry setting Tempo up there so just like that Heidi fron now a minute plus up the road with 25 miles to go see if they don't let her team car through her coach Joe Holmes is uh following look like Orion might have put in an attack here across the bridge and also sitting third wheel is Karen lecki sense that something may be happening you better believe something's happening brid Road climb is coming up that's what's [Music] happening was doovi putting in an effort on the first part up to the top here laen Stevens she's getting head here yeah Kristen faler right on that wheel Ruth Edwards right there Karen Le starting to fall back laa cenzo tailing off again we talked about yes Lauren loves to race aggressive Lauren de cenzo let me be clear but that's the product of doing those early race efforts is when it comes down to it if you're not patient you the this is a product of that is uh she's struggling on the clim right now when the the heart attacks do go howy fr's just looking steady yeah meanwhile Lauren Stevens all over the top of the bike here as she's out of the saddle faler on her wheel Edwards behind her and then comes Lecky to join her teammate fauler this is a crucial time right here for Lauren de crescenzo she's got to get onto the back of this group I think as Stevens senses that de crescenzo is in trouble she'll continue to hit it here that's a rider good enough that it's worth getting rid of it's worth the effort to get rid of De crescenzo if you can if you have the opportunity here yeah but we have seen in years past that Lauren makes it back and Lauren essentially drugg what was left of the pelaton that four or five group uh last year last couple years at National Championships she brought her by to the line so um she may not win the race but she can definitely assist in helping those that will win the race so I you know I mean yeah you're essentially Lauren Stevens going hard is just she's just racing uh the course and racing whatever's left in the pelaton she's I don't think that she's necess thinking about lzo [Music] outright PTY FR grabbing a bottle from Human powered Health everyone knows everyone in this patons I was just trying to figure out how to say is like you you can assist others on other teams knowing that it's it's um it's within the family yeah you're not going to win this bike r on the feed Zone you're not going to win this bike it's not going to be one or loss for human powered Health just because Heidi Fran's got a bottle Fran's also a former Rider on that team spend some time with that program so I'm sure there's still some loyalty there not unheard of to see other teams give different Riders bottles when maybe they miss the feed or the team can't get there CU it will pay back towards your Riders at some point everyone needs assistance from another team and in that fashion you can't take mechanical assistance from another team but you can uh you can get a bottle or some food o yeah saw that it's getting a little little tight against the right side of the road there one Rider had to jump out boy fron looks great look at that form see some standing water on the side of the course from Friday's rain there are a couple sort of water Crossings where the water runs across the road hasn't been a problem so far on The Descent it seems like the Chasers are taking this one seriously Lauren this is not one where uh they're just letting fron roll away we saw Lauren Stevens get to the front and really put in a hard effort that caused this selection here to take him down to really just five Riders remaining right now and largely because of Stevens driving it Stein's having a great ride in here for sisa as well she has been sort of the silent factor in there so far and that's going to be a huge Advantage for them later on in this [Music] race look at fron hitting it [Music] again just pushing over the top of this climb looking forward to that descent how does someone like Bron's gauge her effort in this scenario when you're a solo Rider that gets away uh I mean how do you know where to set that power like do you do your maximum is it a relative effort to the field how do you decide how hard you're going to work here it's almost like a TT effort at this point uh so you're almost at the red line but uh you try and get a little bit of recovery as much as you can on some of the descents and you get the choice of Road ah dang it you look back and they made up that much time on the climb right there and she knows that and if she she has a radio in her ear I imagine that uh her her coach Joe is telling her this right now and to say hey you know what save a little bit here they come now it'll be important to make sure that she can hang on to this train as they catch and pass her that is the next mission for Heidi fron here it's not a question of if but when she gets caught at this point she needs to make sure that she can tack on to the back of what is probably going to be Lecky hanging out back here wouldn't think we would see a counter out of this group probably not on The Descent but I'm going to watch out for the word AB climb cuz that's uh it's right when you come into town it's just a short amount of time in town off of this descent that you're then on works so I think we lose that coverage at the top of the climb and man I can't wait to see what comes out of that fron just nursing a few seconds off the front right here ien CL Becky got us all fooled I think she's I think she's feeling just fine back there [Music] oh Ruth Edwards has been awfully quiet too that is uh it's usually a danger Dangerous scenario if that's someone you haven't talked about much being on the front of the race or being um attacking the front of the race she's trying to save as much as possible and having her teammate Lily Williams do a brunt force of the work when after Lily had been dropped and caught back on Ruth right there just kind of giv a look around and assessing of what's left Christen vulner doing the same thing now you know who you've got and what you're working with this is also the point in the race when fueling strategy will have been important because if you don't have anything left your legs are just going to go dead on you so if you if you're behind good luck is there a chance that that second group comes back together it was uh not looking so great last time we saw on camera gap on the line was about 30 seconds up to the front group that's got to be more by now after chasing down fron here is this the selection here is there a chance that anyone else catches onto this front group or are we looking at the winers of the bike race here I think this is the race right here there's not enough time back in town for them to sit up and what we've seen between this climb this descent and in town and then back to WS but we where we've seen the groups catch back on was essentially after they've come down Oakridge Road so uh when they've come back into town There's a bit more time in town there but no I think uh I think this group is going to stay away to the line but I've been wrong before Brad so what do I know once I remember that that was a long time ago we'll see if they go back to the calm riding on the flats or if it's a little more aggressive now that this small selection has been made six Riders going to come into town together looks like somebody jumping to the front here going be Edwards get a little draft off that Moto look at the effort here Ruth knows what she's doing it's not her first rodeo no no doubt I am a little surprised she's trying to make a move here but she will draw out Lauren Stevens and Christ fauler is following Lauren Stevens right now puts a couple 's in trouble at the back de crescenzo Lecky is in trouble and I think that's Stein that's yep just in front of lecki sign mets has just done so much work for Lauren and Lauren's just Mak trying to egg her on like come on come on come on just get right back here you can do it where Karen's like okay Becky used her for everything she was worth chewed her up and spit her out yeah again the smartest bike racer most experienced bike racer in this group see if she makes it back to the back of that group right there yep di will be able to get up there and now lot of looking over the shoulders fauler confirms that lebeck has made it back in they're looking around like they're expecting an attack and I'm kind of feeling the same way but there's only six riders in here who's left to attack at this point you can also try and get a sense for how your competitor is feeling just kind of look at their face it's almost a bit of uh poker going on right now just you kind of eye and your like kind of like I see you you see me this looks like a last lap run into to the finish it looks like they're setting up for a Sprint here you see Fran's looking back to see if they're in danger of being caught by this next group coming up that may still be the biggest fear on their minds pin back and see that someone is coming across is that La think Renzo left over from the climb still fighting this is right in her wheelhouse there I wouldn't be surprised to see D cenzo back into this group the way that they're riding up at the front the way that we know de Renzo can ride she's going to work her way through these vehicles and this may become seven very shortly and again Ruth Edwards is uh no stranger to the podium she's one Santos tour down under she's one tour to feminine she's won Joe Martin stage race she's won a stage of the jured Italia you know she's another one of the most experienced Riders out there we were teammates and she stood on every single podium in the United States uh back in 2018 so you cannot discount Ruth Edwards and you cannot let her up the road she went on to uh the Trek team for many years and raced at the highest level before taking a break and now back with human powered health man even L cenzo is kind of given the head shake well did the work she needed to but she knows she just made a big withdraw from her account got to give Stein some credit here as well for sinisa I think this is going to be a major factor in Lauren Stevens ride today having just one other Rider there that was able to make that selection with you is huge so no matter how this ends up for Stevens today Stein Lance deserves a lot of credit for getting Lauren Stevens there agreed I would think everybody in this group needs to thank Nicole at some point because uh she's going to try and keep this pace drawn out a bit and not let anyone else attach back to the back of the this last group so got to remember Stein Mets is a U23 Rider which would put her as the top U23 Rider in this race right now do is Falon are calling for a bottle from the team car yeah I don't know that she's going to get it though the the tricky bit Carmen Small is her team director I don't know how far back they have them barged should make it a neutral feed maybe sure if the cars have gotten up here or not leck's been on the radio a lot too she's talking to car in back in the car it's always nice to have your team director in your ear just reassuring you and reassuring the race uh program and plan and talking through things and Karen just basically going up like hey I don't I don't have any water either I wish I could help this is all I got he's like you can have whatever's left in here that's yeah that's exactly what's happening you know Kristen puts her a bottle in the air and Carmen's saying hey I I can't get to you Karen saying this is what I got left that's that is Ultimate teammate sacrifice right there well that sends a pretty clear message who EF is going to put their money on today turning onto W's road now faler should be able to get a bottle in one of these pseudo feed zones I'm not sure how many staff the team has around the course again that this is another one of the unique problems that these teams face coming to race at Nationals yeah like that's exactly right they they could if in theory they had someone on The Climb but who knows it you know we have seen them at the top of the Bridge Road climb uh human powered Health has been up there feeding their Riders but you know we haven't seen that here on the warts Road climb and usually you can get a neutral water most of these cars carry some just water but again we're talking about fueling and having those carbs and electrolytes when you need them and that will be a a key factor this looks like Kristen's car if I had to Gander yeah they're moving some cars past the group here and I see some riders coming up on the back of this group there's a group of like three maybe four Riders back there trying to regain contact I wonder if we saw that car go through earlier maybe trying to move out of the way but I'm trying to figure out who those Riders back back there are we'll keep an eye on it as they make their way up we're going to take another short break here from Charleston West Virginia and see if this group can stay away from the because I love it I ride from the friendships that develop on the bike I met all my friends through cycling I ride my bike because it's part of my soul I ride because it's awesome I ride to find stories I ride to find rhythm in my life I ride because it makes me happy I ride for adventure I ride to be a part of something that's bigger than myself [Music] you've got a premium carbon frame like van art so aerodynamic it defies the lows of physics and a smooth group set like Wonder poool shifting breaking King precisely you've got the same fast wheels as vingard with the mat black finish like Mariam Voss you've got a Sleek helmet like Roman B cutting through the air like a falcon and the coolest kit on The Paton like kapas and the passion and courage of Cannonball Cavendish yeah you got it all but you haven't got the cotton tires the pros ride until [Music] now welcome back a look at some of our folks enjoying the start Finish Line here here in Downtown Charleston as the Riders out on that second big climb of the day we'll pick them up here shortly back on the top of the climb but last time we saw them there was a small group working their way up after Heidi France has been brought back and now this really comes down to this selection of six and it's time to start talking strategy Lauren just under 20 mil of racing to go we got to figure out how this one plays out today no doubt and I think strategy is essentially who can go the hardest on the climb and then stay [Music] away we talked about the makeup of the teams up there the biggest wild card has been Ken Le Becky who has been back and forth off the back of this one as Kristen Falkner has been super steady up in that front group so it really is a tale of two different styles of riders out there for EF education canondale yeah and also seeing Kristen fogner basically put her hand in the air and thank goodness the team car was able to come up and service her which is going to be huge for her uh Kristen is very particular on what she wants and when she wants it so again someone that missed out in the TT on Wednesday and she's definitely Keen for today and the races is sh that she hasn't missed one thing and she's been present at the front all day we also saw Heidi fronz up there make that solo attack come back in you think she's wishing she had that one back right now I don't necessarily think so I think uh she was okay with striking out giving it a try and seeing what's going to come of it and she did shake her head a little bit of frustration but think there was enough uh left in the tank and she got caught at the right time that you know she's got to take her shot and when when she can and where she can then the next big name in this group Lauren Stevens that sisa team Nicole Stein mets has been incredible for Stevens but at some point Lauren Stevens is going to have to take over here as the team leader yeah and yeah kudos to Nicole Stein mats and what a ride for her today like you're saying U23 Jersey on the line as well so almost sacrificing that Jersey for Lauren for the better good of the team which is a national championship Jersey no matter what so uh yeah Lauren Stevens we haven't quite seen her do a fullon attack yet we haven't seen Chris and fauler do a fullon attack yet so a couple of different options still to play I've got race radio in my ear they are reporting that they are starting to make some attacks out in that front group we're just hearing the radio start to crackle on the way in here so I would expect when we oh here we go when we pick them back up we would see a little bit of Separation here and here you go back to live images at the let's see who's still here I see Edwards both EF Riders and Stevens is the sisa rider so then there were four at the front and Karen Lecky someone I honestly would have thought would have uh I told you I knew it would have been gone a long time so what a ride for Ken she is having a heck of a day today I can't wait to talk to her after the race she's like really Lauren you're going to pin me as a sprinter only and not not be able to make it up these clowns I am so sorry Karen I have uh spoken wrong about you all day I apologize so look Karen if you didn't want to be considered a road race Contender you shouldn't have gotten second at the road race national championships last year we had a very similar climb it was the clinch Avenue climb down in Knoxville but uh this one obviously with two a little bit different but I'd say she's doing just fine huge Advantage here for EF now that they have isolated these two and you see a little pat on the back even right there because they know they absolutely need Lecky here and if they can use her perfectly this is their race to lose right now for EF canondale and this is the B best person to have beside Christen fauler again I would say Kristen needs that voice of reason not only in her ear but having her teammate right there beside her to basically coach her on and sure on she doesn't need that but it always feels good to have that and to know know that sinisa did so much work early for Lauren Stevens and that Karen lecki has fought and fought and fought and still there that feels good for Christen vulner right now so now Ruth Edwards pulling off taking her last inventory of this group and slotting in back behind Lauren Stevens who has a chat with her so it goes Kristen Falkner Karen lecki Ruth Edwards and Lauren Stevens and then I see two more back there I'm to guess those are two that got dropped out of the group although I wouldn't be surprised if D crescenzo is one in there as well it's the tortoise vers the hair out here now there you go yeah Lauren de cresendo and Nicole Stein Mets so Lauren Stevens will regain another teammate two on two for sesca against F education canelle Ruth Edwards human human powered health and Laura cenzo this is a big problem and here you go they know it D crescenzo is not the rider you want to add back in here so EF canadale going to redouble the efforts here just as that group comes back they're going to hit him again in here on the way back down man now they're starting to rail these Corners this is a big move by Christen right here she's laying down the law and now just under 17 miles to go this is the kind of effort that fuler can do solo and D Renzo knows it she wants to go with her Stevens doing her best to get there I think this is Ruth Edwards this is yeah this is a big move right here Kristen fauler is not messing around she is laying down the law here she's this is a move for her and Ruth Edwards knows it oh beautiful move the counter from Edwards now Lauren Stevens realizes the pressure as well and Karen is just sitting on Lauren Stevens Steven's going to single-handedly drag Lecky up here don't expect Lecky to help at all no reason to contribute to Bringing these rers up to her teammate Chris fauler in the pink here talk about heads up rotting for Edwards saw that move covered the Gap and now we'll see if these two want to cooperate go back and take a look at this jump for Edwards seems like just as fauler let off the gas Edwards sensed it and said no we're still going keep it up we're going to keep rolling this we can do this and they must be trying to get rid of Lauren Stevens that's got to be the biggest threat to them in here well and also just to race forward you know they what we've seen a lot is that they hit the climb and they go hard and they always sit up but you know now now is the race like now like no matter what we're racing forward we're going forward even on the flats so Ruth realizes that she she knows that Kristen fauler is a hard worker and Kristen knows that Ruth is willing to put it on the line too this does put Lauren Stevens under a ton of pressure because now it's basically one against two because these two are rolling and working well together Lauren Stevens has Christ Karen lecki just sitting on she's looking back and this is uh this is dangerous for Lauren Stevens right now I think what's probably going to happen here is that that will create a second group behind them sort of another super group forming here in the chase so now Falkner in the pink Edwards in the orange and here comes de crescenzo trying to make it across she's going to bring Nicole Stein Mets with her this is a huge effort for de crescenzo she's trying to make her way up to that second group there your Corners a little more conversation here you see little conversation over the left shoulder and at this point this has to be cooperative talking between these two they got to realize what's going on here and it's very quick work yes that's it see if we can get a look back at that second group that's the million question here is what's happening in the race back for third here we go yeah this is what we expected lecki coming together with Stevens Stein Mets and a struggling day crescenzo here so this is when yes Steins has to do whatever she has left for lawen Stevens Karen's not going to do anything and uh this is also when Lauren Stevens wants to look to Lauren de cenzo and say by any chance you want to come up here and do a little bit more of that work that you were doing earlier you're doing so great but uh Lauren smart enough to cenzo to say nope the Becky has no chance of helping this group because teammate up the road here and what Stevens is going to have to do is basically attack on the climb try and get Stein Mets to manage this Gap as much as possible leading into Bridge Road climb and then Stevens has to basically go all in all the chips in the center of the table at that point and uh try like heck to make it back up to these two this is too much horsepower up the road right now for them they're not going to sit up and uh let that group of three four come back to them pretty soon we're going to have to start talking about how these two race each other to the Finish we're not quite there yet to start worrying about that because first they have to make sure that they stay away from this Chase group behind them Stein M just driving the front right now for Lauren Stevens status quo back here back onto the start finish [Music] [Applause] stretch Riders but really it's only two Riders chasing going to take us down just under 14 miles to go one last lap around the circuit here two more B big climbs on tap today for the 2024 USA cycling Road national championships and it's certainly looking like one of these two will be wearing the Stars and Stripes this year as Ruth Edwards and Kristen Falkner try to hold off a group of four behind them with 13 miles to go honestly right now I think uh Kristen fauler looks the best in the screen uh Ruth hangs her head a little bit but this this is also Telltale sign that girl is tougher than Nails Ruth Edwards has fought and fought and won so many races uh it doesn't have to look pretty she just has to cross the line [Music] first Stein still going at it she's going to do everything she can to try to get Stevens up there at this point you can't count on having Stein meds for the Finish use everything that she's got to close this Gap and then her job is done let her empty the tank to get across the Gap at some point though Stevens may have to say this isn't working I'm going to have to go myself that's I was going to say the other three know that Karen Lecky knows that so essentially Karen thinking to herself right now okay just try and follow the wheels on the climbs Lauren de cenzo knows this Lauren de cenzo knows that Lauren Stevens is going to put an attack on this climb so the three of them are going to fight like heck to just follow as best they can and uh I don't know if they're going to catch the two I don't know if they're going to catch Ruth Edwards Kristen fauler oh D crzo letting some gaps open up out of the corner she's starting to feel the fatigue she's going to get to the front here knowing that Lauren Stevens has something up her sleeve it's going to be it for Stein Mets Lecky hanging on Lauren Stevens already going across the bridge setting a fast pace dropping her teammate now Stein Mets is job is done L cenzo is actually under a bit of difficulty trying to follow and Karen Lecky is right on Lauren Steven's wheel Gap at the line was 49 seconds wow for Edwards and Falkner behind that group of four the second group it's about another 40 seconds back to names like Emma Langley Heidi frons Ashley fry Melisa Rollins and and anad darovsky and now this Chase starting to fall apart as Stein Mets will be out of it it's going to leave Stevens lecki and a dangling day crescenzo off to the right hand side of the picture here talking about Kristen fogner EF uh education easy post what do you see what do you see point it out what you got I'm just watching this Gap open more and more and more here when Kristen w her stage at welta feminina it was on a climb and it was about a 6 or 7K effort that she did so to win that race so this is uh playing right into her favor right now look at the difference in form Edwards really struggling here head bobbing side to side you see those shoulders moving and look at the difference in form for fuler up there at the front barely moving that upper body at all I know and this is what I was saying earlier is like it may not be the prettiest but uh Ruth has a way of just fighting through this and getting to the other side successfully so even though it looks like she's in difficult well she is she is in difficulty 100% if anyone I know that can fight like hacken B stay on that wheel it's Ruth there's no Jersey for R and smooth there's only a jersey for winning the bike race here this is good racing back to the chase now Stevens and Lecky de crescenzo going to be out of it and now this is squarely on the shoulders of Lauren Stevens to drag herself back up to this front group of two if she wants a shot at this National Championship Jersey right now her director's in her ear telling her anything that she needs to hear to get keep pushing her [Applause] forward again you can see the pain on her face as well rocking to the shoulders and the head right now trying to stand up staying on top of that gear as much as [Applause] possible best case for Stevens here this is that these two start playing games against each other but they're not that's the problem even if they do start playing games towards the Finish it's you know they've got 45 second Gap uh maybe more after this climb and descent so uh I just I don't know oh in I'm at a loss for words 12 miles to go now Edwards moving out to the side Ruth Edwards not afraid to take a pull here she's almost forcing her way to the front it's not like falkner's forcing her to be there Edwards moved out from behind fuler went beside her and rode up to the front and you're still on this little Riser right here now a little bit of reprieve and at one point yeah so Kristen may have let off ever so slightly and then just a bit of push over the top and so Ruth like well I'll pull through if you want me to but if you know I'm all right also sitting back here this been an incredible race really explosive racing from start to finish today so much attrition I mean everyone has talked about these climbs uh and yeah it has come to fruition that this is a brutal course Kristen's very much okay setting the pace setting her pace and Ruth is uh following as best she can if this does come down to two rers is there a better Sprinter in this group of two yes I'm hesitant to say that my gosh because I called Karen so wrong today um yeah I would say Kristen is more of a long Sprinter and uh Ruth is more of a Punchy powerful Sprinter so if Ruth can get separation uh from Kristen at the very end of the race I could see that Ruth coming around that now I think Kristen is going to go from a long way out and she's so freaking powerful it's going to be really hard to even hold her wheel Brad so uh you know those two scenarios just thinking that you know and I think they both know that so you it's Whoever has the best legs over the wartz road climb coming back down into the Finish f is going to be looking for every opportunity she has over the next 11 miles here to try to put Edwards in a little a little bit of trouble back to Stevens and Lecky that is still holding on to what looks like 40 maybe 50 seconds so I don't think Stevens is really gaining the significant time that she needs to bring this one back Brad you know what's going to happen Karen's going to get on the podium that's how it's looking that's how it's looking although I did see Lecky looking behind her so I wonder if maybe de crescenzo gets back up on I I don't see that happening even even if uh even if Lauren dienzo was to get back I'm going to guess that Karen is so Savvy if they bring her to the line at this point I'm putting her on the podium oh would put Lecky against any Rider in a Sprint to the line in this I'm changing my narrative I'm changing my narrative I'm done like I've been wrong all morning you know what I'm going to change my plan okay that's the beauty of bike racing that's how it works you never know that's why we come out here and race for three and 1/2 hours I started with the game plan and I'm changing my game plan if they can do it I can do it I think this also speaks to the selectiveness of this course the right Rider is going to win the national championships here by far the strongest American woman will win uh here in Charleston Edward's looking a little better looks like she got a little recovery in still bobbing that head side to side a little bit these are those short rollers before we hit that pretty technical descent coming back into town so just still putting that sting in the legs 's looking back just to see if uh Stevens and Karin are coming across think frenzo made it up to the Chasers Becky's got to fix that number I'll let you tell her that yeah winning her 74 74 National Championship Friday night so feeling good and feeling confident and now her teammate Kristen fogner is up the road nothing to lose in everything to gain now looks like Edwards pressing this on the way down as she moves to the front Falkner going to follow her down these are just more comfortable roll throughs you get momentum and instead of hitting the brakes you just roll to the front and take a couple pools and then that'll vice versa Kristen will come to the front and do the same thing little chance for faler to reset just make sure everything's good before you get into battle here back over the bridge with just about 10 miles of racing to go N9 and a half across the bridge Lauren de cenzo coming back to the front now and helping out Lauren Stevens a bit seeing that that Gap is probably opened up and coming down on that downhill so uh L cenzo catching back on through those rollers at the top of the climb and not afraid to go back up to the front but again Karen lecki will just sit on the back of both of the these women and just let them do the work I don't see that the Gap is going to come down too terribly [Music] [Music] much so now still that second climb to do before they return back into downtown to finish the day if that time is going to made be made up for the Chasers it's going to have to happen on this last climb of the day that's the only place that de cenzo and Stevens will have the chance to get up to Falmer here Falkner is like a metronome nothing is moving except her legs Edward still put in a big effort swapping [Music] turns and there's your Chase of day crescenzo Stevens and Lecky well there's really only two places left to win this bike race either do it on the climb or do it on the Sprint to the line those are going to be really your last two opportunities maybe a long range attack from Kristen Falkner inside the last like K as they're coming off of that climb they may have a chance to attack there but really rapidly running out of places to open up time here if you're Kristen fauler looking at Ruth Edwards here seeing that Edwards is maybe suffering a little bit do you try and hit her on the climb or do you maybe wait until you get over yeah I guess that you know I'm just sitting here thinking you know you're talking about the two places to win the race but also the two places well for sure lose the race on the climb because it depends on how the fueling has been and how both are feeling you know it's we it hasn't been that hot of a day but I mean this has been a heck of a race so um I don't know that Kristen would want to necessarily strike out that far out but if she's feeling good I would definitely expect that from her to go long uh that is pretty long but if anybody could do it it's going to be Kristen fauler so uh yeah I'm so eager to see the wch road climb uh and and these two women go at it we say for as much as we're talking about Edward's form here she's certainly riding like she's got plenty left in the tank she's not skipping po she's looking incredibly strong just on the way that she's acting the the the uh position that she's putting herself in is riding like a rider that's got plenty left in the tank Ruth has so much heart some of that also just the natural riding style I don't want to read too much into these shoulders and head and say oh you know we can tell exactly how much they have left in the tank some of that is just the natural form of the Riders on the bike both riders with two bottles in the cages as well they're going to show them a minute 50 on the time board that's it that is the information that you were looking for if you're in this front group you now know that this is going to go one and two here there's no question about it those Chasers behind will not come back and this is your gold and silver medalist right here in what order we're going to find out in 7 and2 miles from now Edwards going to cool off a little bit brief spray onto the legs and then a little down the back and then right back to work on the front Kristen going to the radio again Carmen Small in the car for her was interesting to talk to Carman about coming back to racing in the United States she's been full-time over in Europe pretty much living and working over there and she was saying that she has lost some of the touch of being an American coming back over you know the struggle that the Europeans face with just the all the differences of the you know the food the travel Logistics all that stuff Carmen I think is more European than American at this point maybe but making the same adjustment that a lot of these Riders have to make coming back all right Brad this is the work's climb and if one of these rers is going to launch an attack here it's got to be a quick clean Swift attack you're not going to roll away from the other one here and Edwards going to lead him up 2.3 uh K climb 5.5% last one of the day just 2.3k 2.3 the hardest K that they've got is there a better place to be depending on your situation on this climb like let's say Ruth Edwards is in trouble let's say she's thinking to herself like man I'm not feeling great do you want to be at the front do you want to be at the back or is the best place for a struggling Rider to be here yeah I don't I don't think you really have a choice now if you can set to the PACE that's ideal you can you if you're not feeling great uh you want to set your Tempo in a little bit lower and maybe not get off that give that poker face away but when it's just e e e e really tough to pick a winner no doubt we're talking about when and where to go for each one of them Ruth Edwards and Kristen fauler and who's feeling the best and we won't know until they come back down off of the climb and what's left of the Carnage up there so we saw them going into the climb together and uh it seemed like Kristen fauler honestly looked the best of the two only time will tell just waiting to get our live images back we'll bring those to you as soon as we have them from out on the course the Gap back to the Chase has gotten even bigger it was a minute 50 last time we saw it they're up over 2 minutes now so that's not a threat to these rers behind them they will go one and two and they just got to figure out what order as they make their way down off of that wz road climb and then we also got to talk about this sort of finishing circuit we haven't really seen these two racing on these circuits with the 90° Corners that last turn before the Finish bike handling may come into play here today no doubt and you know a lot of times in crit racing we talk about where the last corner is and where the finish line is so again that plays into Ruth edwards's Advantage she's more of a sprinter she can gauge those uh distances a bit better I would say as a pure Sprinter uh it is a long way from the last turn to the finish here because of this road race circuit uh and yes unfortunately Lauren Stevens of sesca is the big uh I don't want to say loser of the day but a big loss of the day she missed the move and she is the one basically having to ride solo with two others on her wheel and uh yeah that Gap just went up so fast Brad you basically had two against one and yeah I don't I don't know I'm so excited to see he's coming down to the line um you know again talking about Ruth races with so much heart and passion and Kristen is just on fire this year and she's she's had a great spring uh and just missed out on the TT for the Olympic selection so that's this is going to be a lot of racing here right now here we go live pictures back out on course and we are seeing a solo Kristen fuler looks like the separation was made while we were in break there and not sure what has happened to Ruth Edwards here I just think a product of that clown we were talking you know a lot of the head shoulders rocking head hanging uh and that is a Telltale sign of a bit of a struggle um and again we there's only so much heart she can race with and get away with and Christen fauler is just such a strong Rider and Kristen's gone solo now back with Edwards this is a significant Gap so Edwards given up a lot of time very quickly to Kristen fauler up the road sorry we missed the move we wish we could have seen where that came from but the outcome will be the same here as Falkner now inside of five miles on her way down in a struggling Ruth Edwards behind her and then last time we saw third fourth fifth place they were all together with Lecky Stevens and D crescenzo Kristen getting a Time Gap right there I'm guessing that is to Ruth so yeah like you're saying significant Gap now all faler has to do is keep this one steady that's all she has to do yeah it's easy ah this is such a good ride for Kristen Falkner right now riding her way to a national championship Jersey something she hasn't had yet something she definitely wants in the bank for herself and for her results so uh this is going to be a nice addition to her quiver take that back to the EF Education canelle team a point of pride [Music] hner originally out of Homer Alaska a Harvard graduate with a Computer Sciences degree and now finding her way to Charleston West Virginia she's looking to earn herself as Stars and Stripes Jersey this will be the second one of the weekend for the EF canadale team we saw Garen Le Becky win for them on Friday night in the Criterium and now fuler looking to get win for them on Saturday afternoon a Sunday afternoon sorry [Music] I'm wondering if Edwards needs to worry about what's behind her if she's going to have second place locked in here I guess it depends on how spectacular the unraveling was on the climb that is definitely a thought is you know once first place is gone up the road essentially you want to solidify second place so uh knowing what that Gap was at the start of the wch road climb I would think that she B basically you kind of have to tell yourself one you have to console yourself to okay I got to let first go and know that I'm not going to be at that TOP Step so then second you just have to fight and know that you can at least keep that second step and that they're not going to come up and come from behind to uh to grab you and take over the full Podium so yes Ruth will definitely push on as best she can kind of keeping one eye on the behind her staying Arrow here getting wow down and low you see those 90° elbows off the hoods see if we can see what she's seeing on the board 35 seconds man she blew Edwards apart a dominant performance today for Kristen Falkner hanging in there for every selection forcing it with her teammates using those other EF canondale roders where she needed to they had a plan they executed and now it's paying off wow so powerful just hit another gear there get a little more power out of this thing Kristen fauler is about to punch her ticket to World Championships this year by winning this National Championship here today I think we're going to see a lot of good results from Kristen fauler in the coming years this is just the beginning of her upswing she's had a Stell year this year happy racer so strong I know she would have liked to have had Wednesday's race missing by two t of a second surely that's got to be on her mind as she goes back into time trial mode here this is going to feel eagerly similar to her Wednesday effort in the it but really fuler can probably start enjoying this one pretty soon because she is now on to the closing circuits had a great we're also watching on the other cameras Ruth Edwards a little further back she is still [Music] alone and looking good to lock in second down we'll see the Sprint for third come across the line too that's going to be a good one to see how that one played out with Stevens Lecky and de cenzo back in that group [Music] Kristen Falkner down to her last few Corners before EF canondale will add another starts and Stripes Jersey to their weekend just three more turns between Kristen fauler and the finish line and this will be a victory ride in for Kristen Falkner she's got this one locked up doesn't need to worry about Edwards behind her and hopefully she can enjoy these last 500 M and take it all in today yeah I would think kman small is in her ear right now saying hey just play it safe through these last couple of corners and now you get to enjoy the ride enjoy all the hard work that you have done today and that the team has done the last left turn onto the finishing stretch Kristen Falkner now has the Finish Line in sight and she can smell the Stars and Stripes Jersey a perfect ride today for EF education canondale as they get Kristen fauler exactly where she wants to be and then fauler seals the deal she will be your 2024 United States Professional Road National Champion relief Elation that's a win for the whole team [Music] we should be getting a a view of there we go there's Ruth Edwards coming in and all the credit in the world to this ride today Edwards had a great run out there going to have a silver medal to show for it it was just that last climb what a ride today for Ruth Edwards fought all the way to the [Applause] end Little Wave [Music] consolation her team there to grab her she can be proud of that ride yes now Falkner gets the Embrace how quickly does a win like this set in Lauren I mean was she's thinking about it already on the run up there's been yeah you think about this in the hotel before like months months before I mean yes I think Kristen was more gear towards the time trial but uh consolation is definitely the road race um and it's something you've been planning for prepping for and when you're prepping for it you're dreaming about it and you're thinking about it and you usually the night before Nationals you cannot sleep cuz you're like what if there's always a possibility if it goes right or wrong so yeah this is something that's been on a the whole pelaton you know anything's uh possible when you're all on the start line together so um yeah now it's almost a sigh of relief that it's over it's good to see Ruth smiling here I li being in her uh on her staff help out with fueling both live in Boulder again Ruth just kind of wears her heart on her sleeve her emotions just right there on her face you can see like again that uh feeling of this race is over and that was really really hard oh she did her best and she can be proud of that of course the season continues it's not over yet they still got a lot of racing to go this year so a lot of these Riders will be back on a plane to Europe over the next week or so might get a little time back at home there's Carmen Small congratulating her Rider see if we don't get to see the Sprint for third real soon and we're keeping an eye on it for them to make their way in cuz we still got a bronze medal to award [Music] [Music] I see the photographers starting to move that may mean that got someone on the way in I'm going to guess that group started playing some pretty serious games having one and two away they uh definitely let off the pace on that climb and probably on the way in too they're probably looking at each other out there right now so they're not in a hurry to get here see if we can grab a word with Kristen fauler get her in with us after our F rers roll in and she gets a chance to cool down and debrief with the team got to say though I did appreciate Karen Le Becky on Friday coming straight here still soaking wet still have the helmet on she she really made an effort to get to us and we appreciate that we are a thank you for that here we go Stevens Lecky you brought Karen to the line yeah that's your own mistake D frenzo at the back lecki going to open it up the right [Music] side going to go Lecky Stevens de [Music] [Applause] crescenzo that'll be a bronze medal for Karen lecki one and three for EF canondale wow I called it all day I knew Kim was going to be there at the end that's [Laughter] right you never doubted [Applause] her Lauren Stevens is going to be gutted after today that was I know she was uh you know like you're saying this is something that she's been looking towards uh the all year and she had had her teammates up there she had the game plan just came up a little bit short hugs all around with Karen and [Music] Kristen really speaks to the breath of skill for Ken Le Becky as well to be able to ride the hills like that but still Sprint the way that she does wow and the teammates of Lauren Stevens deserves some credit as well that's sisa Team all over the front we saw Chloe Patrick early Allison mugal big worker up at the front of the group but all in support of Lauren Stevens and Nicole Stein meants should be pretty happy she's also coming away with the Jersey today U23 Jersey so Stein Mets must have just been on the back of that group of three I think this is going to be fron rolling in [Music] she's looking to see if she's going to get jumped in the Sprint yeah they're going to go at it every place matters here at the national championships heck [Music] yeah I think fr's going to get it taking one of the vbr Riders to the line not sure if that was konus or [Music] others top 10 still finishing up [Music] here and a davosi coming back in great rout for Orion today e [Music] [Music] what are gritter sunglasses six sunnies for fixie skitters $25 SU glasses for your $10,000 road bike vibrant dirt shields for single track cycle cross Adventures gnarling no bounce frames for the MTV Trails basically good sunglasses kit out your [Music] face so take me to my hometown my hometown is your hometown it's got a home team and a river in the middle take me to my homet my hometown is [Music] your take me to my heart my hometown is your hometown got a home team and a river in the middle [Music] H at camc our Focus has always been on building better health care for you our new Center for Learning and research combines Cutting Edge technology with hands-on experience for Physicians nurses and other caregivers using specially designed simulation rooms and Robotics with expert instruction our Learners expand their expertise because you deserve the most advanced care possible now and in the years to come welcome to the future of Medicine and it really came down to two rers off the front Lauren after a selection and then another selection and then a third selection and then down to two it really came down to that last climb of the day being joined in the booth now by Ruth Edwards second place on the day Ruth take us through that group of two when you first made that selection when did you realize that that was going to be the one that went when did you realize that you were in the winning move of the day uh I think by the time we had maybe 2 minutes I was a little hopeful we could stay away I think anything can happen and um seens was still Le uh was still climbing super strong so you never knew what could happen on that that last climb but yeah I think I was just pretty cross-eyed I'm trying to remember a little bit what happened now and I'm like wait how did we get to the Finish Line sometimes you're just going so hard you lose a little memory of what happened that's exactly what we were talking about I said Ruth you race with your heart and you if anybody knows how to dig deep and just like give everything and then even more it's you I mean we saw your your shoulders were rocking the head was dropping but if anything can if anybody could persevere through that it was going to be you can you talk us a little bit through you the two of you were off for the last lap and then you hit the Ws Road climb one last time together where you trying to set a pace or just trying to hang on Kristen's wheel how did that play out yeah I anticipated that she would attack on that climb of course so I was just trying to not be in my head as much as possible and just try and suffer even more when she goes and she stood up to go and I stood up to try and follow her and I my body was like yeah this is you know you use this effort already once today and good luck trying to do it again um and at that point I knew I just needed to still hold a really steady Pace to try and make it to the finish line which ended up being a much bigger Gap than I expected um but just try to really again hold a good Pace because you never know what could happen and yeah okay in a dream world maybe I could have caught her but again you don't know what happens you can have any in bite cing so you just keep suffering as much as you can in each moment and go forward and I just try to do that today even though you guys you got the time Gap and it was a minute 50 even then you were still concerned about com them coming from behind yeah like anything which anything can happen you don't cross the line till you cross the line that's exactly right so I try not to ever count my chickens before they patched R talk about what this means for you at Nationals how's this race different from the rest year season and how will this kind of set the tone for the rest of your season this year yeah unfortunately we really don't race in the US anymore so one huge thing that's different about this race from any other races that it's in the US while it's still a bit of a trek from Colorado where I live it's nice that the travel isn't quite so long and I have you know some of my best friends here including Lauren hle next to me so it's yeah really uh special to have that and and just to have a good race here is always important it it feels good to connect with us fans and family and then head to Europe with a bit of that like end of Springtime Confidence from a good race at Nationals so what is next you go home for a little bit and then you go back to Europe I'm guessing yeah I I live at altitude which is a nice benefit for me that I get to stay home and be at altitude training camp at the same time um and snuggle with my dog and yeah then I'll go back over for some stage racing got a big stage RAC season this year back over in Europe with a jro and Len St great all right well congratulations on a second place and we certainly hope that you'll get to enjoy it a little bit today hopefully back with your people and some folks that you haven't had the chance to see so Ruth congratulations second place your silver medalist today a great ride out there on the roads of Charleston but uh let's see if we can bring in our race winner as we've got Kristen fauler joining us in the booth now wow thank you Kristen let us be the first to say congratulations Al I know you've been mobbed out there by the group take us through your final lap but when you realize you were away with Ruth did you know you had it then or when was it when did it finally solidify for you yeah I felt pretty confident cuz I knew on the climbs I could have a really good attack on that last climb it pitches up right at the end and um it's kind of a one to two minute power effort which has really been my strength this year so I know I had a really good shot and I knew I didn't want to take her to the line cuz she's got a pretty good kick and um I haven't sprinted in a really long time so I was like I just as long as I don't take her to the line we're good and I had a few moments where I thought um would be good to attack and um that was kind of my my ideal moment was at the top of that last climb um and then if that didn't work I figured maybe at the base when there's a lot of speed I could jump her so um but she was really great to have out there with me it was really nice not to have to do that alone and um yeah she's a super strong Rider and um you know worked well with me so Kristen have you been keying in on national championships for the majority of the spring or is this just just another race in the in the schedule to be honest I try to take things one One race at a time um you know even when we were preparing for the time trial I was like don't talk to me about the road race you know like I do One race at a time and I really try to focus on it so um maybe in the big picture I knew that I was coming to Nationals this year and um but it wasn't something that I really honed in on or are really focused on until um a few days ago in in the sense that um yeah I my goal is the next race always wait you know at every race my goal is the next race when you and Karen the group was really small and you were talking a lot can you tell us a little bit about what y'all were talking about yeah well uh we really wanted to make sure that we uh the climbs were hard enough you know to to create a selection um but we didn't we wanted to make sure we kept K in there as long as possible cuz she has a really good Sprint if you if anyone saw the crit the other day she's the fastest Sprinter in America um and and she's uh really good so it's always better when you have numbers and um you know sesa had uh two people as well in that selection so we wanted to make sure that we kept two people as long as possible so um you know she was telling me to to find a good moment at some point in the last two laps and um we wanted to keep the Pace High um but but not too high were you keying off of Lauren Stevens at all like you said they kind of had numbers for the majority of the race and she had her sesa rers doing a lot of work for her so were you playing off of her or were you just solely focused on when you wanted to go and how you wanted to attack no definitely tuned into the other Riders I knew that for someone like Lauren she probably wanted to attack at some point and um push the pace on the on the final climb or on on the Steep parts of the climbs and that's exactly what she did she supposed to Pace on the Steep part of the climbs so I knew that as long as I stayed in her wheel um I'd be able to go with her if she went and then when we were on the flats I wanted to make sure just to keep an eye on her because she has attacked from Flat sections before when the pace is low um in uh you know I I raced with her at pams and that's how she won and it's also how she won nationals one year so um she's she's got a good um kind of sneaky attack and it was important for me to keep keep an eye on that how exciting is it to go back to your team now with the national championship Jersey yeah you know we're an American team and to have the American Jersey really special I've never had it before I've never you know I kind of like the pink but I have to you know if there's one thing better than pink then it's probably the Stars and Stripes so um yeah I like this jersey but I think I'll like the next one more it's such a unique thing for American Riders what uh have you missed most about racing here in the US coming back I know you don't get a race as much in the US is there anything that you miss that you really look forward to getting back that you've been able to enjoy coming back for Nationals yeah you know um it it's nice to see all the American Writers you know so close together um actually there was one race in Europe recently where there were like six of us lined up next to each other at the Star Line and that was really special to like look around and see all the top American Writers you know right next to each other at the start line um and so that was really nice and you know I started out um you know on an on an American team and to be back on an American team racing with other strong American Riders it just makes me feel really at home and it it feels a little full circle you know coming back here and um also the crowds but also like American food like I bought barbecue that's what I was asking that's what I was looking for whenever whenever I come back to America I'm like I'm going to have barbecue I'm going to go to Trader Joe's I'm going to have some pumpkin spice LTE in the fall you know so there's always like um you know there's things you miss when you're in Europe and here you come home and there's there's bits of West Viria that make you feel at home if you could have anything right now what are you craving like what's your I just took a bite of uh them Two Brothers Barbecue right before I got on air and uh yeah it's fresh in my stomach so I'm going to go back to that nice all right well we know where to find you tonight partying at them Two Brothers Barbecue here in Charleston congratulations what's next for you how long are you here when do you go back what are the next few weeks are your life look like yeah I have a whirlwind departure I fly out tonight at 5:50 go back to um Europe and then I head to a track camp in Belgium for the team Pursuit um Olympic selection camp and I'll be doing that for 2 to 3 weeks and then um after that I do tour to Swiss and then hopefully back to Colorado for another team purs Camp holy cow we can't wait to watch all of this unfold going to be busy few weeks Christen vulner your new National Champion congratulations you'll have a Stars and Stripes Jersey coming your wayk you and we'll see you on the podium here shortly Krist and Falkner our 2024 USA cycling Pro Road National Champion as we wrap up an in e e

Channel: FloBikes

Views: 15,274

Keywords: flobikes, cycling, pro cycling, worldtour, watch live

Id: lyAsdhxCOx0

Length: 245min 13sec (14713 seconds)

Published: Thu May 23 2024