-by Jamie Naragon

Just one week to go until all cycling eyes will be focused on France! Teams are announcing their Tour rosters, and many Americans will be taking the start.  For Team Astana, Levi Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong will both be competing.  For the two American teams, Columbia and Garmin, George Hincapie will be competing in his 14th Tour, and Dave Zabriskie, Christian VandeVelde, Danny Pate, and young Tyler Farrar will all be riding in argyle. 

If we’re talking about racing in America, it doesn’t get much bigger than Race Across America (RAAM)!   Traditionally, RAAM and Race Across the West (RAW) are concurrent.  This year, Race Across the West concluded with Dallas Morris, Wildcats Four Brett, Team Project Athena, and RAO-GVHBikes all victorious. 

As of writing, RAAM is still underway, but several of the categories have winners already.  First, Switzerland’s Dani Wyss defeated 4-time defending champion Jure Robric.  As of this writing, Jure sits in 4th, with Gerhard Gulewicz and Marko Baloh both already finishing already as well.

For the women, Daniela Figueiredo Genovesi is in the lead over Janet Christiansen.  Team JDRF has won the RAAM Open team category.  Team Type 1, Georgia Chain Gang, Great Grand PAC Masters, Team RANS, Buchholz Goes America, All Wheels 4 Fibromyalgia, Team Reaching Heights, Adventures for the Cure, and SpinVox Adventures have already claimed, or will soon, the win in their respective categories.  Full results can be found at RAAM. 

In terms of “standard” racing, Tour de Winghaven was held near St. Louis on Father’s Day.  Kelly Benefit Strategies’ Andrew Bajadali took victory over Brian Jensen (Tradewind Energy/Trek Stores) and Charles Huff (Jelly Belly) with a well-timed sprint.   High temperatures and a technical course certainly played a part.  In the men’s Cat 4/5 race, the Momentum Racing team placed Jason Murphy and B.J. Keane on the top 2 steps of the podium.  Lawrence Simonson, David Stone (Scarlet Fire), and Christine Roettger (Team Revolution) were also all victorious on the day. 

The Lumberjack 100 marked the 3rd in the NUE Series and was also held on June 21st.  The racing in Michigan was intense, but in the end, Jeff Schalk was able to defeat Christian Tanguy with a 30 second margin in the open men’s event.  Betsy Shogren won the women’s event by 5.54 over Karen Potter.  Other winners included Gerry Pflug (Singlespeed), Jack Kline (Master Men), and James and Lori Gomez (Tandem). 

The US Cup East #4 Cowbell Challenge was held in Davidson, North Carolina under the sweltering sun of June 20th.  Harlan Price launched his attack in the elite men’s race to take a 1.22 victory over Jafer Beizer.  Aaron Oaks came in third, over 7 minutes later.  Carey Lowerly, Deay Birtch, Curtis Armstrong, Christopher Cyr, Paula Lamberson, Team Cycle Path, Paul’s Specialized marathon duo, Sophie Clyburn, Lovina Roy, Marcey Rader, and Noel Kirila also all won their events.  In the cross country race on June 21st, a sprint finish gave Thomas Turner a very slim victory over Sam Koerber.  Jamie Dinkins, Seth Kemp, Dejay Birch, Shanna Powell, and Jafer Beizer also all were included in the day’s winners.  For a complete list of winners, click here. 

The Tour of America’s Dairyland began on Thursday, June 18th in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin.  The 10-stage Tour concludes on June 28th.  Stage 1 was a 141.6km trip around Blue Mounds.  Matthew Busche (IS Corp) defeated the Kelly Benefit duo of Cheyne Hoag and Andrew Bajadali to pull on the initial leader’s jersey.  Amanda Miller (Team Lipsmacker) held off Devon Haskell (BH USA) and Sarah Maguire (Priority Health) to take the women’s lead. 

The second stage was 90km route around Waterloo.  This time, Kelly Benefit was successful, placing Jake Keough on the top of the podium ahead of Aldo Ilesic (Team Type 1) and Chad Hartley (Team GEARGRINDER).  Jessie Maclean withheld Kristin Wentworth (Team Kenda) and Tori Bradshaw (Team Lip Smacker). 

Another 90km stage followed on Saturday, this time around Grafton.  Though prevented from the top step of the podium the day before, this time, Chad Hartley (Team GEARGRINDER) conquered Adam Bergman (Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team) and Ben King.  Theresa Cliff-Ryan prevented Kristin Wentworth (Team Kenda) from taking the top step.

Yet another 90km stage greeted the riders on Father’s Day.  The Manitowoc Maritime Bay Classic came down to yet another sprint finish, this time with Davina Summers and Adam Bergman (Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team) taking top honors. 

Following Monday’s rest day, Stage 5 on Tuesday was a 128.7km road race around Fond du Lac. Ryan Parnes (webcor/Alto Velo) was first to cross the line, followed closely by James Stemper (Team Geargrinder) and Seth Hansley (VC La Pomme).  Devon Haskell (BH USA) won the women’s stage, just ahead of MacLean and Cliff-Ryan. 

Fond du Lac hosted the 6th stage of the Tour as well, this time in the form of a 90km crit.  Frank Travieso (Champion Porsche p/b Herbalife) and, once again, Jessie Maclean were victorious. 

Thursday’s Sheboygan stage was also 90kms.  The usual suspects were at it again.  This time Adam Bergman (Team Roadhouse Cycling Team) and Davina Summers were the winners. 

Finally, Greenbush was the site of Friday’s 128.7km stage.  The men’s race featured Champion Porsche p/b Herbalife with Yosvany Falcon withholding Ryan DeWald (Battley Harley-Davidson) and Sheldon Deeny.  Once again, Devon Haskell (BH USA) topped the podium, this time ahead of Amanda Miller (Team Lipsmacker) and Jessie Maclean.  Going into the weekend, therefore, Chad Hartley leads the men’s classification with 2 points ahead of Logan Garey (Team Rio Grande) and Adam Bergman (Texas Roadhouse).  Jessie Maclean maintains her very narrow lead over Haskell and Cliff-Ryan. 

Two 90km stages were conducted this weekend—one in Milwaukee and one in Waukesha.  But, you’ll have to come back next week for Amy to wrap up this Tour!

Lastly, overseas, the MTB World Cup Downhill and Four Cross #5 was conducted June 19-21 in Maribor, Slovenia.  In the Big Final, Caroline Buchanan (Australia) was able to outride the field to take the win, but American Melissa Buhl was right behind, finishing a strong 2nd overall.  Jill Kintner (Red Bull/Intense/Crankbrothers) finished a respectable 4th. 

So, with less than a week before the Tour, the cycling excitement is palpable.  Luckily, anything you may miss in your excitement will be brought to you by Amy next week!