April 6, 2007 – The Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team, presented by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. will field a full team at Saturday’s 112 mile, US Open Cycling Championship race in Richmond, Virginia. The race will be televised nationally on NBC Saturday afternoon.

Commencing early Saturday morning in Williamsburg, the race will follow a direct but rolling route to Richmond where riders will face eight challenging circuits of historic Richmond. Destined to become an instant classic in American racing, the race’s final circuits feature a brutal climb and decent on the terribly rough cobbled streets of Richmond’s Libby Hill district. Race directors advised the 25 teams to “bring your strongest wheels and a Belgian if you have one.”

While the Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team, presented by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. does not have any Belgians, it will be fielding at strong team with extensive experience racing on some of Europe’s most fabled cobbles. As veteran “cobbler” and first year Kodak Gallery – Sierra Nevada professional, Ben Raby noted, “the cobblestone climb will be very challenging on the final laps of the race, but that’s good for our team, we have a lot of really strong, tough guys.”

To ensure the entire nation gets to experience the thrills and spills of this racing spectacle, the US Open Cycling Championships is being televised nationally Saturday afternoon on NBC. Despite being the only National Racing Calendar event slated for nation-wide television coverage in 2007, the network has earmarked an unprecedented 2 ½ hours of same day airtime. Be sure to check your local listings for the start time and to tune in to watch your Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada Team in action. An email of appreciation to NBC for their cycling coverage would help convey the market appetite for increased television coverage of domestic pro cycling.

The Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team plans to kick off the weekend’s racing festivities with a Friday afternoon appearance at the Palani Drive restaurant from 3:00PM – 5:00PM. Named for the famous finishing street of the Hawaii Ironman triathlon, Palani Drive is well know for it’s award winning vegetarian entrées and selection of Sierra Nevada brews on tap. If you are in the Richmond area, please be sure to stop by and meet the Team and share a cold pint with your fellow fans.

Race Roster
Kodak Gallery – Sierra Nevada Roster for the US Open Cycling Championships:

– Jesse Anthony
– Cody O’Reilly
– Ben Raby
– Dominque Rollin
– Josh Thornton
– Dan Timmerman
– Ryan Trebon
– Mark Walters