GLASGOW – Day six of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships saw Lily Williams (Tallahassee, Fla.; Human Powered Health) battle for points, lap after lap, to earn fourth. Around the Glasgow City Circuit, the Americans competed in the Team Time Trial Mixed Relay. After a valiant effort by both the men and women, the United States finished in eighth place. The Men’s Madison duo put up a fight and came in sixteenth.
After Monday’s Women’s Madison, Williams was back at the velodrome on Tuesday to contest the Women’s Points Race. In a stacked field with Elimination Race World Champion Lotte Kopecky (BEL), Williams lined up with 23 other women for the 100-lap event. Williams was aggressive in the race's first half, contesting three of the early sprints. After the sprint at 50 laps to go, she launched a successful solo attack, winning the sprint at 40 laps to go, and then almost lapped the field. In the final sprint, which was worth double points, Williams was in the middle of the action and earned another four points. At the end of the race, she accumulated nine total points, placing her in fourth.
When talking about her growth as a track racer, having added track to her resume in 2019, Williams said, “It feels really good to be here. I’ve put in a lot of work to grow. I’m really dedicated to improving, and there’s still a lot of room to move up, but I think a fourth place in the Points Race is a lot less chance or luck based than the Scratch Race can sometimes be. I’m happy with it.” Williams placed fourth in the Scratch Race at the 2022 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
Women’s Points Race
1 – Lotte Kopecky (BEL)
2 – Georgia Baker (AUS)
3 – Tsuyaka Uchino (JPN)
4 – Lily Williams (USA)
Newly-minted partners Gavin Hoover (Manhattan Beach, Calif.; L39ion of Los Angeles) and Colby Lange (Edwards, Colo.; Chaney Windows and Doors) banded together to tag team the fast and furious Men’s Madison. The duo was active in the race, staying with the main group for most of the race, but the teammates lost the front end of the race after 120 laps of the 200 laps event. They ended the race in 16th.
Men’s Madison
1 – Netherlands
2 – Great Britain
3 – New Zealand
16 – USA
The American team, made up of Neilson Powless (Roseville, Calif.; EF Education-EasyPost), Will Barta (Boise, Idaho; Movistar Team), Lawson Craddock (Houston; Team BikeExchange-Jayco), Skylar Schneider (Milwaukee, Wis.; L39ion of Los Angeles), Coryn Labecki (Tustin, Calif.; Team Jumbo-Visma), and Megan Jastrab (Apple Valley, Calif.; Team DSM), went head to head with riders from around the world in today’s Team Time Trial Mixed Relay. As men delivered an impressive performance, clocking in at 26:19.83 on the 20.1-kilometer course in the heart of Glasgow City Center, the stage was set for the women to shine. Labecki, Jastrab, and Schneider upheld a consistent pace, ultimately achieving a total combined time of 56:02.05.
Sunday’s road race standout, Neilson PowIess, went into the event very excited, saying, “I think this is such a cool event. I’m proud to be part of it, and I think it's pretty special to be able to bring a bunch of athletes together that aren’t on the same team all year but come together to represent their country. I was very proud to be repping the USA.”
Time Trial Mixed Relay
1 – Switzerland
2 – France
3 – Germany
8 – United States
The challenge classes saw the Boys 12-15 age groups and Girls 12-14 age groups take on the Glasgow BMX Centre. The United States had five riders make the main events. Cj Rivera (Spring, Texas) took second in the 13-year-old boys' race.
The BMX Freestyle Flatland crew kicked off their event with qualifying rounds. Matt Wilhelm (Naperville, Ill.), Terry Adams (Hammond, La.), and Bo Wade (Redondo, Calif.) all made the trek to Glasgow to compete in the World Championships. Out of 36 riders, 16 would qualify for tomorrow’s Semi-Final. Wilhelm is the only American advancing, placing 14th in qualifying. Adams was on the bubble in 17th, and Wade finished 28th.
The Mountain Bike Team will kick off their events with the Team Relay. The team of Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; SCOTT-SRAM Factory Racing), Madigan Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing), Vida Lopez de San Roman (Sebastopol, Calif.; Bear National Team), Riley Amos (Durango, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing), Brayden Johnson (Littleton, Colo.; Bear National Team), and Nicholas Konecny (Breckenridge, Colo.; Bear National Team) will race for the rainbow jersey. Jennifer Valente (San Diego; TWENTY24 Pro Cycling) will defend her title in the Women’s Omnium, and Lange will compete in the Men’s Points Race. The U23 Men’s Time Trial will start in Sterling with U.S. riders Viggo Moore (Feldberg, Ger.; Israel Premier Tech) and Evan Boyle (Niskayuna, N.Y.).
