The Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic was a professional

road bicycle race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

held in late May or early June between 1992 and 2007 in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

, USA. With the exception of the first race, which was , the Lancaster Classic covered about . Due to the "short, winding hills," it had a very low

attrition rate Churn rate (also known as attrition rate, turnover, customer turnover, or customer defection) is a measure of the proportion of individuals or items moving out of a group over a specific period. It is one of two primary factors that determine the ...

, with 37% of starters finishing the race on average. 2003's 14% attrition was lower than that of the

2021 Tour de France The 2021 Tour de France was the 108th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tour (cycling), grand tours. Originally planned for the Denmark, Danish capital of Copenhagen, the start of the 2021 Tour (known as the ) was trans ...

, in which 23% of starters finished.

History

The race was established in part by Lancaster mayor Janice Stork, along with sponsor

CoreStates Financial Corporation CoreStates Financial Corporation, previously known as Philadelphia National Bank (PNB), was an American bank holding company in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area. The bank was renamed in the mid-1980s after a series of mergers. A ...

(and its acquisitions, Hamilton Bank,

First Union First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial bank, commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the Eastern United States, eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, incl ...

, and Wachovia National Bank), in an attempt to revitalize the downtown area. The race underwent several name changes: * CoreStates Hamilton Classic (1992-1996) * CoreStates Invitational (1997) * First Union Invitational (1998-2002) * Wachovia Lancaster Invitational (2003-2005) * Commerce Bank Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic (2006-2007) ** Named in memory of a late CoreStates Hamilton Bank executive. It was part of the following tours: * ICP Tour of America (1993-1996) * CoreStates USPRO Cycling Championship (1997) * First Union Cycling Series (1998-2002) * USPRO Saturn Tour (1999-2000) * USPRO Championship (2001) * Wachovia Cycling Series (2003-2005) * Wachovia USPRO Championship (2004-2005) * Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling (first leg) (2006) * UCI America (2006) * US Cycling Pro Tour (2007) In 2006, two additional races were added: the women's and elite amateur men's race lasted for and , respectively, around a circuit in downtown Lancaster. The Lancaster Classic ended abruptly after the 2007 event and was replaced by the Lehigh Valley Classic in nearby

Allentown Allentown may refer to: Places * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County * Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...

Winners

Men's

Women's

Amateur men's

References

{{reflist Sports in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Recurring sporting events established in 1992 1992 establishments in Pennsylvania UCI America Tour races 2007 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Men's road bicycle races Road bicycle races Defunct cycling races in the United States Sports competitions in Pennsylvania