June 5, 2010 (Philadelphia, PA) – KBS will compete against the best riders in world this weekend at the 2010 Philadelphia International Championship. “The Philadelphia International Championship is a fun, hard race, and an important objective for our team,” says Jonas Carney, Performance Director. “It’s is an incredible event and a rare opportunity to compete in front of hundreds of thousands of fans.”

Alex Candelario, Reid Mumford, David Veilleux, Ryan Anderson, Andrew Bajadali, Zach Bell, Dan Bowman and Philly native Scott Zwizanski will represent the team at one of America’s most difficult and historic races.

The team, announced today, features six riders coming off the Amgen Tour of California in great form, including Ryan Anderson who held the KOM jersey for two days in California. The 249.6km/156-mile race also marks the return of climbing specialists Dan Bowman and Andy Bajadali after battling injuries in the early season.

Climbers and sprinters alike will have their work cut out for them on the race’s famed Manayunk Wall, an incredibly steep and punishing hill that reaches a 17 percent grade. Fans should also expect to see Pennsylvania native Scott Zwizanski, who was 11th overall at this year’s time trial at the Tour of California, hitting it hard on one of the hardest climbs in America.

“We’ve done everything we can to prepare our athletes and we’ll be fielding our strongest team ever at Philly,” adds Carney. “We are looking forward to some great results at this race.”

Eight-rider UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis squad set for Philly Sunday

The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis takes a deep, eight-rider squad to Philadelphia in its quest to return to the top step of the podium at the TB Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship.

The team will be led by a pair of Australians, Rory Sutherland and Karl Menzies, at the 156-mile race. Sutherland comes off a stellar Amgen Tour of California that saw him finish 7th overall, with three top-five stage finishes, including 2nd on the tour’s queen stage to Big Bear Lake.

Menzies comes in with some of his best form in several years, and was having a strong Tour of California until a crash late in Stage 4 slowed him down. But the big man from Tasmania is back up to speed, and both he and Sutherland will have strong support from their teammates.

That support includes Brad White, who rode through the effects of a stomach bug during the Tour of California and got progressively stronger as the race went along. If the race breaks apart on one of the 10 trips up the vaunted Manyunk Wall, or 13 trips up Lemon Hill, expect White to be near the front with Sutherland.

Menzies will have the support of the bulk of the crit squad with which he rode to great effectiveness in the Southeast Speed Week series in late April and early May. That group includes key lead-out man and sprinter Andrew Pinfold, Jake Keough, who also won two races during Speed Week, and Jonny Clarke, who was instrumental in all four of the Team’s Speed Week wins.

Matt Crane is another rider who the Team will look for to stay near the front on the hillier sections, while Adrian Hegyvary adds a big engine to help drive breaks or ride tempo.

“We’ve had a lot of success at this race in the past, and we’re highly motivated to do well again this year,” said Team Director Mike Tamayo. “Top to bottom, we have one of the strongest teams in the race. By the end of Speed Week, Karl, Pinner, Jake and Jonny had the lead-outs for the sprint finishes dialed. And Rory is Rory. We know we can always count on him to be in the mix for the big races.”