Photo by Ken Conley

Photo by Ken Conley

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Fabian Cancellara (SUI), First Place, Prologue
Team Saxo Bank
On winning the prologue:
“This is the first race of the year and I’m very happy. This is a beautiful race and I like coming every year. This is the second time I’ve won the Prologue, so it makes me happy. There is lots of beautiful scenery here and the crowds are great.”

On the team’s strategy for the race:
“I have energy to give right now, so we’ll see. It’s important for me to do well for our sponsors and for the team. We’ll have to see what tomorrow brings and take it day by day. The elevation of the race gets harder as the race goes on, so we’re going to decide tomorrow what our strategy will be. We have a good team here and we are really strong. It’s possible we may go for the sprint jersey with J.J. (Haedo). Everybody wants to win and we are ready now, but there are still eight days to go.”

“It’s the first race and you never know how good you really are. We had camp for two weeks and trained really well. This was the Prologue, so we have to see day by day.”

Levi Leipheimer (USA), Second Place, Prologue
Astana
On the crowds at the Amgen Tour of California:
“The crowd was awesome today; this race gets bigger and better every year.”

On placing second in the Prologue:
“Fabian (Cancellara) is tough to beat in the Prologue, but I’m very happy with second place. This is the perfect situation. I feel great; right on track. Obviously the competition is extremely good, and a lot can happen in the next few days.”

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Governor Schwarzenegger, Patrick Dempsey and Enthusiastic Fans
Line the Streets of Sacramento for First Day of Racing

Photo by Ken Conley

SACRAMENTO, CA – The 2009 Amgen Tour of California got underway in Sacramento as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor Patrick Dempsey and record crowds cheered on the exciting Prologue win, for the second consecutive year, of 2008 Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (SUI) of Saxo Bank. On a short, fast, flat individual time trial course in downtown Sacramento, Cancellara crossed the finish line in record time with the State Capitol building in the background. Cancellara beat out top cyclists, including two Tour de France champions, 10 world champions and seven Olympic medalists to take the win. The enthusiastic crowd, comprised of shoulder-to-shoulder fans, cheered on the cyclists as they made their way through downtown Sacramento.

Completing the 2.41-mile course with a record time of 4:32, Cancellara will begin day two of the race wearing the Amgen Leader Jersey when Stage 1 takes the riders from Davis to Santa Rosa, a new route for the race, on Sunday beginning at noon.
In second place, two seconds behind Cancellara, was defending champion Levi Leipheimer (USA) of Astana, followed closely by David Zabriskie (USA) of Garmin-Slipstream, who came in third, three seconds off the pace.

“I think this was an absolutely fantastic day powered by the amazing cyclists, and also by the force of the fans,” said Andrew Messick, president, AEG Sports. “By and large, this was the most successful Prologue we have ever had and a fantastic way to start the 2009 Amgen Tour of California. This field of world-class cyclists, assembled for the fourth-annual race, has some incredible days of racing ahead of them, and fans are in for quite a show.”

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Photo by Ken Conley

The top 5 finishers were as follows:
1 - Fabian Cancellara, Team Saxo Bank
2 - Levi Leipheimer, Astana
3 - David Zabriskie, Garmin-Slipstream
4 - Michael Rogers, Team Columbia-High Road
5 - Thor Hushovd, Cervelo Test Team

Today’s jersey winners include:
Amgen Race Leader Jersey - Fabian Cancellara, Team Saxo Bank
Amgen’s Breakaway from Cancer Most Courageous Rider Jersey - Lance Armstrong, Astana
Herbalife Sprint Jersey - Levi Leipheimer, Astana
Rabobank Best Young Rider Jersey - Mark Cavendish, Team Columbia-High Road
California Travel & Tourism Commission King of the Mountain (KOM) Jersey - N/A (will be awarded for the first time tomorrow after Stage 1)

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Photo by Ken Conley

Photo by Ken Conley

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LOS ANGELES, CA – AEG announced today that for the first time the 2009 Amgen Tour of California professional cycling race will be broadcast internationally. The race will be broadcast live in more than 90 countries, which includes more than 200 million households across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania and Africa. The unprecedented coverage is due to the partnership established with the Amaury Sport Organisation (owners of the Tour de France) which has assisted AEG with the international television distribution of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California, further strengthening the partnership between the two cycling tour owners, which was announced in June 2008.

Amongst the line-up of broadcasters, Eurosport, the leader in cycling broadcast coverage in Europe, will broadcast the race live in 77 countries throughout Europe and Asia-Pacific. Abu Dhabi Sports in the Middle East, HiSports in Nigeria, J-Sports in Japan, SBS in Australia and Sky TV in New Zealand are also amongst the race’s international broadcast partners. In addition to the live coverage, highlights will be made available to fans in a total of 201 countries and territories, in 22 languages by a total of 23 channels.

Additionally, the race will be broadcast to international military bases.
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