Skylar Schneider (Miami Blazers) and Alfredo Rodriguez (REIGN Storm Racing) won elite races at the Audi Denver Littleton Twilight Criterium in the penultimate clash of the eight-race American Criterium Cup.
Schneider made a late pass of Rylee McMullen (DNA Pro Cycling) after the final corner and sealed her second victory in the ACC series. Peta Mullens (Brazilian Butterfly Liv SRAM) took third, just ahead of Lauren Stephens (Cynisca Cycling) in fourth and Paola Muñoz (Goldman Sachs EFTS Racing) in fifth.
Schneider solidified her lead in the ACC individual standings, her 27-point margin enough to wrap up the overall title. She also moved into the sprint classification lead by one point, McMullen positioned second overall in both categories. Muñoz is third overall in the individual standings, and DNA Pro Cycling commands the top spot in the team classification.
“I’m really glad we did decide to do the whole ACC because we got to support all these great criteriums around the country and I am really proud of ourselves for getting it done,” Schneider said.
For all but two laps of the men’s race under the lights, Reign Storm Racing was in charge. The trio of Rodriguez, Jordan Parra and local favourite Danny Summerhill were challenged by a two-rider Above and Beyond Cancer squad, which resulted in Ben Oliver squeezing in for second place.
With third place for Parra, he added to his ACC individual lead in the overall standings, Rodriguez 9 points back in second and Summerhill another 9 points back in third. Summerhill clinched the green jersey as the sprint classification winner, while the group padded an insurmountable lead in the team standings over Austin Outlaws and Miami Blazers.
The ACC individual, sprint and team overall series winners will be crowned on September 1 after the Giro della Montagna criterium that is part of the Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup in St. Louis, Missouri. Standings and race results can be found at Americancritcup.com.
