Glencoe Grand Prix

ILLINOIS: Glencoe - RESULTS PHOTOS - It was a wet and wild time in Glencoe this past Saturday as the 7th annual Glencoe Grand Prix got showered on heavily through the last 3 races of the day. The drama began near the end of the women's 3/4 race as two separate crashes occurred, each forcing the halting of the race. Both accidents resulted in the transport of a rider to a local hospital, the second of which sounds possibly serious. The police did take the rider's bicycle as evidence (of what?) and were interviewing neutral support members. As the cat. 4 women were standing on the line with just 2 laps to go, the race was called. So, this race was never finished and there are no results.

 

Next up was the men's cat. 2/3 race, now shortened to 50 minutes as they spent 15 to 20 minutes standing on the line, waiting for the police to finish their investigation of the last crash and the course to be cleared. Once started, the 97 starters wasted no time and tore around the 1.3 mile, 10 turn course, spending most of the time stretched out in one long line. A sprint finish was on tap with Christopher Curran just narrowly beating Hogan Sills on the line, Nate Labecki taking a solid 3rd.

Men - Cat 2/3
	Place		Name	City, State				Team
	1		Christopher Curran (1 - Cat2)	Normal, IL				Bloomington Cycle Racing Team
	2		Hogan Sills (2 - Cat2)	West Lafayette, IN				Sammy's Bike
	3		Nathan Labecki (3 - Cat2)	Milwaukee, WI				ISCorp Cycling Team
	4		Sean Piper (4 - Cat2)	Pittsburgh, PA				Freddie Fu Cycling Team
	5		Trevor Rolette (5 - Cat2)	Tinley Park, IL				South Chicago Wheelmen

After the nicely prompt podium for the men's cat. 2/3, the Pro 1/2 women were sent off for a warm up lap, and then held in the staging area just off course for 30+ minutes as officials awaited for the course to be cleared for unreleased reasons, assumably to allow the police to finish their investigation. Unfortunately this not only shortened their race to 20 laps but it began to rain. A rain that would shape not only this race but the Pro men's as well as it came down in buckets, flooding the streets and forcing the riders through foot deep puddles in some of the turns. Just past the half way point, with 8 laps remaining, Erica Allar took a $200 dollar prime and just kept going. TIBCO's Sam Schneider took chase with Laura Van Guilder in tow. That was the break and they quickly had 25 seconds on the field.

Unfortunately, oh no ... not again, a crash stopped this race as well. Starla Teddergreen (Vanderkitten) had fallen and officials stopped the race with just 3 laps remaining as they cleaned up the mess from that one. It was a short halt, however, and after only about 10 minutes, the riders were sent on their way once again with Allar taking the win by a length and a half over Schneider. (LVG missing from podium as she was already on her way to Philadelphia.)

Women - Pro/Cat 1/2 - Ncc 1
	Place		Name	City, State				Team
	1		Erica Allar (1 - Cat1)	Tucson, AZ				CARE4CYCLING powered by Solomon
	2		Samantha Schneider (1 - Pro)	Milwaukee, WI				UCI WPT: Team TIBCO/ To the Top
	3		Laura Van Gilder (2 - Cat1)	Cresco, PA				Mellow Mushroom Racing*
	4		Christina Gokey-Smith	Denton, TX				Rouse/Oogie Racing*
	5		Lenore Pipes (3 - Cat1)					CARE4CYCLING powered by Solomon

Finally, the much awaited Pro-Am Cat 1 field lined up with slightly brightening skies for what was anticipated to be a very exciting race. Even a low rainbow appeared on the horizon as the top riders were called to the line. The first few laps were ridden cautiously as Mother Nature kept spitting on the riders but kept her anger in check. Brad White (United Healthcare) from Holland, MI threw out a big attack and was quickly joined by team mate Carlos Alzate and Panther's Jonathan Freter. As they gained about 30 seconds with 21 laps to go, the skies opened up again with a deluge of rain and that pretty much sealed their lead.

Adam Leibovitz (Texas Roadhouse) gallantly tried to bridge with a long solo pursuit, but was caught from behind by a 3 rider group of Jackie Simes (Smartstop), Chad Hartley (Sharecare) , and Conor Mullervy (Stan's No Tubes). 9 laps remain.

Only the diehard fans remained now, and the finish area was a field of umbrellas as the rain continued. Brad White made a big dig on the small uphill during the final lap, and crossed the finish line easily ahead of Alzate and Freter. It could be seen on the jumbotron which showed the live internet video feed that all 3 riders were shaking hands and congratulating each other on a fine, cohesive effort.

Men - Pro/Cat 1 - Ncc 1
	Place		Name	City, State				Team
	1		Bradley White (1 - Pro)	Holland, MI				UCI PCT: UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
	2		Carlos Alzate Escobar	Boise, ID				UCI PCT: UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
	3		Johnathan Freter (1 - Cat1)	Columbus, OH				Panther/Bakehouse*
	4		Adam Leibovitz (2 - Cat1)	Indianapolis, IN				Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team P/B Motorex*
	5		Chad Hartley (3 - Cat1)	Fox Point, WI				RACC pb GG*

EXTRA: This just in ... the rider that was seriously hurt in the women's 3/4 race remains in critical care but has made great progress and appears will recover fully.