I made this claim last year, and I’ll make it again: Sunday’s Chicago Criterium is the finest criterium course in the Midwest and perhaps the entire United States.

The money will be huge, the crowds will be enormous and some of the biggest names in domestic racing will be putting on the greatest show on two wheels Sunday. This race was a hit in its 2008 debut, and with the 2009 edition making the National Racing Calendar, the P/1/2 field should be even stronger

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especially with Euro Chris Horner (Astana) and possibly Mike Friedman (Garmin-Slipstream) making appearances.

And lucky us, we amateurs get to race, too.

The course is great. Most of the turns are wide and smooth. Turn 2, a downhill left onto Michigan Avenue, requires concentration, although it proved not much of a problem last year. Keep your inside pedal up as you lean. Do not use this turn to advance positions. Find a wheel you trust and stay there. Bomb the inside and you will get pinched and yelled at. Advance on the outside and you will quickly run out of real estate and run up into street furniture.

Cat 3 and below should expect a lot of accordion effect at this corner.  The first 10 riders will go through at speed, but after that it will bunch up and nervous riders

— guilty as charged —

will brake to scrub some speed. This will open the slightest of gaps and require huge accelerations once onto Michigan.

Here’s handlebar video from first first and last laps of last year’s Cat 3 race.

Consult the race bible for a list of the cash primes available, including $1,000 for the half-race leader in the P/1/2’s.

Conventional wisdom is that the future of the Chicago Criterium hinges on the Olympic bid. If Chicago is unsuccessful, this could very well be the last time we see bicycle racing on Michigan avenue. Don’t squander the opportunity: Ride well, but also make time to watch an entire day of great racing.