‘Being a little sneaky’ with smart teamwork, Kristen Faulkner starts her European season at Tour of Flanders and says EF Education-Oatly ‘can surprise the field’

Two-time US road champion Kristen Faulkner makes her first start in seven months for EF Education-Oatly, accepting a late call to compete this Sunday at the Tour of Flanders. She departed mid-way through the Tour de France Femmes last August with shoulder pain and was off the bike for an extended time following surgery in September.

The 2026 season began with high notes as Faulkner went to South America for the Pan American Championships, the track and road competitions held a week apart in Chile in March. All systems were a go as she earned gold medals in the Team Pursuit and Individual Pursuit, then won the individual time trial title.

“With my shoulder surgery, the team didn’t know how my shoulder would feel. It can be a long recovery, so the team didn’t initially put me in any cobbled classics, and the plan was for me to come to Europe and start with the Ardennes. I could tell my fitness was really good from my training and my performance at the Pan-Ams,” Faulkner said in a team news post.

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She was quick to respond positively to her team director, Carmen Small, when asked if she would race in Flanders as a late addition.

“I think it will be good to get back into road racing before the Ardennes and just get to spend time with the team. I really miss my teammates. And of course I love Flanders. I’ll be in a support role because I’m a last-minute call-up, but it’s the kind of race I can jump into and know what to do.”

From there, she’ll compete in the Ardennes races, but ramp up expectations on performance at the Grand Tours, in particular, the Tour de France Femmes, where she has unfinished business.

“I’m doing the Ardennes. I’ve done those races almost every year. It’s a similar group of riders to the Grand Tours, and I’m planning to do all three Grand Tours this summer,” she said.

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“Racing is 50 percent about the race and 50 percent how you and your teammates blend together so having the chance to do that will be good.

“I would like to win a stage at the Tour de France. My goal over the next two years is to wear the yellow jersey at some point, to win a Tour stage. I’ve won a stage at the Giro and the Vuelta, so winning a stage at the Tour would round that out nicely.”

She added that another primary goal was to get on the podium at the Road World Championships in the time trial, her next chance coming this September in Montreal.

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Last year, the 33-year-old turned down a spot with Team USA to race at the UCI Road Worlds in Rwanda due to recovery from surgery. She suffered three crashes at the Tour de France Femmes, the first pair on stages 2 and 4, where she was unable to finish well back of the field both times. She then went down in the neutralised section of stage 5 and abandoned two hours later, the team noting fatigue as the reason.

Several days after her withdrawal from the Tour, an MRI scan revealed damage to cartilage in her shoulder, which brought her back to the US for surgery.

“I tore my labrum at the Tour de France, so my offseason started early with shoulder surgery, and I was off the bike for at least two months. My shoulder is back to normal, which is great. No complications.”

Spring brought her to South America for the first time in her career, rather than a typical road start to the season in Europe or the Middle East. She went back to work to test her physical and mental fitness on the track and went two-for-two with gold medals, then won the ITT on the road.

“It was my first time back on the track since the Olympics. It was really nice to be back on the track because I do love track, and my best season on the road was the year I did track. It really helps me with my explosivity, and it helps my time trialling,” she reflected about racing in Chile.

“One of my goals for the next few years in the time trial is to race it in the LA Olympics. Doing Pan-Ams was helpful for that. I raced the team pursuit, and it was my first time racing the individual pursuit, and that ability may transfer to racing a road prologue.”

The last time she competed at the Tour of Flanders was in 2024, finishing 21st. But she would win a stage at La Vuelta and the USPro road title and make history at the Olympic Games, with she’d a career-defining moment in a solo 4km attack to win gold in the Paris Olympic Games road race, then earn another gold in the women’s Team Pursuit. It was the first time a US woman had won Olympic golds in different cycling disciplines.

She’s forever an Olympic champion, and with the ignition switch on for 2026, now gearing for a Tour de France stage win.

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