–The Amgen Tour of California has filled its field with 18 teams for the eight-day, 650-mile stage race Feb. 18-15. Entries are split between teams that compete on the UCI ProTour and those that race primarily in North America. Together, it’s arguably the most diverse and accomplished peloton to compete in a U.S. stage race. Among the 144 cyclists will be world champion Paolo Bettini (Quickstep-Innergetic), making his first visit to the U.S. More details at http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com. Here’s the team lineup:
BMC Racing (USA)
Colavita/Sutter Home (USA)
Credit Agricole (France)
CSC (Denmark)
Discovery Channel (USA)
Gerolsteiner (Germany)
Health Net (USA)
Jelly Belly (USA)
Liquigas (Italy)
Navigators Insurance (USA)
Predictor-Lotto (Belgium)
Priority Health (USA)
Quick Step-Innergetic (Belgium)
Rabobank (Netherlands)
T-Mobile (Germany)
Team Slipstream (USA)
Toyota-United Pro (USA)
USA Cycling National Development Team (USA)
Bettini is going to be there and so many great teams, what an amazing race it will be. The domestic teams are going to find the going rough to get any glory. My daughter is at college in SLO and got to watch that stage last year. Trying to figure out a business reason to be there for a stage, but probably no go. Hope the Tour of Missouri draws some of those top teams, but it is much poorer placed for attracting Pro Tour riders.
Ric
Boulder, CO, December 6, 2006 - In a bold move upward for 2007, Team TIAA-CREF not only becomes Team Slipstream p/b Chipotle, but moves up a big notch into the UCI’s Professional Continental category.
Ya - TIAA-CREF switched it up for this year. I read an article recently about a guy who is pretty much funding the team (I know that’s pretty vague - I’ll have to look for the article again). TIAA-CREF used to be the U-23 team, but I believe they have expanded and are trying to make more of a presence. They are coached by Jonathan Vaughters (sp).
Pretty cool to have so many Pro Tour teams this year.
Yes, Cathy I agree. BMC Racing! I ride a BMC so I can’t wait! We are taking Friday off work to see the TT in Solvang and will be on the famous Balcolm Canyon climb on Saturday. Fun!
Priority Health Cycling Team
C/O Athletic Mentors
9970 Enzian Road
Delton, MI 49046
**Phone: **269-664-6912
**E-Mail: **molson@mei.net Team Website:www.teampriorityhealth.com Team Management:
Mr. Mark Olson Team Manager
2006 Roster: 10 riders Average age: 27 Main Sponsor: Priority Health. Rated one of the top health insurance plans in the nation.
New to the 2006 Pro Peloton, the Priority Health team is a mixture of neo pro’s and
professionals from last year’s Advantage Benifits-Endeavour team. The team has
started out the 2006 season well with an early win at the Valley of the Sun Stage
Race by Tom Zirbel. Look for Australian and 2005 second place finisher
in the International Cycling Classic Richard England to be a threat in the sprint
finishes, along with 2005 fifth place finisher in the Barclay’s Global Investors Grand
Prix Glen Michell to round out the teams support efforts.
Ouch! I’m just pissed that I’m going to have to go more than 5 minutes down the road to watch them this year as they’re going to long beach instead of Redondo Beach. Went into Starbucks on the way home last year and the whole gerolsteiner team was sitting outside refuelling…quite a change from the local roadie crowd.
It is going to be so cool! I saw the finish in Santa Rosa last year with my two kids and we had a great time. This year we get both a finish and a start in Santa Rosa and its even on a holiday so the kids can come watch. I had never seen this level of cycling before in person and the speed of the peleton was pretty impressive. My kids still talk about those crazy team cars following them as well…one guy almost lost it on a tight turn. Now I know never to sit on the outside apex of a turn…
Do you know if they will be riding Coleman Valley from Occidental towards Hwy. 1, or the other way? I just rode there for the first time and I’d love to see the pros ripping down that steep twisty descent to Hwy. 1!
Ouch! I’m just pissed that I’m going to have to go more than 5 minutes down the road to watch them this year as they’re going to long beach instead of Redondo Beach. Went into Starbucks on the way home last year and the whole gerolsteiner team was sitting outside refuelling…quite a change from the local roadie crowd.
Ditto, I live a mile from the Paseo de la Playa climb where Hincapie and a few others finally caught the breakaway on the final lap last year. It was awesome to watch as each lap the peloton got closer and closer until they finally swallowed up the breakaway right where we were standing. Heard a rumor form a volunteer that Redondo wanted the tour to pay for the police support so the tour went elsewhere. Good thinking,
Ditto, I live a mile from the Paseo de la Playa climb where Hincapie and a few others finally caught the breakaway on the final lap last year. It was awesome to watch as each lap the peloton got closer and closer until they finally swallowed up the breakaway right where we were standing. Heard a rumor form a volunteer that Redondo wanted the tour to pay for the police support so the tour went elsewhere. Good thinking,
I was positioned where I could see them twice per lap, right on the corner they turned at to get to the promenade. The non-cycling people I was with were convinced the breakaway would never be caught. It was funny to watch them get reeled in exactly on the schedule I predicted
Losing the race for that reason would be really dumb.
I hope the coverage will be a bit better than last years…can’t remember whether that was on OLN (VS) or another station.
