The GE – Marco Polo Cycling Team presented by Trek will be taking part in the USA’s premier cycling event: the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T. It is the first time ever, a Chinese cycling team is taking part in an UCI sanctioned road race in North America.

Marco Polo riders Fuyu Li, Xing Yan Dong, Liu Yilin (all China), Leon van Bon (Netherlands), Rhys Pollock, Jai Crawford (both Australia), Loh Sea Keong (Malaysia) and Sergey Kudentsov (Russia) will line up for the start on Tybee Island on the 21st of April and hope to finish successfully in Atlanta on the 27th of April.

After media company Discovery Channel and bicycle manufacturer Trek Bikes, GE is the third premium American company in a row, supporting the team as a name sponsor.

Fuyu Li, who developed into a world class cyclist in the Marco Polo ranks, raced for the Discovery Channel Pro Tour team in 2007, qualifying China for the Olympic road race. It is very likely that Fuyu Li will be the only Chinese athlete in the Beijing men’s road race. “I am exited that I can take part in a great race like the Tour de Georgia, I hope to perform well and show myself in this race. The Tour de Georgia is an important step in my preparation towards the Olympic Games.”

Other noticeable GE – Marco Polo riders include: Leon van Bon, winner of two Tour de France stages and a World Cup race, plus medals at Olympics (silver, points race track, Barcelona) and World Championships (bronze, road race professionals, San Sebastian), sprinter Sergey Kudentsov (currently ranked 5th in the UCI Asia Tour ranking) and Australian climber Jai Crawford.

Team manager Gudo Kramer: “We are honored to be able to take part in the Tour de Georgia and despite the fact that we will be one of the smaller teams in the race, we are confident to show a good performance. Of course we are exited and grateful about the support of GE, we give them a good return on their investment and hope to build up a longer lasting relation with GE and the Tour de Georgia as well!”

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong won the 2004 Tour de Georgia for the U.S. Postal squad, reflecting the international prominence of the event.

“Since the inception of the Tour de Georgia, we have been grateful for GE’s steadfast support, helping the event become not only a world-class cycling race but also a tourism-related, local economic development engine throughout the state of Georgia,” said Chris Aronhalt, managing partner for Medalist Sports, which manages the race on behalf of the Tour de Georgia Foundation. “We look forward to working with GE to help make the 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T our most successful international contest ever.”

Please look for updates on the team and the Tour de Georgia:

www.tourdegeorgia.com

www.marcopolocyclingteam.com

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