USA CRITS announce revamped series

After a couple of years of hiatus, USA CRITS has announced it is back on the calendar with a six-week series of races in the American Southeast this Spring.

The series originally ran until 2021 and it will return under new a new director but the same Swagger management structure, USA CRITS will return with a focus exclusively set on the traditional criteriums of Southeast: the Sunny King Criterium, Spartansburg Criterium, Athens Twilight and the Winston Salem Cycling Classic.

"The four main events in the series are the longest-standing criterium events in the South,” Marilyn Hill of USA CRITS and the Sunny King Criterium said in an online statement. “Having us all together will offer the athletes the best lineup of events, an easily manageable schedule to complete and a solid cash payout at the end of the six-week series. Collectively, these are the south’s premier historic criteriums.”

While only four dates have been named thus far, the Instagram post launching the project suggests that there will be six weeks of racing which would stretch from April 13 at the Sunny King Criterium through May 25 at the Winston Salem Cycling Classic. What those races are beyond the four that have been announced is unclear.

Calendar conflicts

The series, which is structured around the traditional race dates, does not pose a conflict with the other major crits in the United States. The other events of the USA Criterium Cup – the other high-profile crit series formed in conjunction with USA Cycling after USA CRITS dissolved in 2021 – will come after the conclusion of the last race of the series. Additionally, if the NCL is to return with the same schedule as last season, its races will also avoid date conflicts with the USA CRITS series.

Furthermore, while Sunny King and Athens Twilight were on the USA Criterium Cup calendar last season, the series is expected to retain the Tulsa Tough Omnium, Boise Twilight and the Littleton Criterium, the other historical events on the US calendar.

However, scheduling conflicts do arise between some of the dates in the series and the UCI/USA Cycling road races that are on the calendar thus far. The Redlands Bicycling Classic (April 10-14), UCI 2.1 Tour of the Gila (April 24-28), the UCI 1.1 Gran Premio New York (May 19), USA Cycling’s Pro and U23 Nationals (May15-19) and the UCI 2.1 Joe Martin Stage Race (May 24-27) all coincide with the date range of the USA CRITS schedule.

That is all but one of the UCI races in the United States, and all of the UCI racing available to Club level riders, which is the vast majority of the US peloton and the riders who would be competing at the USA CRITS series.

Nevertheless, even with the scheduling conflict, the series hopes to create more visibility and stability in the US road racing scene. For their races, USA CRITS is pledging to stream all its racing and has a total cash prize purse of $200,000 as of publication. With the announcement of more races, the website says the prize purse will be updated.

USA CRITS calendar:

April 14: Sunny King Criterium – Anniston, Alabama

April 26: Spartansburg Criterium – Spartansburg, South Carolina

April 27: Athens Twilight Criterium – Athens, Georgia

May 25: Winston Salem Cycling Classic – Winston Salem, North Carolina