Canadian squad motivated for Sunday’s TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship
Philadelphia, PA: Coming off a strong debut at the recently concluded Amgen Tour of California, Team SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy is confident and focused on riding for the win at this Sunday’s (June 6) TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship, America’s biggest and longest-running one-day professional road race. Canada’s only UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) continental team is sending eight riders – François Parisien, Lucas Euser, Martin Gilbert, Andrew Randell, Guillaume Boivin, Eric Boily, Ryan Roth and Bruno Langlois – with the mission of racing for victory at the twenty-sixth edition of the 250-kilometer/156-mile race that will unfold on the streets of America’s birthplace in front of over 300,000 spectators and millions of television viewers.
Consisting of seven Canadians and one American (Euser), the lineup is almost identical to the squad that scored four consecutive top 10 stage finishes last month at the Amgen Tour of California (May 16-23), one of the most important stage races on the international calendar that attracts some of the sport’s top teams and marquee riders. Recovered from recent knee troubles, Roth, one of the team’s strongest all-around riders, joins the Team SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy roster in place of David Boily, who was one of the unit’s four finishers in the eight-day trek through the Golden State. Instead, David Boily and the team’s Simon Lambert-Lemay are racing for the Canadian national team this weekend at the UCI Nations Cup, a U-23 (under age 23) event in Saguenay, Quebec.
“We are not holding anything back at the TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship. We are shooting for the win. Our team has won a few bike races this year in the final sprint and we have a legitimate chance on Sunday. I am expecting our guys to be 100% in the game; it’s a race we have been looking forward to,” said Team SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy director Steve Bauer.
As per usual, an international field of nearly two hundred riders from invited pro teams, including three ProTour squads (HTC-Columbia, Liquigas and Fuji-Servetto), are expected to take the start. Starting and finishing at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in the shadow of the Philadelphia Art Museum, the route consists of ten large circuits and three smaller circuits. It’s primarily a fast and flat course except for the short burst up Lemon Hill (thirteen ascents) and the menacing Manayunk Wall (ten ascents), which is a steep, seventeen-percent grade, one-kilometre climb that tests the riders’ strength, fitness and fortitude throughout the six-hour race usually held under stifling heat and humidity. Although long breakaways are common, the day typically culminates in a massive field sprint. For the first time, the race will be televised live. Comcast SportsNet will broadcast from 12-3:30 PM ET and Versus will televise the last ninety minutes of the race. For further information, please visit www.procyclingtour.com.
Team SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy is a gifted squad of Canadian Olympians and national champions that are all capable of winning races. Thus far this season, eight different riders have netted the team’s twelve UCI wins. After Philly, the outfit’s looming goals come on Canadian turf at the UCI Individual Time Trial in Gatineau, Quebec (June 12) where Parisien and Roth will represent the team, and at the Tour de Beauce (June 15-20) where a full squad will compete. Additional information is available at www.cyclesportmanagement.com.
