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The Maryland Cycling Classic is a unique event on both the men’s and women’s UCI calendars. Not only is it the only men’s and women’s one-day event in the United States, it is also a key point in the season for rider development and the all-important UCI points race.
The race took a season off the UCI calendar in 2024 due to the Key Bridge disaster disrupted the Baltimore Inner Harbor and made it impossible to stage the race. For veterans of the American cycling scene, the announced hiatus seemed like the death knell for the race. Historically, once a race goes away it doesn’t return, regardless of what organizers might say.
Nevertheless, the organizers in Baltimore were set on bringing the event back in 2025 with a new date, closer to the key Canadian WorldTour races for the men, and a new women’s event on the same day as the men. What looked doomed suddenly seems a viable event for years to come.
To add to the excitement of the race for American cycling fans, the race also serves as a key point in the season for several different teams and riders from the US and around the world. To get you set for the racing Saturday before the Maryland Cycling Classic streams live here on Velo, here are a few of the things that are at stake in Baltimore.
A special goal for the home riders
Brandon McNulty is one of several Americans who will be going for a win on home soil Saturday. (Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Considering the Maryland Cycling Classic a home race for anyone other than those in the DC and Baltimore area is a bit of a stretch. The United States is a massive country, after all. Nevertheless, sports have a way of extending patriotism and that drive to win the American pro race will certainly fuel the efforts of a few key riders.
On the men’s side, the home contingent will be led by a small handful of riders who are eager and capable of winning. Neilson Powless is chief among these names as the EF Education-EasyPost rider has been on the podium of this race twice. Riley Sheehan, Quinn Simmons, and Brandon McNulty are the other three names on the start list who jump out as potential winners. All three are race winners this year, all three have rider profiles that could be successful on the Baltimore circuit, and all will be motivated to add some American flavor to their race CV.
The women’s race has fewer obvious American contenders. Without the likes of Kristen Faulkner, Chloe Dygert, and Ruth Edwards on the start list, the American contingent will depend on the outsiders breaking out with a result. These less heralded riders include Melisa Rollins and Lauren Stephens coming from the gravel scene, former national champion Emma Langley, young riders like Chloe Patrick, Anna Hicks, and Cassidy Hickey, and a few veterans of the criterium scene.
In a smaller sense, this special status of America’s only one-day race also extends to teams with key American sponsors. Lidl-Trek and EF Education-EasyPost, for instance, bring teams with multiple potential winners including Mattias Skjelmose, who won the race in 2023. A big reason for these teams showing up is the importance of the race for their American partners.
The key stepping stone for young American women
For the women’s peloton, Maryland is a key step in rebuilding domestic American racing as the first edition of the race brings one-day racing back to the US for the first time in years. As a new race on the calendar, the women’s event sits at a lower 1.1 level compared to the men’s race sitting at a higher 1.Pro level.
There are benefits for that shift in status, however, as the 1.1 level of the race opens it up to so many more domestic teams that aren’t classified as UCI Continental teams. A few key American criterium and development teams have taken this opportunity with two hands and it will be a fascinating subplot to see which of these riders can break through and nab a transformative result.
A great example of this is the Foundation Cycling New York team. The composite squad is filled with talent. Lauren Stephens and Emma Langley come from time spent on the Women’s WorldTour, Melisa Rollins is a star on the LifeTime Grand Prix, and Grace Arlandson has been a breakthrough attacking rider on the criterium scene. Similar subplots can be said about Fount Cycling Guild, CCB p/b Levine Law Group, L39ion of Los Angeles, and Fearless Femme Racing. None of these teams are registered squads which means Maryland is the big show for these squads and their riders.
Uno-X Mobility and their late push to the WorldTour
Uno-X Mobility team’s Norwegian rider Jonas Abrahamsen took a monumental win at stage 11 of the Tour de France this summer. (Photo: Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)
While the American-ness of the race will drive much of the narrative, the race is a key cog for a few fully European teams and their drive to grab as many possible UCI points as they try to stage a late-breaking move to the top division of the sport. Chief among these teams is Uno-X Mobility.
Uno-X Mobility is a UCI ProTeam that is exclusively made up of Norwegian and Danish riders. That formula has been a winning one over the past few seasons as UNO-X has gotten more race invites, better riders, better equipment, and more wins. This culminated this summer at the Tour de France with a stage win via Jonas Abrahamsen and a top ten overall from Tobias Holland Johannessen.
With that success, the team has now suddenly found itself in the fight for the last WorldTour spot for the next three year cycle in the relegation, promotion structure of the top division of the sport. And that fight runs, in part, through Maryland as 200 points for the win is up for grabs. Considering the team is 50 points behind Cofidis for the last out spot, and the widely reported Intermarche/Lotto merger likely to go through, they are right on the cusp of ascension.
Johannessen and Abrahamsen are both on the start list in Maryland, which shows the importance of the points for the team. They will undoubtedly be looking to win or at the very least stack the top ten with multiple riders. Other teams chasing similar goals at Maryland are TotalEnergies and Tudor Pro Cycling, however, Uno-X Mobility has the biggest capacity to win the race and break into cycling’s most exclusive club.