Big names are heading stateside Labor Day Weekend.
The Maryland Cycling Classic announced a star-studded preliminary roster for its second edition, September 3, including Tour de France stage winners and many top North American cyclists from the WorldTour and Continental levels.
Cycling fans will get the opportunity to see top American talent Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), fresh off 11th place in one of the hardest world championships ever and a long stint in the KoM polka dot jersey in the Tour de France, up close as he looks to better his third place finish from last year.
“I’m happy the race is back for another big year,” said Powless. “Last year, the race was really exciting. It seemed to open up from the get-go, and we tried to make it pretty hard as a team even after the front split got away.”
Also read: Cofidis and Astana Qazaqstan to race the Maryland Cycling Classic
Michael Woods (Team Isreal-Premier Tech) and Victor Lafay (Cofidis) are two 2023 Tour de France stage winners making the journey to the east coast of the United States for the country’s highest ranked UCI road race of the year. They’re also joined by Italy’s Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), fresh off of winning the KoM jersey at the Tour de France.
Top riders include former Vuelta a España winner and fourth place Tour de France finisher Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) and Simon Clarke, a former Tour and Vuelta stage winner. 2023 Tour de Suisse champion Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) joins them along with former Tour stage winners Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech) and Tony Gallopin (Lidl-Trek).
Other notable riders slated to race include Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla), Chris Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AlUla), Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech), Julius van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), Mikkel Honoré (EF Education-EasyPost), and Yevgeniy Fedorov (Astana Qazaqstan).
The race draws from WorldTour and ProTour teams as well as Continental level teams, allowing up and coming riders as well as top North American riders to take on some of the world’s best.
Notable North Americans include former U.S. time trial national champion and Olympian Lawson Craddock (Jayco-AlUla), former Tour of Alberta winner and Tour of Utah and USA Pro Challenge stage winner Robin Carpenter (L39ion of Los Angeles); former U.S. national champion Kyle Murphy (L39ion of Los Angeles); Cory Williams (L39ion of Los Angeles); Sam Boardman (L39ion of Los Angeles); Maryland-native Scott McGill (Human Powered Health), three-time Canadian national champion Guillaume Boivin (Israel-Premier Tech); current Pan American road race champion Pier-Andre Cote, and former Canadian national champion Adam de Vos (Human Powered Health).
Rising American talents include former U23 U.S. national champion Michael Garrison (Hagens Berman Axeon); 2022 U23 U.S. road race national champion Cooper Johnson (Hagens Berman Axeon); and Tyler Stites (Project Echelon), winner of the last two Route 66 time trial at the Redlands Classic.
Visit marylandcyclingclassic.us for the latest information on the race.