Men's individual champion Maurice Ballerstedt returns to European racing and leaves door open for new winner in series with $140,000 combined prize purse
2025 ACC men's final podium for individuals (L to R): runner-up Brody McDonald (Golden State Blazers, winner Maurice Ballerstedt (Rose Bikes) and third-placed Danny Summerhill (L39ION of Los Angeles)(Image credit: American Criterium Cup / Marcus Janzow)
A fifth year for the American Criterium Cup returns with a collection of six familiar races across the central US, anchored by Saint Francis Tulsa Tough on June 6, 2026. From the $140,000 prize purse on offer, split evenly between pro women and pro men, each event will provide $16,000, while the series pays out an additional $44,000.
After the Tulsa, Oklahoma opener, racing moves to Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 27 for one of the 11 days of racing that is part of Tour of America's Dairyland. July stops take place in Boise, Idaho for the Bailey & Glasser LLP Boise Twilight Criterium on the 11th and in Chicago, Illinois for one of the 10 days of racing that is part of Chicago GRIT. The Salt Lake City, Utah one-day race moves from June to mid-August, followed by the series finale on September 6 in St. Louis, Missouri at Bommarito Automotive Group Gateway Cup, traditionally the Giro della Montagna.
The majority of races were founding events in the series launched in 2022, with a stop at Tour of America's Dairyland in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, joining the lineup in 2023. The series will continue to use a points-based system to determine leaders for individual, sprint and team classifications.
"We have a $44k season purse, like last year. We have a minimum purse of $8K per gender per race, with several events going above, $96K guaranteed, but it will surpass $150K total," Mike Weiss, event director for the Gateway Cup and manager of the ACC, told Cyclingnews.
He confirmed that four of the events had already committed to live-streaming for races, provided free to viewers on the American Crit Cup YouTube channel - Tulsa Tough, Utah Crits, Chicago GRIT and Gateway Cup.
Maurice Ballerstedt (Rose Bikes) came away with the men's title without a race win, but finished in the top 10 of all six ACC events. He used a second-place in the final race in St. Louis to secure an 11-point advantage over Brody McDonald (Golden State Blazers).
The 24-year-old German had raced three seasons for Alpecin-Deceuninck before taking on a freelance Rose Bikes programme in the US this past year with a focus on the ACC. He has confirmed on social media that he will not defend the US title.
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"I’ve decided to return to racing in the WorldTour next year," Ballerstedt posted to Instagram in November, but did not confirm a signed contract yet. "This year gave me something I’d been missing for a while: the pure joy of racing for myself. No pulling out in the final kilometers after my job was done — just fighting to the line again.
"Now, it feels like the right time to step back onto the big stage. I know my role, I know my strengths, and I’m ready to chase big results together with a team again."
Cadence Cyclery p/b Encore Wire won the men's team title, Lucas Bourgoyne, Richard Holec and Luke Fetzer accounting for four race wins, Holec netting two victories. Owen Gillott (Chaney Windows and Doors Pasteria) overtook Danny Summerhill (L39ION of Los Angeles) in the final race to win the sprint classification.
Last year, women's overall champion Aline Seitz (UTC Butcherbox) earned the leader's jersey on the third round of racing with a victory at Downer Classic at Tour of America's Dairyland. That would be her one and only win in the series, but consistency landed her the top spot, going 11 points better than ACC runner-up Andrea Cyr (Fount Cycling Guild). Cyr finished second overall for a third time.
Rylee McMullen (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28) won the green jersey as sprint champion, and her team celebrated the women's team classification victory. Kendall Ryan (L39ION of Los Angeles) secured three victories in three starts and finished fourth overall.
USPro elite women's criterium champion Ryan will serve alongside Laurel Rathbun, her teammate at L39ION last year, and Tim Smith, who was seventh overall for elite men in the ACC, as mentors at a 2026 winter camp for the four winners in the ACC Junior Criterium Cup p/b Renaissance Financial. Rose Chase and Tozer Jones won the junior 15-16 division titles, while Bella Kroutil and Maddox Simmons won the junior 17-18 division titles.
Saint Francis Tulsa Tough has been part of American Criterium Cup since the series launch in 2022 (Image credit: Saint Francis Tulsa Tough)
American Criterium Cup 2026 schedule
Saturday, June 6 - Saint Francis Tulsa Tough, Oklahoma
Saturday, June 27 - Tour of America’s Dairyland, Wisconsin
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. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
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