On a windy April morning with rain threatening to fall, the first race of the WCA calendar had a sizable group of KS/TW riders ready to race. The course is a very fast, somewhat flat 3 corner crit which twists its way through a commercial research park west of downtown Madison. Winds were gusting at 30 mph and holding steady at 20 mph, bring heavy rain later in the day.
In the masters categories; Jim Hamer, Steve Werner, Will Wendorff and Rob Selberg battled the strong winds in the 4/5 race. After controlling much of the race as a team, Jim Hamer was able to pull out a personal best 3rd place finish with the others finishing in the top 10 and back. The Masters 1/2/3 race saw Aaron Duston find the top ten and Chris Barton place 9th among cat 3’s.
In the category 3 race; Alex Martin, Julio Jacobo, Andrew Hellpap, Tim Racette and Joe Maloney were by far the most organized squad in the peleton. After strong attacks in the first few laps, Joe was able to get away with another rider with a sizable gap. With teammates blocking and stopping bridge attempts, the two leaders looked like they would lap the field. With 2 to go Joe attacked his breakaway mate to catch the field and came in for the win with other members placing high as well.
In the Pro ½, Jon Heile Was able to make the major split in the pack but missed the winning break. He was able to finish 16th and 6th among cat 2’s.
To kick off Team Wisconsin’s entries at Sunday’s racing, Gale Hellpap took fifth place in the Womens Category 4 race earlier in the morning. She narrowly missed out on a podium finish when a last-ditch sprint fell inches short.
The CAT 3 Squad controls the field while teammate Joe Maloney is in a break.