Popular Bike Racing Series Returns For 11 Days in June
Tour of America's Dairyland offers entertaining races, street festivals and more.
Racers sprint to the finish at the 2024 Centraal Bay View Classic in the Tour of America’s Dairyland. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Wisconsin’s premier bike racing series will pedal through the Dairy State in June, with stops in several cities in the Milwaukee area.
The 11-day-long Tour of America’s Dairyland, commonly called TOAD, features fan-friendly racing that culminates each evening with professional riders from around the world hitting speeds of approximately 35 miles per hour on short loops through city streets. Attendance is free, and each stop includes a community hour that often consists of a kids’ race or a chance for the public to do a few laps.
The 2025 edition starts in Janesville on Thursday, June 19 and concludes in Wauwatosa on Saturday, June 29.
It will include two formal city of Milwaukee stops this year: the Centraal Bay View Classic on Thursday, June 26 and the stalwart Cafe Hollander Otto Wenz Downer Classic on Saturday, June 28. Suburban stops are also planned in West Allis, Oak Creek, Grafton, Cedarburg and Shorewood.
Bicyclists compete in timed races, completing lap after lap on city streets. An announcer keeps the crowd informed on what’s happening, with pace cars and video display boards also tracking the races. Action picks up not just at the end of the race for the overall winner, but also for single-lap sprints (primes) with cash prizes. Sponsored by Kwik Trip, daily events begin with amateur riders and progress to 75-minute women’s and men’s pro races.
The accompanying street festivals allow spectators to lean on the course walls and cheer on the racers, or sit back in a chair and enjoy a snack and beer.
All of the races are free to attend, with larger crowds forming later in the day for the professional races. The action concludes around 8 p.m. each day, with racers recovering at the homes of host families.
More information, including a full schedule for each day, is available on the Tour of America’s Dairyland website.
2025 Schedule
- Janesville Town Square Gran Prix – Thursday, June 19
- West Allis Cheese Wheel Classic – Friday, June 20
- Giro D’ Grafton – Saturday, June 21
- Tour De Pere (Day 1) – Sunday, June 22
- Tour De Pere (Day 2) – Monday, June 23
- Wilo USA Cedar Creek Classic (Cedarburg) – Tuesday, June 24
- Clocktower Classic (Oak Creek) – Wednesday, June 25
- Centraal Bay View Classic – Thursday, June 26
- Shorewood Criterium Cycling Classic – Friday, June 27
- Cafe Hollander Otto Wenz Downer Classic – Saturday, June 28
- Cafe Hollander Tosa Village Classic – Sunday, June 29
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