Creating Team USA for the Paris Olympics was a difficult battle for Kristen Faulkner (EF Education・Cannondale), but Alaska has not yet given up.

On Wednesday, Faulkner was unable to win an automatic bid for the Olympics in a personal time trial when he came second in 11 seconds to triathlon Taylor Knibb who claimed a ticket to Paris.

Knibb participated in the Olympic time trial with World champion Chloé Dygert, and usually both also compete in road races. However, Knibb had never competed in an international road cycling event and only met the requirement to earn at least 10 UCI points through a time trial victory.

Given that Knibb has no racing experience at the Peloton and focuses on two other events, individual and mixed relay triathlon, she may not be the best choice to represent the country in road races.

There is still a small chance Faulkner or perhaps Lily Williams (Human Powered Health) could be at the start line of the Paris road race. According to Jim Miller, USA Cycling chief of Sports Performance, Knibb could reduce its position in road racing and be replaced by another athlete already selected for the Cycling Olympics, for track and mountain bike events.

"I would like to go for either a truck or a road. So, only one thing once again," Faulkner said, after winning the road race title in Charleston, West Virginia on Sunday.

To make the team, Faulkner took to the board to try to ride the women's team pursuit team and flew to Belgium for track training camp shortly after Sunday's road race victory.

"I will go to track camp for team pursuit in Belgium at the end of the month, and I will be there for two to three weeks. And then they choose the final team that will take them to Paris.

Faulkner is preparing for the challenge all year, doing her first team pursuit at the Nations Cup in Adelaide with Olympic Omnium Gold medalists Jen Valenti, Lily Williams and Olivia Cummins.

"It worked really well," Faulkner said. "It wasn't all of the members who might go to Paris, because some were missing because of injuries and stuff, but were in the final team

"I liked it a lot more than I thought," she said of the track race. "This season, my kind of sub-5-minute power has really been my strength, and I think it really comes across the team's pursuit efforts.

"I've spent a lot of time on TT bikes this year as well, but I feel like it really suits my strengths because it really helps in the pursuit of the team."

The automatic selection of Knibb means that knibb alternatives must come from athletes who are already in Team USA at another event. It will knock riders like the Nationals silver medalist Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health), bronze medalist Colin Lavecki (EF Education Cannondale), or fourth place Lauren Stevens (Cynisca).

"We only have two spots for the United States this year, and I can't complain about it because I haven't raced in the last few years to secure more spots for the United States," Edwards said.

"The way USA Cycling chooses athletes is a little different every year, and there was a lot of weighting in that time trial," she said, taking fourth place in TT. 

"I don't know exactly what will happen next. The Olympics are always a goal, but I'm lucky enough that I've been twice before. This time I wanted to go again, but at this point I do not know what it is like."