Switzerland's Aline Seitz (UTC Butcherbox) and Ben Oliver seized top points in the American Criterium Cup (ACC) Saturday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with sprint victories in the Cafe Hollander Otto Wenz Downer Classic.
The longstanding Downer Classic criterium did double duty as the third stop in the ACC national series and the 10th of 11 races in the regional Kwik Trip Tour of America's Dairyland p/b ISCorp (ToAD), now in its 17th season in different communities throughout Southeast Wisconsin.
A track specialist in the winter, Seitz waited until the last 100 metres to seize the win, leaving Odett Lynch (Fearless Femmes Racing p/b Robertet) and Arielle Verhaaren (Automatic Racing) in her wake for second and third, respectively.
Without ACC women's individual leader Kendall Ryan (L39ION of Los Angeles) among the field to defend points, Seitz seized the ACC red leader's jersey with her first series win of the year.
“I just came here to the US to have fun and fun with my teammates and that’s what I’m having right now,” Seitz said after the race. “You need to race these like you race on the track so I do this to get a little practice for the track racing skills as well so I’m super happy to do this. It’s so cool that I’m the leader right now, I can’t even believe it."
Among the field of 108 women, were local favourite and WorldTour rider Skylar Schneider (SD Worx-Protime) and Marlies Mejias (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28), who took the ACC sprint lead after her fifth place finish. While Schneider finished 14th at Downer Grove, she came away with a win earlier in the week at Central Bay View Classic. Mejías came away on Sunday as the GC titlist at ToAD for elite women with six victories across nine events.
Seitz raced eight of the 11 days of the Kwik Trip Tour of America's Dairyland (ToAD) and came away with four podiums, including the win Saturday, and a fourth on GC for the collection of criterium events.
The field for the men's race was 172 riders strong for 75 minutes of action. Danny Summerhill (L39ION of Los Angeles) was especially active in the middle of the race and was rewarded by full points at the mid-race ACC green jersey sprint to solidify his series lead in that category.
Several riders from Project Echelon Racing and Cadence Cyclery made moves in the final laps of the contest, but it was the final three laps with $4,500 worth of primes on the line that amped up the field sprint.
Oliver pushed the accelerator on the barriers after the final corner and pushed past Brody McDonald (Golden State Blazers) to win in a photo finish. Maurice Ballerstedt took third ahead of Cade Bickmore (Project Echelon Racing) and Summerhill.
For Oliver, it was his fourth win at ToAD for the week and his first ACC win. With second place, McDonald moved into the ACC individual men's lead.
“The boys cooked the last corner, and I didn’t want to go from that last corner, but I had momentum so I had to go for it,” Oliver said of his final sprint. “I tried to drill it from the right side and it was way too long from the last corner, but, woof, that must have been a close photo finish.”
