Maryland Cycling Classic debuts Labor Day weekend with star-studded lineup
American pros Neilson Powless, Quinn Simmons, Alex Howes to race 120 miles alongside international talent like Dylan Groenewegen, Giacomo Nizzolo, and Sep Vanmarcke.
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After Covid-related hold-ups, the Maryland Cycling Classic is set to debut on September 4.
Riders from over 20 countries will compete in the one-day UCI ProSeries race, which begins in Sparks, Maryland, and finishes 120 miles later in Baltimore. The route takes in 8,500 feet of climbing.
Also read: 2022 Maryland Cycling Classic announces route
An abundance of pros from the WorldTour will travel to the east coast of the United States for the inaugural event. The race will feature 16 teams of seven cyclists per team. Each team is registered and licensed under a country name but may have athletes representing various nations.
Tour de France stage winners Michael Matthews of Australia and Dylan Groenewegen of the Netherlands will both represent Team BikeExchange-Jayco, bringing with them a wealth of experience.
“I am excited to be racing again in America, it has been a while since I have raced there,” said Matthews, who finished 2nd overall at the 2015 world championships in Richmond, Virginia.
“My last race in the United States was at the world championship, and I am looking forward to meeting our American fans again. We have a strong team going there, and looking at the course, it seems to be set up for different type of racing. We’ll have to see how the race will evolve. It’s going to be exciting, and I can’t wait for this race to begin!”
American squad EF Education-EasyPost will have a strong presence at the race with Neilson Powless and Alex Howes on the roster. Powless recently celebrated a 13th-place finish at the Tour de France, becoming the United States’s top overall finisher.
“I’ve never been to Baltimore, so it’ll be a new experience for me,” Powless said. “I really like the east coast and excited to see what it has to offer. It’s really special that we can race in America this year. I didn’t get to race nationals because of the timing with the Tour de France, so, I’m really excited to race in America for my first time in 2022. I’m happy that it’s in a new place. I’m looking forward to the inaugural edition of the Maryland Cycling Classic and I think we have a really strong team. Hopefully we can put on a good show for the fans in America.”
Other notable Americans at the race include Trek-Segafredo‘s Quinn Simmons, U.S. national champion Kyle Murphy, and Robin Carpenter, both of Human Powered Health.
Among the international notables are Israel-Premier Tech’s sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo of Italy and Sep Vanmarcke of Belgium, one of the top one-day Classics riders on the world circuit for the past decade.
In addition to Simmons, Trek-Segafredo brings Tony Gallopin of France and Latvia’s Toms Skujins, who won three stages of the Tour of California and always races well in America. Human Powered Health also has sprinter Arvid de Kleijn of the Netherlands and current Canadian National Champion Pier-André Côté on its roster.
The race begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT in Sparks, and the peloton is anticipated to arrive in Baltimore for the final circuit around 4:30 p.m. with a projected finish time of 6 p.m. Those interested in streaming the Maryland Cycling Classic live or watching in in-person can find more information here.