With 200 meters to go in the Blue Dome Criterium, Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) was in fourth position, eating wind as Kendall Ryan (Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing) rounded the final corner. The US National Champion went all the way to barriers as Schneider wound up her final kick. Ryan launched her sprint as the drone whirred overhead, and with 30 meters to go, it looked like Ryan had it wrapped up. But in the most unbelievable fashion, Schneider accelerated again on the far side of the road, and threw her bike to beat Ryan by millimeters. 

It was the closest finish ever in the history of the American Criterium Cup, and there couldn’t have been a better way to open the ACC season. 

When you see the American Crit Cup (ACC) in-person, you can expect to stand two feet from the barriers and feel the whoosh of the wind as the pack flies past. You’ll see the world’s best crit racers 50 times in an hour, at speeds so high they look like a blur. You are not only watching the race, but you are feeling the race with the pumping in your chest and the goosebumps on your arms. 

The ACC brings that feeling to some of America's biggest cities, while also platforming a season-long points competition that crowns six different overall champions in the men's, women', and Junior fields. In 2026, the series is back with a six-race series that is more unpredictable than ever before.

The American Criterium Cup came to a close at the end of August at the Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup. The season has been chock-full of exciting racing that began at the beginning of June at the St. Francis Tulsa Tough and the Blue Dome Criterium. 

Aline Seitz and Maurice Ballerstedt won the ACC individual titles at the Giro Della Montagna. Richard Holec and Josephine Peloquin took wins on the day as the ACC wrapped up its six stop series.

The American Crit Cup will take its final bow this Sunday at the Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup in St. Louis.

The American Crit Cup has been a thrilling series thus far with five incredible races across the country over the summer.

Kendall Ryan (L39ion of Los Angeles) and Richard Holec (Cadence Cyclery) took sprint wins in the Windy City at race five of the ACC.

For the most part, top-level American criterium racing takes the less beaten path in its locations around the United States. College towns, up-and-coming cities, and suburban environments are staples.

On a course that tends to favor sprinters, today at Boise Twilight, it was all about the attackers, with Sofia Arreola and Luke Fetzer winning on late-breaking attacks.

After a foray into the upper midwest of the United States at the Kwik Trip Tour of America’s Dairyland, the American Criterium Cup moves westwards for the historic Bailey Glasser Boise Twilight Criterium on Saturday, July 19, 2025, in downtown Boise, Idaho.

The American Criterium Cup wrapped up its first three races in June with the Kwik Trip Tour of America’s Dairyland and the Cafe Hollander Otto Wenz Downer Classic p/b ISCorp.

Aline Seitz and Ben Oliver took sprint wins on the third stop of the American Criterium Cup and the Cafe Hollander Otto Wenz Downer Classic.

The American Criterium Cup continues Saturday, June 27, 2025.

Lucas Bourgoyne (Cadence Cyclery) and Kendall Ryan (L39ion of Los Angeles) took sprint wins on night one of the Utah Crits series in Sandy.