Current American Criterium Cup (ACC) individual leaders Paola Muñoz (Miami Nights) and Danny Summerhill (American Cycling Group) padded their overall leads with victories at the Salt Lake Criterium on Saturday evening. The flat and fast contest, now in its fifth year, was held on a traditional four-corner course in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, and was the sixth stop for the ACC competition.
Munoz was led out by her Miami Nights teammate Jeydy Praderas, who looked to sit up near the finish line and allow Munoz to cross the line for the maximum series points. Nicola MacDonald (Cervelo Ziptrak) was third.
DNA Pro Cycling, which held a team camp in the area prior to the weekend of racing, brought a full squad of six riders to support Kimberly Lucie, who held the sprint classification lead going into the criterium.
Munoz added to her 13-point margin over Miami Nights teammate Andrea Cyr, who finished 12th in Salt Lake. The L39ION of Los Angeles duo of Samatha Schneider, in third overall, and Skylar Schneider in fourth overall, were not present in Salt Lake so did not gain any ground from their top four positions.
Wearing the ACC red leader’s jersey, Summerhill rode safely at the front of the race on the final lap to win well ahead of rival Alfredo Rodriguez (Miami Nights), who trails the ACG rider for second place in the ACC individual standings. Denver Disruptors’ Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg finished third.
The Miami Nights took control of the peloton near the end of the race, and were able to avoid a crash on the final lap, but they could not hold off a surging Summerhill.
Summerhill and Rodriguez continue as the top two men in the overall standings. Bryan Gomez (Miami Nights) was in third place going into Salt Lake, 29 points ahead of Ty Magner and 37 points ahead of Justin Williams, both the L39ION of Los Angeles riders not participating in Salt Lake. The sprint competition is led by Summerhill.
The American Criterium Cup is a 10-race series across the US with a total prize purse of $100,000 to be distributed evenly among men and women for individual and team classification leaders. The next stop for the series is July 29 at the Intelligentsia Cup
