Race Report: 2026 Tour of America’s Dairyland - Men’s Cat 2/3
Race: Tour of America’s Dairyland - Men’s Cat 2/3
Date: June 18-22, 2026
AVRT racers: George Wehner
Top Result:
Omnium: George 11/65
Day 1: George 27/39
Day 2: George 11/46
Day 3: George 6/50
Day 4: George 12/41
Day 5: George 17/37
Course:
Day 1: 0.5-mile 4-corner crit
Day 2: 0.6-mile L-shaped crit with a hairpin
Day 3: 0.6-mile, raced like a 4-corner crit
Day 4: 0.8-mile crit with a hairpin in turn 1 and narrow roads on the backside
Day 5: 0.6-mile crit with technical switchbacks in a parking lot
Strava:
Day 1: https://www.strava.com/activities/18976926736
Day 2: https://www.strava.com/activities/18989111707
Day 3: https://www.strava.com/activities/19001896138
Day 4: https://www.strava.com/activities/19015268688
Day 5: https://www.strava.com/activities/19027039331
Nutrition: Water w/120g carbs before the race, water during the race, choccy milk to recover
Recap:
Day 1: This was my first day here so I was basically just getting the lay of the land. I thought this course was going to race more like a straightforward 4-corner crit, but it was really hard to move up because the lap was so short. I also felt like the field was pretty unpredictable so I wasn’t that comfortable moving around. In the final laps I just wasn’t willing to fight for position as hard as I needed to, so I rolled in unceremoniously near the back.
Day 2: With the hairpin and this course being a bit hilly, this race was harder, which was better for me. It took me a while to figure out the course, but I found some good lines in the hairpin and I also found great lines moving up on the outside of corners. I was a bit too far back with 2 laps to go, probably 20th wheel, but made some good moves to move up to around 10th going into the final corner; I basically just maintained position during the sprint.
Day 3: About 5 minutes into the race, I got caught behind a crash in the final turn and took a free lap; adrenaline was high but I managed to calm myself down after about 10 minutes. I realized that my strategy of sitting and waiting wasn’t working, so I attacked a little over halfway into the race and rolled a break for a couple laps; when we were brought back, I followed the counter to my move and rolled that break for a couple more laps. We got brought back with about 10-15 minutes left, so from here I just sat in and recovered. I was racing really well and found myself in the top 5 wheels on the last lap, but I got squeezed between turns 3 and 4 and lost some ground. Still got 6th, which was a solid result.
Day 4: I wanted to be active again for this race, so I tried a couple attacks and tried chasing a couple moves. Nothing I did seemed to work at all, though; I was getting brought back pretty much immediately. It felt like I was being marked. Towards the end I was able to fight a bit for position but it felt pretty hectic so I was around 10th wheel going into the sprint. During the sprint, the road kind of curved to the left; I tried to pass someone on the left side but he took the racing line and nearly put me into the barriers in the process. I had to stop pedaling just to avoid crashing. I still managed to get 12th but that probably cost me 5 positions at least.
Day 5: This race was hard. A 2-rider breakaway got away early into the race and stuck; I tried to bridge at one point but wasn’t successful. I wasn’t feeling super confident in the switchbacks so I had a hard time positioning overall. With about 3 to go I was on the wheel of a rider who sent a flyer, but I hesitated to follow him; this was a mistake as he’d end up staying away and getting 3rd in the race. I basically just kept trying to move around and was really struggling with positioning before finishing midpack.
I was honestly hoping to get some better results out of the week, but I’ll take the 6th on day 3 for sure. Overall I had fun and this was a good learning experience for me. Looking forward to heading back out to the midwest for Chicago Grit in a few weeks!