America’s oldest one-day race, the TD Bank International Championship, will be raced around the streets of Philadelphia tomorrow. It’s also the longest one-day race in the United States at 251 kilometres. HTC-HighRoad have won the last two editions of the event and this year will be sending their young guns in an attempt to make it three in a row. Last year’s winner Matt Goss won’t return to defend his title but the American team will put their trust in fast finisher Leigh Howard while Irish national champion Matthew Brammeier (pictured) and Alex Rasmussen will play key roles.
Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis will be one of the teams looking to spoil the day for the American super team, taking a mixture of experience and youth to the event.
"This race is the hardest day in America, and the winner here is the rider who can climb Manayunk Wall 10 times and then hold on through the heat and speed to a fast finish," said the team’s General Manager Vassili Davidenko.
Javier Megias is one of the riders with Type 1 diabetes on the team and finished in the top ten last year. He’ll be returning with the experience of Rubens Bertogliati at his side. Bertogliati wrote in his blog on VeloNation this week about how he has been training at altitude in Lake Tahoe for the race. He’s clearly psyched and wants to do well.
Another of those who will be lining out for the team is Italian Daniele Callegarin. He’s making his American racing debut, and has been briefed about the 1km long, 17% incline up the Manayunk Wall.
"In Italy cycling is a tradition and stays close to its roots,” Callegarin said. "This Philadelphia race has the tradition of a hard climb made unforgettable by thousands of fans, and every Italian rider who has done this race has come back to tell stories about it."
Last year’s runner up Peter Sagan is undoubtedly the hot favourite, coming off a great performance at the Amgen Tour of California where he won a stage and the points classification. The 21 year old revelation is always exciting to watch and will hope to go one better than his performance last year. A victory on Sunday would be win number six for the Slovakian.
Other sprinters expected to make an impact on the race tomorrow will be Robert Förster , Hilton Clarke, Karl Menzies, Frank Pipp, Shawn Milne and Jure Kocjan.
One of the most interesting starters will certainly be 41-year-old Jaan Kirsipuu. The former Tour de France stage winner and yellow jersey wearer is still racing in his veteran years and has two victories to his name this season, albeit against lesser competition.