(July 1-10) – Kristen Faulkner (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) earned the pink leader’s jersey on the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia Donne, a 4.7 km time trial, with Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo) coming in 12 seconds later and placing 9th. "I feel really proud of all the work my teammates and I and my coach have put in and I'm just really happy that I could bring home the pink on the first day for the team,” Faulkner said afterwards.
Last month Faulkner held the yellow Tour de Suisse race leader’s jersey for two days, which she also earned on an individual time trial stage.
The 10-day women’s Giro wraps up on July 10. Along with the Tour de France Femmes, it’s the second Grand Tour this year for the pro women.
(July 1 - 24) – Seven Americans are competing at this year’s 109th running of the Tour de France, making up the biggest U.S. contingent since 2014. Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), Joe Dombrowski (Astana-Qazaqstan), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), and Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM) are having their Tour debuts, while Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) are Tour veterans.
Through the first four stages, McNulty was 4th and Jorgenson was 9th in the best young rider competition. Powless had quite the ride in cobbles on Stage 5. After fighting for the win, we would ride to fourth, moving him second in the overall GC.
(June 23-26)
Lawson Craddock defended his men’s time trial title, coming in 3 seconds ahead of Magnus Sheffield, while Leah Thomas proved that she’s back after spine surgery earlier this year, beating 47-year-old Amber Neben and track champion Zoe Ta-Perez, age 19, for her first national title.
For the first time ever, both the men’s and women’s defending crit champions retained their titles, with Kendall Ryan and Luke Lamperti repeating as U.S. pro criterium champions. Ryan’s L39ION of Los Angeles team swept the top 3 spots in the women’s race, while Lamperti, who had no teammates racing with him, surprised the field again with a victory.
With road race wins by Emma Langley and Kyle Murphy, EF-TIBCO-SVB and Human Powered Health defended their previous year’s titles as a team. Last year’s women’s road winner Lauren Stephens placed third behind her teammate Langley, while Murphy took the men’s road title by just three seconds.
(June 29 - July 3) – Road racers gathered from all over the country in compete in the Time Trial, Road Race, and Criterium in Virginia’s Blue Ridge.
Read the recaps: Time Trial, Road Race Day 1, Road Race Day 2, Criterium.
(June 30-July 3) – Reigning World Champion Hannah Roberts took 1st and Perris Benegasplaced 2nd at the season’s second UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup, held in Brussels, Belgium. Chelsea Wolfe was 6th and Angie Marino was 8th, rounding out a strong American presence in the top 10.
Roberts has won world titles in 2017, 2019 and 2021, while Benegas took the 2018 world title.
On the men’s side, U.S. National Champion Marcus Christopher placed 4th and Brian Fox was 8th. Justin Dowell, Nick Bruce and Jacob Thiem followed in 11th, 12th and 13th place.
(June 25) – This was the 5th stop on the UCI Gravel World Series calendar and the first in the U.S. Depending on age, racers competed on the 70-mile Highlands Course or the 52-mile Farmlands Course, with finishers vying to qualify for the inaugural UCI Gravel World Championships this fall.
Highlands Course official qualifier for men 19-59 and women 19-49
Men: Andrew Evans, Mason McNeill, Rane Roatta
Women: Lenny Ramsey, Stefanie Sydlik, Danielle Larson
Farmlands Course official qualifier for men 60+ and women 50+
Men: Timothy Borsetti, John Neihouse, Alan Bundy
Women: Karen Guzman Newton, Heidi Hendrix
