SAN FRANCISCO, CA (August 27, 2004)- Event producers Tailwind Sports and Threshold Sports announced today that a record 42 number of men’s and women’s teams will compete in the 2004 T-Mobile International, presented by BMC Software, on September 12th. The internationally diverse field will be comprised of 22 women’s teams and 20 men’s teams with riders representing the United States, Canada, Spain, and Italy, among others.

Six-time Tour de France champion and U.S. Postal Service team leader Lance Armstrong will highlight the men’s field along with other standout Americans such as Olympic bronze medallist Bobby Julich, top 10 Tour de France finisher Levi Leipheimer and Tour of Italy stage winner Fred Rodriguez. Julich, riding for CSC, recently won the bronze medal in the Olympic time trial in Athens. His 2004 season includes a top three finish at Paris-Nice and fourth overall at Criterium International. Julich finished third overall at the 1998 Tour de France. Leipheimer, a Santa Rosa resident riding for Rabobank, has finished in the top 10 in two Tours de France (eighth in 2002 and ninth in 2004) and placed third overall at the 2001 Tour of Spain. Julich and Leipheimer will be riding on a mixed team. Rodriguez, the current U.S. Professional Champion and stage winner at the 2004 Tour of Italy, will lead the Italian Aqua e Sapone team. Rodriguez is the current Pro Cycling Tour point’s leader.

As for Armstrong and his USPS team, the squad will feature at least five teammates who rode alongside Armstrong in his record sixth Tour victory – Portugal’s Jose Azevedo (5th overall, 2004 Tour de France), Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov (Silver medalist, 2004 Olympic time trial), American George Hincapie (winner of the inaugural San Francisco race in 2001), and Spain’s Jose Luis Rubiera, and Benjamin Noval. The 2003 T-Mobile International champion, Chris Horner, and 2002 champion, Charles Dionne, both of Webcor, will be racing as well.

Other major international European cyclists scheduled to ride in the T-Mobile International, presented by BMC Software, include Swedish cyclist Magnus Backstedt. Backstedt, of the Alessio Bianchi team, was a surprise winner of this year’s Paris-Roubaix World Cup event. He also has won a Tour de France stage in his career, in 1998. Also racing for the Alessio Bianchi team is Italian strongman Andrea Tafi, the 1998 Italian National Champion and winner of five World Cup events, including the 1999 Paris-Roubaix and the 2002 Tour of Flanders. A second Italian National Champion and stage winner in the Tour de France and the Tour of Italy, Salvatore Commesso, will be riding in this event for Saeco. This all-star line-up is set to race at 10 a.m. This race is the season finale of the 2004 Pro Cycling Tour.

The women’s race starts at 7 a.m. at the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building and will feature 2003 winner and former World Champion, Nicole Cooke, of the Safi Pasta team, Olympic silver medalist Dede Demet-Barry of the women’s T-Mobile team, and 2004 Pro Cycling Tour points’ leader Gina Grain of Victory Brewing.

In the second year for the women’s race, there will be a record 22 teams competing:

Aquafina
Bicycle John’s Serious Cycling
Biovail/Cerevelo
Colavita Bolla
East Coast Velo
Genesis Scuba FFCC
La Grange Dassani
Los Gatos
McGuire Realty/24 Hour Fitness
Morgan Stanley
Palo Alto
Paramount Racing
Quark
Red 5 Vanqua
Safi Pasta
Sportsbook.com
TDS Schwalbe
T-Mobile
Victory Brewing
Webcore Builders
Wenzel Coaching/Subway Women
Wines of Washington

The following top 20 men’s teams scheduled to compete include:
Acqua e Sapone
Colavita Bolla
Domina Vacanze
HealthNet Maxxis
Jelly Belly
Jet Fuel Coffee
Jittery Joe’s Coffee
McGuire Realty
Monex
Navigators Insurance
Ofoto Lombardi
Phonak Hearing Systems
Prodir Saunier Duval
Saeco/Alessio
SeaSilver
Sharper Image
Sierra Nevada
Subway Express
U.S. Postal Service
Webcor Builders