June 26th: Madison Capital Criterium

presented by Trek Bicycle and American Family Insurance

Mellow Mushroom and Aerocat Dominate

The 2011 Tour of America's Dairyland presented by Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board came to a close on Sunday, appropriately at the Dairyland's state capital of Madison, before sun-drenched fans, Katie Wirkus - the 64th Alice in Dairyland, and a break-dancing Bucky Badger, the University of Wisconsin-Madison mascot.

At the day's starting line, female riders offered Don Becker, the man behind the Becker Law Pink Jersey, a round of applause for his continued dedication to women's cycling.

The Mellow Mushroom trio of Laura Van Gilder, Kristen Lasasso and Carrie Cash-Wooten became podium stars as well as crowd favorites early on in ToAD, and that's just how they left the Tour. Van Gilder, who won eight of the 11 ToAD contests including Sunday the at Madison Capital Criterium p/b Trek Bicycles and American Family Insurance, was bested only twice by teammate Lasasso and once by Ashley James (Team Kenda p/b Geargrinder) at the Ripon Time Trial.

The sixth-tenths of a mile Madison course was fast, holding the field together much of the day. A couple primes sparked some action, and with an assist from Lasasso, Van Gilder pounded away at the front of the field in the last lap for the stage win and permanent placement in the Becker Law Pink Overall Champion Jersey. Emily Collins (VanderKitten) and Holly Mathews (ISCorp) rounded out the stage podium, with Cari Higgins (Peanut Butter & Co.) and Lassaso joining on the second and third step, respectively, of the Overall podium.

Cash-Wooten had a mechanical inside eight laps to go but fought back the remainder of the race to hang on and finish to secure Mellow Mushroom's spot atop the 5-hour Energy Pro Women's Team Competition. Mellow Mushroom exhibited the essence of teamwork throughout the 11-days.

In the contest for the highly sought after Oarsman Capital Cat 2 Amateur Green Jersey, the volley fell in Kelley Hess' (Team Kenda) favor, snipping the title and jersey away from Teddergreen by a mere three points. Oarsman Capital's Bob Phelps presented the Overall jerseys, along with a little extra green, to both the winning female and male Cat 2 Amateur riders.

In the Pro Men's Race, a solid breakaway of three formed just five laps in, which went nowhere fast except farther up the road. Daniel Holloway (Kelly Benefits Strategies p/b Optum Health), Brett Tivers (Garneau Test Team) and Serghei Tvetcov (Aerocat) made up the well-oiled untouchable machine that left the field resigned to focusing on fourth place and beyond. As the gap exceeded 41 seconds and the breakaway was on approach to lap the field, attacks were attempted and then pulled back. The break appeared cool as if on a practice ride just cycling through the paceline.

Primes were flying out the window faster than snow cones on a hot summer day... $100... $250... $500... $750... $1,000... and the field started to shatter. Chad Hartley (Kenda 5-hour Energy p/b Geargrinder), Rafael Meran (Foundation/CRCA), Shaun McCarthy (Garneau) and Cole House (Realcyclist.com) all got in on the money, as did Tivers himself, to create some excitement. But with just two to go, the field was wrecked. The 3-man break of strength held together from just lap five of the day's 90-minute race, and with one to go, it was Tvetcov attacking on the backside. But Holloway stuck it for the narrow win over Tvetcov and Tivers, who were in at two and three. Meran took the field sprint.

Tvetcov went home in the Yellow and White cow print Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board Overall Champion Jersey, as Hartley and Euris Rafael Vidal (Foundation/CRCA) rounded out the Overall Pro Men's podium for the Series. Aerocat, who came to ToAD expecting to exit earlier in the week, stayed for the fun and the money, entertaining each other and the crowd, and ultimately walking away with the 5-hour Energy Pro Men's Team Omnium title.

ISCorp's James Bird held on to win the Oarsman Capital Cat 2 Amateur Green Jersey over Kuhl's Dallas Fowler. Young Bird is certain to be a name on the ToAD podium for years to come.

On the drive on the Interstate out of Madison, the Kelly Benefits Strategies team car passed the ToAD pace car on the left and honked. Seems the squad only knows one speed, fast, regardless of how many wheels they're traveling on.

Big thanks to all the riders of every race category who came out to share their stories, sweat and smiles with fellow racers and fans. See you all in 2012. Register early.fields will fill up early! Thank you for making the 2011 Tour of America's Dairyland presented by Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board a mooo-velous year!

View previous race reports in the archive.