The U23 National Championship Road Race and Criterium were the big race I was targeting this year. Going into the road race, my goal was a top 10 finish but I was most excited for the Criterium on Sunday! I have had some past success in the Crit and was going into the race with the expectations of a win.
The road race I was going in much more confident this year. Last year, I had made some stupid mistakes that caused me to cramp early in the race. I was going in much more prepared this year. The race started out pretty chill as a break rolled early on that nobody was too worried about since the race was 112 miles. It was very humid, so I made sure to eat and drink every single lap! The action didn’t really begin until the 3rd lap at the 60 mile mark. I followed most of the well represented breakaways, but nothing was getting away. It wasn’t until the final lap that the break had finally gotten away but I had missed the move as I had bridged up to a breakaway just before the final one stuck. It was a well represented break with some riders from each of the big teams. I just didn’t have the legs to go again with the next move. By the time my legs came around again, the break was too far gone. The run-in to the finish was full of attacks and constant accelerations. I ended sprinting to 19th place. It wasn’t the result I was looking for but I gave it my all and still had one more race to look forward to.
