Race Report: 2025 Utah Crits - Mens Pro/1/2

Race: 2025 Utah Crits - Day 1, Mens Pro/1/2

Date: June 14, 2025

AVRT racers: Jon Wells

Top Result: Jon Wells, 45th of 55

Course: 0.75 mile loop through a shopping center in Sandy, Utah. It was an L shaped course on flat, fairly wide roads, with a bit of a pinch into the final 2 corners.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14802341480 

Nutrition: One bottle of 90g carb mix and a prerace redbull

Race Recap:

The first night of Utah Crits was stop #2 of the American Crit Cup (ACC) so all of the biggest teams in the US had come out to play, including many guys fresh off tops 10s in the Pro races at Tulsa the week before. Usually in ACC races, I’m just a passenger along for the ride so my goal was to just finish in the group.

Race started off fast and stayed that way throughout. Lots of small moves would try to go but then get generally stifled after around 5 minutes of effort, I think in large part due to the altitude combined with heat. I floated around middle to back of the pack for the first half of the race, just trying to find some confidence in the fast, aggressive ACC pack. Overall, I felt really strong in the race and was only holding tempo HR to sit in the group, compared to the normal pain dangle I’m on the receiving end of in these races.

After a really uneventful first 45 minutes in the pack, I decided to move up and be a part of the race. I had no problem taking spots through the corners, especially into and through the last 2. Around 5 laps to go, I found myself around 20th, right in the washing machine. Without any large teams at this race, there was no one stringing out the field so we were going 3+ wide through every corner. Eventually it got quick at 2 to go. Unfortunately, someone just in front of me fell just before the bell lap. I had to grab a fistful of brakes and jump the curb to avoid being collected in the crash. I pedalled around to finish the race but had been gapped off the back in order to avoid the crash (gopro footy is on my strava). It was a pretty disappointing result, especially having travelled so far, but I also took a lot of confidence away in how I felt during the race. I felt like I actually belonged in the ACC race and was a part of the race instead of just a passenger along for the ride. This gave me a lot of confidence heading into Sunday’s day 2 race.

Race: 2025 Utah Crits - Day 2, Mens Pro/1/2

Date: June 15, 2025

AVRT racers: Jon Wells

Top Result: Jon Wells, 21st of 61

Course: 0.8 mile loop around the pro soccer field for Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah. It was a D shaped course with 3x 90 degree turns, one chicane, and one long sweeper. There is a small uphill on the start/finish straight with about 40 feet of elevation per lap.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14812480801 

Nutrition: One bottle of 90g carb mix and a prerace redbull

Race Recap:

Day 2 of Utah Crits featured all the same hitters from the night before, but without any ACC points attached to it. This race took place in the middle of the afternoon and it was HOT outside, around 100F on the startline. I was feeling confident after the day before had gone, but was still a little nervous given the heat, altitude, and elevation gain on this course. Plan coming in was to feel it out the first half and then try to be in the race at the end if I felt good.

Started the race by dousing myself in water, looking like I was straight out the shower, and fitting as much ice down my jersey as possible. I started middle of the pack and was trying to be smart about taking easy spots and not digging myself too deep of a hole on the hill every lap. This usually meant ripping the inside line into corner 1 and carrying extra momentum into the hill, which got me several spots almost every lap. I also really enjoyed the corner 3 chicane on the downhill, as many guys seemed to struggle with that corner all race too.

There was a lot of attrition in this race with guys just getting dropped while in the draft, so I had to be very attentive to gaps opening in the group and getting around them quickly. The race stayed fairly strung out the first 40 minutes until a break of 6 established which would be the move of the day. After feeling good in the pack all race, I decided to move up as far as I could in the last 20 minutes. 

Ultimately, I found myself on the front around 5 to go, even taking a pull in the chase to keep my forward position. I found myself in the first 5 wheels at 2 to go, and stayed there until there was a huge swarm coming into the last lap. I found open air on the hill and was able to get spots back on the last lap, coming in 21st overall, with the break of 6 holding onto a less than 10 second gap in the end. This is my best result by far in a national level pro crit, which I’m absolutely stoked on! It was a blast to actually be racing at one of these events. Hoping to make it out to more this summer and see if I can do a few spots better to crack the top 20!

-Jon