January 10, 2005 – Here are a few news items from the The Navigators Insurance Cycling Team.

Challenge Tubular Tires

The Navigators Insurance Cycling Teamhas selected Challenge Tubular Tires for the 2005 Professional racing season. Although a relatively young company, the technology, materials and workmanship are not. Challenge, a Swiss company, has acquired the famous Clement technologies and resources to create the finest in handcrafted racing tubular and open tubular tires. Utilizing the same engineers, materials, machinery and personnel from the original Clement brand, Challenge has entered the exclusive professional cycling market. The Navigators Insurance Team will be racing on the full line of Challenge tubulars for road and track racing, as well as their line of open tubulars.

“The Navigators Insurance Cycling Team has long had a reputation for choosing only the finest quality equipment in the industry. We are very happy to have the support of Challenge tires in 2005. The Challenge brand continues a tradition of the best in Italian rubber technology and quality. Given the aggressive schedule that we contest, and the variety of race conditions and terrain, it is imperative that we have a reliable and high performance tire that instills confidence in our athletes”, stated the team’s Director Sportif, Ed Beamon. “The team has chosen Challenge because we believe it is a top shelf product that will help us remain competitive in the most demanding events, regardless of the conditions.”

Ciclo Tech is the exclusive marketing agent for Challenge Tubulars in North America.

Hilton Clarke Scores Victory

Hilton Clarke (AUS), a new addition to the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team, scored his first victory of the 2005 racing season, yesterday in Melbourne, Australia. Racing locally for the “McKnight’s Retravision/Fisher & Paykel” squad, Hilton took the win following a week of top-10 finishes in the Jayco Bay Classic series. The 5-day series is one of the most popular racing events in Australia and regularly attracts many of the best racers as preparation for next week’s Tour Down Under. Clarke was in fifth place in the General Classification coming into the final race, and although the victory moved him into second overall, it wasn’t enough to overtake the series champion Robbie McEwen, racing locally for the Drapac-Porsche team. Third place in the series went to David McPartland, racing locally for the Jayco-VIS team.

All eyes will be on Australia starting on January 18th as the 2005 UCI International Professional Calendar gets underway with the 7th running of the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under. As final preparations are being made for the TDU this week, the Australian racing season also kicks into high gear with National Champion Jerseys up for grabs in the Time Trial and Road Race events.