Whether you've never pinned on a number or you're already deep in the pack, here's what Alec Briggs and Tekkerz CC want you to know.
Criterium racing. Tight circuits, fast laps, a peloton that moves like one unpredictable animal. It's one of the most exciting things you can do on a bike – and can also be one of the most terrifying if you don't know what's coming.
We went to Alec Briggs, founder of London-based Tekkerz CC, and asked him to hand over the playbook. Tekkerz are one of the most exciting grassroots teams in the country – riders who race everything from city crits to ultras, and who've been collecting podiums and national titles since day one. If anyone knows how to navigate a crit, it's them.
Here's what they came back with.
Corner speed matters just as much as straight line power. Having all the watts is great but balance it with good corner speed and you’ll be a well rounded crit racer.
Keep your grip loose. A death grip on the bars is one of the most common mistakes in a crit. Tension travels up your arms and makes you rigid through corners – the opposite of what you want. Relax your hands, let the bike move under you.
Look further than you think you need to. Your eyes should be fixed as far around the corner as you can see, not directly in front of your wheel. Where you look is where you go. Train yourself to look ahead and your lines will clean up immediately.
Outside foot down, heel dropped. In a corner, your outside pedal goes to the six o'clock position and you drop your heel. This lowers your centre of gravity and plants the bike into the road. It's the kind of thing that feels foreign the first time and instinctive after that.
Go in wide, come out fast. Enter the corner from as wide a line as possible. It gives you more road to work with, carries more speed through the apex, and sets you up to accelerate out. The goal isn't to go fast into a corner – it's to come out of it fast. Brake before the corner, not in it. Once you're leaning, you're committed.
Want to practice at home? Get a limbo pole and practice cornering underneath it. It forces you to get low through the corner and teaches you the body position without the pressure of a race. Sounds unconventional. Works.
Sort your setup before you show up.
Set your tyre pressure properly. Check what your manufacturer recommends for your tyre width. Running too high or too low can cost you grip exactly when you need it most. It takes two minutes and it matters.
See the race clearly. Crits often start in fading evening light and finish in the dark – or they run through patches of shade and open sun in quick succession. A photochromic lens handles all of it without you thinking twice, adapting automatically as the light changes so you're never caught squinting into the sun on a straight or struggling to pick out road surface in the shadows. If you're racing in low light or at night, clear lenses are the call.
Race positioning is a skill in itself. Crit racing isn't just about fitness. Where you sit in the bunch is as important as how strong your legs are.
The front is easier than the back. This sounds backwards, but the back of a crit is where chaos lives. Every ripple in the peloton is amplified by the time it reaches the rear. Up front, you control your own destiny. Work to stay there.
Hold your position in the top 8 wheels, minimum. If you find yourself drifting back, make it your job to get back up. The energy cost of chasing gaps at the back is far higher than the effort of staying near the front.
The first 20 minutes are supposed to hurt. If your first crit feels like you're being shot out of a cannon, that's normal. Races almost always go hard at the start as everyone fights for position and the pace is nervous. The key is to just hang on. Don't panic, don't blow up trying to respond to every surge. Ride your own rhythm, stay in contact and wait – because it will settle down.
Once it does, you'll feel the race open up.
The golden rule.
If in doubt, go flat out.
Hesitation in a crit is where most crashes and lost positions come from. Commit to your lines. Commit to your moves. Commit to the wheel you're following.
Crit racing rewards decisiveness. The more you race, the more that instinct develops – but you can start building it from your very first lap.
Tekkerz CC are based in London and race everything from weekly city crits to national-level events. Follow their journey at @tekkerzcc and shop the pairs they’re wearing below.
