Easton Criterium - Win!
Easton Criterium Presented by Lehigh Valley Health Network
Easton, Pensilvania
- Marlies Mejias (CUB) UCI CTW: Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28
- Jenna Nestman (CAN) Automatic Racing
- Paola Muñoz (CHI) Fearless Femme Racing p/b Beasley Law
Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28 lined up for its second year at the Easton Criterium, returning to a race where Sofia Arreola took the win last year. With all of the major criterium teams in attendance, the racing was fast, tactical, and highly competitive.
Easton always delivers a strong spectator atmosphere, and even with overcast skies, fans came out in full force to celebrate the holiday weekend and bring great energy to the course.
“We raced a patient race,” said Marlies Mejias. “There were only three of us, and truthfully, we were all feeling a little sick from something we ate at lunch. We wanted the race to come down to a sprint, so we measured our workload carefully and let the teams with bigger numbers battle it out, contributing when we needed to.
Sofia was in a strong break at one point, but we knew she wasn’t feeling great, so we didn’t commit fully to letting it stick. Coming into the final turn, I was on Rylee’s wheel. We were a little further back than ideal, but it actually worked well because we knew it was a hard uphill sprint and riders often go too early there. I was able to come past several riders in the closing meters and take the win.”
