Lauren Stephens (Cynisca Biking) takes multi-tasking to a brand new stage, once more. Because the US gravel nationwide champion, she made an early dedication to deal with the highway this yr to earn qualification for the Paris Olympic Video games. Whereas an automated spot had not materialised, her outcomes sheet continued to burst from highway, and gravel, races.
A change of plans in late Could allowed her to journey from Brazil to Kansas for Unbound Gravel final week, although not for the 200-mile race as one of many 5 required occasion as a Life Time Grand Prix competitor. She downsized to the girls’s 100-mile occasion and it paid dividends together with her third victory at that distance.
She’s not finished with heavy journey simply but, as in the future after profitable Unbound 100 she headed to Spain to participate on the UCI 2.1 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Femenina from June 7-9.
“It was a final minute deal. We determined at Nationals that I used to be gonna do the 100, and I will head to Barcelona on Monday to do Volta Catalunya subsequent weekend. So the 200 did not actually make sense with flying on Monday,” Stephens informed Cyclingnews on the end as she collected the Unbound 100 win, good for ninth general.
In contrast to the Unbound Gravel 200 the place the professional girls had been offered their very own begin, the Unbound 100 opponents had a conventional mass begin final Saturday. Stephens rode the primary 20 miles on the entrance of the race with a big group of males and only a handful of 9 elite girls within the combine, together with Flavia Oliveira Parks (Specialised) and Laura King (Cannondale).
By the midway mark, Stephens was the one girl remaining on the entrance of the race and rode third wheel general. She ultimately misplaced contact with the entrance group, however she managed to stick with a bunch of males, together with husband Mat Stephens, and prolong her result in win over runner-up Parks and third-placed King.
“Flavia was nonetheless there earlier than the creek crossing, I believe we misplaced her someplace round that creek crossing. It was good to see a number of the girls up there at first mixing it up,” she recalled in regards to the race earlier than the verify level at mile 54.
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“Sadly I needed to cease and put air in my tire at 100k (40 miles to go), it was in a headwind on the highway part. It appeared just like the group was going gradual after which that enticed somebody to assault. So I did not make it again to the entrance group. We ended up with a pleasant group of 5 – 6 who labored all collectively.”
She remained on the end line space in Emporia to observe the professional males and professional girls end Unbound 200, the place she congratulated 200 runner-up Geerike Schreurs (Group SD Worx-Protime). The 2 had been a part of Cylance Professional Biking in 2018, that yr Stephens taking second within the Pan American ITT and Schreurs was her soigneur.
Two years in the past Stephens circled the globe with three completely different world championship races in a span of 21 days. She rode to twenty ninth place on the Mountain Bike Marathon Worlds in Denmark, then competed within the highway race at UCI Highway Worlds in Wollongong, Australia the subsequent week (the place she didn’t end as a result of illness), and returned to Europe to compete within the UCI Gravel World Championships, the place she was the best-placed US girl in sixth place.
This yr she added extra frequent flyer miles with the journey between her house in Texas to West Virginia, Brazil, Kansas and Spain throughout three weeks. Even big storms in Texas couldn’t derail her determination to return to Emporia for Unbound.
“So I raced the highway race on a Sunday at Nationals [in West Virginia on May 19], took a flight to Brazil, obtained there Monday morning, raced the time trial Tuesday. Then had some good days to coach with Amber Neben and Shayna [Powless] and Maeghan [Easler],” she recalled. “Then we had the highway race on Saturday, and it ended up being a area dash, and I used to be assured in my dash, and I succeeded in that.
“Storms hit Dallas Tuesday morning [before Unbound], so we misplaced energy. Our energy got here on Thursday, an hour earlier than we left to return up right here [to Kansas]. We had been preparing in the dead of night. So it has been a busy week,” she stated with fun.
This yr as a part of the Life Time Grand Prix invitation-only area, Stephens determined earlier within the spring that she couldn’t make Unbound Gravel 200 a part of her schedule, to remove some put on and tear on her thoughts and physique. She now should race the remaining 5 Grand Prix occasions to nonetheless be eligible for the season-ending prize purse, as she didn’t race Fuego XL and Unbound 200.
US Highway Nationals turned her precedence to earn the one spot remaining for USA Biking’s automated qualification for the Paris Olympics highway crew, which went to Taylor Knibb (Trek Manufacturing facility Racing) who received the ITT championship.
Stephens has banked prime highway outcomes since February – a win at Clasica de Almeria, a stage win at Tour de Normandie, GC on the Tour of the Gila and second general on the inaugural Growler one-day race at Levi’s Gran Fondo. The Pan Am highway champion will use her resume for one remaining likelihood.
“You already know, we are able to nonetheless submit a petition, these go in June 11, and so they’ll make the ultimate bulletins a pair days after that. So for positive, I will write my petition. And you already know, it is by no means over until it is over,” she informed Cyclingnews.
She stated after the three-day Spanish stage race with Cynisca and submitting her enchantment to USA Biking, she’s going to lastly take break day in mid-June, in all probability mountain biking in Colorado.
