KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The USA Cycling 2021 Pro Road National Championships will have an Olympic flare just weeks before the games are scheduled to begin.

Six members of the United States road cycling team and one from the track cycling team will be participating in the event June 17-20 in Oak Ridge and downtown Knoxville. The opening ceremony for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo will be July 23 with road cycling beginning competition the following day.

The USA team includes women Ruth Winder, Amber Neben, Coryn Rivera, Leah Thomas, Megan Jastrab, Chloe Dygert and men Lawson Craddock and Brandon McNulty. Only McNulty will be absent from the Knoxville event.

Ruth Winder is a defending silver medalist in the team pursuit event. The five-woman team she was a part of also made history by winning the first world title in the event for the USA. Winder nicknamed “Rambo” was born in Great Britain but makes her home in Lafayette, California. She is a member of the US women’s road long team.

Amber Neben will be competing in her third Olympics, 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London. The cancer survivor and 2012 USA Cycling Elite Road National Championships winner will be looking for her first Olympic medal in Tokyo after finishing 33rd in 2008 and 26th in 2012 in the road race. She also finished seventh in the individual time trials. She is a member of the US women’s road long team.

Coryn Rivera turned pro at the age of 16 and has 72 U.S. National Championships in road, track, cyclocross and mountain bike cycling. She also has won the 2018 U.S. Pro Road Race National Championships in Knoxville. She is a member of the US women’s road long team.

Megan Jastrab is a Milligan College (Johnson City, Tennessee) student. The sophomore from Apple Valley, California, is also a three-time World Champion and 29-time National Champion. She competes in track cycling and is a member of the track-long team for the 2020 Summer Games.

Leah Thomas grew up as a competitive gymnast and switched to running when she was in college at Northwestern University in Chicago. After developing plantar fasciitis, she switched to a bicycle and began racing professionally in 2016. She is part of the women’s road long team bound for Tokyo.

Chloé Dygert has won seven gold medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships and a silver medal at the Olympic Games. She is the 2015 Junior Individual Time Trial World Champion and Individual Pursuit World Record Holder. The Knoxville races are acting as her comeback after she suffered a crash at the 2020 Road World Championships. She is from Brownsburg, Indiana and was born January 1, 1997. She will compete on both the track and road cycling team for the 2020 Summer Games.

Lawson Craddock, a member of the men’s road-long team, may be best known for his endurance. Craddock crashed in the first day of the 2018 Tour de France, breaking his scapula. With a laceration above his eye, Craddock finished the stage and completed all 21 stages.