Mejias and Rodriguez win IU Health Momentum Indy

The American Criterium Cup made its fifth stop on its summer tour on Friday at the IU Health Momentum Indy Mass Ave Crit with Marlies Mejias Garcia and Alfredo Rodriguez taking wins in their respective sprint finishes.

It was the second win for both fast finishers on Mass Ave with Mejias winning last year and Rodriguez taking the win back in 2022.

The women raced aggressively the whole night but no attacks managed to forge a clear gap to the rest of the peloton as the sprint teams were ready to defend the front and keep things in control. Ultimately, Mejias only hit the wind twice in the 70-minute race: once to grab a $1,000 prime with a handful of laps to go and the next to take the win ahead of Paola Muñoz and Skylar Schnieder.

Skylar Schnieder did enough to retain her lead in the ACC overall while her win at the mid-race ACC sprint point brought her close to the lead in that jersey as well.

In the men’s race, it was the lone attack of Josh Burnett who stole the show, going clear 10 minutes into the race and holding an advantage until two laps to go. REIGN Storm Racing was lent on to chase, as expected since they had won the previous three ACC races, but they dutifully chopped the gap down until it was around 10 seconds with ten laps to go.

While the sprint was messy, two REIGN Storm riders emerged out of the darkening evening with 100 meters to go to take a one-two victory in Indy. Jordan Parra finished second on the night and kept his lead in the ACC overall while Ben Oliver of Above and Beyond Cancer Pro Cycling was third. Danny Summerhill played a huge role in the chase but managed to snag the mid-race points to extend his lead in the ACC green jersey.

It was a perfect summer Friday night in Indianapolis as a crowd gathered for another round at the Mass Ave criterium to see some of the best men and women crit racers in the country. The women were the first to take on 70 minutes of racing on the five-corner bowtie course.

With the technical nature of the course and the past two ACC women’s races ending in breakaways, there was a buzz around the start paddock around the possibility of another breakaway going the distance. Nevertheless, despite the word on the street, when the race began it was clearly going to be a hard fight for anyone to get any breakaway free of the field as the teams of Schneider and Mejias, the two main sprinters vying for the win, seemed to be on point in marking the moves of any would-be aggressors. In particular, Sofia Arreola was a constant presence following the accelerations and stifling the attacks in their tracks.

The five corners did create a fair amount of attrition early on with the accordion effect out of turn one and turn five providing the stress needed to jettison riders out of the back lap after lap, even if the many breakaway attempts did not manage to muster a move. A breakaway did threaten to go off the front after the mid-race ACC sprint points as Schnieder and McMullen fought for the green jersey points and found themselves with a gap, but once again Arreola was wise to the move and quick to set herself as the anchor to bring everything back together shortly after.

In the final DNA Pro Cycling played a strong hand in controlling the final few laps with their full team of riders setting the pace for the majority of the last few laps. DNA leads the team standings in the ACC and has been consistent at the front of races all season long. They seemed poised to set up their sprinter, McMullen, for a win after a few near misses as they rumbled through the bell with one lap to go.

Nevertheless, despite their presence in the final sprint Mejias emerged from the peloton up the middle of the road and showed everyone a clean pair of heels in the final. Neither DNA nor Schnieder had an answer for the Cuban sprinter who exploded in the last 100 meters to take her second win in as many tried on Mass Ave. In the last meters, Paola Muñoz made a charge to the line, but she too fell short of Mejias and had to settle for second.

Schneider, who finished third, did add to her lead in the ACC overall and now has a healthy gap of 15 points over McMullen in second who holds onto the green jersey by one point of Schnieder. DNA Pro Cycling has a 13 point lead over the Miami Blazers in the teams classification, while Goldman Sachs EFT Racing is third.

“It was very exciting and I had to be very patient,” Mejias said after the race. “It's also a very technical race so you have to be at the front. The plan was to only spend energy at the key moments of the race.”

Women's Results