Coryn Labecki returned to her US roots of criterium racing this week, lining up at the opening round of USA Speed Week in Greenville, South Carolina “to honour the jersey that I won last summer”. There were no parade laps, just full-on, high-speed racing for 50 laps, the stars-and-stripes jersey on display for the first time in 10 months.
Labecki used the Greenville Cycling Classic as her coming-out-party for the national jersey, having won the elite women’s criterium national title last June at the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships, holding off two-time crit champion Kendall Ryan (L39ION of Los Angeles). It was a staggering 73rd national title of her career, across junior and elite divisions in multiple disciplines.
Since she won the national criterium in Knoxville, Tennessee last year, she’s raced exclusively in Europe and has never worn the top prize in a race. So participation in Speed Week was the excuse she needed after the spring Classics and a trip home.
“[I’m here] to honour the jersey that I won last summer. I decided to do some criteriums before Nationals, and really this was the only time that fit perfectly with my European schedule,” Labecki told Cyclingnews in Greenville.
“So I decided to come down and have some fun and show off the jersey a little bit while I can.”
A total of 18 road champions will be decided at USA Cycling Pro Road Championships from May 14 to 19 in Charleston, West Virginia, with all courses located in the downtown area.
Labecki only has three more weeks to parade the red-white-and-blue kit on the short-lap races, as the next US Pro Criterium nationals for elite women take place May 16. New for 2024 will be separate races for U23 women in the criterium and individual time trial; the U23 road race champion will continue to be decided in a combined field with elite women.
“I grew up racing crits; that’s how I learned my race craft. It doesn’t matter what the course is, as long as there’s a finish line, my goal is to get there first or to get my team there first,” she told Cyclingnews prior to her win in Knoxville last year.
The past six editions of the US Pro Road Championships have been held in Tennessee in June, and the California native participated every year, winning the road race title in 2018, and last year took a fourth silver medal in the road race at the Knoxville venue.
She plans to race all three events for elite women this year, which she has not always done since this is an Olympic Games year and the winner of the individual time trial receives an automatic berth for the Paris Games. At the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, she was the top US rider in the road race in seventh place.
“I'm doing all three events, and the time trial being the Olympic qualifier. The crit I love to do because it's fun, and then the road race is just where my heart lies. So yeah, I'm doing all three, it's close to home now,” she said about West Virginia’s close proximity to her new home base on the east coast.
“I actually live in Pennsylvania now, so I guess you could say I'm an East coaster. My heart still lies in the on the West Coast, but enjoying life out here in the East.”
It was an easy choice to make the trip down the spine of the Appalachians to the foothills in South Carolina for the first two races of Speed Week, and she’ll stay for other races in Georgia as well.
“Funny enough, I’ve never raced Speed Week before, so it’s all new for me,” she said in Greenville, and she was satisfied Thursday night when she finished eighth, part of a group of top contenders who all missed a three-rider breakaway won by Kaitlyn Rauwerda (DNA Pro Cycling). She was beaten to the line by L39ION of Los Angeles duo Alexis Magner and Ryan (fourth and seventh, respectively) and Skylar Schneider (Miami Blazers).
In her 11th pro road season, this year riding with the US Continental-level EF Education-Cannondale squad. The former Tour of Flanders winner had nine starts at this year’s spring Classics, riding aggressively at both Paris-Roubaix Femmes and De Brabantse Pijl in support of teammates, but looks for her first victory in the pink colours of EF Education in West Virginia.
And unlike past years when she rode solo at nationals riding for European-based trade teams, she’s said she’s looking forward to having a sizeable team around her this time.
“So yeah, we're also an American team. So it will be a big goal for us to win one, or three, national championships. And, we just got into the Tour de France, so that's going to be a big goal of ours. Hopefully, I’ll get a stage win.”
The immediate need for speed was across a region where stock car racing and college football grab most of the sports headlines in the large markets, but for now Speed Week will steal a little of the spotlight with eight days of racing in 11 days.
Beginning with Greenville Cycling Classic, Speed Week offers prize money for men and women, whether individuals or on teams, which totals $86,000. Three of the events - Spartanburg Criterium, the Athens Twilight Criterium and LaGrange Classic - will also be part of USA Crits, which offers a team competition across six events of $76,800.
