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]
 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 |
| Final edition | 2007 |
| First winner | Roberto Pelliconi (1992) |
| Most wins | Jakob Piil (1999, 2003) |
| Final winner | David Clinger (2007) |
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] |