Durangoan Quinn Simmons dominated the elite men’s road race on Sunday at the 2023 USA Cycling Professional Road National Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Over 200 participants on the punchy 6.7-mile course through downtown and southern Knoxville.
Simmons, a Trek Segafredo cyclist, prevailed in challenging weather with a big solo effort to win his first elite national title.
Chloé Dygert (Brownsburg, Indiana; Canyon/SRAM Racing) doubled up on her win from the elite women’s time trial on Thursday. She’s the first rider since 2017 to earn both national titles. Natalie Quinn (Harrisville, Utah; CCB p/b LLG) won the women’s U23 national road race.
Lightning, heavy rain, and strong winds delayed the start of the elite men’s road race, pushing it back over an hour. Because of the delay, the race was shortened from 17 to 15 laps to ensure a similar finishing time. The field of 119 riders lined up in the steady rain after the worst of the storm passed, eager to compete for the national title.
The weather conditions made for exciting racing, with attacks coming relentlessly. Teams like L39ion of Los Angeles, Aevolo, Human Powered Health, Project Echelon and more all trying their hand at testing the field to see if a break would stick.
Tyler Williams (Santa Rosa, California; L39ion of Los Angeles) attacked at the midpoint of the race, successfully pulling away from the group.
Simmons then took on the herculean effort of bridging the gap to Williams with seven laps remaining in the race. Once those two connected, they increased their lead to over three minutes.
The field slowly responded, noticing they were in danger of letting the national title go up the road. A chase group of Brandon McNulty (Phoenix; UAE Team Emirates), Colin Joyce (Pocatello, Idaho; Human Powered Health), Tyler Stites (Tucson, Arizona; Project Echelon), and Riley Sheehan (Boulder; Denver Disruptors) pulled away from the peloton, to bridge up to Williams and Simmons.
Learning that the group of four was coming for them, the pair of leaders dug deep to maintain their lead. On the final climb up Sherrod Road, Simmons attacked Williams and created a 37-second gap, earning himself the stars-and-stripes.
“I said to the family yesterday that I wanted to win solo,” Simmons said. “I didn’t want the race to come down to a sprint finish and leave it up to luck.”
Simmons won the race in 3 hours, 53 minutes and 16 seconds. His younger brother, Colby Simmons (Jumbo-Visma Development Team), placed 23rd in 4:00:34. Fifty bikers did not finish.
Williams pressed on to the finish, taking second after a long day at the front of the race. For third, it came down to a sprint finish between McNulty and Stites. In the end, Stites pipped McNulty on the line.
The long, wet day played a significant factor in the challenge of the race. But perseverance was part of Simmons' mantra for the day, saying, “It was a tough start, but I don’t mind racing in the rain. It’s just part of racing, it makes it more challenging, and the harder the race could be, the better it is for me. We decided flat out, no matter what, I was going to win today. It feels nice to say I’m going to do something and be able to do it. It’s been a while.”
Simmons will take the next several days to recover and travel to France, where he’ll join his Trek-Segafredo teammates for the Tour de France. The team, however, will be re-branded as Lidl-Trek from the Tour onward after attracting a major new title sponsorship from supermarket chain Lidl.
“It was really important to me to win this race for a number of reasons,” Simmons said. “For the first time in a long time, the jersey now does a lap of France. I get to wear the nicest jersey in the biggest race in the world.”
Giulio Ciccone and Mads Pedersen are set to lead the team in the Tour de France. Tour de Suisse winner Mattias Skjelmose, Juan Pedro Lopez, Alex Kirsch and Jasper Stuyven will also suit up with Simmons for Lidl-Trek.
The 21-stage Tour will begin on Saturday in Spain and conclude July 23 in Paris.
Ninety-five men lined up for the elite men’s criterium national championship on Friday, including Colby Simmons. As the starter’s pistol went off to begin the race, athletes revved their engines and kept the throttle open for the entirety of the 80-minute race. Like the elite women’s race won by Coryn Labecki (Tustin, California; Team Jumbo-Visma), the men’s teams played cat and mouse, with teams attacking, counterattacking and recovering. The race saw a near-constant stream of changing leaders.
As the lap cards flipped to show nine to go, the peloton leveled up the intensity. Attacks from Project Echelon, Miami Nights, Miami Blazers, L39ion of Los Angeles, and Aevolo animated the front of the race, keeping things lively. The L39ion squad took charge, putting five men at the front in an attempt to control the race. Not to be locked out of the front, Luke Lamperti (Sebastopol, California; Trinity Racing) and Colby stuck to the team like glue, shadowing their every move. L39ion attacked, with Gavin Hoover (Manhattan Beach, California), leading out teammate Tyler Williams (Santa Rosa, California) into the race's final climb. The climb was a battle between Williams, Lamperti and Colby, each dancing on the pedals to get up the hill. Lamperti, however, was able to get on Williams’ wheel and was the first out of the final corner to take his third win in 1:15:12. Colby finished in second place one second later, crossing just ahead of Williams.
