USA CRITS: Skylar Schneider goes back-to-back in South Carolina with Spartanburg Criterium win
Jordan Parra earns fourth victory of series for Foundation New York
Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) went back-to-back with USA CRITS wins in South Carolina, edging out rival Andrea Cyr (HigherDOSE - Renova) at the line in downtown Spartanburg Friday night. Rebecca Lange (Team Winston Salem-FLOW) followed in third from a three-rider move that nearly lapped the field.
Schneider, Cyr and Lang certainly put on a show for the evening crowd at the Spartanburg Criterium presented by Spartanburg Medical Center and Gibbs Cancer Center, gaining chunks of time with less than 30 laps to go.
As the three riders came through the final lap, Cyr attacked at the front but it was Schneider who used the slight uphill for a final push and snuck ahead at the line. Lang was off the throttle as she secured third place, the rest of the field was 18 seconds back. Elizabeth Castaño (One Hart Racing-Nashville Local Cycling) was the best in the chasing bunch in fourth place.
Article continues below"My first time racing here was 2014 so we've come a long way, and we always look forward to coming to Spartanburg," Schneider said on the USA CRITS live stream, saying the Friday win was not as stressful as Thursday at the Greenville Cycling Classic.
"Yesterday, there was a lot of pressure. It has been a long time since I've won a race. So today we came in with no pressure. Alexi [Ramirez] is riding extremely strong, so we had a couple cards to play.
"Compliments to Andrea [Cyr] and Rebecca [Lang] for coming out and racing hard. We worked really well together. I think we all knew we had the winning move and it's not often everyone just works together on different teams like that. So it was just fun, hard racing."
The women's individual leaderboard remained unchanged, with Liza Ray (Kingdom Elite Racing) finishing 11th and remaining at the top based on her win at LaGrange and runner-up spot at Sunny King criteriums. Her teammate Elizabeth Hardin was second and Rebecca Lang (Team Winston Salem-FLOW) was third, with One Hart Racing - Nashville Local Cycling duo Andrea Antu and Elizabeth Cantaño now fourth and fifth.
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In the men's race, Jordan Parra scored the fourth victory in five races for Foundation Cycling New York, with the rider who is usually working for the results of others getting a chance to clinch his own.
His teammate Bryan Gomez took second on Friday night under the lights, while Athens Twilight Criterium champion Lucas Bourgoyne (Team Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing) grabbed third.
"We clearly were looking forward to winning in a bunch sprint since in Athens everything went south towards the end and we are very grateful to our sponsors and everyone who came out here to cheer for us. We are very happy with the win," said Parra on the livestream interview in comments translated by his team mate.
The men's top four riders in USA CRITS finished in the top 10 in Spartanburg, with Mendez jumping one spot to second overall, bumping Preston Eye (Clif Family Drifters Cycling) to third. Leonel Rodriguez (The Paceline Project) retained the overall lead. With second in the race, Gomez inched closer to the podium, now just seven points back.
The sixth stop of USA CRITS takes place Saturday night about 150 miles south in Suwanee, Georgia, with the High Line Criterium now in its second year.
Results
Rank | Rider | Diff |
|---|---|---|
1 | Skylar Schneider (L39ion of Los Angeles) | 0:58:08 |
2 | Andrea Cyr (HigherDOSE | Renova) | +0:00 |
3 | Rebecca Lang (Team Winston Salem - Flow) | +0:02 |
4 | Elizabeth Castano (One Hart Racing - Nashville Local Cycling) | +0:18 |
5 | Alexi Ramirez (L39ION OF LOS ANGELES) | +0:18 |
6 | Flor Espiritusanto (1kFlips Racing) | +0:19 |
7 | Emma Frost (Piedmont University) | +0:19 |
8 | Sylvia Espinoza (Full Send Racing p/b Kuro Athletics) | +0:19 |
9 | Andrea Cantu (One Hart Racing - Nashville Local Cycling) | +0:19 |
10 | Lauren Zoerner (Team Winston Salem - Flow) | +0:19 |
Rank | Rider | Diff |
|---|---|---|
1 | Jordan Parra (Foundation Cycling New York) | 1:14:08 |
2 | Bryan Gomez (Foundation Cycling New York) | +0:00 |
3 | Lucas Bourgoyne (Team Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing) | +0:01 |
4 | Jose Alfredo Rodriguez Victoria (city bikes) | +0:01 |
5 | Pablo Paredes (Rockland Devo) | +0:01 |
6 | Preston Eye (Clif Family Drifters Cycling) | +0:01 |
7 | Cesar Marte (Road Kings Racing Team) | +0:01 |
8 | Marcos Mendez (Foundation Cycling New York) | +0:01 |
9 | Leonel Rodriguez Ramos (MC CYCLING TEAM) | +0:02 |
10 | Caden Budd (Above and Beyond Cancer Cycling Team) | +0:02 |

Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.
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