Ontario crit championships and Tour di Via Italia this weekend

On Saturday August 30, the Ciociaro Cycling Club, based in Windsor, Ont., will host the Ontario Criterium Championships. There will be 15 categories racing this weekend at beginning at noon, with the final race beginning at 6pm with the Elite and U23 men set race in the twilight of the evening. They will race for 90-minutes plus three laps on the 1.3-km course 6-corner course. Each lap there will be approximately eight verticle metres of climbing. For Ontario’s best criterium racers this will be a selective course which should elicit aggressive, tactical yet unpredictable racing. Complete information can be found at Ciociaro’s tech guide.

On Sunday will be the Tour di Via Italia, Windsor’s most famous race after 56 years running. In the past it has attracted many top racers from both Canada and the U.S. This year’s event is run in conjunction with the Ontario Criterium Championships. It will be a great venue as always as many racers from Michigan area will be in attendance. The course will be the same as last year, a wide sweeping, four-corner, predominantly flat course. In the past, the race’s have been extremely fast and break-aways have rarely survived. Complete information and tech guide is available at the Tour di Via Italia.