Intelligentsia Cup cycling race begins in West Dundee, heads to Glen Ellyn next
Elite cyclists converged on West Dundee Friday for the opening stage of the Intelligentsia Cup, a leg-burning tour of Chicago and the suburbs.
The pros and amateurs took on a short, but thrilling course through the Old Town North neighborhood, racing downhill at breakneck speeds on Geneva Street, past the Fox River and cheering spectators. The last test: the "leg-breaker" climb just before the finish line.
The 10-day Intelligentsia Cup has become one of the most prominent road racing series in the country. Last year, the series drew 5,412 entries, many in more than one race, with cyclists from 42 states and 17 countries.
The top-tier cyclists head to Glen Ellyn Saturday for the second leg of the series.
"The guys that are riding in the men's pro race, there will be a number of them that will end up in the grand tours of Europe eventually," organizer Jim Burket said.
The Tour of Lake Ellyn also is notable for its scenery: a cozy park, a high school that resembles a Tudor-style castle and front-yard tent parties lining the route. But the racers are not sightseeing.
"We've got everything from hills to a hairpin turn to a roundabout," Burket said.
Cyclists accustomed to relatively flat criterium events, or "crits," encounter a nuanced terrain in Glen Ellyn. There are punishing hilly sections and a tight turn into the sprint to the finish line on Lenox Road. The course originally was designed by John Vande Velde, a Glen Ellyn native and two-time Olympian in the 1968 and 1972 Games.
"You've got a good atmosphere, and you have an unusual course to run a race on, and these guys are used to running on flat lands, and they come out here, and they get just the opposite," Burket said.
Now a tradition in its eighth year, a full day of racing turns an ordinarily quiet neighborhood park into a summer festival scene, complete with food, vendors, live music and a beer garden. Bands will be performing on the Lake Ellyn Boathouse deck from 2 to 6 p.m. The Beer Cellar and Alter Brewing Company will be pouring craft suds.
Burket is again teaming up with the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry as the tour's charitable partner and plans to donate event proceeds to the nonprofit.
Glen Ellyn also is the first stop in the DuPage Triple Crown, a series within a series with its own point system, cash prizes and a winner's jersey at stake. The Tour of Lake Ellyn, Winfield's Criterium on Sunday and the Lombard Cycling Classic on Tuesday are run as a multiple-race event called an omnium. The DuPage Sports Commission, an arm of the DuPage Convention & Visitors Bureau, developed the concept to help bring crowds to downtown areas.
• Daily Herald staff writer Dave Oberhelman contributed to this report
Intelligentsia Cup Schedule
The Intelligentsia Cup cycling series runs through July 30. Full schedules can be found at <a href="https://intelligentsiacup.com/">intelligentsiacup.com</a>. Here's a look at the suburban races:
Saturday, July 22: The Ray Whalen Builders Tour of Lake Ellyn
Events from 10 a.m.-6:45 p.m., starting at Lenox Road off Linden Street, Glen Ellyn
Sunday, July 23: Winfield Criterium & Summerfest
Events from 10 a.m.-6:55 p.m., starting on Winfield Road at Creekside Park
Monday, July 24: Tighthead Mundelein Grand Prix
Events from 10:20 a.m.-6:45 p.m., starting at Seymour Avenue and Hawley Street
Tuesday, July 25: Lombard Cycling Classic
Events from 10:20 a.m.-6:45 p.m., starting at St. Charles Road and Park Avenue
Thursday, July 27: Northbrook Grand Prix
Events from 11:10 a.m.-6:45 p.m., starting on Shermer Road at Village Green Park
Friday, July 28: Elgin Classic in Memory of Dennis Jurs
Events from 11:10 a.m.-6:45 p.m., starting at Cooper Avenue and Spring Street