The Philadelphia Cycling Classic is set to return to the US city next summer, after its 32-year-run ended in 2017 due to a lack of sponsorship, it was announced this week.
The task to revive the race fell to local businessmen Carlos Rogers, Eric Robbins and former mayor Michael Nutter. They worked out that the Classic would cost around $2 million, to cover city services, prize money and accommodation for visiting cyclists, and last year secured a deal with national propane-provider, AmeriGas, to continue the race.
“This is the people’s race,” Nutter told the The Philadelphia Inquirer. "It spans an area of 14-plus miles from Centre City to Fairmount Park to Manayunk. The cyclists take in all of that and I think our course is a dynamic that I don’t think cyclists will find in other places. Whether it’s wheels, a puck, a ball, or anything else, Philadelphians just embrace sports and athletes. It’s a celebration of the city.”
In its prime, the race attracted professional cyclists from all over the world, including the Lance Armstrong (who won in 1993), Greg LeMond, and the race’s first-ever winner, Eric Heiden, five years after he won five gold medals in speed-skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
The 14.4 mile race had, in its 32-year lifespan, become one of the most prominent outside of Europe, and was marked by one infamous feature: the Manayunk Wall, that rises out of the flat city at a gradient of 17%.
The hill became a venue on which cycling’s superstars could come to test their metal. The winner of that final race in 2016, Marco Canola, climbed the Wall in 1:56, and went on to win a stage at the Giro d’Italia a year later. Another Italian, Elisa Longo Borghini, set a new QOM record for her ascent the same year, and has since won Paris-Roubaix, the Giro d’Italia and countless other titles.
Now set to return for 2026, the summer race will coincide with a slew of other sporting events in the Pennsylvanian city, including the FIFA Men's World Cup and a Major League Baseball All-Star Game. But, according to Nutter, the Classic will be the crowning event of the summer.
"This is the pure Philadelphia event," he said. "I love MLB, PGA, NCAA, and FIFA. But this is a singular Philadelphia-based event that continues into the future."
“Yes, it’s about an international bike race that we’re hosting in one of the greatest cities in the country,” co-organiser, Eric Robbins told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “But it extends far more than that. It’s a celebration. It’s a time to escape all the craziness in the world and just have a good time with our friends and neighbours and put on a hell of a bike race at the same time.”
