Taylor Knibb won her second USA Cycling Pro Road National Championship in the elite women's time trial on the opening day of racing in Charleston, West Virginia on Tuesday.
The 2024 time trial champion powered to victory by 45 seconds ahead of defending champion Emily Ehrlich (Virginia's Blue Ridge Twenty28). In third on the 33.4km, two-lap course it was Paige Onweller at 1:14 behind the winning time.
"I was thrilled to come back here after 2024," Knibb said in an interview with USA Cycling after claiming her second title in the discipline.
Defending champion Ehrlich had certainly put up a fight and clocked the fastest intermediate split of 21:25.83 but then Knibb pushed hard through the second half of the course, with the triathlete delivering a time of 43:51.42 to take the title.
Olympic road race champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) – who missed the automatic selection to compete in Paris after Knibb beat her in the national championships TT in 2024 but took the slot when Knibb resigned – did not compete in this year's event.
The surprise of the day was the ride of gravel racer Onweller, a Life Time Grand Prix competitor who at the end of last month was sweeping up fourth at Unbound Gravel.
It wasn't her first time lining up in the time trial at the National Championships, with the rider taking sixth in 2023 and 11th in 2021. This time, however, she had a long wait in the hot seat after coming out of the first wave with the top time, only to be beaten by the final two riders.
"As expected, I left today learning a lot in a discipline that continues to intrigue me," said Onweller in an Instagram post. "Today’s result verifies a curiosity to potentially dedicate more time to this bike in the future."
Results
Pos. |
Name (Team) |
Time (gap) |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Taylor Knibb |
0:42:37.30 |
2 |
Emily Ehrlich (Virginia's Blue Ridge Twenty28) |
0:00:45.16 |
3 |
Paige Onweller |
0:01:14.12 |
4 |
Tess Ivy Eleanor Edwards (Caldera Medical X Aurea Racing) |
0:02:05.62 |
5 |
Jamie Chapman (Aegis X Leaders Of Enchantment) |
0:02:10.23 |
6 |
Caroline Wreszin (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93) |
0:02:25.27 |
7 |
Lisa Becharas (Real Triathlon Squad) |
0:02:35.98 |
8 |
Kira Payer (Speedblock-Terún Elite) |
0:02:42.64 |
9 |
Marjorie Rinaldo (Virginia's Blue Ridge Twenty28) |
0:02:57.34 |
10 |
Natalie Quinn (Mayenne Monbana Mypie) |
0:03:02.42 |
11 |
Andrea Buttine |
0:03:06.45 |
12 |
Ellexi Snover (Speedblock-Terún Elite) |
0:03:13.57 |
13 |
Kathryn Aman (United Cycling Women) |
0:03:45.45 |
14 |
Claudia Ferreira (Monarch Racing) |
0:04:01.40 |
15 |
Galen Bolard (Competitive Edge Racing) |
0:04:05.78 |
16 |
Samantha Bosco (Caldera Medical X Aurea Racing) |
0:04:06.45 |
17 |
Olivia Reeve (United Cycling Women) |
0:04:10.29 |
18 |
Stephanie Halamek (United Cycling Women) |
0:04:12.84 |
19 |
Olivia Cummins (Virginia's Blue Ridge Twenty28) |
0:04:14.99 |
20 |
Sara Youmans (Orion Racing) |
0:04:15.42 |
21 |
Meaghan Faucher (Working Triathlete) |
0:04:34.49 |
22 |
Laura Mathews (Marx-Bensdorf Bpc) |
0:04:37.81 |
23 |
Kathryn Buss (Team Skyline) |
0:05:16.99 |
24 |
Laurel Rathbun (Caldera Medical X Aurea Racing) |
0:05:29.03 |
25 |
Sierra Sims (Team Winston Salem - Flow) |
0:06:22.32 |
26 |
Leslie Timm (United Cycling Women) |
0:08:36.15 |
DNS |
Sarah Bishop (Pro Triathlete) |
-- |
DNS |
Katherine Rhyne (Aegis X Leaders Of Enchantment) |
-- |
DNS |
Alaini Ritsch (Carbs Fuel) |
-- |
DNS |
Kristen Faulkner (Ef Education - Oatly) |
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