The Nature Valley Grand Prix started yesterday with a pair o' crits. Check out Lyne's most excellent story about what went down. Kristin Armstrong threw down huge and lapped the field, only to have the race nuetralized after the finish. The mens' race was also nuetralized, after a moto crashed in the midst of things. Crazy times!

And just to help the title reference along, check this out:

Yup.

And it only got hotter as the race progressed.  Make sure you've seen Part I (here), and then jump to the other side for the rest of the day's story, in (lots of) photos.

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So yes, I was lucky enough to make it to Philadelphia for the race this past Sunday.  It was everything it was made out to be. I'm working on the words, but for now, enjoy some of the pictures:

Hit the other side for a photo story of the race as it got going . . .

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And thus we approach the end of another Philly Week.  Tomorrow will see an impressive array of domestic and international pros on the streets of Philadelphia.  Oh, and there will be a couple of bike races, too.  The Liberty Classic is the last race in Philly Week for the pro women and the last race for the men is known as the Philadelphia International Championship.

The Men's Pro Race

The men will race on a 14.4-mile circuit along the Schuykill River for ten laps.  That means 10 climbs up the Manayunk Wall, which reaches grades of 17%. They will then finish with three smaller laps around Lemon Hill and Logan Circle, in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (those of you who enjoy yelling "Sella!" will be inspired with another name here, I am sure).  This brings us a total of 156 miles of racing.  It'll bring successful racers the glory of a Philly Week win and a piece of the $55,250 purse.  The start is listed for 9am, and the race is expected to finish somewhere around 2:30pm.  Men's start list is here .

The Women's Pro Race

The pro women will race four laps of the same 14.4 mile circuit that the men do.  Starting at 9:10am, they'll push hard until 11:30 or so for a total of 57.6 mles.  The women's purse is $25,000.  Women's start list is here.

Factors on the Course

The course is a relatively flat and fast circuit with one serious bump in the middle - that Manayunk Wall.  And really, it's just a bump - not even a 250 foot elevation gain.  Except that elevation gain happens in a lot less feet than you'd like, if you were riding it.   The Wall isn't so much an opportunity for climbers (again, it's a very short part of the course) as a weapon for riders who are feeling strong to use against those that are with them, bludgeoning their competitors with it on each lap until they pop.

The finishing lap has a small, short, and much kinder climb up Lemon Hill, which may also act as a filter for those who are on the edge of blowing up near the end of the race.  More likely, however, it'll just serve as an extra annoyance to those bigger riders who are ready to be done by that point in the day (hi, Maggie!). 

One of the most significant factors on the course is going to be the weather - we're looking at sunny and an expected high of 97°F (that's 36°C for the rest of the world).  I don't want to hear any of that "Oh, that'll be hard for the Europeans" crap - that'll be miserable for everybody. 

How to Watch

No clear line on whether it'll be available as a live stream anywhere.  Will update if I find anything.

Who To Watch

Go ahead, tell us.  I'll check back in with my thoughts.  But first I need to get to Philly.

The Philly Week amuse-gueule, the Lehigh Classic exploded with speed and gave us a surprising finish. The second stop of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling series, the Reading Classic will be held for the third year in Reading PA on Thursday June 4th.

 


The men will cover 74 miles riding 10 laps on a challenging circuit through Reading’s streets with three climbs up Mt. Penn. The course begins and ends in Reading where riders will wind through the streets of Reading, climb Walnut Street, pass the Feed Zone on Constitution Boulevard and return on Perkiomen. The final three laps add a tough switchback climb up Mt. Penn before rejoining the circuit.

Starting at 1pm EST (or 10 am PT), WFMZ will stream, for free, the complete men's race. (I recommend turning off the ad blocker). Read and watch a race preview on WFMZ.

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The men's field at this past Sunday's CSC Invitational arrived with high expectations.  While no one around here labeled eventual winner Lucas Damiano (Colavita-Sutter Home) in advance, few of us were surprised by Colavita's strong showing.  And truly, fans got what they came for, with an early drive by Magnus Backstedt (that he would come to later regret) resulting in a 13 man breakaway that drove much of the race.  With no riders in the break, it was left primarily to Jittery Joe's and Kelly Benefits to chase, and that work certainly took a toll on both of those team.  There were a few admirable attempts to bridge, with little success to show for all that work. 

Eventually the break defeated itself by lapping the field, and as it reintegrated itself into the peloton - some fared well (break member Brad Huff (Jelly Belly) would later acquit himself well by snagging fourth) and some not so much (Backstedt was barely hanging on by the end of the race).  This result might surprise some of our European readers - how can a lapped field defeat a break, one might ask?  Well, when those riders made it back to the field, they all of a sudden had a team ready to shepherd and defend them.  I guess it pays to know the rules of the country in which you're racing.  Roger Hammond, a Brit racing for High Road, had a few choice words for the result afterwards, wondering why he even bothered with all that work .  See, if he'd have been racing in the UK, these are the rules:

20.12.4 A competitor in a road or circuit event when lapped must,unless otherwise instructed by the Chief Commissaire, retire from the race and report to the control point at the finish of the race.
20.12.5 Where a lapped rider is allowed to continue, he shall not give pace or shelter to a rider by whom he has been lapped. Otherwise riders in a road or circuit race may take pace or shelter from each other, but not from any other vehicle.
<snip>
24.6.6  A lapped rider shall not give pace or shelter to a rider by
whom he has been lapped. The Chief Commissaire shall have complete discretion to decide when a rider has been lapped.

But the US rules for crits allow much wider discretion for the officials:

3D3. The following are alternative methods for handling
lapped riders in criteriums (i.e. riders who have been caught
by the lead rider(s) in the race). The method chosen by the
organizer with the Chief Referee must be clearly explained to
the riders prior to the start of the race.
(a) A rider who falls so far behind as to be considered out of
contention may be removed from the race by the Chief
Referee.
(b) Alternatively, lapped riders may be permitted to remain
in the race and all will finish on the same lap as the leaders.
At the finish, these riders will be placed according to the
number of the laps they are down and then their position in
the finish.

In Hammond's (and everyone else who was confused) defense, my experience has generally been that lapped riders get pulled.  I suppose, however, that no one wanted to pull 80% of the field before the race was over.  So we ended up with 13 protected riders a lap up on everyone else.

Enough words from me - I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story:

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I should admit it up front - I managed to miss the start of the women's pro race at this past weekend's CSC Invitational, so I'm not really a very good source on what went on. I think I'm fairly safe in summarizing it as dominated - and ultimately won - by an early breakaway consisting of Cheerwine's Catherine Cheatley, ValueAct Capital's Lara Kroepsch, and Colavita-Sutter Home's Andrea Dvorak. 

More photos after the jump.

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Sunday will bring us the National Racing Calendar event that has become the unofficial kick-off to Philly Week - the 11th edition of the CSC Invitational. Starting off as the Clarendon Cup in 1998, this race has developed into one of the premiere pro crits in the US. Over the years, this race has attracted impressive squads from T-Mobile, CSC, and Postal/Discovery. It has also served as a showcase for strong domestic talents from the likes of Navigators, Jelly Belly, and Rock Racing. If you're in the area, you'll not regret coming to check it out. Why? Well, take a look at the map (and more!) on the other side of the jump:

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