July 16, 2004 – Levi Leipheimer has been named to the U.S. Olympic Team as a replacement for Lance Armstrong in the discipline of road cycling. Armstrong officially declined his spot on the Olympic team in a letter to USA Cycling on Monday opening the door for Leipheimer to compete in his first-ever Olympic Games.

The nomination of Leipheimer to the Olympic squad was primarily based on his fulfillment of USA Cycling’s automatic selection criteria which gives a nomination to any rider that places in the top-five of a UCI 2.HC classified event. Leipheimer placed fifth overall at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, a major international event this spring in Spain. The result created a virtual tie for the fifth Olympic nomination with George Hincapie (Greenville, S.C.) but Hincapie was nominated first based on his higher ranking in the UCI standings.

On July 8, Armstrong was quoted as saying he would decline his spot on the U.S. squad in order to spend more time with his children following the Tour de France, a decision he confirmed officially to USA Cycling earlier this week.

The addition of Leipheimer to the men’s road team keeps an experienced and successful world-class roster intact. Leipheimer made a name for himself at the international level in 2001 after placing third overall in the Vuelta a Espana, Spain’s version of the Tour de France. The following year, Leipheimer won the Route du Sud stage race and placed 8th overall in the Tour de France signaling his arrival as a serious Tour contender. Entering the 2003 Tour de France, Leipheimer was set to contend for an overall podium spot but a crash in stage one left him with a fractured pelvis forcing him to abandon the Tour.

Fully recovered, Leipheimer returned to form in 2004 with a win in stage four of the Setmana Catalana in March. Leipheimer is currently one of seven Americans contesting the Tour de France and again has the potential to finish on the overall podium.

“Levi’s addition to the team is an obvious testament to the depth of American cycling talent,” commented USA Cycling CEO Gerard Bisceglia. “Lance’s departure is understandable and we certainly respect his decision to withdraw himself from the Olympics. Having the luxury to replace him with someone of Levi’s caliber allows us to maintain a powerful team with a proven veteran.”

USA Cycling also announced today that Tyler Hamilton (Marblehead, Mass.) and Bobby Julich (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) will ride the time trial in Athens.

Hamilton is one of the most accomplished U.S. time trialists over the last two years and heads to Athens as a medal contender. In the last calendar year, Hamilton has placed first or second in several key time trials. His victories include back-to-back wins in the time trial stages of the 2003 and 2004 Tour de Romandie as well as second place finishes in the time trial at the 2004 Vuelta a Pais Vasco and both the prologue and the uphill time trial on Mont Ventoux at this year’s Dauphiné Libéré. Perhaps Hamilton’s greatest time trial achievement came at last year’s Tour de France when he placed second in stage 19 after riding the previous 17 stages with a broken collarbone.

Julich’s time trial accolades include a victory in stage five of April’s Vuelta a Pais Vasco and a fourth place finish in this spring’s Tour de Georgia time trial stage. Julich also kicked off the 2004 Tour de France with a ninth place effort in the prologue.

“Certainly the appointment of Hamilton and Julich to ride the time trial strengthens our medal chances,” noted Bisceglia. “With the addition of Leipheimer, we had a few strong cards to play, but given the results of Tyler and Bobby in recent times, they are definitely deserving of the challenge.”

Leipheimer joins Hamilton, Hincapie, Julich and Jason McCartney (Coralville, Iowa) on the five-man road squad. “I think when you factor in a proven veteran like George and some younger and eager talent like Jason, we’ve put together a team that can contend with anybody out there.”

The announcement of Leipheimer leaves only the three-person mountain bike contingent left to be named, an announcement that is expected later this week.