Downtown Athens was filled with excitement this past weekend. The Criterium Twilight is an annual event with cyclists from around the world competing. It’s a fun, festive atmosphere with thousands of spectators.
BMX Stunt Show
We were there on Friday night when things were a little calmer. We’ve never seen the BMX stunts and it was pretty spectacular!
FOOD TRUCKS, including the First Chick-Fil-A Food Truck!
Athens Twilight 5K
On Saturday morning, there was a 5k and a fun run with hundreds of runners enrolled for the event. There were kids bike races and amateur races on Saturday.
Saturday night had over 500 pro cyclists and tens of thousands of spectators!
The AOC Twilight Criterium has been dubbed the most insane criterium in the world and this year will serve as the opening race of the 2018 USA CRITS Championship Series.
Photo Gallery from onlineathens.com
The Athens Twilight Criterium is the biggest nighttime criterium in the nation, said Frankie Andreu, a retired professional American cyclist and commentator for the event’s live stream. The women’s 40K race started at 7:15 p.m. and the men competed immediately afterward at 8:30 p.m. in an 80K race.
Andreu estimated around 25,000 came out to watch the races as well as enjoy the food, music and copious amounts of Terrapin Beer.
The course for all the races started at the intersection of College Avenue and Clayton Street where a couple of announcers kept the audience engaged in the racing.
“It’s got such a long tradition, such a long history,” Andreu said. “It is prime time for criterium racing.”
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