Down[pour]-ers Grove

One of the unfortunate circumstances of sports is that the women's events are not viewed in the same regard as the men's. We've heard it all before, women aren't as athletic, aren't as strong, or aren't as fast. As such, most of the women's events are viewed with less interest and are often held as a precursor to the main attraction, the men.

But looking at what the riders, especially the women, had to endure this weekend at the USPRO National Criterium Championships in Downers Grove, IL, you can definitely take "aren't as tough" off the list [if you haven't done so already].

On Saturday, the 18th, a deluge of rain made for some precarious conditions during the Women's Pro 1/2/3 International Challenge. Coming through it all was Tibco's Brooke Miller (Photo: Kurt Jambretz).

By the time the men came out to race, the rain had subsided but it was still a soggy affair. The conditions turned many of the big names into spectators, as they chose to save themselves for Sunday's National Championship races.

The Men's Pro 1/2 International Challenge was won by BMC's Kelly Hanson who beat Dominque Rollin (Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada) and Darren Lill (Navigators) to the line.

The rains continued on Sunday for the National Championship races. Navigating the wet roads during the Women's race was the venerable Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Homes), who had to feel a bit of vindication after last year's finale which saw her pull the endo of all endos (at least ones that I've seen captured on film) when Laura Van Gilder's foot got caught up in Pic's front wheel (see inset, click to enlarge).

The 50km Men's race was won by Daniel Holloway (VMG Racing),

All Holloway
(Photo: Kurt Jambretz/www.actionimages.cc)

while the 100km race was won by Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast's Martin Gilbert. The Canadian (center) barely pipped Ada, MI's own Kirk O'Bee (Health-Net presented by Maxxis) at the line.

Photo: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us

The Stars & Stripes jersey, however, went to O'Bee (Photo: Casey B. Gibson). In an interview with Cyclingnews' Mark Zalewski, O'Bee admitted to being a bit disappointed coming by the jersey for the second time under similar circumstances.

"I was upset I lost the race overall and it overshadowed winning the jersey. I wanted to improve upon the last time. It was Harm Jansen last time - he attacked with a couple to go and there were a lot of Americans in the break and we all looked at each other. It almost worked out this time."

For the former USPRO National Criterium Champion and Forest Hills Central High School product, it's been a long way back. In 2002, O'Bee was suspended for 1 year after he tested positive for a high testosterone-epitestosterone level (haven't we heard that somewhere before). Winning the Stars and Stripes is certainly the culmination of a great season; one which saw O'Bee return to the podium in several races and once again living up to the promising status he once held while racing for Navigators Insurance.