2026 Philadelphia Cycling Classic - Women's Pro Race Highlights

Welcome to Philadelphia cycling classic first time. It's been held about 10 years and we got a few highlights of the women's race Sunday August 30th, and you're gonna watch a 14-mile loop from the Art Museum to Manayunk back with the infamous Manayunk wall Specialist cycling in Philly doesn't get much better. It will be a fantastic day of racing here in Philadelphia As the women's riders getting set is here for the start of this race. I'll start with you Mari What's going through the minds right now these racers as they get set for this grueling course And they are off we are underway here for the women's race of the Philadelphia Cycling classic presented by Amerigas as you see the racers get going here. Very interesting You know the the competition within the competition So not only is there the finish line at the end of the race, but we also have the the QOM competition during the race They'll be a cycling classic presented by Amerigas and we are underway just about four minutes in and you can see some of the riders starting to try to pull away if They can for the crash. It's already a crash Do we have any key players that are don't see any oh Hate to see that because if we'll change it today, they have new wheels They have disc brakes if they have this there that there will be official sign that the race is on So to watch that paddle, that's the chief commissar of the race who they end up holding this race for pretty long time you have that early crash and they give People a chance to catch up. So I think it's good 10 minutes Maybe 15 minutes. So they actually end up starting just here There we go now the races a lot finally the Philadelphia race after a 10 years hiatus has launched the Philadelphia cycling classic The women are on the way to the manual wall Here's the curb to curb down the streets of man young everyone trying to be look at that curb to curb They're trying to get there in the front They're trying all the tactics for the earlier teams that wanted to go on the attack that is out of the window now You have the entire group at the levering Street S-turns the cobblestones look how it's all strung out into a single line If you're in the back there that wall hurts all the more patient now sprinting up the wall You have education making a move Bari. I think you've also got ages up there, too I think they're gonna be going further And they're opening a gap already. I saw some of the riders got out on the saddle earlier than others What determines that for you when you're going up this wall the points their points at Lemon Hill as well? So there'll be some riders who might not It's actually a big part of racing now the amount of cooling Tools we use we have best before the race to keep us cool. We have best after the race We have so we're approaching the sprint Let's see who's going to be the one who tries to win the first queen of the mountain and it's gone all over they have One of the EF education team big is the gap You don't want you don't need if you don't need to be there and spend that little extra energy And you can see that the group's gonna stay together So you you're probably coming in what a sprinter come in probably towards the back end and then have something left at the finish when you Really need to show like the power that you have and acceleration. I never had acceleration How do you how do you work out that more this race what plays in the hands of the sprinters So if you're a Kristen Faulkner, you want a really hard strung out exhausted exhausted race But I question what EF is doing right now because to me They're actually doing the opposite what they they're in which they want to make the race harder we serve EF education She wins the points three points leading but back fender volts. I just spoke of her second EF education So she's on on form and Skylar Schneider someone we just want to give you guys a quick view Starts near the art museum goes up the man a young comes back down over Lemon Hill They got a couple of loops at the very end Are seeing like the Virginia Blue Ridge coming up now to you and they actually lost their good sprinter today Marley's yes who we expected to be up there a crowd of Lemon Hill already. Ah That's Philly bike culture right there. These are the people who know who love the race They see it six times in the women ten times in the men. Look at that crowd fantastic And it's 915 in the morning and it will only grow from here supplying the energy, huh? I'm ready and now in days I mean one of the things that a lot of the riders have been saying the roads These are the best roads of the year, you know, the roads are perfect They're all been repaid maniacs been repaid and so they're going faster The bikes are faster the 15 to 30 depending on the race how many cars and that's your that's your threshold if you can stay In that caravan you can stay in the race if you fall out of that caravan, it's hard to match this bubble yep, and The teams know and the other teams also respected and then there's a couple of riders that are a little more like no I'm gonna push myself in there Which I think is one of the things that's interesting about Kristen Faulkner too because she did push herself into those Situations early on in her career and now it's paying off or it has paid off That she sees these moves and isn't afraid to go for it. We're actually seeing some attacking here going on right now You pull through the wind so they share It's like if you're running what one of you has to carry 50-pound weight Then you throw the 50-pound weight to the other runner and you throw the 50-pound weight back and forth If you're running together in front of a marathon, but it feels like that head of the big teams Don't want to waste these opportunities because this is this wall General is where you get rid of the riders. You don't want around you any Which is what the world tour riders are like is that they're a club in a league club and they you know They don't championships world championships Olympic championships. Hey John on the track as you predicted. They're getting caught I'm excited to see who's gonna open it up I'm gonna say Can make it in the time Sony to sitting right there Finish line and I believe that Climb she's been pushing that this king of the queen of the mountains the entire times on yes, just solid Scully knocked soldier was in second place from Kenya. Excuse. Oh, we'll work on that one Can't get in what kind of food you get you want to keep it simple You don't want any fats or fiber into the diet because you need to digest it quickly They're getting caught you see they didn't commit they got away. The back is catching back up Next queen of the queen of the mountain coming up. Let's see who sprints to take these points mates. They're chasing down breakaways They're covering moves and sometimes the midfield is covering those But the forward is waiting for the moment either a key moment in a race or the sprint They're the ones that had a special opportunity Freddy's a winner That special opportunity to they smell the victory. They smell the gold. They smell the touchdown back. Now, that's a good attack That's a good attack. Look how hard it is. You can't get to the wheel doesn't keep it going Like a Mari would have to get away from a Freddy who's the right Mari is a powerful powerful time trials Mari against the wind by herself horse Chasing the riders as well or a son. What do you got? Said she's strong. She's strong. She's infamous for her training regimes the way Something's happening right now. It's like these these riders now are now a team even though they're all in different teams They're working together. They have to be cohesive You know, they have to work together pull together, you know hit the front give enough effort So everybody's getting just enough for us to do that because it is a global sport, you know and to see you know developing countries starting to put some more effort into it and Here we have another attack by EF. So Your program longest running women's professional cycling team in the world Again, what do you think about this race coming back to Philadelphia and the energy and excitement that you felt so far? It's fantastic. I mean, I don't make theories. How do you play to that? We you know, as I said, we pivoted three times with three different plans So, you know the last plan Kim Stolfel living the dream She's in the top group 25 second gap on the field last shot. We had she was in front on the wall. She's not All art Galen Bollard will take will take the the the points at the top there And we talked about emerging riders coming out of the field Mari. Here's a perfect example I'm a little surprised that you have didn't attack harder like they were spread across the road instead of actually really trying to make it count and get someone up to her is one of my most fun days on a bicycle and You know being in a community where cycling is fun And it's a part of this culture and it's a part of this annual event in the memory different dynamics And we're not we're not saying we normally see you know, it's kind of exciting because we don't know It's also a different time of year too. So earlier it's been much earlier in the season We're in challenging her but baller seems strong. She's Lee Stolveld struggling strolling on the wall. Look at this sprint going between these two. He's got to go This is a good one elbow to elbow Bollard pulling it out Throwing those elbows around and Bollard now leaps into the the top of the classification Once we get confirmation from the judges they made it to man young 15 seconds Come on, you can do it. Put it down. Try it. They're going to everything they have just to make it to that wall And EF is gonna light it up They're gonna light it up and they're gonna keep doing it. They're gonna be attacking You don't want to tack too far at the bottom because once you hit the the 17% grade That's where you feel that's where you want to really go But they'll be and you might send a teammate first it to open it up. They're almost all back together Yeah, they're together, but this is the sprint. This is the sprint for the climb. These are the last point Well second the last points for the race and look at the look at the effort. Look at the flat-out sprint going Yeah lost the points Is that Kristen that's Kristen that's Kristen that's the move now she's got to go now she's got her It's can Sonya there can Sony's in there. I think I'm Sony's there That comes only I Mean it's a 2v2 right now. They have an X, you know So, I mean it's you're starting to get later in the race and you're starting to see who is Got the strength today who's willing to? You know really win this race And you're kind of seeing that play out Well now behind you would think that the only people who are working are human powered health. So So we'll see we'll see exactly how that shakes out since we haven't seen the the Peloton yet they definitely they knew something from the previous climbs that she wasn't feeling or that can Sony was feeling much better than Maggie Cole's Leicester, so, you know, they're taking a chance, but I think it's probably a well-thought-out plan From the two veterans two great veterans of Philadelphia just they're getting caught guys. They're getting caught they couldn't resist, Philadelphia Well, it's more than seven riders catching them, yeah Well, they're there the seven the seven are being caught by The Peloton and is that to break it in front? They're all together everyone together together now. Okay, the sprint look at man. There you go Come on, that's great. That's an iconic shot. It's a great tire. We'll decide now It's playing out the way you Freddie had been talking about with the 20 riders there 20 riders are smart. You know, they they had strong riders. They worked together By this big group looks to be about 25 riders or so There goes he yeah, he often on attack on the left on the left of our screen right up the bike race The F does not have the ultra fast sprinter. You got consoni in there we're looking for the white shorts the white shorts and the National Canadian Champion Jersey our friend there it is. She's just caught. Yeah. Yeah, I was gonna say do you think she'd time to attack? Maybe too early. No, she did the right thing. It's just is it possible to do it? Sometimes you attack Once to lead to another attack you need a couple to kind of it's like, you know You know you do a couple undercuts and then you finally do the big punch right never want to be first Okay a nice attack Coming from EF education EF education obviously obviously does not want a sprint So they're launching relaunching launching again trying to break up this race and coming from behind I believe that's an automatic racing teammate of Coles Leister shutting her down because they want to hold this thing together They want this whole group to come to the sprint together where Coles Leister can explode out of the pack I mean, she must feel good can Sony must feel good if they were riding like that on the climb They know that it could come to a field sprint still. She's got good legs. She's ready to go and she's confident Yeah with because it was with having four riders in that group They could also start attacking themselves and say let's just each one of us attack and see if we can get away Because it's a team again cycling is a giant game. It's a game. It's a high-speed Anaerobic aerobic game play the game. Here's what I was talking about. Yeah, it could be it's a sneak attack I'm not a non a non contender get away and get a little gap back next year Well, they're director Walter Zeni is a great Ambassador. Yeah I love it. The action is happening right now Great three and a half miles to go It's a minute between the groups of this Renaissance this word vitalization of the great Philadelphia cycling classic first held in 1985 canister have just threw a curveball there. Yeah, they literally instead of following they attack Final lap And then they're definitely going for say we have numbers we're all fast we can win from a break we can win from a sprint Question is who's the fastest Sprinting for the climb. This is the rider that's been sprinting for the climb the entire time No, they have a gap. They have a gap. Yes She needs a gap. She needs got to go Okay, I didn't see this coming Wow She needs to do this is her only move. She doesn't drop the SRAM Canyon rider, you know, they're To be Lauren's attacking there she goes Lauren Stevens great great great call Mari They do have a good little sprint, okay Okay, did we say she's young she's only 19, but she won 10 races last year. She's good one So brand new but as we know in the whole world of sport riders are coming out of nowhere now So less than a kilometer to go lined up in front is the Canyon team and con Sony tucked in Tucked in the slipstream Coles Leister on the wheel. They're white shorts of con Sony You have EF on the front they obviously have a sprinter in mind as we come down to the last In the back Launched launched launched a sprint from EF Education con Sony sitting there Coles Leister not to be seen Coles Leister out of the picture There's con Sony looks to be a con Sony launches con Sony launches side-by-side With the rider and that's it looks to be Chiara con Sony con Sony wins So, there you have it, yeah our con Sony Italian rider ends up winning this race, Philadelphia first time it's been held in this last ten years and Great vibe in Philly. It's fantastic. See all the people in Manning yonk out Really hope to see this race Even bigger here in the next few years