Miami Night’s Andrea Cyr, and American Cycling’s Danny Summerhill take the lead in the American Criterium Cup after the Sunny King Criterium.

May 9, 2023

Tuesday, May 9, 2023 /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – Miami Night’s Andrea Cyr, and American Cycling’s Danny Summerhill take the lead in the American Criterium Cup after the Sunny King Criterium.

The Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama, was the second American Criterium Cup series stop. The ACC is a ten-race series.

In the women’s event, Alexis Ryan of L39ion of Los Angeles came to the race in the Selle Italia Leaders jersey. And while Denver Disruptors’ Erica Zavetta had Green from the Sprint competition, the team sat out Sunny King, leaving the Green jersey up for grabs.

An early crash upset the pace in the Women’s race, but it soon wound back up with the first intermediate sprint, a sign that these women were here to race. Kimberly Lucie of DNA Pro Cycling jumped around Rachel Plessing of ButcherBox Cycling p/b LOOK, throwing down her challenge to the Green jersey ownership. Lucie would dominate this day, winning the first and second sprints and placing second in the final, giving her the Green jersey going into Tulsa.

ACC leader Alexis Ryan was joined by Lizbeth Salazar and her sister, National Champion Kendall Ryan. However, Alexis Ryan led the duo through the last corners, sacrificing her ACC lead for team goals. It was Salazar and Kendall Ryan who finished first and second, respectively. Alexis Ryan would finish 26th and outside of the ACC points for the day. This move, however, places an L39ion rider second through fourth place, not far from the lead.

The Miami Nights and Andrea Cyr kept the ACC lead in their sites, with Andrea Cyr finishing fifth in the race and taking the Selle Italia Red jersey. She leads now by 55 points, a good margin, but with eight races remaining in the series, the race for Red has just begun.

ACC top three Women’s results (full results):

Overall:

1. CYR, Andrea: Miami Nights 155
2. RYAN, Alexis: L39ION of Los Angeles 100
3. SALAZAR, Lizbeth: L39ION of Los Angeles 100

Sprint:

1. LUCIE, Kimberly: DNA PRO CYCLING 45
2. ZAVETA, Erica: Denver Disruptors 35
3. PLESSING, Rachel: ButcherBox Cycling p/b LOOK 35

Team:

1. Miami Nights 303
2. L39ION of Los Angeles 290
3. DNA Pro Cycling Team 263

And where the Miami Nights benefited from Alexis Ryan’s support of other riders, they suffered by not having Bryan Gomez in the men’s race. Having to return home to Colombia unexpectantly gave Dannie Summerhill and American Cycling the opportunity they needed to take both the Selle Italia Leaders jersey and sprint Green. Summerhill, who finished fifth overall, got second in the first sprint and won the mid-race sprint, which offers the most points. Wearing Green at the start gives him a significant lead in the Sprint competition. Summerhill’s fifth place was also enough to give him the lead in the series Overall.

In the Men’s race, last year’s winner Alfredo Rodriquez looked like a sure win. But miscalculating the finish and celebrating a tad too early, Cade Bickmore of Project Echelon pipped Rodriquez of the Miami Nights at the line to win the Men’s race of the Sunny King Criterium.

ACC top three Men’s results (full results):

Overall:

1. SUMMERHILL, Danny: ACG 155
2. RODRIGUEZ, Alfredo: Miami Nights 129
3. GOMEZ, Bryan: Miami Nights 100

Sprint:

1. SUMMERHILL, Danny: ACG 55
2. HARDIN, Will: Project Echelon Racing 25
3. KALABA, Dusan: ButcherBox Cycling p/b LOOK 15

Team:

1. Miami Nights 361
2. ACG 261
3. L39ION of Los Angeles 205

Race number three of the American Criterium Cup is the Blue Dome Criterium, the first race in the Saint Francis Tulsa Tough series, June 9th, in Tula, OK.

ABOUT AMERICAN CRITERIUM CUP

The American Criterium Cup is a multiple race criterium series that elevates the stature of criterium racing in the United States. The series is led by a group of independent criterium race organizers collaborating with and supported by USA Cycling, with input from professional and domestic teams and athletes. Each event has pledged to execute each event with standards of excellence, high production quality, and safety. In addition to individual event purses, organizers of the series have added $100,000 for a series purse to be split equally among men and women. The total available event and series prize purse is over $500,000

Learn more at americancritcup.com

For more information, contact Peter Discoe pdiscoe@gmail.com