It’s good to be back in peaceful Roanoke County—a stark contrast to the high-energy whirlwind of 11 days at the Kwik Trip Tour of America’s Dairyland. There’s always a bit of a mental dip after wrapping up a big tour like that, but Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge is already shifting gears and getting fired up for what’s next: the USA National MTB Championships, coming up July 14-20.
If you’re local (or even if you’re not), I highly recommend checking out the urban short track championships on Thursday, July 17 at Elmwood Park. The Pro Women line up at 7:00 PM, followed by the Pro Men at 7:30 PM—but there’s racing all day long. For the evening events, plan to get there early; it’s going to be a party! Check here for the full event Schedule!
Kwik Trip Tour of America’s Dairyland was nothing short of spectacular this year, featuring a deep international field packed with Olympic and world championship medalists. It brought its fair share of highs and lows, but in the end, I couldn’t be prouder of how the team performed. We walked away with the overall Omnium, the Lowlands jersey, seven race wins, and a healthy haul of cash primes generously put up by local businesses.
The team really found its rhythm kicking off the tour the first week stringing together five straight victories. A couple of crashes threatened to derail that momentum, taking the wind out of our sails for a day or two, but the squad bounced back quickly with another win! We closed out the tour just the way we started—on top. On the final day, the pack chased down a gutsy long-range move by Automatic’s Grace Arlandson and Marlies sealed it with a powerful sprint to the line making it seven victories for the team. Watch the closing laps here – volume up! It really does take a team to accomplish winning the overall and Lowlands jersey and the daily wins, bib props to Olivia Cummins (USA) Sofía Arreola (MEX) Rylee McMullen (NZL) Bethany Ingram (USA) Thank you to Anika Brants (CAN) for your off the bike help this week.
Big thank you to the staff, who did a stellar job for the team. Huge thank you to the Kwik Trip Tour of America’s Dairyland organizers, staff and volunteers and so much gratitude to our hosts the bender family who I’m excited to see in Roanoke soon!
Thanks for reading, Nicola
Omnium Standings Final
- Marlies Mejías (CUB) UCI CTW: Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28
- Odette Lynch (AUS) Fearless femmes Racing PB Robertet
- Arielle Verhaaren (USA) Automatic ABUS
- Aline Sietz (CHE) Unattached
- Claudia Marcks (AUS) CCACHE x BODYWRAP
Lowland Sprint Competition Final
- Marlies Mejías (CUB) UCI CTW: Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28
- Sofia Arreola (MEX) UCI CTW: Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28
- Regina Doty (USA) LA Sweat Racing
- Rylee McMullen (NZL) UCI CTW: Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28
- Skylar Scheider (USA) UCI WTW:SD Worx ProTime
