Cycling professional Gabriella Arnold secured one of the biggest victories of her career when overcoming the challenge of Cry Baby Hill last weekend.

Arnold came home first for her LA Sweat team in the McElroy River Parks Criterium in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which forms the centrepiece of one of the biggest cycling weekends in the United States.

Arnold’s victory came on a course featuring Cry Baby Hill, which is so named because of the toll it exerts on riders, and she was thrilled with her success

“It was a big win for me and I’m not really sure how to describe it,” Arnold said.

"Cry Baby Hill is notorious for being the biggest bike party in the United States and it’s definitely a highlight of most people’s career to win at Tulsa because of the incredible environment.

“I was racing in more of a leadership role and mentoring our Category 2 team so on the first day my team role was to cover all the attack from other teams, be aggressive and set my team-mate up for the win, which was great as I was able to deliver her perfectly to the line.

“So she took the win on day one but on day two Cry Baby Hill is a race of attrition, so basically it does a really good job of sieving out the riders as they go, so the strongest really does win in the end.”

Arnold is often overlooked with most of Bermuda’s cycling focus aimed at fellow pros Conor White and Kaden Hopkins, but a gold medal in the time-trial at the Caribbean Championships last year gave a powerful reminder of her talents as she plies her trade with LA Sweat

“This is my second year on LA Sweat and it’s been an incredible experience to be on one of the best women’s teams in the US and to be able to travel, race and learn with them,” Arnold said.

“My role with LA Sweat is to do a lot of the hard work and help towards getting a victory for my team rather than myself.

“Over the last two years I’ve focused a lot on Crits [criterium races] and this year I have transitioned a little more into gravel racing, which definitely transfers better into any international racing that I do with Bermuda.”

After racing in Wisconsin this weekend, Arnold is heading home to Bermuda next week for the national championships and is looking forward to seeing her family as well as holding some coaching clinics for younger members of the cycling community.

“After the nationals I’m excited to be at home for a whole month,” Arnold said.

“I’m now based out of Indianapolis so I don’t get to come back home very often but this next block I have some wriggle room in my schedule.

“I will also put on two different camps this year for up-and-coming junior cyclists so the week after nationals I’ll be doing a new camp that I’m running through the BBA for cyclists between 16 and 18 and the week after that I’ll do another camp that I’ve been doing for the last eight years for cyclists aged between 8 and 15.

“I love it and it’s the best part of being back home to be able to give back to the community. I’ll then race in the US with LA Sweat finishing with the Gateway Cup and then I’ll be able to put my focus back on Bermuda with the Caribbean Championships at the end of the season.”