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Early action in the Men’s 1/2/3 race.  photo by Andy Frye

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The skies stayed clear this year but high winds proved to be a decisive factor on the day.  The Hopkins Criterium, a favorite course of many, had large fields and fast racing.

In the opening race of the day, the Men’s 50+, Charlie Townsend of SPBRC snuck away early and soloed to an easy victory.

In the Men’s 4/5 race the field stayed together until the final laps when Marc Kermish of Loon State Cycling took to the front and drilled the last two laps keeping the pace high and the field strung out.  With a free ride on Kermish’s wheel, Ben Schinke of Silver Cycling was able to capitalize and pull around Kermish for the win in the homestretch.  Brian Kozickj nipped Kermish at the line for second.

The 35+ Open was saw another large field toe the line.  Despite several break attempts the larger teams were unable to contain things and the pack was tightly bunched nearing the end.  Matt Muyres of Silver Cycling made a solo move with about 3 laps to go.  The field gave chase and quickly amped the pace back up and gobbled Muyres up with less than a lap remaining when a group of six, led by Brian Koeneman of Grandstay, surged to the front.  Jay Woller of Bicycle Haus took home the victory by taking the field sprint over Laszlo Alberti with Koeneman rounding out the podium.

Next up was the Women’s Cat 4 race where four riders jumped off the front and eventually lapped the field.  The breakaway four stayed together until the final lap where Patti Koehler of Birchwood Racing got clear of the others for the win.  Koehler was followed by Dano Barret of MNJRC, Cheryl Barker of Gopher Wheelpersons, and Kristy LaVigne of Silver Cycling. 

The Juniors field was a small one and with the windy conditions and the big early effort of eventual race winner Anthony Olson of Flat City Cycling Club, the field was shattered.  Olson soloed on to an easy victory.

A larger field in the Women’s Open race that included racers from the big three of Flanders, Birchwood, and Verve racing promised to offer some exciting racing and didn’t dissapoint the spectators.  After several unsuccessful breakaway attempts early it appeared that a late move that included one rider from each team was going to be the decisive one.  Sara Morse of Verve Racing was thinking otherwise and despite having a teammate in the break, put in a huge effort with one to go and pulled the field back together.  Morse’s move proved to be well played as she sprinted clear of Flanders riders Shana Sturla and Linda Sone.

In the Men’s 3/4 race Jason Prudhom of Grumpy’s/LGR got away solo mid-race and built a lead of over a fourth of a lap, gobbling up primes along the way.  A Birchwood rider gave chase and tried a solo bridge.  But as many breakaway attempts on the day, the wind wore them down and the field quickened the pace to gradually bring things back together.  Despite many other break attempts, the race had come back together and looked like things would be settled in a large field sprint.  With over a lap to go, Matt Anderson looked to continue a successful day by the race host Flat City Cycling Club and launched a vicious solo charge that no one responded to.  As the gap grew, the field focused on the race for second.  Don “Donimator” Schmeichel of Loon State Cyclists put in a big charge down the backstretch with several in tow.  Schmeichel bulled his way to the front and entered the final turn leading the field and hung on to win the field sprint for second place.  Matt Cimino of SPBRC/GP rounded out the podium in third.

The marquee event of the day was the Men’s 1/2/3 race.  Jay “Hollywood” Henderson who had been entertaining the crowd all day started the event with style by doing some rider call-ups.  With called up riders like Doug Swanson of Grandstay, Chris Doig of Flanders, Dan Swanson of Grandstay, Dale Sedgewick of SPBRC/GP, and Tim Mulrooney of Synergy and others like Aric Hareland of Synergy, Bjorn Selander of Ridley Factor, and Pat Lemieux of SPBRC/GP the field was stacked with talent.

The race proceeded like many others on the day with many early break-away attempts which fed a furious pace.  With nearly 40 laps to go a group of four got away and soon became just three.  The trio of Jens Brabbit of SPBRC/GP, Micah Moran, and Dave Zimmerman of Flanders worked together and built a sizeable lead that ballooned to nearly 40 second at times.   Several who missed what was looking to be the winning move, most notably Hareland, attempted to bridge but were unsuccessful.  The break stayed clear and Zimmerman had the more left in the tank at the end and outsprinted his breakaway companions.  Brabbit came home second and Moran third.

Dan Casper of Grandstay and Sedgewick got clear of the field to battle for fourth and fifth with Sedgewick pulling away for fourth.

Results:

Photos by Frye:

Women’s Cat 4

Women’s Open

Men’s 3/4

Men’s 1/2/3