The Sunny King Criterium powered by Sunny King Automotive returns Saturday, April 5, for its 23rd year to downtown Anniston, Alabama. The event has a full day of amateur and elite races, with the women’s and men’s pros battling under the lights for an equal share in a $16,000 prize purse.
The Sunny King Criterium also sets the bar in the USA CRITS series with points on offer for elite individual racers and elite teams in the collection of nine races across five states. Winners will be decided on May 24 at Winston-Salem Cycling Classic in North Carolina.
The live broadcast is provided by event sponsor Sparklight and begins at 12:00 (CDT) with amateur races and will continue until the conclusion of the elite races in the evening. The women’s pro race is scheduled to start at 17:10 (CDT) and the men’s pro race is set to start at 18:15 (CDT).
Multiple cameras, including two drones, will capture the fast-paced races on a traditional four-cornered, one-kilometre course. Announcers Brad Sohner and Frankie Andreu will describe the action while Jenna Foley will report from the sidelines.
Only a select few cycling media websites will carry the livestream, including Cycling News, and the broadcast is also available on the Anniston Cycling website.
The men’s pro field includes 104 competitors, led by last year’s fourth-placed Michael Garrison (MGR p/b +Speed l Studio), who is looking to secure the win. Jonas Walton is the lone rider at the start for Project Echelon Racing and Matthew Crabbe for Hot Tubes Development Cycling. Among the larger teams, Thomas Gibbons leads Automatic Racing, Frank Travieso returns with Team Flicker, while Lucas Bourgoyne rides for Team CAdence Cyclery /b Encore Wire and Alabama’s Jonathan Crain rides with Skyway Racing
The women’s pro field is a condensed group of three dozen riders and packed with talent. Makayla MacPherson (CCB p/b Levine Law Group), Peta Mullens (Liv SRAM Tango Racing) and Lauren Baker (Fount Cycling Guild) come in as wildcards without other teammates. Among the multi-rider teams to watch will be riders who finished in the top 10 last year, including fourth-placed rider Luisa Parra (Bikes Cycling Team), fifth-placed Erica Carney (Piedmont University) and Brittany Parffrey (Team Winston Salem), who was seventh.
