Greenville, S.C. — Rock Racing’s “Fast Freddie” Rodriguez predicted it. Tyler Hamilton made it happen. But ultimately it took a photo to decide it.

Hamilton edged Blake Caldwell (Garmin-Chipotle presented by H3O) by two-thousandths of a second Sunday at the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Road Race Championship. The thrilling finish capped the 115-mile (185 km) race that earned the 37-year-old his first national title to go along with the Olympic gold medal he won at the individual time trial in Athens in 2004.

“This was all about redemption for Tyler,” Rock Racing Team Owner Michael Ball said. “Winning the most prestigious one-day race in the U.S. almost a year to the day after he pretty much retired was what this team is all about – giving guys second chances.”

Caldwell’s teammate, Danny Pate, earned third place from a chase group of three riders. But the winner of the race – who will wear the stars-and-stripes jersey for the next year – was not immediately known until the finish line photo was carefully reviewed.

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Full Week of Promotions and Activities for Cycling Championships
Begin with Baseball Game on Monday

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Professional athlete and Greenville resident George Hincapie will exhibit talents in two sports next week, baseball and cycling. He will start the week on Monday, August 25 at Fluor Field at the West End by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of the Greenville Drive’s final home game of the 2008 season. The five-time Olympian will end the week on Sunday, August 31 vying for his third Stars-and-Stripes road race jersey in the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships.

“This is a great way to pay tribute to the growth of cycling in the Upstate and to kick off all the festivities for Labor Day weekend with the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships. George is not only a world-class athlete, but a world-class ambassador for the sport of cycling. We encourage all cycling fans to cheer on George and use the baseball game to get ready for the Pro Championships and the Stars and Stripes Challenge,” said Kevin Dunn, president of Palmetto Peloton Project, the 501c3 non-profit organization that produces the Stars and Stripes Challenge fundraising events that are part of Championship weekend in Greenville.

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GREENVILLE, S.C. – The details about new courses for the Individual Time Trial and Road Race were unveiled today at a press conference by Medalist Sports and City of Greenville for the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships, scheduled for August 30-31, 2008. This will be the third consecutive year that the dual championships for the best male cyclists in professional cycling will be held in the Upstate, with close to 80,000 spectators anticipated in the Upstate for Labor Day weekend.

Medalist Sports, the sports marketing agency licensed by USA Cycling, Inc. to manage the event, announced that a new 20.7-mile individual time trial will be hosted in Greenville by the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR). This individual time trial championship will take place on Saturday, August 30. The professional road race championship course will use a similar 110-mile circuit on Sunday, August 31 that incorporates downtown Greenville streets and parks and four laps over Paris Mountain, but will have a new start/finish line in the West End section of downtown. Also new for 2008 will be two days of “Stars and Stripes Challenge” recreational events for spectators, with net proceeds raised being donated to support cancer research, including the Greenville Hospital System Oncology Research Institute.

“The community has truly rallied around this event the past two years. The rider that wears the Stars and Stripes jersey will have truly earned this country’s premier cycling award and we will be proud to say it took place in our community,” said the honorable Knox H. White, Mayor of Greenville.

The new venue for the Professional Individual Time Trial Championship (ITT) will be held on a 6.9-mile closed course within the CU-ICAR facility in Greenville, approximately 12 miles from downtown Greenville. In the past two years, the ITT was held at The Cliffs Valley community in Travelers Rest, S.C. This year, the new ITT course for the “race of truth” will offer fans the unique opportunity to see all pro cyclists navigate three full laps. Similar to the past two years, the cyclists will race against the clock for 20.7 miles. At the start/finish area, spectators will enjoy a big screen TV to watch live action around the course with announcers calling the action and a hospitality venue in prime location of the course. The ITT was won the past two years by Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Chipotle) of Salt Lake City, UT, who averaged 28.88 miles per hour (46.48kph). Greenville hosted the first-ever ITT championship for US professionals in 2006.

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