Sacramento Grand Prix Adds World Class Women to Amgen Tour
Field to include US National Team riders among criterium racers in prelude to Tour Stage 1
Sacramento, CA – Project Sport, LLC – producers of this year’s inaugural Sacramento Grand Prix – released today the field of women’s and men’s cyclists scheduled to compete in the criterium race, to be held at the Capitol on the morning of the Stage 1 arrival of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California on May 16.
The ladies’ lineup takes the spotlight of the event, as the Grand Prix will field the world’s best in the women’s sport while injecting women’s racing into the same conversation that the men’s Tour will bring to the State Capitol. Teams scheduled to compete include Webcor Builders, Team Vera Bradley Foundation, Team TIBCO, Team Type 1 and Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12. Several teams boast world class riders who will be competing in the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Notable racers to watch include Team TIBCO’s Meredith Miller, current U.S. National Road Champion, as well as three-time Olympian Katerina Nash (Luna Chix), and former world champion Katheryn Mattis (Webcor Builders). The 17-year-old phenom Coryn Riviera (Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12), owner of 25 Junior National Championship Titles, will also compete, as well as Northern California’s 2010 Best All Around Rider, Sacramento’s Emily Kachorek (Well Fargo Racing; inset), who won a berth on the Nature Valley Pro Rider composite team.
"The Sacramento Grand Prix is emerging as one of the top women's cycling events in America and carries international athletic importance," said Ryan Dawkins, president of Project Sport and race director of Sacramento Grand Prix. "With huge crowds expected in Sacramento the event promises to be exciting for both racers and cycling fans."
On the sold-out men’s side of the Pro/1/2 races, competitors include Adageo Energy Pro Cycling, Trek Livestrong U23, the Yahoo! Cycling Team and the American Lung Association in California Cycling Team. With many elite riders competing in the Tour, the men’s Grand Prix field will showcase the best regional riders, sprinters and up-and-coming future cycling stars. Riders include Justin Williams, former U23 National Criterium Champion, Sacramento’s Chad Gerlach (former teammate of Lance Armstrong) and Ryan Parnes (Yahoo! Cycling), Northern California/Nevada District Criterium Champion.
The Sacramento Grand Prix is produced by Project Sport, LLC, producers of the San Francisco and San Rafael Twilight Criterium races, in cooperation with the Sacramento Sports Commission and the Amgen Tour of California. The race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and travel a 1.4 mile course circling the Capitol Building, duplicating portions of the Tour’s circuit just hours before Stage 1 is slated to finish in downtown Sacramento. Riders are competing for a $10,000 prize purse, with $6,000 dedicated to the women’s race and $4,000 to be won by the men. Prize purse partners include Sacramento Sports Commission, Lezyne, Shriners/Quickstep and Fusion Sport.
"The Sacramento Sports Commission is very excited to have reached an agreement with Project Sport to stage this professional criterium for men and women racers as a prelude to the 2010 Amgen Tour of California,” said Commission Executive Director John McCasey. “We envision the great crowds we enjoyed last year lining the course. When you factor in a Sunday afternoon finish in May, this should be a great win for the sport of cycling, for the riders and for Sacramento."
"I am very pleased that Project Sport is including a women's event in conjunction with the Tour’s men's race,” said Nicola Cranmer, General Manager of the Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 team. “Its my hope that this partnership could develop into a great stage race for the women too. It’s critical to our sponsors that women's racing gets the attention it deserves and is able to take advantage of the great media impressions that the Amgen Tour of California affords. Women's racing is dynamic and exciting. I can assure you the riders will put on a great show for the spectators and the City of Sacramento."
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This is the biggest thing to happen to women's cycling in Nor Cal since the SF Twilight. Keep this going please!!