New on the crit calendar is the Geneva Classic Crit held on the 17 and 18 ofJune. The Geneva Classic Crit is a collaboration between La Classique Genevoise and the Service Course of Sportunit. La Classique Genevoise is a Swiss association specialising in road races. They organise the La Classique Genevoise (400 riders participate each year) and also organised the Swiss National Road Race Championships in 2013. Sportunite is well known for being the organisers of the National Moutarde Crit and the Tours’us Crit. The Geneva Classic Crit is spread out over 2 days. On Saturday the crit will be held with an A, B and women’s race followed by a Madison crit on Sunday. We spoke with Maxime Poisson from Sportunit on how the Geneva crit came about and what we can expect for the first edition. Registration is open until 1 week prior to the crit!
Where does the idea come from to organise a crit in Geneva?
This year we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of La Classique Genevoise. The main staff (Fred Gerber, Serge Lander, Richard Chalverat, Alban Mao) came to see the Tourn’us Crit 2016 (this year on the calendar for July 1) and we met in Milano for the Red Hook Crit. After that they were convinced to organise a fixed gear criterium in Geneva for 2017 during the same weekend of the traditional race.
“So we worked about a circuit in the center of Geneva but then we had to be realistic and don’t make it too complicated for the first edition. So we ended up with a circuit in Satigny which is 10km from Geneva and also where the road bike race is organised. I must say the result is a very special circuit, 1.48km with one uphill part and one downhill part, some technical parts and a very fast part too. I think that will be very fun to race it!”
For 30 CHF (€30), the registration includes the participation of the 2 races, the starter kit, a bed in dorms for each rider, the Saturday’s dinner and the Sunday’s lunch. Registration is possible until a week before the crit and can be done here. Velosophe cyclist beer and UGD (Swiss dycling distributor for Boardman BIkes) are the main sponsors and a Boardman track frame is the main prize for the winners in both the men’s and women’s field!
