February 16/08 12:47 pm - Team Rosters for Tour of California

Posted by Editoress on 02/16/08
 

Team Rosters 2008 Amgen Tour of California
Press release

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:

Note: 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 phenomenal success and growing reputation of the Amgen Tour of California has, once again, resulted in one of the best fields ever to race on U.S. soil," said Kristin Bachochin, senior director of AEG Sports, presenter of the race. "Welcoming such an accomplished group of cyclists to California shows the high esteem the race is being given by the international cycling community."

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 (DEen)
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, go to www.amgentourofcalifornia.com.