Jennifer Valente, who rides for Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24, just became the most winning world championship track medalist in American history, surpassing Sarah Hammer’s 15 world championships medal count. Valente represented Team USA in the UCI Super Worlds event in Glasgow, Scotland, August 3-9, where she scored two World Titles and a bronze medal—bolstering her world championship medal count to 18 elite world championship medals. Valente had also earned one World Title and a bronze medal as a junior.
Valente’s first triumph in Scotland was in the stand-alone 40-lap Scratch Race, where her impeccable timing propelled her to the line in first place. This is her first World Title in this event. “It’s just the beginning of competition for me,” said Valente at the conclusion of the Scratch Race. “There’s a lot of racing to go, so while it’s really exciting, and I’m very happy to win my first Scratch Race World Championship Title, I’ll be trying to refocus for the rest of the events.” This win marked Valente’s second individual World Title and sixth gold medal throughout her Elite career.
Women’s Scratch Results
- Jennifer Valente (USA)
- Maike van der Duin (NED)
- Michaela Drummond (NZL)
Next up for Valente was the Elimination Race, and after a thrilling and dynamic race, she finished with a bronze medal. Lotte Kopecky (BEL) took the title and Valentine Fortin (FRA) the silver honors.
Women’s Elimination Results
- Lotte Kopecky (BEL)
- Valentine Fortin (FRA)
- Jennifer Valente (USA)
Valente first joined Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 at the end of 2011 for her final year as a junior. She earned a Junior Scratch Race Championship World Title and a bronze in the Keiren in Moscow, Russia. Her next few years saw a combination of road and track racing with a primary focus on the track. As her focus shifted from a more sprint based track program to include more endurance her versatility quickie became apparent when she won multiple high profile criteriums and stage 1 of the inaugural Colorado Classic Stage Race.
“We have worked with Jennifer for more than a decade, and I am so proud and excited for her,” VBR TWENTY24 team founder/general manager Nicola Cranmer. “It took a team of people to support her and I am so thrilled to see the years of work culminate in Olympic gold and three World Championship Titles in the past two years. It’s an honor to work with her and to be able to give her a lot of latitude to script her season and provide a space for Jennifer to be Jennifer. Our program continues to create a special environment for high-performing multi-discipline athletes. Our collaborative approach with USA Cycling is a critical component of her success. Constant communication with National team head coach Gary Sutton, and personal coach Benjamin Sharp, is an important part of the season’s organization. Jennifer is capable of anything that she sets her mind to.”
As the reigning Olympic champion and World Champion in the Omnium, the expectation was high and Valente came into this year’s World Championships as a favorite. She handled the pressure with grace and precision.
Taking second place in the scratch race, a win in the tempo and second in the elimination Valente was sitting comfortably in first with one race to go. The points race, the final event of the omnium saw multiple riders lap the field, Valente quickly responded and took the lap back, then marked all the remaining moves, in particular rivals Wollaston (NZL), second-placed Amalie Dideriksen (DEN) and eventual bronze medalist Lotte Kopecky (BEL)
“It was a very aggressive race, with a lot of people trying to go for laps,” said Valente after celebrating her win. “I was really trying to keep my eyes open and try to understand what was happening in the race at every moment. The Omnium is a special world title to me—it feels different from the Scratch Race earlier in the week. To back up last year was important to me and it felt really good. I was taking each race one step at a time and definitely the first three events just riding my own race. I was focusing on riding the best race possible and not worrying about what anyone else was doing and was able to put it all together at the end.”
Women’s Omnium Results
- Jennifer Valente (USA)
- Amalie Diderikson (AUT)
- Lotte Kopecky (BEL)
Valente also competed in the Team Pursuit, where Team USA narrowly missed advancing to the medal rounds, finishing in sixth place. And in only their second race pairing ever, Jennifer Valente and Lily Williams (Tallahassee, FL; Human Powered Health) contested the 120-lap Women’s Madison. After several high-speed crashes, it came down to the last few sprints to determine the winner. The team was aggressive in the first half of the race, scoring points in each of the first three sprints. As the race progressed, the speed ratcheted up, and the sprints became battle royals. The Americans rode a strong race to finish with ten points and sixth place.
“This UCI Super Worlds is a really big part of the Olympic build, and certainly for Olympic qualifying points for our discipline and for other events—Team Pursuit and Madison and Omnium,” Valente said.
Valente will return for races with her road team in North America and a couple of international Madison events to round out a hugely successful 2023 season.
Ron is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.
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