Link to Article on The Red & Black
Olivia Sayer
The winners’ of the women’s professional race pop champagne during the awards ceremony. On Saturday, April 22, 2023, day two of the Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight took place in downtown Athens, Georgia. (Photo/Sidney Chansamone, @sid.chansa)
Alexis Ryan and Bryan Gomez — representing L39ION of Los Angeles and Miami Nights, respectively — took first place in the Athens Twilight Criterium Saturday evening.
The first of two other race series, the Athens Criterium is different from the majority of other races. While most races are judged by time, the criterium is tracked by the number of laps ridden. Throughout the 80 laps, points are distributed, with certain ones earning the rider a prize.
The event, which started on Friday, featured many activities, as crowds lined the streets to take in the atmosphere. Present were many food stands, including some local ones, such as Tamez BBQ and Alumni Cookie Dough. Fans could also enjoy music from various artists putting on a show in the heart of downtown Athens.
Saturday evening is when the racing began, and the women’s criterium was up first. After a brief appearance from Athens’s Mayor Kelly Girtz, it was off to the races. DNA Cycling grabbed the lead early, with Denver Disruptors pulling ahead after five laps.
In the first half of the race, many teams took the lead with Butcherbox and Goldman Sachs at the forefront. Ryan, Erica Carney and Verena Eberhardt all used their speed to break away from the group. With ten laps to go, it was apparent this race was not going to be decided anytime soon. The cyclists from Miami Nights started to get a lead, but Butcherbox was not going to go down without a fight. Out of nowhere, they seized the lead, only to surrender it moments later.
With six laps to go, there was still no distinct winner in sight. As the audience cheered the cyclists on, Ryan crossed the finish line. Ryan, a resident of Athens, said that the hometown crowd added more pressure to her race.
“Oh, totally,” Ryan said. “I told myself a million times it didn’t matter. If I won, that’d be amazing. If I lost, all my friends would still love me. But you know, [I was] still sitting on the starting line shaking with nervous excitement.”
There was one component about this race to Ryan that was different from the year prior. She was participating in it without her sister by her side. In the previous year’s race, Ryan finished second to her sister. This year, though, the dynamic has changed.
“Oh yeah, total bragging rights,” Ryan said, before mentioning another cyclist in the family. “Actually, my fiancé was in the men’s race. He’s also a local, he’s a Georgia native.”
The men’s race followed the women’s, and was not lacking excitement on its part. After being energized by a portion of the Redcoat Band playing the University of Georgia’s Fight Song, the crowd was juiced for the final event of the evening. Brandon Feehery pulled ahead early on the first lap, but others were quickly on his tail.
For the next 46 laps, different cyclists broke away from the group, but no one distanced himself enough to be deemed the clear-cut winner. Robin Carpenter, Alfredo Rodriguez and Jonathan Clarke all raced towards the front of the group at various points. Clarke said that the Athens crowd added to the night’s atmosphere.
“Athens, it’s one of the best [criterium races] in America,” Clarke said. “The spectators, you can’t hear anything in the last few laps. It’s awesome. No complaints at all.”
About an hour into the race, a breakaway occurred. Fergus Arthur ended up lapping the field, while Clarke pulled away with a 12-second gap. As the crowd started counting down the laps, the cyclists put it into high gear.
With 10 laps left, the announcer described the standings as “Miami Nights and everybody else.” However, American Cycling Group, the brand-new team out of Florida, was not done fighting. Butcherbox also brought a rider to the front with five laps left, while American Cycling Group was close behind for the final two.
On the final lap, Miami Nights and American Cycling were going head-to-head for the win. As the crowd willed them on, Miami Nights’ Gomez crossed the finish line, with Danny Summerhill milliseconds behind. It was Summerhill’s final sprint that helped him move up the podium.
One storyline of the race was the teamwork demonstrated by Miami Nights. A fairly new company that was founded in 2023, the cyclists’ teamwork was on full display throughout the evening. In the men’s race, for instance, Frank Travieso provided his teammates the opportunity to forge ahead.
Andrea Cyr, another member of Miami Nights, emphasized the importance of teamwork to the group’s success.
“We’ve done a few races so far and our chemistry just improves,” Cyr said. “Every race we do. The thing with these races, everyone has different strengths to bring. And I think that it’s highlighted on our team where we have different strengths, and we have different cards to play, which makes for good racing.”
Following this event, many of the cyclists will take part in Speed Week, which includes various races around the state of Georgia. Carpenter, who placed third in the men’s Criterium, said that the Athens criterium helps cyclists ready themselves for the road ahead.
“Well, this is the first race of a weeklong series called Speed Week that has a whole bunch of races around here in Georgia and South Carolina,” Carpenter said. “And we’re [going to] race a lot. I think we do seven races in nine days, so this is preparation for anything, really.”