The men's team race, Iowa City Cycling Club looks poised to repeat as champions. They have a 32 point lead on 2nd place Bikes2You and will have a strong contingent of riders in Des Moines for the final weekend.
The women's team race is a little closer fight with ICCC making up 13 points on leader Punk Rock Cycling at the State Road Race. 26 points is a lot to make up, but, with 2 races there's a chance.
The women's open and Men's 50+ category are both wrapped up with Lisa Vetterlein the champion in the Women's open and Chris Eastburn taking the 50+ title. The only question remaining in the Women's race is who will take 3rd. Eastburn's 2nd place in the State Road Race earned him the guaranteed win going into the final weekend. Dan Shaffer's 3rd at State, puts him in position to overtake Tom Eaton for 2nd.
The Cat 4 Men have yet to overtake upgraded leader Vance Fletcher, however, 2nd-4th sit 1,2, and 3 points behind and one or all of them should make up the final podium. Travis Jass leads the way with 28 points but Kevin Severs is the hotest rider in the category, scoring his 27 points in the last 4 races. Gavin Huseboe is 1 point behind Severs in 3rd.
The other category being led by an upgraded rider is the Women's cat 4. Dee Mable won the State Road Race and sits 1 point back of the current leader. Cara Hamann, who finished 2nd to Dee, trails by 5 points.
Paul Denninger chose to race the 40+ instead of the 1,2 race and extended his lead by 3 points over Scott Wall. Wall was 2nd to Denninger on the day and in the standings. Jim Cochran and Jerome Rewerts sit tied, well behind, for 3rd.
In the Men's Cat 3 race, Kris Kunze scored the win and moved himself into contention, 4th place (active 3s) and 12 points behind leader Brendan Kealey. Kevin Tempel and Andrew Buntz sit 2nd and 3rd among current cat 3s. If any of those riders want the podium, they'll need to unseat 3 upgraded riders sitting 2nd-4th currently.
Jeff Barnes tightened the Men's 1,2 race in a big way with his victory on Saturday. Only 1 point seperates leader Bryan Moritz and Barnes. This category will come down to the final weekend with 7 riders in mathematical chances to win. The winner should come from the current top 3: Moritz, Barnes, and Derek Cassady.
Click on the Zealous Racing logo to the left for full standings.
The next race in the series is the Big Creek Road Race, Saturday August 21. This is a short, flat race that can produce a surprise winner in any category. The final race is the next day: The East Village Criterium. In contrast to Big Creek, there is no hiding and only the strongest will take the victory. It will be a great weekend of racing with something for everyone.
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