Superweek wrap-up VIII

Posted by Seth Meyer

In France, July would not be July without the Tour. In the midwestern United States, the same goes for the International Cycling Classic (ICC), better known as Superweek, which ended in Whitefish Bay Sunday after 17 consecutive days of racing.

Despite a late surge by Kayle Leogrande (Rock Racing) in the P/1/2 field, including taking the highest total of three stage wins in the series, it was not enough to come back on the consistent Kahala-LaGrange team, which may have seen Australian Jonathan Cantwell bumped down to third, but Mexico's Marco Rios held on for overall victory. Christian Grasmann of Team Sparkasse took the red sprinter's jersey with a commanding lead over Andrew Crater (Wheel & Sprocket). Highlights from area P/1/2 riders include Josh Carter's (ABD) top 30 placing overall and stage win in Bensenville, as well as John Meyers' (Turin) finish in the winning breakaway at the Evanston Northwestern Hospital Grand Prix.

Chicago suffered a great loss in the Cat 3 field with Ed Amstutz (XXX Racing) taking a fall in the Kenosha race Friday and breaking his collarbone. This led to his slipping down to the third in the overall standings, but he retained a podium placing in the general classification. Craig Streit (Procon) of Phoenix, AZ ran away with the series in the last three days, as other out-of-state riders in the subsequent ranks had already headed home in addition to Amstutz. Next top local result was Eric Wiecek's (Team Get A Grip Cycles) late rocketing up the standings to net 6th.

Area riders were all over the Cat 4/5 men's standings. Tomasz Boba (WDT / LOT) landed second in the overall, seeing him and winner Nathan Longley (Beans & Barley) finish more than 100 points ahead of third. Longley, upon clinching the 4/5's overall, proceeded to upgrade and get 2nd in his first 3's race. It's the third year in a row that the 4/5 champ upgraded during Superweek, following Casey Masterson (Velo Trocadero) in 2005 and Brandon Krawczyk (Mach Schnell/JDRF) in 2006. (Krawczyk did Longley one better by winning as both a 3 and a 4 in the same Superweek.) Back to the 4/5 overall, Joel Crouch (ABD) and Pieter Ombregt (XXX Racing) out of Chicago were 4th and 6th, respectively.

On the women's side, the Cat 3/4 series wrapped up in Whitefish Bay as well Sunday. Kristen Mershberg (Flatlandia Cycling) out of Lyons, Ill., took the final stage in addition to the overall.

Women's Pro/1/2 racing had finished one week before, but, to jog your memory, it was Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) who took Superweek with a commanding lead and Debbie Dust (Team Kenda Tire) delivering Chicago's top result in 20th. Benjamin's teammate Sara Uhl took the sprint classification.

Finally, the men's 40+ category also closed out over the weekend, seeing Nova IS Corp's dominance take center-stage again. Chris Halverson won the overall comfortably while the team took the last two stages as well. Previously, Mike Heagney (PYOC) from Libertyville, Ill., won a tight overall race for the 30+ men.

That does it for this year's Superweek. Please feel free to email the Guest Editor with any photos from the races you may come across, as he's a bit more challenged in the photo-finding realm as compared to the Regular Guy.

Final Superweek results.

Chase Food Folks & Spokes race reports:
Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing; P/1/2): "Again, we did all we could to get Kayle maximum points to get closer to the lead. I was surprised to have such good legs after so many days of racing."

Ron Cook (ABD; 3): "I never saw it coming. I don't remember crossing a wheel. Nothing. All I know is I was going down."

Seth Meyer (Team Get A Grip Cycles; P/1/2): "At Kenosha, maybe the field was getting slower or I have been getting stronger or maybe both, but nevertheless I fared respectably."

Brian McVey (Vision Quest; 3): "So I didn’t think it would do any harm to pit and see if there was something wrong. Well I did, and there wasn’t anything wrong and to my dismay the ref in the pit told me if there was nothing wrong, I didn’t get a free lap. Shoooot."

Christine Roettger (X Plane Team Revoluion; W-3/4): "Fresh legs didn't help much in working to cover a break that started early and stuck for 44 laps. Four or five laps in an attack through the start/finish caused a crash that forced all but three riders to brake and swerve."

Jessi Prinner (ABD; W-3/4): "The next time I attack with 45 laps to go, would somebody do me a huge favor and perhaps stick a metal rod in my spokes?"

Amanda Miller (Atlas; W-3/4): "I tried to keep the spirits high and said we could do it. The gap to the leaders started to shrink. Before we knew it they were within reaching distance."

Wheel & Sprocket Brewers Hill race reports:
Brian McVey (Vision Quest; 3): "The breakaway ended up lapping us, so now I could be no better than 10th overall even if I won the sprint at the end. I conserved energy and had a decent sprint to take 15th."

Amanda Miller (Atlas; W-3/4): "Sprinted up the hill for 7th place. Felt like I could have done a lot better but had really crappy positioning. Live and learn."

Christine Roettger (X Plane Team Revolution; W-3/4): "Her record would improve and her overall lead on me would grow as I just couldn't get around her on the last climb."

Matthew Smith (Big Shark; 4/5): "I kept at the front, but didn't have the energy to ride the wave and stay at the absolute front, wheel two or three, where the race is won."

Jeff Wat (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4/5): "Word from the sidelines was, 'Gaps were opening up and the field was shattered!' That's what I like to hear! We broke legs!"

Brewers Hill photos:
Onesixfive

Columbia St. Mary's Great Downer Avenue race reports:
Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing; P/1/2): "Kayle won the race with little JJ getting 6th and me winning the 4k prime...I would have to say we had a great day."

Seth Meyer (Team Get A Grip Cycles; P/1/2): "A break of seven got off. When it was forming, it was incredibly fast, and I was almost getting dropped. Afterward, it did get a little easier though."

Columbia St. Mary's Great Downer Avenue photos:
Czelticgirl
Machine is Organic
Nick Schweitzer

Whitefish Bay Classic race reports:
Christine Roettger (X Plane Team Revolution; W-3/4): "That was my race. I lost it in some random 100 meters a quarter mile from the finish. I lost it in a blur of panic."

Matthew Smith (Big Shark; 4/5): "I followed wheels and opened my sprint earlier in the long finishing straight, and nearly caught 4th place at the line."

Whitefish Bay Classic photos:
Greg Smith
Nick Schweitzer

Comments