May 7, 2010 (Los Angelers, CA) – The world-class roster of teams and cyclists* scheduled to participate in the 2010 Amgen Tour of California has been announced by race presenter AEG. An internationally sanctioned, professional cycling road race, the 2010 Amgen Tour of California will host 16 teams, comprised of 127 riders, from 23 countries for the fifth-annual race taking place May 16-23.

The 2010 Amgen Tour of California will bring an exceptional concentration of cycling talent to compete across more than 800 miles of the state of California from Nevada City to Thousand Oaks, home of race sponsor Amgen. Attracting an unprecedented field of riders from around the world, cyclists hail from countries as far away as Belgium, Finland, Spain, France, Germany, New Zealand and Sweden.

“We are proud of the powerful and talented group of international and domestic cyclists set to participate in the 2010 Amgen Tour of California,” said Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports. “From Tour de France champions to Olympic medalists and world champions, this field is one of the best that has ever competed on American soil. The growing reputation of the Amgen Tour of California has resulted in a very accomplished field of cyclists, which should make for a great race.”

The field will include riders from well-known teams such as Team RadioShack, Team HTC-Columbia, Quick Step, Team Saxo Bank and Garmin-Transitions, who will all be competing to take the title in the overall team competition. Some of the notable riders planned to begin the race in Nevada City, Calif. on May 16 include:

*Team rosters are subject to change

The 2010 Amgen Tour of California roster includes the following 16 professional cycling teams. The seven ProTour teams compete regularly on the UCI’s ProTour race calendar, including the Grand Tours of Europe – Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España.

Pro Tour Teams

1.) Garmin-Transitions (USA)
Steven Cozza (USA)
Thomas Danielson (USA)
Ryder Hesjedal (CAN)
Robbie Hunter (RSA)
Thomas Peterson (USA)
Peter Stetina (USA)
Matthew Wilson (AUS)
David Zabriskie (USA)

2.) Liquigas-Doimo (ITA)
Francesco Bellotti (ITA)
Francesco Chicchi (ITA)
Davide Cimolai (ITA)
Manuel Quinziato (ITA)
Peter Sagan (SVK)
Ivan Santaromita (ITA)
Brian Vandborg (DEN)
Elia Viviani (ITA)

3.) Quick Step (BEL)
Carlos Barredo Llamazales (ESP)
Tom Boonen (BEL)
Kurt Hovelynck (BEL)
Kevin Hulsmans (BEL)
Nikolas Maes (BEL)
Andreas Stauff (GER)
Jurgen Van De Walle (BEL)
Maarten Wynants (BEL)

4.) Rabobank (NED)
Lars Boom (NED)
Stef Clement (NED)
Steven Kruijswijk (NED)
Sebastian Langeveld (NED)
Thomas Leezer (NED)
Paul Martens (GER)
Grischa Niermann (GER)
Maarten Tjallingii (NED)

5.) Team HTC-Columbia (USA)
Lars Ytting Bak (DEN)
Mark Cavendish (GBR)
Bernhard Eisel (AUT)
Tony Martin (GER)
Mark Renshaw (AUS)
Michael Rogers (AUS)
Hayden Roulston (NZL)
Tejay Van Garderen (USA)

6.) Team RadioShack (USA)
Lance Armstrong (USA)
Janez Brajkovic (SLO)
Christopher Horner (USA)
Levi Leipheimer (USA)
Jason McCartney (USA)
Dmitriy Muravyev (KAZ)
Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)
José Luis Rubiera Vigil (ESP)

7.) Team Saxo Bank (DEN)
Matti Breschel (DEN)
Fabian Cancellara (SUI)
Jakob Fuglsang (DEN)
Juan José Haedo (ARG)
Stuart O’Grady (AUS)
Andy Schleck (LUX)
Andre Steensen (DEN)
Jens Voigt (GER)

Pro Continental Teams

8.) BMC Racing Team (USA)
Chad Beyer (USA)
Marcus Burghart (GER)
Chris Butler (USA)
Mathias Frank (SUI)
George Hincapie (USA)
Alexander Kristoff (NOR)
Jackson Stewart (USA)
Simon Zahner (SUI)

9.) Cervélo TestTeam (SUI)
Theo Bos (NED)
Joao Correia (POR)
Philip Deignan (IRL)
Heinrich Haussler (GER)
Jeremy Hunt (GBR)
Brett Lancaster (AUS)
Oscar Pujol Munoz (ESP)
Dominique Rollin (CAN)

Continental Teams

10.) Bissell (USA)
Rob Britton (CAN)
Daniel Holloway (USA)
Andy Jacques-Maynes (USA)
Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA)
Peer Latham (NZL)
Paul Mach (USA)
Jeremy Vennell (NZL)
Kyle Wamsley (USA)

11.) Fly V Australia (AUS)
Jonathan Cantwell (AUS)
Jai Crawford (AUS)
Benjamin Day (AUS)
Charles Dionne (CAN)
Aaron Kemps (AUS)
Bernard Sulzberger (AUS)
Jay Robert Thomson (RSA)
Phil Zajicek (USA)

12.) Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda (USA)
Jonathan Chordoff (USA)
William Dicknson (AUS)
Michael Friedman (USA)
Charles Bradley Huff (USA)
Jeremy Powers (USA)
Kiel Reijnen (USA)
Will Routley (CAN)
Bernard Van Ulden (USA)

13.) Kelly Benefit Strategies (USA)
Ryan Anderson (CAN)
Jesse Anthony (USA)
Dan Bowman (USA)
Alex Candelario (USA)
Reid Mumford (USA)
Neil Shirley (USA)
David Veilleux (CAN)
Scott Zwizanski (USA)

14.) SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy (CAN)
David Boily (CAN)
Guillaume Boivin (CAN)
Lucas Euser (USA)
Martin Gilbert (CAN)
Kevin Lacombe (CAN)
Bruno Langlois (CAN)
Francois Parisien (CAN)
Andrew Randell (CAN)

15.) Team Type 1 (USA)
Davide Frattini (ITA)
Ken Hanson (USA)
Aldo Ino Ilesic (SLO)
Christopher Jones (USA)
Valery Kobzarenko (UKR)
Javier Megias Leal (ESP)
Thomas Rabou (NED)
Scott Stewart (USA)

16.) UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis (USA)
Christopher Baldwin (USA)
Matthew Crane (USA)
Marc De Maar (NED)
Max Jenkins (USA)
Karl Menzies (AUS)
Andrew Pinfold (CAN)
Rory Sutherland (AUS)
Bradley White (USA)

Stages for the 2010 Amgen Tour of California include:

Stage 1: Sunday, May 16 – Nevada City to Sacramento
Stage 2: Monday, May 17 – Davis to Santa Rosa
Stage 3: Tuesday, May 18 – San Francisco to Santa Cruz
Stage 4: Wednesday, May 19 – San Jose to Modesto
Stage 5: Thursday, May 20 – Visalia to Bakersfield
Stage 6: Friday, May 21 – Palmdale to Big Beak Lake
Stage 7: Saturday, May 22 – Los Angeles Individual Time Trial
Stage 8: Sunday, May 23 – Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village/Agoura Hills

For more information about the Amgen Tour of California, please visit www.amgentourofcalifornia.com.