Lauren Stephens takes home overall and QOM at Joe Martin

Emma had a big year in 2022. She won her third stage at the Joe Martin Stage Race and claimed the overall win for the second year in a row. That was just the warm up for her ride at the US national championships where she rode in the breakaway before launching her sprint to solo to victory. Emma is proud to wear the stars and stripes jersey. She was essential to her teammate Krista Doebel-Hickok’s victories at the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées, turning herself inside out in the mountains to support Krista.

Emma spent her formative years in the pool, as a competitive swimmer, and picked up running and cycling while pursuing her undergraduate degree at College of William and Mary. Triathlon was the next natural step for Emma, who competed internationally in the multidisciplinary sport, until she realized her love for cycling bested her love for triathlon, and she opted to focus exclusively on road racing.

She likes to mix up her road training with gravel now and then and has lined up with her teammates for several gravel races, including Unbound and BWR. After she wrapped up the GC title at the Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas, Emma, along with two of her teammates, bike packed from the race all the way to Dallas, Texas, some 400 miles away.

Emma is an avid baker and loves to experiment in the kitchen. She is especially excited for October when she gets to celebrate all-things-pumpkin and cooks up dishes like pumpkin risotto.

Emma, who was born in England, has dual citizenship (England, US) and lived in five countries growing up: England, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden and the United States. She currently calls Richmond, Virginia home.

Lizzy Banks had an unusual entry to the sport, especially for a British rider. In 2013, she signed up for her first charity ride – a 100 mile course – when she didn’t own a bike. She bought one off Gumtree, which is similar to Craigslist, a few weeks before the event.

The following year, in 2014, Lizzy began to commute by bike to her medical school placements. She was always running late so always riding fast, and as she passed people on the streets, she realized she might have a knack for cycling. She entered the university hill climb competition and came fifth.

Bitten by the racing bug, Lizzy set out to secure a British racing license. Although she admittedly had no idea how to race, she somehow began to climb the ranks. She was picked up by her first team, a local squad, during her first season and hired a coach. When the coach asked Lizzy to outline her ambitions, Lizzy said she wanted to make the Olympics. Lizzy says the coach’s response made it clear her answer was unexpected.

Six years later, Lizzy would have been in running for Olympic selection for the 2021 games had it not been for a hard fall at Strade Bianche earlier in the year. She suffered a severe concussion in the crash and was sidelined for all but two races in her fourth season as a professional. The 2022 season was also challenging for Lizzy who has since recovered from long Covid.

Though Lizzy was new to EF Education-TIBCO-SVB last season, she was reunited with our general manager Rachel Hedderman. The pair had worked together earlier in their careers and they are thrilled to be working together again. Lizzy, widely considered a rising star in the women’s peloton, is expected to be a leader for the team’s development riders and to build on her previous successes, which include two Giro d’Italia Donne stage wins.

Sara Poidevin grew up immersed in athletics. The Canadian hails from Canmore, Alberta, a high caliber athlete mecca. Surrounded by cross country skiers and mountain bikers, Sara rode recreationally with her family for a few years before growing more interested in mountain bike racing during high school.

Sara started training on a road bike in the winter, in an effort to keep up her fitness for mountain biking, and quickly discovered that she was better on the road than in the dirt. She raced on the road with her provincial team and then a local club in Calgary, balancing cycling with scholastics as she pursued her exercise and health physiology degree.

A professional racer since 2016, last season was a year of firsts for Sara – first time changing teams, first year living abroad, first season on a WorldTour team. In 2022, she raced more days than in any other season which provided her with ample opportunities to learn and grow.

This season, Sara’s racing played a vital role in securing the team’s second consecutive GC win at the Joe Martin Stage Race. Just a few weeks later, Sara put in a massive ride at the Canadian road race national championships where she spent the bulk of the 124 kilometer course in a solo breakaway, setting the stage for teammate Alison Jackson to claim the win.

Clara Honsinger’s first memory of cycling dates back to when she was a child at a local bike-swap with her mother. “I remember jumping on the seat and just pedaling off without any hesitation. I was immediately hooked on bikes!” Clara says.

In the years that followed, Clara began exploring the trails of her native Ashland, Oregon on two wheels. She found racing – muddy, gritty, racing – when a high school teacher introduced her to cyclocross. In December of 2022, Clara won her third consecutive US cyclocross national championship, earning her the privilege of wearing the stars and stripes cyclocross jersey for another year.

In the 2022-2023 cyclocross season, Clara got off to a thrilling start by winning her first race of the season. She made a clean sweep of the back-to-back races in Nommay and has more often than not earned a top ten finish.

Given Clara’s love of racing in harsh conditions, it’s no surprise that on the road she adores the spring classics. At the 2022 Tour of Flanders, she was the last rider standing from the break after spending over 100 kilometers at the front of the race.

Clara likes working on bikes almost as much as she likes riding them. She has worked as a mechanic in a bike store in Oregon and loves talking shop with the mechanics that take care of her bikes.