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Reading Classic: A short, but tough, course favors the power climbers

By Ophir Sefiha
Published: Jun. 5, 2008
Bernhard Eisel hopes to repeat in Reading on Thursday.
Bernhard Eisel hopes to repeat in Reading on Thursday.
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Thursday’s Reading Classic, the second round of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling, offers both redemption and a final tune-up before Sunday’s grand old race through the streets of Philadelphia.

Like Tuesday’s Lehigh race, the course is relatively short at 75 miles, yet the course in Reading, Pennsylvania, demands three trips up the switch-backing, mile-and-a-half, Mt. Penn. Described as a power-climbers’ ascent, look for riders able to accelerate over the top but still produce a big-time finishing sprint.

Last year’s race saw T-Mobile’s Austrian strongman Bernhard Eisel (now High Road) jump away from a 29-man lead group on the final circuit, soloing into the second to last turn and enjoying a 10-bike-length lead as he crossed the line.

Eisel’s defense looks promising as he placed ninth in the bunch gallop on Tuesday and brings with him arguably the strongest team in the race. Others to watch for include the on-fire Dominique Rollin (Toyota-United), himself very active in Tuesday’s race and Health-Net/Maxxis’s Aussie riders Rory Sutherland and second place finisher in Lehigh, Karl Menzies.

The women will again be racing a 25-mile Pro/Am criterium preceding the men’s road race. High Road’s Ina Teutenberg will be looking to go two-for-two at Thursday’s race after winning solo ─ and without teammates ─ in Lehigh. She will have to wait until Sunday’s race to enjoy support as the rest of her team is competing in the Montréal World Cup.

Hot on Teutenberg’s heels in Lehigh was Laura Van Gilder whose Cheerwine team currently sits atop the NRC team standings. The squad will be looking to add to its already impressive collection of wins this season, but the feisty German sprinter will do what she can to deny Cheerwine that opportunity. Undoubtedly the most marked rider in the race, it will be interesting to see if any teams can stop the High Road captain from yet another Pennsylvania win.

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