Columbia-Highroad cyclist Greipel wins 156-mile Philadelphia International Championship

Columbia-Highroad rider wins Philly cycling race

PHILADELPHIA — Pro cycling’s strongest team, Team Columbia-Highroad, demonstrated its dominance again Sunday when teammates Andre Greipel and Greg Henderson finished 1-2 in the 25th annual men’s Philadelphia International Championship.

Greipel and Henderson completed the 156-mile course in 6 hours, 24 minutes and 4 seconds, edging Bissell Pro Cycling’s Kirk O’Bee.

Henderson said Columbia-Highroad’s strategy was to have him lead out at the end in the final sprint and give Greipel a chance to win by coming off his wheel.

“We knew we had the two strongest riders and it was going to come to a sprint,” he said. “I’m pretty good at preparing a sprint for Greipel.”

Greipel, a native of Germany, won $13,500 for finishing first.

“Everything worked out pretty good,” he said with a smile. “Before the race, we said he (Henderson) would do the lead out. I think all the guys (on Columbia-Highroad) trusted us, and we did it.”

Besides the close finish, the talk of the day centered on the success of the race, which almost didn’t take place this year because of a lack of funding. Thanks to some late sponsors, the race was saved.

And because of good weather, an estimated crowd of 300,000 people attended what Mayor Michael A. Nutter called “a tremendous race.”

“When you think about all that had to come together there was a rough patch there for a little while, but the city, the governor (Ed Rendell) and a bunch of other folks all stepped up,” Nutter said. “This is the signature one-day race in North America. It has a lot of impact. People look forward to this race. It’s a real event, which brings international attention to the city.”

In the women’s competition, Columbia-Highroad also took home top honors as Ina Teutenberg won her third Liberty Classic.

The German veteran prevailed in a sprint against Team TIBCO’s Joanne Kiesanowski, completing the 57.6-mile course in 2:22:33.5. That time was approximately 2 minutes faster than Teutenberg’s winning times in 2005 and 2007.

“I think it was a more aggressive race today,” Teutenberg said in explaining the time improvement.

PROMAN Hit Squad’s Shelley Olds finished third.

Teutenberg, 35, continues to be a dominant force in women’s cycling and shows no signs of slowing at an age when most cyclists have retired from elite competition. Asked if she’ll continue with championship racing into her late 30s, Teutenberg said: “I seem to get better with age, so we’ll see.”