Tim Torn Teutenberg has won the revived Philadelphia Cycling Classic, continuing his family’s successful history at the race.
At the revival of the US professional race, whose women’s edition once formed part of the World Cup under the name Liberty Classic, the 24-year-old Teutenberg prevailed in a sprint from an eventual three-rider breakaway.
With his victory, the German followed in the footsteps of his aunt. Lidl-Trek sports director Ina-Yoko Teutenberg won the Liberty Classic at the same venue no fewer than five times during her racing career: in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012.
“It’s incredible. There were a lot of crowds today, especially on the climb. It was incredible how many people there were – and super loud. It was a bit like a climb at the Tour of Flanders! We had a super good atmosphere today,” said Tim after celebrating his first professional victory.
He won it in impressive fashion. Initially, he was part of the day’s breakaway together with Sebastian Grindley, while team captain Quinn Simmons was also able to bridge across to the front group in the finale.
With three riders, Lidl-Trek then used their numerical advantage to their tactical benefit, and eventually Teutenberg headed towards the finish in a trio with Jonas Rutsch of Lotto–Intermarché and Robert Donaldson of Jayco–AlUla after the final passage of Lemon Hill.
“It was quite a tactical race. You never knew which attack would go away and continue. We had to see how we would do it and try to be there with numbers. We knew Quinn was super strong and that he would somehow find his way and make it to the front. That’s what he did,” Tim explained.
“I tried to slow the group down a bit, and then when he arrived in the group, he immediately attacked. That was super good. The guys had to invest a lot, and then we played the numbers.”
Photo: Bruce Buckley
On the final kilometre, as the riders rounded the last major roundabout and headed onto the finishing straight, Teutenberg was riding at the front with his two companions on his rear wheel. The trio caught up with several lapped riders, who unintentionally provided a little additional shelter from the wind – and then the German sprinted from the front to victory.
In Tim’s words:
I was pretty self-confident because Bob – the guy from Jayco – was second. I had already sprinted against him a couple of times and also won a sprint against him at the Under-23 Paris-Roubaix. So I knew I should normally be faster than him. I don’t normally like to go from the front, but then we lapped some people there and I tried to get a bit of shelter behind them. Then it was a bit of cat and mouse, waiting – and with 220 to go I just went and gave all I had.
