Squadra Coppi's own Aussie racing phenom describes his victory: 

The Liberty Crit, presented by Cadence Cycling and Multisport, Liberty Property Trust, and Philadelphia Ciclismo in Malvern PA is a fantastic race, and a true sprinters course. 4 lanes wide with sweeping turns instead of real corners the course is flat, fast and almost impossible to break away on.  A small hill followed by a short false flat with a slight headwind on the back side of this course present the only real opportunities to get a gap on the field, and that gap rarely lasts beyond the start / finish line.

Starting at 8.45am,  the Mens 4 race honoured the course by surging and slowing consistently as various racers tried their hand at breaking away. After 14 laps two things quickly became apparent; firstly, that no break was going to stick during this race and, secondly, there was one part of the course where the pack would involuntarily collect its thoughts in preparation for the the next effort.

In this race, it was on the back side - on the short descent from the first hill leading to the short false flat into the wind that is the second. At 6 laps to go I decided to stop worrying about chasing breaks, sit in a few wheels from the front and rest, committing myself to one all-out effort on the last lap starting at the "base" of the false flat, hoping it would surprise a pack I suspected wanted to get over the hill before committing themselves to another acceleration and a sprint finish.

And as luck, or good judgement would have it, I was right.

The last lap was filled with the requisite last-lap crit drama. Ignoring the existence of 3 other lanes, and a number of good-sized drains on the inside kerb (all of which had been in exactly the same place for each of the previous 19 laps), 40 odd riders attempted to fit themselves into space for 4 on the hill. Swearing, swerving and the sickening sound of carbon cracking announced the race had inevitably crashed, and those of us with the good sense to be on the outside did the only acceptable thing under the circumstances. We accelerated.

Down the hill the pack went and just before the road started to go up again it did what it had done for 19 laps beforehand - it slowed imperceptibly and thought about what to do next - and it did so just as I jumped. Out of the saddle I hammered as hard as I could over the top and all the way down the descent to the corner. Risking a look as I rounded the corner to the finishing straight I was amazed to find I had a huge gap, and no-one had followed. I was going to win this. A second effort put the result beyond doubt, and I coasted across the line, not quite believing it had worked.  Squadra Coppi wins!

There are more important things than winning though, as the ambulance on the course testified to as we were diverted off the course on the warm-down lap. Thankfully the promotors have reported the injured will race again soon, once they find their shoes...

Geoff