A few of the many highlights from the first Illinois leg of Superweek:
» Bryan McVey (ReCycling) is having a breakout series in the P/1/2’s, racing aggressively and making many of the breaks. After lapping the field and getting 2nd Monday in Richton Park and finishing 6th Tuesday in Willow Springs — a race whose field sprint included a tangle of bikes — he is the top amateur and is 7th overall, 22 points down from leader and 2008 Tour de France participant Aurélien Passeron (Garneau Club Chaussure).
» Ryan Freund (Verizon u25) made the break Saturday in Geneva, lapping the field with two others, continuing on to the nominal chase group and even attempting to attack beyond that. It came down to a three-up sprint, where he finished 2nd to Passeron, above.
» Kristen Meshberg (Flatlandia) has hit the top 10 in all four women’s P/1/2/3 races, including a 2nd at Geneva. She held the leader’s jersey after Monday’s racing in Homewood, but she now sits in 3rd in both the overall and the sprints competition.
» Stacy Appelwick (Bouledogue Tout Noir) is off to a great start in the women’s 3/4’s. After winning both Saturday and Sunday and finishing 2nd Tuesday, she sits in 2nd overall.
» Nick Gierman (Burnham Racing) won in dramatic fashion in Geneva. With nine laps to go he countered a large move to go solo and made a large gap for himself. With less than two to go — and after some lap-counter bungling — two riders bridged to him, but as gassed as he was, he was able to launch an early attack and sprint to the win.
» Geneva was where Drew Kushnick (Spidermonkey Cycling) picked up his first win in the 4/5’s. I wonder how long he’s been practicing his post-up. He’d follow that up with a 2nd at Willow Springs.
» Mike Seguin (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) is doing it both ways — getting in the breaks and doing well in the sprints — and has yet to finish outside the top 10. He leads the 3’s overall.
» Mark Winston (2CC) proved his uphill sprint at Spring Prairie was no fluke. After a suicide break was reeled in late in the Willow Springs 35+ 1/2/3’s, he navigated the challenging stairsteps for the bunch-sprint win, followed by Dave Reed (EMC2) and Mike Heagney (Vision Quest).
» Chris Mosora (Verizon Wireless), meanwhile, has been having his way with the 35+ 1/2/3 series, winning out of a two-man break in Geneva and winning again in Richton Park. After finishing 5th in Willow Springs, he has a tight lead over Adam Lesniakowski (PACT/Dish Network) and Ricardo Otero (WDT-Allvoi).
» Ed Ekstrom (Tower Racing) leads the 35+ 4/5’s overall and is 2nd in the 4/5’s, just two points behind teammate Alex Nemeth.
» I liked the modified Willow Springs course. I wish races could have been longer — such are the tradeoffs with great locations sometimes — but the shorter laps increased the impact of the climbs, relative to the longer course used for our state road race. Then again, the short course and concurrent races led to the occasional neutralization, which is often frustrating to both fields. The corners I was worried about were wide, fast and safe, and it made a big difference to have centerline fencing all along Archer. Considering the crazy amount of race prep that went into that course, it’s fairly remarkable that the early races started only 20 minutes late — and that delay was only thanks to a tree that had fallen on the course.
» A second 4/5’s race was added to accommodate demand at Willow Springs, but that won’t be an option at Sunday’s Evanston Grand Prix, which is always popular. Online registration closes Friday, but if you miss that, Superweek’s Andy Garrison says to e-mail him to guarantee a spot.
Full results.
Geneva reports
Nick Gierman (Burnham Racing; 3): “As this rider slots in behind me, my mark was hit and off I went. Over the bricks and through the turn, dancing on the pedals like a ProTour sprinter does.”
Arron Hampton (Psimet; 35+ 4/5): “We were racing for third, which I realized right after I lit up that last match.”
Matt Riezman (Spidermonkey Cycling; 4/5): “Midway through the race, huge gaps started forming on the hill and getting caught behind them made my race tough.”
Tati Cycles (35+ 1/2/3): “Nobody will pay any attention to your team until you’ve beaten Mark Swartzendruber, even if it is in a sprint.”
Verizon u25 (P/1/2): “The final lap almost resembled a match sprint as they cautiously eye one another, waiting to open the sprint until the final 200 meters.”
Andrew Zens (Spidermonkey Cycling; 4/5): “”
Geneva photos
Luke Seemann
Tati Cycles
Nikki Cyp
Homewood reports
Debbie Dust (Bouledogue Tout Noir; W-P/1/2/3): “Even more negative were the riders who literally tailgunned the entire race and then suddenly appeared in the front with two laps to go.”
Evan Jahn (Rhythm Racing; 4/5): “He won! We won! For the first time it feels like a team victory and not just individual.”
Matt Riezman (Spidermonkey Cycling; 4/5): “I ran out of something.”
Chris Uberti (Team Panther; P/1/2): “Thanks to attrition I was able to sneak into a money spot.”
Homewood photos
Tati Cycles
Nikki Cyp
Willow Springs reports
Arron Hampton (Psimet; 4/5): “Braking at the front on a downhill back stretch seems odd.”
Andrew Zens (Spidermonkey Cycling; 4/5): “Lots of squirrels in the field today, and to be honest I was one of them.”
Series photos
Peloton Pix
