Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing Brings Talent, Purpose, and Big Goals to the Sunny King Criterium

When the women’s field lines up in downtown Anniston for this year’s Sunny King Criterium, one of the teams worth keeping an eye on is Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing.

Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing is a new women’s team for the 2026 season, but there is already a lot to like about what they are building. Between the talent on the roster, the experience in leadership, and the bigger mission behind the team, this is not a group that feels like just another new name in the field.

CC Insight got a chance to catch up with Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing co-owners Kendall Ryan and Laurel Rathbun to learn more about the team, the roster, and what they are building in women’s cycling.

The team launched for 2026 as Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing, with Caldera Medical stepping in as a co-title sponsor. The company focuses on improving quality of life for women through innovative surgical solutions for issues including stress urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, polyps, and fibroids. For Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing, that partnership fits directly with the identity they want the team to carry.

Ryan and Rathbun said the vision from the start was bigger than simply putting a fast team on the road. They want to set the gold standard for how a professional women’s cycling team can be run while also creating something that helps support female cyclists and grow the sport.

As they put it, they are on a mission to support female cyclists and grow the sport while “illuminating women.”

That kind of purpose gives the team a different feel right out of the gate. This is a team that wants to compete, but it is also a team that wants to build something lasting.

That same mindset shows up in the way Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing is being put together. Ryan and Rathbun are not just owners behind the scenes. They are also active riders on the team, which means they are balancing leadership, logistics, communication, and competition all at once.

They said the transition into co-ownership has been something new for both of them, but also something that has been motivating. It has pushed them to lean on time management, communication, and leadership while drawing from everything they have learned through years in the sport.

That experience is shaping how they want this program to grow.

Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing is focused on criterium racing right now, but the long-term vision reaches far beyond this season. Ryan and Rathbun said they want riders with big dreams, big goals, and big aspirations, especially riders working toward the Olympics and building momentum toward LA28 and beyond.

Whether those goals are on the road or on the track, they want Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing to be a place that gives riders stability while they chase them.

That bigger mission makes the roster even more interesting.

On paper, there is already a lot of talent here. But when Ryan and Rathbun talked about this first group of riders, what stood out most was how personal it all felt. They said these are not just talented athletes. These are their friends, women they believe in, and women who bought into the vision before everything was fully in place.

They said what many people may not realize is that none of this was guaranteed. Even late into 2025, things were still coming together. Partnerships were still being built. Details were still being worked out. But the people involved believed in the vision enough to keep building anyway.

One of the strongest things they said about this first roster was this: “This is less of a team that was assembled and more of a team that built itself together.”

That says a lot about what Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing is trying to be.

It also makes the Sunny King Criterium a pretty fitting place for a team like this to show up.

The Sunny King Criterium has built a reputation as one of the standout criteriums on the calendar. It is fast, aggressive, and dynamic, and that style of racing is exactly what this team wants to lean into. Ryan and Rathbun said it is one of their favorite events on the calendar and a natural fit for the way their group likes to race.

This weekend will also give Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing a chance to start this first chapter with a full six-rider roster. That alone is a solid statement for a team in its first season. On top of that, two of those riders, Kendall Ryan and Yarely Salazar, are previous winners of the Sunny King Criterium, which gives the team experience that could matter in a big way once the pace picks up.

The course has changed this year, which adds another layer to it, but that seems to be part of the excitement for them. They are looking forward to figuring out the new course, finding the sweet spots, and seeing how the race takes shape.

For fans in Anniston, there is also something cool about catching a team at this stage. Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing is not pretending to be a finished product. It is still being built in real time.

Ryan and Rathbun said fans at the Sunny King Criterium will see them racing in clean white Assos training kits that were heat-pressed for this event, with custom red race kits expected to roll out in the next race block. They also shared that several jersey variations have been in the works because of the unique accomplishments across the roster, including national champion details for multiple riders.

In other words, this is a team still coming together, still growing, and still building momentum, but the foundation is already there.

The talent is there. The ambition is there. The mission is there.

And when Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing rolls into downtown Anniston for the Sunny King Criterium, they will not just be showing up to fill a spot in the field. They will be showing up to make an impression.

Ryan and Rathbun put it simply. They want to start this team off the right way, “as the golden girls, as Crit Queens.”

That alone should give local fans a reason to pay attention.

If you are looking for one of the most interesting women’s teams to watch at this year’s Sunny King Criterium, Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing is a pretty good place to start.