American Criterium Cup: New Zealand riders sweep elite races at Downer Classic in Wisconsin and hold off series leaders in tight sprints

New Zealand riders Bryony Botha (Fearless Femme pb the Beasley Firm) and George Jackson (Whoosh–NZ Cycling Project) won tight sprints in the Downer Classic on Saturday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Elite riders scored points in Saturday's contest, officially called Café Hollander Otto Wenz Downer Classic p/b ISCorp, the second round of the American Criterium Cup national series and the 11-day Tour of America's Dairyland (ToAD).

Botha surprised current ACC women's leader Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) with a strong final surge to earn the race victory. Another Kiwi, Kyra Marett (1Kflips Racing), the country's national criterium champion, secured third. With her runner-up finish on home Wisconsin turf, Schneider continued as the women's individual leader in the ACC standings.

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"I didn't realise it was one lap to go. I saw my teammate Kiera at the front; I told her to just drill it. She did a great job with that. It was a great, spectacular, surprise attack by the New Zealand criterium champ, which set me up well. I don’t think my dad’s gonna believe me when I tell him I won a sprint," Botha told race organisers.

All the attacks in the women's race were controlled by the HigherDOSE RenovaPoints, which went on the hunt for mid-race sprint points. They took all the spoils with Andrea Cyr retaining the women's ACC sprint competition.

Botha also won the women's title across the 11 days of ToAD one-day races in various cities in Wisconsin. She collected 271 points with Claudia Marcks (Pedla Race Division) and Aline Seitz (HigherDOSE-Renova) timed for second with 249 points.

The men's field that started with a robust 145 riders was all together for the final circuit. Jackson came into the ACC matchup with four wins in the nine previous days of ToAD, and he wasn't close to being done. He carried momentum at the front of the field through the last corner and held off a late charge from former USPro crit winner Lucas Bourgouyne (Team Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing) and current USPro crit champion Luke Elphingston (Project Echelon Racing), who went second and third, respectively.

“We thought it would probably come down to a field sprint; we knew there was so much cash on the line, so we knew it was going to be a hard one," Jackson said about the cash prizes at intermediate sprints causing chaos early on.

"The team has been coming here for 18-19 years, and we’re getting better and better each year. New Zealand is a small country, and we’re far away, so we don’t have races like this…We love coming here, the crowds were insane, everyone’s insane…it’s so much fun.”

With his runner-up finish, despite an early crash and cut to his knee from a collision into a chainring, Bourgoyne held his individual lead in the men's ACC standings. All of the significant sprint points were collected by Chaney Windows and Doors Big Shark p/b Pastaria riders, with Owen Gillot holding the ACC lead in that classification.

The five ToAD victories gave Jackson the overall title for the regional series with a total of 248 points, while his teammate James Wilson finished second with 271 points. Bourgoyne took third overall.

The next stop for the ACC will be July 11 in Boise, Idaho, for the Bailey & Glasser LLP Boise Twilight Criterium. That marks the midpoint of the series with three races to complete the schedule.

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