Melisa (pronounced M’lisa), who often goes by Mel, has raced a mix of road, gravel, and mountain bike races throughout her career. She claimed her first Leadville 100 title in 2024 and is the current reigning champion, as well as being the current US cross-country marathon national champion. This month, she finished second at Little Sugar MTB. Last season, she won Chequamegon and SBT GRVL, and was third in the Life Time Grand Prix overall classification.

For Mel, shifting to a road calendar, “feels like the next step. I started racing off-road. I always did the longer endurance races, and it just happened to turn into the Life Time Grand Prix series, so that really worked out for me. That started as a hobby, so I’ve only been racing at the front of these races for the last two or three years, but once I started getting good, I feel like I’ve kind of reached the summit of my goals for the off-road races.”

Joining EF Education-Oatly means leaving gravel and mountain biking behind to race exclusively on the road, and moving from Utah to Europe. At first, Mel wasn’t sure if she was ready to upend her life.

“When the opportunity came for me to go and race for EF Education-Oatly, I was actually initially kind of like, ‘No, I think I'm really, really comfortable. I really like what I'm doing. I'm able to support myself. I feel like I've found a spot where I'm good.’ But then I thought about it more and wondered, is this the top? Is this where I want to be? Or do I want to try something new and really see what I'm capable of in a different discipline? Long story short, that's how I found myself saying yes and giving it a whirl. That's super exciting,” she said.

In March, Mel faced a serious setback when she broke her elbow just days ahead of Cape Epic. Though she was disappointed and frustrated to miss a race she had been targeting and wasn’t sure what the future would bring, Mel credits that experience with preparing her to join the WorldTour.

“I learned that you can overcome sadness and rise higher than you were before the setback,” Mel said.

“It takes trust, it takes dedication, it takes all the things that got you to the place where you were before the setback to overcome it. And with a new mindset, you'll become even stronger. I think it set me up to make this move, actually. I'm not sure that I would have been ready for this had I not broken my elbow earlier this year and come back from it in such a strong and dominant way.”

It’s been a couple of years since Mel raced on the road in Europe, but that experience has stayed with her.

“It's not like I'm going in completely blind,” she laughed. “I got the full experience. I got to race in Belgium when I was over there, and I feel like that's kind of special. I raced in Luxembourg, and I loved it. I just really liked that style of racing with a steep, five- to 10-minute climb. I think when there's something really hard in the course that makes it selective, that's where I found that I really enjoyed it.”

EF Education-Oatly general manager Esra Tromp thinks of Mel as something of a wild card.

“Mel can race, there’s no question about that. What we don’t know yet is what kind of road racer she will evolve into. Will she excel in the hilly classics? Is she more at home in stage races or one-day races? Can she become a breakaway specialist? So we’re really looking forward to the next two years to answer these questions and see where Mel’s strengths emerge,” Esra said.

Mel has been racing her bike one way or another for the last decade and is invigorated at the thought of facing new opportunities and challenges.

“For the last 10 years, I've been doing the same thing over and over again. I'm excited to try something new, have some new goals, and stretch myself a little bit. I'm really excited to see what I'm capable of. I'm excited to see what I'm good at. I'm excited to see what I'm bad at. I'm excited to have a different role, being able to ride with my teammates in pursuit of their goals as well. That's really cool to me,” she said.

While pursuing her childhood passion of chemistry at the University of Utah, Mel discovered her love of riding.

“I loved chemistry,” she said. “I volunteered in labs all the time.
I was always a teaching assistant for organic chemistry. I thought for sure I would do a post-graduate or a doctorate degree in chemistry. That was all I cared about, and bikes were sprinkled in. I was a junior in college, and I just picked up a bike as sort of a side quest hobby. It evolved into what I thought chemistry was going to be for me. I did finish my degree, and I worked full-time for a few years before I decided the bikes were in, chemistry was out.”

Chemistry’s loss is our gain. Welcome to the squad, Mel!