For Immediate Release
June 10, 2008
Media Contact:
John Dakin
(970) 949-1999
INITIAL TEAMS ACCEPT INVITATIONS TO COMPETE IN INAUGURAL COLORADO STAGE INTERNATIONAL CYCLE CLASSIC
VAIL, Colorado—The peloton is beginning to take shape for the inaugural Colorado Stage International Cycle Classic as eight teams have currently accepted invitations to compete in the three-stage road bike race August 22-24. The full Colorado Stage field will include a total of 15 teams.
Heading the list of teams to date is Team High Road, an American-based team built on young talent and veteran leadership. High Road counts seven current National champions, 11 former National champions, and seven current or former world champions on the roster, with over 70 collective wins.
“We are truly excited with Team High Road’s decision to participate in the inaugural Colorado Stage International Cycle Classic,” offered Michael Imhof, Vice President of Operations and Sales for the Vail Valley Foundation. “They represent our first Pro Tour Team to commit and their riders are some of the best in the world.”
The Colorado Stage will feature three Pro Tour Teams, with the remainder of the field comprised of Pro Continental and Continental teams. Pro Tour riders represent the top level of professional cycling; elite competitors that participate in the highest level races such as the Tour de France and Tour of California. In any given year, there are only a total of 20 Pro Tour licenses issued by the UCI, cycling’s international governing body, and teams must reapply each year to maintain their elite status.
In addition to Team High Road, other teams that have accepted Colorado Stage invitations include Pro Continental Teams BMC and Slipstream Chipotle, as well as Continental Teams Bissell Pro Cycling, Colavita/Sutter Home, Jittery Joe’s, Tecos and Toyota-United Pro.
Team Slipstream Chipotle, based in Boulder, recently made news by being selected to participate in this summer’s Tour de France. The team will be one of twenty teams from nine different countries that will take part in one of the world’s greatest sporting events, with Slipstream Chipotle and High Road the only two U.S. teams in the field.
Individual team rosters for the inaugural Colorado Stage will be determined one month prior to the race.
The Colorado Stage International Cycle Classic is a project of the Vail Valley Foundation. For more information on the Colorado Stage, visit www.coloradostagebike.com. For additional information on the Vail Valley Foundation, contact (970) 949-1999 or visit www.vvf.org.
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