Exciting Breakaway Wins at Edwardsville Rotary Criterium

EDWARDSVILLE - Kyle Perry was a part of a two-man breakaway that let through the majority of the race in going on to win the men's Category 1,2,3 main event, while Abby Krawzcyk of Memphis, Tenn., won the women's Pro/Open main event race at the 14th annual BuseyBank Edwardsville Rotary Criterium bicycle races Saturday afternoon and evening in downtown Edwardsville.

The annual festival, which featured plenty of food, beer, and other activities for families, adults, and children, was another rousing success, and has become a late-summer staple iin the area's calendar, The series of nine races, plus the annual kids races, often dubbed as "The Greatest Race In The World," were all very competitive and kept fans on their toes throughout.

"It's going great," said race director Brian Mulhall. "We're still here, the event's going great. We've got racers here from at least nine states, about 200 racers, which is great. Some people do two races, but it's a fund-raiser for Rotary, and it turns into a great spectator event to see these athletes, and then, it turns into a kids-family events, and then, a great festival for adults in the Entertainment Zone to wrap up the night. So, it's a great day."

It was made even more special by the upcoming Centennial celebration of the Edwardsville Rotary Club next spring, as the club turns 100.

"Thanks for mentioning that, really," a very proud Mulhall said. "We celebrate our 100th anniversary in April of 2025, and I think all of our predecessors, I think they'd be proud of us, I really do. I think back to the Rotary Club in the 1940s, and they're going 'You guys are doing what?' So, it's a great honor to be in the position to be part of this club when it passes 100 years, and the Criterium's going to grow, and we're going to keep evolving it."

One of the major innovations for this year's event was the addition of a live video board, where fans in the Entertainment Zone, which had a food truck from local merchants, as well as live music, and other entertainment, could keep up with the progress of the races, featuring two different camera angles, one that concentrate on the final turn heading for home, and on the start-finish line as well. There are plans to expand the angles for next year.

The annual fund-raiser for the club is an event that Mulhall's very proud of, but gave credit to the volunteers that helped pull off the event.

"Well, I'm proud of our volunteers," Mulhall said. "I'm just one person, I tend to pull a lot of strings and organize a lot of things, but come race day, I'm nothing about execution. That's all the volunteers. There are 150 here today, and I'm proud of the City of Edwardsville, the administration, the police, and the public works department. It's a really critical thing to have cooperation with the city in an event like this."

Mulhall sees the future of the Criterium as positive and bright, and will continue to evolve to improve the event and make it more attractive to both racers and fans alike. And his vision is very optimistic, indeed.

"We're going to keep evolving. Like, this year, we put in the light board, by the stage," Mulhall said. "And next year, we'll probably have more camera angles, so you'll be able to stand there, In the Entertainment Zone, and watch the racing some of the time, while you're here. We like people along the rail. We will continue to hopefully grow the event.

"And our Criterium racing, I will have to admit, nationally, is a bit challenged right now. There seems to be more growing interest in what's called gravel racing, and we have to figure out, as an organization, how do you continue to put on an event that racers want to come to that's safe, it has a $10,000 purse payout, and we're going to figure it out. We'' just always evolve through this, and make it better and better every year."

Krasnoyarsk won the women's main event, presented by The Gori Law Firm, in a three-person breakaway where she took the win over Olivia Wilson, who finished second, and Ashley Weaver who came in third. Perry was a part of a two-man breakaway in the men's main event, presented by Anderson Hospital, with Reign Storm Racing teammate Tim Smith, holding off Smith in the end to take the win, with Brando Feehery a very distant third.

In the other races that led up to the double main event, Jean-Michael Grange of Knoxville, Tenn., won the boys junior 9-12 race, while Oliver Fagan of Indianapolis, was he boys 13-14 winner, Grady Hagedorn of Edwardsville won the winner in the boys 15-16 division, and Germantown's Matthew McDonald won the 17-18 race. In the girls junior races, Clair Rose of Edwardsville took the honors in the 10-13 age group, while Norah Williams of Waterloo won the 13-14 division, and Edwardsville's Emily Hagedorn won the 17-18 age group.

The women's category 4/novice race was won by Sarah Banks of Westfield, Ind., while Quinton Ozier of Mattoon won the men's novice division. The women's Masters 45-54 race was won by Brianne Guilford of Edwardsville, with Alex Wiggins of Little Rock, Ark., taking the women's Category 3-4 race. Robert Zobrist of Highland was the winner of the men's Category 4/Novice race, while the men's 55-and-over Masters race was won by Chris Harre, and Michael Lanyon of Chicago was the winner of the men's Masters 35-44 division. The men's 45-54 Masters winner was Ryan White of Whitefish Bay, Wisc., and Colton Ihrie of Kendalville, Ind., was the winner of the men's Category 3-4 race that headed into the double main events.

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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