The Richmond Criterium passes over many of the same roads featured in the 2015 UCI World Championship road race won by Slovakia's Peter Sagan.
Riders will do four laps of a circuit that begins in downtown Richmond.
The length of the circuit is 16.5 km (10.1 mi) and has a total elevation of 103 meters (338 feet).
The circuit heads west from Downtown Richmond, working their way onto Monument Avenue, a p...
Read moreThe Richmond Criterium passes over many of the same roads featured in the 2015 UCI World Championship road race won by Slovakia's Peter Sagan.
Riders will do four laps of a circuit that begins in downtown Richmond.
The length of the circuit is 16.5 km (10.1 mi) and has a total elevation of 103 meters (338 feet).
The circuit heads west from Downtown Richmond, working their way onto Monument Avenue, a paver-lined, historic boulevard that's been named one of the "10 Great Streets in America" (but which also features monuments to traitorous Confederate generals). Cyclists will take a 180-degree turn at the monument to traitor Jefferson Davis and then maneuver through the Uptown district and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Halfway through the circuit, the race heads down into Shockoe Bottom before following the canal and passing Great Shiplock Park, the start of the Virginia Capital Trail.
A sharp, off-camber turn at Rockets Landing brings the riders to the narrow, twisty, cobbled 200-meter (660-foot) climb up to Libby Hill Park in the historic Church Hill neighborhood. A quick descent, followed by three hard turns leads to a 100-meter (330-foot) climb up 23rd Street.
Once atop this steep cobbled hill, riders descend into Shockoe Bottom. This leads them to the final 300-meter (980-foot) climb on Governor Street. At the top, the teams have to take a sharp left turn onto the false-flat finishing straight, 680 meters (2,230 feet) to the finish.
The finishing hills make the race an opportunity for an all-rounder to slip away and steal the day. The sprinters will be leaning hard on their teams to keep the race together to allow them a chance at glory.
