5.16.08
PROFESSIONAL MEN'S TEAMS NAMED FOR
COMMERCE BANK TRIPLE CROWN OF CYCLING
May
16,
2008: Organizers
of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling have
announced the 25 professional men’s teams
that will wage a three-race battle on the hardscrabble
streets of southeastern Pennsylvania in early June.
To the victors will go the lion’s share of
a $93,500 prize purse that includes a $10,000 bonus
for the overall series winner.
Battling for the cash will be a deep field that
includes four teams slated to start July’s
Tour de France, the Danish-based CSC formation,
Italy’s Liquigas and American powerhouses
Team High Road and Slipstream-Chipotle. But this
is not necessarily a harbinger of a one-sided affair.
Home-grown teams such at Toyota-United, Health Net-Maxxis
and Pennsylvania’s own Rite Aid squad will
surely do their best to topple the big boys.
Also be on the watch for cycling’s new bad
boys, Rock Racing, which boasts a marquee team roster
that includes the likes of ProTour veterans Freddie
Rodriguez, Tyler Hamilton, Victor Hugo Peña
and recent Redlands Classic winner Santiago Botero.
“The Rock Racing team has a brash approach
that’s sometimes controversial,” explained
Pro Cycling Tour president David Chauner. “But
they also have a stacked team and their owner is
an enthusiastic guy who wants to make an impact
on the sport. We like that.”
Indeed, Rock Racing boss and fashion mogul Michael
Ball will be just one of the many characters that
make the 2008 Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling
a must attend sporting event.
The three-race series commences June 3rd with the
Commerce Bank Lehigh Valley Classic, an 85-mile,
12-lap circuit race that traces a twisting path
through Allentown and Salisbury Township. Two days
later, the race caravan will relocate to Reading
for a 75-mile, 11-lap affair that darts back and
forth between the city’s downtown and nearby
Mt. Penn.
Finally, comes the big daddy of North American one-day
races, the Commerce Bank Philadelphia International
Championship. Celebrating its 24th running, this
epic 156-mile test of mettle begins and ends on
Philadelphia’s famed Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
In between a fast field of the world’s 200-plus
best cyclists will fight and claw their way around
10 laps of the 14.4-mile primary circuit that includes
the infamous Manayunk Wall, which boasts precipitous
grades in excess of 17 percent. That’s followed
by three testing finishing circuits up and over
Lemon Hill before the 2008 champion is crowned.
“What sets these races apart is that they
are circuit races held in the heart of big cities,
not long point-to-point tours where you may only
see the riders once all day,” added Chauner,
a 40-year veteran of the sport, two-time Olympian,
and 1998 inductee into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of
Fame. “Our events allow you to see the strategy
and tactics unfold right before your eyes. It’s
NASCAR on bicycles.”
And just like NASCAR, all three events will garner
expanded live television coverage, a testament to
excitement the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling
will unleash during the first week of June.
Professional
Men’s Teams for 2008 Commerce Bank Triple
Crown of Cycling
Note: As of 5/7/08
Click
here to view Team Type 1 profile.
Source:
Pro Cycling Tour
