Team Winston-Salem Dominates Home Race Weekend
Team Winston-Salem delivered a commanding performance at the Velocious Sport/Team Winston-Salem Race Weekend, showcasing incredible teamwork, precise strategy, and sheer strength across both the road race and criterium. From perfectly executed pacelines to well-timed attacks, every rider played a role in the team’s success. Team Winston-Salem dominated the men’s and women’s races, winning all four weekend events.
Men’s Road Race – A Masterclass in Race Strategy
The men’s squad executed their plan flawlessly. It was to use the 61-mile road race as a training ground for trust, teamwork, and race tactics. The strategy was clear: let a small break go early, manage the time gap, then shut it down and launch attacks. As the race began, the team stuck to the plan. Within the first 5 minutes, the breakaway of the day was already established as 5 riders took off down the road. Team Winston-Salem calmly sat back, silently in control of the race.
A few laps in, the breakaway hit a gap of about three minutes. This is when the team jumped into gear. All riders in the race, Will Hardin, Jules van Kempen, Josh Foley, Brooks Wienke, Caleb Maxham, David Davenport, and Eli Woodard got together to form a vicious paceline at the front of the peloton. Not only did they set an intense pace, but elite riders fell off the back of the peloton, being dropped one by one, unable to keep up with the Team Winston-Salem paceline.
As the breakaway fell apart and riders came back to the peloton, there were eventually only a few riders up the road. Josh Foley, Will Hardin, Brooks Wienke, and Jules van Kempen made it into key moves in the final quarter of the race to set up the win. Brooks and Jules attacked relentlessly to wear down the final riders in the front. Then, Will Hardin made the key solo attack over the final hill. From controlling the field, to forming a team paceline, to launching key attacks to thin out the field, each rider on the team worked hard to earn a hard fought team victory.
The road race was a masterclass in team tactics, proving that the team can control a race, make calculated decisions, and trust each other to execute.
Women’s Road Race – Plan Execution
The Women’s team was in a small field, but it didn’t stop them from doing their best to knock out all competition. The race began with Jen Malik attacking relentlessly. She forced the field into exhaustion, allowing Rebecca Lang and Sierra Sims to form a breakaway. Izzy Jensen worked hard to keep the field at bay as the others broke off. This set a final breakaway of Rebecca, Sierra, and one opponent, Andrea.
Once the break was established, Rebecca and Sierra took turns attacking to wear out Andrea. As the end of the race drew near, Sierra planned an attack and hung just far enough off the front that Andrea would exhaust herself trying to catch on. While the three came to the line together, Sierra easily outsprinted Andrea. As the front of the race was lit up, Izzy and Jen locked down the field. They covered moves and shut down all riders trying to bridge. Their work ensured the lead trio stayed away and that Team Winston-Salem could stay in control. The team showed strength and intelligence, effortlessly securing a win.
Men’s Criterium – Brooks and Will Seal the Win
If the road race was about patience and control, the criterium was about instinct and execution. The entire team worked together throughout the race, leading to an unstoppable breakaway move seeing Brooks take the win with Will right behind.
Soon after the race started, a rider from UNC broke off the front as the peloton hesitated to chase. Brooks read the race perfectly, deciding to throw down a massive bridge effort to join the rider and form a breakaway. As the move got farther away, Will Hardin successfully bridged the gap from the peloton to the break with no passengers. Once in, Brooks and Will helped keep the pace high, making sure the peloton would be unable to catch them. Back in the field, Josh, David, Eli, Jules, and Rebecca took turns covering each attack from the peloton, ensuring that nobody could reach the breakaway.
Eventually, the breakaway lapped the field, allowing Will and Jules to sit back in with the peloton. It was now the job of the rest of Team Winston-Salem to get them to the finish line in first place. The team gave everything they had, willing to sacrifice their own results in order to keep the pace high and shred the field. On the final lap. Will launched one more brutal attack, forcing other riders to respond. Brooks followed him perfectly, solidifying the lead for the two riders. As they came around the final turn, Brooks and Will crossed the line taking 1st and 2nd place.
This was a textbook breakaway race, proving Team Winston-Salem can read the race, attack at the right moment, and execute a winning move with precision.
Women’s Criterium – The Team Gets Even Stronger
The women’s squad took what they learned from the road race and delivered an even more dominant performance in the crit. This time, their teamwork was even sharper, and the results showed.
Early on in the race, Sierra, Rebecca, and Jen attacked early, forming a three rider breakaway that immediately put the field out of contention. The three worked hard together to solidify their lead while Izzy sat in the field, blocking each one of their moves and helping the breakaway succeed. The breakaway worked hard together, holding off all attacks that came form the peloton.
While the race was not as animated as others before it, the team worked well together securing a podium sweep, taking the top three steps. In addition, Izzy came in fourth, beating the rest of the field.
This race was a perfect example of how quickly the women’s team is learning to race as a unit. They went from adapting on the fly in the road race to controlling the crit from start to finish—a huge step forward.
A Weekend of Learning, Winning, and Preparing for Bigger Battles
Beyond the race wins, this weekend was about growth. Will Hardin summed it up best:
"We made a plan, stuck to it, and executed. We communicated well and learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Most riders got to see Winston-Salem’s cycling community, and we’re really looking forward to racing together at Redlands."
Team Winston-Salem showed exactly why they’re a force to be reckoned with—they trust each other, they execute their plans, and they race for the win. With Redlands on the horizon, this weekend was the perfect launchpad for even bigger results to come.
A big thank you to Susan Wienke for taking such great pictures.