Tina Mayolo-Pic's name is one that is synonymous with criterium racing, sprinting, and stars-and-stripes jerseys. With a career that spans nearly 25 years, she is one of the most successful cyclists to come out of the US and has an illustrious resume that includes a record six US professional criterium titles.
In an interview with Cycingnews, Pic discussed her decision to continue racing at the elite level into her 50s, despite a brief retirement in 2009, and the support of her husband, Chris Pic. She also highlighted a hard-to-pick list of five of the most memorable criteriums of her career.
It's hard to believe, but Pic wasn't always cagey or fast on a bike, and she says that she often couldn't even find the rhythm of a 60-minute criterium. She hasn't always been a bike racer either, which is also hard to believe because it seems like she's won hundreds of races since she started in 1994.
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She grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, and completed a Bachelor's Degree in Finance and Marketing from the University of Virginia. She finished the IRONMAN twice, worked at Club Med and then Molson for four years before enrolling at the University of Georgia with hopes of becoming an orthopaedic surgeon. She completed two years of post-graduate studies and then before medical school, decided to try cycling: it stuck.
"Here I am, in what feels like a million years later, still racing," Pic says. "I just love this sport. Sometimes I ask myself why I didn't continue with med school or why I'm still doing this, and I don't know the answer.
"Maybe it's the goals or the excitement. And you know what the funny thing is? The last thing I thought I would ever be was a criterium rider. I used to be so bad at criterium racing, so bad that my former teammates used to say 'she can't ride a criterium to save her life'.
Athens Twilight Criterium - victory in 2004
Gastown Grand Prix - Victory in 2016
Tour of Somerville (Mildred Kugler Women's Open) - Victories in 2000, 2006, 2008 and 2009
Clarendon Cup - Victories in 2006 and 2014
USA Pro Criterium Championships - Downers Grove: Victories 2002-2005, 2007 and 2009
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/tina-pic-the-unlikely-queen-of-the-criterium
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