5 things to know about the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships – Knoxville News Sentinel
The USA Cycling Pro Road Championships return to Knoxville for the fifth year this weekend beginning Thursday and running through Sunday.
Here are five things to know about the championships:
Three events in four days
The races will begin Thursday with the Elite Individual Time Trials on the banks of Melton Lake in Oak Ridge. The women’s 23-kilometer race starts at 9 a.m. ET. The men’s 34-kilometer race will go off at 12:30 p.m. Award ceremonies will be held shortly after each race at Melton Lake Drive Pavilion.
Friday’s Criterium will be held in downtown Knoxville with the start/finish line on the corner of Gay Street and Cumberland Avenue. Riders will race around a 1.1-mile course for a set amount of time. Women will race for 70 minutes starting at 6 p.m. while the men race for 80 minutes starting at 7:40 p.m.
The Pro Road National Championships will take place Sunday. Starting downtown, the women’s race will begin at 9 a.m. and stretch for 10 laps around a 6.8-mile route while the men will complete 17 laps beginning at 1:15 p.m.
Road closures
Several roads will be closed to the public throughout the weekend for the safety of competitors and spectators.
Melton Lake Drive will be closed from Amanda Drive to Emory Valley Road at 7 a.m. Thursday. Closures will continue from Palisades Parkway to Rolling Links Boulevard at 8:30 a.m, and all of Melton Lake Drive — from Palisades Parkway to Edgemoor Road — will be closed at 9:25 a.m. All roads will reopen by 5 p.m.
The Criterium and Road Race will require many streets in downtown and South Knoxville shut down. Roads will be closed from 4-10 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday.
The Gay Street block from Church Avenue to Cumberland will be closed starting Friday until 9 p.m. on Sunday. Detailed info on what exactly closures to expect can be found here.
A Knoxvillian in the field
Brandon Feehery has lived in Knoxville since 2016. Originally from Illinois, the 30-year-old cycling veteran has embraced East Tennessee for its landscape that is ideal for training for the Pro Road Nationals.
Feehery is a member of Project Echelon Racing, and his most recent win was at the UCOR Oak Ridge Velo Classic Crit. He will be competing in the Criterium on Friday looking to redeem himself after not finishing last year.
Defending champions looking to repeat
Several of this weekend’s races will feature last year’s winners, including one from each kind of race.
Lawson Craddock, a 2020 Olympian from Austin, Texas, will look to defend his Time Trial championship while also competing in the Road Race.
At 18, Luke Lamperti, became the youngest man to win the Criterium Nationals in 2021, and he returns to compete in both the Crit and Road Race. The women’s Criterium will also feature its defending champion, Kendall Ryan.
Lauren Stephens won the women’s Road Race last year but comes into 2022 with stitches in her forearm and hip because of a crash during the Unbound Gravel event on June 4.
How to watch
Both the Criterium and Road Races will be streamed on FloBikes, while the men’s Road Race will be broadcast on WATE-TV (ABC6).
Alberto Camargo is a sports intern with the Knoxville-News Sentinel. Contact him at acamargo@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @albaretoe.