Colombian Valeria Cardozo-Cabrera earns second win in three days while La Grange winner Holly Breck best in Speed Week
19-year-old Luke Fetzer (Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Encore Wire) won the 2025 overall title for Speed Week with second at Spin The District: College Park Crit(Image credit: USA CRITS/Adam Koble)
Holly Breck (L39ION of Los Angeles) and Luke Fetzer (Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Encore Wire) finished on the podium at Spin The District: College Park Crit on Sunday and wrapped up overall titles for 2025 Speed Week.
The Sunday afternoon races just south of Atlanta served as the finale in the 11-day, eight-race Speed Week regional series, as well as the seventh of nine races in the USA CRITS national series.
L39ION of Los Angeles' veteran Robin Carpenter earned the victory in the elite men's race in College Park, his second of Speed Week, while Valeria Cardozo-Cabrera (MBO Racing) won her third Speed Week race, which along with the win in Spartanburg Criterium on Friday night was her second USA CRITS victory of the weekend.
Fetzer, just 19 years old, led the series from start to finish, taking the leader's jersey at the opening round on April 24 with the win at Greenville Cycling Classic presented by Prisma Health. By going second at the final race on May 4 in College Park, he won the Speed Week overall. In between, he finished in the top 10 of the seven other men's events that were held.
Fetzer had a breakout year in 2023 when he won three US national titles - junior men's criterium as well as junior 15-18 Madison and Sprint on the track. After a heavy road racing season at the elite level with 58 race days last year, and no major wins, he hit stride for the southeast-based criteriums.
"I had a horrible year last year, so to have a horrible year and to have a magnificent second year here is great. I've never been a GC type of guy. Having to hold an overall lead is something I'm not used to. It's a really cool first pro win," Fetzer said after the College Park race.
Triple-header for women
Holly Breck (L39ION of Los Angeles) won LaGrange Cycling Classic and placed third at College Park Crit to move up in USA CRITS and win Speed Week (Image credit: USA CRITS/Adam Koble)
Friday night races for the two series took place in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with Michael Garrison (MGR p/b Speed l Club) earning his second victory of the USA CRITS series and Colombian Cardozo-Cabrera taking the women's victory.
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Racing moved three hours south to LaGrange, Georgia, on Saturday night. The elite women were able to complete their race as the rains began to drench the course, but the men's race was suspended and then cancelled due to heavy rain and thunderstorms.
Breck took the win ahead of Peta Mullens (Liv SRAM Tango Racing) and Shannon Koch (Kingdom Elite) in LaGrange, but Breck said she was lucky to even compete on Saturday.
"I've gotten sick the last couple of days, fighting a bit of a cold, so not feeling the greatest. It's nice to be able to hold it off [to win]," Breck said for the livestream audience on the post-race interview.
The 32-year-old Breck scored two victories and three other podiums during eight events in Speed Week across Georgia and South Carolina. Her teammate Kendall Ryan finished third overall, edging out second place by just 23 points over Jenna Nestman (Kingdom Elite Racing).
The 11-day block of racing provided $80,000 in prize money for individual races, while a bonus $15,000 prize purse for Speed Week was shared by the overall top five men and top five women, as well as top five men’s and women’s teams.
May 17 with the Aksarben Tirc Crit Nebraska p/b Visit Omaha. A unique course includes four 90-degree corners and one roundabout. Live streaming for pro races features the elite women at 7:05 p.m. CDT, followed by the elite men at 8:15 p.m. CDT.
Results - College Park Crit
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Spin The District: College Park Crit - elite men top 5
Pos.
Name
1
Robin Carpenter (L39ION of Los Angeles)
2
Luke Fetzer (Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Encore Wire)
3
Fergus Arthur (CRCA/Foundation)
4
Will Hardin (Team Winston-Salem)
5
Alfredo Rodriguez (City Bikes)
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Spin The District: College Park Crit - elite women top 5
Pos.
Name
1
Valeria Cardozo-Cabrera (MBO Racing Team)
2
Jenna Nestman (Kingdom Elite Racing)
3
Holly Breck (L39ION of Los Angeles)
4
Aylena Quevedo (Kingdom Elite Racing)
5
Yusmari Diaz (The Parks Law Firm All-Stars)
Results - Speed Week
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Men's overall top 5
Pos.
Name
Points
1
Luke Fetzer (Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Encore Wire)
1628
2
Will Hardin (Team Winston-Salem)
1585
3
Jordan Parra (Bikers Bycling Team)
1420
4
Lucas Bourgoyne (Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Encore Wire)
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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My best guess would be that social media has accelerated the glorification and fetishization of the Alpe d’Huez atmosphere, and more and more people are heading up with the primary focus of seeking out the hot-spots where the music is loudest, and the costumes are wildest.
