Race Report: 2026 Cal Aggie Criterium - Women’s 4/5

Race: 2026 Cal Aggie Criterium - Women’s 4/5

Date: January 31st, 2026

AVRT racers: Sandrine Veillette

Top Result: 12/25 

Course: We raced a oval-ish route around Park Land, with a chicane (~4x 90-degree corners) 

Nutrition: Oatmeal for breakfast, and Gatorade prior to the race

Recap (written by Sandrine Veillette): 

This was my very first “real” crit race after attending the Early Bird race clinic. My goals were simple: stay in the front pack, be safe, and have fun. I’m happy to say I executed well on each of those.

It was foggy when I arrived at the race site, but the fog lifted just a few minutes before the start. Conditions were dry but windy. We raced for 40 minutes.

I started mid-to-back of the pack. I didn’t know the course well, and it took me a few laps to get comfortable with the turns, especially the chicane. There were several attacks in the first couple of laps, with different teams taking turns launching moves and immediately covering each other. Many of these accelerations happened just before the chicane, which favored more technical riders (which I am not). Nothing stuck, but the repeated surges definitely kept everyone alert.

I quickly realized that my cornering was my biggest limiting factor. I tried to position well before the chicane to avoid having to chase after it, but that didn’t work very well. I burned a lot of energy closing gaps after the technical section. I was very worried (potentially unnecessarily) that the group would split early, so I stayed hyper-aware and reactive to every move.

With about 1.5 laps to go, the speed increased significantly. The front riders consistently tried to pull away, and the peloton became very stretched. I stayed mid-pack and focused on holding the wheel in front of me as much as possible. In the final stretch, a group of about 12 riders separated from the rest of the field. I came out of the chicane around 7th wheel, but I had already reached my maximum effort before the sprint even began. The final 100 meters were humbling; riders came around me as I had nothing left to give. Two girls were able to get away in a very short break just before the finish and held it for the win.

It wasn’t the most strategic or well-positioned finale, and I clearly have a lot to learn. But I’m proud that I stayed with the front group in my first real crit. My biggest takeaways are the importance of positioning (especially before technical sections), continuing to develop my cornering skills, and getting to know the other racers so I can anticipate moves better. Most importantly, I genuinely enjoyed the thrill of it.

Looking forward to the next one!