Philadelphia, PA — Rock Racing’s Fred Rodriguez finished third Sunday at the Commerce Bank International Cycling Championship in Philadelphia.

Rodriguez scored his seventh top five finish in the most prestigious one-day race in the United States as Matti Breschel (Team CSC) won a field sprint ahead of Kirk O’Bee (Health Net presented by Maxxis) on a steamy afternoon.

“This is one of those races where you have to bide your time and try and play your cards right,” Rodriguez said. “As I came into the last lap, I felt good and I knew I had to be in the right place at the right time.”

Unfortunately, Rodriguez said he lost momentum when he rode over a steel grate at the 150-meter mark on the final stretch of Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

“I hit the infamous pothole that’s been there every year since I started doing this race and it threw me off balance for the finish,” he said.

Rodriguez’s third place in the final race of the Commerce Bank “Triple Crown of Cycling” follows a pair of outright victories in the event that was once known as the USPRO Championship in 2001 and 2004, a second place finish in 2000 (as the top American finisher), third place in 1996 and fourth in 2005.

Despite temperatures soaring into the upper 90s, thousands of fans turned out to watch the race at the Manayunk “Rock Wall,” the decisive climb sponsored by Rock Racing that riders scaled 10 times during each 14.4-mile (23.1 km) lap of the circuit.

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – On paper, Team CSC looked to be an underdog at the Philadelphia International Championship. The Danish-based team has been besieged by injuries this season and only sent six of a possible eight riders to contest the 2008 Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling series. But six was enough for the ProTour squad, which saw young rising star Matti Breschel score an impressive field sprint win at the end of Sunday’s 156-mile race.

The victory was CSC’s second straight at the prestigious event that this year celebrated its 24th anniversary. A year ago, team rider J.J. Haedo grabbed the top prize. A scheduling conflict kept the Argentinean in Europe this time around, but Breschel filled in admirably, bursting across the line first at the end of the hot, hard day in the saddle.

Americans Kirk O’Bee (Health Net-Maxxis) and Fred Rodriguez (Rock Racing) were second and third respectively in a race that lasted a record 6 hours, 14 minutes and 47 seconds. The previous long day was 6:13:53 set in 2006.

“I was all by myself on the last lap,” explained Breschel, who did not have the benefit of a full lead-out train like some of his competitors. “But I got myself in a good position going through [Logan Circle] and was able to make a long sprint to the finish.”

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Reading, Penn. — Rock Racing scored its biggest victory of the season Thursday when Oscar Sevilla soloed to victory in the Commerce Bank Reading Classic.

The Spaniard attacked a trio of breakaway companions in the final six miles of the 74-mile (119 km) race that finished with three ascents of the challenging switchback climb of Mount Penn. Sevilla crossed the finish line six seconds ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team High Road) while Bernhard Eisel (Team High Road) won the field sprint for third three seconds later.

In the decisive moments, Sevilla rode Bernardo Colex (Tecos de la Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara) and Moises Aldape (Team Type 1) off his wheel before dropping Team Type 1’s Valeriy Kobzarenko midway up the final climb.

“I am on good form after the Vuelta a Colombia, which was very mountainous,” Sevilla said. “The race was hard but my team was very good today. This is a fantastic moment for Rock Racing.”

The victory was Sevilla’s third of the year and the 18th overall by Rock Racing this season. Sevilla also scored wins at the San Dimas Stage Race (Stage 1) and the Vuelta a Colombia (Stage 9) in May.

On Sunday, Sevilla will lead Rock Racing’s assault on the Philadelphia International Championship. His teammate, American Fred Rodriguez, is a three-time winner of the race, which is the signature event of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling.

“Oscar’s win sets the stage for us perfectly for Sunday,” Rock Racing Team Owner Michael Ball said. “He animated the race in Allentown on Tuesday and won decisively today. But we have a lot of weapons in our arsenal – guys like Freddie, Tyler Hamilton, Victor Hugo Peña and Mike Creed are all on great form. Any one of them is a threat to win.”

In addition to a talent-laden roster, Rock Racing will also be a prominent part of the race in the Lifestyle Expo, as well as the sponsor of the famed Manayunk Wall, a challenging climb featuring a 17 percent grade.

Sunday’s 156-mile (251 km) race begins with three one-mile parade laps around Central Philadelphia’s Eakins Oval and Logan Circles, followed by 10 laps of a 14.4-mile (23.1 km) circuit that begins and ends on Benjamin Franklin Parkway near the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Ina-Yoko Teutenberg continued her dominating run at the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling, taking her fifth straight win with a commanding performance at the Commerce Bank Reading Classic women’s criterium on Thursday.

Teutenberg was part of a five-rider group that broke away from the field about halfway through the 25-mile race that traced a 1.8-mile circuit through downtown Reading. On the last lap the German High Road rider punched the accelerator with 200 meters to go, easily out-gunning Team Tibco’s Joanne Kiesanowski. Cheerwine’s Laura Van Gilder was third in the race that lasted one hour, one minute and 23 seconds.

Teutenberg also won the Lehigh Valley Classic criterium on Tuesday in Allentown, and swept the Triple Crown series a year ago.

“No way,” answered Teutenberg when asked if winning ever gets old. “Each one is a little different, so you appreciate them all.”

Unlike on Tuesday when Teutenberg had to bury herself to make a solo bridge across to the decisive breakaway, this time she was part of the key selection that was initiated by Kristin Armstrong, team leader of the Swiss-based Cervelo-Lifeforce squad and a U.S. Olympic hopeful. Only Teutenberg, Kiesanowski, Van Gilder and Alison Powers (Colavita-Sutter Home) could respond to the 2006 world time trial champion’s move, quickly making the race a five-rider affair.

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