A late-charging winner

Alex Rasmussen of the HTC-High Road cycling team won the race in frantic sprint to the finish line on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 2:59 p.m.

The final lap featured wild action with a huge crash involving a dozen riders on Logan Circle right before the dash to the finish line.

The three riders who had led the breakaway group for hours gave up, and left the final two miles to the sprinters as they went up Lemon Hill for the last time.  The team nature of the sport became clear in the final miles as racers from different teams took point for a while before yielding to the best sprinters on their teams.

The winning race time of 5:59:45 than last year’s winning 6 hours and 15 minutes. The cool weather must have helped.

Giorgia Bronzini of Italy won the women’s Liberty Classic race, edging out Americans Shelley Olds and Jennifer Purcell.

As Aaron Moselle reports on our bike race blog, the scene is tamer this year around the Manayunk Wall.   Neighborhood leaders in the ‘Yunk and Roxborough had worked with city police to keep the lid on the drunken, obnoxious behavior that had marred recent race days for many.

Check NewsWorks tonight and tomorrow for text and photo coverage of race day. If you attended yourself, send us your race photos; see how here.