PHILADELPHIA -- September 01, 2026 -- David Lozano, a Spanish rider with type 1 diabetes, won the King of the Mountains classification at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic on Saturday, claiming the climber's jersey as America's most prestigious one-day race returned after a decade away. Lozano, who races for Team Novo Nordisk, the world's first all-diabetes professional cycling team, led the day's decisive breakaway over the Manayunk Wall and Lemon Hill. Teammate Filippo Ridolfo finished 12th, the team's top overall result on the day.
The Philadelphia Cycling Classic has drawn top professional riders since 1985, when Olympic champion Eric Heiden won the inaugural edition. Saturday marked the first running since 2016, ending a ten-year gap. Riders covered 200 kilometers over eight laps of a 23.2-km circuit before two shorter finishing loops through Fairmount Park, with the Manayunk Wall, a climb off Main Street with pitches reaching 17 percent, deciding the race.
Lozano forces the split that sticks
Team Novo Nordisk attacked from the start. Sam Brand went first, Quinten De Graeve followed, and when both moves were shut down, Lozano made the split that held. A seven-rider group built a lead of more than a minute and a half and stayed clear for roughly five laps. Lozano finished second over the first ascent of the Wall, then took maximum points on every climb after that, leading the break over the top of the Manayunk Wall for a fifth time to lock up the mountains classification before the reduced peloton closed the gap.
"It's really nice to be back in America for a race. Every one of us tried to be in the move today," Lozano said.
A diagnosis that once ended a contract
Lozano was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2010 at age 22, during a mountain bike career that had already produced eleven national championships across mountain bike and cyclocross in Spain and a professional contract signed at 18. His team ended that contract after the diagnosis. He contacted Team Novo Nordisk CEO and co-founder Phil Southerland directly and joined the squad, where he is now in his 14th season at age 37.
Southerland pointed to Lozano's path as the reason the team exists. "Sixteen years ago, David was told his career was finished because he has type 1 diabetes. Today he was the best climber in America's biggest bike race," he said.
The overall race goes elsewhere
Tim Torn Teutenberg of Lidl-Trek won the overall race from a late breakaway in 4:20:55, ahead of Robert Donaldson of Jayco-AlUla and Jonas Rutsch of Lotto-Intermarché. For Team Novo Nordisk, the mountains jersey was the day's result that mattered. Southerland said every person diagnosed with diabetes who watched the race saw a man with type 1 diabetes on the podium alongside the best bike racers in the world.