MILWAUKEE — Aline Seitz and Ben Oliver took sprint wins on the third stop of the American Criterium Cup and the Cafe Hollander Otto Wenz Downer Classic. A full day of racing saw massive fields contest the pro women’s and pro men’s races on the tenth day of racing in Wisconsin. Adding to the excitement were the amateur national championship races contested earlier in the day.
Aline Seitz — UTC Butcherbox
In the women’s race, it looked all set to be another exhibition for the favorites as Skylar Schneider and Marlies Mejias, who won the vast majority of the $5,000 worth of primes during the race, shot off the front through the bell. Nevertheless, it all turned on its head in the final sprint as Aline Seitz powered to a huge win after skipping the prime sprints throughout the race.
In the men’s race, all the action boiled over in the finale as back-to-back $2,000 and $2,500 primes were offered with two and one laps to go. Through the fray, Ben Oliver delivered a massive sprint, outkicking a surging Brody McDonald by the line to take his fourth win at the Kwik Trip Tour of America’s Dairyland and his first ACC victory after many close calls over the past two summers.
Aline Seitz cashes in while others gamble on Downer Avenue
One of the biggest women’s fields of the year rolled out at 4:30 in the afternoon in front of a crowd on Saturday for 75 minutes of action-packed racing on stop number three of the American Criterium Cup. With no Kendall Ryan on the start list, we were set for a new ACC leader after the race, but with a new cast of characters hoping to make the fray for the 10 days of the Kwik Trip Tour of America’s Dairyland p/b ISCorp, there was so much more to play for.
To make matters all the more exciting, ISCorp had thrown in a massive $5,000 prime prize purse to spread through the women’s race to add to the action.
For the majority of the race, and taking the majority of the cash up for grabs, it was a two-woman show splitting the winnings. Marlies Mejias, the Tour of America’s Dairyland overall leader, made quick work of the first few $500 and $1,000 primes. She also took the lead in the ACC Mid Race green jersey competition during her prime spree. Skylar Schnieder, fresh off a spring racing in Europe on the WorldTour, had returned to her home state for some racing and made the trip worth it, adding a few thousand bucks to her pocket on primes.
Fount Cycling Guild made a few big efforts to try and break the two’s hold on the money moves, but it was to no avail as Mejias and Schnieder kept racking them up. The big question that remained was whether they were doing too much to win at the end of the night.
For an instant, as they were going through the bell, suddenly ahead of the entire rest of the peloton, the answer looked to be a resounding yes, they were able to win in the end. However, once they rounded the final bend, it all came back together and Aline Seitz, who hadn’t gone for a prime all day, launched the perfect sprint, coming around rivals within the last hundred meters, to take her first ACC win and the lead in the season’s long red jersey competition.
“I just came here to the US to have fun and fun with my teammates and that’s what I’m having right now,” Seitz said after the race. “It’s so cool that I’m the leader right now, I can’t even believe it.
“I was really focused on the end. The money is tempting, but the victory is super sweet.”
Crit racing is Seitz second objective in cycling. Her first focus is on the track where she races in the winter. For her, American crits are the ultimate cross over prep.
“They’re both very fast and very explosive. You need to race these like you race on the track so I do this to get a little practice for the track racing skills as well so I’m super happy to do this.”
Women’s results:
Aline Seitz — UTC Butcherbox
Odette Lynch — Fearless Femme Racing p/b Robertet
Arielle Verhaaren — Automatic Racing
Makayla MacPherson — CCB p/b Levine Law Group
Marlies Mejias — Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28
Bryony Botha — Fearless Femme Racing p/b Robertet
Francesca Selva — Turbo Velo Pickle Juice
Kenna Pfeiffer — Aegis Cycling Foundation
Andrea Cyr — Fount Cycling Guild
Jenna Lingwood — Team S&M CX
Women’s ACC Overall
Aline Seitz — 98 points
Andrea Cyr — 80
Kendall Ryan — 70
Odette Lynch — 66
Arielle Verhaaren — 56
Women’s ACC Sprints Leader
Marlies Mejias
Ben Oliver wins a photo finish as the primes scramble the action late
In the men’s race, 172 of the best Crit racers in the nation and from around the world rolled off the line at 7:00 PM for their own 75 minutes of action.
Like the women, it was all about the primes for the majority of the race before things turned on their head towards the end. It was constant action, but never enough separation to mark a breakaway with the exception of Troy Fields from Project Echelon took a few laps solo off the front. Instead it was all about small accelerations, chasing small primes, and positioning as the laps clicked down.
Danny Summerhill was especially keen towards the middle of the race, which was rewarded by full points at the mid race ACC green jersey sprint, but even he was kept on a close leash by the assortment of mid sized teams controlling things at the front t of the peloton.
With six laps to go the end game started in earnest as a group of two riders forged clear following a prime. Stephen Bassett of Prohject Echelon and Keegan Hornblow of MitoQ- New Zealand Cycling Project took a flyer. Things got very real with five to go when Colby Lange (Project Echelon) and Luke Fetzer (Cadence Cyclery) made the bridge and it was four up front.
Yet, things were just starting to get wild as two massive payouts awaited the riders in the final three laps. At three laps to go, the bell was rung for a $2,000 prime before a bell for $2,500 followed at two to go. Through the final bell, leadouts and sprints for the money were all happening at once before a chaotic last lap followed.
In the sprint, Bourgoyne was marooned in the front too early which setup Ben Oliver’s MitoQ team and Brody McDonald to queue behind the Texan sprinter and launch from his wheel out of turn 3 and 4, with Ballerstedt hot on their heels. In the end, Oliver had just enough sticking power to keep his speed on the barriers and push past McDonald and Ballerstedt who were coming fast through the middle. It was close, but in the end Oliver was a deserving winner, taking his fourth win at this year’s Tour of America’s Dairyland and first American Crit Cup win.
“The boys cooked the last corner, and I didn’t want to go from that last corner, but I had momentum so I had to go for it,” Oliver said of his final sprint. “I tried to drill it from the right side and it was way too long from the last corner, but, woof, that must have been a close photo finish.”
“Once Keegan won the $2,000 prime I thought, ‘Well might as well go home now,’ but yeah the boys have been awesome. Not much was getting away today, this race knows how to keep it interesting with primes and points, so we had to throw everything at it to get on the podium today. To make it the top step was awesome.”
Men’s results:
Ben Oliver —
Brody McDonald — Golden State Blazers
Maurice Ballerstedt — Unattached
Cade Bickmore
Danny Summerhill — L39ion of Los Angeles
Lucas Bourgoyne — Team Cadence Cyclery
Kyle Tiesler — UTC Butcherbox
Nolan Church — Above and Beyond Cancer
Luca Haines — Empyr Cycling
Dusan Kalaba — Parks Law Firm All Stars
Men’s ACC Overall:
Brody McDonald — 92 points
Maurice Ballerstedt — 89
Danny Summerhill — 86
Lucas Bourgoyne — 84
Dusan Kalaba — 75
Men’s ACC Sprints Leader:
Danny Summerhill
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