The spiritual home of cycling in the United States is certainly debatable, however, one thing is certain: one of its spiritual founders was Major Taylor, a product of Indianapolis, Indiana.
Taylor, a world-champion track cyclist at the turn of the 20th century, was a Black man born and raised in Indianapolis to a Civil War veteran. Taylor got his start in cycling in the city by performing tricks out front of a local bike shop to attract customers passing by. Those fixed gear tricks turned into racing as Taylor’s talents as a sprinter were clear to see early in his life. Eventually, Taylor became a full-fledged racer and moved away from Indiana, but it was Indianapolis where he got his start.
With the legacy of America’s first great cycling champion at the heart of the city's identity, it should be no surprise that the Momentum Indy Criterium brings professional bike racing to the heart of the city as the fifth stop on the American Crit Cup calendar.
The race was founded over a decade ago in 2010 to bring a top-level cycling event to the vibrant downtown of Indianapolis. The city is no stranger to sports, with the city hosting everything from the NCAA tournament to the US Olympic trials for swimming, and even has a strong cycling industry presence for brands like SRAM and Silca. Between those ingredients, a nice downtown, and the history of Major Taylor adding meaning to the event, Indy Crit has quickly become an institution on the American professional calendar.
This year for the ACC competition the days have flipped with the technical Mass Ave criterium on Friday taking the mantle as the main stop for the weekend of racing in Indiana. Mass Ave is a five-corner “bow-tie” shaped course that will provide a stout technical test for the professionals duking it out for the win and for the valuable ACC points.
When and where does the Mass Avenue Criterium take place? The race takes place on Friday, July 12th in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The women’s race begins at 6:55 pm Eastern time, while the men start at 8:15 pm.
What are the Mass Avenue Criterium course attributes? Mass Ave is a 0.64-mile five-corner course with a sharp turn one and turn five punctuated by a long finishing straightaway.
How many editions of the Mass Avenue Criterium have there been? The race began in 2010 and has run every year since, except for 2020.
Who won the Mass Avenue Criterium in 2023? Kendall Ryan and Ty Magner won their races at the 2023 Mass Ave Crit.
The Mass Ave crit course is one of the more unorthodox courses on the calendar with five corners around a 0.64 mile lap. Those turns are all sharp, with three 90-degree turns in quick succession and two corners that turn back on themselves at either end of the finish straight.
What’s more, the roads around Mass Ave are tight, narrow streets with crowds adding a sense of claustrophobia around the entirety of the course. Between the tight turns, narrow streets, and intensity of the racing that follows, Mass Ave is deceptively challenging and offers a course that creates a great deal of attrition even if there isn’t much climbing to speak of.
In terms of racing, all those elements point towards breakaway success. Small strong groups will be able to take quick lines through the corners and could create a race-defining split quickly as the frequency of tight corners makes it difficult for teams and riders who might have missed the move to make up the gap to contest a sprint. If it is a sprint, the result will likely be decided before the final corner as the four turns in quick success along the back side of the course will make an early jump fruitful for a punchy sprinter who can continue to accelerate out of the corners before the longer finishing straightaway.
Skylar Schneider has been the standout woman of the season thus far making her way around the full ACC circuit and taking points hand over fist at each of the stops along the way. While she might have a couple of less wins than what she’d be hoping for, with her lone winning coming in Boise, she’s been firmly in the mix in every race. Expect that to continue in Indy.
The big rider who will challenge her for the win is Coryn Labecki. The US national champion has made an effort to show up several of the ACC events this year with Indy being her third race of the summer season. She will be looking to get a win before she returns to Europe for the second half of her year.
Rylee McMullen will be the next big competitor as the DNA Pro Cycling sprinter has also been a mainstay on the ACC scene as she hunts for an elusive win and builds her lead in the ACC green jersey competition. She is joined by a small but mighty DNA squad who will be looking to be aggressive to put pressure on Skylar Schneider and the Miami Blazers team.
Local rider Andrea Cyr will be back on the start line after COVID has sidelined her from the past couple of weeks of racing. Cyr is the local favorite as Indianapolis is her hometown and her aggressive racing should be well suited for the technical racing on Mass Ave. Additionally, she will have a team of five backing her up including last year’s ACC winner Paola Muñoz.
Beyond those names, expect LA Sweat to be aggressive throughout the race as the team with the most colorful kits in the peloton will surely put on a show as they have every stop along the ACC. Sofia Arreola and Marlies Mejias-Garcia of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty24 have also showed flashes of brilliance and will be two riders to watch for as well.
On the men’s side REIGN Storm Racing continues their dominating season in Indianapolis with the top four riders in the ACC standings and the mid-race ACC green jersey. Danny Summerhill was impressive last year in Indy, even if his win was taken away when he took the “Mario cart” line over a curb in turn close to the finish and will be looking to get revenge alongside his team that includes the ACC overall leader Jordan Parra and Bryan Gomez, the winner in Milwaukee.
If not REIGN then it could be the team from New Zealand, MitoQ - NZ Cycling Project. The team has had a strong North American campaign thus far this summer, winning races across stage racing and gravel racing, but has yet to land a big win at an American criterium. Indy could be their ticket so expect the team to race aggressively.
Noah Granigan started the ACC well but was undone by a crash on the last lap of Boise Twilight and has been feeling the effects since. He will surely be looking to get back into the mix in Indy and we wouldn’t bet against him. The same could be said for Lucas Bourgoyne of the Austin Outlaws. Although he hasn’t had the same crash luck, Burgoyne has been just off the mark in the big ACC summer crits. Nevertheless, the Austin, Texas rider has the power and speed to make it happen in the end even if he spends about two-thirds of every race “tail gunning” in the last position of the field. Also, watch out for Clever Martinez who continues his solo run at the ACC and currently sits in fifth, the best place outside of the REIGN Storm riders at the top of the standings.
Beyond those big names, there is also a strong local presence between First Internet Bank and Apex Cycling Team p/b Old Fort Bicycles. Both of those teams are based in Indianapolis with Apex having almost a full six-rider lineup of riders from the city.
Women's ACC Standings
- Skylar Schneider (Miami Blazers) – 55 points
- Rylee McMullen (DNA Pro Cycling) – 35 points
- Arielle Verhaaren (AUTOMATIC-Abus) – 35 points
- Kendall Ryan (L39ion of Los Angeles) – 30 points
- Makayla Macpherson (DNA Pro Cycling) – 27 points
Men's ACC Standings
- Jordan Parra (REIGN Storm Racing) – 42 points
- Danny Summerhill (REIGN Storm Racing) – 32 points
- Alfredo Rodriguez (REIGN Storm Racing) – 31 points
- Bryan Gomez (REIGN Storm Racing) – 29 points
- Clever Martinez (Rockland Development) – 29 points
