Knoxville will play host to some of the nation’s best cyclists when the USA Cycling Professional Road National Championships gets underway Thursday.
This will be be the fourth year that USA Cycling holds an event in Knoxville
Here are five things to know about the championships:
There are three events in total
Over the four days there will be three competitions, the Individual Time Trial National Championships, the Criterium National Championships and the Pro Road National Championships.
Individual Time Trials will be held on Thursday and will consist of a 6.9-mile section of roadways that run along the banks of Melton Lake and the Oak Ridge rowing venue.
Women will complete two laps for a total distance of 22.8 kilometers while the men will complete three laps for a total distance of 34.2 kilometers. The women’s event will start at 10 a.m. and the men will start at 12:30 p.m.
The second event will be the Criterium set to be held on Friday. The 1.1-mile circuit, which starts and ends on Gay Street, is fast, short and will be set at night. Competitors will race for a set amount of time.
The women’s race will start at 6:15 and last for a maximum of 75 minutes; The men’s race will start at 7:45 and will go for 90 minutes.
Pro Road National Championships is the final and longest event of the weekend. Starting on Gay Street, the 7.9-mile route will cross the Tennessee River over the Gay Street Bridge and make its way through Old City.
As with the other events, there will be separate races for women and men. The women will start first at 9 a.m. and race nine laps for 71 miles, while the men will begin at 1:15 p.m. and complete 15 laps for 118.5 miles.
Olympians will be competing
A little more than a month before the Summer Games are set to begin in Tokyo, there will be several Olympic cyclists here.
Six members of the U.S. road cycling team are here: Amber Neben, Chloé Dygert, Lily Williams, Coryn Rivera, Megan Jastrab, Emma White and Lawson Craddock. The only member of the team who won’t be in Knoxville is Brandon McNulty.
Rivera and Neben have had the most success on the events being run in Knoxville.
Rivera, who has 72 U.S. championships, won the the Road Race in 2018.
While she hasn’t won the Road Race, Neben has been dominant in the Individual Time Trials, winning it the last three years and making the top three eight of the last 10.
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Alex Howes looking to repeat
While Rivera has dominated the road race for the women’s event, defending champion Alex Howes has been a favorite in the men’s event.
Before turning pro in 2012, Howes won and finished second, respectively, in the 2009 and 2010 U23 Road Race Championships.
Since then he’s finished top three in the pro event three times, winning the title in 2019.
Roads will be closed
Several main roads across the city will be closed to keep athletes and pedestrians safe.
For the Individual time trials, Melton Lake Drive will be closed from Amanda Drive to Emory Valley Road at 8 a.m.; the closures will stretch to Palisades Parkway, Rolling Links Boulevard and Union Valley Road starting at 9 a.m. All roads will be reopened by 5 p.m.
The Gay Street block from Church to Cumberland will be closed all day Friday and Saturday for Olympic Day, which will be full of activities for ages 10 and younger.
The Criterium and Road Race will see much of Downtown and South Knoxville’s streets shut down, with both races starting and ending on Gay Street. Streets will be closed from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday for the Criterium and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
How to watch
The event is open to anyone who wants to come out and watch in person, but social distancing is highly encouraged.
If you want to watch from home, you can live stream at FloBikes.
