A big wheel

Hundreds of people recently lined the course along Elk Grove Boulevard in Elk Grove Village as top cyclists around the world competed for largest purses in North America and the 12th biggest in the world.

In the end, Australian Nathan O'Neill took the top prize in the Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove, winning $26,000 for the overall best performance.

The total money for all 13 pro-am races was about $200,000, with $152,500 going to one race -- the men's professional cycling championship.

It was a repeat of the inaugural event last year, but this time more cyclists participated in more races and the purse was larger.

"What helped this year was having the pros riding more races, which drew more people out," said Mayor Craig Johnson. "And more people were more familiar with (the tour)."

Next year, the tour will be expanded, Johnson said.

Instead of a two-day event, it'll be spread out over three -- Friday, Saturday and Sunday -- in early August.

Again, the men's professional cycling race will eclipse all other races in the tour since it gets the greatest amount of attention and prize money.

Johnson said the prize money next year will be higher than this year, but couldn't say how much larger it would be.

The men's race next year will include a time trial on Friday evening, a road stage throughout the village on Saturday and a final criterion on Sunday, he said.