Former Champion Huff looks forward to challenge of new course in 2010
Jelly Belly's Brad Huff in the peloton (Image credit: Lyne Lamoureux)
USA Cycling has announced that the 2010 USPro Criterium Championships will be relocated from its home of 23 years, Downers Grove, to the nearby, Village of Glencoe, Illinois. The professional men's championship event will take place on Saturday, August 14.
Former USPro Criterium Champion Brad Huff (Jelly Belly p/b Kenda) has competed on the Downers Grove circuit for the past eight years. Huff says he is sad to say goodbye to Downers Grove, however, he is looking forward to the new opportunities that will be presented in the Village of Glencoe.
"It will be a new experience for every professional because it’s been in Downers Grove for so long," said Huff, who won the 2006 USPro Criterium Championships. "All of us, the ones that are really going for the championships, know that course like the back of our hand. We know where to recover and where to put our effort in so, now, it could open up a lot of possibilities with riders being unfamiliar with the course."
Special Events Management, long-time organizers of the USPro Criterium Championships and USA Cycling, announced a new partnership with AT&T as title sponsor of the 2010 event.
Jon Knouse is the promotor of the original Glencoe Grand Prix Bike Race, a series of criteriums for Elite men and women category 1-5, Masters and Juniors, and is now working with Special Events Management to host the USPro Criterium Championships. The course traditionally used for the Glencoe Grand Prix is a flat, one-mile circuit with four corners. Details of the parcours for the 2010 the USPro Championship are yet to be released.
"I think that Glencoe has some large shoes to fill," Huff said. "The Downers Grove community has been supportive of that event for so long. Having competed in that race every year since 2003, it is kind of sad to see it go away. But, I look forward to a new opportunity at the same time. Courses change and races change venues all the time so you just hope for the best."
Last season, John Murphy (BMC Racing) won the final USPro Criterium Champion to be held on Downers Grove while racing for the OUCH presented by Maxxis team. Since its inception in 1987, the Downers Grove circuit crowned such champions as John Eustice, Michael Engleman, Frank McCormack, Kevin Monahan, Jonas Carney, Tyler Farrar, Brad Huff, Kirk O’Bee and Rahssan Bahati, among others.
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"We want to really shine there for our sponsors and our team as a whole," Huff said. "With our new riders we have a team that can make that a real possibility."
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
