The anticipated rain did indeed make an appearance during Saturday afternoon's 50km Pro/Am Challenge in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove. Undaunted, our man Casey Gibson was there, doggedly snapping away. Here’s what he saw through a very soggy lens indeed.
Rainy conditions soiled Saturday’s pro/am “test-run” criteriums in Downers Grove, Illinois, prompting many riders to either pull out early or opt out of racing altogether in order to save themselves for Sunday’s national-championship events. At the end of the day a pair of winners — Ken Hanson (BMC) and Brooke Miller (TIBCO) — each emerged from breakaways to take waterlogged wins. Rain was heaviest during the women’s 40-minute race, where Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home rider Alison Powers slipped off the front early. Miller was first to jump across, followed by Katharine Carroll (Aaron’s
Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital) had to work hard to win the 12th Vatttenfall Cyclassics on Sunday in Hamburg. The 27-year-old Italian held off Spaniard Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and German Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) to win a bunch sprint at the conclusion of the 229.1km race around Hamburg. Ciolek, 20, the world under-23 road champion, said he chose the wrong moment to make his move. "It is always tough to judge when to attack and I guess I didn't quite time my attack properly this time," said Ciolek. "But I am very pleased with third. Against such strong competition this is a giant
Tina Pic (Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home) collected her fifth national title in six years while Daniel Holloway (VMG Racing) picked up his first on Sunday at the USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championship in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove. As in Saturday’s Pro-Am Challenge, rain played a starring role — particularly in the 80km elite men’s race, which saw crashes in each of the last four corners and perhaps half the 163 starters finish. The field mostly stayed together during the 50km elite women’s race, until trackie Anna Lang (Karl Strauss-SDBC) took a dig with four laps
Canadian Martin Gilbert brought his Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast team its biggest win yet on Sunday by winning the USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, Illinois. Kirk O’Bee (Health Net-Maxxis) finished second to collect the national-championship jersey as first American across the line. Teammate Shawn Milne took third. As in the earlier races, rain was a factor — a light drizzle was the best the heavens had to offer during the 100km race, and crashes were commonplace. The Kelly Benefit squad had hoped to put Dave McCook into the jersey, but he was having
It was a wet weekend in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, as the country's zippiest assembled to name the champions of American criterium racing.Soaked to the bone, our man Casey Gibson was there for Sunday's big events.
Women's winner Brooke Miller (Team TIBC) leads in the rain
Ken Hanson (BMC) wins the men's pro-am event
Will Frischkorn (Slipstream) leads the break
Colavita chases
Brad Huff with a unique radio mount
Eventual winner Miller leads the bunch
Frischkorn in the men's break
Colavita chases
Hansen wins
Ballan outspeeds the bunch
O'Bee enjoys a stars-and-stripes moment
Tony Cruz leads the chase.
Martin Gilbert has a little powergel at the start. Must work pretty well.
Galloway winning the men's elite for VMG. Velocity Made Good.
Health Net's Tim Johnson takes a dig.
Kelly goes to the front with 10 laps to go, and held it for the win.
National Champion Paul Martin leads the Elite Men's field.
The Pro peloton snakes down the hill.
Kirk O'Bee and crew.
A wet day. The elite men's peloton heads up between the umbrellas.
Tina Pic handles another wet corner with grace...
... on her way to the podium, again.
Laura Van Gilder leads the women's peloton.
Slipstream drives the peloton when Dominguez slips off the back, hoping to drop him for good.
The ageless Steve Tilford contemplates another podium in his long career.
Pic wins a fifth title
Holloway takes the V
A clash of generations is theatening to usurp an anticipated Italian win at the Hamburg one-day cyclassics Pro Tour race this Sunday. But for reasons perhaps better explained by the Italians, the likelihood of up-and-coming German sprinter Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) claiming victory ahead of aging compatriot Erik Zabel (Milram) appears an outside bet. In 11 previous editions Italian riders have won five times, and always made it on to the podium of a race which, thanks to its mainly flat profile, is favored by the sprinters and late breakaway specialists. If a bunch sprint is on the cards at
Defending champion Jens Voigt (CSC) sealed his second consecutive victory in the Tour of Germany and German sprinter Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) picked up his third stage win as the 2007 race concluded Saturday in Hanover. The 35-year-old Voigt had all but sealed victory after winning Friday's time trial in Fuerth. The German finished the 1292.5 km tour in 30 hours, 57 minutes and 21 seconds, 1:57 ahead of American Levi Leipheimer (Dscovery Channel). Third was Spaniard David Lopez Garcia (Caise d’Epargne) at 2:10 back. "I enjoyed a pretty quiet day today, I was able to appreciate the
Colombian Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) won the 29th edition of the Vuelta a Burgos on Saturday. Vasil Kiryenka (Tinkoff) won the fifth and final stage, a 158km leg between Ona and Burgos. Vuelta a BurgosStage 51. Vasil Kiryenka (Blr), Tinkoff, 158km in 3:39:422. Francisco Perez Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:093. Stefano Garzelli (I), Acqua & Sapone, at 0:114. Daniele Nardello (I), LPR, same time5. Antonio Olmo Menacho (Sp), Andalucia-Cayasur, s.t.Final overall1. Juan Mauricio Soler (Col), Barloworld, 14:31:372. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:023. Carlos
Horizontal sleet, rime ice, 87-mph gusts of wind and freezing temperatures forced the cancellation of this year’s Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb on Saturday. Six hundred cyclists had come from all over New England and from as far away as the West Coast for the chance to race the 7.6 miles to Mt. Washington’s summit in what is called, all too aptly, “the world’s toughest hillclimb.” Now they’ll wait another year to battle the Auto Road’s 12 percent average grade. “We have agonized over this decision,” said Howie Wemyss, the general manager of the Mt. Washington Auto Road, noting
Fans lining Second Street in downtown Fernie, British Columbia, greeted Roddi Lega and Tim Heemskerk with makeshift signs and cheers as the two rolled across the line to take their sixth win of the seven-stage 2007 TransRockies Challenge. With the victory, the duo, racing under the sponsorship of United Cycles, solidified their GC win over Costa Ricans Federico Ramirez and Ivan Amador of the La Ruta de los Conquistadores team, and Rocky Mountain Bicycle’s third-place team of Matt Hadley and Matt Green. “I think the biggest advantage we had was our recovery — we got a massage and rest and
Can the up-and-coming Ciolek . . .
. . . upstage the wily veteran Zabel?
Voigt wins his second consecutive Tour of Germany
The winners
And a well-deserved beer to celebrate
If Jens Voigt hangs on after Friday’s decisive 33.1-kilometer time trial and wins the Deutschland Tour, he can be grateful to reigning world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara and the rest of his CSC teammates. It’s thanks to victory in the 42.2km team time trial in stage 2 that Voigt was able to defend the yellow jersey in Wednesday’s climbing blitz up high in the Austrian Alps. Powered by Cancellara, Team CSC took 25 seconds out of runner-up Discovery Channel and 57 seconds out of Caisse d’Epargne. Those seconds gave the renowned rouleur Voigt an invaluable head start as he faced off
Ben Ollett and Simon Koster did not come to British Columbia’s TransRockies Challenge harboring hopes or dreams of winning the seven-day, 600km stage race. Heading into the 93km third stage slog around Nipika mountain resort, the duo sat in 32nd place, nearly three hours off of the leading United Cycles team of Canadians Tim Heemskerk and Roddi Lega. The two Americans, roommates and collegiate racers together at Rutgers, came hoping only for a physical challenge. “We needed another goal to train for this year,” said Koster, 26. “I was coming home from collegiate road nationals and
A TransRockies Gallery - Day 4
Jens Voigt of CSC surprised several time trial specialists by winning the Tour of Germany's eighth stage Friday and all but ensuring a repeat of last year’s overall victory. Voigt, the defending champion, dominated the penultimate stage, a 33.1km time trial, in a time of 39:42 to hold off Laszlo Bodrogi of Hungary and American Levi Leipheimer. Bodrogi finished second at 14 seconds while Leipheimer, who finished third overall in the Tour de France thanks mainly to his efforts in the race's second time trial, was third at 25. Leipheimer, who is on the lookout for a new team following
Several elite ProTour riders, who have built solid reputations in the European peloton, are slated to compete Labor Day weekend in the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships. Medalist Sports confirmed that George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Bobby Julich (CSC), Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), and David Zabriskie (CSC) are among the athletes who will compete in one or more of the dual championship events September 1-2. "We are very pleased to see George, Dave and Levi return along with many of the top Pro Tour riders who don't often compete in the United
Brad Huff will be facing some serious competition if he intends to keep his stars-and-stripes jersey at Sunday’s USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championship in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois. National criterium titles will also be awarded in the elite men’s and women’s categories, while various amateur events will be held over the 1.2-mile course throughout the day on Saturday. Although it doesn’t offer prize money like this month’s earlier top-dollar races in Charlotte, North Carolina or neighboring Elk Grove, Illinois - overall prize money for all 13 races held over
With a kilometer to go in the sixth stage of the 2007 TransRockies Challenge, a brutal 116km journey from Elkford to Sparwood, Frederico Ramirez and Ivan Amador looked to have the stage win in their hands. The Costa Ricans, sponsored by their homeland’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores, held a 30-second advantage over GC leaders Tim Heemskerk and Roddi Lega (United Cycle) all day. The Ticos, who sat second in GC, 21 minutes down on Heemskerk and Lega, dropped the Canadians early, hoping to win the longest and hardest stage of British Columbia’s seven-day, 600km mountain-bike stage race. It
Voigt finished 4:46 behind Leipheimer in the 55km Cognac - Angoulême TT at the Tour de France last month, but he has extra motivation this time.
Ollett (left) and Koster prepare for another TransRockies stage.
A high calorie breakfast gets the riders through the day
Life ain't always easy on the TransRockies, but what the heck... they could be riding the subway in New York.
Lining up for another round
The ad hoc community waits at the finish
Koster finds his gear bag at the finish line
The dinner tent
The ability to pull off a river crossings is part of an essential skill set.
Sue Haywood tip-toes across slippery river rocks
BC has a whole lot of water...
...and the mud that accompanies that water.
But in the absence of rain means dust is a factor, too.
Share the road
Home is where the heart is...
.. and the massage tent.
Voigt put in a big effort to defend the jersey.
Huff was the top U.S. finisher at last year's event.
A couple of disappointed Costa Ricans
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the latest edition of The Prologue, the weekly summary of news from the world of competitive cycling by your friends at VeloNews.com
On Sunday, August 12, the TransRockies Challenge sent riders off on a seven-day off-road journey for the sixth consecutive year. This year, some 300 teams of two left the Panorama Mountain Resort in the Purcell mountain range and embarked on the trip, which traces a 600km route through eastern British Columbia’s craggy Kootenay Rockies. By Wednesday the race’s demanding route had begun to take a toll. For the midway stage, 30 fewer teams took the line to ride the 113km route from Nipika Resort, just west of Banff National Park, to Whiteswan Lake. The attrition rate serves as testimony to
Soler keeps lead at BurgosJuan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) finished safely in the pack at Thursday’s 158km third stage to maintain his slender grip on the overall lead at the Vuelta a Burgos in northern Spain. French rider Aurélien Passeron (Acqua e Sapone) nipped Aivaras Baranauskas (Agritubel) after a seven-man break held off the peloton in the rolling stage into Aranda de Duero along some of Spain’s best wine country. Soler finished 31st with the main pack that roared in 54 seconds off the winner’s pace to retain the leader’s jersey a day after winning the decisive climb up Laguna de
T-Mobile’s Gerald Ciolek won his second consecutive stage on the Tour of Germany on Thursday after holding off a determined challenge from sprint specialist Erik Zabel (Milram). The 20-year-old German was again the first home after covering the predominantly flat route from Kufstein, Austria, to Regensburg, Germany, in 4 hours, 8 minutes and 20 seconds. In damp conditions with persistent drizzle, the under-23 road world champion had to hold his nerve and battle all the way to the line as Zabel, who had pushed Ciolek close on Wednesday, again threatened in the final meters. CSC's Jens
At least the start is easy...
... but things get difficult rather quickly.
Another day's start