News:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 7/25/08 INDIANA'S LARGEST PROFESSIONAL CYCLING EVENT SECURES INTERNATIONAL FIELD Bright House Networks Marion Classic Presented by The Cellular Connection The Marion Classic event held August 8-9 is comprised of two days of amateur and professional bicycle racing surrounded by a community festival atmosphere MARION, IN (7/25/08) - The Bright House Networks Marion Classic presented by The Cellular Connection released today its professional race roster comprised of top international and national cyclists. The Marion Classic boasts the largest roster and purse of any professional cycling race in Indiana. The two day event held on August 8-9, 2008 in Marion, Indiana is hosted by the City of Marion and CDH Venture Group. The Brighthouse Networks Marion Classic presented by The Cellular Connection, www.marionclassic.com, is a United States Cycling Federation event sanctioned by USA Cycling (the principle governing body for cycling in the United States). The elite field of 88 top professionals and elite amateur cycling teams will compete for $15,000 in prize money, while another $5,000 will be distributed among the amateur races. Indiana-based AeroCat Bicycles, www.aerocatbike.com, will also offer a Carbon ACR500 frameset as a sprint prize for the top racers. The size of the prize list and the range of community activities that surround the event make the Marion Classic one of the top 50 bicycle races in the United States. A complete technical guide, including course profiles and event schedules, is available at www.marionclassic.com. Confirmed champion cyclists include: * 2008 UCI World Track Champion Hayden Godfrey of New Zealand * 2008 Tour of Ohio winner Matt Winstead * 2008 Masters 30-34 National Criterium Champion Chad Burdzilauskas * UCI Professional Continental Team rider Karl Menzies of Health Net Pro Cycling Team presented by Maxxis, who is making his first comeback appearance after recovering from injuries sustained in Reading, PA on June 5th. * Current #1 ranked USA Crit Series rider Adam Myerson of TIME Pro Cycling. TIME is a UCI Continental Team. * The AeroCat / Latino Cycling Team comprised of riders from Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia and Guatemala. Professional race teams and elite amateur cycling teams registered for the race include: PRO/1/2 ROSTER ATHLETES BY DESIGN / GEARGRINDER www.abdcycling.com 1 JOSH CARTER Decatur, IL 2 JEFF SCHROETLIN Decatur, IL 3 BRETT STEWART Munster, IN 4 ROB WHITE Brown Deere, WI 5 RYAN WHITE Lomira, WI AEROCAT / LATINO CYCLING TEAM www.aerocatbike.com 6 DANIEL ASCONEGUY Uruguay 7 SACUNDO BACCI Argentina 8 TIAGO DEPAULA Brazil 9 DIEGO GARAVITO Columbia 10 CARLOS HERNANDEZ Guatemala 11 ROBERT MCCONVILLE Chapel Hill, NC ALDERFER BERGEN 12 CHRIS CHARTIER Oxford, OH 13 TOM COX Bloomington, IN 14 AARON KNAPP Columbus, IN 15 RYAN KNAPP Columbus, IN 16 ISAAC NEFF Warsaw, IN 17 MIKE SHERER Evanston, IL BIKEREG.COM www.bikereg.com 18 STEVE ROSZKO Northampton, MA CALISTOGA RACING TEAM www.calistogaracingteam.com 19 HARRY CLARK Evansville, IN BISSEL MASTERS / ELITE TEAM www.bisselprocycling.com 20 DEREK GRAHAM Grand Rapids, MI 21 ZACH MCBRIDE Kalamazoo, MI 22 JORDAN SMITTER Ada, MI 23 JASON SWIATLOWSKI Grand Rapids, MI 24 BENJAMIN WHITEHEAD Kentwood, MI 25 DAVID WILLIAMS Grand Rapids, MI 26 DEREK WITTE Grand Rapids, MI DOGFISH RACING TEAM www.dogfish1.com 27 ANTHONT DUST Fairview Heights, IL 28 ANDY GIBB Edwardsville, IL 29 PEDER HULSE St. Louis, MO 30 JOHNNY MERLI Webster Groves, MO 31 MARK NAGY St. Louis, MO 32 CASEY SAUNDERS Webster Groves, MO 33 JASON SMITH Indianapolis, IN HEALTH NET PRO CYCLING TEAM PRESENTED BY MAXXIS www.teamhealthnet.com UCI Professional Continental Team 34 KARL MENZIES Ulverstone, Tasmania INDIANA HAND CENTER ELITE PRESENTED BY BLUE RIDGE DESIGN www.ihcracing.com 35 TODD CORNELIUS Indianapolis, IN 36 PATRICK DELISLE Indianapolis, IN 37 TOM HANLEY Springfield, OH 38 MATT STOLLE Fishers, IN 39 KEVIN VANES Indianapolis, IN LUCAS OIL CYCLING TEAM 40 MICHAEL SHARP Columbus, IN 41 DAVID STONE St. Joseph, IL 42 JACOB VIROSTKO Columbus, IN 43 MICHAEL ZELLMANN Crystal Lake, IL NUVO CULTURAL TRAIL www.nuvoculturaltrailcycling.com 44 KARIM ABDELKADER Bloomington, IN 45 DAVID CAUGHLIN Bloomington, IN 46 DECLAN DOYLE Arklow, Ireland 47 ERIK HAMILTON Bloomington, IN 48 AARON HUBBELL Red Hook, NY 49 PATRICK KILMURRAY Newcastle, Australia 50 SASHA LAND Bloomington, IN 51 MIKE LANTZ Columbus, IN RGF SOLUTIONS / PANTHER www.rgfsolutionssportsmarketing.com 52 ANDY CLARKE Medina, OH 53 JEREMY GRIMM Orville, OH 54 CHRIS KELLY Chicago, IL 55 BOB MARTIN Sagamore Hills, OH 56 ANDY MOSKAL Brecksville, OH TEAM DAYTON www.teamdaytoncycling.com 57 KYLE LYMAN Piqua, OH 58 ABE MCNUTT Germantown, OH 59 RODNEY SAUSER Waynesville, OH TEAM INFERNO PRO CYCLING www.infernoracing.org 60 MARCO ALEDIA Worthington, OH 61 JIM BALDESARE Kent, OH 62 JEFF BRAUMBERGER Mansfield, OH 63 JOSH ENGLAND Aukland, New Zealand 64 RYAN GAMM Chagrin Falls, OH 65 B. VAN DER GENUGTEN Indianapolis, IN 66 HAYDEN GODFREY New Zealand 67 MATT WINSTEAD Huntsville, AL TEAM WHEEL & SPROCKET www.teamwheelandsprocket.com 68 KEVIN BERGER Madison, WI 69 ANDY CRATER Milwaukee, WI 70 CLAYTON GOLDSMITH Milwaukee, WI 71 ROBERT SPRINGER Sturtevant, WI TEXAS ROADHOUSE CYCLING TEAM www.texasroadhousecycling.com 72 KIRK ALBERS Upper Arlington, OH 73 KEVIN ATTKISSON Louisville, KY 74 C. BURDZILAUSKAS Indianapolis, IN 75 ROB BUSH Louisville, KY 76 JOHN GRANT Louisville, KY 77 JOHN PUFFER Indianapolis, IN 78 CURTIS TOLSON Louisville, KY TIME PRO CYCLING www.timeprocycling.com UCI Continental Team 79 ADAM MYERSON Brockton, MA 80 TOM SOLADAY Silver Springs, MD TRUESPORT.COM www.truesport.com 81 DARREN RENO Indianapolis, IN TURIN BICYCLE / BARKER & NEXTOR www.turinbicycle.com 82 DEREK LAAN West Lafayette, IN 83 BEN RENKEMA Holland, MI 84 CHRIS UBERTI Northville, MI U-BUILD-IT / MOB SQUAD www.mobsquadcycling.net 85 FELIPE CARDENAS Indianapolis, IN 86 CHASE HOEFER Marion, IN 87 JONATHON JACOB Evansville, IN 88 COURT MAPLE Fishers, IN In addition to the professional and elite amateur bike races, the Marion Classic hosts two community bike events Š the Citizen Criterium and the Fat Tire Relay Race. Both events are open to the public and no pre-registration is required. The Fat Tire Relay is purely for fun and entertainment, while the Citizen Criterium event allows individuals in the community the opportunity to experience a race course that mirrors a competitive race. A $10 day of registration entry fee will be collected with money raised designated to the charity World Hope International to purchase bicycles for the AIDS caregivers in the village of Muziya in Zambia. The Fat Tire Relay Race starts at 7:00 p.m. August 8th and the Citizen Criterium begins at 2:55 p.m. August 9th. Registration is near the Start/Finish line and closes 15 minutes prior to each event start time. The Bright House Networks Marion Classic presented by The Cellular Connection offers free admission for spectators to enjoy MarionÕs first professional sporting event. "We are very excited for the City of Marion to host such a premier bicycle race in Indiana," said Wayne Seybold, Mayor of Marion. "The community can get involved by volunteering, participating in the public bike events or simply enjoy watching a first class professional cycling event and participating in a two day community festival." In tandem with the Marion Classic cycling event, spectators will be entertained by several bands playing live music throughout the day during the Riverwalk Music Festival. The bands will play between bike races and will offer a full concert featuring Marion talent Aaron Moses, www.myspace.com/aaronmosesmusic, and Nashville-based Daniel Gibson, www.danielgibsonmusic.com, immediately after the final cycling race. Title Sponsor Bright House Networks, www.mybrighthouse.com, is the nation's 6th largest MSO with 2.4 million customers in several large markets including Bakersfield, California; Birmingham, Alabama; Detroit, Michigan; Indianapolis, Indiana; Orlando, Florida (Central Florida Division) and Tampa Bay, Florida along with several other smaller systems in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Presenting Sponsor The Cellular Connection, www.ecellularconnection.com, is the largest Verizon Wireless Premium Agent in the Midwest with over 130 locations in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Missouri. The sponsoring USCF Club U-Built-It / MOB Squad, www.mobsquadcycling.net, is based in Indianapolis, IN. Marion Classic community partners include WIWU TV, Marion General Hospital, WBAT Radio, the Chronicle-Tribune, Indiana Wesleyan University, and the City of Marion. CurfmanÕs Cycling & Fitness is also sponsoring a $700 road bike giveaway as part of a free community raffle. For a complete list of sponsors, community support and additional event information please visit www.marionclassic.com. -30- |