Our North American sports correspondent, David, was on hand to catch all of the action at the men’s and women’s races at the recent Philadelphia International Cycling Classic. Happy reading!
-Kathryn
Philadelphia is a city rich with history. It’s home to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, but we’ll get to that later.
On the first Sunday in June, there is nothing more important in Philadelphia than the Manayunk Wall. The climb, only about half a mile in length but with a gradient that reaches 17%, easily warranted Lizzie Armitstead’s comparison to the Mur de Huy. As it is every year, the Wall was the heart and soul of the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic on Sunday.
Some other traditions continued as well. It’s never rained during the 31 year history of the race and Sunday was again a perfect day for a bike ride.
This year, however, there was one major change: for the first time, the women’s race was the main event, leaving the men to race in the morning with an 8:00 am start.
Men’s Race
9 Laps / 173km
Any tiredness at sign on quickly turned to smiles.
Toms Skujins, who’s been on great form lately with a stage win and a stint in the leader’s jersey at the Tour of California and a win at the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic just last week, was happy to sign an autograph.
I was thrilled to meet Lachlan Morton, who quickly became one of my favorites during his time with the Garmin Sharp team, and to congratulate Michael Woods on being the top Canadian finisher at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal last year.
From left: Chris Horner, Travis McCabe, 2-time defending champion Kiel Reijnen, and Jure Kocjan lined up for the start.
Zach Bell sported a beard that would make Simon Geschke proud.
Hometown hero Robin Carpenter, who grew up blocks from the finish line, had lots of support and was a good bet to animate the race.
Volunteer Extraordinaire Mel was on hand, yelling, “Pump it up!” to every rider as they negotiated the Wall. He’s a fixture at the race and I can’t imagine how many riders have made it up the Wall only because of his support. When he’s not encouraging riders, he’s busy taking pictures of the crowd to share with familiar faces next year.
By the second of nine laps, the effects of the Wall were already taking kicking in.
Fan favorite and former Vuelta winner Chris Horner rode near the front all day but missed the decisive move on the last lap.
Small gaps started to open as the race went on.
Robin Carpenter went for a solo break.
But it was clear the peloton wasn’t going to let a breakaway survive to the finish and that the final ascent of the Wall would determine the winner. Carlos Barbero of Caja Rural made the most of his first trip to America by taking a well-earned victory.
Diego Sandoval did a wheelie as he finished.
Marco Zamparella cost himself a few seconds when he did a perfect track stand.
Meanwhile, Brad Huff channeled the spirit of the Schuylkill River as he rowed himself across the line.
Robin Carpenter won the sprint prize while Adam de Vos was literally crowned King of the Mountains.
The podium:
1st Carlos Barbero
2nd Michael Woods
3rd Toms Skujins
Women’s Race
6 Laps / 115km
The women’s race was the featured event at the 2015 Philadelphia International Cycling Classic. This year’s race is the only stop on the World Cup circuit in the US and it featured the strongest lineup in the history of the event. In order to keep things running on schedule, the women signed on while the men’s race was wrapping up. The Ale Cipollini team watched the end of the men’s race with some riders who didn’t make it to the finish.
Defending champion Evelyn Stevens led a powerful Boels Dolmans team…
…which also included newly crowned American champion Megan Guarnier…
…and Lizzie Armitstead.
The pace was high from the beginning and just like the men’s race, the peloton wouldn’t let anyone escape. Alena Amialiusik, Megan Guarnier, and Katharine Hall in the peloton.
Rushlee Buchanan and Lex Albrecht.
Dutch sprint star Kirsten Wild.
Lizzie Armitstead, Elisa Longo Borghini and Alena Amialiusik completed another lap.
Loren Rowney tried to attack but it was all brought back together before they reached the Wall for the final ascent.
Lizzie Armitstead took a well-earned victory.
Emilie Moberg was the sprint winner.
Queen of the Mountains Jasmin Glaesser with Mayor Nutter and his wife Lisa Nutter. 
Lizzie Armitstead was awarded a replica Liberty Bell and a scepter, not to mention $5,000 – the same as the men’s winner – for her victory. She also took over the lead in the World Cup and received the leader’s jersey.
The podium:
1st Lizzie Armitstead
2nd Elisa Longo Borghini
3rd Alena Amialiusik
As promised, we now go back to the Declaration of Independence. Being in Philadelphia, this seemed like the perfect time to add some new signatures to it. Today’s 29 autographs were from:
Men (in red):
#1 Kiel Reijnen, #6 Tanner Putt, #7 John Murphy, #15 Eric Marcotte, #16 Travis Livermon, #22 Robin Carpenter, #24 Toms Skujins, #27 Ty Magner, #76 Lachlan Morton, #88 Michael Woods, #101 Bruno Langlois, #104 Julien Gagne, #126 Jack Bobridge, #131 Chris Horner, #233 Cameron McPhadden, #235 William Blackburn, and #238 Ugo Lapierre.
Women (in black):
#2 Megan Guarnier, #3 Lizzie Armitstead, #4 Christine Majerus, #11 Mara Abbott, #12 Giorgia Bronzini, #13 Elisa Longo Borghini, #14 Chloe Hosking, #25 Loren Rowney, #31 Shelley Olds, #34 Sharon Laws, #105 Shoshauna Routley, and #126 Leah Kirchman.