Maryland Cycling Classic podium history | Course map
Sparks - Baltimore, 194 km (120.4 miles)
Sep Vanmarcke (left) just beats Nickolas Zukowsky for the win. Human Powered Health photo
Weather at the finish city of Baltimore at 2:10 PM, local time: 32C (89F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the southeast at 14 km/hr (9 mph). There is a 3% chance of rain.
The race: Here's the report from second-place Nickolas Zukowsky's Human Powered Health team:
Nickolas Zukowksy sprinted to a phenomenal second place at the first-ever Maryland Cycling Classic p/b UnitedHealthcare, having made the racing throughout the day. The Canadian was locked in a battle with WorldTour opposition on the Baltimore finishing circuit, only just missing out on victory to Belgian Sep Vanmarcke (Israel - Premier Tech) in a nail-biting bike throw.
The 24-year-old matched his WorldTour breakaway competition of Vanmarcke, Nielson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Toms Skujiņš (Trek - Segafredo) and Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost) at every point and followed the race-winning move on the inner Harbor circuit when the five riders used one of the city ramps as a launchpad to gap a large group.
“I just gave everything I had today, the team rode awesome,” Zukowsky said afterwards. “You know it’s our home race and we haven’t raced here in quite a while so it’s sick to be back.”
Zukowksy was part of the action all day, making his way into the first breakaway of the day alongside US champ Kyle Murphy before the parcours and aggressive riding began to split the race up into chunks. This showcased the very best that the American cycling scene had to offer and from kilometer one was up there with one of the most exciting classics of the season.
Speaking afterwards, Murphy praised the camaraderie of the team throughout the week and the strength it took to get riders up the road at crucial stages.
“We had a great week with the partners, a lot of great events, the mood was high and having the confidence that we had players for however the race would go down,” he said. “If it was a sprint, we had Arvid but if it was going to be hard and gritty like it was we had Zuke, Carpenter, Coté, we just had a great well-rounded squad and that gives you the confidence to try things,” Murphy added.
The huge turnout of fans in Maryland was also a motivating factor.
“It was so much fun, the team was super hyped to be here,” Zukowksy said. “The crowds, everyone cheering for us, we were insanely motivated.”
Having taken to the podium already, Zukowksy was then presented with the RxBenefits Most Aggressive Rider Jersey, awarded to a rider at the end of the day who best animates the race by a jury of race officials and media members.
Complete results:
194 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.366 km/hr
1 | Sep Vanmarcke | Israel-Premier Tech | 4hr 34min 45sec |
2 | Nickolas Zukowsky | Human Powered Health | s.t. |
3 | Neilson Powless | EF Education-EasyPost | s.t. |
4 | Toms Skujins | Trek-Segafredo | @ 1sec |
5 | Andrea Piccolo | EF Education-EasyPost | 0:05 |
6 | Magnus Cort | EF Education-EasyPost | 1:06 |
7 | Jenthe Biermans | Israel-Premier Tech | s.t. |
8 | Quinn Simmons | Trek-Segafredo | 1:11 |
9 | Alexandre Balmer | BikeExchange-Jayco | s.t. |
10 | Robigzon Oyola | Team Medellin-EPM | s.t. |
11 | Nick Schultz | BikeExchange-Jayco | 1:32 |
12 | David Lozano | Novo Nordisk | s.t. |
13 | Robin Carpenter | Human Powered Health | 6:47 |
14 | Krists Neilands | Israel-Premier Tech | s.t. |
15 | Tony Gallopin | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
16 | Eder Frayre | L39ION of Los Angeles | s.t. |
17 | Kyle Murphy | Human Powered Health | s.t. |
18 | Jens Keukeleire | EF Education-EasyPost | 7:25 |
19 | Simon Carr | EF Education-EasyPost | s.t. |
20 | Otto Vergaerde | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
21 | Guillaume Boivin | Israel-Premier Tech | 8:40 |
22 | Tyler Williams | L39ION of Los Angeles | 9:54 |
23 | Michael Matthews | BikeExchange-Jayco | s.t. |
24 | Dylan Groenewegen | BikeExchange-Jayco | s.t. |
25 | Giacomo Nizzolo | Israel-Premier Tech | s.t. |
26 | Noah Granigan | USA | 9:58 |
27 | Michael Foley | Toronto Hustle | s.t. |
28 | Arvid De Kleijn | Human Powered Health | s.t. |
29 | Kasper Andersen | Hagens Berman Axeon | s.t. |
30 | Cian Keogh | EvoPro Racing | s.t. |
31 | Cristhian Montoya | Team Medellin-EPM | s.t. |
32 | Felix Stehli | EF Education-EasyPost | s.t. |
33 | Kent Main | ProTouch | s.t. |
34 | Oscar Sevilla | Team Medellin-EPM | s.t. |
35 | Jan Maas | BikeExchange-Jayco | 10:03 |
36 | Jacopo Mosca | Trek-Segafredo | 10:12 |
37 | Mehari Tewelde | ProTouch | 15:03 |
38 | Sandy Guerra | Panamá es Cultura y Valores | s.t. |
39 | Yelko Gomez | Panamá es Cultura y Valores | s.t. |
40 | Sam Brand | Novo Nordisk | s.t. |
41 | Patrick Welch | USA | s.t. |
42 | Matteo Amella | Team Corratec | s.t. |
43 | Pier-André Côté | Human Powered Health | s.t. |
44 | Walter Vargas | Team Medellin-EPM | s.t. |
45 | Darren Rafferty | Hagens Berman Axeon | s.t. |
46 | Callum Ormiston | ProTouch | 21:17 |
2022 Maryland Cycling Classic map: