Watch live streaming of the elite men's and women's road races and criteriums
Eventual winner Daniel Patten (SmartStop p/b Mountain Khakis) leads the peloton at the 2013 Winston-Salem Cycling Classic road race (Image credit: Jon Safka)
Top-level bike racing in America continues in North Carolina at the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic and cycling fans will be able to watch the elite women’s and men’s events live on April 18 and 19 here on Cyclingnews.
Friday’s road races are UCI 1.2 events and the next rounds of USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar (NRC) while Saturday’s downtown criteriums are part of the National Criterium Calendar (NCC) and the USA Crits Series.
During the road race, the elite men will cover 15 laps of an 11.4 km circuit totaling 170 km. To make the race more challenging, the distance has an elevation gain of 2,730 m with a maximum grade of 10 percent.
The race is one of two UCI-sanctioned events in the US for elite women, alongside the Philadelphia Cycling Classic held on June 1 in Pennsylvania. They will race eight laps of the same circuit as the men for a total distance of 91 km and 1,456 m in elevation gain.
Participants include Joseph Rosskopf (Hincapie Sportswear Development), who is currently leading the NRC standings after winning the overall title at the Redlands Bicycle Classic at the beginning of April. Women’s standings leader Taylor Wiles (Specalized-lululemon) is not registered to compete.
The race will be streamed live beginning with the women’s event at 9:30 am EDT followed by the men’s event at 12:30 pm EDT. Former American pros Bob Roll and Robbie Ventura will provide live commentary during the races.
The elite men’s and women’s downtown criteriums will include teammates Carlos Alzate and Coryn Rivera (UniteHealthcare ProCycling), who are leading the NCC standings after the first two races while Frank Travieso (UnitedHealthcare/The 706 Project) and Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom p/b Pink Siren) lead the USA Crits Series standings after the Charlotte Criterium last weekend.
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The criteriums will also be streamed live beginning with the women’s race at 4:45 pm EDT followed by the men’s race at 6 pm EDT.
Top contenders for the weekend of racing in the men’s races also includes Stephen Clancy (Team Novo Nordisk), Ryan Anderson (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies), Canadian road champion Zach Bell (Team SmartStop), Ricardo Escuela (Incycle-Predator), Pierrick Naud (Garneau-Quebec), Isaac Howe (Champion System p/b Stan’s NoTubes) and Chad Beyer (5-Hour Energy p/b Kenda).
The women’s races will showcase Van Gilder and her local teammate Sara Tussey, Amber Neben (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore), Shelley Olds (Ale Cipollini), Hannah Barnes (UnitedHealthcare ProCycling), Leah Kirchmann (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies), Jo Kiesanowski (Tibco To The Top), Erica Allar (Colavita-Fine Cooking), Joanie Caron (Garneau Factory Team) and Lex Albrecht (Twenty16). Other international teams in attendance include S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox, BTC City LJUBLJANA, Estado de Mexico Faren and the Colombian and Mexican national teams.
