World-Class Field Announced for 2008 Amgen Tour of California Professional Cycling Road Race
Race Draws Top Cyclists, Including Defending Champion Levi Leipheimer and World Champion Paolo BettiniLOS ANGELES, February 14, 2008 – Considered the best collection of talent to compete in a U.S. professional cycling stage race, the world-class roster of teams and cyclists scheduled to participate in the 2008 Amgen Tour of California has been announced by race presenter AEG.* An internationally sanctioned professional cycling road race, the 2008 Amgen Tour of California will host 17 teams and 136 riders for the third annual race from February 17-24, 2008.
The race will bring the top cycling talent in the world to compete across more than 650 miles of California roadway from Palo Alto-Stanford University to Pasadena, Calif. Attracting an unprecedented field of riders from 27 countries, cyclists hail from countries as far away as Slovenia, Australia, New Zealand, Ukraine, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan and South Africa.
"We are delighted to be able to announce this extraordinary group of cyclists who will be competing in the third Amgen Tour of California,” said Andrew Messick, president, AEG Sports. “We’ve never had a group this accomplished in our race and can’t wait to see them out on the roads of California.”
The field will include riders from well-known teams such as Astana, High Road, Quick Step, Saunier Duval-Scott and Team CSC, which returns to defend the title as the overall classification winner of the 2006 and 2007 Amgen Tour of California races. Some of the notable riders expected to begin the race in Palo Alto-Stanford University on Feb. 17 include:
*Team rosters are subject to change
World Champions:
- Paolo Bettini (ITA), Quick Step
- Tom Boonen (BEL), Quick Step
- Bradley Wiggins (GBR), High Road
- Fabian Cancellara (SUI), Team CSC
- Oscar Freire Gomez (ESP), Rabobank
- Gerald Ciolek (GER), High Road
- Dmytro Grabovskyy (UKR), Quick Step
Olympic Medalists:
- Paolo Bettini (ITA), Quick Step
- Bobby Julich (USA), Team CSC
- Bradley Wiggins (GBR), High Road
- Bradley McGee (AUS), Team CSC
National Time Trial Champions (by country):
- Vladimir Gusev (RUS), Astana
- Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR), High Road
- Fabian Cancellara (SUI), Team CSC
- Gustav Larsson (SWE), Team CSC
- David Millar (GBR), Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
- David Zabriskie (USA), Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
National Road Champions (by country):
- Levi Leipheimer (USA), Astana
- Fabian Wegmann (GER), Gerolsteiner
- David Millar (GBR), Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
American Race Champions:
- Levi Leipheimer (Astana), 2007 Amgen Tour of California
- Janez Brajkovic (Astana), 2007 Tour de Georgia
- George Hincapie (High Road), 2007 Tour of Missouri
- Chris Horner (Astana), 2003 Tour de Georgia
Top 2007 Amgen Tour of California Notables:
- Levi Leipheimer (Astana): Prologue; individual time trial; first overall
- Juan Jose Haedo (Team CSC): Stage 2 and 6; first overall in sprint classification
- Robert Gesink (Rabobank): First overall Best Young Rider
- Danny Pate (Slipstream Chipotle Powered By H30): First overall Most Aggressive Rider
- Jens Voigt (Team CSC): Second overall; stage 3
- Paolo Bettini (Quick Step): Stage 4
- Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team): Stage 7
- Fred Rodriguez (Rock Racing): Tenth overall in sprint classification
- Bobby Julich (Team CSC): Fourth overall
- Team CSC: Defending team champions (2006 and 2007)
California Natives/Residents:
- Astana: Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa)
- BMC Racing Team: Scott Nydam (Santa Rosa); Antonio Cruz (Long Beach)
Jackson Stewart (Los Gatos); Taylor Tolleson (Watsonville) - BISSELL Pro Cycling: Ben Jacques-Maynes (San Jose); Aaron Olson (Santa Barbara); Scott Zwizanski (Sausalito)
- Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis: Roman Kilun (Berkeley)
- Jelly Belly Cycling Team: Bernard Van Ulden (Belmont)
- Rock Racing: Fred Rodriguez (San Francisco)
- Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30: Steven Cozza (Petaluma)
- Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team: Cuban rider Ivan Dominguez (Chatsworth)
The 2008 Amgen Tour of California roster includes the following 17 professional cycling teams. The nine ProTour teams compete regularly on the UCI's ProTour race calendar, including the Grand Tours of Europe: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana.
*Team rosters are subject to change
Pro Tour Teams
1.) Astana (LUX)
Levi Leipheimer (USA)Janez Brajkovic (SLO)
Vladimir Gusev (RUS)
Christopher Horner (USA)
Serguei Ivanov (RUS)
Aaron Kemps (AUS)
Andrey Mizurov (KAZ)
José Luis Rubiera Vigil (ESP)
2.) Bouygues Telecom (FRA)
Thomas Voeckler (FRA)Dimitri Champion (FRA)
Perrig Quemeneur (FRA)
Vincent Jerome (FRA)
Laurent Lefevre (FRA)
Alexandre Pichot (FRA)
Sébastien Turgot (FRA)
Julien Belgy (FRA)
3.) Crédit Agricole (FRA)
Patrice Halgand (FRA)Jonathan Hivert (FRA)
Ignatas Konovalovas (LIT)
Christophe Le Mevel (FRA)
Cyril Lemoine (FRA)
Mark Renshaw (AUS)
Julien Simon (FRA)
Yannick Talabardon (FRA)
4.) Gerolsteiner (GER)
Fabian Wegmann (GER)Johannes Frohlinger (GER)
Heinrich Haussler (GER)
Bernhard Kohl (AUT)
Mathias Frank (SUI)
Peter Wrolich (AUT)
Oliver Zaugg (SUI)
Markus Zberg (SUI)
5.) Quick Step (BEL)
Paolo Bettini (ITA)Tom Boonen (BEL)
Dmytro Grabovskyy (UKR)
Kevin Hulsmans (BEL)
Kevin Seeldraeyers (BEL)
Andrea Tonti (ITA)
Matteo Tosatto (ITA)
Jurgen Van De Walle (BEL)
6.) Rabobank (Netherlands)
Oscar Freire Gomez (ESP)Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (COL)
Robert Gesink (NED)
Mathew Hayman (AUS)
Pedro Horrillo Munoz (ESP)
Paul Martens (GER)
Bauke Mollema (NED)
William Walker (AUS)
7.) Saunier Duval-Scott (ESP)
Rubens Bertogliati (SUI)Raivis Belohvosciks (LTV)
David Canada Gracia (ESP)
Ermanno Capelli (ITA)
Eros Capecchi (ITA)
Iker Camano Ortuzar (ESP)
Angel Gomez (ESP)
Luciano André Pagliarini Mendonca (BRA)
8.) Team CSC (DEN)
Bobby Julich (USA)Fabian Cancellara (SUI)
Stuart O'Grady (AUS)
Jason McCartney (USA)
Gustav Larsson (SWE)
Jens Voigt (GER)
Juan Jose Haedo (ARG)
Karsten Kroon (NED)
9.) High Road (GER)
George Hincapie (USA)Mark Cavendish (GBR)
Gerald Ciolek (GER)
Adam Hansen (AUS)
Kim Kirchen (LUX)
Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR)
Thomas Lovkvist (SWE)
Bradley Wiggins (GBR)
Pro Continental Teams
10.) BMC Racing Team (USA)
Alexandre Moos (SUI)Danilo Wyss (SUI)
Jackson Stewart (USA)
Darren Lill (RSA)
Scott Nydam (USA)
Antonio Cruz (USA)
Taylor Tolleson (USA)
Jeffry Louder (USA)
11.) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30 (USA)
David Millar (GBR)David Zabriskie (USA)
Christian Vandevelde (USA)
Thomas Peterson (USA)
Danny Pate (USA)
Steven Cozza (USA)
Thomas Danielson (USA)
Tyler Farrar (USA)
Continental Teams
12.) BISSELL Pro Cycling (USA)
Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA)Tom Zirbel (USA)
Scott Zwizanski (USA)
Aaron Olson (USA)
Burke Swindlehurst (USA)
Garrett Peltonen (USA)
Edward King (USA)
Richard England (AUS)
13.) Health Net Presented by Maxxis (USA)
Phil Zajicek (USA)Rory Sutherland (AUS)
Timothy Johnson (USA)
Karl Menzies (AUS)
Roman Kilun (USA)
John Murphy (USA)
Frank Pipp (USA)
Matthew Crane (USA)
14.) Jelly Belly Cycling Team (USA)
Scott Tietzel (USA)Nick Reistad (USA)
Matthew Rice (AUS)
Michael Lange (USA)
Bernard Van Ulden (USA)
Bryce Mead (USA)
Nicholas Sanderson (AUS)
Aaron Barry Tuckerman (NZL)
15.) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast (USA)
Andrew Bajadali (USA)Dan Bowman (USA)
Alex Candelario (USA)
Kevin Lacombe (CAN)
Reid Mumford (USA)
Justin Spinelli (USA)
Jonathan Sundt (USA)
Nick Waite (USA)
16.) Rock Racing (USA)
Michael Creed (USA)Kayle Leogrande (USA)
Doug Ollerenshaw (USA)
Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (COL)
Fred Rodriguez (USA)
17.) Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team (USA)
Dominique Rollin (CAN)Hilton Clarke (AUS)
Jonathan Clarke (AUS)
Caleb Manion (AUS)
Benjamin Day (AUS)
Ivan Dominguez (CUB)
Heath Blackgrove (NZL)
Henk Vogels (AUS)
For more information about the 2008 Amgen Tour of California, as well as a nightly viewing schedule on VERSUS, please visit www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/tv-schedule.html.
About the Amgen Tour of California
The largest cycling event in America, the 2008 Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style road race presented by AEG that will challenge the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding 650-mile course from Palo Alto-Stanford University to Pasadena from February 17-24, 2008.About Amgen
Amgen discovers, develops and delivers innovative human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one of the first companies to realize the new science's promise by bringing safe and effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing plant, to patient. Amgen therapeutics have changed the practice of medicine, helping millions of people around the world in the fight against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other serious illnesses. With a broad and deep pipeline of potential new medicines, Amgen remains committed to advancing science to dramatically improve people's lives. To learn more about Amgen's pioneering science and vital medicines, visit www.amgen.com.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. # # #
