Armed Forces Traditional Celebrates 25 Years This Weekend

The Armed Forces Biking Traditional celebrates its twenty fifth version with the beginning of the Crystal Metropolis Cup circuit race on Saturday, adopted by the Clarendon Cup Race on Sunday, awarding the omnium prize for the mixed days. The race is providing equal prize cash for each the professional women and men races for one more yr working.

 ~ By Rebecca Reza ~

Followers can Hear Reside to the AFCC right here on race days:

The ladies will kick-off the weekend of racing Saturday morning at 10:25 AM racing for 60 minutes, adopted by the lads at midday racing for 90 minutes.  76 riders will take the beginning, together with L39ion of Los Angeles Kendall Ryan. The Nationwide Crit Champion returns because the defending champion, having swept the race successful each days and the omnium final yr. Ryan defended her nationwide crit title final season, and shall be racing as soon as once more within the shadow of our nation’s capitol within the stars and stripes.

“It’s actually particular successful in DC within the nationwide jersey,” Ryan mentioned after her win in 2022. “It’s in all probability the good feeling, everybody you in awe within the American jersey.” Ryan shall be preventing for her third title this weekend, after incomes her first title in 2019.

A shock pop-up on the preliminary roster is WorldTour veteran and 2017 Tour of Flanders Champion, Coryn Labecki. The Jumbo-Visma rider is again stateside forward of the Professional Nationals later this month.  Different riders to observe embody Canadian Sprinter Sarah Van Dam driving for DNA Professional Biking. Van Dam is arriving having simply gained the Greatest Younger Rider classification on the Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas final month.

Tokyo Olympic Gold Medalist within the Omnium, Jennifer Valente continues her highway racing season in Arlington, becoming a member of a stacked Virginia BlueRidge Staff Twenty24 squad with Marlies Mejias who notched one other stage win this season on the ultimate day at Joe Martin, and Emily Ehrlich, this season’s Redlands Biking Traditional champion.

The lads’s race is sort of at its restrict, with 138 riders set on the preliminary roster. Main the sector shall be L39ion of Los Angeles, with Ty Magner who was the victor within the Crystal Cup final yr, together with crit specialists, the Williams brothers Cory and Justin. Venture Echelon will hope to disrupt their plans, led by Tyler Stites who has had a stellar season thus far, defending his Redlands Bicycle Traditional in April, adopted by a stage win at Joe Martin. 2019 Champion Stephen Vogel shall be racing alongside Stites, hoping so as to add one other title in Arlington to his palmères.

Brendan Rhim and Michael Hernandez are again, racing with their new workforce, the American Biking Group, directed by Thomas Craven. Notably lacking from the lads’s roster are the Nationwide Biking League groups, together with Miami Night time’s Alfredo Rodriguez and Denver Disrupter’s Juan Arango who completed second and third within the omnium final yr.

Sunday, the ladies will begin racing 50 laps, across the 1-km course at 10:05, adopted by the lads racing 100km at midday earlier than crowning the 2023 champions.

Followers can Hear Reside to the AFCC right here on race days:

See extra data: https://cyclingclassic.org/radio

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