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Schleicher continues German tradition at Liberty Classic
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Racers at Philadelphia’s Liberty Classic would be wise to beware of the Germans. Following the retirement of Petra Rossner, who won seven editions of this race, Ina Teutenberg (T-Mobile) stepped in to defend her country’s honor, winning out of a break in the 2005 edition. This year, it was reigning world champion Regina Schleicher (Nürnberger) who would deliver the win for Germany in the 57.6 mile contest.
Teutenberg looked primed for the win until the closing 50 meters, having received a picture-perfect lead-out from three of her T-Mobile teammates. But the world champion was lined up on Teutenberg’s wheel, and timed her jump into the headwind perfectly to come around the defending champion by half a bike. NRC points leader Tina Pic (Colavita) held off the remnants of the field for third.
“The girls set me up perfectly,” said Teutenberg. “I just couldn’t finish it off. If I had to lose it, at least it’s to another German.”
T-Mobile’s chances of a repeat win took a hit on Saturday, when Teutenberg and her teammate, 2004 World Champion Judith Arndt were involved in a training ride tangle with a car. Both riders were taken to the local hospital for a check-over, and both made the start on Sunday, albeit a bit on the stiff side.
Errant cars aside, Teutenberg’s main challenge was expected to come from a bevy of on-form sprinters, including Colavita-Cooking Light’s American-Canadian duo of Tina Pic and Gina Grain, Australian Rochelle Gilmore (Advil-Chapstick), Lipton’s Laura Van Gilder, and Victory Brewing’s Laura Yoisten. A sprint wasn’t a foregone conclusion, however, with strong riders such as Christine Thornburn (Webcor), World Champion Regina Schleicher (Nurnberger), and Kristin Armstrong (Lipton) also looking for opportunities.
Though the winning nationality and the bunch sprint remained a constant, this year marked a change for the Liberty Classic. Normally held in sweltering heat and humidity of the Philadelphia summer, racers were greeted at the 9:15am start by temperatures hovering in the mid-60s under sunny skies, and a strong wind blowing from the North.
That wind, combined with a steady stream of attacks, took its toll on the first of four laps of the 14.4 mile course between Philadelphia’s downtown and Manayunk’s famous wall. A group of 8 formed at the end of the first lap, when Annette Beutler (Aaron’s) attacked for QOM points, drawing out seven pursuers, including Kate Bates of the powerful German Nurnberger squad and Amy Moore (T-Mobile). Moore’s T-Mobile squad didn’t like the combination, and put three riders on the front of the field to chase the group down on the outbound run of the Ben Franklin Parkway. Thought the escapees were soon retrieved, the pace set by the break and the pursuit lopped off some 30 of the 149 starters by the start of the second lap.
Following a relatively quiet second lap, a dangerous split occurred on the third ascent of the Manayunk wall. Some twenty riders broke free by the top of the wall, including Schleicher and the dangerous Van Gilder.
“I missed that split,” said Pic, “but I saw that Ina [Teutenberg] wasn’t there, so that was sort of a safety net. I knew T-Mobile would probably bring it back.”
T-Mobile did take the responsibility, and by the start of the fourth lap, the field was back together, though without a few more causalties of the pace. The Lipton and T-Mobile squads manned the front of the field on the way out to Manayunk, with T-Mobile taking over on the climb to protect Teutenberg’s interest in a field sprint. In the closing meters of the climb, Beutler was able to power past again, securing her grip on the QOM title over the top and lining out the bunch on the descent. Lipton’s Kori Seehafer led the descent, followed by Kim Anderson (T-Mobile).
Chrissy Reuter (Victory Brewing) was the next to try her hand on the way back to the start/finish area, and was joined by two chasers before being reabsorbed. Canadian Anne Samplonius (Biovail), returning to the peloton after taking a year off to direct, put in her own attack approaching the final climb of Lemon Hill, but that escape was also short-lived. The final attempt to escape a field sprint came on the last ascent of Lemon Hill, when New Zealand national champion Sarah Ulmer (Jazz Apple) initiated a dangerous attack, marked by T-Mobile’s Kim Anderson. Seehafer again responded quickly, leading the chase on the descent before T-Mobile came to the front in force.
With three riders chasing and Anderson sitting on, T-Mobile neutralized Ulmer and guided Teutenberg to the closing 200 meters in perfect position. Or so it seemed. Planted firmly on her wheel was Schleicher, easy to spot in the world champion’s stripes.
“With the headwind, you just have to time it perfectly,” said Schleicher, who did just that to power around her flagging countrywoman and take her first win on U.S. soil.
Though she just missed out on the win, Teutenberg won’t leave empty-handed from the United States, which “has been more a home to me than Germany the last couple of years.” By winning the women’s criterium events at both the Lancaster and Reading legs of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling, she already had the series title wrapped up coming in to the Liberty Classic, but the second place served to ice the $2500 series win. Colavita’s Pic and Grain took the second and third spots for the series, respectively.
Commerce Bank Liberty Classic
June 11, Philadelphia, PA
1. Regina Schleicher (GER), Nurnberger Versicherung, 57.6 miles in2:28:04
2. Ina Teutenberg (GER), T-Mobile
3. Tina Pic, Colavita-Cooking Light
4. Annette Beutler (SUI), Aaron’s
5. Rochelle Gilmore (AUS), Advil-Chapstick
6. Shontell Gauthier, TRIA
7. Katherine Bates (AUS), Nurnberger Versicherung
8. Anne Samplonuis (Can), Biovail
9. Lauren Franges, Victory Brewing
10. Shannon Hutchinson-Krupat, Aaron’s
