Megan Guarnier is poised to challenge the National Road Race Championships this week in Georgia with the support of her Team TIBCO teammates. Photo by Jonathan Devich.

 Hundreds of professional cyclists will converge in Augusta, Georgia this week as the top riders in the sport vie for national titles in the time trial, criterium and road race. Team TIBCO sends a full squad of American riders to contest the three road racing disciplines.

A six-rider squad of Team TIBCO sprinters and powerhouses are sure to make their mark during Friday’s Downtown Augusta Criterium. For 50 kilometers, spectators will watch top sprinters rip around the circuit as they compete for the Criterium National Champion title. The Team TIBCO squad will include two-time U23 National Criterium Champion Samantha Schneider, Madison Track Champion Lauren Hall, Team Captain Meredith Miller, Jennifer Purcell, as well as U23 riders Kendall Ryan and her younger sister Alexis Ryan.

“The Team has illustrated excellent cohesion and teamwork in criteriums this year,” said Team TIBCO European directeur sportif Angela van Smoorenburg. “We will work to get into a breakaway, but if that does not work out, we have very strong sprinters in Samantha and Lauren to go for the win.”

The National Championships finale is set for Sunday with the Fort Gordon Elite Road Race. All nine U.S. TIBCO riders will take to the roads as they work together to put a teammate on the podium. The 120-kilometer race will take the riders ove r rolling terrain for five laps of a 24-kilometer circuit.

“We want to race aggressively for the criterium and road race,” said van Smoorenburg. “After Nature Valley, we saw that several of our riders have good legs and we will work to form a break and deliver our riders to the podium.”

Guarnier has been gaining momentum in the past weeks and could prove to be a force to be reckoned with at this year’s Nationals. She proved her strength and determination at Nature Valley last week when she captured the Most Aggressive Rider award after taking a classy solo victory at the Stillwater Criterium - considered one of the most challenging crits in North America. Last year, Amanda Miller finished third in the road race and hopes to repeat a top performance this year.

Alexis Ryan will take on the junior races this week, competing in the junior time trial, criterium and road race. Additionally, she will race with the elite women for Sunday’s road race.
     
The Team TIBCO Roster for the U.S.A. Cycling National Championships includes:

Time Trial
Megan Guarnier
Amanda Miller
Lindsay Myers
Jennifer Wheeler

Criterium
Lauren Hall
Meredith Miller
Jennifer Purcell
Alexis Ryan (U23)
Kendall Ryan (U23)
Samantha Schneider

Road Race
Megan Guarnier
Lauren Hall
Amanda Miller
Meredith Miller
Lindsay Myers
Jennifer Purcell
Alexis Ryan (U23)
Kendall Ryan (U23)
Samantha Schneider
Jennifer Wheeler