LIVE: 2024 USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships on FloBikes – Elite Female Criterium

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will be out there tonight Lauren Hall joined by Brad soner here as we are ready to kick off what will now be our fourth day of racing here in Charleston a new venue for USA cycling Road national championships and I got to say things looking really good for the next four years here yeah it’s a beautiful course uh walk the course earlier today and just really looking forward to a completely different race scenario playing out today really unique course here Six Corners unlike the past courses we’ve had the last few years no Hills on this one this is really a pure Criterium course today yes I was actually talking to a couple of the athletes earlier and that this is just straight up positioning crit and uh you definitely know how to sprint out of the corner and knowing your position well going into a couple of these really tight Corners uh and making sure your uh teammates are looking after you some evening racing here as well they have been quiet for most of the day we’ll have our Elite women up first they will race uh 75 minutes we’ll move to laps after get an average lap time and then our men up after that for 90 minutes of elite men’s racing your races on tap here this evening so little rain in the forecast it’s been kind of spotty here uh with some scattered showers we’ll call it it’s still a little muggy out there but we’re hoping it stays dry for the riders today yeah and again this is some of the the the questions that have to be asked you know this uh Sunday a bit more important to some of these Riders than not so if it does rain see if uh some of those uh ladies may pull out tonight but I expect everyone to finish today live coverage for our criteriums tonight and then we’ll be back with you on Sunday here on Flow bikes for the elite men’s and Elite women’s Road Race national championships they’ll have a day off on Saturday little recovery from the craterium tonight and then we’re back to road racing live here on Flo on Sunday Lauren let’s get right into it talk about some of the favorites here I think you have to look at the defending champ the now 73 time National Champion Karen Lecky last year’s champion no doubt Karen Lecky just someone that we’re always going to be talking about as long as she is racing she’s she’s very proud to wear that stars and stripes and uh she is a singular Rider here tonight which is going to be a key factor again we’re talking about this course last year winning with a defending t with defending on that Hill uh that will not be the case tonight as it’s a Flatout course well of course you can’t talk about last year’s race without talking about Kendall Ryan’s second place in that Sprint to the line it was uh contentious I guess we’ll call it it was a little tight uh there was some arguing going on by one of the rers on the finish line but I don’t think we’ll have that issue here this is really going to be a race to the line here again Sprinter course on this yeah look Kendall Ryan definitely is a competitor and that is something that we like to see and she didn’t like losing and uh I think tonight we’re going to hear a little bit more from her Ken Le Becky always the wild card here the difference this year she did a little more Criterion racing in the leadup to this one spent a few days down at speed week down south kind of prepping and also I think showing off that national champions Jersey it’s always tough when a European based Rider wins a national championship they don’t get the opportunity to race a lot here so it was really nice that Karen and her team were able to to kind of show off that Jersey at least a few times before she uh may have to give it up today right you’re always wanting to win a Stars and Stripes Jersey it’s something to very be very proud of and like you said she wanted to come back to the United States represent that Jersey do it proud and uh yeah hopefully tonight she can repeat or we’ll see if uh Kendall Ryan doesn’t have something to say about that what can Karen Le Becki do on a course like this where there is no Hill where she’s going to be able to win on power this one is really about technique sprinting there are some tight Corners out there bik handling is going to be much more important this year no doubt Karen is definitely going to have to be race Savvy again being a singular Rider out here no teammates she’s got her uh her race cut out for her but uh I think she’s definitely up for the challenge and if anyone knows how to be Savvy and pick the Right Moves is Karen here’s your start Finish Line just along the banks of the canal River they head out to turn one for what is the relatively easy Corner we’ll call it the real heavy turns come like turns 3 4 five that’s really where this race is going to be one lost love corer Street running into Hail Street that is definitely going to be a definitive point in the race you may not win the race at that corner but you can definitely lose the race uh and through the start finish it is a long start finish straight so you have to be super Savvy in where you sprinting on what side of the road you’re sprinting and what time timing you’re sprinting is going to be crucial for tonight is there a perfect place to be out of this last corner do we know yet where you want to be yeah I mean you know last night and you can usually use some of the U23 and Junior races as a a bit of a a guide to how the race will play out and Gavin winning winning last night solo that definitely tells you that a break can stick but yeah if you’re going to be a sprinter out of uh this last corner I’m going to say at least second or third wheel back that’s usually like you always want someone to just take you right to the line Brad so it’d be nice if uh if someone can do that for Karen but uh she’s going to have to play off of others 76 on the start L total this will be a big field it’s nice to see big fields returning to our Elite Criterium national championships here obviously the biggest names get the lowest numbers the defending champs second place last year but there’s a lot of names on this list that are going to have legitimate shots at a Podium today no doubt and I I’d also like to say like CCB is going to be here DNA Pro cycling is also going to be a team we’re going to talk a lot about tonight F cycling has had a great spring uh Lily Williams Ruth Edwards of the human power health Team so we you know if we’re keying off of one person it’s just because that’s who we who won last year but look it is a stack field like you’re talking about Brad we’re going to be talking about everybody tonight sinisa also add that group in there uh it’s going to be a stacked field stacked race Dynamic race I cannot wait plenty of wild cards in this field as we’re just about 10 minutes away from race start they are just about ready to start introducing rers which means we got a little time to take a quick break here on Flo bikes and when we come back we’ll meet your front row from the 2024 USA cycling Criterium national championships I ride because I love it I ride for 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 are Dynamic 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 matte black finish like Marian boss you’ve got a Sleek helmet like Roman B cutting through the air like a falcon and the coolest kit on the pellaton like kapas and the passion and courage of Cannonball Cav dish yeah you got it all but you haven’t got the cotton tires the Bros ride until now [Music] [Music] and [Music] welcome back there is your defending Champion K Le Becky getting the number one call up and number one on her back as she looks to defend the stars and stries Jersey but she’s got some close competition next to her Khloe Patrick third place last year U23 National Champion now racing with the Elite field it’s going to be really exciting to see if Patrick can improve on her third place last year no Chloe Patrick has had a good spring this year again she’s already winning races and uh excited to see her right here in the front row looks calm cool and Collective she’s going to have one of her sinisa cycling teammates with Katherine sarov up to the front row and then CCB up there with Ella Brenham another strong strong young Rider winner of the 1718 national championships back in 2023 and now graduating to the elite ranks as U23 Lily Williams up next some Olympic Talent on the front row here yeah named to the long list Olympic team and uh again we’ve she’s come by the booth a couple of times and someone else who’s just you know nice and calm and ready to race next comes Skyler Schneider another Criterium specialist with a road resume she’s raced in Europe she’s raced with the best a PanAm Champion but has been targeting the Criterium she’s going to be one to watch as well next comes Mia aseltine the Competitive Edge racing Rider wearing number 32 she’ll have Cassidy hickey next to her now riding with the CCB LaVine Law Group team and then comes Alexis Magner the sister of second place last year Kendall Ryan now Alexis Magner and then think she should have Lauren zorner next to her again yeah and I would put uh Alexis Magner definitely in the Hat for tonight’s win she’s uh she’s come off good form speed week just a couple weeks ago uh her and her sister kindall again you know you never know who’s going to try and go for the Sprint out of the two of them so uh it’ll be an interesting race for both of them tonight all right underway for 75 minutes of racing didn’t get to all the call UPS on that front row Kai Schmidt was called up Shaya Palace Aubrey rumman Olivia cumins and Andrea seir all getting call-ups on the front row or at least as close to the front row as they could fit today I think we had a spacing issue on the line look they want to protect their space early uh they’ve been rolling around checking out the course and uh yet to start the race at the front uh it just kind of helps shake out the nerves Brad get you settled in and uh go ahead and get clipped in and not have to worry about anyone else in front of you and already starting to see rers moving up left hand side of the picture here DNA bringing some Riders up to the front a team like DNA is going to have the numbers to play tonight there are sort of a few different types of riders in this race you’re either someone like Karen Lecky who’s basically on your own or you’re one of these Criterium teams who’s going to have four five six Riders to start like DNA F some of the bigger squads how do you play that if you’re a team what do you do and if you’re Karen Lecky all by yourself I know she probably doesn’t need a whole lot of advice as a defending champ but how does a solo Rider strategy different from a team strategy yeah that’s a great question Brad and you know the teams uh talking to DNA procycling as they were rolling up uh if they can roll something off the front and you start to look around and you look at your numbers and who’s with you you have to be race Savvy and know who you’ve pulled up the road and then uh then you got to check yourself you got to check yourself to see if you have good legs if it’s the right mix if it’s the right people and you have to check your ego if there’s someone in that group that you think May potentially beat you you have to know how to call it and say no no you know what this isn’t right I want to go back we need to reshuffle this this is needs to be with another teammate and Karen on the other hand basically has again has to know who to follow what who she thinks she has to hedge her bet on who she thinks is going to be the most threat to her anyone up the road or play the gamble of uh this is all going to come back together another team is going to want this back together uh and just hope that that team does weld things back together so a lot of you know we always compare bike racing to gambling or poker face or chess and that is the game name of the game is playing these uh on the bike games we got a little preview last night with some Junior and U23 racing we saw really both scenarios play out a late race Breakaway for Gavin lady worked out in his favor a solo break at one lap to go ended up winning the bike race for him but saw some field Sprints as well so uh both methods are viable viable ways to win the national championship here and that’s that’s exactly the thing is so Gavin goes up the road knowing that Brody McDonald is s was sitting in the pocket right so again that’s the game that we play and uh that’s what these ladies are going to do tonight we’ll be looking for moves like that from DNA certainly going to have the numbers here and uh sending a pretty clear message early on that they intend to be aggressive on the front sent pretty much the whole Squad up to the front immediately and immediately getting to work up here so those are the white jerseys with kind of pink stripes you see a few of those up there in fact they’re going three deep over on the right hand side of your screen La sweat moving up as well and then human powered Health this is another jersey that we don’t see a lot in the American pelaton a primarily European based team so nice to see names like Lily Williams back racing here in the US and Ruth Edwards the two again it’s just the two of them uh and these are kind of like the wild cards like uh you know when you have the ones and twos this is where the other the F cycling the CCB the sinisa and DNA procycling that’s a wild card for them they know these are strong Riders they know they can’t let them up the road but uh can you take one of them up the road and take your chance against a world tour Rider you might as well try so uh you know these first couple of laps Brad I will imagine that most of these women that are coming up here and rolling through it’s the nerves it’s a national championship it doesn’t matter what race it is you want to win that Jersey it is such a point of Pride and uh you know that’s we’re going to have a couple laps of just nervous hard riding before the tactics really start to set in I think that’s what Lily Williams is doing here using Ruth Edwards just keep her out of trouble just keep her near the front make sure that uh if something does happen in one of these tight Corners she’s not caught behind it safest place to be in the bike race that’s right now sisa going to put some Riders up on the front again this is another Powerhouse team with Euro Pro road palar but how do they do in the Criterium is the mill million dollar question and sisa they spend uh they are based they’re a US team but they are based over in Europe and France and you know they have very powerful riders for their team so uh yeah just had Cara O’Neal roll to the front right there again just hey everybody we’re going to put our face up there put our Jersey up there uh let everyone know in this pelaton that we are here to represent uh and to race Goldman sacks ETFs getting up to the front as well they’re going to be in the dark blue jerseys out there another solid Squad they’re going to roll deep here and uh plenty of Criterion racing under their belt they were down at that speed week run just a few weeks ago a few days ago I guess I should say they’re going to set up on the front here couple Riders already coming unglued off the back one velocious Rider off the back out of Winston Salem North Carolina I would imagine she’s more of a development Rider so uh just I think the nerves probably got the best of her and once you’re off the back you’re kind of out of that draft Brad so uh again we’re talking about these first couple laps nervous fast r ing energy being expended so uh if you’re kind of spit out the back that’s that’s pretty tough for her about to get faster as we see some big names coming to the front here DNA I think putting Kim Luchi up on the front do a little bit of work here and look what it’s doing to the rers at the back out of the saddle suffering from that snap that DNA is putting on the front right now [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] looks like Legion going to make their way up to the front as well little shift in the team makeup from last year talking about that Legion and Austin Outlaws program Miami Blazers uh the sister Duo being broken up Kendall and Alexis and then the other pair of sisters Skyler and Sam a really unique time in American bike rat and they have two pairs of sisters out there racing at the top of their game and those are like two of the favorites in this race yeah Legion of Los Angeles started and their bread butter is Criterium racing so uh and yeah who better to have on your team than the sisters the Sam and Skyler uh again you talk about Alexis and Kendall and you can equally talk about uh Sam and Skyler as just being the onew punch of never really knowing who’s going to go for the Sprint and what a beautiful problem to have for them you know just to always keep that mixed up here we go DNA Pro cycling they’re ready to race this is Kim luchu right here on the front ready to make things go a little bit harder she’s already shaking her head a little bit in disbelief like hey look let’s go uh uh but Kim yeah you got a a long time to race tonight aluchi with less than ideal preparations coming into this one she had some travel difficulty getting here but glad to see her out with her bike and on the front of the bike R right maybe she’s uh getting that energy out that travel energy out of her legs now oh and they’re going to go again they are just going to keep this tempo as high as they can all night DNA just lifting Riders to the front they are repeatedly lifting the tempo here so that’s going to be the story for a lot of this You See Kai Schmidt taking a look here all the big names recognize what’s happening here and they know that this is a ction being made by DNA Ka Schmidt coming uh back from Europe I’d say and uh she races for Liv alula Joo so uh only 21 years old in the world tour you know I’d like to say she’s doing really well over there maybe not getting the results right now just because she’s in the deep end and just really trying to cut her teeth over there and World Tour and uh get that experience so uh glad she’s here tonight and looking for a good result from Kaa it’s going to be Ka third position number 21 there just out of the corner and I wouldn’t expect her to go any less than like top 20 tonight I think that’ll be the same with Ken Le Becky up there I wouldn’t expect to see even Lily Williams and Ruth Edwards they’re going to try and stay as close to the front as they can this is the corner that I I’m a little concerned with Brad this quarrier right hand turn onto hail you can kind of see the outside of the pelaton right here every time the speed is high and the pelaton is all together that left hand that left uh side kind of curb lip kicks out a little bit and uh grabs you a bit by surprise and it’s a tight Point what you can’t really tell on TV is it goes from a big wide Road into that right hand tight turn and it you know there’s only so many uh of the group that can fit through there so it’s quite it’s a pinch point for sure there’s a little split coming Goldman Sachs moving up some of the fountain Riders going to try and get there [Music] in fact F going to get to the front here I think that’s Alexis snow taking a look now they have had a great year this year Fountain has are really kicked off this 2024 season in an incredible fashion with heila Redlands they had a great first sort of quarter of this season and uh hopefully they can carry some of that momentum into Nationals here no doubt that team led by Jennifer wheeler uh directed by Jennifer wheeler so uh uh she is definitely a passionate reor and she’s going to have a high expectations for her Riders tonight it’s B in the green right here you see just one Jersey but there’s some reinforcements coming up the right hand side of the field and then the omnipresent ASO sleeve of the Williams Racing dvo teams group really not stringing out much here early on but there is a constant fight to get to the front every time I see that group spread out there’s rers moving up either side trying to get there seems like the big teams are controlling this one pretty well early on here yeah and I think uh the ones and twos the kaay and uh the schneiders and uh Alexis Magner and Kendall Ryan they have to buy their time they have to just be patient and sometimes that can be the most frustrating and hard thing to do is just sit there and let things come to you you a lot of times you want to bring the race to these women but you you don’t have any other teammates so if it all goes south and you know you have bad legs for a bit which you can come out of you have to be careful you you just can’t spend your energy and uh yeah unfortunately you have to wait and let the race come to you and so they’re just going to be like sharks in in water just waiting for their time just waiting for that blood to drop and uh yeah I think it’ll it’ll come about halfway through this race I see just a little bit of elevation change on this one I don’t think there’s enough to really call it a hill but there is a little bit of a downhill out of turn five into six right [Applause] here I love this course I I absolutely love it and I I would itch to be R Racing this uh as a sprinter it’s just is perfect yeah a lot of riders in bad position here as Tempo going to pick up again looks like monarch cycling on the [Music] front quick look over the shoulder to see who’s with her she she looks over and says wait everybody’s still there [Music] see a little bump on this course too it’s a raised pedestrian crossing the back of the field just went over it uh it’s enough to Buck you a little bit on the bike if you’re at speed and not expecting it yeah you know what’s beautiful about this course is that everyone’s already pre- ridden it mostly on open roads so uh you don’t really get a sense you can get an idea of where you want to start your Sprint what side of the road you want to be on but you don’t get a sense for what it feels like until you’re in the race scenario so there’s manhole covers there’s holes and uh again when you’re pre- riding it and there’s no stress you can kind of sit back on your bike a bit and go around these things but once you’re in the race it’s all bets off and you just have to roll with the pelaton uh and and so again just kind of absorbing all that first year here in Charleston and getting a sense for everything and how it plays out because really all they have to go on is uh the races that happened yesterday [Music] DNA staying on the front here certainly the most aggressive team so far out there tonight still a lot of racing to go seems like those rers at the back back in so uh there going to be a lot of according effect going on out there in the field back of the race is not where you want to be on a day like today field back through the line really not seeing the single file racing yet it’s sort of this like Elite group of 20 riding at the front really just taking turns keeping a relatively High Tempo and putting these Riders at the back in trouble part of that is maybe because everybody is just constantly fighting to get to the front it’s eliminating that single file formation it’s still the washing machine effect as we like to talk about uh there aren’t any real tactics played out quite yet uh it’s just you roll up to the front as your team and represent kind of get a sense for things and yeah at the front they it’s it’s a little bit hard to be up there because you’re essentially breaking that wind for your P for the pelaton behind you so then you drift back and uh and then the next group kind of filter up to the front so right now things are just uh status quo [Music] human powerered health doing a nice job keeping Williams up there how long can Ruth Edwards do this tonight I mean is this a 75-minute effort for Ruth Edwards here uh you know oh no you know again I think the two of them are keying in a bit more on Sunday to be honest with you Brad but uh uh if the race comes to them they’ll you know they’ll gladly participate but I’m glad they’re here in the race but uh I think she’s kind of just going to wait until she again filters back a bit and you know we’re only 16 minutes in again we’re talking about the nervous energy is still there I mean these are Elite endurance athletes they’re not even thinking about uh being a bit tired until after after the race essentially after an hour right so uh yeah still just kind of like shaking things out we talked with Lily a little bit she was on her way to the start line today saying it’s just like a track race right it’s just like a mass start track race and she said yeah but there’s Corners that’s the biggest thing that she’s got to adjust for so luckily she’s got her wingwoman the loyal Lieutenant up front and pretty clear who they’re going to be working for tonight I guess uh or what the role is maybe we’ll see them switch and just keep each other out of trouble at the front of the bike race but looks like Ruth is working for Lily right now Nationals does bring a whole different uh dynamic to the race you know they they’ve spent the spring racing against World Tour they’ve been at Redlands in tour of the hila you know this pelaton has been around each other and then all of a sudden you you wave a national championship in someone’s face and kind of like some of some of the tactics kind of go out the window some of uh the nerves are definitely there I keep talking about that I’m going to talk about that a lot your nerves and just uh just how much how important this race is and how important wearing the Stars and Stripes is one represent in your team uh representing your community and all the hard work that you put into this training like everybody’s watching everybody wants you to win you’re here so it it just adds another Dynamic to the pelaton nervousness and moving around so uh yeah you’re not going to see Ruth or lily go too far back uh just out of safety Factor you can see how slow it gets at the back too that means the snap out of each corner is going to take even more out of your legs the further you are towards the back of the group so front of the not only the safest place to be but the smoothest as well if you’re looking for a power file without too many ups and downs well first of all this is the wrong discipline to be in but if you’re trying to minimize the ups and downs of your power profile riding at the front’s the best way to do it DNA doing a beautiful job here F going to take over here as well this is the racing that we’ve become accustomed to in the women’s Criterium pellaton over the last year and a lot of times you kind of want to look around and be like I don’t want to be the first one to make the attack and you know who was that first one F cycling definitely says hey you know what let’s give this a try uh they want to get up the road as well I think that they Faire better in a break than they would in a field Sprint and they’re going to probably look to DNA cycling they’re going to look to CCB and they’re going to look to Sisco is like hey let’s uh let’s work a little bit together and see if we can’t get something up the road f starts six riders in the race today Daniel oino Katarina Gregorio minor minawa Alexis snow marger Ronaldo and Elizabeth Dixon in the dark green jerseys for f but they’re going to battle DNA on the front here who also brought a stacked roster to the National Championship talked about Kim Luchi doing work on the front earlier should working with Holly bre Olivia cumins Megan Easler Heather Fischer Michaela mcferson and Shaya Palace all in those white DNA Pro cycling kits another jersey that will be awarded tonight is the U23 Jersey so there’s kind of two races Happening Here uh and that’ll shake out and we’ll talk about that a little bit more throughout the race but uh yeah a couple of different Dynamic races happening DNA procycling going forward again and she’s going to string it out get some Rider single file up front as the attacks continue to flow here just over 20 minutes into our 75-minute race 60 Minutes for these Riders we’re going to take a quick break here and when we come back with more live racing from the 20 e welcome back looking at a single file line here on the front as DNA has taking over while we were in break and putting some real riders in trouble at the back [Music] now not everybody can be on the front at the front and that’s a product again I just talk about this course and how much I love it you can’t sit at the back all race and expect to be at the Finish you have to have good position here and we are seeing the unfortunate bit of lots of riders out of position and really struggling to get back into this group and now you’re seeing why Ruth Edwards doing so much work to get up to the front now you’re seeing why DNA was all hands on deck why F was trying to get their Riders up to the front they knew this moment was coming and you got to be on the right side of the split if you want a shot at the Finish you’re exactly right [Music] Brad this looks like a pretty rough Corner through there it’s not very smooth uh and again just it just kind of wears on you a little bit it adds a little factor to being in the pelaton and being close cuz you kind of get bumped around on those on the road and you can you you get the chance of actually running into a couple of your athletes beside you left and right so uh you know everyone’s a bit cautious through that turn right there DNA procycling off the front right here this looks like Holly Breck maybe I’m going to agree we’ll get confirmation and now wck going to take advantage of these high speeds and a little bit of chaos on the back and try and get off the front this is the right move for DNA if you’ve got the numbers you’ve got to send at least a few Riders up the road tonight no doubt uh DNA would definitely like one or two more with them but uh she’ll take it for now sinisa not looking too worried about it around the corner they’re going to let that one roll but now Holly bre stuck in a pretty tough position here all by herself no doubt i’ see someone trying to come across there it look like f and basically being covered right here DNA procycling helping her Rider oute by having someone come across with this F cycling Rider Ruth Edwards sitting second will Legion of Los Angeles right behind them oh now the concern becomes they may be bringing too many riders up to them this is a big group all seemingly work to bring bre back Goldman Sachs etf’s going to get up there [Music] too if DNA cycling makes contact with her teammate she then needs to go on a Counterattack you see just sitting on the wheel of Kai Schmid right there I think that might be Andrea sear the new signing for team Goldman Sachs he F racing yeah DNA should have already gone by now so uh buying her time a little bit doesn’t help the tactics too terribly much look like shayana Palace sitting third wheel right there it may not be her night maybe she is meant to just sit in the pocket uh and just be in good position um if you are in good position and someone tries to go across you might as well cover it for your teammates and that’s just uh that’s the best case scenario instead of asking one of your teammates to come five six seven wheels back to make a big jump like that is kind of a gamble so uh that’s well [Music] played now we just wait for the counter great crowd turnout here in Charleston as well really impressive uh first year host here sometimes it takes a few years for the word to get out how great of a party this really is but they got it figured out here in Charleston and how nice is everybody I I uh I’ve had multiple people from the community ask me are you here for the bike race yes we are so glad you’re here it’s great everyone has been so welcoming we’re having a great time rers using this opportunity to grab some bottles get some gels good chance to move up as well with a little reset in this field after a DNA attack that’s a a good point Brad when the racing is on there’s not a whole lot of time to really remove your hands from the bars because everyone’s kind of moving left and right and you’re breaking or accelerating out of these turns so yeah when you get your opportunity you got to take them to take on some fluid and some some calories here’s a move maybe a will Willam check that and it’s going to be another Monarch [Music] Jersey so now second move going away we’ll see if anyone goes with this one I think that looks like Shannon K of Kingdom Elite racing right there she’s been in the this is definitely a kingdom Elite Jersey here and same thing not going to get any help a breakaways worst nightmare yeah that or the entire pelaton comes across to [Music] you it’s the right move though again for Kingdom Elite if you’ve got a chance to try and take some of these World Tour riders with you if you’ve got a few rers in this field who you think maybe aren’t interested in a Sprint and you want to go with them might as well try it Kingdom Elite starts four with Gabrielle Dixon meline Wayman Valentina Hernandez and Shannon KO here yeah that’s definitely Shannon KO right there and now cke just got to stay on the gas what is the Tipping Point Lauren for a solo Rider away I mean when do you cut your losses what is the the stop loss in this scenario no doubt uh if you have a chance to give it a couple of laps and you don’t have any more than 10 seconds 20 seconds uh 20 seconds you can stay out there then you’re on the fence but uh the beauty I mean we’ve seen this we’ve seen that you know Gavin lady last night won solo but granted he didn’t win until the the end of the race but he was solo Midway through the race uh and then was able to recover in the pelaton and go again again so you know you look at that for historical data look looking to towards tonight’s race and how that can play out then Shannon’s going to take her chance and Shannon is more of a Time trist effort kind of Rider uh so you know this is where she’s hedging her bets for her team and saying you know what I’m going to be best up the road I’m not someone that everybody’s looking at she didn’t have a call up she isn’t someone we’ve talked about so uh yeah no one in the pelon’s really looking for her to win no one here tonight was looking for her to win and you know what she’s taken that and saying you know what I’m going to use that information to my advantage try and get up the road and she’s she’s creating a bit of a gap and a bit of confusion not confusion in the pelaton but really who’s going to go who’s going to make that move and here it is it’s DNA procycling moving up that right side attacking up the right bringing a legion of Los Angeles with her and if they get up there this is going to be all back together again Shannon Koke a masters national champion last year won her age category but uh racing in the elites this year in 2024 so speaks to the wide range of talents in here and again rers from sort of both ends of the spectrum European Pros doing this full-time and then there’s full-time N9 to-5 workers mothers people who are not full-time professional cyclists let’s say who have made it to the elite level of racing here you’re exactly right and that’s a great Point Brad I mean we’ve got multiple disciplines racing here you’ve got uh mountain bikers you got cyclocross racers in the fall and winter uh that want to cross over and race road gravel you know it’s it’s all here anything on two wheels everyone’s participating and uh pin in a number in racing uh and kind of the a all the ages too like you’re talking about so a ton of background going into the race tonight and into the pelaton makes the Dynam so much more Shannon still has a pretty good Gap she would like to be out of sight uh and put a little bit more pressure under the pelaton you know we’re talking about that that Breaking Point looking back you can kind of get a gauge like who’s chasing me down and why so uh there’s also a building after turn one in between turn one and turn two it’s a long straightaway and there’s a glass building you can kind of look into the building and kind of get a reflection look and get a sense for for your form and see who’s coming across couple Riders realizing here this may be a serious move for Shannon Coke up the road so they’re going to try and send a couple up with her DNA sparking it Goldman Sachs going to go with him and the New Jersey of La sweat also getting up there so now KO about to have some company that gold medal ride last year in the Masters National Championship won out of a break away she almost lapped the field she got like almost like three quarters way around the course almost caught the back of the group so she’s a breakaway Rider through and through that’s how she’s going to try and win this bike race not going to work out this time but you can’t win if you don’t play that’s right and not right now again maybe she’s uh she’s going to get back there to see when she attacked how she attacked uh and reassess the game plan saw the first thing everyone did once that catch was made was start looking over their shoulders for the counter they know it’s coming it’s just a question of who and when will counter the shanton coke move as the kingdom Elite racing Rider brought back and now they’re all back [Music] together and you see who’s at the back of this pelaton right here that’s uh Ruth Edwards human powered Health uh you know we saw her at the front and kind of gave this this look on her face of like uh this is I don’t know she just wasn’t feeling good her legs weren’t there uh but yeah she’s going to she’s gone to the back now now F really going at it here and they should they they don’t have anything to lose and everything to gain uh they have been uh so dynamic in their spring racing this year uh and and coming away with some really good results and not really a team to that we’re looking to to do that to have those results but uh Jennifer wheeler always finds these women you know know and says Hey try bike racing you’re going to love it and uh it takes them a little while to figure out you know a couple of races to figure it out and then they get the confidence and hey I belong at the front why not and you know that’s exactly what they’re doing here it’s amazing how much un untapped Talent is out there that has been uncovered in the women’s Fields so let me direct you to Taylor nib the winner of our women’s individual time trial who gave bike racing a shot and walked away with a national championship and an Olympic bid I think it’s wonderful she was at the time trial last year and she was fourth in the time trial last year and flew a bit under the radar you know we were looking more and talking a lot more about the Christen falers of the world um and the Laurence Stevens of the world and for Taylor nib to come in and grab that you know that that’s a testament one to trap on and uh what a sport that is and and to Taylor’s strength so uh yeah you you never know who’s in the pelaton and again we talk about again national championships it brings the cream of crop to the top uh and uh yeah it’s a it’s a whole different race weekend F looking around on the front with some reinforcements coming this is maybe the hardest part of Criterium racing Lauren the constant battle to get to the front I know I don’t need to tell you about but that’s where the real effort in these races you see rers on the FR but the work that they did to get there that’s the real work of the night and uh I just saw someone in the Pelon that we haven’t talked a lot about is Chloe Patrick of sinisa uh winner of the U23 Jersey last year strong strong Rider uh she’s kind of one of my favorites for tonight uh and we haven’t talked about her because she hasn’t been at the front and you’re talking on that you have to have the confidence to know that your pelaton around you is going to be safe and that you know how to ride your bike and that they do too and and Trust the system trust that uh everyone’s going to keep it upright and make good choices hey you got to remember you talk about Khloe Patrick the U23 National Champion that came on a third place in the elite national championships they raced together but are scored separately she had an incredible ride that means that she was third to Kendall Ryan in Kar Lecky last year which really said something about Chloe Patrick so that’ll be a name to keep an eye out for as well the sinisa cycling rer kind of a white chest orange sleeves for the sisa team [Music] jersey white found CCB I think this is a work hard be humble Jersey into third that’s another team that could really have an upset result here and then the chaos being left behind them with these rers just trying to hang on just hearing out there that it is raining a bit I see a couple of umbrellas and what we can’t you can’t really see that on TV at all uh so interesting Dynamic add in to the race tonight this is your scariest scenario as a bike racer that it starts raining during the race because uh you don’t really know you know how to pressure those tires up where you want to be going into it you can’t take a free lap to lower your tire pressure so you’re really stuck with whatever you’ve got right now no and the I guess the good thing is that it has been raining often on what almost this whole week now so it’s not like it’s uh been dry and just a fresh fresh uh bit of rain on the road so I wouldn’t say that there’s necessarily like oil on the road but what you you know if you look at the road surface you go from concrete to Asphalt you also have these brick pavers as the crosswalks so as you’re setting up for the Apex of these turns you’re right at those brick crosswalks and that can prove to be uh quite treacherous and again if we look back you you use last night’s race as an example there were some crashes in the race last night and I would imagine it was due to rain so something to look out for and uh not ideal at all you could just see the sheen off the road from the motorcycle headlight following the race F going to get on the radio here looking for a little bit of help a little bit of info for minor minawa it’s been a couple laps up here on the front and I’m going to guess she’s saying uh I would like to spend no more laps on the front uh potentially asking hey should I keep this race hard uh is anyone going to come up to the front a couple of different questions uh at hand there [Music] and you see the urgency has left this group a little bit not as many rers moving up the outside here they’re starting to settle in and we see Ruth Edwards back to the front she was at the very back of the race and I wonder if this Reigns she didn’t think you know what I’m just going to scoot on up to the front now beautiful start finish video right here on Canal this be the same star finish line for the road race on Sunday they come down and finish right along the canal River here with two big climbs on tap for the road race but thankfully for the Criterion Racers they don’t have to deal with that today that’s right there good a good shot of that little bump on the back side of the course here so sort of a reset right now we are just about halfway through 75 minutes on tap today you see Ryan up to the front with her sister Alexis Magner just behind her so as they make a general reset here I think a good time to take a break here on Flow bikes when we come back we’ll have the conclusion of our women’s Elite criterium race after this short break from the 2024 USA cycling Criterium national championships [Music] [Music] those Riders tring to there was a pretty big pretty biglit we had almost half the field into theit at one time yesterday just a handful of minut into the race so there you can see the J Riders it’s that outside corner where the Apex set up in the outside corner it a little so rers got be careful there otherwi you knows might a line for youo there is to be a of our so another reset going on right now welcome back front of the race rolling back through at 41 minutes into our 75-minute race tonight F human powered health and the Williams Racing dvo Duos getting up to the front here DNA starting to sit back a little bit after being very aggressive early on here and also seeing some Goldman Sachs ETF jerseys coming up to the front Brad soner here with Lauren hall for our Criterium national championships tonight our Elite women on course right now and our men coming up after this here on Flow bikes and really just watching the reset right now if you’re with us for the first half you saw a few attacks we just watched Shannon KO the last Rider to get away spent a couple laps away solo now back in the mix and just waiting for the next one DNA procycling moving up the right hand side there that’s an attack K Schmidt fall the wheel up and then decided to slot in maybe that wasn’t an attack maybe that was just a I’m going to go to the front very aggressively right now I see some rers out of the saddle up at the top so see if they open any gaps to pull this off both been Racing for a long definitely some power up in the front right here I mean this is really a selection 10 Deep these are all favorites up here no doubt you actually see Lily right there kind of sitting up she’s she’s got Ruth up there and she’s like you know what I’ll let that go it’s well represented it’s got some of the bigger teams represented up there uh put some pressure back in behind you you’ve got Karen back there so uh yeah that’s that’s a Savvy race move by Lily it’s all back together though uh Riders are pretty quick to pick up on that Ruth putting a little bit of pressure to him now yeah this is your worst nightmare as a Criterion racer that now Ruth Edwards is going to put some power to the problem at the front of the field you better be paying attention right now if you’re 10 bag oh boy here you go Edwards has the capability to drag this field for a solid three laps and if she did this much damage in 15 seconds imagine what this Field’s going to look like after a couple laps of the Ruth Edwards treatment kmid comfortably in second wheel I guess the real worst case scenario is that these rers start working together now Kai Schmidt takes a pole you get Lily Williams up there do some oh Karen Lecky here’s another worst case scenario yes she’s in good position Karen says you know what I’m going to go for this try and pull some more of those top Riders out let’s go ahead and get up the road that’s what’s so great about Karen she’s not afraid to Sprint from a pelaton or from a break so uh you know you you always have to be keying in on what she’s doing and where she’s racing and how she’s racing Skyler Schneider basically sitting second wheel and saying you know what I’m here we’re represented DNA procycling right behind Skyler Lily Williams right there covering anything after Ruth has just put in an attack and you can see the damage that Ruth Edwards did starting right there big barers going back from the pit so that must have been an incident out there that would explain the Gap about a half dozen riders coming in from neutral support here let’s see if we can figure out what happened there I didn’t see anything on camera but uh go back and take a look Ariel Koy that’s Dr Koy to you nice recently uh getting her lab coat in the official title of doctor [Music] oh this is such a tricky Corner Brad oh man there’s there’s so much going on in that corner it goes from wide road to a tight Road that’s one factor two you’ve got manhole coverage you see all that orange paint through three you’ve got brick pavers I mean that is such a technical Corner in this race that’s one reason I love this course is that it is a dynamic course even though it’s more than a just a flat course uh it it’s definitely going to throw a wrench into things and that’s where I said at the pre-show is you may not win the race right there but you can definitely Lose It by being in bad position or picking a wrong line field starting to go single file again once again f is the one delivering the pain here now you can definitely see the wet Road uh still a bit of rain coming down it’s almost as a bit of mist so it’s uh this is where you’ll see you’ll potentially see more of an attacking race uh people people are not going to want to really roll around in a pelaton it feels a little bit more dangerous being in a pelaton they want to be out by themselves have that space to move around pick their line uh we’ll see if uh this doesn’t change things a little bit seir moving back up to the front there Goldman Sachs ETFs some roers still coming back in that’s got to be from that earlier crash taking a little bit more time to get serviced and this Gap starting to open up a little more DNA not looking real worried about [Music] it DNA does have numbers in this pelaton but they don’t want to constantly be the to bring this back they don’t want everyone to just constantly rely on them to do the work so either they need to set back and then make an attack and try and jump across uh you know there or just kind of playing this poker game of somebody else want to get up here and bring this back and keep the speed up but uh right now F cycling looking pretty off the front right now getting a bit of a gap it’s going to be Shaina Palace on the front for DNA but not quite as aggressive to chase this down as they have been earlier [Music] [Music] Ray continuing to come down starting to get a little darker out there as well some changing lighting conditions may make things interesting as well see if we can get a a read on this number Elizabeth Dixon here F cycling taking her chances up the road I like it I like it yeah this is a lottery ticket right here she’s got a good Gap here this will be the biggest gap of the day for Dixon no doubt and again we’re talking about some of the F being more of a wildcard team not quite sure who these athletes are what their background is but you better start doing your research real fast if you’re back in the pelaton because uh she’s got quite a gap to this group yeah Elizabeth Dixon is absolutely the kind of Rider that the field lets go and then regrets it 20 minutes from now when uh that Gap is beyond repair for them see CCB looking around for a little bit of help saying how about some of the World Tour Talent come up here do some chasing yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see a couple of attacks coming out there we go right there to the left question is do they wait too long to bring back Elizabeth Dixon so this now basically becomes a 25-minute effort for Dixon trying to get to the finish here guess that’s the one advantage of running off the time system here you have a much better idea of what your effort is going to be in time instead of [Music] laughs she gets to pick everywhere the road that she wants to go try to be the most efficient uh move from point A to B and now human powered Health gets up there going to say the success of this Breakaway is really two-part one The Ride by Elizabeth Dixon and two the response by the field which wasn’t quite there until now they’re starting to string out but all Dixon can do is her part and a lot of this is going to be up to the response of to the field that is quite the increase in Pace Brad when you see that field strung out one by one by one coming through those Corners Ruth Edwards just put in a big move for human powered Health like Dixon was maybe reaching for an earpiece so her hand up near her kind of back and neck area it bunched up and then DNA Pro cycling is now on the attack DNA looks like they want to go across Sam Schneider nope yep think that is still working on that earpiece not much that you can tell her right now over the radio but keep going yeah well pretty soon she’s going to be interested in time gaps if that Breakaway keeps up that’s probably what she’s most interested here also want to know if there were any riders coming across to her this would be worth maybe sitting up just a little bit to let them get up to you if you know you’ve got a quality partner on the way up really anyone inside the top 10 right now in this field would be a quality partner in the Breakaway be happy to have any of them with me [Music] yep yeah it’s scary for anyone yeah anyone who’s ever ridden on these conditions it’s tough to watch without being at least a little scared I’m glad we’re in the booth and I’m not out there [Music] there’s Dixon and DNA once again shouldering the burden of this Breakaway like Heather fer right there on the front on the [Music] radio this is really good news for the schneiders and the Ryan Magner Duo because DNA is all the work for them they can sit back and relax here Dixon now starting to look back over the shoulder there’s a little attack up the left side DNA procycling so they’re they DNA is getting it close enough and then saying hey all right go send someone across I’m starting to fade uh and they’re going to try and bring this back as soon as possible I got the there work cut out for him though Edwards back up into [Music] third see Stephanie halck using the opportunity to move up a little bit on the outside there for Goldman Sachs ETFs that’s the game oh oh oh no no no no no I saw the fence moving looks like some rers going wide into it nobody likes to see that yeah man that’s tough but that’s why Elizabeth Dixon is off the front right you know it uh this is almost the safest place again like I said you got all this room to move around you’re comfortable and you you know your limits in your line whereas when you’re in the pelaton you’re kind of at the mercy of others saw how wide she was able to swing for that setup into this corner it’s really this one and I think the one right before it are the two that you’re most worried about being in a group so that’ll send some Shock waves through the field the first crash of the night certainly puts a few Riders on notice yeah when you hear that uh Your Instinct and everything in your body Brad is saying you should probably slow down now although not sure if that was that we did see a big group of riders coming back in from the pit so there may have been another crash that we missed on the cameras earlier but right the first one we saw but but everything in your competitive brain is like yep okay keep going keep going forward I can expect to see some traffic coming in from those neutral support pits here pretty soon as the riders that want to get back in will be allowed the free laap rule to jump back into this race still not showing laps yet eight eight laps to oh yeah I do see an eight up there get your eyes check man I think they just put it up Elizabeth Dixon low and arrow as possible changing from the hoods to the drops there a little bit of a wobble there going into that turn and all the same suspects up in the front of this field hey hey first time we’ve seen Kendall Ryan to the front again uh rain always is an added Factor um a sprinter we haven’t seen her to the front yet want to test her legs getting up there and on her wheel was Karen lecki there’s that group going back [Music] in I will say of all the riders in this field Kendall Ryan is probably one of the least afraid of rain when it comes to these Corners uh arguably one of the best bike handlers in this field certainly the most Criterion experience in this front group sprinters are a different breed Brad we it’s uh I don’t know what it is you just feel super comfortable on your bike in tricky situations and at high speeds um yeah so you you kind of Welcome a little bit of a mix up and a little bit of sweat it brings a just makes you feel good I don’t what that is much how much does Karen lecky’s Euro experience translate here I mean we know that Kendall Ryan has these American Corner handling skills uh but Lecky racing in Europe a lot does that work in the United States does that help you in an American style Criterium like this I think when you’re good you’re good no matter uh if it’s crits or World Tour or whatnot you know uh Karen K you know Lily Ruth a lot of these women that we’ve talked about already are just good bike handlers bike racers uh and it doesn’t matter the course or you know the cornering they’re good they’ve got the confidence they’ve got the skills so wow that was a close pushing right there my gosh you don’t have skills so just watch out for that but good neutral support push back in right there for that lady see it’s starting to get a little darker out there as well some dark clouds moving in the sun setting here in Charleston as well they do have plenty of light towers around this course but the changing conditions you were saying earlier is what really affects you most yeah you you another piece of equipment that we haven’t talked about is you know our protection and I mean it’s it’s supposed to daytime you know that the sun doesn’t set for a bit and that’s a factor in in racing you know if you can’t see very well if you’ve got uh sunglasses on that aren’t clear uh it adds a factor you you can’t see where you’re going gets a bit tricky and sometimes you’ll see Riders just toss their glasses cuz it’s worth getting a little bit of rain or muck in your eye than it is to uh not be able to see clearly Elizabeth Dixon right here off the front Fountain cycling not really worried about that right now this is really just a math problem for Elizabeth Dixon right now seven laps Gap at about 15 20 seconds she knows how much she can give up here but the wild card will be the response from the field it’s going to be up to Riders like Megan Easler on the front here for DNA procycling Ka Schmidt right behind her plenty of Firepower to bring back Elizabeth Dixon if they’re willing to use it Elizabeth Dixon is not in the running for the U23 Jersey but that is a factor tonight another added Dynamic to this race is that will they will also award a U23 Jersey to uh one of the women in this pelaton Chloe Patrick won it last year I’ll be keying in on her she’s just a product of good racing she was third on the on the stage in National Championships last year so be looking for Chloe Patrick Michaela mcferson also someone to be keying in on on that U23 Jersey so you know you’re six laps to go there are two races happening U23 is looking around for their competitors and you know the Criterium National Championship is on the line period for Elites so uh we’ve got some really good racing coming up in these last six laps Gap is up to 20 seconds now for [Music] [Music] Dixon she’s got all the room in the world to work with here she is still in sight of the front of the field on this section there is one section where she goes out of sight but they do still see her up the road on these longer sections of the course Ruth Edward’s going to do some work to bring it back we’re the same 8 nine 10 names over and over on the front of this field doing all the work I have to think there’s a rider that’s been sitting in here thinking about how great this is that the same Riders keep doing all the work on the front of the field right a Kaa schmith that we’ve only mentioned a couple of times she’s always been in good position but never on the front we’ve only seen Karen at the front once we’ve only seen Kendall Ryan at the front once Alexis Magner uh Chloe Patrick you know Lily Williams there’s a host of riders that are going to make these last couple laps very interesting sha Palace up to the front now Skyler Schneider right on her wheel these are some new names coming to the front putting their nose in the wind they’ve been at the front they just haven’t been doing work again this is what it’s going to take to bring back Elizabeth Dixon her best kick scenario right now is that these Riders just m time it they underestimate the strength of Elizabeth Dixon in these closing what will be five laps as they come through and if they don’t put enough effort into bringing this back Elizabeth Dixon’s got a shot of being the upset of the week here in [Music] Charleston keep in mind Elizabeth won the last stage of hila she is a strong Rider that is a one of the hardest stages in North North America so she definitely has the ability to go long and I don’t know if that pelaton knows that result or not or they have quickly forgot cuz heila was just a couple of weeks ago this Gap starting to come down Ruth Edwards back to work up here this is kind kind of what I was talking about with f someone like Dixon up here Edwards and Williams from that human powered Health Team would have no idea who Elizabeth Dixon is they didn’t race heila they weren’t at Redlands didn’t do any of those early season American races do you want to know what Elizabeth background is what’s that trained ballerina really so she can dance on those ped use a little bit of that ballerina finesse through the corners here I’ll laugh at my own jokes I like it it good it’s good right there we just saw Karen taking her sunglasses off again that’s uh you can really hone in on these last couple laps now uh sometimes you’ll see sprinters tightening their buckles on their shoes uh little nuances oh excuse me I’m going to hand those off nice okay good move too nice to toss see Dixon’s out of sight here but he’ll be able to see her out of the next Corner still flly lives to go I don’t think those rers are panicking they’ve got a much better idea and feel for what this Gap is and what’s manageable right now the fact that I’m not seeing those big teams really panicking like if it was really a problem DNA could put a bunch of rers on the front here and try and Tack it back so they must believe that this is still doable they could and they probably will but you know depending on the weather you know that can prove quite a factor cuz you can really only drive the pace so fast every cor basically has a speed limit that you can ride your bike through until things get a little uh out of control and then even more so a lower speed limit in the rain but you know this Gap is nothing to laugh about that’s why we have Ruth and Lily of human power Health right here at the front they are concerned Skyler Schneider sitting third wheel golden Sachs fourth wheel Gap coming down a little bit lost a few seconds down to 14 seconds here so it’s trending in the right direction for this field there’s DNA on the left side of your picture that’s the train I was looking for beautiful no need to go to the front yet if Ruth is going to be up there setting this pace and let her Y and a this Point starting to look a little more manageable 20 seconds was kind of right on the edge of being in the danger zone but once you get down towards 15 that Gap becomes much more manageable four laps to go 15 seconds math works out pretty easy the important thing to remember here is that there’s no real urgency to make this catch before the last lap because if you do make the catch now that opens the door to a Counterattack a new Rider going away you would much rather have a tire Elizabeth Dixon out there until one lap to go rather than making the catch at four laps to go and let’s say someone like Karen Lecky decides to take a flyer then you got a problem it is hard to time it just perfect uh for one your race plan that you had and two to catch the break and three for anyone to Counterattack you so uh there’s these factors in play uh but yeah let’s see if it comes back sooner than later [Music] at some point Ruth Edwards has to run out of energy here she has been the savior of this field almost singlehandedly bringing back Elizabeth Dixon or at least ask for help and that’s where Lily should just back off fade off just a little bit off of Ruth’s wheel uh because one Lily obviously we’ve seen Ruth do the brunt of the work for the two of them tonight uh Lily is not really going to want to pull through and P pull this back so she’s she really wants someone to go up there and work with Ruth now yeah so you just basically lay off let that Gap fill up and try and Slot back in fifth sixth wheel and maybe Ruth is very much comfortable just kind of doing this brunt of the work right [Music] now that’ll take Dixon down to three laps to go on the counter lost a second on that last lap it’s coming back but is it coming back fast enough here little bit of suffering on Ruth’s face there there is sort of an exponential drop off once you get under 10 seconds for a breakway that 10 seconds disappears a whole lot easier than the uh Gap from 20 to 10 seconds let’s say once it looks feasible to go up across the Gap you’ll see rers there so she’s got to keep this above 10 Ruth Edwards looks like she might be feeling it here how much longer can she do [Music] this Sam Schneider just behind Lily Williams she’s ready to do some work here but only if she has to yep and like you were saying pre-race this is a one M uh circuit so there’s three miles to go and even if that last lap comes and the break is not caught it’s okay there is still time uh and that’s when you’re going to see only in that last half lap are you going to see the moves are really aggressive trying to get your Sprinter to the front of for this last turn and coming out of that last turn you want to pull another 100 m towards the line cuz it is a long long Sprint from the finish and it has this little bit of a chicane from the last corner to the finish line so another just dynamic in the course that you have to know how to race and be Savvy with we’ll see if we get treated to a Sprint tonight or if it’s a solo win saw a similar scenario to this in the 178 Junior women’s race last night a solo Rider away for the last five laps caught on the final one couple Riders sliding out here in the rain and then that’s going to cause a chain reaction once roers go down now these rers won’t get a free lap and you can see the Gap that that’s opened up it happened about 20 wheels back Dixon now down to 8 seconds on the Gap DNA up to the front here here so now Edward’s job is done DNA going to put in a big effort in this Chase Megan eer saw Easler earlier putting some work in it looks like she’s emptying the tank right now to bring Dixon back she’s going to put every watch she’s got left in those legs BR she is all over that bike right now she wants it back now Schneider and Lecky behind her Leck just looking over her shoulder seeing who’s on her wheel and if there is a gap and there is a significant Gap and it’s Lily Williams right behind her another big threat here now they got Dixon in the crosshairs she still got a good Gap to the front need your help the last here and this will be another scenario where it really is up to the field at this point and how they respond to [Music] this Megan is pulled off the front for DNA think she is done [Music] Dixon going to get the bell for one lap to go she’s out of the saddle out of that corner redoubling her efforts here so she will start this final lap with at least a little bit of time this is great racing Elizabeth Dixon trying to do the impossible here upsetting some of the biggest names in the sport at the 2024 Criterion National Championship she’s got one lap to try to stay way solo this would be a huge win for f cycling and everyone standing on the side of the road knows it cheering her on they want to see her win she’s been off solo for at least six laps now can Elizabeth hold this field [Music] off Dixon would add to a storybook season with a win on the final stage the queen stage at tour the and then follow up with a criterium National Championship just a few weeks later doesn’t get much better than that not a lot of urgency back in the field good news for Dixon still matter of fact her teammate just got to the front of the Pelon and was on the radio telling her go Elizabeth you’ve got this field spread out all over the road Dixon into turn three now [Music] there’s only about 20 Riders left after that crash just a couple laps ago this is the group that’s going to make it to the line Dixon is out of sight into turn [Music] four well Lauren I think she has done what she needed to do here in Charleston you have to stay composed keep riding stay cautious through these turns oh it’s going to be close now the field starting to pick up the tempo Dixon down to Just 4 seconds into this turn that’s out of five she’s coming towards the final turn now one look over the shoulder that’s all they’re going to afford her this one’s going to come all the way down to the line oh now she is rapidly losing time on to the Finish stretch for Elizabeth Dixon crowd is fully behind the F Rider now Lecky trying to open up the spread behind her Dixon about to have some company on her back doorstep she looks behind her will Le Becky get there in time she has done it Karen Lecky will upset Elizabeth Dixon making the catch in the last 10 meters and Karen lecki will repeat as your Criterium National Champion the last minute catch by the otor out of Tustin California to win another national championship and make it 73 for Karen Lecky holy cow what a long Sprint Bradley Karen had to just let it go when she could as soon as she saw Elizabeth Dixon through that when she got through that last turn oh my gosh what a long Sprint that was and what a win for Karen just goes to show you Lecy knew exactly what she was doing I mean it doesn’t get more precise than what we just watched that feel do to Elizabeth Dixon and again to be patient and to basically play the game of is this going to come back or not what a Gamble and you can tell on her faces how much that win means it doesn’t matter if it’s her 73rd win she wants to win every time she pins a number and it means so much so here she is coming back with that Jersey again I guess she’s going to have to come to speed week again next year there you go well that will be lecky’s 74th National Championship after wow the Criterium national championship last year some hats on the back for Chloe Patrick too of sinis I’m wondering if she is our U23 Champion alen I don’t know if it’s heartbreaking or not to see Elizabeth Dixon hold on for second place on the day she’s got a Podium to show for her efforts but that’ll be a second place that she’s going to think about for an entire season this year loved it love it wow so close for Elizabeth Becky looking for a little bit of love as The champ is back here in Charleston some congratulations from Ariel Koy and Lecky going to spend another season in the stars and stripes [Music] Jersey a Victory lap for Karen Lecky your repeat national champion see if we can go back and take a look at that Sprint and see just where she made that catch it was a little tough for us to see from the front view you see Lecky in the pink right there Elizabeth Dixon in the green who holds on for second I think that’s the line right there just at the end of the bricks you just see Elizabeth just basically hand on her head like ah so so close right at the line oh a historic win for Ken Le Becky we’re going to take a quick break here from Charleston and when we come back we’ll try and grab a word with our repeat national champion from the 2024 criterian national championships [Music] [Music] what are good sunglasses six sunnies for fixie skitters $25 sunglasses for your $10,000 road bike vibrant dirt shields for single track cycle cross Adventures gnarling no bounce frames for the MTB Trails basically good or sunglasses kit out your face [Music] so take me to my hometown my hometown is your hometown it’s got a home team and a river in the middle