USA Cycling Amateur National Road Championships wraps up in Virginia’s Blue Ridge

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – A major athletic competition wrapped up Saturday in Roanoke. The USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships took place across several of our hometowns this week.

The nation’s best amateur road cyclists lined up to compete for the last day of road racing.

“Everybody in America is watching the results of what’s happening here and it’s just going to elevate the reputation of Virginia’s Blue Ridge as a cycling destination for people across America,” said USA Cycling CEO Brenden Quirk.

Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge Public Relations Specialist Kathryn Lucas says hosting sporting events boosts the local economy.

“They’re staying here. They’re going to our restaurants. They’re staying in our hotels,” explained Lucas. “They’re you know spending time at our wonderful attractions, our museums, and our lakes when they’re not racing.”

The competition consisted of long-distance racing across our hometowns during the week. On Saturday it shifted to a sprint race around Downtown Roanoke.

“The crowds are great and it’s been a lot of fun. I mean it’s always great to watch criterium racing because you see the whole race,” said Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty24 Founder and General Manager Nicola Cranmer. “You see them lap after lap after lap. It’s been really fun, exciting.”

Lucas describes it as watching a formula one race but on two wheels.

“You’ll have cyclists getting up to top speeds of 30 to 35 miles an hour,” added Lucas. “So, it’s just going to be really fun and exciting to cheer the race on while you’re already downtown enjoying your weekend.”

Cranmer says every cyclist on the local team made it to the podium.

“So, everybody has improved this year which is been incredible,” explained Cranmer. “It’s been really great to see, and we’ve had a couple of standout athletes that have really jumped up.”

As leaders continue to paint the valley as a cyclist destination – they also want to promote safety.

Complete Streets and Vision Zero Coordinator Rob Issem promoted the city’s traffic safety campaign during this week’s event.

Issem talked to community members and visitors during the cycling national championships.

The campaign urges drivers to follow the law and to change lanes when passing cyclists.

”We have people from all over the country coming here and people are coming to Roanoke to bike all the time. Just because it’s so beautiful to ride here. And there’s such great riding- mountain bike and road and gravel,” explained Issem. “And so campaigns like this they help people when they come and visit Roanoke feel like they’re safe and that they’ve come to a place where cycling is embraced.”

The coordinator encourages everyone to get involved and help increase safety on roads for everyone.

Quirk says he hopes to bring back the championships to the valley next year.

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