Team USA’s first day of racing at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships saw the Junior Individual Time Trials contested. Four American riders competed, Zoe Ta-Perez (Orange, Calif.; Lux Cycling) Megan Jastrab (Apple Valley, Calif.; Rally-UHC), Quinn Simmons (Durango, Colo.; Lux Cycling) and Michael Garrison (Decatur, Ga.; Lux Cycling).
The first rider to go off for the U.S., Jastrab, who placed second at the 2019 USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships. Jastrab clocked a time of 23:00.68 for the 13.7km course, 44 seconds behind the eventual winner earning ninth place overall. Next to go off was and Junior Individual Time Trial National Champion Ta-Perez. The first-year junior had a strong performance finishing just 25 seconds back from the winner and 11 seconds off the podium for seventh place.
The Junior Men went off next with Garrison being the first U.S. rider. Garrison had a solid performance placing 13th, backing up his 10th place performance in the 2018 World Championships. Reigning Junior National Champion, Simmons was the last U.S. rider of the day to roll out of the start house. Simmons quickly rode his way to the top of the field, placing fourth in his inaugural World Championships Time Trial only 19 seconds off the winner, Antonio Tiberi of Italy.
“I was very happy with today’s performances,” said Scott Schnitzpahn, Vice President of Elite Athletics for USA Cycling, “This is Zoe and Megan’s first Road World Championships and they showed that they could compete among the world’s best and ride to the top; And for Quinn, who only really started time trialing this year, to come into the World Championships and finish just seven seconds off the podium, it’s very impressive and something he should be proud of.”
Racing continues tomorrow with the Men’s U23 and Elite Women’s Individual Time Trials. The men will begin racing at 3:10am MT and the Women will begin at 7:40 am. Both races can be watched on the Olympic channel beginning at 3:00am MT and 7:30 MT Respectively.
To follow along with Team USA at the 2019 Road World Championships, follow @USACyclingLIVE on Twitter and @USACycling across all other platforms. For more about the 2019 UCI Road World Championships, please visit the event website at https://worlds.yorkshire.com.
