January 5, 2010 (Aigle, Switzerland) – The World Cycling Centre (WCC) has signed a partnership contract with the American company Felt Bicycles for the supply of 120 bicycle frames. All promising young riders who take part in training courses at the WCC will benefit from this agreement. The WCC is a training and coaching centre set up by the International Cycling Union as part of its development programme. The equipment provided will cover all the disciplines represented at the WCC: road (road racing and time trialling), track, mountain biking and BMX.

Bill Duehring, President of Felt Bicycles, declared himself “very happy to be a sponsor of this extraordinary infrastructure and to support the athletes training there” and went on to say that he was “especially proud to contribute to the success of riders from emerging countries who do not yet have the resources to allow them to achieve their Olympic dreams”.

UCI President Pat McQuaid also expressed his pleasure with the partnership with Felt Bicycles: “The World Cycling Centre is delighted with this new partnership which will benefit promising young riders in all the disciplines promoted at the WCC. The UCI’s training and coaching centre would simply not be able to fulfil its missions without the support of all its partners, and one of the most important of these is Felt.”

The partnership contract between Felt Bicycles and the WCC will run from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2012.

The first Felt frames will be delivered to the WCC in early January 2010.

Since opening in 2002, the World Cycling Centre has trained some 750 athletes from 113 countries. The WCC also welcomes many other members of the family of cycling, in particular coaches, Directeurs Sportifs and International Commissaires.