The last 18 months has had more twists and turns than a television melodrama for two-time US gravel national champion Lauren Stephens. After 12 years racing with UCI teams, primarily on the road, she embarked on an independent programme to start her 2025 off-road campaign and then put the many pieces together to launch her own multi-discipline team, Aegis Cycling Foundation.
There's no shortage of victories and race podiums for the Texan, from winning the Pan American road race championship, taking back-to-back GC wins at the UCI-level Tour of the Gila, two titles at Gravel Worlds in Nebraska and a pair of titles at the elite women's gravel nationals. She also won Levi's GranFondo The Growler this year on a solo breakaway and dominated Tour de Bloom for the GC title.
Before and after the start line, though, the wheels have been turning to "help develop women riders" and give back. It was at Tour of the Gila that the Aegis Cycling Foundation 'mixed team' debuted, with Emma Langley alongside taking third overall.
Stephens confirmed to Cyclingnews that the squad, which upgraded from club status to USA Cycling Domestic Elite prior to USPro Road Championships in May, will be rebranded to Next Step Racing in 2026, with a bigger roster and bigger goals
"For riders like Emma Langley and I, this is our next step to give back to women riders and help develop riders. Next year we're going to be called Next Step Racing because our goal is to get riders to their next step in their racing career, like Kylee Hanel, who's just 19," Stephens told Cyclingnews.
"I've always wanted to start a team. Last year, I was trying to put things together for 2025 and it just wasn't coming together. It's not easy to find the cash to run a team, and for Gila and Tour de Bloom, I was offered the opportunity to put a composite team together with the money behind it, and we've just kind of continued to build our team."
After the team's success at both UCI stage races, they went to USPRO Nationals where former USPRO road race winners Stephens and Langley raced again, this time Stephens finished second to Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) and Langley was sixth. Kenna Pfeiffer earned bronze in the women's U23 criterium and Hanel finished 10th in the women's U23 road race.
The team also includes Canadian Skye Pellerin, US rider Katherine Sheridan and Brit Francesca Hall, a stage winner from Tour of the Gila. Additional riders may be added in late summer to line up at the inaugural Maryland Cycling Classic Women on September 6.
"To be part of the Maryland Cycling Classic is a chance to put our team out there for the rest of the world to see and show them how we can develop riders," Stephens added.
Leadville
Stephens recently lined up with several teammates at SBT GRVL in Colorado. While the privateer arrangements for each rider did not see them in matching kits, the riders worked to help Stephens defend her 2024 title in matching Aegis Cycling Foundation head bands and socks. On a hot, sunny day on a new course, Stephens would finish just 31 seconds behind winner Melisa Rollins and runner-up Lauren De Crescenzo in third.
More than the podium, Stephens was impressed to see the team's youngest rider, Hanel, finish 12th overall, just behind gravel stalwarts Karolina Migoń, Whitney Allison and Haley Smith. It was Hanel's first-ever gravel race, one she called "the hardest race" of her life.
While Hanel heads to Europe for racing, Stephens will focus on more off-road races this summer, and one "big goal" of the year, her first ride at Leadville Trail 100 MTB.
However, last weekend's Firecracker 50 in Breckinridge, Colorado derailed Stephens from pre-Leadville in-race preparations, as she clipped a tree near the end of the race. She went third to Rollins, but also came away with seven stitches and a mild concussion, causing her to miss this weekend's high elevation climbing contest at Utah's Crusher in the Tushar on Saturday.
"Unfortunately, I was looking forward to doing Crusher, 10,000 feet of climbing and 60 miles, it's right up my alley. I'm hoping to do Foco Fondo [in Colorado] next weekend," said Stephens, who last raced in Tushar Mountains in 2019 and finished second.
"I always said when I stopped racing, meaning stop being on the WorldTour racing in Europe and backing off a little bit, I would do Leadville. So Leadville has always been the big goal this year. You know, I really enjoy high elevation. I love climbing. I also just love new challenges. Something like Leadville is outside of anything I've ever done, so it's just an exciting way to have a new challenge."
At Leadville she will face Rollins again, the women's defending champion, as well as 12,480 feet of elevation gain, all above the 10,000-foot mark at the Colorado town. It's more twists and turns for the season, but she just calls it a " new challenge".
