Hincapie and Wellmeier Earn Junior Road Race National Titles at the 2026 Pro Road National Championships

By: USA Cycling Communications June 19, 2026

The first road races kicked off in the hills of Charleston, W.V. with tactical Junior races.

After an electric Thursday evening of racing, riders returned to downtown Charleston for the Junior Men’s and Women’s Road Races. Facing West Virginia’s demanding hills, both fields tackled a modified circuit where the Wertz Avenue climb proved to be decisive. Each lap was 14.5 kilometers, with the Junior Men completing seven laps for a total of 101.5 kilometers, and the Junior Women racing four laps for 58 kilometers.

Junior Men

Eighty-three Junior Men lined up on a beautiful morning in Charleston, ready to take on seven laps of the 14.5-kilometer course. Attacks were exchanged throughout the race, but the climb up Wertz Avenue is what continued to separate the field. On the third lap, Egan Little (Claremont, Calif.; Velosport Cycling) was able to break away, maintaining his lead until Angus McDonnell (South Pasadena, Calif.; En Piste / Team 31 Specialized) bridged the gap at the end of lap four. With three laps to go, Enzo Hincapie (Greenville, S.C.; Redbull - Bora - Hansgrohe) made his tester attack on the Wertz Avenue climb to bridge up to the breakaway group. That lead group, now featuring McDonnell, Hincapie, Cormac Nagle (Bolton, Mass.; Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team Inc.), and Little looked strong, sitting 12 seconds ahead of the chasers. Following another attack on the Wertz Avenue climb, Hincapie pushed the pace to gain a 16-second solo lead ahead of the pack. Hincapie widened that gap and crossed the finish line 50 seconds ahead of the group, winning the Stars and Stripes jersey. With a final push, Kaison Smith (Canton, Ga.; EF Education-ONTO) earned second and Diego Duran (El Paso, Texas; DDP Elite Cycling Team) rounded out the podium in third.

Hincapie was feeling good this week and knew this could be his day. He said, “I just woke up this morning, and I had some sort of feeling, like a good feeling. I did a little tester attack on the climb with three laps to go, saw that I kind of split up the group, and then I knew that I had the legs to really do something. I was able to bridge up to the breakaway, and they worked with me for a bit, and then I just rode my pace on the second to last lap on the climb, got away solo, and just held my tempo from there.”

Results:

1. Enzo Hincapie (Greenville, S.C.; Redbull - Bora - Hansgrohe)

2. Kaison Smith (Canton, Ga.; EF Education-ONTO)

3. Diego Duran (El Paso, Texas; DDP Elite Cycling Team)

Junior Women

After a short break, the Junior Women lined up to battle for 58 kilometers through the hills of Charleston. In a race of attrition, the main field dwindled quickly, leaving only seven riders in the main group after the first lap. With two laps to go, that group of seven became a group of two, featuring Sophia Wellmeier (Corte Madera, Calif.; Team California Academy) and Liliana Edwards (Washington, D.C.; CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group). With a lead of over one minute, Wellmeier and Edwards continued to widen their gap, while Lily Nguyen (Brooklyn, N.Y.; TWENTY28 Aevolo) and Heidi Hansen (Spearfish, S.D.; Fount Cycling Guild) were on the chase. With one lap to go, Nguyen had pushed the pace and was riding solo in the bronze medal position. On the final lap of her first-ever road race, Wellmeier made her move and crossed the finish line solo to win the National Title. Edwards earned silver, and Nguyen secured bronze.

Wellmeier pushed the tempo to earn the National Title. “This is my first-ever road race,” she said. “I’m usually a mountain biker for Bear National Team, and I just hopped into road nats under Team California because I was like, ‘might as well try something new!’ It was a pretty tactical first lap. We kind of punched it a little bit up the climb, got a little bit of separation. And each lap from then on, just killed it up the climb. It was just me and Lily, and on the last lap we just went all out. Luckily, I had a small gap, and I just dug a little hole into myself trying to maintain that.”

Results:

1. Sophia Wellmeier (Corte Madera, Calif.; Team California Academy)

2. Liliana Edwards (Washington, D.C.; CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group)

3. Lily Nguyen (Brooklyn, N.Y.; TWENTY28 Aevolo)

Up Next

Racing continues tomorrow with the Under-23 Women at 9:00 AM ET and the Under-23 Men at 1:00 PM ET. Click here for the full event schedule.

Follow along throughout the week on social media @USACycling, along with the live timing and the SCOTT Pro Road Livestream on FloBikes. Learn more about how to watch the events here. 