Bronzini steals the show in Philadelphia

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World Champion Giorgia Bronzini continued the domination of foreign riders in the women's Liberty Classic in Philadelphia. The Italian sprinter bested American Shelley Olds (Diadora - Pasta Zara) in the bunch sprint. Coming third was Jennifer Purcell of the Connecticut-based Danbury Audi squad.

"This was a really big race for our team with our sponsors here from New Jersey," Bronzini said. "It is also one of the most important international races in the world and I have the world jersey. It was a pleasure to win this race in this jersey and to win in the USA, it was a good job."

The team had two powerful sprinters in the race, with Bronzini and teammate Theresa Cliff-Ryan, who was fresh off of a string of victories in the USA. Bronzini explained how the team decided to race the finish.

"I spoke with Theresa Cliff-Ryan during the race and we had two chances with my sprint and her sprint. We decided in the end to chose the best wheels on our own. I have to thank my team because the girls did the best work to achieve the best race for today."

The day's other star was Lex Albrecht (Juvederm-Specialized) who stayed away from the first lap until the last trip up the Manayunk wall, taking home the queen of the mountains prize.

"My main goal this year was to go after the QOM jersey," Albrecht said. "I went for it on the first climb and got it, I had a gap so I kept going and stayed away for the next 70 kilometres. I was caught right on the last lap. I wasn’t sure if I would have won the jersey because the points on the last lap were double, and I didn’t know who was gathering points behind me. But, I knew that I had a good chance to win it."

No US rider has ever won the country's sole remaining women's UCI event. Germans have dominated the past 15 years, with Petra Rossner claiming seven wins and HTC-Highroad's Ina Teutenberg four. Teutenberg chose the World Cup in Spain over the Liberty Classic this year, opening the door for a new team to take the top step.

It is a big coup for the Colavita Forno d'Asolo team, which formed from a merger of the American Colavita team and the Italian Forno d'Asolo squad this year.

Albrecht shines on Manayunk Wall

A high quality women’s field lined up for the 16th annual UCI 1.1 Liberty Classic prepared to contest four challenging 23.2km circuits for a total of 98km. The women’s race will start outside the famed Art Museum on Benjamin Franklin Parkway and headed out along Kelly Drive, passing the scenic Schuylkill River and college rowing houses on the way to the famed Manayunk Wall, a steep and decisive 800 metre ascent.

At the top of the ascent, the shattered peloton turned right to start "the fall off the wall," that leads back down to Kelly Drive and toward the two smaller ascents over Strawberry Mansion and Lemon Hill, before returning to the Logan Square finish line.

The women’s field was spread wide across the road, however, they were deceivingly traveling at speeds of more than 40kph along Kelly Drive. A quick tempo over Manayunk wall on the first lap caused major separations in the field. Lex Albrecht (Juvederm-Specialized) picked up first place points in the first QOM and opened up a 15 second gap off the fall from the wall and back down to Kelly Drive. Andrea Dvorak (Colavita Forno D’Asolo) took second place points in the bunch and Amanda Miller (HTC-Highroad) took third.

The solo rider increased her lead to roughly 30 seconds through Strawberry Mansion and into Lemon Hill and around Logan Square at the start of lap two. She held a 45-second margin ahead of the peloton and grew to two minutes for the second time over Manayunk Wall. Chaser Laurel Larsen (BHC XO Communications) gained 40 seconds but was reabsorbed into the field after a few kilometres.

Albrecht picked up full points on Manayunk Wall and Lemon Hill during the first two laps of the race, and secured the QOM competition.

She maintained a one minute lead over the third Manayunk Wall. The field behind shattered over the ascent as teams started to put pressure on the front of the field to reduce the time margin. Albrecht was reabsorbed into field before the fourth and final climb over Manayunk Wall.

Manayunk Wall fans were wild as the women climbed over it for one last time. Eight emerged over the top of the wall, however, the field quickly came back together on the descent back down to Kelly Drive. HTC-Highroad, Colavita Forno D’Asolo and Diadora-Pasta Zara dominated the final kilometres of the race with their respective lead-out trains. In the end it was Bronzini who proved to be the fastest sprinter around Logan Square and up Benjamin Franklin Parkway to the finish line.

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