Justin Williams

Justin Williams celebrating

The 11-day Tour of America’s Dairyland rolls on today in the town of Neenah. The competitive cycling event features 11 straight days of racing across the eastern part of the state from Neenah on the north to East Troy in the south, with many stops around Milwaukee.

Our third preview features Justin Williams, our first professional cyclist. Justin has twice won the Ben’s Cycling Super Prime at the ISCorp Downer Classic, netting him thousands of dollars in prize money. He’s back this year looking for another win.

How long have you been involved with the Tour of America’s Dairy land?

I’ve done the tour for the last 4 years. Before that I did Superweek and I’ve been racing in the Midwest since I was 16.

Which race are you most looking forward to and why?

I’m really looking forward to Downer this year! What’s the record for Super Prime wins?

What is the most difficult aspect of this tour?

The hardest part of this tour is the mental aspect of having to go 100 percent everyday. That’s something special to criterium racing, the effort is brutal.

What is the most enjoyable aspect of this tour?

By far the best thing about racing ToAD is the culture. The event is very clean and very well done. They really get the community involved and you can tell the people here just love bike racing.

Is bike racing your profession?

I do race bikes as a profession. I’m lucky and I’m grateful for the support my team Astellas provides me.

Can you describe your fondest memory of bike riding?

I don’t have just one amazing memory of this race, I have two. Both involve winning the Super Prime. It’s the one thing in racing that’s not a win, but feels like one.

How do you know the members of your team?

I know most my teammates from racing, I’ve been doing this a while. But regardless how I know them we’ve become family.

What drew you to this event?

It’s an important event for my team. We’re based out of Chicago. It’s 11 days of criterium racing, I love crits.