Saturdays in Athens, Georgia, are crowded each fall with college football, but in the spring, the stage shifts from the hedges and hash marks of the manicured turf stadium to the four asphalt corners and wheel whorls of Clayton Street and College Avenue for the 34th annual Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight Criterium will be held.

USPro Criterium Champion Kendall Ryan (L39UNION of Los Angeles) made a solo attack late in the race to win the women's pro race, while Brian Gomez (Best Buddies Racing Built by HGR Construction) took the Men's Pro title ahead of local favorite Ty Magner (L39UNION of Los Angeles).

The Athens Twilight, the final and premier event of the seven-race Speedweeks series, returned to its spring date on Saturday after a schedule change due to a coronavirus outbreak, drawing an estimated 20,000 spectators to the downtown circuit.

"Athens is definitely the best place to be. The crowd was amazing, literally like fuel," Kendall Ryan told Cycling News after his win.

"The last two corners were so much fun to rewind. It was a very magical night. It was my first win here in Athens and my first win in front of a huge crowd. I'm really proud of the girls for their hard work."

Speed Week, held April 22-May 1 in the southeastern United States, saw the individual and team overall victories on Sunday after the College Park Criterium.

L39ON of Los Angeles won six of the seven races in the women's pro division to claim both the individual and team titles. Kendall Ryan had four wins and two runner-up finishes during the week, including wins on opening night of the two criteriums with the largest prize purse, the Athens and Spartanburg Regional Health System criteriums. Teammate Skylar Schneider had two wins, including the final race, the Spin the District Criterium College Park, and did not finish outside the top 10 all week.

Second in the women's team standings was Virginia's Blue Ridge Twenty-Four, just 17 points ahead of CWA Racing p/b Goldman Sachs ETFs. Virginia's Blue Ridge team finished fifth or better in all seven races, including second places in Augusta and Spartanburg, with Emily Ehrlich finishing third overall.

Best Buddies Racing Built by HGR Construction topped the men's standings in both categories, edging out second-place Blazers and third-place Automatic-ABUS Racing. In the individual standings, Alfredo Rodriquez (Best Buddies Racing) finished fifth in the final race at College Park, ahead of Magner by 14 points. Best Buddies' Bryan Gomez was third overall. Best Buddies won four of the seven week-long criterium races, with Rodriguez winning two and finishing on the podium in the other four.

The top five individuals and teams received a $15,000 bonus prize money split equally between men and women, bringing the total prize money for the seven races to $80,000.

The first 30 laps of the women's contest in Athens featured a sparring match between five competitors from L39ION of Los Angeles and four from Blue Ridge TWENTY24 of Virginia. Each rider attacked back and forth, with new riders challenging for the win. Kendall Ryan flew around the course to catch the group of riders behind him and got away.

From the lead chase group, Alexis Ryan (L39IOn, Los Angeles) stretched out to take second place, with American Olympic gold medalist Jennifer Valente (Blue Ridge TWENTY24, Virginia) in third.

"L39ON was only thinking about winning today. Alexis lives here in Athens and we really wanted Alexis to win. We wanted her to win in her hometown and get the crowd going. Also, Sky (Schneider) won last year, so we wanted to defend that win as well," said Kendall Ryan.

"Our tactic was to isolate the other team, send them fireworks, and work them from the front until they couldn't cover us anymore. Yeah, the timing was just right. We knew they were going to reel us in, but we really ran as hard as we could to make sure that whatever the last move was, if they caught up to us, we would still have a shot at the win."

Entering Athens, Rodriquez had a slight lead over Clever Martinez (Blazers) and Magner in the overall Speedweek men's standings. But on Saturday night, under the lights of the College Town course, the Best Buddies Racing team wrestled with L39LION, which had six riders and brought in several additional riders to support Magner.

Best Buddies' Hernandez pulled away from a group of four early in the 80-lap contested race. A group of 13 cars then pulled ahead to gain a minute's advantage, allowing Best Buddies to catch up to the back of the main group at the front.

With 20 laps to go, Ben Wolf (Best Buddies) pushed the pace and the last remaining L39ion rider, Edel Freire, helped Magner in a group that had narrowed to 12 riders. With one to go, Hernandez sent Gomez into the final corner and a slight climb to the finish. But he could not reach Magner, and Gomez won by half a lap, with Liam White (Butcher Box Cycling) in third and Hernandez in fourth.

"They were dominant against the best criterium racers on the planet. I couldn't be happier. If the season ended today, we would still be able to call it a success with these results."

[11

In his eighth local race, Magner battled hard with his teammates until the last 20 laps, finishing runner-up for the third time and in the top five for the sixth time.

"The L39LA team was perfect, but my legs started to fade in the last two laps. I gave it everything I had. Someday the stars will align, the curse of Athens will be lifted, and we locals will steal Clayton's road construction cones," Magner said on his Instagram page.

"Congrats to longtime friends Thomas Craven and Bryan Gomez on their win. We closed out Speedweek with two wins and I was second overall. The team is on the upswing and I can't wait for the summer of speed."

.