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Emily Ehrlich Beats Olympic Champion Kristen Faulkner to Win the US Time Trial Title

The vegan rider wins by 27 seconds on a wet 33.4km course in Charleston, West Virginia

May 21, 2025

Emily Ehrlich has won the elite women's time trial at the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships in Charleston, West Virginia, beating Paris 2024 Olympic road race champion Kristen Faulkner. Ehrlich covered the damp 33.4km course beside the Kanawha River in 43:04.01 on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, USA Cycling reports.

Faulkner was the rider everyone was watching, but Ehrlich, who rides for Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28, set the fastest intermediate split, more than two seconds up. She kept gaining through the second half and finished 27.51 seconds clear. Alia Shafi took bronze.

This is everything for me. If there was one thing in cycling when I started riding and racing that I wanted to do, this was it. This really feels like a culmination of it all for me.

Ehrlich has raced more than 400 time trials since 2017 and won the Pan-American continental time trial title earlier this year. This is the one she wanted most.

She went vegan in 2019 as an extension of her Buddhist practice, and she is clear about what it does for her racing. "Veganism is a natural philosophy for an athlete and a whole foods plant-based diet is a clear advantage as an endurance athlete who pushes the limits," she told Plant Based News. "I have the most consistent high energy levels eating a high fiber diet rich in grains, beans, and greens." Every day starts with oatmeal made with soy milk, and she aims for at least seven servings of legumes a day.

Plant-powered riders are making a habit of fast time trials. Britain's vegan Anna Henderson won European time trial silver in 2023 and then won Team GB's first medal of Paris 2024, silver in the time trial.