Andrew Hellpap Climbs Snake Alley.
Team Wisconsin cat 2, 3 squads take home strong results, hard lessons.
The seven-member Team Wisconsin group of racers proved over the Memorial Day weekend, bike racers could learn lessons and still secure strong results.
Four category 3 (cat 3) squad members, two category 2 (cat 2) racers, and Dave Eckel, team president — who also raced in the masters category — represented the team in a series of criteriums in Iowa and Illinois, May 26, 27 and 28.
Racing kicked off in earnest May 26, when the boys, cat 3s Alex Martin, Julio Jacobo, Tim Racette and Andrew Hellpap, virtually tumbled out of their vehicle following the three-hour commute to Burlington, Iowa, for the fabled Snake Alley critierium.
Martin wasted little time overtaking his back-of-the-pack callup to take a fine line into the Snake, a narrow, sharply winding cobbled climb. He finished eighth on the day. Racette placed 18th, Jacobo was 37th and Hellpap was 28th. Andrew Ohlsson, who didn’t make the trip with the team, still competed in the race placing 22nd.
In the cat 2 field, Bryan Fosler gave it his all in a huge field of more than 80 riders, according to the USA Cycling website, but despite a very strong effort, he was pulled as the field stretched out on the short, challenging course. Joe Malone, a new arrival to the cat 2 squad after recently upgrading from cat 3, was ill and did not race the Snake.
On Sunday, the boys caravanned to Muscatine, Iowa, to compete in the Melon City criterium. Held in a beautiful park, on a course that featured a large speed bump at the bottom of a speedy decent, the fields were again huge in each category. The cat 2 field was well over 100 racers.
In the cat 3 race, Martin again took an aggressive posture in the race, staying near the front, and despite a last-lap mechanical finished 13th. On the final corner of the race, just a few hundred meters from the finish line, he rolled a tire, but managed to keep the bike upright and coast across the line for a strong result in a field of more than 60 riders, according to USA Cycling’s website. Racette finished just behind Martin in 15th place, while Jacobo and Hellpap came in 24th and 26th, respectively.
In the Pro 1,2 field, Maloney got his baptism by fire in his first race as a cat 2. Facing a very challenging course and a field of more than 100 racers, the pace was hot, like Maloney’s body temperature may have been, considering his illness and the heat. Succumbing to the speed, perhaps and his own physical ailments, he was pulled as the field stretched out, as were many riders. A dropped chain pulled Fosler from the race several laps later, despite a very serious attempt to chase back on the main field after repairing his chain. Race organizers relegated Fosler from the race despite his desire to continue chasing back on.
Memorial Day brought cooler temperatures and the threat of rain to the Rock Island criterium, in Rock Island, Ill., and the final stop on the southern swing for KS Energy Services/Team Wisconsin. But, the day also brought the strongest results for the cat 2 and 3 squads.
In the cat 3 race, following a feverish chase back to the leaders in the final lap after a crash, Martin joined Jacobo, who avoided the preceding crash, in a sprint for the win. Both riders fell just shy, however both secured a top-10 finish, Martin in 4th, and Jacobo in 8th. But, the squad’s strong results didn’t end there. Both Racette and Hellpap, after strong solo attacks earlier in the crit, made it to the front of the race in the final laps to avoid the crash and contend for positive finishes. Hellpap, after helping team leader Martin chase back on, sprinted for 15th, while Racette recovered from his late-race attack well enough to secure 21th place in the 40-plus rider field.
The cat 2 squad was not to be outdone — not even close. In perhaps one of the largest fields of the year anywhere in the Midwest, Fosler and Maloney put on a show. With a field of more than 140 racers, Fosler stormed in to 10th place, while Maloney applied the education he received in his success early in the season — winning several races in the cat 3 field — and his cat 2 christening the day earlier to land a strong 45th-place finish in the massive field.
Next up for the squads is a return to Wisconsin Cycling Association racing, WORS mountain bike events and preparation for the Tour of America’s Dairyland at the end of June.
For more information on results from the races logon to USA Cyling’s results pages:
http://www.usacycling.org/events/?state=IA
http://www.usacycling.org/events/?state=IL