The premiere cyclists and para-cyclists in the country head to Knoxville this weekend to compete in the 2019 USA Cycling Professional Road National Championships and the 2019 USA Cycling Para-Cycling Individual Time Trial and Road National Championships. Throughout the four days of racing, Olympians, World Champions, current and former National Champions and World Tour riders will compete for the honor to wear the coveted Stars and Stripes jersey for the next year.
Racing kicks off Thursday morning with the Para-Cycling Individual Time Trial and will be followed by the Pro Individual Time Trial starting with the women’s field. Riders will complete three laps of the 11.7 km loop to complete 35.1 miles. With a stacked field including 2015 Junior Individual Time Trial World Champion and Individual Pursuit World Record Holder, Chloe Dygert Owen (Brownsville, Ind.; Sho-Air TWENTY20), Pan American Champion, Leah Thomas (Boulder Creek, Calif.; Bigla Pro Cycing) and 2018 U23 National Champion, Emma White (Delanson, N.Y.; Rally-UHC Cycling), defending National Champion and two-time World Champion Amber Neben will have her work cut out for her. In the men’s race, back-to-back reigning National Champion Joey Rosskopf (Decatur, Ga.; CCC Team) will not be returning to defend his title, leaving the jersey open for new shoulders to be set on. Riders to watch include the 2017 U23 World Championship Silver Medalist, Brandon McNulty (Phoenix, Ariz.; Rally-UHC), reigning U23 National Champion, Ian Garrison (Decatur, Ga.; Hagens-Berman Axeon) and 2018 U23 National Champion Gage Hecht (Parker Colo; Aevolo Cycling). Racing will begin at 10:30 am with the first female rider followed by the Men’s Field.
Friday’s races will move to Downtown Knoxville starting at 4:45 pm with the Hand Cycle Relay followed by the Women’s and Men’s Criterium National Championships where they will do 1.7km circuits. In the Women’s race, returning National Champion, Leigh Ann Ganzar (Austin, Tex.; Hagens-Berman Supermint) will compete against a heavy field of capable sprinters including Kendall Ryan (Ventura, Calif.; Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank), Coryn Rivera (Newport Beach, Calif.; Team Sunweb), Samantha Schneider (West Allis, Wisc.; CWA Racing p/b Trek), Skylar Schneider (West Allis, Wisc.; Boels-Dolman), and defending U23 National Champion, Emma White (Delanson, N.Y.). On the Men’s side, defending National Champion, Ty Magner (Griffin, Ga.; Rally-UHC) will likely be bumping bars with the likes of Travis McCabe (Prescott, Ariz.; Floyd’s Cycling), Eric Young (Geneva, Ill.; Elevate-KHS), and newly crowned U23 National Champion Michael Hernandez (Clermont, Fla.; Aevolo Cycling).
Saturday will feature the Para-Cycling Road Race starting at 7:30 pm at Governer Ned McWherther Riverside Landing Park as well as an Olympic Day celebration starting at 10:30 am at the start/finish line of the Road Race on South Gay St.
Sunday starts at 9:00 am with the Women’s Road Race where defending National Champion Coryn Rivera (Newport Beach, Calif.; Team Sunweb) will make an attempt at her 73rd National Title. Among her competitors are 2018 U23 National Champion Emma White (Delanson, N.Y.; Rally-UHC), Katie Hall (Saratoga, Calif; Boels-Dolman), Ruth Winder (Boulder, Colo.; Trek-Segafredo), Tayler Wiles (Fairfax, Calif.;Trek-Segafredo) Alexis Ryan (Ventura, Calif.; Canyon-SRAM) and Chloe Dygert-Owen (Brownsville, Ind.; Sho-Air TWENTY-20). Following the women’s race, the men will roll off the start line at 1:15 pm. Defending National Champ and hometown hero, Jonny Brown (Hagens-Berman Axeon), will face off against big names like Peter Stetina (Santa Rosa, Calif.; Trek-Segafredo), Keil Reijnan (Bainbrige Island, Wash.; Trek-Segafredo), brother Nate Brown (Nashville, Tenn.; EF-Education First), Travis McCabe (Prescott, Ariz.; Floyd’s Cycling), Neilson Powless (Roseville, Calif.; Jumbo-Visma) and Brandon McNulty (Phoenix, Ariz.; Rally-UHC).
Last year, Emma White (Delanson, N.Y.; Rally UHC) swept the U23 Women’s Categories. This year, the 21 year old will come back to defend her titles. Challengers will be Chloe Dygert-Owen (Brownsville, Ind.; Sho-Air TWENTY-20), Summer Moak (Scottsdale, Ariz.; Rally-UHC) and Skylar Schneider (West Allis, Wisc.; Boels-Dolman)
Para-cyclists to watch:
Shawn Morelli - WC4 (Meadville, Penn.)
- 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships: gold (TT, RR)
Will Groulx - MH2 (Portland, Oregon)
- 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships: gold (road race, team relay); silver (time trial)
Oksana Masters - WH5 (Louisville, Ky.)
- Won five medals at the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 in Nordic skiing
Alicia Dana - WH3 (Putney, Vt.)
- 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships: silver (RR, TT)
Oz Sanchez - MH5 (San Diego, Calif.)
- 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships: gold (TT, team relay); silver (RR)
Joe Berenyi - MC3 (Aurora, Ill.)
- 2019 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships: gold (kilo TT), silver (scratch); bronze (team sprint)
Ryan Boyle - MT2 (Monroe, Conn.)
- 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships: gold (RR, TT)
Clara Brown – C3 (Falmouth, Maine)
- 2019 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships: 5th (TT); 6th (scratch); 8th (pursuit)
Jamie Whitmore - WC3 (Somerset, Calif.)
- 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships: bronze (RR, TT)
How to Follow Along:
For the latest the 2019 USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships, follow @USACyclingLIVE on Twitter and @USACycling across all other social media platforms. Friday’s Criteriums as well as Sunday’s Road Races can be viewed live locally on WATE 6 on Your Side as well as nationally on USA Cycling’s Facebook and YouTube Channels.
Start Lists: https://www.usacycling.org/article/2019-pro-para-road-national-champs-start-lists-call-ups
Visit USACycling.org for more information on the athletes, events and membership programs.
For more information, please contact Kelly Fox at apalermo@usacycling.org
