Benn Stover, of Lawrence, raises his arms and lets out a victory yell after winning the men's open division of the Tour of Lawrence street sprints in downtown Lawrence Friday evening. The tour continues tomorrow with circuit races around the campus of Haskell Indian Nations University.

When Lawrence resident Benn Stover left his house off of West 6th Street and headed toward downtown Lawrence early Friday evening, he had no idea that the bike ride he took then would wind up being a prelude to a victory lap.

In the final sprint of the night during the first of three weekend events in the 7th annual Tour of Lawrence pro-am bicycle races, Stover won the men’s open division of the Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Street Sprints by out-racing three of his Olathe Subaru teammates to the finish line.

“It’s great having this event in town,” Stover said. “I actually rode my bike down here.”

Decked out in navy blue- and white-striped uniforms, which inspired some event organizers to refer to the team as “the prisoners,” Stover and company looked more like zebras on rocket skates as they soared down Vermont Street from the starting line near 7th Street to the finish line at 8th.

“At this point in the weekend, it was just all about getting into the finals,” said Stover teammate Scott Williamson, who placed fifth. “Getting four from our team into the finals is about as good as we could possibly do and it was awesome.”

Because the team, which calls the Interstate-70 corridor home, is so tight and so used to working together to take down others, Stover said Friday’s event offered a unique opportunity to let their hair down and have some fun.

“There aren’t very many street sprints,” Stover said. “So we don’t usually get the chance to compete against each other. It was pretty fun, but the cool thing about our team is that everybody plays their different roles every race.”

On Friday, Stover played the role of the victor, as he edged out Garrick Valverde, of Lawrence, for first place. Olathe Subaru teammate Kent Woermann, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, finished third, and Williamson rounded out the solid night in fifth. As Stover crossed the finish line, Williamson threw his hands off of his handle bars and waved them in the air while wagging his tongue.

Friday marked the third consecutive top-three finish for Stover in the event in his hometown and his first victory. He credited a small tailwind for helping make it possible.

“Whenever there’s a little bit of a tailwind, that makes technique and leg speed more important instead of power,” Stover said. “You really have to get through your gears as quick as you can.”

In the first two sprints of the night, Chris Johnson, of Lee’s Summit, won the Men’s Masters 40-plus race and Vanasa Ray, of Kansas City, Missouri, came out on top in the women’s open sprint.

The Tour of Lawrence continues today with the Meadowbrook Apartments Campus Criterium Race, which will be run on a new, urban road course that runs through Haskell Indian Nations University instead of the traditional route through the Kansas University campus. On Sunday, the event returns to downtown Lawrence for the Free State Brewery Downtown Criterium Race.

Men’s Open

1. Benn Stover

2. Garrick Valverde

3. Kent Woerman

4. Mark Cole

5. Scott Williamson

6. Michael Glenn

7. Austin Elser

8. Noah Collins

9. Kyle Rainey

10. Curtis Luckett

Women’s Open

1. Vanasa Ray

2. Kelly Skinner

3. Anne Meyer

4. Marisa Rorabaugh

5. Stephanie Lamb

6. Jennifer Lowe

7. Nancy Karrer

8. Marianne Melling

9. Katie Kelter

10. Gwen Inglis

Men’s Masters 40+

1. Chris Johnson

2. Micah Newell

3. Brian Bradley

4. Tim Fisher

5. Ryan Halloran

6. Steve VonNieuhayse

7. Ben Sharp

8. Eric Finks

9. Shaun Knight

10. Robert Cummings