Speed Week will feature seven criterium races over 10 days in the southern United States. There will also be a $15,000 bonus prize for the overall winner of Speed Week, awarded to the top five men, top five women, and top five men's and women's teams.

The prize money is comparable to the American Criterium Cup, a national series that began at the Sunny King Criterium, but features a more condensed calendar and region. Organizers describe the race as "a southern twist on the traditional tailgate.

Live streaming will be available for free on the series' website beginning with Friday night's season opener in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Commentary will be provided by Chad Andrews and Georgina Ruiz Sandoval, and the fourth stop on the 2022 Speed Week Tour will be the Soul City Criterium on April 26 in downtown Augusta.

"One of our favorites is the Walterboro on Wednesday [April 27]. It has a population of only 6,000 people, but they offer prize money and hold it every year. It's great," event organizer Gene Dixon, who has been involved in criterium events for 40 years, told Cycling News. His signature event is the Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight Criterium, founded in 1980.

"Augusta is new this year. Augusta is new this year. There's a brewery in the middle of downtown and a fountain on the other side. So it's fun. But it's all fun."

The main event this week is the Athens Twilight Criterium on April 30. Along with the Spartanburg Criterium, these two races offer the highest prize money of $15,000 each. New to Speed Week is an "on-the-stage" race on Friday night in downtown Athens.

"It's a head-to-head race using computers, something we did in the 2000s. Back then, there were eight people. Now it's a little more flexible and you could probably run 20 people at a time. The top finishers in each heat would go to the finals. So the last of the night is the final, and you're given a starting position for Saturday," Dixon explained of the virtual race version of Friday Night Lights.

The Augusta, Athens, Spartanburg, and Walterboro crits have a standard four-corner setup, while the other crits offer a short course variation.

Speedweek winners will be announced at the conclusion of the College Park race on May 1. Points earned in all eight races will be tallied to calculate the finishing points for the three intermediate sprints (top five finishers only), the pro men and pro women. In addition, the GC winners of the two-race spin-the-district for the pro men and pro women will be awarded.

The L39ION of Los Angeles girls are expected to be in full force at Speedweek with Skylar, her sister Samantha Schneider, who won the Athens Twilight in 2018, Kendall Ryan and her sister Alexis, and Julin Aguilar. They will face stiff competition to start the series against the CWA Racing p/b Goldman Sachs ETFs, Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY24, and others. [Skyler Schneider, winner of the 2021 Athens Twilight and current leader of the American Criterium Cup, told Cycling News. 'Athens has always been iconic and one of the races I look forward to throughout the year.'

The L39ON men fielded a full field of eight for the five-day stage race, and after two days of racing, Freddy Ovett is in first place in the men's GC standings.

With all eight races taking place in nearby Georgia and South Carolina, Southern-based Ty Magner and Ian Garrison will represent L39ION in all men's events, along with Sean McElroy and other teammates who will participate later in the series. Magner, who finished third in the Sunny King Criterium, will be looking for his first win in his hometown of Athens, and has competed four times, finishing second twice and has never placed higher than fifth.

"I will race during the entire Speedweeks. Athens is always my goal. It's exciting to add new friends and bring the fun of the sport to the U.S."

Other men's teams that will be giving L39ON a run for its money in this series include Best Buddies Racing, which has 22 podium finishes in just two months, ButcherBox Cycling, Nashville Local Wolfpack, and Texas Roadhouse Cycling, among others.

Online registration for the Augusta and Walterboro races closes on April 25 at 10:00 EST, while the Athens and College Park events close on April 27 at 10:00 EST.