Toronto’s Ashlin Barry added another major result to his breakout season on Saturday, sprinting to victory in the under-23 men’s road race at the U.S. national championships. Barry, who was born in Girona, to an American mother, Dede, and a Canadian father, Michael. (But you knew that already, didn’t you.)
The 2026 U.S. under-23 road nationals
The 135-km race was animated early by Beckam Drake (what a fabulous name, btw), who attacked on the opening lap and built an advantage of more than two minutes. He remained out front for much of the day as the demanding course steadily reduced the size of the peloton. At one point, it actually seemed like Drake may pull off a huge upset. But as the race continued, attrition kicked in.
With three laps remaining, fewer than half of the starters were still in contention. On the sixth lap, a six-rider chase group finally came together, with Barry (Team Visma- Lease a Bike Development) joined by Marcis Shelton, Noah Shelton, Garret Beshore, Owen Cole and Alfredo Bueno Jr. The group worked together to reel in Drake before the final lap.
The finale
The race came down to a sprint à deux between Barry and Marcis Shelton on Kanawha Boulevard, with Barry proving the faster of the two to secure the national title. Brendan Luongo won the sprint for third to complete the podium.
‘It feels unreal.’ Ashlin Barry lands first elite win at Olympia’s Tour
“It was an awesome day to say the least. Two of us went to the line together. It was a super hard race the whole day. The group just kept getting smaller up the two climbs. I went to the line with one other rider and was able to take him in the sprint, so I’m super happy with that,” Barry said after the race.
There’s no rest today for Barry, either. He will also jump in the U.S. pro road nationals. 102 riders will go for the stars-and-stripes for a total of 198.2 km. Defending champ Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) who has been having a fine season thus far, is definitely one of the favourites. George Hincapie’s Modern Adventure Factor team may have a say about that–the ProTeam (and home to Victoria’s Riley Pickrell) has 11 riders racing.
You can watch both the men’s and women’s races on FloBikes.com
Affiliate links present. Canadian Cycling Magazine may receive commissions