Kristen Faulkner will not defend her title in the elite women's road race at the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships this week.
The EF Education-Oatly rider explained that her journey home from the Giro d'Italia Women left her without the energy to race in Charleston, West Virginia.
"After multiple canceled flights, overnight layovers, and travel chaos, I've decided to skip Nationals this year," Faulkner wrote on Instagram.
"I really wanted to defend my road title and go after my first TT title, but I'm simply too depleted from travel and won't be able to perform the way I want. Right now, the best decision is to prioritize recovery so I can show up ready for the races ahead.
"I've never regretted taking more rest, but I almost always regret not taking enough. Good luck to everyone racing this week. I'll be cheering from afar and look forward to congratulating the next national champions."
The post came after Faulkner was listed as a DNS for the elite women's time trial on Tuesday. Her 2024 rival, Taylor Knibb, won the race over last year's champion Emily Ehrlich.
Two years ago, Knibb denied Faulkner an automatic entry for the Paris Olympics by beating her by 11 seconds in the time trial on the same Charleston course. Faulkner then joined USA Cycling's team pursuit squad and, as a result of rules allowing cross-discipline athletes, she was added to the team for the women's road race, famously attacking favourites Lotte Kopecky and Marianne Vos and soloing to the gold medal.
Faulkner, 33, has so far been unable to regain the sparkling form that led to that result, with her 2025 US Pro road race title and the Pan American time trial gold in March as her only victories since then.
She crashed during the Tour de France Femmes last year and had to undergo surgery to repair damaged cartilage in her shoulder as a result, and ended her season at the beginning of September.
During the off-season, she invested two months in coding her own AI system to build an app that helps track her physiological data and refine her training. She aims to win her first Tour stage and defend her title at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
