Philadelphia International Championship

[La Vie Claire]

There was a rumor that LA paid the Coors Light team to not race so he could win the final race in the series and collection the million. Not bashing LA. Paying off other riders happens all the time in cycling. Entire teams? I can believe it.

 

[santacruz]

I lived in Philly for 8 months, and everytime I rode past the museum there was at least a couple tourists running up the stairs with their arms in the air lol..

 

[Jamsque]

In the U/16 race (does this have a name in the US?) I was surprised at the amount of black riders. It was good to see. I don't see that in the UK/Europe.

That's certainly good to hear. Last race I went to in the UK I saw one dark face in the elite field and not a single one in the entire set of support and junior races.

 

[fatandfast]

The race was great. HTC looked like all was lost..but obviously not. The Bahati squad was slamming and kept guys in the front all day..except for the last quarter of a lap..ended up not getting a top 10 after doing lots and lots of work. Jelly Belly/Will Routley put on a show..riding a 50 mile TT he was really awesome..he punished himself. I was really sorry he didn't get a result. 35 dollar VIP tent got you burgers,beer and a lifetime supply of cowbells. I think every Philly local was wearing a Flyers t-shirt. Overall it was really good. They should probably think of discontinuing the Women's race...it confuses the fans when the bunch appears to be neutralized the whole race

 

[lean mean &green]

That's certainly good to hear. Last race I went to in the UK I saw one dark face in the elite field and not a single one in the entire set of support and junior races.

philadelphia is a large city with a large african american population. uniquely, the race has been broadcast live by local abc,cbs,nbc affiliates almost every year since it's inception meaning they have been exposed to this race for over 25 years not to mention the philadelphia area has a very active local racing scene. the bahati team rode admirably well considering the turmoil within that team. it would be a shame for them to end operations of what is a very talented program. comcast, one of the largest cable companies in the US, is headquartered in philadelphia. they also own versus, recently acquired nbc universal, and have wisely decided to broadcast the race live to a wider audience this year.

triple crown million dollar payout is true. rendell wasn't lying.....this time.

the philadelphia race has gone thru some transition in the last few years. it used to be the largest one-day payout in the US and the US pro road race championship. some genius decided to move the national championship to SC two or three years ago and philly seemed to have lost some steam. that fact, the city's fiscal troubles, and the economic downturn contributed to the race almost being canceled last year. a "save the race" campaign rallied community support and the race was held but for the first time that i can ever remember it wasn't broadcast locally in 2009. after a dissappointing year it appears to be on the way up again.