Passeron tops Fond du Lac GP

Image 1 of 10

On the ninth day of racing at the Tour of America’s Dairyland presented by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, the races moved to the Fond du Lac Bicycling Gran Prix, where Jen Purcell (Team Hotel San Jose-Gary Fisher), who raced the series for the first day today, blew the field apart after making a solo breakaway from the race just a few laps into the hour-long battle. Hours later, Aurelion Passeron (Garneau) launched it into warp speed overdrive for his victory.

Purcell stayed away solo for the first twenty of minutes of the race before being joined by three riders, as Kristin Wentworth (Team Kenda), Julie Jerue (Nova ISCorp), and Kristina Seeley (Touchstone Climbing) bridged up together to join Purcell. Just as the group of four leaders were settling into a rhythm after opening a gap of nearly 40 seconds, Purcell again exploded out of the group, dropping her three new breakway companions, drawing looks of fear from the group of three left dangling between Purcell and the field.

The break would eventually come back together in the last laps but Purcell again asserted her dominance, sprinting away from the group along Main Street in downtown Fond du Lac, as Jerue would come in second, with Wentworth rounding out the talented and tired podium.

Sydney Brown (Treads.com/DFT) escaped the field roughly halfway through the race, and soloed to fifth place, fighting off a hard charging field nearly every lap while desperately fighting to bridge to the lead group.

Spectators in Fond du Lac were treated to two exciting finishes, as the race for the overall yellow cow print leaders jersey unfolded in the field after it became clear that the break was safely away. Sarah Caravella (Team CARD), who wore the yellow jersey coming into the day’s race, marked Carrie Cash Wootten (Team Vera Bradley Foundation) early in the race. At seven to go, Cash-Wootten exploded off the front of the field, registering the fastest speed of the day at 35 mph, but the break was short lived, and she was eventually swallowed back by the field just a few laps later.

But Cash-Wootten was able to recover during the final five laps, eventually sprinting out of the field to take sixth place, bringing her closer to regaining the yellow leaders jersey. Caravella finished the day in ninth, enough to keep her in the yellow for another day, leading the series just eight points ahead of Cash-Wootten, setting up an all out battle for the yellow jersey on the storied Downer Avenue course on Saturday.

And then there were two

A dozen laps to go before a screaming, cowbell-wielding crowd, and a two-man breakaway of Aurelion Passeron (Garneau) and Adam Bergman (Texas Roadhouse), a familiar face on the 2009 Tour of America’s Dairyland podium, emerged, creating a 15-second gap. On the chase was the force of Kenda Pro Cycling-GEARGRINDER and a stream of Rubicon Orbea yellow. Fast-forward a couple laps, and Bergman, pounding it out, seemed to be losing a little steam while James Stemper (Kenda Pro Cycling-GEARGRINDER), a man of many expressions, started to get a little vocal and cause some major locomotion. But Passeron and Bergman clung together, lap after lap, refusing penetration from the field. The field’s organization started to crumble with seven to go as Kenda Pro Cycling-GEARGRINDER moved riders to the front, taking over for Rubicon Orbea.

Then came an enticing crowd prime of $200 with six laps remaining. Enough incentive for the field to jump off the front, Logan Garey (Team Rio Grande), a returning 2009 crowd favorite, planted a solid sprint to claim the green before slipping, out of gas, to the back of the field. Bergman, still a close shadow of Passeron’s, took a look back at five to go to see the field closing in. Passeron, cranking it all day with Stemper, seemed to be amid an effortless exercise, floating toward victory. Kenda Pro Cycling-GEARGRINDER was now out of the field and on the chase as the rest of the field sat back, with Passeron’s teammate parked at the front.

Two remaining and Rob Bush (Kenda Pro Cycling-GEARGRINDER) jumped out of the field late, head down, putting forth a huge effort but he just couldn’t hang on. It all came down to the two-man lightning show between Passeron, on the inside, and Bergman, with Passeron and Bergman hitting the line as 1 and 2, respectively, with less a wheel width of separation. Andrew Gonzales (FCS/Metro Volkwagen) hopped atop the third step on the podium. Passeron, in pure gentleman-like fashion, later presented his victory bouquet back to the podium girl.

Positioning for the leader’s jersey remained as it was announced 24 hours earlier with Stemper, who finished fifth for the day, in yellow, and teammate Chad Hartley, holding on to second place Overall. Rudy Napolitano (Team Helen’s) is not so ready to part with third. But with just two days remaining in the 2010 Tour of America’s Dairyland, this tug-of-war for the Overall jersey is about to burst into an inferno of a competition as racing continues Saturday at the ISCorp Downer Classic on Milwaukee’s Eastside before coming to a close at the Carl Zach Cycling Classic in Waukesha on Sunday.

Elite Men