Best Sports Event for Spectators - Stillwater Criterium - 2013 Best of MN

This punishing circuit sends pro male cyclists pedaling up the steepest hill in Stillwater some 20 times (13 times for pro women). The Stillwater Criterium is the culmination of the Nature Valley Grand Prix, a five-day stage race, like a mini Tour de France set to Minnesota's flatlands. Yet this circuit manages to feel somewhat like the Tour's grueling alpine stages, with rowdy spectators sidestepping their way up the sharp hillside to cheer those crazy riders as their thighs burn. July 16. naturevalleybicyclefestival.com