• » When Wednesday’s morning races started 30 minutes late after a delay in road closing, the 40+ 1/2/3 field registered its displeasure by briefly standing still on the whistle, disgusting the Superweek staff, not to mention the 4/5’s waiting to start behind them. The racing itself was more positive and dramatic: Wayne Simon (Verdigris) and Bryan Rheude (MS Racing) attacked after the second kicker and worked together to stay away over the last mile and a half. Simon dropped Rheude to take the win, but Rheude hung on for 2nd ahead of a charging sprint. With four days to go it’s a tight race for the overall, currently led by Robert Kron (Team Mack).
• » Sean Piper (Depaul) has had a breakout Superweek, making well-timed moves to get away and then well-timed attacks to close the deal. He won out of a late two-man break at Monday’s Whitnall Park Road Race and finished 2nd at Wednesday’s Lakefront Road Race (long course). Ben LaForce (Team Get a Grip Cycles) is also making the most of his Superweek races, winning again Tuesday out of a 7-man break at the Whitnall Park Criterium.
• » World championship-bound Greta Neimanas (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) motored away in the last kilometer of the Whitnall Park Criterium to win the women’s 3/4 race. The next day she held her own in the sprint, placing 4th. Pascale Petro also is enjoying a good week, placing in the top 10 in all three races and now sits in 2nd overall.
• » Lakewood’s Karl Schult (Guiness) won the masters 4/5’s race in Elgin and repeated the feat at the Whitnall Park Criterium, taking the 4/5’s ahead of Ernie Ciccolini (Van Wagner/Yojimbo’s) in 2nd.
• » Curtis Gunn (Fly V Australia), the rider who T-boned a children’s bike at Richton Park and wound up in Cook County Hospital with a punctured lung and broken rib, was racing again Monday in Whitnall Park.
• » The P/1/2 field has gotten extra firepower this week with a bigger squad of Kelly Benefit Strategies riders (above, Alex Candelario gets nipped by Juan Van Heerden (Team MTN) at the Whitnall Park Road Race) and a few Team OUCH riders. Rock Racing has lit up the racing the past two years and registered eight spots for this year’s series, but Superweek tells me the team left riders on the hook for their own transportation. Only Sergio Hernandez made the three-day drive to take part. Here is a letter national champion Rahsaan Bahati wrote to team owner Michael Ball on the matter.

Full Whitnall Park Road Race results. Full Whitnall Park Criterium/Cedarburg results. Full Lakefront Road Race (long course) results.

Whitnall Park Road Race reports
Geoff Kuyper (Leadout Racing; 3): “No one thought they had a chance as it all happened at low speeds, but no one chased and the gap grew.”

Lauren Liscinski (Team VRC; W-P/1/2/3): “I tried to keep the pace quick and on the last little hill before the finishing climb someone attacked left and it was all I could do to slot back in and not lose any more places.”

Whitnall Park Road Race photos
Nikki Cyp
John Wilke

Whitnall Park Criterium reports
Brian Batke (Carbon Racing; 40+ 1/2/3): “Eventually I got caught with about seven to go, then I just kept following the attacks.”

Hub Racing (W-P/1/2/3): “Following the last sprint, attacks began to fly.”

Geoff Kuyper (Leadout Racing; 3): “The last lap didn’t go as planned as no one in the field would work with us and I got stuck on the front for too long.”

Greta Neimanas (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; W-3/4): “I moved up the outside before the last corner and like Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank) rolled off the front. I just put my head down and went into pursuit mode.”

Cedarburg photos
John Wilke

Lakefront (long) reports
Chad Bishop (Harper’s Cycling; 3): “All of the sudden I hear all of the guys in the field start hooting and hollering.”

Mark Hotchkin (Leadout Racing; 3): “Going up the hill right after two laps to go, I got a gap on him, and decided to go alone.”

Brad Huff (Jelly Belly; P/1/2): “This course is by far one of the best I have ridden in the Superweek series although I am completely shelled. I need sleepy and no more pedaly.”

Journal Sentinel: “Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V Australia), who won the Superweek crown in 2008, has used his veteran wiles to guide Bernie Sulzberger throughout the series.”

Team OUCH (P/1/2): “‘The race had a strange dynamic. A big group would get off the front and come back, then another would go. It was hard to figure out which would be the one that stuck.’”

James Pradun (GDVC; 3): “I knew this was my last chance.”

Lakefront (long) photos
John Wilke