Preview: World-class racing returns to U.S. soil at the Maryland Cycling Classic this Saturday

After a 2024 cancellation, the Maryland Cycling Classic, America’s top-ranked professional road race, returns bigger and better this weekend, with WorldTour teams like Lidl-Trek, EF Education-EasyPost, Team Jayco-AlUla and Canyon-SRAM headlining the Baltimore event.

Organisers rolled out major upgrades for the event’s third edition, including a new women’s race and a calendar shift that links Maryland directly to the Canadian WorldTour one-day classics.

The September 6th date makes the transatlantic trip more enticing for European squads chasing UCI points on both sides of the border. Just as importantly, the addition of a women’s race marks the long-awaited return of world-class women’s road racing to the U.S. for the first time since the 2019 Amgen Tour of California.

On the men’s side, organizers tout their deepest field yet with a mix of WorldTour, Pro Road and top American teams in attendance.

Plus, the course has gotten an exciting, spectator-friendly makeover featuring several laps of a technical circuit with 28 (!) turns per lap, a cobbled sector, an intermediate sprint, a KOM climb, and a showcase of Baltimore’s most iconic landmarks.

Unusually for a one-day race, the Maryland Cycling Classic will feature races within the race with a sprinter’s and a climber’s classification, each with prize money on offer. In addition, organisers have confirmed equal prize purses for the men’s and women’s events: a total of $25,000 in each race, with $10,000 awarded to the winners.

Here’s what to expect, who to cheer for and how to watch America’s “most important race.”

The Course

The previous course saw the peloton traversing the rolling farm hills of Maryland before entering an urban circuit in central Baltimore and finishing with a sprint in the Inner Harbor area.

This year, organisers have devised an all-new, spectator-friendly course that sees the peloton tackle a tight and technical 17.9-mile (28.8 km) city circuit featuring 28 corners, a lumpy profile and around 950-feet (290m) of climbing per lap. There’s also a 550-yard rough cobbled sector right at the start through Fells Point and a key climb called Seton Hill, where KOM/QOM points are on offer each lap. Additionally, points will be awarded for intermediate sprints after the first lap of each race as well as at the finish line.

The race finishes with a long, flat and fast drag down East Pratt Street in Baltimore’s famous Inner Harbor, the same finish site of the previous race editions, which saw crowds grow to around 20,000 for the finale.

The men’s peloton will complete six laps for a total of 172.8 km (107.4 miles) and 1,732 m (5,682 feet) of climbing. The women’s field will tackle four laps, totalling 115.2 km (71.6 miles) and 1,732 meters (3,868 feet) of climbing.

The Riders

The men's peloton

The men’s peloton will roll out from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor with 112 riders representing a truly international field. Now in its third edition, the race boasts its most competitive lineup to date, headlined by WorldTour squads EF Education–EasyPost, Lidl–Trek, and Jayco–AlUla. They will be joined by ProTeams Tudor, Uno-X, Israel–Premier Tech and TotalEnergies, as well as a strong contingent of leading domestic and South American squads. This blend makes for some unique race dynamics and could very well lead to a surprise winner.

Riders to watch:

• Lidl-Trek’s Mattias Skjelmose returns to defend his Maryland Cycling Classic win from 2023. The Dane won Amstel Gold Race and Andorra MoraBanc Clàssica early in the year, and this course should suit him well. Expect him to make his way into a breakaway.
• Skjelmose is joined by ‘super teammate’ Quinn Simmons. The American playmaker was voted best domestique of the 2025 Tour de France and he will surely be an instigator again in this race.
• American Neilson Powless of EF Education–EasyPost has twice ended up on the podium in Maryland and will surely be gunning for that top step in front of his home crowd.
• Compatriot Brandon McNulty will be trading in his UAE Team Emirates kit for the red and blue of the Team USA kit for this occasion, where he’ll lead a young national team. McNulty is in great form, having won the Tour of Poland just last month.
• Wild cards: Eric Brunner (Project Echelon), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X), Riley Sheehan (Israel - Premier Tech), Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla).

The women's peloton

The women’s race consists of 15 teams with up to seven riders per team. Currently there are 85 riders on the preliminary start list, headlined by international squads Canyon-SRAM, Ceratizit Pro Cycling and EF Education–Oatly, who are joined by top American teams such as Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28, L39ion of Los Angeles, Cynisca, Mexico’s Pato Bike–BMC and Canada’s The Cyclery.

And, making history with their presence is the Benin national team, which will be the first African women’s team to race a UCI event on U.S. soil.

Riders to Watch:

• Canadian Alison Jackson of EF Education–Oatly is a former Paris–Roubaix champion, the current Canadian national champion and one of the most experienced riders in this peloton. On this Classics-like course, it’s hard to bet against her. Look for her to instigate, and be active in, a breakaway.
• Speaking of experience, veteran WorldTour rider Tiffany Cromwell is captaining the Canyon-SRAM squad. An avid gravel racer, the Australian spends a fair bit of time in the United States and will surely be a valuable support rider for her less-experienced teammates in this technical circuit. Who knows, we may just see her take her own chances in a reduced bunch or breakaway scenario.
• American Lauren Stephens (Foundation Cycling) is always a contender, no matter the road’s surface. Stephens is the current US national gravel champion, a former US road racing champion, a stage winner of the 2020 virtual Tour de France, and winner of this year’s UCI-ranked Tour de Bloom stage race. She’ll be joined by a very strong American squad, including Emma Langley, who’s fresh off a win at the Green Mountain Stage Race and off-road privateer and 2024 Leadville winner Melissa Rollins.
• Cuban national champion Marlies Mejías García (Virginia’s Blue Ridge – Twenty28) has been dominating the U.S. road racing scene this 2025 season. The sprinter swept the overall at Tour of America’s Dairyland, Armed Forces Cycling Classic and Gateway Cup. She also won the Somerville and Clarendon Cups, and took home the points jersey at the Tour de Bloom.
• Also keep an eye on Heidi Franz (Cynisca). The 30-year-old American, who has spent the past few years living and racing in Europe, is always an animator with her bold attacks and well-timed flyers. Hungry for a breakthrough performance, Maryland could be the perfect stage for the big result she’s been chasing.
• Wild cards: Given the course’s many turns and technical nature, this could be a good opportunity for criterium teams like L39ion or Fearless Femmes to showcase their chops.

How to Watch

The women kick off the racing action early, at 8:30 a.m. ET. The race is expected to wrap up by noon, and the men’s race gets underway at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Both races will be streamed live on Outside TV and YouTube.