The star studded women's field line up to conquer Philadelphia in the 2012 Liberty Classic.(Image credit: Marco Quezada/nyvelocity.com)
The women’s race heads down Kelly Drive(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/CN)
The women set off at the twenty_sixth running of the Philadelphia International Championship(Image credit: Todd Leister/www.leisterimages.com)
Alison Powers (UnitedHealthcare) takes a fast corner off by herself(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/CN)
Organizers of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, G4 Productions, have announced the 17 teams invited to participate in the women’s World Cup on June 7 in Pennsylvania. Two-time defending champion Evelyn Stevens is expected to return with her new Boels-Dolmans team.
Former world champion Giorgia Bronzini and her Wiggle-Honda team are also expected to be on the start line.
It is the first World Cup for women in the US in 14 years, since the 2001 edition of the Liberty Classic. G4 Productions' Robin Morton said in an earlier interview with Cyclingnews that the the first invitations would go to the top 20 UCI ranked teams from the provisional list at the end of the 2014 season.
“This is an exciting year for Philadelphia with the upgrade to a UCI Road World Cup,” Morton said. “We’re fortunate to have this level of women’s professional racing in the US again."
The Philadelphia International Cycling Classic will be held on a 19.6km circuit through the City of Philadelphia, for a total of roughly 118km, that starts and finishes on the steep Manayunk Wall.
“The City of Philadelphia is thrilled to bring the UCI Women’s Road World Cup back to the US,” said Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. “It’s exciting to see the growth in women’s professional cycling, and we are happy to once again award equal prize money for the men’s and women’s races.
The full list of women’s teams:
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