Race Report: Sand City Criterium 2026 - Men’s Cat 3
Race Report: Montage Wellness Sand City Criterium 2026 - Men’s Cat 3
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau
Race: Montage Wellness Sand City Criterium - Men’s Cat 3 2026
Date: 6/14/26
Top Result: Adam 8th (E3/4), 13th (E2/3)
Course: 10 corner technical circuit with a small punchy hill in the middle
Nutrition: Half a bottle of 90g malto/fructo mix
Race Recap:
Kevin told me last year that this was his favorite crit course, so I had to do it this year. It was indeed a really fun and technical course. The pavement is great and the high amount of corners strings out the peloton. Also, categories were set up so you could race twice.
TLDR E3/4:
Simon Phipps went off the front carrying another rider and won.
TLDR E2/3:
Simon Phipps went off the front carrying another rider and finished second.
Even though I raced twice in a different category, I ended up racing mostly the same riders. A bunch of velosport kids, Simon Phipps (featured in recent Norcal cycling videos), and red peloton riders.
The first race being the E3/4, I thought I was going to be able to “chill” and “conserve” energy for the second race. I couldn't be more wrong. I probably spent the first 15 min at the front. I wasn’t pulling hard and I tried to maintain a decent pace. Nobody wanted to go in front, even when I soft pedaled hard. Then a prime lap was announced. I decided to put in an effort to hopefully win that lap. Coming out of the last corner, I see Simon attacking. I launched a 1500w sprint and still got beaten by him, but that was my bad as I lizard brain too hard and forgot to shift… After that lap, Simon and a velosport rider went off and we never saw them again. I tried to follow them, but the pace was too hard. Nothing much happened after that. The peloton didn’t care about catching the break and it unfolded as a bunch sprint. I got caught off guard by the last lap (why call it a 45min crit when we do 40min) and was not positioned at the right place. Tried to make up position on the last lap, but that’s never a good idea.. Rolled in 8th.
The second race unfolded the same way as the first. The only difference is that the break did not wait for the prime lap. Simon and another racer went from the whistle. The first few laps were very fast, and again, I could not follow them. After that, a very uncoordinated peloton tried to catch the break. By uncoordinated I mean that some riders would take turns to pull and others would systematically soft pedal every time they got to the front. The race unfolded in a bunch sprint (after 40min again..??). I was way too cooked to hang on the last lap and rolled in 13th.