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2015 Philadelphia Int. Cycling Classic, June 7 1.2/WRWC

The Philadelphia International Cycling Classic

You will be able to watch the Philly Cycling Classic tomorrow on the official site or via CN's article. The men's race is categorized 1.1 and is part of the America Tour, the women's race got promoted to the World Cup for the first time since 2001.

It consists of 9 laps over a 19km/12 miles cIrcuit (173km's/111 miles) for the men, and 6 laps for the ladies, which is 115km/74 miles. The men start at 7:30am EST (12:30 GMT +1CET) and the women at 12:30 EST (17:30 GMT +1CET). Expect two very nice races. The women have got to have the spotlight with such a strong lineup, very unpredictable. That said, Abbott - Armitstead mana a mana.

As for the gentlemen, Toms Skujiņš brought his Cali good form to win the Winston Salem a week ago, and will be a man to watch. Kiel Reijnen will try to defend his title for UHC, but will have to face strong opposition in Jure Kocjan, who I think is the favourite. If Optum can keep their numbers, or apply decent tactics, unlike in the Nats, Jesse Anthony may also be in the mix. At the end of the day it's a very open race, too.

Startlist: http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/philadelphia-international-cycling-classic-start-list
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Re: Re:

BigMac said:
Libertine Seguros said:
To hell with Armitstead, Evie Stevie ftw!!!

Ha ha, she did well in the Nats and two is a nice number, yes. I just thought the idea of a Yank versus a Briton more attractive.
As defending champ, Evie has the right to have the team prioritise her, although Armitstead is well-suited to this type of course.

However, Evie has an awesome background story and is way more likable than Lizzie. Or Mara. Well, more than Mara mainly because I was (am) a huge mark for Emma Pooley and their mountain rivalry was of epic proportions.
 
Re: Re:

Libertine Seguros said:
BigMac said:
Libertine Seguros said:
To hell with Armitstead, Evie Stevie ftw!!!

Ha ha, she did well in the Nats and two is a nice number, yes. I just thought the idea of a Yank versus a Briton more attractive.
As defending champ, Evie has the right to have the team prioritise her, although Armitstead is well-suited to this type of course.

However, Evie has an awesome background story and is way more likable than Lizzie. Or Mara. Well, more than Mara mainly because I was (am) a huge mark for Emma Pooley and their mountain rivalry was of epic proportions.

Well yes, Stevens appears with the race and team's number one, so she springs as the obvious leader. Unlike you, however, I don't follow the ladies very much (am starting to) and still have a lot to learn about their off-the-bike personas. On to read Evelyn's bio now. :p
 
Re: Re:

BigMac said:
Well yes, Stevens appears with the race and team's number one, so she springs as the obvious leader. Unlike you, however, I don't follow the ladies very much (am starting to) and still have a lot to learn about their off-the-bike personas. On to read Evelyn's bio now. :p
Evie's background having given up quite a high-paying financial sector job to pursue her dreams at a relatively late age for turning pro, and continual sunny disposition make it hard not to warm to her; by contrast Armitstead has this weird combination of sympathy for the eternal second in the most high profile events, coupled with a touch of the frustrating Leif Hoste/Cadel Evans "it's always somebody else's fault" excuse cannon-firing and sour grapes.

I'd recommend this Anglophone blog for getting to know the women's péloton and see races. If there's footage of it, they'll find it. There's a lot of stuff on things like MTB which I'm not really interested in, but for women's road cycling, there are few better resources - I know from experience how difficult scraping together the information on some of these races - at smaller ones this can be entirely piecemeal from different teams' twitter updates, for example - can be, so I have to appreciate the persistence that goes into putting the blog together. All manner of race highlight videos and behind the scenes clips.
 
Re: Re:

Libertine Seguros said:
BigMac said:
Well yes, Stevens appears with the race and team's number one, so she springs as the obvious leader. Unlike you, however, I don't follow the ladies very much (am starting to) and still have a lot to learn about their off-the-bike personas. On to read Evelyn's bio now. :p
Evie's background having given up quite a high-paying financial sector job to pursue her dreams at a relatively late age for turning pro, and continual sunny disposition make it hard not to warm to her; by contrast Armitstead has this weird combination of sympathy for the eternal second in the most high profile events, coupled with a touch of the frustrating Leif Hoste/Cadel Evans "it's always somebody else's fault" excuse cannon-firing and sour grapes.

I'd recommend this Anglophone blog for getting to know the women's péloton and see races. If there's footage of it, they'll find it. There's a lot of stuff on things like MTB which I'm not really interested in, but for women's road cycling, there are few better resources - I know from experience how difficult scraping together the information on some of these races - at smaller ones this can be entirely piecemeal from different teams' twitter updates, for example - can be, so I have to appreciate the persistence that goes into putting the blog together. All manner of race highlight videos and behind the scenes clips.

Why thank you! I feel beloved patriot a newcomer again. Cheers.
 
This race is just a shadow of it's former glory in the 80s and 90s when big teams brought big riders and it was 250+kms. I went every year! Now it is just another race and not worth going into the city to watch live. Heck they don't even televise it here anymore.

Anyway I'll be rooting for Skujiņs, he's been hot lately!
 
Re:

Carols said:
This race is just a shadow of it's former glory in the 80s and 90s when big teams brought big riders and it was 250+kms. I went every year! Now it is just another race and not worth going into the city to watch live. Heck they don't even televise it here anymore.

Anyway I'll be rooting for Skujiņs, he's been hot lately!

But look at those crowds, amazing. :)