In just her second appearance in the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships, Taylor Knibb piled up quite a collection of prizes for riding the fastest time in the elite women’s individual time trial (ITT) – the stars-and-stripes jersey, a gold medal and a hat with “MADE IT” stitched into the underside of the bill. That special embroidery signified her qualification to represent Team USA in the women’s time trial at the Paris Olympic Games in July.
“I’ll be perfectly honest, I’m just in shock,” was Knibb’s reaction shortly after the final rider among the elite women, Lauren Stephens (Cynisca Cycling), crossed the line and stopped the clock well over a minute-and-a-half off her time of 41:54. Knibb was the only rider to go under 42 minutes on the 33.6km out-and-back, flat course, and by doing that she earned her first national championship in road cycling.
