The Liberty Classic was an annual women's

bicycle race "Bicycle Race" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was released on their 1978 album ''Jazz'' and written by Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury. It was released as a double A-side single together with the song " Fat Bottomed Girls", re ...

held from 1994 to 2012, simultaneously with the

Philadelphia International Championship The Philadelphia International Championship was an annual bicycle race held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was described as "America's top international cycling classic, and one of the richest and most prestigious one day races outside of Eur ...

. The 57.6 mile race consisted of four laps of a 14.4 mile circuit through

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

with 5 climbs up the famous Manayunk Wall. It was part of the

UCI Women's Road World Cup The UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup was a season-long List of women's road bicycle races, road bicycle competition for women organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale between 1998 and 2015. This competition consisted of a series (which h ...

until 2001. From 2002, it was an Elite Women's Category 1 event under

UCI race classifications The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world's governing body in the sport of bicycle racing, classifies races according to a rating scale. The rating is represented by a code made of two or three parts and indicates both the type or style ...

History

The Liberty Classic was the final leg of the inaugural 2006 Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling for women. The Triple Crown was a one-week, three-race circuit, with the three races taking place in the Eastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

cities of

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 ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

and

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The opening race was the Lehigh Valley Classic, followed two days later by

Reading Classic The Reading Classic was an annual bicycle road racing event held in Reading, Pennsylvania from 2006 to 2008. In its inaugural year, the 2006 Reading Classic was part of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling on the United States' Pro Cycling To ...

, with the Liberty Classic finale in Philadelphia three days after the Reading race. In January 2013, the race's organisers announced that the 2013 International Championship and Liberty Classic had been cancelled, with local media reporting a breakdown in the relationship between the organizers and the city authorities; however, in May of that year a group of local politicians and promoters announced the revival of the men's and women's races as The Philadelphia Cycling Classic, under the direction of Robin Morton.

Past winners

References

External links

Official site
{{UCI Women's Road World Cup Sports in Philadelphia Recurring sporting events established in 1994 UCI Women's Road World Cup 1994 establishments in Pennsylvania Women's road bicycle races 2012 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Defunct cycling races in the United States Women's sports in Pennsylvania

History

Past winners

See also

References

External links