Red Hook Crit: ‘F1 for bikes’, where riders have no brakes, coming to London in July

A race billed as “F1 for bikes”, which features as many as 150 riders a time and is known for high-speed crashes, will take place in London for the first time in July.

The Red Hook Criterium, which started life in Brooklyn in 2008, will take place on Saturday July 11 at the Greenwich Peninsula. The Crit is internationally known as a punishing, intense circuit race which is deliberately set up to challenge riders: race tracks are a calamity of hairpins and chicanes, with sections engineered deliberately for overtaking and undertaking. Organisers say they want each race to have a “sense of excitement and jeopardy”.

Riders of any standard can enter, meaning plucky commuters will battle it out with professionals in the gruelling race. The only bikes allowed are fixed-gear track racers, meaning competitors will not be able to free-wheel at any point and must peddle through each corner. Crucially, it also means riders do not have brakes.

Men and women compete separately. Men race for 30km over 24 laps, while women complete 18 laps, or 22.5km. Every rider is timed and ranked: in another similarity to Formula 1, races through the day begin with a starting grid. Any lapped rider will be eliminated.

Though it is the first time a Crit race has taken place in Britain, they are popular across the world with rides taking place Milan, Barcelona, Brooklyn and New York. Spectators can watch the London race for free.

For more information and to enter the race, visit the RedHookCrit.com

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