Colin Lavecky took part in the opening round of USA Speed Week in Greenville, South Carolina, this week "to honor the jersey I won last summer. There were no parade laps, just 50 fast laps, and the stars and stripes jersey was unveiled for the first time in 10 months.

Lavecky won the elite women's criterium national title at the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships last June. This is the 73rd national title she has won in a variety of disciplines, from junior to elite.

Since winning the national criterium in Knoxville, Tennessee last year, she has exclusively raced in Europe and has never finished higher in a race. So her participation in Speedweek was just the excuse she needed to return home after the spring classics.

"I came here to honor the jersey I won last summer. I decided to run the criterium before the national championships, and this was the only time I could fit it in perfectly with my European schedule," Labecki told Cycling News in Greenville.

"So I decided to come here, have some fun, and show off the jersey."

"I'm really looking forward to the race.

All 18 road champions will be crowned at the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships, May 14-19 in Charleston, West Virginia.

The elite women's US Pro Criterium will be held on May 16; new for 2024, the U23 women will race separately in the criterium and individual time trial.

"I grew up racing criteriums. It doesn't matter what the course is, as long as there is a finish line, my goal is to get there first or get my team there first," she told Cycling News before her victory in Knoxville last year.

The US Pro Road Championships have been held in Tennessee in June for the past six years, and the California native has attended every year, winning the road race title in 2018 and her fourth silver medal in the road race at the Knoxville venue last year.

She will compete in all three elite women's events this year, which she does not usually do because this is an Olympic year and the winner of the individual time trial earns an automatic berth to the Paris Games. at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, she placed seventh in the road race and and became the top American athlete.

"I do all three disciplines, and the time trial is an Olympic qualifier. I love crit because it's fun, and road racing is where my heart is. West Virginia is close to my new home base on the East Coast.

"Now that I live in Pennsylvania, you could say I'm an East Coast coaster. My heart is still on the West Coast, but I am enjoying life here on the East Coast."

Traveling down the spine of the Appalachians to the foothills of South Carolina for the first two Speed Week races was an easy choice.

"The funny thing is, I've never competed in Speed Week, so it's all new to me," she said in Greenville, where she finished eighth Thursday night as part of a top contender group that missed a three-rider breakaway won by Caitlin Lauwelda (DNA Pro Cycling), Satisfaction was gained. She lost to the L39ON of Los Angeles duo of Alexis Magner and Ryan (4th and 7th, respectively) and Skylar Schneider (Miami Blazers).

In her 11th season on the pro road, she is a member of EF Education Cannondale at the U.S. Continental level. The Tour de Flanders winner, who has competed in nine of this year's spring classics and actively supported her teammates in Paris-Roubaix Femme and De Brabanthe Pile, will be looking for her first win in the pink colors of EF Education in West Virginia.

And unlike in the past, when she ran solo at Nationals for a European-based trade team, she said she is looking forward to having a bigger team around her this time.

"Yes, we are also an American team. So our big goal is to win one or three national championships. And then to compete in the Tour de France will also be a big goal. Hopefully, we can also aim for a stage win."

In the big markets, stock car racing and college football dominate the sports headlines, but for the time being, Speedweek, with eight days of racing in 11 days, will steal a bit of the spotlight.

Starting with the Greenville Cycling Classic, Speed Week offers a total of $86,000 in prize money for men and women, both individual and team. The Spartanburg Criterium, Athens Twilight Criterium, and LaGrange Classic are also part of the USA Crites, with six team races for $76,800.