Sparta Cycling Inc., has announced the teams for the Reading 120, the race that lays claim to the title, “Classic of the Americas.”
The UCI 1.2 event on Saturday, Sept. 12 has attracted a collection of top teams and racers from North America, South America and Central America.
Among those expected to take the start is Colombian Francisco Jarley Colorado (Ningxia Sports Lottery-Focus Cycling Team), winner of this year’s Vuelta Mexico; American Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team), a two-time winner of the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic; Toms Skujins of Latvia (Hincapie Racing Team), a stage winner at the 2015 Amgen Tour of California and overall runner-up at the Tour de Beauce; and four-time Guatemalan national road champion Manuel Rodas.
“We are delighted the race has drawn talent from across the Americas,” Reading 120 Race Director John Eustice said. “The sight of Colombians, Mexicans, Canadians and Guatemalans duking it out with our powerhouse domestic teams on the brutal finishing circuit in Reading will be a sporting spectacle of the highest quality.”
“With the UCI world road championships rolling out in Richmond, Virginia, just eight days after Reading, the race has drawn teams and riders looking for a final test. The United States Under 23 national team, the Guatemalan national team and Team Bliz-Merida presented by Cyclesport.se of Sweden are using the race as final preparation for their entrants in the road races”, Eustice said.
Two other continental teams – Hincapie Racing Team and Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies – are racing in Reading as a final tune-up for their entry into the worlds team time trial.
The course for the 120-mile race opens with a rolling, 75-mile loop through magnificently preserved farmland of Berks County. Five finishing circuits follow in Reading, each featuring a 2.5-mile climb of Mount Penn and past the city’s famed Pagoda historical landmark. The race boasts a challenging 10,000 feet of climbing.
“The climb of Mount Penn, with its switchbacks, is akin to an Alpe d’Huez split into sections,” Eustice said. “But the big difference is the spectators will see the riders pass by five times, as opposed to once.”
Bookending the international cycling weekend will be the Thompson Criterium of Doylestown on Sunday, Sept. 13 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Doylestown will boast of the most international field in its 12-year history, Eustice said. The 62-mile race winds its way through the Victorian town and around an arts festival lined with house parties and annual crowds more than 30,000 strong.
The race’s official hashtag is “#reading120” with more details on social media here: Facebook: <www.facebook.com/reading120>.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/reading120For more information go to <www.reading120.com> and <www.buckscountyclassic.com>.
Both the Reading 120 and the Thompson Criterium of Doylestown will be live streamed. For more information, go to <www.reading120.com> and <www.buckscountyclassic.com>.
From Streamline6 Communications
