In 1985 one of the most famous US Pro Cycling Championship courses was conceived by Jerry Casale and David Chauner and The infamous Manayunk Wall became an iconic image of the biggest challenge of the course that the riders would have to overcome.
At a steep gradient peaking at 17% was literally like hitting a wall especially since multiple laps and climbs of the wall are needed to win the race. The weather was often searingly hot and a shower of water on the climb to cool off known as O'Brien's Water Hole became the go to for the mental relief as much as the water itself.
After 2005 the race continued but it no longer carried the prestige of being US Pro Champion due to this only being eligible for US cyclists and the race was heavily supported by International riders.
#cycle2max
If you're enjoying these videos please subscribe here:
/ @acko2k
The list of winners of the race is as follows:
1985 United States Eric Heiden 7-Eleven
1986 United States Thomas Prehn Schwinn-Icy Hot
1987 United States Tom Schuler 7-Eleven
1988 Italy Roberto Gaggioli Pepsi-Cola-Fanini-FNT
1989 United States Greg Oravetz Coors Light
1990 Italy Paolo Cimini Gis Gelati-Benotto
1991 Netherlands Michel Zanoli Tulip Computers
1992 United States Bart Bowen Subaru-Montgomery
1993 United States Lance Armstrong Motorola
1994 Great Britain Sean Yates Motorola
1995 United States Norman Alvis Saturn
1996 United States Eddy Gragus U.S. Postal Service
1997 Italy Massimiliano Lelli Saeco
1998 United States George Hincapie U.S. Postal Service
1999 Denmark Jakob Piil Acceptcard Pro Cycling
2000 Australia Henk Vogels Manheim Auctions-Mercury
2001 United States Fred Rodriguez Domo-Farm Frites-Latexco
2002 Canada Mark Walters Navigators
2003 Italy Stefano Zanini Saeco Macchine per Caffè
2004 Spain Francisco Ventoso Saunier Duval-Prodir
2005 United States Chris Wherry Health Net-Maxxis
2006 New Zealand Greg Henderson Health Net-Maxxis
2007 Argentina Juan José Haedo Team CSC
2008 Denmark Matti Breschel Team CSC
2009 Germany André Greipel Team Columbia-High Road
2010 Australia Matthew Goss Team HTC-Columbia
2011 Denmark Alex Rasmussen HTC-Highroad
2012 Russia Alexander Serebryakov Team Type 1-Sanofi
2013 United States Kiel Reijnen UnitedHealthcare
2014 United States Kiel Reijnen UnitedHealthcare
2015 Spain Carlos Barbero Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
2016 Spain Eduard Prades Caja Rural-Seguros RGA