Tour de C-U Recap, Interviews & Pictures

Submitted by Vanessa Buccella on Wed, 05/09/2012 - 12:10pm

I, your Illinois Cycling Association race reporter, could only get to the Tour de C-U for a short period this weekend (namely just for the Cat 4 women’s race on Sunday). However, wheel purveyor, Rob Curtis, was there all weekend and had this to say about the fun times in Champaign-Urbana.

Up times, down state. Scarletfire Racing and Wild Card put together another historical weekend of racing in the Champaign-Urbana area with this year’s edition of the Tour de C-U. Lots of teams from all over Illinois as well as some great teams from across the Midwest helped to make this year’s racing action packed from the first race (Women’s Open) on Saturday until the last race (Women’s Open) on Sunday.
The well received courses received tons of praise from the racers as gear was pushed to its limits between the wide open speed course on Saturday and Sunday’s technical course in downtown. The lower categories seemed like a sea of orange as local Illini, and Wild Card racers swarmed the fields while the top ranks were filled with attacks form some of the region’s fastest pro ranks.

The Primes seemed to flow like the Champaign on the podiums did as the mostly incident free racing led to some exciting conclusions on Saturday. Cady Chintis (Les Petites Victoires) was on the top step for the women's open race and David Reyes (Bloomington Cycle Racing Team) was the top Illinois finisher for the men's P/1/2. Sunday’s racing was spotted with some great performances like Mara Bartabols (Bicycle Heaven and interviewed below) winning her first race in the W4, and Chicagoan Katie Isermann (PSIMET Racing) landing on the top spot in the last race of the day, not to mention top Illinois finisher in the Men’s P1/2 – Nick Ramirez (Enzo’s/PSIMET) taking that $90 crowd prime while on his way to finishing 4th overall.

Teeth clinched as the cacophony of carbon, aluminum and flesh meeting ground rang out in the 3’s race on Sunday. A simple late in the race wheel touch seemed to lead to the weekend’s largest issue that resulted in a complete stoppage of racing. Individuals and volunteers jumped into action, pulling bikes off the road, and stabilizing riders so they could be assessed. Elmhurst racer Jostein Alvestad (EMC2/Elmhurst Masters), who was in the race at the time, even hopped off his bike and jumped to the aid of fellow racers. The race was then restarted for the final and uneventful two laps.
Between the beautiful weather, Cinco de Mayo celebrations, welcoming neighborhoods and community support – this year’s event once again delivered on a fabulous weekend of racing for all.

Thanks Rob! Full results are up on the USAC Website for both Champaign and Urbana.

We also have some killer photog talent on the ICA board this year! ICA president Loch Miwa took a break from officiating duties but to snap awesome photos of the weekend. Along with the top photo, some other the selects are below, but you can head to his Smug Mug Page for a full look.

Mara, Sunday's Women's 4s Winner: