After winning the time trial national title yesterday, Kim knew she was in good form and had a solid plan going into the race. She and her new teammate, Henrietta, had been talking about this race ever since their first camp together last November.

With some of the strongest competition the race has seen to date, they knew they would have to ride a nearly perfect race to pull it off.

The 117.6-kilometer course was made for aggressive racing with steep climbs and slick conditions from the persistent rain in the region. As the laps ticked by, the peloton fractured and reformed again and again. Kim and Henrietta took turns covering moves to give the other time to recover.

On the final lap, after Henrietta launched another attack, Kim saw her opportunity to go. 

“It came back together and I thought, ‘It’s now or never,’ so I just put my head down, and tried not to look back,” Kim said. 

With Henrietta covering the moves behind her, Kim quickly opened a seven second advantage which she stretched to over a minute as she raced toward the final climb.

“Henrietta is the most amazing teammate you could ever have beside you,” Kim said. “All day, she kept attacking, kept following, kept giving me confidence. When I finally went, she set me up perfectly. She was incredible out there.”

As Kim crested the hill and set her eyes on the finish line, she put everything she had into the final pedal strokes, earning her first elite road race title. 

We know Kim will wear that fern proudly this year as she races in Europe. Congrats, squad!