Sofia Gomez-Villafañe is the first to admit she’s not an expert at road cycling, but nobody would have known that Friday.
The Fort Lewis College cyclist from Argentina found yet another podium finish at a USA Cycling collegiate national championship event Friday morning in Marshall, North Carolina. She placed second out of 62 competitors in the women’s Division I road race only a tire-length behind Monica Volk of Penn State. The top-six riders all came in together, with Jessica Bobeck of the University of Colorado-Boulder right on Gomez-Villafañe’s wheel. Volk and company finished in 2 hours, 15 minutes, 26 seconds after completing two laps for a total of 76-kilometers.
“I tried to break away on a climb that was close to the finish, but the wind was so strong and I was already pretty tired that I couldn’t even pull away,” Gomez-Villafañe said in an email to The Durango Herald. “Then I got stuck in front, and, as soon as I saw the finish line, I just went in for the sprint. There was a pretty tough headwind, and I got passed just a few bike lengths away from the finish.”
Gomez-Villafañe, who finished 19th in Belgium at the UCI Cyclo-Cross U23 World Championships earlier this season, said she never felt strong in any particular portion of the race but felt good enough in the climbs and flats.
“I was a little scared in the descents because it was a little bit wet,” she said. “I actually locked up my rear wheel in one of the descents and slid sideways but somehow managed to save it.”
Marian University did a nice job stacking up top-10 results with Laurel Rathbun and Corrie Karas finishing ninth and 10th, respectively. Emma Swartz of Marian also finished 14th to help in the early team omnium standings.
Jenna MacPherson was the second FLC rider to finish. She crossed 23rd in 2:20:25. Emily Abraham took 31st in 2:21:03, and Casey Hynes took 28th in 2:31:37. Sydney Edmonson rounded out the Skyhawks’ flock in 50th in 2:32:56.
Friday’s silver was Gomez-Villafañe’s first road bike medal in any individual race. She had been on a podium with the FLC team time trial squad before.
“I think this result really shows the improvement I had seen since I started working with Carmen Small,” Gomez-Villafañe said referencing the Cervelo Bigla Pro Cycling Team member and Olympic hopeful from Durango. “It’s also nice to know that the fitness is coming around since I have mountain bike season ahead of me.”
Small showed her support for her apprentice through Twitter.
“Super proud of this girl! Hard work pays off! #nextgeneration,” Small wrote.
Criterium races are scheduled for Saturday morning, with time trials set for Sunday. After one day, FLC stands in second place in the team omnium behind Marian. The Skyhawks’ 89 points are 11 behind Marian and 10 ahead of Midwestern State. CU-Boulder is in fourth with 70 points.
Sunday’s team time trial will be the final event in an FLC jersey for Gomez-Villafañe, who will move to Park City, Utah, to continue her professional career.
“I am feeling pretty confident for the crit,” she said. “The style of crit mimics a short-track (mountain bike) race, so, if everything goes well, it should be a good day for me.
“As far as (team time trial) goes, I think we have been working really good together and are hoping to make something special happen on Sunday.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
