With an overall payout of $100,000, the American Criterium Cup wrapped up the series with the Gateway Cup in St. Louis.
"We're happy with the success of the first season for the ACC, and more so that the top teams and athletes that participated earned some significant prize money," said Jeff Corbett, ACC Administrator.
USA Cycling has held the total prize purse in escrow and will be making prize payments on behalf of the ACC.
"The American Criterium Cup was a significant target for Project Echelon in 2022. A series like the ACC gave us a target to aim for and a platform to measure ourselves against the competition. The Livestream was also essential to making the sport more accessible to the masses, including our fans, veteran community, advocates, and other stakeholders. This team's vital mission is to educate, equip and empower veterans through physical activity. The series helped us share that message with communities across the country and create more fans for cycling." -Eric Hill, Project Echelon Racing.
The American Criterium Cup is a ten-race series, with 2022 events featuring some of the best criterium races in the US
With plans being made for a return of the American Criterium Cup for the 2023 season, promoters and administrators are working to develop an even more dynamic and relevant series for the American criterium racing community.
"The 2022 American Criterium Cup was, from our perspective, a successful series. Our organization continues working cooperatively on elevating the criterium bicycle racing in the United States. We look forward to evolving the series in a meaningful way with input from athletes, the governing body, our sponsors, and each other." - Mike Weiss, Gateway Cup.
After an exciting series comprising ten events, it came down to racing in the rain in St. Louis to determine who our series winners were.
Maggie Coles-Lyster of the DNA Pro Cycling team had a dominant series, leading the overall and sprint categories from the beginning. Winning the first intermediate sprint ensured her lock on the overall and sprint competitions. Andrea Cyr of ButcherBox Cycling p/b LOOK took second in both categories after a series of chasing Maggie. Rising star Anna Christian of Colavita Factor took third overall and won the Under 23 category. Christina Gokey-Smith of Colavita Factor took third in the sprint competition.
Overall
1. COLES-LYSTER, Maggie: DNA Pro Cycling Team 881
2. CYR, Andrea: ButcherBox Cycling p/b LOOK 661
3. CHRISTIAN, Anna *: Colavita Factor Pro Cycling 479
4. MUNOZ, Paola: CWA Racing p/b Goldman Sachs ETFs 394
5. GOKEY-SMITH, Christina: Colavita Factor Pro Cycling 369
On the Men's side, Project Echelon Racing's Brandon Feehery went into the last race with a lock on both competitions. Leading the sprint competition from the start, he took over the overall lead after the Salt Lake Criterium. Having a consistent series, Brandon racked up points through high-place finishes and winning intermediate sprint points. Behind him were the races for other podium steps, where Clever Martinez of the Miami Blazers took second place, and Alfredo Rodriquez of Best Buddies Racing took third overall.
Project Echelon Racing teammate Ethan Craine steadily rose in the sprint competitions all season, riding alongside Brandon in a support role. Ethan finished second overall in sprints and won the Under 23 category. National Champion and Best Buddies Racing's Michael Hernandez finished the series in third.
Overall
1. FEEHERY, Brandon: Project Echelon Racing 602
2. MARTINEZ, Clever: Miami Blazers: 553
3. RODRIGUEZ, Alfredo: Best Buddies Racing 422
4. GOMEZ, Bryan: Best Buddies Racing: 323
5. CRAINE, Ethan: Project Echelon Racing: 313
Our team race was highly competitive all season, with leadership changing often. Colavita- Factor rode a strong series and ultimately grabbed the team win, followed by Butcher Box and DNA.
- Colavita Factor Pro Cycling 1329
- ButcherBox Cycling p/b LOOK 1246
- DNA Pro Cycling Team 1114
Best Buddies took the win for the Men, followed by Project Echelon and Miami Blazers.
- Best Buddies Racing 1500
- Project Echelon Racing 1260
- Miami Blazers 883
Complete series results can be found at https://americancritcup.com/re...
Photo By: Daniel Scruggs
