The Great Chiweenie hits the road bearing gifts for fans

CAMBRIA, Calif. — One lucky Amgen Tour of California fan will win a “Great Chiweenie” cycling jersey and ten others will win Great Chiweenie products during this tour, as cycling’s most lovable mutt returns to the circuit to promote his new book, Coasting Along.

Gu, a.k.a. “The Great Chiweenie”, is half-dachshund and half-chihuahua, and rides on the bicycle with his adopted parents Megan and Cubby.

Last year the big names at the Amgen Tour, including sprinter Mark Cavendish, team manager Jonathan Vaughters, commentator Phil Liggett, and many others took the opportunity of being photographed with the remarkable Gu, who was visiting to see what it was all about.

In the 2009 tour, the Great Chiweenie and family will again be visiting the fans at many locations throughout the nine days of the tour handing out stickers, bookmarks and posters that will be marked with a 20% discount for purchases at the www.greatchiweenie.com.

The most lucky fans will receive a free T-shirt, jersey or copy of the children’s picture books, Coasting Along and Around the Hood.

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As has been the policy of the Amgen Tour of California, a comprehensive and aggressive Anti-Doping program will be administered as part of race protocol.

While no rider has ever failed a drug test during the Amgen Tour of California, organizers remain committed to doing what is right to eliminate doping from the sport of cycling.

The groundbreaking initiative, developed by AEG in partnership with the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), cycling’s global governing body and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), stipulates that:

• All riders will have blood samples collected prior to the race. All of the blood samples will be tested for indications of blood manipulation and 30 percent of riders will have urine samples collected before the race. Urine samples will be analyzed for the presence of banned substances such steroids, hormones (including EPO) and various masking agents.
• The results of the blood tests will be incorporated into the UCI’s Biological Passport program. The “Biological Passport” is an individual electronic record for each rider, in which the results of all doping tests over a period of time are collated.
  Every day, the stage winner, current leader of the general classification and additional riders will be have a full screen for steroids, hormones (such as EPO), stimulants and various masking agents. In addition to the post-stage testing, there will be random or targeted full screen testing every day for additional riders during evenings and mornings.

• All participating teams have agreed to guarantee that all members of their teams, including coaches, trainers and support staff, are clear of any open doping investigations.

The roster of riders will be provided by the participating team and will then be submitted to USA Cycling and UCI to confirm that there are no open investigations.