Cycling News Roundup 16 June 2008
Team News, Phinney Sets Track Record, Olympic Selections: Doppmann &  Thürig,  Italy: Zolli and Klencic Selected, US Parlympic, Velokhaya Project Making History, Cycling Videos, ASO & AEG Tours Partnership and more...

Taylor Phinney Sets New Track Record at ADT Event Center
Seventeen Year Old Sets First-Ever World Record on The Home Depot Center’s Velodrome
Seventeen year old cyclist Taylor Phinney of Boulder, Colorado, has set a new world junior record in the 3,000-meter individual pursuit event with a time of 3:16.65 this afternoon at the ADT Event Center located at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The record set by Phinney, nominated to the United States Olympic Team which will announce its members on July 1, is the first world record set on the velodrome inside the ADT Event Center.

Phinney, talking part in USA Cycling’s team selection camp, said, “Achieving this mark was one of my goals when I started my Olympic training this year,” said Phinney. “As our team prepares for Beijing, I couldn’t be more proud to set this record and am excited to represent the United States in the Olympics.”

The new world record eclipses the old mark of 3:17.775 achieved by Michael Ford (Australia) in 2004.

Having opened July 21, 2004, the 2,450-seat ADT Event Center has hosted such prestigious events such as the 2004 UCI Junior Track Cycling Championships, the 2005 UCI Track Cycling Championships and the 2007 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classic among other prestigious events.

Astana Cycling Team Number One In ProTour
Levi Leipheimer held on to his 3th place on the final podium of the Dauphiné Libéré. The whole team performed well and defended with success its first place in the ProTour Team Classification. Astana Cycling Team leads with 110 points. Team CSC is second, 17 points behind, Caisse d’Epargne third, 18 points behind.

While Andreas Klöden and his team-mates defend the Kazakh colors in the Tour de Suisse (ProTour), another team starts in the Netherlands.

Ster Elektrotour (Netherland) Squad
Riders: Koen de Kort, Thomas Frei, René Haselbacher, Benoît Joachim, Aaron Kemps, Roman Kireyev, Julien Mazet & Andrey Zeits - D.S.: Sean Yates

Caisse d'Epargne
Alejandro Valverde on Dauphine Libere Win
“This victory is a very important one, not only for its prestige; but also because it gave me the possibility to have a better opinion of my condition and also of some of my adversaries for the next Tour de France. For the first time, the Dauphiné was not an objective, but after I achieved a good prologue, I won the first stage and I received the first yellow jersey; I became very motivated to fight to the last day to defend the jersey and win the race. I am also very satisfied because all my team-mates of Caisse d’Epargne achieved a wonderful job during the whole week and this is also a good signal for the Tour.”

Team CSC - First Pro Win
Chris Anker Sørensen Won the Queen Stage
This Saturday Team CSC Saxo Bank's Chris Anker Sørensen took his first victory as a pro and not just in any old stage either, but the quenn stage in Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré.

Sørensen escaped in a break after 40 kilometers along with 17 others, but before the dreaded climb towards the finish line the group only had a a minute on the favorites and the young Dane decided to go solo. Even though he had been in the break all day Sørensen managed to match the pace of the favorite's group, where there were plenty of attacks going on, so it was no wonder that Sørensen was extremely happy after the stage.

"This is a big day for me. I'm so happy about taking my first victory and even the queen stage is a race as big as Dauphiné Libéré. I had a good Giro until I was taken ill for one night because of the cold weather, so I'm both excited and proud to come back like this," said Sørensen after the stage.

Tinkoff Credit Systems For Elektrotoer
The Tinkoff Credit Systems cycling team heads to Holland to race the Ster Elektrotoer (17 June-21 June) under the direction of Orlando Maini. Vasil Kiryenka, Luca Mazzanti Daniele Contrini, Bernardo Riccio, and Russian riders, Mikhail Ignatiev, Nikita Eskov, Evgueni Petrov and Nikolai Trusov. Maini spoke of the team's objectives for the event, "We have several riders in racing condition from the Giro d'Italia, including Kiriyenka, Ignatiev, and Mazzanti, so naturally we look to them for victories. However, we know that all of our riders are quite capable of claiming a win, and we will assume responsibility for managing the race when necessary."

Ibis Bike Raffle to Benefit a Friend
We are holding to benefit a friend of Ibis who has cancer. If you're too busy to read this long-winded missive, here are the cliff notes: A friend of Ibis has cancer, we're donating an Ibis Silk SL bicycle to a raffle being held for our friend.

Here's the longer version. We got a call last week from Elden Nelson, friend of Ibis and the brains behind the Fat Cyclist Blog. Elden's wife Susan is suffering from a recurrence of breast cancer which has recently metastasized to her brain. In the process of her two bouts with this disease, the family has received invaluable help from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and they want to give something back to acknowledge this.

Elden AKA "Fatty" is holding a "virtual" raffle this Saturday June 21 (summer solstice!) in conjunction with his own version of a Triathlon. Ibis (with a big pull by our friends at Shimano) have decided to donate the grand prize: a brand spanking new Silk SL road bike, complete with a Shimano Dura-Ace Group including Dura-Ace SL wheels. You need not be present to win and raffle tickets are only $5.00 each.
You can read about this chance to "pay it forward" in a number of places: Elden's Blog as mentioned above, our founder's own feeble attempt at a very occasional "not-a-blog" as he likes to call it, or right here on the ibis site. It's a great cause and 100% of the proceeds go directly to the foundation.

Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team to Participate
in Cox Charities Cycling Classic
Team is World’s Most Successful on American Soil in Premier Cycling Events
West Warwick, Rhode Island: Cox Communications today announced that the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team will compete in the seventh annual Cox Charities Cycling Classic on Saturday, June 28, 2008. Toyota-United is the world’s winningest team in America’s premier cycling events.

Toyota-United is just the latest high-profile team set to participate in the seventh annual Cox Charities Cycling Classic, which makes its debut on USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar this year. The event will attract nearly 400 of the top cyclists in the world – including world champions, former Olympians and national champions from several countries – as well as thousands of spectators.

Former Olympic cyclist Sean Tucker founded Toyota-United in 2005. After years of professional cycling and working in the sports industry, Tucker was determined to bring Europe’s passion for cycling to America. He formed United Cycling, L.L.C and laid the foundation for creating an American cycling “dream team,” securing top-caliber team directors and the best U.S.-based cyclists in the country.

Only three years after its inception, the team has competed in America’s largest stage races, including the Amgen Tour of California, Tour de Georgia and Tour of Missouri. With 89 stage (race) wins, Toyota-United is the most successful team in the world on American soil in these premier events. Their competition has included many of the teams that race in the Tour de France, the world’s biggest sporting event.

Toyota-United consists of 14 riders from seven different countries, with riders hailing from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Cuba, Serbia and Mexico. Members of the team participating in the Cox Charities Cycling Classic include Dominique Rollin (Montreal, Canada), the 2008 Amgen Tour of California stage 4 winner and overall sprint jersey winner; Ivan Stevic (Boulder, CO), current UCI B World Road Race Champion and 2008 Olympian; Chris Wherry (Durango, CO) former U.S. professional road champion; and Jonny Clarke (Melbourne, Australia).

Proceeds from the Cox Charities Cycling Classic will benefit Cox Charities New England, which provides grants to non-profit organizations that support children and education. Since the program’s inception in 2001, Cox Communications has provided more than $2.4 million in Cox Charities grants and in-kind support to local non-profits that support children and education.

About Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a multi-service broadband communications and entertainment company with more than 6.2 million total residential and commercial customers. The third-largest cable television company in the United States, Cox offers an array of advanced digital video, high-speed Internet and telephony services over its own nationwide IP network, as well as integrated wireless services. More information about the services of Cox Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, is available at www.cox.com  www.coxbusiness.com, and www.coxmedia.com. 

Cervelo Lifeforce Team
Doppmann and Thürig have been selected for Beijing 2008
The selection committee of Swiss Olympic made several selections for the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 which will take place from 8th of 24th of August. With the 37-year-old Priska Doppmann and the 35-year-old Karin Thürig, two athletes from the Cervélo-Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team were nominated for the upcoming games.

In the women’s time trial race on 13th of August 2008 Priska Doppmann will be at the start for Switzerland (2 time Olympic starter 2000 - 2004) as well bronze medallist from 2004 Karin Thürig. For the road race: Priska Doppmann, Nicole Brändli and Jennifer Hohl (both Team Bigla) are nominated for the team and will fight together for a Swiss podium place.

"It was a tough fight for the tickets“ to Beijing 2008. Switzerland has a lot of great women cyclist especially in the time trial”, said Thomas Campana, “the early selection is good for Priska and Karin, now they can have the focus on the preparation for the games. I’m sure that both of them will make top results “

Karin Thürig will in addition to the time trial, start of the individual pursuit race on the track. This nomination was already done by Swiss Olympic Committee in April.

Priska Doppmann:
Results at Olympic Games: Road race 2000 in Sydney: 32nd place
Road race 2004 in Athens: 18th place
Time trial 2004 in Athens: 9th place
Profile

Karin Thürig:
Results at Olympic Games: Time trial 2004 in Athens: 3rd place
Track - individual pursuit 2004 in Athens: 5th place
Profile

Team Type 1
Wilson Wins Final Tour de Beauce Stage; RAAM Team Running Second
Quebec City, Canada -Team Type 1’s professional squad had a lot to celebrate Sunday. Matt Wilson scored a stage win, Glen Chadwick won the King of the Mountains crown and Moises Aldape claimed the sprint jersey and third-place overall as Team Type 1 also won the team classification at the Tour de Beauce stage race in Canada.

In addition to Aldape’s podium finish, Team Type 1 had Valeriy Kobzarenko finish fourth overall and Chadwick fifth. Canadian Svein Tuft (Symmetrics Cycling Team) took the overall title while Bernardo Colex (Tecos Trek UAG) finished second.

For Wilson, it was his second victory of the year and his first in North America. The former Australian national road race champion had been slowed this season by a broken wrist suffered in a training accident. But in Sunday’s 77.7-mile (125 km) circuit race in Quebec City, Wilson played team tactics to perfection by escaping out of the main break to claim the win by four seconds over Philipp Mamos (Sparkasse).

“We knew Symmetrics would try to ride a slow pace today and that the field would probably let them go,” Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said. “So we gambled that they might let the break get the five minutes Chris (Jones) needed to move into the top three overall. We got to almost four minutes, but some of the guys in the break would not cooperate and it started coming back.”

In the Race Across America (RAAM) – an event in which Team Type 1 is the two-time defending champion in the eight-person team division, the squad was running a close second late Sunday night with fewer than 700 miles remaining in the non-stop, 3,015-mile (4,852 km) transcontinental race.

Team Type 1 – which is made up entirely of athletes with Type 1 diabetes – trailed the Byggkjøp presented by BMC Cycling Team by less than 90 minutes at the 39th of 54 time stations. Both squads were averaging better than the record 22.42 mph that Team Type 1 averaged in winning the event in 2007. At its current pace, Team Type 1 will arrive at the finish line in Annapolis, Md., Tuesday between the hours of 1 and 4 a.m.

Team CSX/Saxo Bank
Velokhaya Project Making History
The Life Cycling Academy's Luthando Kaka (22) is set to make history by becoming the first black South African road cyclist to ride for a European continental road cycling team. Kaka, the current Western Province Under 23 road cycling champion and lead rider of the Acsis professional men's cycling team, is to join the Danish-based Team Glud and Marstrand Horsens (GMH) at the end of June 2008.

Luthando Kaka Photo courtesy of Team CSC Saxo Bank

According to Glyn Broomberg, CEO of the Life Cycling Academy (LCA): “Luthando has shown incredible form this year, particularly during the 2008 Giro del Capo when he took the lead, for almost 30 minutes, in the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour, which was won by Robert Hunter, a 2007 Tour de France stage winner.

“This performance, together with Luthando's strong showing at the Western Province Cycling Championships, gave us the confidence to recommend him for the Danish team.” According to Broomberg, the opportunity for Kaka to compete in Europe follows the establishment of a partnership between the LCA and Riis Cycling, the owner of the world's number one pro-cycling team, Team CSC/Saxo Bank, and an international partner of the LCA's Velokhaya www.velokhaya.com campaign.

“Our partnership with Riis Cycling, which first began in December 2006, allows for LCA riders who have achieved a certain level of cycling in South Africa to be given the opportunity to compete in Europe. Following discussions between Carsten Jeppeson, Manager of Riis Cycling, and myself, Luthando was identified as a rider with the potential to one day make it onto the pro-cycling circuit in Europe.

Team Glud and Marstrand Horsens (owned by Michael Skelde) is a dynamic Danish team which is used by Riis Cycling as a feeder team for Team CSC/Saxo Bank. (For example, Team CSC/Saxo Bank's Lasse Bochmann, Andre Steensen and Kaspar Klostergaard are former members of Team GMH).

“Being selected for a Continental team is a significant achievement for both Luthando and the LCA and we want to ensure that the move is a successful one, which is why Luthando will be given time to adjust to his new environment in Europe. We want him to 'find his legs' before competing on the pro-tour circuit,” said Broomberg.

Commenting on his move, Luthando Kaka said: “The opportunity to ride in Europe is a dream come true for me, my family, the community of Khayelitsha and the LCA.”

Mthunzi Mdwaba, CEO of Torque IT and a board member of the LCA, said: “Luthando's appointment to the European team represents an important step in the transformation of cycling in South Africa. “I sincerely hope that his move to Europe will inspire other township youth to develop an interest in the sport of cycling – and achieve their goals in life.”

Summit Center Classic 2 stage race
Jun 28th - 29th, 2008
Flagstaff, Arizona - A two-day, two-stage points based race with over $3,000.00 in cash and prizes.

1st stage 7 mile Hill Climb finishing at ~ 9,000 feet!
2nd stage 57 or 84 mile road race held at over 6,800 feet!
website: www.summitcenterclassic.com/ 

New Tour of Britain Blog Now Online
See what the The Tourist has been up to lately.

Eleven Athletes Nominated to the 2008 U.S. Paralympic Cycling Team
following National Championships in Morrison, Colo.
Paralympic Cycling Team nominees were named tonight following the completion of the 2008 U.S. Paralympics Cycling National Championships in Morrison, Colo.

Nominations were made based on each athlete's performance at the event and results from the 2007 Paralympic Cycling World Championships. Eleven team members (five women and six men) were named to the team that will go on to compete in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, Sept. 6-17.

The 2008 U.S. Paralympic Cycling Team Nominees consist of the following:
Women
Karissa Whitsell (Eugene, Ore.) and pilot Mackenzie Woodring (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Jennifer Schuble (Homewood, Ala.)
Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Greta Neimanas (Colorado Springs, Colo./Chicago, Ill.)
Barbara Buchan (Bend, Ore.)

Men
Alejandro Albor (Elk Grove, Calif.)
David Lee (Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif.)
Anthony Zahn (Riverside, Calif.)
Oscar Sanchez (San Diego, Calif.)
Ron Williams (Hoover, Ala.)
Matt Updike (Denver, Colo.)

The road trials portion of the 2008 U.S. Paralympics Cycling National Championships competition wrapped up earlier today, as athletes raced at Bear Creek Lake Park in Morrison, Colo.

The following are results from today's road time trials competition:
Women (Road time trials)
Name, hometown/classification, time
Karissa Whitsell (Eugene, Ore.) and pilot Mackenzie Woodring (Grand Rapids, Mich.)/B1-3
19:52.646
Jennifer Schuble (Homewood, Ala.)/CP4 21:55.029
Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.)/LC3 22:50.868
Greta Neimanas (Colorado Springs, Colo./Chicago, Ill.)/LC1 20:29.444
Barbara Buchan (Bend, Ore.)/CP3 23:37.720

Men (Road time trials)
Name, hometown/classification, time
Alejandro Albor (Elk Grove, Calif.)/HCC 21:42.458
Oscar Sanchez (San Diego, Calif.)/HCC 21:44.218
Ron Williams (Hoover, Ala.)/LC2 18:50.089
Matt Updike (Denver, Colo.)/HCB 23:56.582
Anthony Zahn (Riverside, Calif.)/LC4 21:39.632
David Lee (Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif.)/HCB 24:41.114

About U.S. Paralympics: U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, is dedicated to becoming the world leader in the Paralympic sports movement and to promoting excellence in the lives of people with physical disabilities. Visit our Web site at www.usparalympics.org.
by Stuart Lieberman

Challenge Internazionali d’Italia Membrane Respira Cup
Two Giants for Beijing: Zolli and Klencic Selected
Saturday the 4th and last round of the Challenge Internazionali d’Italia Membrane Respira Cup ran: 4th position for Yader Zoli, a bronze medal for Blaza Klemencic. At 4 p.m., the FCI have organized the press conference: the selected athletes who will perform at the Olympic Games of Beijing are Zoli, Lechner and Fontana.

Saturday morning the fourth and last round of the Challenge Internazionali d’Italia was scheduled in Vermiglio. At 11 a.m. the most important event dedicated to the Open Men category was run and at the starting line GIANT Italia Team was present with Yader Zoli, Andrea Tiberi and Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez. Besides them, the Under23 Diego Rosa and Alex Lupato.

Since the first uphill, the group composed by Tony Longo, the World Champion Julien Absalon, Marco Aurelio Fontana and Yader Zoli lead the competition. Longo increased his rhythm but he was re-joined by Absalon and Fontana.

The leader of the Team managed by Gianfranco Bechis re-joined his opponents and the group composed by 4 athletes continued performing well together. Longo punctured and Cattaneo re-joined him temporally. At the last sprint the athlete of Hard Rock FRW defeated the biker of Orbea Team.

The fight between Longo and Zoli ended with the victory of the biker from Trentino who got the bronze medal. The athlete of GIANT Italia Team has competed looking at the Cross Country World Championships, scheduled for next weekend in Val di Sole.

“Yader preferred not to compromise his performance at the World Championship and he didn’t push hard risking the downhill sections of the track. This decision forced him to improve his performance in the Uphills and also in the flat areas” has commented the Technical Manager Gianfranco Bechis.

Andrea Tiberi finished in 8th place, preceding strong athletes like as Stephane Tempier, Fredrik Kessiakoff and his team-mate Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez – who got the silver medal in the final ranking devoted to the Elite Men category, behind Marco Aurelio Fontana.

7th position in the Under21 category for Diego Rosa.
During the early morning, the Open Women race was run, and at the starting line GIANT Italia Team was present with Blaza Klemencic – who performed well at the Cross Country World Cup of Fort William getting a 7th position in the general ranking. The biker of GIANT Italia Team has focused her performance on the strongest athletes Leboucher and Tanja Zakelj.

Lap after lap, the leading positions changed a lot of times. At the end, Annabella Stropparo controlled her opponents defeating the French Laurence Leboucher and the biker of GIANT Italia Team.

The 2008 edition of the Challenge Internazionali d’Italia has been won by the Italian Champion Annabella Stropparo. Behind her, the biker of GIANT Italia Team followed by Elena Gaddoni. Klemencic is the second athlete of the GIANT Italia Team arriving at the 2nd position in the 208 edition of the Challenge, after her team-mate Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez.

At 4 p.m. the press conference organized by FCI
The selected athletes for the Cross Country World Championships were officially announced and during the same occasion, the bikers representing MTB Italian National Team at the 2008 Olympic Games have been also presented.

The name of Yader Zoli, athlete from Faenza born in 1975, has been confirmed by the Technical Manager of the MTB Italian National Team Hubert Pallhuber.

The athlete of GIANT Italia Team will perform at the Olympic Games for the second time, after his experience in Athens 2004. He is also the second biker of GIANT Italia Team at Beijing after the selection of his team-mate Blaza Klemencic – who has been already confirmed after the World Cup of Fort William. Blaza Klemencic is also the only athlete representing Slovenia in the MTB competition at the Olympic Games of Beijing.

“We are very proud and enthusiast about this double selection. It was the result, GIANT Italia Team would like to get since the beginning of the season. Yader and Blaza will perform besides the other athletes who will live such a great experience like the Olympic Games event” confirmed the Technical Manager Gianfranco Bechis, who has also explained “we are not surprised about the selections. During the winter training, Pallhuber announced that the results of the first 3 World Cups should have been the elements, he would consider above all.

At the end of Madrid’s competition, he confirmed that Yader, Marco Aurelio and Eva should be the athletes representing Italy at the Olympic Games. I’m afraid what TV, magazines and newspapers said considering the MTB situation in Italy. They gave a lot of space to allegations and critics. They didn’t reserve the same time and the same energy to the results and to the performances of these bikers who perform day after day for Italy and who will represent the Italian National Team at the Olympic Games of Beijing”.

On the phone, the Marketing Manager of GIANT Italia Team Massimo Bechis has given more information about several technical solutions proposed by the partners of the Team for Beijing : “We’re going to evaluate such interesting and news solutions with our partners. We will present in Beijing news products, only Blaza and Yader – as Olympic athletes – could use. We will show these solutions in the next weeks. We will also approach the Olympic count-down preparing interviews, reportages and some interesting news from our paddocks”.

We have to report also the victory of the Master athlete Gianpaolo Canella who performed in Nucetto and the 5th position of Diego Rosa, who has competed at the Promenado Bike Marathon.

New Cycling Videos
Sea Otter NRC Circuit Race
After an 8 woman break away, 19 year old Tiffany Cromwell (Colavita/Sutter Home) jumps the break with over 5 laps to go, taking the win and Shelly Olds (Proman) sprinting for second.
In the mens race, no one could have predicted a 4 man break containing one Rock Racing rider and three Successful Living riders would lap the field. How will David Clinger (Rock Racing) fair against 3 Successful living riders? Watch all the action here:
http://www.deltavelo.com/media.html

IC3 Dash for Cash
Benjamin Barsi-Rhyne (Adobe/HDR Presented by Lombardi) pulls of a tough win in a huge field sprint.
http://www.deltavelo.com/media.html

Thanks for watching. You can help us continue to produce videos by posting links to your favorite videos on you sites, blogs and forums. For anyone interested in contributing mp3 audio file commentaries for any Deltavelo.com/XP Multimedia race videos, contact Damian Gonzalez at damian@xpmultimedia.com.

Bike Biz
ASO & AEG Enter into Cycling Partnership Agreement
Owners of Tour de France & Amgen Tour of California Create Marketing Partnership
Amaury Sport Organisation (“ASO”) and AEG, owners respectively of the Tour de France and the Amgen Tour of California, have formed a multi-dimensional marketing partnership to grow and develop each other’s events, it was announced by Yann Le Moenner, Deputy Director, Amaury Sport Organisation S.A. (ASO), Christian Prudhomme, Director of the Tour de France and Andrew Messick, President, AEG Sports.

Beginning with the upcoming 2008 Tour de France and 2009 Amgen Tour of California, the multi-year agreement calls for the organizations to develop and initiate comprehensive cross-promotional platforms for the world’s most prestigious cycling event and America’s most successful cycling race, as well as provide assistance with media and sponsorship sales for the races in their respective regions.

“Being able to partner with one of the leading sports and entertainment groups in the United States is a great privilege for ASO,” said Yann Le Moenner. “AEG’s success in developing and promoting properties like the Los Angeles Galaxy team with David Beckham as well as, among others, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, will greatly benefit the Tour de France in the United States.”

“The Amgen Tour of California, which will celebrate its fourth anniversary in February 2009, is still a brand new event on the cycling calendar, but one with a promising future ahead of it,” added Christian Prudhomme.

“Here at ASO we are particularly pleased to be able to provide this event with our support and our recognized skills and know-how established through the organization of centenary events, such as the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. We believe that it is also our duty to participate in the worldwide promotion and expansion of the sport of cycling and the development of constantly evolving new races, like the Amgen Tour of California.”

Among the key components of the agreement, ASO will assist AEG with the international distribution of the Amgen Tour of California television and digital media rights. ASO will develop, produce and distribute a portfolio of programming formats, including live coverage of the race. Additionally, AEG will be assisting ASO with the sales of specific sponsorship packages designed for partners looking for the ability to communicate through cycling’s most prestigious brand in the United States.

“AEG is delighted to be able to partner with the Amaury Sport Organization, which is without doubt the world’s most experienced and successful organizer of bicycle races,” said Messick. “With their help, we hope to be able to help grow the sport of cycling, the Tour de France, and of course our Amgen Tour of California.”

The partnership will be focused on the support and development of each organization’s race and will leverage all marketing assets and media associated with each event including on-site visibility as well as broadcast components.

ABOUT THE TOUR DE FRANCE - This year, the Tour de France will start on July 5th from Brest to finish in Paris on the prestigious Avenue of the Champs-Elysées on July 27th www.letour.com

ABOUT THE AMGEN TOUR OF CALIFORNIA - Created in 2006, the Amgen Tour of California is America’s most successful cycling race. The Amgen Tour of California is an eight-day professional cycling competition staged across many of California’s most scenic state highways, roadways and coastline drives. In addition to being one of the United States’ most recognized annual sports events, the international, world-class road race has offered the highest prize purse of any cycling race in North America in each of its first three years.

ABOUT ASO - ASO is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Media Group “EPA”, Edition Philippe Amaury. Created in September 1992, ASO is specialized in the organisation of renowned sports events, such as the Tour de France, the Dakar and the Paris Marathon. Over the last few years, the company has expanded, ASO having intensified its activities in cycling (Paris-Nice, Tour of Qatar, Tour du Faso) and taken up new disciplines, such as golf (the Open de France, the oldest tournament on the European continent) and equestrian sports (creating for the occasion a yearly event christened R.I.D.E: Rencontres Internationales des Disciplines Equestres) and has just launched the Merrell Oxygen Challenge (Out Door Event, trail and Mountain bike).

ABOUT AEG - AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Anschutz Company, owns or controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES Center, The Home Depot Center, Sprint Center, The O2, NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE and NOKIA Theatre Times Square; sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), two Major League Soccer franchises, a Major League Lacrosse team, two hockey franchises operated in Europe, management of privately held shares of the Los Angeles Lakers, the ING Bay to Breakers foot race and the Amgen Tour of California cycling road race; AEG LIVE, the organization’s live-entertainment division, is a collection of companies dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performance, touring and a variety of programming and multi-media production. For more information, visit AEG today at www.aegworldwide.com

Discuss this race and the sport with other cycling fans from around the world on the Daily Peloton.com Forums and Chat Room.  Sponsor the daily peloton & advertise your product or service to cyclists and cycling fans on www.dailypeloton.com - contact us.

AEG Names Matthieu Van Veen to Key Euro Operating Role
Former NBA International Executive To Help Lead AEG Sports’ European Expansion
Reinforcing the organization’s commitment to global growth, AEG has named Matthieu van Veen to the newly created position, Vice President, AEG Sports – Europe, it was announced by Andrew Messick, Executive Vice President, Marketing and International.

Based in Paris, van Veen’s responsibilities will include creation and management of a portfolio of European sports properties; European leadership and management of AEG’s global sports properties relating to AEG’s Facilities and Sports Divisions; and coordination of AEG’s Facilities business in France.

“We are delighted to have Matthieu on board to help drive AEG’s growth in European Sports. Matthieu combines deep knowledge in sports media with a sophisticated knowledge of the structure and opportunities that exist within Europe. We expect that Matthieu will continue to be highly successful in his new role,” said Messick, who also holds the title of President, AEG Sports.

Developers and operators of the recently opened O2, a 28-acre development located in the eastern part of London along the Thames River, which includes a 20,000-seat arena and over 650,000 sf of leisure and entertainment use, AEG’s international portfolio includes other world-class arenas including the Colorline Arena (Hamburg, Germany) and The O2 World (opening in central Berlin in September, 2008) and the Beijing Olympic Basketball Arena; professional hockey and soccer franchises; AEG Live-Europe, a leading concert promotional agency and AEG Sports-Europe devoted to the coordination of sporting exhibitions as well as international tours featuring professional franchises from North America.

“AEG's commitment to develop state of the art buildings in Europe is exciting news for all sports fans,” said van Veen. These world-class arenas will provide federations, leagues, event promoters, media and sponsors unprecedented opportunities to provide fans with a memorable sporting experience taking indoor sports to new heights and allowing for greater revenues. I am very excited to join AEG's operations and commitment to European sport expansion."

Prior to joining AEG, van Veen served as the National Basketball Association’s Senior Director, Global Media Distribution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In his role as head of the NBA’s media business, van Veen was responsible for all television and digital media rights for the NBA, WNBA and USA Basketball. He has worked extensively in all Western European countries, as well as Russia and Turkey.

About AEG
AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, is the world’s largest investor in entertainment and sports facilities; the world’s largest presenter of live sports and entertainment events; world’s largest owner of sports teams and sports events; AEG has a long history of success in the global sports and entertainment industries including the STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), NOKIA Theatre Times Square, NOKIA Theatre at Grand Prairie (TX), the El Rey Theatre (Hollywood, CA), the WaMu Theatre (Seattle, WA), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN) and three just opened arenas, Sprint Center (Kansas City, MO), Prudential Center (Newark, NJ) and The O2, a 28-acre development located in the eastern part of London along the Thames River which includes a 20,000 seat arena and over 650,000sf of leisure and entertainment use; sports franchises throughout the world including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Los Angeles Riptide (MLL), the Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo (MLS) in addition to overseeing privately held management shares of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA). AEG developed and operates The Home Depot Center, a $150 million national training facility on the Campus of California State University Dominguez Hills in Carson, California designated as an “Official U.S. Olympic Training Site” by the United States Olympic Committee that includes major facilities for soccer, tennis, track & field, cycling, lacrosse, rugby, action sports, beach volleyball and other sports.

AEG’s live entertainment division, AEG LIVE is one of the world’s leading concert promotion and touring companies with fifteen regional offices and stand-alone affiliate divisions devoted to all aspects of live entertainment including: AEG LIVE Events, creators and producers of special events of all sizes; AEG-TV, creators of live events for television, DVD, pay-per-view, cinema and other electronic media and AEG LIVE Tours & Special Events, Concerts West, Goldenvoice, The Messina Group and AEG Exhibitions, the company’s national entertainment promotion and touring divisions. AEG LIVE is currently overseeing the international museum tour of the artifacts of King Tut “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” and produced Celine Dion A New Day…Presented By Chrysler, a spectacular theatrical production starring Dion and directed by Franco Dragone which just concluded an unprecedented five year “residency” at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. AEG LIVE co-produces the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Goldenvoice, the company’s southern California-based regional promotion division created and operates the award winning annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. Recently promoted tours have starred artists and groups including Prince, Usher, Kenny Chesney, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney, Yanni, the Eagles, George Strait, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera, Dixie Chicks, Hannah Montana and American Idol.

AEG is currently overseeing the development of L.A. LIVE, a 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential & entertainment district featuring NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE, a 7,100-seat state-of-the-art live theatre which opened in October, 2007, a 54-story, 1001-room convention center “headquarters” hotel, Club NOKIA L.A. LIVE, a 2,200 capacity live music venue, a 14-screen Regal Cineplex, “broadcast” facilities for ESPN, along with entertainment, restaurant, residential and office space and additional arenas, O2 World, on a 45-acre site in the heart of Berlin, Citizen’s Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California and in Las Vegas, Nevada.