Laura Van Gilder proves too strong again

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Laura Van Gilder (Peanut Butter & Co) and Chad Hartley (Kenda p/b Geargrinder) were the winner’s on stage two of the Tour of America’s Dairyland, but both can thank excellent team performances for their results.

Women’s Race

It wasn’t until midway through the race that a break finally stuck. Four riders; Vanessa Drigo (Vanderkitten-Focus), Courteney Lowe (FCS Cycling), Van Gilder and Cari Higgins (Peanut Butter & Co.) worked together to get some sort of an advantage off the front of the field.

The field however was moving at a blistering pace, and they made the catch with a number of laps to go. With riders at the back struggling to hang on, the jockeying for position began. Two laps to go found Lasasso sitting on the front with all eyes on her last night’s prize.

Riders spread all over the road with Kacey Manderfield (Pure Energy/Pro Air) sitting 4th wheel up front, Mellow Mushroom showed some bite and took over the show with one lap to go. In the words of announcer Brad Sohner, Van Gilder and Lasasso were “stuck to each other like white on rice”. Coming around the corner fast into the short finishing stretch, Van Gilder turned on the jets to earn the day’s top spot on the podium, with Drigo and Manderfield standing at second and third.

Men’s Race

For the elite men, grimaces of pain started to surface with 24 laps to go as the day’s sharp, fast course visibly tapped some energy reserves. Kenda 5-hour Energy p/b Geargrinder worked strategically throughout the race to position teammate Isaac Howe for another win but after 90 minutes, it was teammate Chad Hartley, 2009 Overall Tour of America’s Dairyland Champion, who reigned supreme.

With roughly 16 to go, the story centered around the three riders up the road – Hartley, Juan Pablo Dotti (Aerocat Cycling) and Rudy Napolitano (Monster Media) – who sped away like a runaway train. Even a $300 field prime with nine to go couldn’t bridge the ultimate gap of 35 seconds. Two riders; Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V Australia) and Andy Crater (Seranet p/b Yoga 1) launched a Herculean effort to drive the pace and bring back the breakaway to no avail.

Three dynamic sprinters -one hefty tailwind coming out of final turn. It could have been anyone’s race but the headlines will read: Hartley, Dotti, and Napolitano - 1, 2, 3.

Cantwell, pipped at the line last night by Howe, narrowly edged out Rahsaan Bahati (SKIL p/b Pista Palace) in the field sprint, which was enough to land him in the overall yellow and white jersey.

Full Results