I love a good underdog story. I also love a good cycling race. When the two combine, I’m excited and energized for days—my mind turning over seemingly endless possibilities that were previously difficult to imagine. Kristen was not favored to win—she was not even slated to compete until a few weeks before the race, when original qualifier, Taylor Knibb, dropped out to focus on triathlon. Kristen took over Knibbs’s place, yet was not planning to excel at the road race, or even necessarily work hard.