Colavita/Baci’s Theresa Cliff-Ryan Third at Liberty Classic
Philadelphia's Theresa Cliff-Ryan Podiums in America's Biggest One-Day Race
The Colavita/Baci Women's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light came to Philadelphia to be a factor in the TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship Women’s Liberty Classic, the biggest and longest-running one-day professional road race in the US, and delivered the sole Philadelphia resident to the podium.
Colavita/Baci’s Theresa Cliff-Ryan of Philadelphia finished third in the grueling 57-mile race behind four-time winner Ina-Yoko Teutenberg of Team HTC-Columbia and Pan American Champion Shelly Evans (Peanut-Butter & Co-Team 2012).
Lining up before thousands of spectators in sweltering heat and humidity, the international field of 120 riders waged an aggressive race. Cliff-Ryan’s Colavita/Baci teammates Kate Bates, Kelly Benjamin, Rushlee Buchanan, Cath Cheatley, and Modesta Vsznaiuskaite worked deliberately to protect her. Splits formed as the riders scaled the infamous “wall” at Manayunk Avenue but no break was able to stay clear. Finally, on the third of the four laps, Erinne Willock (Webcor Builders) launched a solo attack up Lemon Hill and gained close to a minute on the field. But the Colavita/Baci and HTC-Columbia squads took control and reeled her in just before the final climb.
The heat and the hills finally took their toll on the field and a front group of 20+ riders formed on the final climb up the Manayunk wall. Aided by her Colavita/Baci teammates, Cliff-Ryan made it into the group accompanied by Cheatley for support. Biding her time on the long finishing sprint, Cliff-Ryan launched her sprint and crossed the line in third behind Teutenberg and Evans.
The TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship Women’s Liberty Classic marks Cliff-Ryan’s 10th podium appearance of the 2010 season. Last week, she claimed her second victory at the Tour of Somerville, the oldest continuously run bike race in the US. In May, Cliff-Ryan won the gold medal in the points race at the Pan American Road & Track Championships in Mexico. Her win at the track marks her second gold medal at the Pan Am Games. In 1999, Cliff-Ryan added the gold medal in inline skating in the women’s track combined long distance event to her 29 world championship titles. Cliff-Ryan is also the reigning champion of the USA Crits Speedweek Series of seven criterium races in the Southeast.
Photo: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us
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