Jelly Belly p/b Kenda will bring a strong mix of climbers and all-around performers to the 2011 Amgen Tour of California.
Team director Danny Van Haute announced his lineup of Australians Will Dickeson and Alastair Loutit, plus Americans Alex Hagman, Ken Hanson, Sergio Hernandez, Jeremy Powers and Bernard van Ulden. Nic Hamilton, a first-year pro who hails from Canada, rounds out the roster.
“We’re just going to ride very aggressively and show the world we can race our bikes,” Van Haute said.
The Amgen Tour of California is the largest cycling event in the U.S., covering 727 miles over eight stages. Van Haute said he expects the 2011 edition to be the most difficult – and most vertical – yet.
That’s why he stacked his roster with riders like Hagman, Hernandez and Hamilton who can lead in the climbs, with those who do a little of everything – Dickeson, Powers, Loutit and van Ulden.
Hanson is Jelly Belly’s only true sprinter coming to California. He has finished in the top 10 in previous Amgen tours and is coming off a final-stage victory at the Tour of Korea last month.
“Ken will be the point man in Stages 2 and 3, the only flat stages of the race,” Van Haute said.
Powers, who is racing his third Amgen tour, said he and his teammates are ready to “really stick our noses out there.”
“We play the underdog role well,” Powers said. “Everybody gets excited. Who doesn’t love to be the young up-and-comer?”
That would include Hamilton, who got his first taste of major stage racing in Korea and is eager to take the line at the Amgen Tour of California.
“I’m thrilled as a first year pro to be given the opportunity to compete at this level,” he said. “I’m really motivated to contribute to the team’s success in California.”
The race starts Sunday in Lake Tahoe and winds up in Thousand Oaks on May 22.
“I’m confident that our riders will be in the mix in every stage,” Van Haute said.
