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", rea ...

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 Euro ...

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

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

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 road bicycle competition for women organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale between 1998–2015. This competition consisted of a series (which has varied from 6 to 12 events) of rac ...

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 ...

. The Liberty Classic was the final leg of the inaugural 2006

Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling The TD Bank Triple Crown of Cycling, formerly known as the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling, was a three-race series of road bicycle racing events held in the United States that ran from 2006-2008. The series consisted of the Lancaster Classic ...

for women. The Triple Crown was a one-week, 3-race circuit, with the three races taking place in the Eastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

cities of

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in T ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. 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 T ...

, 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 organisers 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 The Philadelphia Cycling Classic was an elite women's professional one-day road bicycle race held in the United States, between 2013 and 2016. The race was established as a successor to the Liberty Classic, which was last held in 2012. In 2015, ...

, under the direction of Robin Morton.

Past winners

References

External links

Official site
Cycle races in the United States 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 {{Philadelphia-sport-stub

Past winners

See also

References

External links