Stevens claims Philly Cycling Classic victory

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With a finish similar to the Mur de Huy, the inaugural Philly Cycling Classic was always going to be former Fleche Wallonne winner Evelyn Stevens' race to lose, and the Specialized-lululemon rider confirmed her form by taking the victory atop the Manayunk Wall. Stevens had to dig deep in the painful uphill finale to outkick Joelle Numainville (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) for the victory, with the 25-year-old Canadian finishing second in the same time as Stevens.

Claudia Häusler (Team TIBCO), who won the Queen of the Mountains classification on the day in dominating fashion, still had enough in the tank to round out the podium in third at five seconds.

Stevens, who crashed earlier this year and spent several weeks out of competition to recover from facial injuries that included several broken teeth, credited her team for the win.

"My team was awesome, they rode it perfectly," Stevens told Cyclingnews. "I had a rough spring this year, I didn't really do well at nationals last week, but when the team says 'we believe you can win it' and they killed themselves for me, it give you confidence.

"When I was going up [the Wall] I thought about how much I sucked last weekend and how much my teammates did for me today and I thought 'I've got to deliver'. I actually didn't know I won because my eyes were closed because I was hurting so bad when I crossed the line, but it was beautiful."

The Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies team chased down a dangerous move by Alison Powers (Now & Novartis for MS) who escaped on the last lap and built a half-minute lead after cresting Lemon Hill at the far end of the circuit for the final time. Powers, a time trial stalwart, was only neutralised just shy of 1km to go on Main Street in Manayunk.

"We put the whole team in front, five riders, and we didn't care what the other teams were doing," said Numainville of her team's chase of Powers. "We had a plan set up and we wanted to have it back."

Optum's pursuit played into the hands of Stevens who rolled the dice that Powers would be brought back at another team's expense. "I told Tayler [Wiles] we're gambling and not to go to the front. Alison Powers is a fantastic bike rider but you have to gamble and we stuck to our plan. We had one team strategy, we executed it perfectly and that's why we won.

"I told Tayler on the last lap that I need you to die a thousand deaths for me up that climb...and she did. It was kind of going fast, I attacked and I had one person go with me, Joelle, and I got on her wheel. Kind of over the crest [after the steepest pitch] is where I went. I had one firework to throw and I tried not to do it until that final climb - that's when I knew I had to hit it."

"I thought I had it! - but I guess I didn't have it," said Numainville of her drag race to the line against Stevens. "She passed me with a good 50 metres to go. I started a little earlier, I made a mistake in the sprint, but I'm really happy. It's Evelyn Stevens - it's a big deal."

While it's possible that Häusler may have had a bit more strength at her disposal in the finale if she hadn't contested virtually all of the 10 QOM lines, two per lap atop Lemon Hill and the finish line on the Manayunk Wall, the 27-year-old German had no regrets.

"On the final it was just full-gas up the climb and of course I want more but I'm happy with my third place, "Häusler told Cyclingnews. "I went for all the QOMs and I never had a lot of time for recovery - it was full gas all the time. Between the climbs my team was awesome, they chased down everything and they were always there. We didn't miss anything.

"I had fun racing and this QOM is something nice too and I'm happy with race."

Early morning in Manayunk

The 110-rider strong women's peloton rolled off the start line on top of the Manayunk Wall at 8:30am with a five-lap, 60 mile (96.5km) route on tap at the first Philly Cycling Classic. While a large crash on Kelly Drive disrupted the peloton on its run-in back to Manayunk on the opening lap, the stiff tempo up the first ascent of the Manayunk Wall would utterly shatter the peloton and shape the race for the rest of the event.

Häusler led Exergy TWENTY 16 teammates Mara Abbott and Andrea Dvorak over the QOM at the finish line at the head of a select group of approximately 15 riders. On the high-speed descent off the Wall the peloton was now in six groups and once the Strawberry Mansion diversion off Kelly Drive was negotiated on the second lap a 40-rider group would consolidate at the head of the race and allow no chasers to regain contact.

As the peloton negotiated Strawberry Mansion on the next lap there was a solo attack from Kathryn Donovan (NOW and Novartis for MS) and she would soon be joined by recent US pro road race silver medalist Lauren Hall (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies). Three more riders would soon bridge across, Häusler, Donovan's teammate Lex Albrecht and Dvorak, with Donovan taking top honours at the Lemon Hill QOM from her breakaway companions. Just prior to reaching the feed zone, however, the five-rider escape would be brought back and once more a 40-strong group rolled along at the front of the race.

While there were several more attacks over the penultimate lap, nothing threatened until the final circuit when Powers launched her solo attack prior to Lemon Hill.

"It was either win or bust," Powers told Cyclingnews. "I kept telling myself 'just go, just go' and I still had a teammate, Lex Albrecht, who was doing really well on the climb and hopefully she could finish well.

"It was hard - it was windy down on Kelly Drive and it was definitely tough by myself. I was exploding badly coming into Manayunk and was caught before the sprint line."

Powers would still find a place on the final podium, however, as she won the sprint classification after winning the first four of five sprints, located on Main Street just prior to the turn onto the Wall in Manayunk.

"It was kind of 'if you're there, go for it, but don't kill yourself'," said Powers. "The way the sprint was you had to have good position going into the Wall anyway so the first time I was there I thought 'shit, nobody's going, so I'll go!'. And then once you go once you've got to go twice and a third time...To get the jersey for our team and get on the podium is perfect."

The streak is broken

Stevens is the first American to win the Philadelphia race, with previous editions dubbed the Liberty Classic and having finished on a fast, flat run-in on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The race had nearly met its demise, but was resurrected thanks to a push from local officials and renamed the Philly Cycling Classic, and the finished moved to the top of the famed Manayunk Wall, a 500m ascent topping out at a 16% grade.

Stevens was thankful the race, the sole UCI-ranked road race in the United States for women, could take place.

"I'm so grateful for the organisers to keep the race going this year," said Stevens. "With women's racing, there's not a ton [of events] and this is one of the most special races on the calendar. And to actually have it finish up Manayunk, and have all the fans who were out at 8am and equal prize money for women...woohoo!

"I know my team, myself and all the women in the peloton were really grateful for the opportunity."