Winning women racers celebrate victory.
Evanston’s second annual downtown bike race provided thousands of spectators with moments of excitement as racers looped past every couple of minutes, but plenty of slack time in between to enjoy dining or conversation.
After amateur races through the morning and early afternoon, the women’s pro racers started the main event around 4 p.m.
Women lean into the curve at the Chandler’s corner.
About 5:30 p.m. the men’s pro cyclists took over.
They outnumbered the women perhaps three-to-one, and spectators looking for a cooling breeze on the sticky evening just had to lean close to the rail as the huge pack of cyclists roared by.
The Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Grand Prix of Cycling event is part of the Point Premium Root Beer Cycling Classic with 18 races through mid-July to coincide with the Tour de France.
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The Tour de Chris, one cyclist’s comments on the race.