Our program's mission is to support competitive cycling in our community, so no race on our calendar is more important than the hometown 21st Annual Bucks County Classic, which will be held this Sunday, September 7th, in conjunction with the Discover Doylestown Arts Festival. The Bucks County Classic always draws a strong field of domestic and international racers, but this year will be special. America's top professional teams, and a slew of international pros, will be in Baltimore on Saturday for the Maryland Cycling Challenge. A few of them will make their way up I-95, including American World Tour team EF Education-Oatly, and pro continental teams like Team Cadence Cyclery, Project Echelon, Legion of Los Angeles, CCB p/b Levine Law Group, and Team Medellin (Colombia). In 2024, we had our best competitive success with two top-ten finishers in the Pro Men's Race, but we really have our work cut out for us in 2025. 

Colin Fitzgerald (East Falls, PA) completes his 5th season on our team and finished 9th at the 2024 Bucks County Classic. He always seeks out the hardest, national-level races to gain the speed needed on Sunday. He has raced at the Armed Forces Cycling Classic, the Chicago Grit series, the Gateway Cup (St. Louis), the 2025 USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships, and raced internationally in Belgium this summer. 

In his first season racing for our team, Andy Wolfe (Philadelphia) has made an impression by winning the 2025 Pennsylvania State Championship with a sprint win at the 2025 State College Criterium. Andy challenged himself alongside Colin at some high-level races, including the 2025 Gateway Cup in St. Louis, MO, last weekend, and Kermesse racing in Belgium this July. Andy is our third state champion, joining Sam Smith and Julianna Rutecki in 2024, and he'll wear the state champion jersey on Sunday. 

Julianna Rutecki (West Chester) is appearing in her 5th Bucks County Classic. She finished 4th in the 2022 Bucks County Classic Doylestown Health Pro Women's Race for the Team Skyline program. Julianna took 3rd at the Philadelphia Riverfront Criterium and the Harlem Skyscraper Classic in 2025. She recently competed in the 2025 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships in Colorado Springs, CO, and spends much of her season on the track. She will be joined in the Women's Pro Race by teammate Danielle Van Niekerk (Johannesburg, South Africa), who specializes in track racing. 

The first member of our elite team in 2017 was Chris Meacham (Perkasie) after leaving a pro career with the Airgas/Lupus programs. For the past three years, Chris has eschewed road cycling in favor of doing some different projects for our team, including competing on the mountain bike at the Leadville 100 MTB Trail Race and several national-level gravel and mixed-surface races as a brand ambassador for BMC/Switzerland. Incidentally, Chris is a two-time Pennyfarthing national champion. Chris returned to criterium racing in 2025 and was immediately a force for our team, doing all the hard work for his teammates. Chris competed in his first Bucks County Classic in 2015 and will compete in his 7th Bucks County Classic in 2025. 

Sean Guydish (Easton) was 2nd in the Pro Men's race at the 2021 Bucks County Classic for the Kelly Benefits Strategies team. He raced professionally in the Aevolo program in 2022 before injuries sidetracked his cycling career. He joined our team in 2024 and provides enormous leadership within our team. Sean was 12th at the 2024 USA Cycling Pro Road National Criterium Championships and joined our team in Belgium the past two years, gaining international experience. Sean also competes in multi-sport and took podiums at the 2024 and 2025 Steelman Triathlon. 

It took a while for Connor Thompson (Sinking Springs) to show up in the results for our team. Connor suffered collapsed lungs in 2020 and 2021, compromising his seasons. Since that time, Connor has become a mainstay of our team, always doing the hard work for his teammates. He has raced internationally in Belgium and Tobago. 2025 will be Connor's fifth appearance at the Bucks County Classic Thompson Pro Men's Race, and he finished 24th in 2024. 

Alden Weinhold (Doylestown) has been a member of our program since 2012, when he was competing on the mountain bike as a member of our local Bucks County Composite MTB (NICA) program. He is a student at Colorado State University and returns from Ft Collins to compete in his 3rd Bucks County Classic Thompson Pro Men's Race. Alden's biggest win was the 2024 Wilmington Grand Prix Men's Amateur Race. He is a capable road teammate and mountain biker and has raced internationally in Belgium and Tobago. He is a graduate of Central Bucks West High School. 

Penn State alumnus Andrew Dudle (Emmaus) joined our team in 2019 and is looking forward to his 6th appearance at the Bucks County Classic Thompson Pro Men's Race. Andy has primarily represented our team on the track at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. He is a sprinter who can turn out enormous power and shows up for us at fixed gear criteriums, hill climb time trials, and plenty of criteriums too.  

The Bucks County Classic is not just an opportunity for our elite racers, but for our amateur and masters racers as well. Noah Shumskas (Pipersville) has had a busy season on the road and track. He won the Lucarelli & Castaldi Spring Series Week #3 Criterium in Newark, NJ this spring, and recently competed in the USA Cycling Amateur Track National Championships. On Sunday, he'll compete in his third Bucks County Classic Men's Amateur Race, finishing 24th in 2024. We're already excited for what he'll accomplish this year, and look forward to his first pro men's race in 2026. Former elite teammate Jason Wood (Lansdale) has taken some time away from racing to complete graduate school and spend time with a young family. He has three Bucks County Classic Thompson Pro Men's Race starts in his career, and will race the Master's 35+ race in 2025. He'll be joined by our team patron, Mike Bowe, who will race the Master's 55+ Race.