The American Velodrome Challenge (AVC) will be held at the Hellyer Velodrome in San Jose, CA on June 26 and 27. The event will feature sprint and endurance racing including Montano Velo Keirin, Concept Cyclery Women’s Points Race and Peckham Memorial Points Race as well as SportVelo Miss-n-Out, Scratch, Madison and Sprint events. Racers will compete for nearly $15,000 in cash prizes.
In the endurance women’s events, Shelley Olds (Proman) will be back to defend her Concept Cyclery Points Race and Testarossa Scratch Race titles. “Pocket Rocket” Shelley Olds says, “The AVC is one of the highlights of my season every year. It combines highly contested racing with a great atmosphere for spectating. It’s fantastic to have a race of this caliber at my local track.” With $1,000 going to the winner of the Concept Cyclery Women’s Points Race, the race is guaranteed to be rocket fast. The women’s sprint events will see Jen Featheringill (Bike Central) defend her Keirin and Sprint titles against USA elite national champion Cari Higgins (Proman) and Cristin Walker, the USA U23 National Sprint Champion.
The Peckham Memorial Points Race will see the 2008 winner Kenny Williams (First Rate Mortgage) defend against the 2007 winner Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (Bissell). Also chasing after the $1,000 that goes to the winner of the Peckham Memorial Points Race will be Jason Allen (Subway – Avanti), a track World Cup Gold medalist, Daniel Holloway (Holowesko-Garmin), US Elite Champion and World Cup bronze medalist, and New Zealand’s Hayden Godfrey (Subway – Avanti), the 2008 Omnium World Champion. Godfrey says, “I have heard great things about the American Velodrome Challenge and I’m looking forward to compete in this year’s event”. Other nations represented at AVC include: Canada, Slovakia and Germany.
Gio Rey (Montano Velo) will be back to win after being pipped at the line in the 2008 Montano Velo Elite Men’s Keirin. Expect Jimmy Watkins (Empower Coaching), current USA Sprint and Keirin champion, and his Team Sprint teammate Kelyn Akuna to make the race fast.
Rick Adams, co-promoter of the AVC said, “I am proud of the local business support to bring high level racing to Hellyer.” Bruce Hollibaugh, Concept Cyclery’s owner said, “Sponsoring the AVC helps our community prosper and sponsoring the Women’s Points Race aligns with our many successful women customers.”
Racing will be on Friday (June 26) from 7pm – 10:30pm and Saturday (June 27) from 6pm – 10pm.
