Three of Only Four Americans at the Tour Riding for Garmin-Chipotle

Boulder, CO – Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30 today announced its much-anticipated Tour de France roster, which features three of only four Americans in the entire Tour peloton. The riders that will represent Team Garmin-Chipotle in tackling the world’s toughest sporting event are:

• Magnus Backstedt
• Julian Dean
• Will Frischkorn
• Ryder Hesjedal
• Trent Lowe
• Martijn Maaskant
• David Millar
• Danny Pate
• Christian Vande Velde

“Bringing a team to the Tour de France has always been our vision,” said Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of Slipstream Sports LLC and Director Sportif, Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H3O. “The riders on and off this list have worked incredibly hard for this. As a team, we are dedicated to giving our fans – and the world – something to cheer for at the Tour.”

The newly-named Team Garmin-Chipotle tour squad will unveil the team kit and other visuals at 1pm July 3 in the press room at Penfeld Parc des Expositions de Brest, in Brest, France. All media is invited to attend this presentation.

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At just 23 years old, Steven Cozza (Garmin/Chipotle) has faced adversity in his cycling career. In 2007, he sustained a serious head injury after crashing in the rainy Stage 3 at the Tour de Picardie and still suffers from the trauma. Upon his return, after a 3 month long recovery period, Steven won the Best Young Rider classification at the Tour of Missouri, and then followed that up with his first professional victory in Stage 6 of the Vuelta a Chihuahua.

His 2008 season started off with top ten showings in the Tour of California prologue and stage 1 of the Vuelta a Castilla y León, but Steven was sidelined with a broken collarbone from a crash at the Three Days of De Panne in early April.

Steven Cozza (Garmin/Chipotle) attacks in Stage 1 of the Tour de Nez

I caught up with Steven right after the first stage of the Tour de Nez, the 75-minute Reno criterium, had put in multiple attacks that were neutralized and he finished tenth in the bunch sprint. With his well-known honesty, Steven answered my questions with self-deprecating wit and a smile.

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Moises Aldape of Team Type 1 will represent Mexico
at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Aldape, 26, said the achievement caps an important goal. He will be his country’s sole representative in road cycling.

“The Olympics happen only once every four years, so it is extra special,” he said. “I am also very happy to have this opportunity to reward my new Team Type 1 squad. I think it is a great accomplishment for a first-year team to place a rider in the Olympics.”

Aldape recently finished third on one stage and third overall at the Tour de Beauce stage race in Canada while winning the sprint competition. He was seventh at the Commerce Bank International Cycling Classic in Philadelphia June 8 and his eighth place in April at the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T helped Team Type 1 finish third in the team competition.

Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said Aldape’s selection presents a tremendous opportunity to help the squad spread its message to a large audience. Team Type 1 was created in 2004 by two riders with Type 1 diabetes – Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge – to inspire people living with diabetes to take a proactive approach to managing their health and overcoming the obstacles often associated with the condition.

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Well, it all came down the final stage at the mighty Tour de Nez to decide the overall winner in the general classification. After a brutal day on Friday, the men faced the 44-mile (70 km) Northstar-at-Tahoe Village Circuit Race. The race course is a hilly, difficult 2-mile loop that includes a passage over the pavers in the Northstar Village, and the adjacent roads at the village.

Going into the stage, Andy Bajadali (Kelly Benefit/Medifast) had a scant lead of 4 seconds over Scott Nydam (BMC) and 5 seconds over Friday’s stage winner Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics). And right behing them in the classification were the Bissell duo of Burke Swindlehurst and Aaron Olson at 18 and 24 seconds respectively from the lead.

Game faces on for red jersey Andy Bajadali (Kelly Benefit/Medifast), mountain jersey Dan Bowman (Kelly Benefit/Medifast) and sprint jersey Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics)

In the end, Bissell loaded the deck and put 3 riders in a 9-man break, kept the pressure on by utting the engines of Tom Zirbel and Graham Howard at the front and grew a 27 seconds gap to Andy Bajadali by the end of the race, giving the overall win to Aaron Olson with a final lead of 13 seconds over second place Bajadali. Scott Nydam (BMC) rounded off the podium.

Health Net-Maxxis’ Roman Kilun outsprinted his breakmates to take his second win in the race. Another repeat is Jon Baker (Vitamin Cottage) who finished second for the second time behind Kilun. In third place was Ben Raby (SRAM).

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For the first time in his history, the Tour de Nez put on a women’s race on Saturday. Due to conflicts with other races, such as the NRC Austin Crit, a small but strong field of 17 riders lined up to tackle the 22-mile (35 km) circuit race in the Northstar at Tahoe village.

Sarah Bamberger (Cheerwine) outsprinted her 4 breakmates to take the win, with Amber Rais (Tibco) coming into second. After chasing for what seemed half the race following a crash, Stacy Marple (Cheerwine) joined the lead group in the final lap and finished third.

Happy to be racing at Tour de Nez: Amber Rais (Tibco), Bev Harper (Webcor), Betina Hold (Proman) and Sarah Bamberger (Cheerwine)

Amber Rais (Tibco) makes a move in the Northstar village and is soon joined by Betina Hold (Proman) and Sarah Bamberger (Cheerwine)

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The stage was set for an explosion with hot temperatures and tight GC for the fourth stage, the tough Northstar at Tahoe Road Race, of the Tour de Nez. On the second lap of the 10 laps around a 6.5-mile course, the 65-man field exploded on the 15% grade climb. For the rest of the race, riders littered the course in small groups or alone just trying to make it to the finish within the 15% time cut. The leader’s red jersey wearer Ian McKissick (BMC) was one of the victims as he cracked in the second lap.

A strong group of contenders formed at the front, and small breaks launched, and re-launched. Eight-time Canadian Champion Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics), riding without any teammates, won the stage on his patented solo attack from one of the breaks. Andy Bajadali (Kelly Benefit/Medifast) and Scott Nydam (BMC) chased from the front group to take second and third respectively. With a scant lead of 4 seconds, Bajadali is the new leader with Nydam in second place and Wohlberg in third, at 5 seconds back.

Dan Bowman (Kelly Benefit/Medifast) leds breakmate Tom Zirbel (Bissell) up the climb

Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics) and Aaron Olson (Bissell) work to bride up to duo; Scott Nydam (BMC) leads select front group chasing the breaks

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On Thursday evening, the 70 (or so) riders lined up in front of an enthusiastic crowd in historic Downtown Truckee, for the fast 75-minute Truckee Criterium. Ian McKissick and his three BMC teammates had their hands full trying to control the attacks. BMC’s Taylor Tolleson crashed out in Wednesday’s Reno Criterium, and broke his collarbone. In the end, a trio got away from the field, and Roman Kilun (Health Net-Maxxis) won the stage for his first NRC win. Amateur Jon Baker (Vitamin Cottage) took second and Justin England (Toyota-United) was third. McKissick kept the leader’s jersey, and England moved himself up to the second spot at 6 seconds back. Health Net-Maxxis duo of Corey Collier and Matt Cooke are at 17 seconds back.

(l-r): Strategy meeting for the Kelly Benefit/Medifast team; BMC’s McKissick and Scott Nydam; Riders lined up and ready to go

Aaron Olson (Bissell) checking behind him

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After a highly successful showing at the Philadelphia Liberty Classic, the team set their sights on one of the nation’s biggest stage races: The Nature Valley Grand Prix. To say the team rocked is an understatement. Instead, let’s take a look at the figures.

Team TIBCO earned 1 stage win, 10 jerseys (including the Most Aggressive Rider jersey in 4 of 6 stages), 6 podium finishes and 9 top ten finishes. All told, Team TIBCO appeared on the podium 16 times for either jerseys or stage finishes and earned the praise of countless other racers and directors for the team’s aggressive racing style.

Stage 1: Downtown St. Paul Criterium
Under torrential rains, Team TIBCO lined up with 140 other racers to race over the short, technical course in St. Paul. While others balked at the weather and tough course, and while countless riders slid out and crashed on nearly every corner of the race, Team TIBCO roared to the front of the peloton, racing themselves into 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th place. Not one Team TIBCO racer crashed. Unfortunately, the team’s fearless determination would not count toward the overall General Classification for the stage race, as race officials had too much difficulty in determining the placement of lapped riders. This meant that the battle for General Classification would begin anew the following day, on Stage 2. In the meantime, the team collected the Most Aggressive Rider jersey (Brooke) and the Sprinter’s jersey (Jo).

Stage 2: Cannon Falls Road Race
Fired up after their strong showing in the opening crit, Team TIBCO again went on the attack, making a 60 mile road race as intense as a 30 mile criterium in terms of speed and difficulty. Rushlee Buchanan, Victoria Bastide, Helen Kelly and development rider, Ali Rosenthal, shattered the field with their constant attacks. Amber Rais managed to break away solo twice, dropping riders who hadn’t already been shelled by the team’s previous efforts. Jo Kiesanowski finished second in the bunch kick and took the lead in the Sprinter’s Competition, while Amber earned the Most Aggressive Rider jersey for her strong attacks on the stage.

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Wells Fargo Racing Team / C4 To Put On Third Annual Individual Uphill Time Trial

Walnut Creek, CA – The Wells Fargo Racing Team (aka Contra Costa Cycling Club / C4), today announced that online registration for the third annual Mount Diablo Hill Climb is open at www.sportsbaseonline.com until 5:00pm PDT. The course begins at the entry kiosk on North Gate Road in Walnut Creek, Northern California and finishes at the ranger residence just before the intersection of North Gate and Mt Diablo Scenic Blvd.

In addition to participation in bike races in California, Nevada and Oregon throughout the year by C4 race squads, the club continues to promote and organize two popular Norcal events each summer: the Mt Diablo Hill Climb individual time trial and Lafayette Downtown Criterium (July 13, 2008). Both events have been successful in past three years in terms of public interest, local community support, rider participation at all levels, and fundraising.

Brian Amador, General Manager of Renaissance ClubSport in Walnut Creek, primary sponsor of the hill climb this year, sees local event sponsorship as a way to give back to the community, as well as promote the ClubSport Hotel and Fitness Resort brand. “Most of our clients spend a significant amount of time on the road, which creates challenges as far getting sufficient exercise and rest, and many are regular guests here. Not only does our location benefit from pleasant community surroundings (the Iron Horse Trail passes right by our doorstep), but association with fitness events serves to identify us as an organization invested in individuals working to maintain their good health.”

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The second stage of the Tour de Nez, the time trial at the Northstar at Tahoe resort was held this morning under sunny skies and hot temperature (note to self: sunscreen!). Ian McKissick (BMC) set the fastest time and took over the general classification, Matt Cooke and Corey Collier, both on the Health Net-Maxxis squad came in second and third. Out of a field of 71 riders, only 10 men rode the uphill 2.75-mile (4.43 km) in under 9 minutes.

Curtis Gunn (Successful Living) took it easy

John Hunt, Cal Giant is going full gas

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