Oakland, CA – Momentum Sports Group, owner and operator of Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis, is proud to announce that OUCH Sports Medical Center will take over as the team’s title sponsor starting in 2009. The team, which won an unprecedented fifth consecutive NRC Team Championship in 2008, will now be known as The OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis.

The sponsorship presents a unique and timely opportunity for OUCH Sports Medical Center, a leading provider of sports-related medical services in Southern California. The Center's Co-Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Brent Kay, has treated star client—and new team rider—Floyd Landis since Landis seriously injured his hip in a 2003 crash.

“We're very excited to be sponsoring the team in 2009, in part, because we want to help support Floyd’s comeback from hip resurfacing surgery,” explained Dr. Kay. “After his crash in 2003, Floyd developed osteoarthritis, a degenerative condition, in his injured hip. He underwent corrective surgery in 2006 and I supervised his rehabilitation. He’s now completely recovered and I view his return to professional racing as one of Center’s many successes, and an example to other athletes hoping to overcome the effects of osteoarthritis.”

More broadly, the Center hopes its sponsorship will help raise the public’s awareness of osteoarthritis and its treatment. “We felt that working with such an established, successful team would also allow us to draw attention to the OUCH Program, a series of seminars the Center is giving next year to educate the public about treatments for osteoarthritis,” said Dr. Kay. “Osteoarthritis affects 27 million Americans and can become a disabling condition that prevents its sufferers from pursuing an active lifestyle. We want people to know it’s a disease that can be effectively managed and controlled with appropriate medical care.”

Thierry Attias, President of Momentum Sports Group, praised the team’s new title sponsor, stating, “It’s great to work with another organization that’s passionate about helping people maintain an active lifestyle. OUCH, like Health Net before it, provides people with the means to pursue healthy lifestyles through sports like cycling. The team intends to do everything we can to help OUCH educate the public about osteoarthritis and its treatment.”

OUCH Presented by Maxxis returns a number of the riders who played a critical role in the team earning its fifth consecutive NRC Team Championship title in 2008.

Landis will be joined by Australian Rory Sutherland, who won his second consecutive NRC Individual Points Championship in 2008. John Murphy also returns following a breakthrough season that landed him in the top five of the NRC standings.

Team captain and reigning cyclocross national champion Tim Johnson also returns to continue filling his leadership role on the road. They’re joined by Tasmanian strongman Karl Menzies, who will be looking to rebound from an injury-plagued 2008 with another strong year for the team. Super-domestique Roman Kilun rounds out the returning riders.

“We’re fortunate to be able to return the core riders from our 2008 championship team,” said team Directeur Sportif Mike Tamayo. “Rory and Floyd will give us two high-caliber stage race weapons. Rory has really ascended into a leadership role on the team, and we expect him to continue developing. We sometimes forget he’s still only going to be 27 when the season starts in 2009.

“Murphy showed in 2008 that he’s developing into one of the top riders in North America,” Tamayo continued. “He surprised a few people by taking the overall and points titles at the Tour of Taiwan in March, but then he just kept going.” Murphy’s 2008 results included a strong second-place overall at the Nature Valley Grand Prix behind teammate Sutherland.

“Murphy showed in 2008 that he’s developing into one of the top riders in North America,” Tamayo continued. “He surprised a few people by taking the overall and points titles at the Tour of Taiwan in March, but then he just kept going.” Murphy’s 2008 results included a strong second-place overall at the Nature Valley Grand Prix behind teammate Sutherland.

“Karl is super-motivated to get back to top form,” Tamayo said. “He was starting to come around again once he returned to racing following his injury last summer, and he looked strong at the Tour of Missouri.

“Tim Johnson just rides out of his mind for his teammates day in and day out. You may not see his name in the results, but his contributions as a team captain and tactician are invaluable.

“And Roman has shown that he’s a dedicated teammate who will turn himself inside out to defend jerseys. But he’s also worked hard to improve his time trialing, which he showed by finishing 7th at time trial nationals this year.” Kilun also picked up his first two career NRC wins at the 2008 Tour de Nez.

The team welcomes five new riders besides Landis to its roster. They include Cameron Evans and Andrew Pinfold, both coming from the Canadian outfit Symmetrics. Bradley White comes to the team from Successful Living, while Bobby Lea joins from Toyota-United. Neo-pro Jonathan Chodroff, the current elite time trial national champion, rounds out the squad.

“Evans and Pinfold are young guys who have been on our radar for quite some time,” Tamayo said. “Pinfold actually rode with us as a stagiere for a bit in 2005, and we almost signed Evans back in 2006. Andrew put up some impressive results in 2008 at the Tour of Missouri and Tour de Georgia, and Evans is one of the most talented guys to come out of Canada this decade.”

Tamayo notes that White also posted strong results in 2008 that put him on the team’s radar. Lea spent much of 2008 excelling on the track, which led to a berth on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. “Bobby will be a great addition to our lead-out train, and he’ll learn a lot working with our more experienced riders,” Tamayo said.

Chodroff, who is the current elite national time trial champion, rounds out the squad. “Jonathan has already shown huge improvements in the past couple years,” Tamayo said. “He has a big diesel, and he’ll be a great asset in helping to defend leader’s jerseys.”

The OUCH Pro Cycling Team presented by Maxxis will convene for the first time at training camp in January 2009 to prepare for its first major race of the season, the Amgen Tour of California.

Team USA Olympic competitor Sarah Hammer narrowly missed qualifying for the final Medal round in the women's 3,000 meter pursuit in Olympic competition today. Hammer, two time world champion and American record in the event, missed qualifying for the final 4 spots by finishing 5th just over a second behind the final qualifying spot.

Fighting off the Olympic stomach bug that has affected so many athletes, Hammer refused to make excuses but rather had praise for her competitors. "The Great Britain girls really stepped it up and came through with a couple of the fastest times ever, so they deserve the praise. Every competition is different and, just as in life, each day you have to deal with what you've got and try to do your best. I came here to represent my country and try to win an Olympic gold medal, so when the Great Britain competitors posted those times in the preliminaries I knew I had to take a chance and go out as hard as I could today. But that pace was just too much today and I just blew up trying to hold it.

Hammer will now have a day off to regroup and then ride in the Points race final on Monday. She said, "I'm really excited about the opportunity to come back and race in the Points race finals. I'll try to take advantage of the day off and come back better than before.

USA Cycling and The Home Depot Center have announced that Dr. Brent Kay and the OUCH Sports Medical Center of Temecula, Calif. will be the title sponsor of the 2008 USA Cycling Junior Track Cycling National Championships, August 14-17. Dr. Kay stated, “the OUCH Sports Medical Center is excited to partner with USA Cycling and The Home Depot Center to support Junior cycling. This sponsorship continues OUCH’s strong tradition of supporting track cycling development.” The OUCH Sports Medical Center also sponsors OUCH Pro Cycling and two-time World Champion and 2008 U.S. Olympic Team member, Sarah Hammer, as well as many other track events, including last year’s USA Cycling Collegiate Track National Championships and the Los Angeles UCI World Cup event.