What is a Criterium?

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I know there are a lot of people out there that cycle everyday that maybe don’t race or are interested in racing but aren’t sure where to start.  Cycling has a lot of terms that aren’t found in common conversation and were never on any vocaulary test I had in school.

So in this post I’m going to explain what a criterium, often refered to as a “crit” is, and some of the other terms that you might here at such a race.

So what is a Criterium?

A criterim is a bicycle race that is held a short course.  The courses are typically less than 2 miles, sometimes a bit longer.  The races are often held on closed off city streets just like the Sedalia Historic District Criterium.

How far do you ride?

This is a common question that is just a bit miss guided.  See, criteriums are not set to a specific distance or number of laps.

In a criterium you race for a specific amount of time plus a set number of laps.  A typical Men’s Category 5 would be something like 30 minutes plus 5 laps.  That means that when the race starts the clock will start counting down.  When the clock hits zero the time board then starts counting laps.

So in our example, at the end of 30 minutes, the officials would change the time board to read 5 and they would announce to the riders as they go by that they have 5 laps remaining.  Then the next time by the board would read 4, then 3, and so on.  When the lap count gets to one lap to go, the officials will ring a bell as the riders come by.  This is the signal that it is the last lap.  Who ever crosses the finish line first the next time by, wins.

So how come you just don’t ride around slow until the lap count starts?

This is another common question I here.  Well, for starters, it wouldn’t be much fun.  The real reason you race hard the entire time though is that if you get lapped by the main field, the officials can pull you off the course and you don’t finish.  There can also be a lot of strategy involved.

In a Category 5 race there is usually little to no strategy but in a Category 1 race with experienced riders there will be people working together to get a breakaway and then there will be groups trying to catch the breakaway.  Its really somethinig to watch.

How fast do I have to be to win a Category 5 criterium race?

That’s really hard to say.  Criterium racing is not all about speed.  To be successful at a criterium race you have pretty good endurance but you also have to use your head. Not to mention that it will depend on the day, the weather, the course, etc.

There are a lot of quick accelerations and then the group will slow then they will accellerate again and slow back down.  If you get out front you will also have to work harder because you will be breaking the wind for everyone behind you.  If you are all the way in the back you will have to slow down a lot more than the leaders in every corner and then you will have to sprint to stay with the riders ahead of you. This is usually called the accordion effect.

Generally speaking the best place to be is in about 3rd to 10th position until the last few laps.  The idea is to stay with the leaders until the last straight to the finish and try to out sprint them.  Of course if you are a lot faster than the leaders you can try to breakout on your own and make them try to catch you.  It usually doesn’t work though.

What is a prime?

(pronounced like preem with a long e sound)

Well a prime is a lap prize.  During a criterium, to make things more exciting, there will be prizes award on random laps.  These prizes are usually cash like $20.00 or somethimes they are product prizes.

When the officials decided to give out a prime they will ring the bell and anounce to the riders that it is a prime lap.  Then the person that crosses the line first the next time by gets that prime.

This can create some really good racing.  Lots of sprinting and can really break up the back.  Some riders try to win as many of the primes as they can while others just hang out in the pack trying to save energy for the real finish.

What questions do you, the readers, have?

So nows your chance to ask anything you might want to know about criterium bicycle racing.  I’ll answer all questoins the best I can and I bet some of the other readers will be able to help as well.  Remember the only stupid question is the one you don’t ask.  Just leave your question in the comments.