Many American bike races seem to follow a standard script. There is a blistering start, a token breakaway and a well-calibrated chase, setting up the chaotic spectacle of the sprint. We all love that story, and even after watching dozens of crit finales, I still get goosebumps as the bell rings for the final lap. However, the Clarendon Cup at the Armed Forces Cycling Classic (AFCC) is one race on the calendar that defies that narrative and provides wall-to-wall action, with the race outcome hanging in the balance through every lap. For the men’s field, it is one hundred laps, one hundred kilometers and five hundred corners, making for one the hardest days in American road racing period.
There is no “sit in and sprint” game plan for Clarendon. In last year’s edition, the final sprints featured just four women and six men in their respective races. Only the strongest riders, backed by deep and well-drilled teams, have a chance at victory here. It’s not enough to just be fast at Clarendon. If you don’t have a high level of fitness to go with your sprint speed, a few dozen sprints out of the tight final corner will drain hundreds of watts out of your legs and leave you grovelling at the back of the pack.
In 2024, Clarendon will crown its twenty-sixth set of champions. The list of past winners over the years reads like a section in the Hall of Fame of professional racing in North America, studded with national champions and World Tour Monument winners. Riders like Allison Jackson, Lauren Stephens, and Coryn Riviera are on the women’s side, and Hilton Clarke, Eric Marcotte, and Eric Young are for the men. As Clarendon’s tagline indicates, this is a race “where champions come to compete.” As always, the fields are stacked with talent for this weekend’s racing. Top riders from around the world will travel to Arlington to take the start. Who will come out on top?
The Men
While Sunday’s Clarendon Cup is the most coveted prize at the AFCC, the riders get their chance at glory in Saturday’s Crystal City race. Crystal City is much closer to a more traditional criterium format. It is relatively flat, has four real corners and shorter durations of sixty and ninety minutes, respectively, for the women and the men. Cory Williams is back to defend his title for the Miami Blazers team and has a full complement of support riders. The other podium finishers, Dusan Kalaba of Butcher Box and Danny Summerhill of REIGN Storm Racing/JLL, will be in tough to improve on their 2023 positions. Legion has a significantly changed roster this year, but they still know how to control a course like this with clinical precision. Williams and his rapid teammates have to be favorites to take the weekend’s first win, with many others primed to create an upset if Legion falters.
On Sunday, everything changes, and a whole new set of contenders will come to the fore including a depth of international talent. Defending Clarendon champion Andreas Mayr will return from his native Germany with a loaded DCC/Alpecin squad as backup. New Zealand’s MioQ-NZ Cycling Project, led by current New Zealand national champion James Gardner, will also have a victory in their sights after success on the American circuit already this year.
The U.K.-based Ribble Rebellion team has shown that they are ready to compete with America’s fastest after mounting a British invasion this Spring. They have taken multiple victories in early-season races, including a mountain stage in Redlands which proved their depth. Whether it is a high-speed bunch gallop or an eighty-lap breakaway effort, the boys from Britain will be a force to be reckoned with all weekend. Their sprinter Matt Bostock, the 2022 Great Britain National Champion, may even have what it takes to spoil Legion’s party on day one.
Watch for custom edition Ribble racing at Clarendon, in special WWII Spitfire livery. (Read more on this and their P-51 Mustang colored bike here.)
Among the American teams, Project Echelon may have the strongest, deepest roster for this weekend’s racing. Echelon’s Brendan Rhim took a commanding victory in Clarendon in 2022, and his teammate Scott McGill combined successes at both Clarendon and Crystal City to take the overall omnium title the same year. Every single Echelon rider packs a finishing punch along with road racing fitness, so it is hard to imagine a situation where they aren’t in the winning move on Sunday.
Williams Racing Development fields both its Legion and Miami Blazers squads. Although they are separate teams with their own aspirations, it is always an interesting dynamic to watch on race day. Legion, on its own, has a murderer’s row of contenders, including 2018 National Champion and former AFCC winner Ty Magner, Robin Carpenter, Alec Cowan and former US road race winner Kyle Murphy.
With so many riders capable of winning, it could take a while for the winning move to go away on Sunday. Teams will have to stay sharp tactically and follow the right moves lap after lap. Fortunately, Clarendon provides ample time and opportunity for that elite selection to form. Whether it takes ten laps or ninety, one thing is for sure: the eventual winner will have earned his place in the race’s elite winner’s club.
The Women
If there is anyone who “owns” the Crystal City race, it is Legion’s Kendall Ryan. She will be aiming for her fifth victory on Saturday after a near-miss in last year’s edition to Marlies Mejias of the Virgina’s Blue Ridge 2024 team. Mejias is back with a strong team this year though, along with top sprinters Skylar and Samantha Schnieder from the Miami Blazers and 2023 podium finisher Sara Van Dam of the DNA/Blue Halo squad. While it is often seen as the appetizer to Clarendon’s main course, this year’s Crystal City could turn into the sprint of the year for the women’s field.
Last year, the women’s podium in Clarendon was identical to the podium for day one’s Crystal City, with Mejias taking the win from Ryan and Van Dam. That doesn’t mean the racing was the same, however. The trio of elite sprinters won from a breakaway almost a minute ahead of the field as Clarendon’s additional distance and more exacting course tore the race apart.
Veteran teams like DNA/Blue Halo, Virginia’s Blue Ridge, and Legion all have at least four riders on the start list. They will each be looking to outmaneuver the others in forming a favorable breakaway selection. The Cynisca/Appian team, with a big spring of European racing in their legs, will attempt to outlast them all and lean on freshly minted U23 National Crit Champion Chloe Patrick for the finale. The CCB/NT Concepts adds their own stars and stripes winner to the mix with Junior National Champ Ella Brenneman, who will be looking for her breakthrough result at the professional level. Perhaps the ultimate wildcard on Sunday will be three-time Clarendon champion Laura Van Gilder, who returns twenty-one years after her first victory. I’m sure Laura will be the people’s favourite on Sunday, and no one would be surprised if she teaches the younger racers a lesson or two at the finish line.
Unlike the men’s race, there is a decent chance Clarendon will result in a field sprint for the women, although it will be a more gritty, fatigued version than Crystal City. Kendall Ryan and the Schnieder sisters, with their respective Legion and Blazers squads, will like their odds in either scenario with countless road and crit victories between them. Whether it is four riders sprinting for the win of forty, the finale of Clarendon will be as scintillating as ever.
** Tune in to ListenLive coverage of the races this weekend, and see more info at the AFCC official website.
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