Benga Sports this week released information for its Tour de Lafayette stage race in May. This new event -- criterium, stage race and time trial -- is interesting for several reasons: It’s scored by time. Its only fields are men’s 3’s and 4/5’s (save for citizen and junior fields at the criterium).  And note this warning: “For safety reasons, if one rider violates the yellow-line rule, the race will be stopped, the stage cancelled, and no prize will be given to competitors for the stage.”

Lafayette, Ind., is two hours from Chicago. Unfortunately the May 17-18 event conflicts with Monsters of the Midway, a Chicago favorite, and at 20 and 32 miles the circuit races are on the short side. Nonetheless, stage races are fun, and I’ll be curious to see how Indiana and Illinois racers receive this one.