KS Energy Services/Team Wisconsin took to the roads on a beautiful sunny day in Spring Prairie for the Wisconsin State Road Race Championships. The heat and a long steep finishing climb made for a tough day of racing.
Around Noon the Cat 1/2 and Cat 3 fields took to the roads and raced 65 and 52 miles, respectively. In each race KS Energy Services/Team Wisconsin landed a man in the break, with David Paquette finishing 7th in the Cat 1/2 event and Mark Norton placing 3rd in the 3s. Following Norton in the field sprint was Joe Maloney who powered up the climb to take 4th. Paquette put on an impressive performance just one week after a substantial crash at the Melon City Crit.
In the afternoon Karlton “Moose” Larson got 2nd in the 39 mile non-Wisconsin riders Cat 4/5 race. Paul Krzesinski finished 16th in a strong Masters 30+ field and Dave Eckel was 21st in the Masters 40+ race.
Mark Norton takes 3rd place in the CAT 3. Norton went on to upgrade to a CAT 2 after the race. Photo by Dave Eckel.
The CAT 3 field rides through the feed zone at the Wisconsin state road race. Photo by Dave Eckel.
David Paquette in the break. Photo by Dave Eckel.
Pro, 1, 2 Play by Play
3 riders including Team KS’ David Paquette attacked right from the start of the Wisconsin State Championship Road Race with the intention of repeating the successful move from the previous year’s iteration. Writing off the attempt (as the field did the previous year), the peloton rolled slowly behind the break for the first three to four laps with no chase efforts, but it was soon after that the fireworks began.
Following a multitude of attacks, a large break of roughly a dozen riders formed and gained substantial time on the field–while the initial break had still yet to be seen by the field. The chase group eventually tore itself apart with attacks and counters, and would eventually reach the initial break – or at least its remains – as all the lead groups tore apart. David Paquette held his own through the attacks and finished with a solid top ten, and Nicholas Frye on the front end of what remained for a field.