Olivia Ray (Rally Cycling) has revealed that she has not received her prize money after winning the elite women's race at the inaugural Into the Lions Den Criterium in Sacramento on October 30.

In an email to Cycling News and a post on Twitter, the New Zealand criterium national champion said she is "still waiting" for her official $15,000 first prize check.

"Seems odd after all the hype about the prize list being known and the $100,000 being split evenly. It's a little questionable that we haven't heard anything since the race and haven't received a check," Ray told Cycling News.

"We have not been promised a specific time frame for receiving the cash, but there has been no outreach from the organizers or the Legion (City of Los Angeles) on the matter either.

Cycling News understands that other riders are also waiting to receive their prize money from the event promoter.

The first Into the Lions Den Criterium was billed as one of the richest criteriums in US history, with a prize purse of $100,000.

Organizers offered $40,000 for a 70-minute race for both the men's and women's professional fields. Prize money was paid equally to first through tenth place, with the winner of each field winning $15,000.

The prize money also included in-race primes totaling $10,000, with $5,000 split equally between the men's and women's races. Each competition offered five in-race primes ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.

Cycling News contacted a management member of L39ON's team. They said, "Payments to riders will be made this week."

Rey won the women's race ahead of American criterium champions Kendall Ryan (L39LION of Los Angeles) and Amy Peters (Team SD Worx). Justin Williams (L39ON of Los Angeles) won the men's race ahead of Luke Lamperti (Trinity Racing) and Corey Williams (L39ON of Los Angeles).

Ray confirmed to Cycling News that neither she nor the management of Rally Cycling had received any payment, and that she had expected to receive such a payment, usually within a week of the criterium.

Rally Cycling team management contacted the organizers of the Into the Lions Den Criterium and requested a schedule for payment, but did not receive a response as to when the check would be received.

Ray issued a new statement on Twitter after this article was published on Wednesday.

"I recently made unforgivable and disrespectful comments online about the Into the Lion's Den payment. My lack of judgment and my choice to speak out for no good reason has put me on the spot," Ray wrote.

"I am deeply, deeply sorry for not only damaging the name of the @in2thelionsden event, but for antagonizing @l39ionla, the team I respect the most.

"They put on a truly spectacular event. It was selfish of me to disrespect it and make immature remarks. I demonstrated a serious lack of responsibility for myself and what I stand for. This really woke me up to how I should act in the future