Megan Guarnier didn’t compete in the time trial on Friday but she sure showed why she is the top American road racer right now with a national title on Saturday. Guarnier held off Cory Rivera, Mandy Heintz, and Brianna Walle to win the title in a time of 3:48:20. The other three all finished a second behind Guarnier in a race where the top 14 all finished within five seconds. Heintz was a bit of a surprise to find in the top four after posting an 82nd place finish in the Amgen Tour of California last week. Both Rivera and Walle finished in the top 15 in that event. Friday’s time trial winner, Carmen Small, finished seventh, two seconds back, runner-up Amber Neben was 21st, 14 seconds back, and Kristin Armstrong was 16th, seven seconds back.

On the men’s side Gregory Daniel took the top spot in a race that saw more riders drop out than finish.Daniel led the 25 riders who finished the race holding off Alex Howes, Travis McCabe, and Chad Beyer by five seconds.  Howes was 21st recently in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race which speaks well for the young 21-year-old Daniel. Yesterday’s time trial winner, Taylor Phinney, didn’t take part in the race while runner-up Thomas Zirbel did not finish. Bronze medalist Alexey Vermeulen finished 15th, 48 seconds back.

USA Cycling will host the Mountain Bike National Championships in Mammoth Mountain, California July 13th-17th. The next UCI World Tour event is in France, the Criterium du Dauphine from June 5th-12th. The women will stay stateside for the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic on June 5th.

Previous USA Cycling Pro Road & Time Trial National Championships Coverage:
Preview
Friday Update