De Crescenzo, Roed win titles at Mid South Gravel; McGill, Stites score UCI wins in Greece

Lauren De Crescenzo (LDC) took a third women’s title at The Mid South gravel race while Torbjørn Røed (Trek Driftless) won the elite men’s race in a six-rider sprint after 100 miles of racing on the red dirt of Oklahoma. In the nonbinary category, Li King took the victory over Rach McBride.

In a two-up battle just over seven minutes behind De Crescenzo, Jenna Rinehart crossed the line for second place, two seconds ahead of Caroline Wreszin, who took a podium spot for the second consecutive year. A pack of six contenders chased another seven minutes back, with Haley Smith winning the bunch sprint for fourth. De Crescenzo set a new best mark for women with a time of 4:47:42, 7:21 faster than 2023.

The elite men’s battle came down to a six-pack of riders who stayed together on the final single-track section of the course. Within 10 miles of the finish line, Røed and Griffin Easter created a gap, but it all came back together in the final three miles for a bunch sprint. 

Easter missed the win by inches and settled for second behind Røed, who completed the ride in 4:26:54. John Borstelmann finished third, leaving Russell Finsterwald, Dylan Johnson and Peter Stetina just off the podium. Payson McElveen, the 2023 men’s winner, finished 13th.

Tyler Stites and Scott McGill take UCI wins in Greece

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Project Echelon Racing notched wins last week at a pair of UCI races in Greece. Tyler Stites took the sprint victory at the one-day GP Rhodes. He led the bunch sprint across the line after 186km, with teammate Scott McGill riding to seventh. 

On the second day of racing at the 2.2-level Tour of Rhodes, McGill won his first race of the season, a 148km stage 1 from Rhodes to Maritsa, and later finished third on stage 3. Teammate Samuel Boardman took control of the mountain classification after stage 1, winning the KOM jersey for the four-day stage race. Stites finished seventh in the overall, while Brendan Rhim was eighth on GC.

After completing the five-day Volta ao Alentejo in Portugal this week, the team US Continental squad returns to home soil to prepare for the Tour of the Gila, April 24-28.

Chase Wark newest rider at Life Time Grand Prix

This year’s Rock Cobbler winner Chase Wark (Mazda-Lauf Cycling Team) is the newest addition to the elite field for the Life Time Grand Prix, which begins on April 19 at the Sea Otter Classic’s Fuego XL 100k cross-country mountain bike race.

The 27-year-old gravel professional from Minnesota replaces South African Konny Looser on the 60-rider roster for the seven-race series. Looser finished 10th overall at last year’s Grand Prix, qualifying for a share in the $250,000 prize purse. 

Wark, who also owns and operates a coaching and event services company, began making headlines in gravel with a third-place finish at Gravel Worlds three years ago, and last year finished second at the Nebraska race. Most recently, he placed second to Keegan Swenson at Valley of Tears Gravel in Texas.

This is the second adjustment made in two months to the invitation-only field for the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix, comprised of 30 elite women and 30 elite men. In February, Truman Glasgow filled an open slot on the men’s roster when Tasman Nankervis withdrew due to lack of financial sponsorship which would have secured his travel expenses for the journey from Australia to the US-based races.

ACC returns with qualifier spots for 2025 US Pro Criterium Nationals

The Amerian Criterium Cup (ACC) series returns for a third year with a lineup of eight races across the US, beginning June 7 at the Saint Francis Tulsa Tough. Riders competing in this year’s ACC now have the opportunity to qualify for the 2025 USA Cycling Professional Road National Championships. 

The top 10 in the elite men’s and elite women’s overall standings will automatically qualify for next year’s US Pro Criterium championships. Overall ACC leaders, as well as sprint and team division winners, will be determined on September 1 when the series concludes at Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup. 

A total ACC prize purse of $100,000 will be shared equally among elite men and women in three categories, which is separate from an estimated $400,000 in cash and prizes on offer at the individual events, which comprise a total of 35 days of racing.

“I would love to win the Series again, but keeping the series overall in the family is really all that matters. We have four of the eight winners from last year on our team, and I like those odds,” said Danny Summerhill (Reign Storm Pro Cycling), the 2023 ACC men’s overall winner.

Returning with the ACC sprint competition is a mid-race prize lap at each race. Daily prize money will be awarded three places deep, in addition to the ongoing points competition. 

“The ACC has been a great thing for American criterium racing, having a season-long series really elevates the level of racing and with the inner series competition it really makes it exciting for fans to follow. I’m really looking forward to seeing how things shake out in 2024 and hope to maybe defend that green jersey,” said Kimberly Lucie (DNA Pro Cycling), the 2023 ACC women’s sprint champion.

Also new for this season will be rankings for the ACC Junior Series presented by Renaissance Financial. After each event, series rankings will be posted at the USA Cycling website.

American Criterium Cup 2024 schedule