Philly Cycling Classic secures UCI 1.1 classification in 2014

The Parx Casino Philly Cycling Classic secured an upgrade to a UCI 1.1 classification for next year and will become the highest ranked one-day race in the U.S. The second edition of the race will take place on June 1 in Philadelphia.

Organizers of the Philly Cycling Classic introduced the one-day circuit race in June as a UCI 1.2 ranked event. The new event came after the city’s showcased bike race, Philadelphia International Championships, folded due to a lack of sponsorship funding. The latter ran for 28 years and doubled as both a national championships for the professional men’s field and a World-Cup for the elite women.

The new race organizers revamped the old course, changing the start and finish line from Logan Circle to the famed climb atop the Manayunk Wall, and kept climbs over Strawberry Mansion and Lemon Hill along with the lengthy straightaways on the Kelly Drive.

Each year, the race hosts a series of strong Canadian riders. This year, national road and time trial champion Joëlle Numainville placed second in the women’s race. Bruno Langlois placed well in the king of the mountain competition and Ryan Roth placed 12th on the day.

In 2012, Leah Kirchmann and Numainville finished in the top 10 and Zach Bell in the top 20 places. Clara Hughes won the race in 1995, Mark Walters won in 2002, Lyne Bessette won the 2003 and Gina Grain placed second in 2004 and third in the 2007 edition.