{"id":661795,"date":"2026-03-17T10:11:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T10:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/661795\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T10:11:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T10:11:31","slug":"meet-the-philly-woman-who-has-broken-barriers-in-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/661795\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Philly woman who has broken barriers in cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends.\u00a0Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As Philly celebrates its many firsts this year<\/a> ahead of the 250th anniversary, there is another, often overlooked, \u201cfirst\u201d \u2013 right here in the city\u2019s cycling world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Robin Morton made history in the 1980s as the first woman to own and manage a men\u2019s professional cycling team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Morton\u2019s journey started alongside her husband \u2013 who was an avid cycler himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband raced locally for the Pennsylvania Bike Club, which was based out of Hill Cycle Shop on Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Hill City Shop was a historical, family-owned shop that had been around since the early 1900s.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband got involved in the club, and I would obviously accompany him to races and do the whole amateur racing thing on the East Coast. Then, he became more involved in the administration of the club, and I would help him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Through the club, Morton met John Eustice, who had a dream.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were talking, and he said, \u2018it was always my dream to try and put together a team of American racers, a team based in the US that would race in Europe,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI said, \u2018OK, well, I\u2019m game,\u2019 and I started to work on the project with him to try to put this team together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two started by creating the Gios \u2013 Cl\u00e9ment team in 1983 \u2013 a group of three racers, including Eustice. The group raced in the 1983 Tour of America, <\/a>which hosted many European teams in Washington, D.C.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the rest of that year, the group competed in domestic races throughout the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Morton said her real managing experience began when her and Eustice created another team in 1984.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[Eustice] had a lot of connections in Europe, especially with bike manufacturers,\u201d she said. \u201cThe next year, we ended up putting a team together that raced a lot of big races in Italy, including the Tour of Italy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Morton (far right) moved on to work with many other teams throughout Europe and the U.S. (Photo courtesy of Robin Morton). <\/p>\n

Adjusting to life on the road in Europe<\/p>\n

Morton and Eustice created Gianni Motta-linea M.D. Italia \u2013 an American professional cycling team that competed in the 1984 Giro d\u2019Italia. This was the first time an American-registered team competed in the race.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said she received a lot of support from those in the U.S. as she transitioned into her role. But in Europe, things were a different story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like a Martian,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I was over there, it was very unusual. Actually, they even had to vote on whether I was allowed to be in the race caravan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Morton (far left) with the Gianni Motta-linea M.D. Italia team in 1984 (Photo courtesy of Robin Morton). <\/p>\n

She said there wasn\u2019t often instances of bad treatment, more that she felt different.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI really stuck out like a sore thumb,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I have to say, I wasn\u2019t treated badly. If anything, at times, I was ignored more, rather than having to deal with any kind of weird situations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite these challenges, she said she remained in the scene. For the next eight years, she continued to manage teams competing in these races in Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From there, she left team management and went to event management, organizing and managing races <\/a>all over the U.S. and Europe, including the Tour de Georgia and the San Francisco Grand Prix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the end of 2005, Morton and several other women formed g4 Productions<\/a> \u2013 an event planning and production company focusing on everything from bike races to fundraising events for nonprofits and charities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said there have been a lot of positive changes for women in the cycling field since she started her company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level of teams has grown exponentially,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile maybe not monetarily, the athleticism of the women is on par with the men.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Liberty Classic<\/p>\n

With her directing and event management experience, Morton took on a new responsibility in the early 1990s \u2013 working with The Wachovia USPRO Championship, now known as the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The race had been around since 1985, but initially, it only included men.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe men\u2019s race was already very successful, and pretty renowned even on an international basis,\u201d Morton said. \u201cBut actually, it was their decision to add a women\u2019s race and the Liberty Classic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The event added the \u201chigh level\u201d Liberty Classic in 1994 \u2013 a women\u2019s bicycle race that was simultaneous with the start of the men\u2019s race.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia International Cycling Classic faced turmoil in 2012-13, with lots of financial and sponsorship challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2013, Morton said <\/a>she wanted to see more recognition for women\u2019s cycling, and felt this change would be a good opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want the women to have their own event and not be overshadowed by men,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The race was able to continue for another three years once sponsors were secured ahead of the 2013 date. The pro cycling race now included the women\u2019s race within it \u2013 and this time, with equal prize money.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The future of women\u2019s cycling\u00a0<\/p>\n

Morton is now the race director for the 2026 Philly Cycling Classic \u2013 the return of the event that was last held in 2016.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Women race in the last Philadelphia Cycling Classic (Photo courtesy of Darrell Parks) <\/p>\n

She told Billy Penn earlier this year <\/a>that the return of the race feels \u201cseamless,\u201d with city help.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said the timing of the event will account for the increased athleticism of women \u2013 whereas before, women would start shortly after the men\u2019s race, later start times account for faster women.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last few years of having it that way, the front of the race would catch up with the back of the race, and it was too dangerous and didn\u2019t make for a good competition,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, we had to separate the events, which is better for both to have their own time out there on the course.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In general, Morton said more women have been breaking into the field this last decade. Despite this, she said they still face challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Morton said she has hope for the future, including the competition women will face in the next Philadelphia Cycling Classic (Photo courtesy of Darrell Parks)<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, in terms of the salaries, they don\u2019t get paid as much as the men do,\u201d she said. \u201cThe sponsorships of the team aren\u2019t as generous and don\u2019t have as much money [for women], but I think the level of athleticism has just increased immensely.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Morton has hope for the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would hope that, at some point, the levels of sponsorship and the women\u2019s salaries will increase,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if they\u2019ll ever reach that kind of parity. It\u2019s really challenging and hard to find sponsors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the Cycling Classic this year,<\/a> women will make roughly four laps on a 14.4-mile loop, and men will go around nearly eight times. The course will include the infamous \u201cManayunk Wall\u201d \u2013 or steep climb for bikers \u2013 and stops around other iconic Philly landmarks, like the Art Museum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ll have a great field of both men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams, and being back on the parkway, that just makes the race what it is,\u201d she said. \u201cThat finish in front of the Art Museum, it\u2019s like the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es. It\u2019s a very European-style event with the climb in Manayunk and then the smaller climb on Lemon Hill. So, I think it\u2019ll be very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends.\u00a0Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. As Philly celebrates…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":661796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,280038,165935,3778,1322,1448,2830,1311,280039,6176,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,16966,265817,1707],"class_list":["post-661795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-america","tag-bike-race","tag-biking","tag-cycling","tag-featured","tag-pa","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-cycling-classic","tag-race","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-women","tag-womens-history-month","tag-womens-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116243981549910711","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}