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As Philly celebrates its many firsts this year ahead of the 250th anniversary, there is another, often overlooked, “first” – right here in the city’s cycling world.
Robin Morton made history in the 1980s as the first woman to own and manage a men’s professional cycling team.
Morton’s journey started alongside her husband – who was an avid cycler himself.
“My husband raced locally for the Pennsylvania Bike Club, which was based out of Hill Cycle Shop on Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia,” she said. “The Hill City Shop was a historical, family-owned shop that had been around since the early 1900s.”
“My 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.”
Through the club, Morton met John Eustice, who had a dream.
“We were talking, and he said, ‘it 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,’” she said. “I said, ‘OK, well, I’m game,’ and I started to work on the project with him to try to put this team together.”
The two started by creating the Gios – Clément team in 1983 – a group of three racers, including Eustice. The group raced in the 1983 Tour of America, which hosted many European teams in Washington, D.C.
For the rest of that year, the group competed in domestic races throughout the U.S.
But Morton said her real managing experience began when her and Eustice created another team in 1984.
“[Eustice] had a lot of connections in Europe, especially with bike manufacturers,” she said. “The next year, we ended up putting a team together that raced a lot of big races in Italy, including the Tour of Italy.”
Adjusting to life on the road in Europe
Morton and Eustice created Gianni Motta-linea M.D. Italia – an American professional cycling team that competed in the 1984 Giro d’Italia. This was the first time an American-registered team competed in the race.
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.
“I was like a Martian,” she said. “When 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.”
She said there wasn’t often instances of bad treatment, more that she felt different.
“I really stuck out like a sore thumb,” she said. “But I have to say, I wasn’t treated badly. If anything, at times, I was ignored more, rather than having to deal with any kind of weird situations.”
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.
From there, she left team management and went to event management, organizing and managing races all over the U.S. and Europe, including the Tour de Georgia and the San Francisco Grand Prix.
At the end of 2005, Morton and several other women formed g4 Productions – an event planning and production company focusing on everything from bike races to fundraising events for nonprofits and charities.
She said there have been a lot of positive changes for women in the cycling field since she started her company.
“The level of teams has grown exponentially,” she said. “While maybe not monetarily, the athleticism of the women is on par with the men.”
The Liberty Classic
With her directing and event management experience, Morton took on a new responsibility in the early 1990s – working with The Wachovia USPRO Championship, now known as the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic.
The race had been around since 1985, but initially, it only included men.
“The men’s race was already very successful, and pretty renowned even on an international basis,” Morton said. “But actually, it was their decision to add a women’s race and the Liberty Classic.”
The event added the “high level” Liberty Classic in 1994 – a women’s bicycle race that was simultaneous with the start of the men’s race.
The Philadelphia International Cycling Classic faced turmoil in 2012-13, with lots of financial and sponsorship challenges.
In 2013, Morton said she wanted to see more recognition for women’s cycling, and felt this change would be a good opportunity.
“We want the women to have their own event and not be overshadowed by men,” she said.
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’s race within it – and this time, with equal prize money.
The future of women’s cycling
Morton is now the race director for the 2026 Philly Cycling Classic – the return of the event that was last held in 2016.
She told Billy Penn earlier this year that the return of the race feels “seamless,” with city help.
She said the timing of the event will account for the increased athleticism of women – whereas before, women would start shortly after the men’s race, later start times account for faster women.
“In 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’t make for a good competition,” she said. “So, we had to separate the events, which is better for both to have their own time out there on the course.”
In general, Morton said more women have been breaking into the field this last decade. Despite this, she said they still face challenges.
“Unfortunately, in terms of the salaries, they don’t get paid as much as the men do,” she said. “The sponsorships of the team aren’t as generous and don’t have as much money [for women], but I think the level of athleticism has just increased immensely.”
Morton has hope for the future.
“I would hope that, at some point, the levels of sponsorship and the women’s salaries will increase,” she said. “I don’t know if they’ll ever reach that kind of parity. It’s really challenging and hard to find sponsors.”
For the Cycling Classic this year, 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 “Manayunk Wall” – or steep climb for bikers – and stops around other iconic Philly landmarks, like the Art Museum.
“I think we’ll have a great field of both men’s and women’s teams, and being back on the parkway, that just makes the race what it is,” she said. “That finish in front of the Art Museum, it’s like the Champs-Élysées. It’s a very European-style event with the climb in Manayunk and then the smaller climb on Lemon Hill. So, I think it’ll be very exciting.”
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