‘My season will look very different’ – Marles Mejías anchors 11-rider roster emphasising track events in 2026 for Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28

Six riders with national championship victories this past season across road and track will anchor an 11-rider roster for Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28 for the 2026 season. Cuban Marlies Mejías leads the way along with US riders Emily Ehrlich, Anna Hicks, Bethany Ingram, Olivia Cummins and Ella Sabo.

Along with the roster confirmation, General Manager Nicola Cranmer confirmed to Cyclingnews that title sponsor Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge would continue for a fifth year to support the team which she founded in 2005 as a pathway to the Olympic Games each quadrennial period. Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28 is the only US women’s UCI Continental-level team in North America for 2026.

“As I head into year 21 with this program, I’m filled with gratitude that we’re still able to grow a meaningful development pathway,” Cranmer said. “We’ve built something special here in Virginia’s Blue Ridge – where a young rider can see a clear line from their first local race all the way to a championship event. Our 2026 roster is one of the most exciting mixes of returning leaders and new talent we’ve ever had.”

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Other returning riders include Sofía Arreola of Mexico, Rylee McMullen of Australia, and USA’s Emily Gilbert. Two new riders are both from the US, Kenna Pfeiffer, an under-23 standout from Aegis Cycling Foundation, and Marjorie Rinaldo, who spent the last three seasons with Fount Cycling Guild.

One of the most prolific riders on the team remains Mejías, who scored 24 victories in 2025. She also had an additional 20 podiums, including a silver at the 2025 Pan American Track Championships in the Scratch race. Now a US resident, she returned to Cuba for the first time in seven years and swept the road race and time trial national titles.

Known for her closing speed in one-day US races, such as Capital Cup, Clarendon Cup and Tour of Somerville, Mejías confirmed that the team would put a stronger emphasis on track events, with the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles inching closer.

“My season will look very different from the past,” Mejías said. “My main focus will be a strong track campaign, but we also have some talented new riders on the team like Kenna Pfeiffer, who is already a powerful sprinter. I’m looking forward to teaching her sprint tactics and race craft—and seeing how far we can go together as a team.”

Pfeiffer, who began her athletic career as a multi-national speed skating champion, signed a multi-year deal through 2027. She landed on the podium at the USPro U23 women’s criterium nationals this year and then went on to win two Belgian kermesse races with the Silicon Valley Cycling Foundation’s academy.

The other new arrival is Rinaldi, who had a career in the US Navy before she turned to triathlon and then to cycling. The 34-year-old was third overall at Valley of the Sun stage race and had a top 10 finish at USPro in the individual time trial.

Along with Pfeiffer, there are three U23 riders on the squad for formidable young talent. Sabo, 19, is the youngest on the roster and returns as the women’s U23 road race national champion. Emily Gilbert is another young rider who joined the VBR TWENTY28 team mid-way through 2025, where she placed fourth in the U23 road race and fifth in the elite women’s road race at USPro Nationals. She also earned podium spots both days of racing at the Amazon Armed Forces Cycling Classic.

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At just 22 years of age, Cummins owns multiple US national titles across track, junior road and collegiate road events. Representing Colorado Mesa University this year, she earned double gold at US Collegiate Track Nationals, winning the elite and U23 Omnium titles, and the gold medal in the TTT at US Collegiate Roads. She also earned eight top 10s across 10 one-day races at Chicago Grit for fourth overall in the omnium scoring.

Ehrlich and Hicks are the other two returning riders with recent success at US nationals.

Ehrlich earned her first road stars-and-stripes champion’s jersey with a dominant ride in Charleston, West Virginia in the time trial. She also added two more Pan-American track titles in both Individual and Team Pursuit races, doubling her success in back-to-back years with four gold medals.

Hicks raised her number of US national track titles to four this summer, earning the gold in the Individual Pursuit and Team Pursuit (joined by Cummins and Ingram). She also won this year’s GC title at Tucson Bicycle Classic and finished sixth overall at Tour de Bloom.

With Olympic track qualification beginning at the 2026 UCI Track World Championships, there is a renewed focus on that discipline. However, Cranmer said there would still be a “targeted road schedule built around stage races and select one-day events that complement track goals”.

The first race of 2026 will be early January at Bromont C2 International Track Competition, followed by a mini camp in Arizona. Next will be the Mexican National Track Championships in late January and a selection of athletes at the Pan American Track Championships in Santiago, Chile from February 16-22.

Beyond national team race schedules, TWENTY28 plans to line up at Valley of the Sun and Tucson Bicycle Classic with the road-focused younger squad, followed by Sea Otter Classic and Redlands Bicycle Classic. The team also aims to race UCI events Philadelphia Cycling Classic, Maryland Cycling Classic, Tour de Gatineau, and select criteriums such as the Armed Forces Cycling Classic.

Later this off-season, Cranmer hopes to announce new equipment partners and performance collaborations. “What isn’t changing is our core—a high-performance, women-led program built around athlete development, education, and long-term pathways to the world stage.”

Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28 2026 roster

Sofía Arreola (MEX)Olivia Cummins (USA)Emily Ehrlich (USA)Emmi Gilbert (USA)Anna Hicks (USA)Bethany Ingram (USA)Rylee McMullen (AUS)Marlies Mejias (CUB)Kenna Pfeiffer (USA)Marjorie Rinaldo (USA)Ella Sabo (USA)