Sunny day in the city of Philadelphia to welcome the 158 riders that will take part in the Philadelphia International Classic. Marko Kump is the big favourite for the win, so the Slovenian will have a lot of pressure on his shoulders - and also his team-mates - to be in the perfect place to sprint in the uphill finish
Three riders have dared to attack from the start of the race, quickly building a 4-minute gap.
Rasmussen Kulppi Martin
A few teams are helping in the breakaway’s chase, like Ferrero, Isostar, Novatek or Podium Ambition, as all of them have leaders who should fight for the win today. Still 50 km left, but the gap to the 3 riders in front is only now 2’30
This is kinda weird, as Silvestre attacks with 40 km to go, despite being one of the fastest riders in today’s bunch. Obviously, Isostar don’t want to let him gain too much time, so they start to pull harder in the group. The Portuguese rider would be caught after only 5 km, in the moment the bunch was starting the penultimate lap of the race
Meanwhile, in the breakaway, Kulppi is using his better flat skills to make Martin and Rasmussen to suffer a lot to stay with him. Might be a little early if he really wants to do his move for the win, but with some riders attacking behind, the pace in the bunch is not getting slower anymore, so the 1-minute gap he has won’t be increased
Cisse and De Maar have attacked from the bunch, and have caught the original breakaway in the final pass by the finish line before the actual finish. They have a 45-second gap to a bunch led by Isostar’s riders
And Kulppi has finally made his move! Still 16 km left, but he has an interesting gap, at the very least. The Finn won’t give up without giving a good fight, that’s for sure
12 km to go and now only Kulppi is in front of the bunch, but he only has a 40-second gap to the bunch. Isostar, Ferrero and Podium Ambition have controlled perfectly the race until this point
More weird moves in Philly, as Rowe, another race favourite, decides to attack with 10 km to go, while Nelson and Modolo go inmediately on his wheel. This attack allows the bunch to catch Kulppi
Only 4 km left, and the sprint trains are becoming very clear now
Nelson
Gaviria
Ewan
Soupe
Bazzana
Cerny
Kump
Docker
Modolo
Van Asbroeck
Lo Cicero
McEvoy
Pozzato
Van Heerden
Holloway
Aregger
Kuboki
Schreurs
With 2 km to go, Podium Ambition has formed a better train, with Soupe ahead of Nelson and Ewan, while Kump stays on the Aussie’s wheel. Also, Lo Cicero has moved to Kump’s wheel
Under the Flamme Rouge, and still in flat roads, Docker and Cerny are desperately fighting to enter the uphill part in the first position. Lo Cicero was boxed by some Ferrero rider and has lost Kump’s wheel, losing a couple of places in the trains, making this a three-way battle between Ewan, Van Asbroeck and Kump
Only 400 metres left, but Kump is already in the lead, although Van Asbroeck is almost at his level. Everyone else seems to be fighting for the third place, but there’s a lot of time yet to recover some places.
Kump is proving to be much better than anyone else in the finish, despite having Van Asbroeck very close to him. But the Belgian rider can’t keep up with the Slovenian’s speed in the finale, and Kump is going straight to the win
Marko Kump wins Philadelphia International Classic! Perfect race for him, with his team working all day until the last 10 km where he took Ewan’s wheel and the Aussie’s lead-out train made him to be in perfect place to start his sprint, where no one could stand a chance against him
Van Asbroeck finishes second with a big gap to the riders that are fighting for the final place in the podium. His lead-out train worked perfectly, and he also did great, but Kump was too much for him to beat
And Modolo completes the podium today ahead of Aregger and Van Heerden. Lots of riders really close to each other in the first places, so photo-finishes were needed for almost every position in the top15
Holloway, Ewan, Lo Cicero, Scheurs and Kuboki round up the top10 of the race
