On the final day of time trials in Brugge for the 2021 UCI Road World Championships, Team USA lined up for the Team Time Trial Mixed Relay. On the team was Lawson Craddock (Houston; EF Education - Nippo), Brandon McNulty (Phoenix; UAE Team Emirates), Neilson Powless (Roseville, Calif.; EF Education - Nippo), Coryn Rivera (Tustin, Calif.; Team DSM), Leah Thomas (Santa Clara, Calif.; Movistar Team Women), and Ruth Winder (Boulder, Colo.; Trek-Segafredo).
The event starts with the squad of three men riding from the start in Knokke-Heist down to Brugge, and as they finished, the women’s squad of three would roll out of their start house. The team as a whole would complete 45.5 kilometers. The event was first done in 2019, and this is the United States’ first foray into the event.
Craddock, McNulty, and Powless rolled off the line at 2:50 local time, the first squad in the second wave of starts. At the intermediate checkpoint on their leg of the course, the team slotted into first with a time of 16:01.47. The team of three would go to the finish line together and finish their leg of the competition in 25:38.94.
The team of Rivera, Thomas, and Winder rolled out as the men finished and kept the pace high the entire time, hitting their checkpoint at 42:12.90. Rivera and Winder would come to the finish line together and stop the clock at 52:58.78, moving the team into the hot seat above Spain. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t last as the British team moved them out of the hot seat. At the end of the day, Team USA placed eighth in the event.
1. Germany 50:49.10
2. Netherlands +12.79
3. Italy +37.74
8. USA +2:09.68
Full Results can be found here.
Friday sees two road races that will finish in the Belgian city of Leuven. The day will start with the Junior Men, where time trialists Alex Gustin (San Diego; LUX/Sideshow p/b Specialized) and Cole Kessler (Newbury Park, Calif.; LUX/Sideshow p/b Specialized) are joined by Artem Shmidt (Cummingm Ga.; Hot Tube Development Cycling Team) and Colby Simmons (Durango, Colo.; LUX/Sideshow p/b Specialized). They will complete eight laps around the Leuven course. In the afternoon, the U23 Men will start in Antwerp and ride towards Leuven. Team USA will see 2019 Junior Men’s Bronze medalist in the road race Magnus Sheffield (Pittsford, N.Y.; INEOS Grenadier), Elite Men National Criterium Champion Luke Lamperti (Sebastopol, Calif.; Trinity Racing), Sean Quinn (Sherman Oaks, Calif.; Hagens Berman Axeon), Matthew Riccitello (Tucson, Ariz.; Hagens Berman Axeon), and Kevin Vermaerke (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.; Team DSM) compete.
