When asked about her favorite experience as the National Champion, Langley recalled her first race in Europe in the jersey, the 4-stage Tour of the Pyrenees. The U.S., win one of the biggest races over here, and then getting to go back with a new jersey was definitely a boost in confidence.” She credits her team, however, for not placing elevated expectations or pressure on her as she gained experience in the European peloton. “I learned something every race and it was a great experience, but it was also tough. Prior to National Championships, she’d raced her first spring campaign in Europe, an experience she described as valuable but tough. Langley pulled on the Stars-and-Stripes jersey in her first year on a UCI Women’s World Tour team. “I decided to go for it with 500 meters to go, on that gradual climb, to go through those final turns first.” The National Champion Experience “I knew I needed to play it as wisely as possible,” she recalled. It was Langley’s first experience coming into a finale as part of a small breakaway, and she was uncertain about her chances in a two-up sprint against De Crescenzo.
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The final kilometer of the Knoxville championship course features a gradual uphill and a series of corners leading to the finishing straight.
The last two laps I was worried she’d drop me on the climb, but knowing I had to set up for a two-woman finish I was also trying to conserve as much energy as possible.” Every time going up the main climb, I was hanging on for dear life.
“It felt like a lot of pressure in the moment, as I realized it was really coming down to me to finish this off and that my teammates had done so much to set this up.”Īfter Schneider dropped off the back of the breakaway, Langley remembers marveling at De Crescenzo’s strength, particularly on the big climb. “That’s when, in my mind, it certainly shifted from ‘I’m just riding the breakaway’ to ‘I’m riding to win this race’, Langley recalled. However, with about two laps to go, it became clear the National Championship would be won by one of the breakaway riders. With half the race still left to go, Langley wasn’t confident the breakaway would stay away to the finish but knew that being out front would help her teammates conserve energy in the peloton. And that’s when I attacked, and it stuck! Lauren De Crescenzo and Skyler Schneider bridged up and the three of worked to build a gap.” “We decided to cover moves in the first half of the race, and then at the halfway point was when we’d start really racing. With the defending champion, Stephens, in the race, the plan was to keep the Stars-and-Stripes jersey in the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB team, but not with any particular rider. Langley certainly didn’t hang back and wait for the finish in the 2022 National Championships Road Race. There’s so much attrition that you can’t just hang back and wait for the finish.” How Langley won in Knoxville The course lends itself to exciting racing, which means exciting racers are the ones who are not afraid to take a stab at it. I think it suits and opportunistic, gritty, punchy rider. The main climb is no joke, but it’s also not a ‘climber’s’ course. I think it’s great for spectators because we do multiple laps through downtown. Knoxville: “A course for gritty, opportunistic riders”Įven if she hadn’t won her first Stars-and-Stripes jersey there, Langley says the road race course in Knoxville is one of her favorites: “I love it, and I promise I would have said that before last year, too.
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“Each year the bar has been elevated, which is exciting, and I think it’s great that the level of competition is so high.” For 2023, the US Pro Road National Championships returns to Knoxville, Tennessee for its last year, which has hosted the championships since 2017. “The US Women are on fire right now,” beamed Emma Langley. Although EF Education-TIBCO-SVB squad has had tremendous success at National Championships in recent years, keeping the jersey in the team will be a challenge as the level of competition in the US Pro Women’s peloton continues to rise. Current Road Race National Champion, Emma Langley, and 2021 Champion, Lauren Stephens, are both expected to compete, along with teammates Clara Honsinger and Veronica Ewers.
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