USA Cycling announces 10 races for 2022 National Criterium Series
New national series to offer $100,000 prize purse split evenly between men and women.
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USA Cycling announced Wednesday the 10 races on the 2022 National Criterium Series calendar.
The new events in the series are the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, AL, the MVP Health Care Rochester Twilight Criterium in Rochester, NY, the Harlem Skyscraper Cycling Classic in Harlem, NY, and select events at the Intelligentsia Cup in Lake Bluff, IL.
Also read: American crit teams form National Association of Cycling Teams
“We’re excited to be back to racing and to be included in the inaugural year for this series,” said Richard Cox, race director for the Harlem Skyscraper Classic. “Our event has been around since 1973, the second oldest bike race in the U.S., and to be recognized as one of the top criteriums in America is a great honor. We’re looking forward to welcoming teams, racers, and spectators from across the country to Harlem in June.”
The series will offer $100,000 in overall prize purse, split between the men’s and women’s fields, in addition to the individual event prize purses.
Each of the events in the series has committed to equal payout for men’s and women’s fields.
As of mid-December 2021, the new series had nearly 20 teams committed to the series, but without any promise of television coverage.
In the Autumn of 2021, the USA CRITS director Scott Morris was suspended by SafeSport.
Responding quickly to the announcement by SafeSport of Morris’ suspension, L39ion of Los Angeles and Aevelo announced that they will no longer participate in USA CRITS.
Other teams quickly followed and stated their intent to move forward with a national criterium series.
With the notable exception of L39ION of Los Angeles, 19 other teams formed a new, non-profit group, the National Association of Cycling Teams (NACT).
2022 National Criterium Series Calendar
| Event | Date | Location |
| Sunny King Criterium | April 9 | Anniston, AL |
| MVP Health Care Rochester Twilight Criterium | May 21 | Rochester, NY |
| Saint Francis Tulsa Tough | June 10* | Tulsa, OK |
| Harlem Skyscraper Cycling Classic | June 19 | Harlem, NY |
| Bailey & Glasser LLP Twilight Criterium | July 9 | Boise, ID |
| Salt Lake City Criterium | July 16* | Salt Lake City, UT |
| Intelligentsia Cup | July 30* | Lake Bluff, IL |
| Littleton Criterium | August 6 | Littleton, CO |
| Momentum Indy | August 27* | Indianapolis, IN |
| Bommarito Audi Gateway Cup | September 5* | Saint Louis, MO |
*Specified series date for multi-day events.
