New pro series to showcase best criterium racing in America
American Criterium Cup strings together top 10 races in the USA, offers livestreams
America's rich history of high-speed and spectator-friendly criterium racing continues in 2022 with the all-new American Criterium Cup.
USA Cycling today announced the new series' name, participating events, leader's jersey and vision.
This new series strings together ten of the best criterium races throughout the country, starting with the Sunny King Criterium in Alabama, and ending six months later with the Bommarito Audi Gateway Cup in Missouri.
The remaining eight events are New York's Rochester Twilight Festival and the Harlem Skyscraper Cycling Classic, the Boise Twilight, Salty Lake City Criterium, Illinois' Intelligentsia Cup, IU Health Momentum Indy in Indiana, Littleton Criterium in Colorado, and, of course, the always-popular Tulsa Rough in Oklahoma.
Beyond just bringing spectator-friendly events to urban settings throughout the country, the series comes with a vision statement: “Togetherness and partnership towards a similar goal.”
“For 2022, the series will focus on the theme of unity, with events, teams, and USA Cycling having a common goal of elevating the stature of criterium racing in the United States," explained Mike Weiss, race director of the Bommarito Audi Gateway Cup.
Every race in the series is said to be livestreamed to unite fans at the races and at home.
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Details on the location and geographical availability of these livestreams are still being finalized and will be announced soon.
The 2022 American Criterium Cup Schedule:
- April 9: Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, AL
- May 21: MVP Health Care Rochester Twilight Festival in Rochester, NY
- June 10-12: Saint Francis Tulsa Tough in Tulsa, OK
- June 19: Harlem Skyscraper Cycling Classic in Harlem, NY
- July 9: Bailey & Glasser Twilight Criterium in Boise, ID
- July 16-17: Salt Lake City Criterium in Salt Lake City, UT
- July 30: Intelligentsia Cup in Lake Bluff, IL
- August 6: Littleton Criterium p/b Audi Denver in Littleton, CO
- August 27-28: IU Health Momentum Indy in Indianapolis, IN
- September 2-5: The Bommarito Audi Gateway Cup in Saint Louis, MO
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Cycling Weekly's North American Editor, Anne-Marije Rook is old school. She holds a degree in journalism and started out as a newspaper reporter — in print! She can even be seen bringing a pen and notepad to the press conference.
Originally from The Netherlands, she grew up a bike commuter and didn't find bike racing until her early twenties when living in Seattle, Washington. Strengthened by the many miles spent darting around Seattle's hilly streets on a steel single speed, Rook's progression in the sport was a quick one. As she competed at the elite level, her journalism career followed, and soon she became a full-time cycling journalist. She's now been a cycling journalist for 11 years.
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