LITTLETON, COLORADO – Colorado and cycling: it’s hard to name a better duo in the landscape of the sport in America. The state is a treasure trove of passion for two wheels regardless of the type of cycling they might be interested in. That cycling spirit means that any events in Colorado have the built in advantage of a crowd that knows a thing or two about bike racing.
The Audi Denver Littleton Twilight Criterium takes advantage of that passion as the only high-profile road racing event in Colorado and has carved out a great reputation in the landscape of American cycling in its first decade on the calendar. This year, the crit is back on the American Criterium Cup calendar once again and will bring intense racing to the Front Range as the penultimate stop on the summer-long journey around the United States.
In terms of the bike race itself, Littleton is unique in its status as a true night time twilight criterium. Both the men and the women will finish in the dark, which is rare for American criterium racing. Most twilight events start early enough where only one of the races will be run completely under the lights. With the women’s race starting at 7:45 pm and the men’s race following at 9:00 pm, it will be a late night but the crowds should be out in force to see the full cast of ACC characters battle for valuable points on the flat six corner criterium.
Additionally, Littleton sits at 5,350 feet above sea level. While it might be a far cry from the heady-heights of Leadville, the highest altitude major crit will nevertheless play a part in how the race plays out as riders will need to moderate their efforts to make sure they stay below the red zone.
To make it all a bit more exciting, Littleton Twilight will be available to stream for free on the American Criterium Cup YouTube channel this Saturday, August 3rd. Be sure to subscribe to keep updated about all the details around the race.
Facts and figures:
When and where does the Littleton Criterium take place? The Littleton Criterium takes place in the Denver suburb of Littleton on Saturday, August 3rd. The women’s race begins at 7:45 pm while the men’s race starts at 9:00 pm. Both races are 60 minutes long.
What are the course attributes? The Littleton Criterium is a six corner backwards “L” shaped 0.80-mile course that is flat, fast and fairly wide.
How many editions of the Littleton Criterium have taken place? The race began in 2012 and will be celebrating its 11th edition.
Who won the event in 2023? Kendall Ryan and Jordan Parra won the Littleton Criterium last year.
The Course
The Littleton Criterium is a six corner, “L” shaped 0.80-mile course around the downtown of Littleton, Colorado. The course on paper is a simple one, with five left turns and one right hand bend. All the turns are regular right angles and there is ample room to work with on the exit of each turn. Beyond Boise, the Littleton course is the most straightforward with flat, fast and fairly wide characteristics.
Most of the time this leads to the strong sprint teams able to control the front of the race and prevent breakaways from going the distance. With 60-minutes of racing in both the men’s and the women’s races, the time constraints of the breakaway formation period also points in favor of the sprinters rather than the attackers. In a 70 or 90 minute race, the domestiques have to mark moves for 50-60 minutes before they can set up their sprint trains. In a 60 minute race, there is really only 30 minutes to give a breakaway the traction it needs to go the distance.
Nevertheless, even if a sprint is likely in both the men’s and women’s races, expect a thrilling finale. As we have seen time and time again this ACC season, when it comes down to the final few laps the racing produces a spectacle.
The Contenders
In the women’s race, Skylar Schnieder is the woman to watch as the sprinter for the Miami Blazers. She will be looking to add to her lead in the ACC overall standings and build a lead in the mid-race sprint green jersey competition where she is tied for the lead. Schnieder has been a bastion of consistency this season and has scored points in every ACC race which puts her firmly in the driver’s seat for the overall prize. Nevertheless, Schnieder has only one win thus far in the ACC in Boise and will be looking at a chance to get back to the top step of the podium after a string of close calls.
Without Kendall Ryan on the start list, winner of three ACC races this season, expect the women of DNA Pro Cycling to push Schnieder closest with Rylee McMullen and Makayla Macpherson sitting in the top five of the overall standings while the team is currently on top of the team classification. Additionally, McMullen is tied with Schnieder in the hunt for the green jersey.
Beyond those two teams, Goldman Sachs EFTs bring a team to the Littleton crit as they look for what is proving to be an elusive win for their sprinter Paola Muñoz. The other teams to keep an eye out for are Fearless Femme Racing p/b Robertet, Kingdom Elite Racing and Ride or Die Racing who all come with full squads to the race. Lastly, watch for young Madigan Munro who is coming from the mountain bike to dip her toe in criterium racing,
On the men’s side, the list of favorites once again will start with Reign Storm Racing. The team in orange are back in Colorado with last year’s Littleton winner, Jordan Parra, who comes into the race in the ACC red leaders jersey. He will be aided in his quest for the ACC overall in Littleton by the big local favorite Danny Summerhill who hails from the Denver area.
In fact, Summerhill could be at the end of the train in Littleton as he is one of the few Reign Storm stalwarts who has yet to win an ACC race this year. In total, Reign Storm has won in Wisconsin, Boise, Indianapolis and Chicago with four different riders. Summerhill would certainly like to make it five wins by five different riders if he is not riding for a teammate and to defend his green jersey on Saturday.
Lucas Bourgoyne of the Austin Outlaws will surely be looking to spoil their party and is the most likely contender to disrupt the Reign Storm run. Bourgoyne has been knocking at the door of a big win this year and showed his sprinting prowess recently at the Chicago Grit stop on the ACC where he finished third behind the leading duo. If it comes to a sprint, which seems likely, Bourgoyne could be there to finish the job.
Clever Martinez and Noah Granigan are two other fast finishers who will be keen on springing a surprise close to home with both riders currently living on the Front Range. Martinez has been consistently there-or-there-about this whole summer while Granigan got off to a flying start before a crash in Boise set him back for a couple of weeks. However, he should be healed and ready to go on Saturday. One last name to watch out for is Ben Oliver, the other could-be spoiler. The strong, fast-finishing Kiwi finished third at the Indianapolis stop on the ACC and won the overall omnium at Chicago Grit.
