Race Report: 2026 Santa Cruz Classic Criterium - Men’s E3
Race Report: 2026 Santa Cruz Classic Criterium - Men’s E3
Date: March 22, 2026
AVRT racers: Wil Gibb, Kevin Kauffman, Clark D Penado
Top Result: Wil Gibb (11/28), 10th in the weekend omnium
Course: A short, flowy course which starts with a downhill hairpin into a fast descent followed by a brief uphill bump, leading into a tight turn and an uphill drag to the finish.
Recap: Written by Wil
Given that the median age of the Cat 3 field seems to be about 17 this year, our team’s plan was to let the children fight it out at the front while not wasting too much of our precious millennial energy. This turned out to be a pretty reasonable plan as it was easy to move up on the downhill given the road doubled in size, and we were able to save a lot of energy on the punchy hill effort by staying in the draft.
With four laps to go, one of the collegiate riders attacked, and I didn’t follow since they weren’t in our field. However, he did bring two riders from our field with him. The other collegiate riders slowed and I found myself on the front going into the hairpin. I took a tighter line than usual, planning on sending it out of the corner to string the field out a bit as the race was coming to a finish.
Somewhat predictably, I started pedaling too early coming out of the tightest turn I’d made yet, struck my pedal, and nearly crashed. Although I stayed upright, I got washed to the back of the field and (with the help of Clark), took a lap to make it back to the mid pack. With 3 short laps to go, I did my best to keep making up positions, and was happy to end up getting 7th or so in the field sprint for 11th place overall. Without my mistake it would have been higher, but that’s racing.
Overall, this was the most fun I’ve had in a crit yet, and I get why this race has been going on for almost 60 years. Having a great AV cheering squad definitely helps, too. Looking forward to coming back next year!
