Top racers pedal into Fayetteville

Back for its 45th year, the Walmart Joe Martin Stage Race kicks off today from outside Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.

The pro men are set for the 114.6-mile Mt. Gaylor road race that heads southwest from Fayetteville before coming back through Mountainburg and West Fork to the finish on Razorback Road. The pro women face the 69.7-mile Devil’s Den Road Race.

Friday’s second stage will end at Mount Sequoyah. The men will head east for 113 miles, while the women go south for a 67-mile race. Saturday’s third stage is the infamous three-mile uphill time trial at Devil’s Den. The race will conclude Sunday in downtown Fayetteville with a criterium that will be streamed live on the Global Cycling Network.

Despite losing all but one of her teammates after stage one last year, Skylar Schneider of L39ION of Los Angeles won two stages and the overall title last year.

“Going into the second stage with the leader’s jersey on my shoulders and only one teammate – Julyn Aguila – with

me, was not an easy task but after being so focused on Joe Martin, I wasn’t going to back down easily,” Schneider said. “Winning the GC last year has been one of the best feelings that I have experienced in my entire career because of how hard it was, and it really felt like years of hard work that put me in a position mentally and physically to pull it off.”

L39ION has bolstered its women’s roster this year, adding former World Tour rider Alexis Ryan, Shayna Powless and Skylar’s sister Samantha Schneider.

“There’s no doubt that the new additions have brought a lot of strength and skill with them,” Skylar Shneider said. “Personally, my favorite part about having a full women’s team in the races is the ability to have a successful leadout train and dominance of a race. It’s really special when six riders come together and ride as one.”

World Tour team EF Education TIBCO-SVB will challenge L39ION on the women’s side with a roster that features US National Road Champion Lauren Stephens and Clara Honsinger, who was just off the overall podium at last year’s race. Emily Marcolini of 3T/ Q+M Cycling won a stage at the Tour of the Gila and held the leader’s jersey at the Redlands Bicycle Classic earlier this season. DNA Pro Cycling brings Anet Barrera, the best young rider at Gila, and Maggie Coles-Lyster, last year’s best young rider at Joe Martin.

“I feel really confident in the riders we have here in that we’ll be able to make it a very dynamic and hard race,” Skylar Schneider said. “I know that I’ll have a target on my back as the defending champion but that won’t change anything about our goal and the goal is to defend the leader’s jersey. The L39ION men’s team will also be trying to defend their title from last year. We’re coming into this week very motivated but also not over confident as there’s a lot of very strong teams that we’ll be up against.”

L39ION’s Tyler Williams won last year’s race by just five seconds. Mexican National Road Racing champ Eder Frayre will join Williams as they look to defend L39ION’s title.

Project Echelon Racing’s Tyler Stites won the overall at the Redland’s Cycling Classic and the sprint jersey at Gila this season. CS Velo’s Sean Gardner took the overall title at Gila this season.

Best Buddies Racing features Little Rock-native Tanner Ward and has had success in several criteriums this season. Ward finished third in the stage four criterium at Joe Martin last year, clawing his way onto the podium after a mechanical issue forced him to the back of the field.

“Our team is super strong and we have had success this year by racing aggressively and knowing that all of us are capable of winning,” Ward said. “Joe Martin can be won in a lot of different ways and our roster is super versatile.”