Omahan Jon Randall of Lincoln Plating-Lemond may have taken home the biggest prize from the inaugural Norfolk Classic, but riders from Northeast Nebraska did not go home empty-handed.

Norfolk native Morgan Chaffin won the women’s overall, Scott Blair of Pierce won two gold medals in the Category V division and his Elkhorn Valley Cycling Club teammate, Elizabeth Vincent, was the winner of the Cat. IV division of the criterium.

Blair won Saturday’s 15.6-mile time trial and Sunday’s 30-minute criterium. Chaffin won all three of her races as the two-day, three-stage United States Cycling Federation-sanctioned event attracted nearly 70 competitors from seven Midwest states.

Morgan Chaffin hosted a party for her teammates Saturday night but she wasn’t able to celebrate her two stage victories at the inaugural Norfolk Classic bicycle stage race.

Even though she was up six minutes in the overall standings, the Norfolk Senior High graduate was not assured of victory in the women’s open division until she crossed the finish line in Sunday’s criterium in downtown Norfolk.

“This was a lot of fun,” Chaffin said after winning her third race of the weekend.

The consensus by competitors, race officials and spectators was that the inaugural Norfolk Classic Stage Race was a resounding success.

That was good news for promoters Dan Spray, Jon Downey and Jesse Vincent, as well as for race sponsors Cornhusker Auto, Andrew Bicycle & Fitness, Norfolk Beverage, Affiliated Foods and the Madison County Visitors Bureau.

“I think things went really smoothly,” Spray said. “We had great support from the city and our sponsors. We really have to thank all of our volunteers who did a great job during the race.”

BY JOHN MARTIN FEY
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Team Kaos is preparing to compete again at the Tour of Puerto Rico, which runs Sept. 14 to 17.

The team sponsored by the Nebraska Medical Center took fourth in the team classification last year, won the King of the Mountains competition and placed four riders in the top 25 overall.

Lincoln's Jarred Berger was 13th for Team Kaos. Berger will join teammates Marco Vasquez of Omaha and Lincoln's Tim Farnham and Ian Robertson for the four-day, five-stage race covering 337 miles. Contact the Omaha World-Herald newsroom

Local official's status upgraded

Omahan Sean Weide spent last weekend in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he successfully completed an officiating upgrade at the United States Olympic Training Center. As a Category A official, Weide is eligible to work national-level race cycling events.

Lincoln resident Sue Hefle also has that status. Team Kaos eyes Puerto Rico race Nebraska's

Norfolk - A miniature version of the Tour de France will take shape in Norfolk this weekend during the two-day, three-stage Norfolk Classic Stage Race.

More than 100 professional and amateur bicycle racers from several Midwest states are expected to compete in the inaugural event, which is sanctioned by the United States Cycling Federation and part of the Nebraska “Rider of the Year” series.

The favorite in the women’s race is Norfolk Senior High graduate Morgan Chaffin, the reigning state time trial and criterium champion. The 23-year-old spends several hours a day training – often riding more than 50 miles at time - while working to complete her exercise science major at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Weide, who has 25 years of experience in the sport as a competitor, race promoter, club officer, team director and cyling official, offered a local perspective on American Floyd Landis' positive doping result after Stage 17 of the Tour de France.

When asked why professional cyclists at the upper echelon of the sport would consider doing something that would potentially end their career, Weide responded with an analogy.

"People who rob banks don't believe they will ever get caught," he said. "The same holds true for athletes who are doping. They believe they can cheat the system - and sometimes they get away with it. Unfortunately, they are only hurting themselves. And when they get caught, it casts the entire sport in a bad light."

The three-day, four-event national stage race drew over 600 competitors.

Jason Kingsbury of Omaha finished sixth overall in the Category III division and Lincoln's Jarred Berger tied national champion Chris Wherry in Saturday's 2.5-mile uphill time trial. Berger wound up 16th overall.

The proposed Missouri River pedestrian bridge is down to three designs, and Mayor Mike Fahey will make the final selection.

Team Kaos, a club of eastern Nebraska cyclists, invited visitors to its Web site (www.teamkaoscycling.com) to cast votes for their favorite design.

By a 41 percent margin, voters preferred the design by the Kansas City, Mo., consulting engineering firm of Harrington & Cortelyou that features an arch with cables. Team Kaos will share the results of the poll with Fahey.

The bridge was a proposal nearly six years ago of then-U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey, who helped secure $19 million in federal funds. The three builders who submitted proposals pledged the project would be done for $22 million or less.

Mark Hardman of the University of Virginia won by six seconds over J. Gabriel Lloyd of Columbia University.

Farnham's placing was the best finish by a Husker in the two years the team has qualified for the national championships. The Elkhorn native races for Team Kaos when he is not competing collegiately.

Compiled from press services and local reports.