Race Report: 2026 Cal Poly Crit - Men’s P/1/2/3
Race: Cal Poly Criterium - Men’s P/12/3
Date: January 25, 2026
AVRT racers: George Wehner, Tom Perkins, Levi Ritter, Michael Bektas
Top Result: Michael 6th, George 7th
Course: 1-mile lap with no significant features; you can comfortably pedal through all the gentle corners.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17178198203
Nutrition: 500ml water + Maurten 320 (80g carbs)
Race Recap: Written by Michael.
After a fairly boring 2/3 race earlier in the day where we let the race win just ride away from us, we were all fired up to be a lot more active in this one
We went back to a more reactive strategy that worked well for us in the CBR 1 1/2/3 the weekend prior. If an attack went with more than 3 people, we wanted to try and get two of us in it and just sit on. This would make sure we were represented with an actual chance to win from then move if it stayed away. In reality, it meant we weren’t worried about the win leaving us behind while keeping us ready for the inevitable field sprint where we would all need our legs to hang on.
The race was very dynamic with constant counter attacks coming from Terun, CycleSport, VFR and Cal Poly. We found a good rhythm of cycling through who would follow each move to keep ourselves as recovered as possible. Given Alex Akins’ current winning streak, I was keeping a closer eye on him as I knew Terun would likely setup the race for him. He put in multiple, big surges but we were able to keep the race together and AV represented.
In the final few laps, we pinched ourselves once again as we found ourselves in great position with two to go. The corners were easy and that made moving up even easier. With two corners to go I went from 10th wheel to 4th wheel right behind Alex, exactly where I wanted to be! Unfortunately, with 250m to go, he stood up to launch his sprint. When I stood up to respond all of the aggressive racing from the past hour caught up with me and both of my legs cramped. I sat back down and willed myself into 6th place with George right behind me in 7th, Levi following closely behind.
Despite this not being a podium, this race was another good step in the right direction and confirmed that the AV crit group can compete with the best!