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Some $ 100,000 was up for grabs at the Into the Lion’s Den women’s criterium, and Rally Cycling’s Olivia Ray and Los Angeles’ Justin Williams took the lion’s share by sprinting to their respective race victories in downtown Sacramento. , in California.

With overcast skies and temperatures in the mid-60s the day before Halloween, the races were lively. Five bonuses, ranging from $ 1,000 to $ 4,000, were available in both races on the 1.09-mile four-turn circuit encompassing the State Capitol, its monuments and community park.

Williams’ Los Angeles L39ion team hosted the race, a much-touted end-of-season event that organizers say will bring greater inclusion in cycling with a new city and region-based team format. .

Williams, 32, a multiple-time national champion, took the win after his teammates, including his brother Cory Williams, led him out. L39ion fielded two teams – Los Angeles L39ion A and Los Angeles L39ion B – in the men’s race that ended well after dark. The men’s race lasted approximately 1 hour and 17 minutes.

“I’ve never been so nervous before a race since I was a kid,” said Williams. “I haven’t slept all night. I didn’t know how I was going to feel.

Luke Lamperti, the 18-year-old criterium national title from Sebastopol, Calif., Took second place with Cory Williams in third.

“We knew the bonuses would bring the field back,” said Justin Williams. “Our strategy was just to let the race go. “

While the first event featured squads based on men’s places, the women’s race consisted of regular commercial teams.

Ray, 22, the former ballet dancer who completed her sophomore year with Rally Cycling, sprinted to a big win over Kendall Ryan (Los Angeles L39ion), the reigning US National Criterium Champion and Amy Pieters (SD Worx), the current Dutch national road. champion.

“For the most part the team has been there for me the whole race,” said Ray, New Zealand’s national road titlist. “When I called them to help me, they were there.”

After a series of community events and amateur races, the women’s race started with 18 teams and it quickly progressed as a wear race. The peloton quickly split into three groups, completing each lap in around 2.5 minutes.

After the second and third groups were whistled off the course, only 27 women – less than half the field – remained for the remaining 20 laps.

Newly married Coryn Labecki (née Rivera), multiple road race and criterium winner in Sacramento, sprinted for the penultimate lap but finished second and shook his head in disappointment. Without a teammate in the race, Labecki (Team DSM) did not recover and did not appear on the podium.

“I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t in position for a (prime) sprint,” said Ray. “If I had been there, I would have been there. But victory is what we wanted and we got it.

Rally female coach Joanne Kiseanowski knew the sprint was in Ray’s favor.

“She has a really good long sprint,” said Kiseanowski. “When I looked at her and Kendall [Ryan] were side-by-side drag races. He looked closer than he was. I kept saying, ‘Don’t post too early.’ She’s just really, really powerful and the other four were selfless girls.

The $ 100,000 purse was evenly split between men’s and women’s races.

The race paid ten deep, with the winner of each race taking home $ 15,000.

Plus, each race $ 10,000 in cash bonuses. The ten-lap bonus to go was $ 4,000 – more than the reward for many races for winning it all.

On the women’s side, L39ion’s Skylar Schneider and Rally’s Heidi Franz scored a $ 1,000 bonus like Labecki. Danielle Morshead of LA Sweat took home the $ 4000 bonus with 10 laps to go. (VeloNews still trying to figure out who won the final bounty for $ 3,000.)

In the men’s race, where some runners ran under the affiliation of a city or region instead of a commercial team, the first two bonuses went to the Austin Outlaws, Brody McDonald and Eli Husted scoring $ 1,000 each. Then Lamperti took $ 1,000 before Clever Martinez (Miami Blazers) won the $ 4,000 bounty, and Tim McBirney took the last $ 3,000 bounty one lap from the finish.

Into The Lion’s Den marked the return of professional cycling to the state capital after an absence of almost 2.5 years. He also continued the sport’s professional presence in Sacramento dating back approximately 40 years.

Sacramento has been included on several occasions in the Coors International Bicycle Classic (1980-1988), Greg LeMond’s “hometown” event.

The California Lottery Classic was also held on a partially paved loop in Old Sacramento for a few years starting in 1989.

Peter Sagan won the 2019 Tour of California open road stage that started and ended in Sacramento. The women raced at nearby Elk Grove in the 2018 Tour of California, but they last competed in Sacramento in 2017 when Lebecki, then Rivera, won Stage 3 in the capital.

Results Women

Results Men