Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic

Jakob Piil, the racer with the most wins at Lancaster (2)
Race details
Region	Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Discipline	Road bicycle racing
Competition	ICP Tour of America (1993-1996) First Union Cycling Series (1998-2002) Wachovia Cycling Series (2003-2005) UCI America (2006) US Cycling Pro Tour (2007)
History
First edition	1992 (1992)
Final edition	2007 (2007)
First winner	Roberto Pelliconi (1992)
Most wins	Jakob Piil (1999, 2003)
Final winner	David Clinger (2007)

The Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic was a professional road bicycle race held in late May or early June between 1992 and 2007 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. With the exception of the first race, which was 57.6 miles (92.7 km), the Lancaster Classic covered about 91 miles (146 km). ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} Due to the "short, winding hills," it had a very low attrition rate, with 37% of starters finishing the race on average. ^{[5] [6]} 2003's 14% attrition was lower than that of the 2021 Tour de France, in which 23% of starters finished. ^[7]

History

The race was established in part by Lancaster mayor Janice Stork, along with sponsor CoreStates Financial Corporation (and its acquisitions, Hamilton Bank, First Union, and Wachovia National Bank), in an attempt to revitalize the downtown area. ^[8]

The race underwent several name changes:

• CoreStates Hamilton Classic (1992-1996) ^{[9] [10]}
• CoreStates Invitational (1997) ^[11]
• First Union Invitational (1998-2002) ^{[12] [13] [14]}
• Wachovia Lancaster Invitational (2003-2005) ^[15]
• Commerce Bank Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic (2006-2007) ^{[16] [17] [18]}
  • Named in memory of a late CoreStates Hamilton Bank executive. ^{[4] [16]}

It was part of the following tours:

• ICP Tour of America (1993-1996) ^{[19] [10] [20]}
• CoreStates USPRO Cycling Championship (1997) ^[11]
• First Union Cycling Series (1998-2002) ^{[21] [13] [14] [22]}
• USPRO Saturn Tour (1999-2000) ^{[23] [24]}
• USPRO Championship (2001) ^[25]
• Wachovia Cycling Series (2003-2005) ^{[26] [15] [27] [28]}
• Wachovia USPRO Championship (2004-2005) ^{[26] [29] [30]}
• Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling (first leg) (2006) ^{[18] [17] [31]}
• UCI America (2006) ^{[32] [16]}
• US Cycling Pro Tour (2007) ^{[33] [1] [31]}

In 2006, two additional races were added: the women's and elite amateur men's race lasted for 25 miles (40 km) and 30 miles (48 km), respectively, around a 0.68 miles (1.09 km) circuit in downtown Lancaster. ^{[1] [18] [34]}

The Lancaster Classic ended abruptly after the 2007 event and was replaced by the Lehigh Valley Classic in nearby Allentown. ^[35]

Winners

Men's

Year	Winner	Time	Team	Starters	Finishers	Refs
1992	Roberto Pelliconi	2:04:05	Mercatone Uno			[36] [3]
1993	Arvis Piziks	3:13:14	Latvian National Cycling Team	130	42	[36] [10] [37]
1994	Andrea Peron	3:13:13	Team Polti	133	50	[36] [6]
1995	Fred Rodriguez	3:07:12	USA Cycling	127	50	[36] [19] [38]
1996	Chris Horner	3:28:25	Nutra Fig Cycling Team	120	44	[36] [39]
1997	Chann McRae	3:22:15	Saturn			[36] [11]
1998	Frankie Andreu	3:23:17	US Postal Service	150		[36] [21]
1999	Jakob Piil	3:19:42	Acceptcard	120	45	[36] [13] [40]
2000	Trent Klasna	3:21:04	Saturn	140		[36] [41] [42]
2001	Léon van Bon	3:20:13	Mercury Viatel	150	65	[36] [43]
2002	David Clinger	3:18:52	US Postal Service			[36]
2003	Jakob Piil	3:23:42	CSC Denmark	163	23	[36] [44]
2004	Max van Heeswijk	3:17:27	US Postal Service	200	57	[45]
2005	Greg Henderson	3:21:28	Health Net - Maxxis	166	76	[27]
2006	Jackson Stewart	3:09:20	Kodakgallery.com-Sierra Nevada	106	51	[5] [46] [18] [16]
2007	Bernhard Eisel	3:18:41	T-Mobile Team	215	84	[1] [47] [48]

Women's

Year	Winner	Time	Team	Starters	Finishers	Refs
2006	Ina Teutenberg	54:21	T-Mobile			[49] [50]
2007	Ina-Yoko Teutenberg	55:10	T-Mobile			[51] [48]

Amateur men's

Year	Winner	Time	Team	Starters	Finishers	Refs
2006	Jamie Carney					[49]
2007						[52]

References