Albabici sponsors Sarah Hammer, Ouch Pro Cycling Team

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Sarah makes the 2008 Beijing Olympic Team! Sarah makes the 2008 Beijing Olympic Team!

Fresh off her silver medal performance at the recent World Championships in Manchester, England, Sarah has solidified her place on the 2008 Olympic Team. Having taken this crucial first step toward accomplishing her Olympic Gold Medal dream, Sarah can now officially say that she will be representing the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China!

As many know, this fantastic news comes in a year that has been filled with both hardship and triumph for Sarah, who in the last twelve months has shown the highest degree of spirit and courage. May 4th marked the one-year anniversary of her debilitating back injury, where she suffered an annular tear in her L4/L5 disc. With the support of family, friends, sponsors, and supporters, Sarah has not only made the most difficult year in her competitive life a success, but has also shown the championship character that delivered her two World Championship titles and now an Olympic berth.

As Sarah explains: “This year has been both incredibly hard and incredibly educational. There were times in the last twelve months where I seriously questioned if I would be able to come back to top form with the back injury. Thanks to the support and encouragement of my family and supporters, and particularly the OUCH Sports Medical Center, I made it back and I have now accomplished one of my life-long dreams – representing America at the Olympic Games. I couldn’t be happier!”

Sarah now has approximately 3 months to get ready for the ride of her life and the key focus for her 2008 competitive season. Sarah’s main event, the 3 kilometer pursuit, will span over three days with the qualifying round beginning on August 15th. Sarah has also qualified for a further Olympic event, the 20 kilometer Points race, which is another event where she will be a medal favorite. The Points race will be held on August 18th.

More Sarah Olympic news can be found here:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=33/bio/index.html

Andrew Sparks
USA Cycling Coach of the Year
American Women's Track Cycling Fund

OUCH Pro Cycling Team
http://www.awtcf.org
http://www.ouchprocycling.com
http://ouchprocycling.blogspot.com/

Sarah World Cup Recap and The FELT TK1 has Landed

Part I - World Cup #1, #2 and #3 Recap Sarah World Cup Recap

The Olympic year has brought with it plenty of traveling as Olympic hopefuls must first battle for those valuable Olympic qualification points which will determine who will line up in Beijing and who will stay home. This has made for some incredible racing, and some extraordinary race-watching, as all the World and Olympic Champions have lined up for each World Cup, battling for those sometimes elusive points.

World Cup #1 - Sydney, Australia. This World Cup would be Sarah’s first pursuit since her World Championship win in Spain last year. Furthermore, coming off a debilitating back injury this summer, the World Cups this year provide Sarah great short-term goals and a great way to race back into shape and get ready for the Olympics in August. Sarah finished a very respectable 5th place in her first competition back. She had “officially” started her Olympic year!

World Cup #2 - Beijing, China. This event also doubled as the Olympic test event. And what an event it was! China is incredible and anyone thinking about making a visit should – there is no place like it. In addition to remarkable people, the track also proved to be astounding. This velodrome, although not proving to be extraordinarily fast at this competition, nevertheless was by all other standards Olympic quality. Sarah finished up by taking the bronze medal. And although she is never quite happy with anything less than Gold, this result puts her squarely on track for her Olympic year!

World Cup #3 - Los Angeles. It is always desirable to not have to travel to go to a World Cup, and the US riders (and staff) always look forward to putting on a great show for their families, sponsors and supporters. Sarah was also unveiling her new Olympic bike – the Felt TK1. The L.A. World Cup proved to be one of the best showings by US riders in history. The stands were packed as Sarah’s key sponsor, the OUCH Sports Medical Center, provided free tickets to all Jr. cyclists. Sarah ended up with another bronze medal which now puts her one point out of leading the World Cup overall.

Looking Ahead Sarah now has 7 weeks to prepare for the World Championships in Manchester, England. And although the Olympics will be the primary goal this year, Sarah would of course like to win another World title. All preparations are on schedule and we look forward to using the next 6 months to our full advantage as Sarah will be lining up in Beijing on August 15th, 2008!

Part II - The Felt TK1 has Landed!

As everyone knows, Sarah signed with California based Felt Bicycles last year prior to winning her second World Championship title in Spain.

Signing with Felt was a no-brainer. The Felt R & D team has developed into a cutting edge, second to none, firm, with quality in manufacturing normally seen only in the highest echelons of aerospace. So who, Sarah thought, would be better equipped to explore the frontier of an Olympic medal winning track bicycle than the Felt crew.

Fast forward to the The L.A. World Cup... As expected, the new Felt peeled back the envelope, ushering in a new era in track bicycles. It came with the title of the TK1.

Utilizing countless hours in the wind tunnel, Jim Felt and his army of innovators have produced something that has never before been seen in the track cycling world. With the aesthetics of an Italian sports car and the engineering of an air-strike missile, the Felt TK1 is designed for one thing – winning!

To get a complete review of the bike check out the recent cyclingnews.com analysis: http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/2008/probikes/?id=sarah_hammer_felttk108

Sarah’s concise review… “It’s incredible!”

As always, thank you to everyone for their continued support!!

Andrew Sparks
USA Cycling Coach of the Year
American Women's Track Cycling Fund
OUCH Pro Cycling Team

Sarah Announces her Olympic Year Schedule

As the cool weather of December approaches, cycling aficionados can now direct their attention indoors to the wooden boards of the velodrome. And although Sarah did “officially” begin her season in October at the US National Track Championships, Sarah’s International track season will commence November 30th in Sydney, Australia.

Of course let’s not forget that with the 2008 Olympic Games, this is just not going to be any track season! Sarah has already started this year strong by setting a new World record in the women’s team pursuit. Teaming with national sprint and keirin champion Jennie Reed and newly crowned individual pursuit champion Dotsie Bausch, the potent trio clocked a time of 3:34 in their first outing together.

With the exhilarating International track cycling season soon getting underway, Sarah will first compete at the Track World Cup in Sydney, Australia November 30th through December 2nd. She will then travel to the Olympic test event in Beijing, China the subsequent week. In January Sarah will be heading to the Home Depot Event Center and lining up at her home track in Carson, California for World Cup #3. In March, she’ll be racing for a third consecutive World Championship title in the individual pursuit. Finally, the culmination of the year, and of the past three years, will arrive in August at the 2008 Olympic Games. Sarah looks to make history as the 1st American woman to ever win a gold medal on the track. Wish her luck!

Sarah’s 2007-2008 Racing Schedule

World Cup #1 Sydney, Australia (November 30th – December 2nd)
World Cup #2/Olympic Test Event Beijing, China (December 7th – 9th)
World Cup #3 L.A., United States (January 18th – 20th)
World Championships, Manchester, UK (March 28th – 30th)
2008 Olympic Games, Beijing, China (August 15th -20th)

Visit these websites for more information about Sarah Hammer: http://www.awtcf.org / http://ouchprocycling.blogspot.com/

For information e-mail us at sales@albabici.com.