Stevens has been involved in athletics since high school. While at Dartmouth, she played singles on the varsity tennis team.
In her four years on the team, however, Stevens said she spent "a lot" of time on the bench.
After graduating from the College, Stevens moved to New York City, where she began work as an investment banker. She kept in shape by running casually after work and eventually participated in a half marathon, she said, but never ran competitively.
In November 2007, Stevens said she began cycling at the encouragement of her sister. After returning home to New York, Stevens continued to cycle until she had trained enough to participate in the Century Road Club Association's Women's Clinic in Central Park that June.
Stevens said she won first place at the CRCA event, and went on to compete in a number of races at the category four level for "newbies," bringing home several wins.
At the beginning of this year's competitive cycling season, Stevens moved up to the category one level. She raced in two National Racing Calendar events at this level prior to her win at Fitchburg.
Racing as a guest on Team Lip Smackers, Stevens performed strongly throughout the race's four distinct stages, coming in second place in the first day's time trial, third in the circuit race and second in the road race.
Alhough she finished in the middle of the pack during the final day's criterium race, the time bonuses she had earned from her previous top-three finishes allowed her to finish first overall a full 20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Alison Powers with a total time of 5 hours, 31 minutes, 27 seconds.
"I was completely and totally surprised," Stevens said. "It was awesome. I went into it having trained a lot. You always go into a thing wanting to win but it was pretty cool to actually do it."
Stevens said she thought her win was unexpected for spectators and for other competitors, as well.
"I think a lot of people were pretty surprised," she said. "Regionally, people probably had already raced against me, but a lot of people nationally didn't know me at all."
Stevens defeated both professional racers and other amateurs, including French cyclist and Olympic gold medalist Jeannie Longo, who finished in third place behind Stevens and Powers.
Stevens said she is not sure how she has found success so quickly after a recent introduction to the sport. She attributes her Fitchburg win to a talented coach and good training program over the winter, a strong finish in the time trial and the support of her teammates throughout the four-day event.
Stevens said she is now going to move to California to pursue a new career as a cyclist.
"Professionally, I'm just trying to see what I can get to," she said.
