Last year she was 10th at cyclocross nationals. What a difference a year makes For Austin Killups, the final straightaway of the Women’s Elite race at the USA Cycling Cyclocross championships in Hartford, Conn. Sunday was a microcosm of a breakout season. Grit and heart paid off in another strong result.
In this case, holding off Hannah Arenson through a driving snow shower that set the tone of both elite races on the final day of these championships to earn third place. She nets her first elite podium — and made her the first transgender woman to land a top-three spot in an elite event — at these championships.
“I came wanting a good result,” a pleased and spent Killips told Outsports afterward. “I was just proud to lay it out there and get the result I got, and I’m proud of where I landed.” This result comes a month after Killips won her first professional race at the Northampton International. Her start Sunday sent the message that she was a threat for a second win. Killips and Nice Bikes teammate Caitlin Bernstein roared into the lead through the start-finish section and out towards the expanse of the course situated along the Hartford Riverfront.
Their fast start was swallowed up by a rotation of riders through the early corners and ended with Raylyn Nuss taking control. Behind the scramble was two-time defending cyclocross national champion Clara Honsinger in eighth place and racing for a third straight title.
Honsinger surgically moved up from eighth […]
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