CONSO COMES OUT ON TOP IN PHILLY | VALENTINA MAKES A DREAM COME TRUE

Chiara Consonni made her first visit to the USA a winning one, claiming her second victory of the 2026 season at the revived Philadelphia Cycling Classic. After a decade-long absence from the women’s racing calendar, the Philadelphia Cycling Classic burst back into life on its original 23km city circuit.

Following the Schuylkill River to the north-westernmost point of the course, the meandering route reached the key obstacle of the notorious Manayunk Wall – 800m at 8.5% – named after the suburb through which it climbed. The sharp gradients were an obvious springboard for attacks, and a natural gathering point for fans.

The Wall and its bitterly named, but much more forgiving, counterpart, Lemon Hill, were negotiated four times. Then, two mostly flat mini-loops in the final 10km kept racing possibilities wide open before the finish on Philly’s grand Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

On the final ascent of Manayunk Wall, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka and Chiara forced a gap alongside three others, gaining over 20 seconds, but were absorbed back into a lively peloton containing Tiffany Cromwell and Maike van der Duin. With 5km to go, Maike found herself in a three-rider group, hovering just 10 seconds ahead of a roughly 20-rider peloton. Again, it all came back together at the front, not without the solid teamwork from Tiffany to close yet another dangerous move in the closing kilometres. The team positioned Chiara into the sprint finish and the Italian rider rocketed to an assertive victory. It also marks two victories from two trips to the USA for CANYON//SRAM in as many years after Agnieszka victory at the 2025 Maryland Classic. Chiara remarked:

“It was a really nice race for us. We were well prepared, not just for a bunch sprint but also for the climb and it was good that that Aga and me tried something there. My teammates did a great job. They closed the attacks and controlled the race right up until the final lead-out. It wasn’t easy with the travel and jet lag to arrive and race here, but I’m definitely happy to have come to Philadelphia. We worked well together and everyone did something to help achieve this win so I’m happy to share it with them. With Aga winning Maryland last year, it’s super nice for the team to come again to the USA and to win again.”

Giro della Toscana

On the final 145km stage of the Giro della Toscana, Emily Dixon wasn’t able to claim the redemption she wanted, one day after a cruel puncture in the final 5km robbed her of a potential stage win, but she once again showed that her climbing legs were exceptional. She finished fifth from the six-rider favourites group, moving herself up to seventh on GC after overall hopes were dashed the previous day.

After a fully committed lead-out from her Generation teammates that rendered rival teams unresponsive, Emily hit the penultimate cat. 1 ascent at a fierce tempo. The 2.7km climb at 5.8% was tackled five times across the final 70km and as expected, proved decisive in determining the final selection. Unlike on the previous stage where she escaped with just Swierenga (LIV), the eventual GC winner, Emily was unable to shake as many riders on a slightly easier climb with unfavourable wind conditions.

UCI Mountain Bike World Championships

There was a strong mix of widespread and diverse racing action for CANYON//SRAM this weekend. At the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Generation’s young mountain-bike sensation Valentina Corvi delivered under the immense pressure of racing on home soil, and the weight of expectation as one of the pre-race favourites.

After an exceptional season that has included six U23 World Cup cross-country victories, Valentina claimed an individual rainbow jersey after taking bronze last year, just days after helping Italy to gold in the mixed team relay. Today, she rode and wrote a fairytale.

“I’m really happy. I feel like I’ve had goosebumps all day,” Valentina said after the podium ceremony.

“The crowd on the top of the course was insane this morning and it helped me push just a little bit more. And the home crowd at the podium ceremony was just another level of insane. It’s really special to win the rainbow jersey. I’ve thought about this day for months. Today was a perfect day—a dream come true.”

Classic Lorient Agglomération

Meanwhile, yesterday on the far-western French roads, Soraya Paladin showed that her racing legs are as good as ever, sprinting to fifth from a heavily reduced peloton at the relentlessly rolling and twisty Bretagne special that is Classic Lorient Agglomération.

Otherwise known fondly as GP Plouay, the one-day race offers zero comfort across its 172km and almost 2,900m of climbing. Constant attacks and attempts to neutralise them – including plenty of both from the supremely strong Antonia Niedermaier – ultimately came out even, with the reduced group arriving together for the sprint.

Soraya found her way onto the wheel of eventual winner Balsamo (LTK) and had this to say after a long, drawn-out kick to the line:

“I just lost the momentum at one point and had to slow down, but this result is still good for me.”