Crowds line county roads, villages to cheer on Tour de Leelanau cyclists.

Saturday was a good day for the Priority Health road bicycle racing team and followers of the Tour de Leelanau professional race.

TINA PIC pumps her fist after crossing the finish
line and winning the women’s race.
(Photo courtesy of John L. Russell/Great Lakes Images)

And it was a great day for Garrett Peltonen and Tina Pic, winners of the third annual event.

“Everyone was out in force, cheering the racers on. Each community did something unique. It was really a lot of fun,” said race director Steve Brown, who added that the 2007 race equaled the first two as far as turnout and cooperation with county villages was concerned.

Peltonen, a professional cycling veteran, was the first racer across the finish line next to the Eagle’s
Ridge Conference Center in Peshawbestown in a time of 4:21.03 on the 109-mile course. Ryan Roth of Team Kelly Benefits Strategies finished second in the men’s race, 18 seconds behind Peltonen, and Priority Health racer Scot Zwzanski took third in 4:22.31.

The top three women were separated by only a few seconds after battling throughout the 69-mile race. Pic, of Priority Health, took first in 3:17.58. Team Cheerwine pro Laura Van Gilder was second at 3:17.59, and tour veteran Julie Bellerose third at 3:18.01.

It was a doubly good day for Peltonen and Pic as each also won the King of the Mountain events, the timed races up steep hills throughout the course.

“This was my first time competing in this race, and this was an amazing team win. Those guys from Kelly Advantage really gave us a run for the money,” Peltonen said.

CYCLISTS HEAD south on M-22 after the Tour de Leelanau men's race started in Leland.

The win was also Peltonon’s first this year, though he has had some top-three finishes. He has been competing on the professional circuit for three years and prior to that was a collegiate rider. Peltonen credited his teammates, who he said rode well throughout the race.

“I didn’t get here by myself. Everyone contributed, kept a good pace; it is great win for us,” he said.
Pic was unavailable for comment, but Van Gilder said the course presented some unique challenges.

“It was challenging throughout, though not the way I thought it would,” said Van Gilder, who was competing in the Tour de Leelanau for the first time. “It wasn’t an extremely hilly course, but the hill climbs that were in there were very hard.”

She said the course layout contributed to its uniqueness.

“It seemed like every time there was a sprint, two miles later there was a climb. I was really pressed to keep up a good pace,” she said. She has raced at venues throughout the nation and the world, and called Leelanau “a great place” to race.

“What a beautiful place to have a bike race. The views were breathtaking, and the crowd. Even in the less populated areas, there were people out cheering us on. You don’t always see that, that was nice,” she said.

Fans lined both sides of M-22 in Leland for the start of the men’s race, and supporters were also out in force in Empire, Glen Arbor, Maple City, Cedar, Lake Leelanau, Suttons Bay, Northport and Peshawbestown.

A racer gets attention after being involved in
a crash just after the men’s event started in Leland.
(Photo courtesy of John L. Russell/Great Lakes Images)

With the race most likely moving to May 24 next year, Van Gilder said she is fairly certain she will return for the 2008 edition. “I can’t wait to get back here,” she said.

The men’s race featured a mishap just minutes after the start. Brown said three riders were involved in a collision about a quarter-mile south of Leland, and two had to drop out with injuries. One racer broke his wrist and was taken to Munson Medical Center.

Brown said the third racer, John Cook of Elk Rapids, tried to get back into the race. “But, by that point he was too far behind and couldn’t catch up,” he said.

A rainy morning cast some doubts with “road marshal” volunteers who were charged with sweeping off intersections and stopping traffic. Jim Wichern of Centerville Township pulled double duty as a volunteer. First he helped out at the Schomberg and Garthe roads intersection, then he and Jennifer Fenton made sure the roads were clear at the St. Wenceslaus Church area near Gill’s Pier.

“When I saw the rain in the morning, I was a little concerned. But, it turned out real nice,” Wichern said.

While the race may have ended on Saturday afternoon, the volunteer workforce still had some work to do. Brown said everyone involved was good about making sure the signs marking the race route were taken down in a timely matter later in the day and on Sunday.

One aspect he didn’t get organized, however, was a clean-up crew. On Sunday and Monday, Brown and his wife were out cleaning up the route and staging sites. “Next year, I’m going to make sure we have a clean-up crew,” he pledged Monday.

Racers head north on County Road 637 near St. Wenceslaus Church.

If things go as planned, the 2008 Tour de Leelanau will be held on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Brown said with the Tour de Missouri endurance race being held over an eight-day period in September 2008, most of the professional race teams would not be available to compete in the Tour de Leelanau if it continues to be held on the third Saturday in September.

RACERS CURVE down the entrance road at The Homestead
resort moments after the start of the women’s race Saturday afternoon.

Brown said he won’t receive official word from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) on next year’s race date until November, though he is confident the race will be moved to May. “If we do get that time, I want to hold it on May 25, the day after the Bayshore Marathon,” he said.

With the race likely moving up six months, Brown and his staff will have their hands full getting ready for the 2008 race. He will also host the 2007 Iceman Cometh mountain bike race in November.

“It will be a scramble, we had a lot of things lay until late in the season this year, and it put us kind of behind,” Brown said.