SAN FRANCISCO (August 14, 2001)- Three-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong confirmed he will conclude his 2001 racing season at the San Francisco Grand Prix on Sunday, September 9th, race organizers announced today. Armstrong’s appearance at the San Francisco Grand Prix presented by BMC Software will be his first American race this season and his first domestic race since April of 2000.
“I haven’t raced in America in so long - I’m really excited to compete on home soil,” Armstrong said from Spain, as he prepared for the Tour of Burgos, scheduled for August 20-24. “San Francisco is one of my favorites cities in the world and is a perfect city to host an international cycling race. I know the course is going to be really tough - I’m looking forward to the climb on Fillmore Street.”
Produced by Tailwind Sports and Threshold Sports, the San Francisco Grand Prix course is one of the most ambitious circuits on U.S. soil. The 125-mile race begins and ends on the Embarcadero, near the city’s famous Ferry Building, winds through North Beach and along Fisherman’s Wharf and the Marina. Halfway through the 10-mile circuit, the flatlands give way to the steep climb up Fillmore Street. Once the riders reach the top of the steep 3-block climb they will race through Russian Hill, back through North Beach and to the Embarcadero.
Armstrong, a cancer survivor, recently became the first American to win three-consecutive Tours de France. In the days following his most recent victory, Armstrong appeared on several national talk shows, spent time with President Bush at the White House, flew home to Austin, TX, with the President on Air Force One and graced the cover of Sports Illustrated.
At the San Francisco Grand Prix, Armstrong will be joined by eight teammates from the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. Four of his teammates - George Hincapie, Tyler Hamilton, Viatcheslav Ekimov and Steffen Kjaergaard - competed in the 2000 and 2001 Tours de France. An international field of over 120 of the world’s best professional cyclists will take part in the San Francisco Grand Prix, including the Pro Cycling Tour leader Trent Klasna of Team Saturn, U.S. Champion Freddie Rodriguez and a strong contingent from Mercury-Viatel.
But Armstrong is as confident as ever. “The USPS team has fielded a solid team for the San Francisco Grand Prix,” he said. “I think we will be very competitive at the event.”
The San Francisco Grand Prix presented by BMC Software is the third stop of this year’s BMC Software Grand Prix series. The 3-year old BMC Software Grand Prix is the key series of races within the Pro Cycling Tour (PCT). The BMC Software Grand Prix brings many of the world’s top professional cyclists to U.S. soil to compete for prize purses and potential bonuses that exceed $200,000. For additional information on the BMC Software Grand Prix visit www.bmcgrandprix.com.
BMC Software, Inc. [NYSE: BMC], is the leading provider of enterprise management solutions that assure business availability - maintaining and optimizing business-critical systems with automated infrastructure management and unique service management capabilities. BMC Software is a member of the S&P 500, with fiscal year 2001 revenues exceeding $1.5 billion and offices worldwide. For more information, please visit BMC Software's Web site at www.bmc.com.
The PCT is the nation’s premier cycling series linking 15 of the top professional criteriums, road races and stage races from across the United States from March through October. PCT is managed by Threshold Sports and sanctioned by USA Cycling, the national governing body for the sport of cycling. For more information, log on to www.procyclingtour.com or www.usacycling.com.
