THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014
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COMPETITION
PAGE 7
Tour of Lawrence hosts sixth annual cycling race
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
Cyclists racing in the annual Meadowbrook Apartments KU Campus Circuit ride south on Mississippi Street past Marvin Grove Saturday. The race was a part of the weekend-long Tour of Lawrence.
GJ MELIA news@kansan.com
The sixth annual Tour of Lawrence bike races finished up Sunday afternoon after an entertaining and successful weekend.
Friday night consisted of some short street sprint races. Only the men's and women's professional divisions participated in the warm-up sprints before the endurance circuit race on Saturday.
Saturday races continued as scheduled despite heavy rain in Lawrence in the afternoon. The rain did affect many of the riders, including Benn Stover, a member of cycling team GP Velotek and the KU Cycling Club.
"I thought I was doing everything right, I think I was running a little too much pressure in my tires so they didn't have enough traction," Stover, a junior from Lawrence, said. "I crashed out, a lot of people crashed out. I think only around 20 guys finished or so."
The first circuit of the day was the men's masters 40 and older category. The next race had the 60 and older men's division competing. Races in men's and women's pro divisions rounded out Saturday afternoon.
GP Velotek had 35 riders associated with the team compete throughout the weekend's races, including seven in the men's pro field. Most notably, University sophomore and team member Garrick Valverde from Lawrence finished second overall in the men's pro category. In addition, Stover finished second in Friday's street sprints.
Stover said the team made progress through the weekend.
"Our team did really well, it was kind of a breakthrough event for GP Velotek," he said.
The events kicked off on Sunday with men's and women's masters 40 and older. The free kid's bike race followed, with the men's pro criterium races after that. The juniors took to the course a little later with ages 9 to 14 and 15 to 18 competing, but the final race was in the men's pro division, wrapping up the weekend.
Stover said despite campus construction and scheduling conflicts, the Tour was successful overall.
"For the event itself, I think it was a success," Stover said. "The people and the whole event [were] just excellent, like it is every year."
Edited by Ashleigh Lee
CHECK OUT THE GALLERY AND VIDEO AT KANSAN.COM
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
Cyclists in the Tour of Lawrence race past the Memorial Campanile on the University campus Saturday. The Tour consisted of multiple men's and women's skill-level events.
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