Schneider Narrowly Keeps Jersey at Schlitz Park Criterium

The Tour of America's Dairyland visited arguably the most challenging course of the series: the Schlitz Park Criterium. Racers climb a long, steep hill up Second Avenue, then a winding downhill.

A three-woman break got up the road and New Zealand rider Joanne Kiesanowski (TIBCO) took the win. Sam Schneider, also of TIBCO, took fifth and maintained a narrow one-point lead over Erica Allar (Colavita-Fine Cooking)

Schneider's 15-year-old sister Skylar (TIBCO) finished back in the field and lost her Cat. 2 series leader's jersey. Skylar is limited to "junior gearing" because of her age, which means she doesn't have the big gears needed to ride fast down hill.

As a testament to her positive personality, Skylar awarded the Oarsmn Capital Top Amateur Jersey to Laura Jorgenson (Mellow Mushroom). Skylar is now just two points behind Jorgensen.

Here is Tom Held's report in the Journal Sentinel.

Nathan Labecki (ISCorp-Intelligentsia Coffee) finished again as the top amateur in the Pro Men's field to maintain his lead in the Cat. 2 Oarsman Capital series.

Wisconsin natives Jordan Cullen (Hagens Berman Development Team), James Stemper (Kenda 5-Hour Energy) and Cole House (Intelligentsia Coffee) finished second, third, and sixth in the pro men's race respectively.

For Team Velocause, Benny Smith had a great result in finishing third in the Masters 3/4 race. Ross Giese also finished 13th. Smith is now fifth in the 35 plus overall series, while Giese is sixth in the 45 plus overall.

Brian Leatherman, Michael Froh, and Chris Zugel finished the Masters 1/2 race. Andy Feuersthaler, who took the night off, is still in seventh overall in the 35 plus series, while Leatherman moved up to ninth. Froh is now fourth in the 45 plus series.

Schneider Second in Waukesha ToAD; Stays in Lead

Samantha Schneider (Team TIBCO) took second in the Waukesha stage of the Tour of America's Dairyland, maintaining her slim lead in the overall. The stage was the second of two National Criterium Calendar races for ToAD. 

Erica Allar (Colavita-Fine Cooking) took the win in a sprint finish.  Sam has a one-point lead over Allar in the overall series. 

Schneider's 15-year-old sister Skyler was 10th and maintained her lead in the category 2 series overall. She is also seventh in the pro women overall.

Ken Hansen (United HealthCare) won his second consecutive men's race but local rider James Stemper (Kenda 5-Hour Energy tried to make the race his own by spending the majority off the front in breakaway attempts. 

Fox Point resident Chad Hartley (Athlete Octane) took 16th while helping his teammate Daniel Holloway to a second place finish. Holloway leads the overall series for the pro men. 

Velocause racer Andy Feuersthaler finished 10th in the masters 35 category 1/2 race. Feuersthaler is now third in the 1/2 35 plus overall category. 

Benny Smith, also of Velocause, finished ninth in the masters 3/4 race. Smith is sixth overall in the 35 plus 3/4 series. 

Local riders Evan Hartig (KS Energy) and Nathan Labecki (ISCorp) took second and fourth in the category 2/3 race. 

The racers head to Beloit today for the Beloit Bike Classic. On Tuesday, they will be at Schlitz Park, on Saturday the Downer Classic, and Sunday in Wauwatosa.