Ryan Aitcheson wins Glencoe Grand Prix

Ryan Aitcheson (Astellas Cyling Team) took top honors at the 10th Annual Glencoe Grand Prix presented by the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, held outside of Chicago, Illinois. The Canadian’s second win at the TUFMED USA CRITS SERIES came out of a sprint after lapping the main field with Bryan Gomez (Gateway Harley-Davidson/Trek U25) and Ryan Knapp (First Internet Bank Cycling), who finished second and third, respectively.

On the same course that was used for the 2010 U.S. Criterium Nationals, 72 riders set off on a challenging 10-corner, 2.2 km circuit that equated to around 80 km of racing.

Knapp was the first rider to take a crack off the front and stretch out a significant advantage of 30 seconds, 10 laps into the race.

After letting Knapp enjoy some solo time off the front, Ryan Aitcheson, who was sitting fourth overall in the Series at the start of the seventh race, decided the move turned dangerous and attacked out of the field. Gomez saw an opportunity to get into a break with this year’s winner of Athens Twilight and went along for the ride.

“Knapp is definitely someone to keep an eye out for,” Aitchenson said about the decision to bridge. “He’s been on the radar for a few years. We used to be teammates, so I know exactly how strong he is. I knew it was tempting to let him sit out there a little longer, but it was getting dangerous really quick.”

It took about 10 laps, but Aitcheson and Gomez finally made the connection as they came through the start/finish with 26 laps left in the race. The three worked well together, good enough, in fact, to eventually lap the field with six laps remaining.

“It ended up rolling,” Aitcheson said. “I was quite surprised. I was waiting for more guys to come up and help us, but we pulled pretty hard and we ended up lapping, which I surprised about.

With the original break safely in the field, it was down to their teammates to negotiate the top three through the bunch for final placings. First Internet Bank Cycling team set a fierce tempo for Knapp until inside two laps to go, when Astellas came to the front for Aitcheson.

Current BikeReg Best Young Rider Eamon Lucas was the last Astellas rider to lead Aitcheson through the final corner. Gomez was firmly stuck on his wheel, but failed to come around the Canadian.

Maxwell Ackermann (Gateway Harley-Davidson/Trek U25) won the bunch sprint out of the lapped field to take home fourth place.

In the TUFMED USA CRITS standings, Thomas Gibbons (Unattached) maintained his lead with 1223 points. Aitcheson moved up into second with 1119, and his teammate Lucas is sitting in third with 1092 points.

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