What Is A Criterium?

Criterium racing is becoming increasingly popular, with it’s addictive mix of speed, corners and excitement. Click here to subscribe to GCN: http://gcn.eu/SubscribeToGCN

Crits take place on a circuit of 1-2 kilometres, which riders tackle a number of times over the course of 1-2 hours. The pace is intense throughout, with riders going over their threshold several times. Positioning, cornering and bike handling are key to being a good crit racer – ultimately anything that saves you energy for that final sprint will come in handy! We also caught up with Optum’s Phil Gaimon for his take on this shorter type of race.

Thanks to the organisers of the Tour Down Under, the Sunny King Criterium and the Athens Twilight Criterium for the use of their footage.

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Photos: ©Tim De Waele / http://www.tdwsport.com

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what is a criterium a criterium or crit is a short race lasting between 1 and 2 hours on a circuit of a couple of kilometers or so they’re most popular in the USA with races taking place Nationwide on a professional and amateur level almost every weekend however the appeal of the Criterium is stretched worldwide and of course one of the most star studed crits The People’s Choice classic kicks off the year in downtown Adelaide every year but when is a criterium not a criterium when it’s a criterium short stage races like the Criterium de Doan and the Criterium International can make things confusing but pretty much every other Criterion is actually a Criterion I’m glad we cleared that up the excellent thing about crits from a logistical point of view is that only small stretches of Road need to be closed for a short period of time and it’s also great for the fans you can watch a lot of action in a small space of time and the fast pace all adds to the spectacle and the atmosphere so what skills do you need to win a crit compared to a normal Road Race we put that question to top us Pro Phil Gaiman The a crit is it’s the same concept of road race but it’s it’s just more intense because it’s shorter so you’re squeezing all your energy out in an hour and a half instead of you know over 6 hours so a lot of times it is the standard like early break gets away the dominant team controls it um but in this case you don’t let the Gap get to 10 minutes you let it get to 45 seconds and then and then you drill it back um so it’s it’s more about cornering and technique and efficiency and saving your energy it’s kind of like I would compare it to NASCAR on bikes these races often end in the Sprint so of course top end power is quite important but as Phil said if you’re not positioned well you’ll be wasting energy having to break and accelerate hard out of Corners which could leave you exhausted by the time it comes to the final Sprint or off the back of the bunch all together being able to handle your bike well and spot easy opportunities to move up and stay sheltered from the wind to conserve energy is the foundation of what makes a good crit racer it may make sense then to just stay in the bunch and try and save energy but breaking away in a crit can make sense in the right circumstances for a start you can stay safe and take the most efficient line through the corners which can see a gap form quickly plus many big races offer a little extra incentive PRS are on the spot prizes either cash or points towards an intermediate Sprints classification that take place at certain points in the race whoever crosses the line first on that lap takes the spot prize PRS are usually announced at random so it plays into the hands of the aggressive Rider who may already be making moves at the front of the race of course these high speeds and tight Corners inevitably mean a few spills along the way criteriums definitely have have more crashes than than road races especially like if it’s if it’s raining cuz you’re just sliding through the corners at full speed um a lot of crit these days just kind of come down to who’s craziest in the last turn um thankfully I’m never one of the guys in the pool for that but it yeah it’s there’s there’s a lot more Road Rash a lot more medical laughter and uh yeah it’s a whole different scene so that’s crit racing in a nutshell crashes corners and crowds all wrapped up in the space of a couple of hours [Music] n [Music]