Race Report: 2026 Santa Cruz Criterium - Men’s P/1/2
Race: Santa Cruz Criterium - Men’s P/1/2
Date: March 22nd, 2026
AVRT racers: George Wehner, Jack Liu, Jon Wells, Michael Bektas
Top Result: Michael 14th
Course: Straightforward course. Downhill hairpin turn 1 and an uphill drag to the finish line
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17822205264
Nutrition: 500ml water + Maurten 320 (80g carbs)
Race Recap: Written by Michael.
Avid P/1/2 crit race report readers won’t be surprised that this race ended with yet another watt bomb from Alex Akins. Regardless, still plenty to take away from this one.
Following a brutal afternoon at Cat’s Hill, I was pleased to find this course suit my significantly more. The hairpin wasn’t easy as consequential as the TBC hairpin and the uphill finish of each lap was ridden at high speed, making it easy to draft and conserve energy.
After an unremarkable but attritional first 50 mins, I found myself alone coming into 5 to go. As teams lined themselves up on the front, I had to make good cornering decisions (divebombing) and time my efforts well to stay towards the front of the pack. Coming into the final lap I was completely cooked but exactly where I wanted to be. Despite this, I dropped my chain through the bad pavement in the penultimate corner, killing my momentum and throwing any podium chances away. Defeated, I rolled in for 14th on the day.
While not a great result, there were plenty of hitters out racing that day, still something to be proud of.