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PRESS RELEASE

PRO CYCLIST RAISIN OVERCOMES NEAR-FATAL CRASH TO RETURN TO SPORT IN SEPTEMBER

Georgia Native Will Compete at the

2007 Greenville Hospital System

USA Cycling Professional Championships

Contacts:
Chris Aronhalt, Medalist Sports (Executive Director) Jackie Tyson, Peloton Sports (PR)

Phone: 770-631-1239 Phone: 678-362-6228″

E-Mail: chris.aronhalt@medalistsports.com E-Mail: uspropr@pelotonsports.net

GREENVILLE, S.C. (August 7, 2007) – Over 150 of the country’s best professional cyclists will compete for two national titles in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains this Labor Day weekend. One of those professional cyclists has already won the race of his life and will use the 2007 Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships as his comeback from a life-threatening
injury.

Medalist Sports announced today that Saul Raisin, a 24-year-old native of Dalton, Ga., will return to professional cycling after a 16-month absence and compete in the first day of the dual championships, the USA Cycling Professional Individual Time Trial Championship presented by The Cliffs. It is yet to be determined if Raisin will enter the field for Sunday’s USA Cycling Professional Road Race Championship. Raisin received medical clearance on July 19 to resume bicycle racing.

“My official return will be when I pin on my number and line up (for the ITT). It will make me feel great,” said Raisin from his home in Dalton, Ga. “I am working very close with my coaches doing very specific training (for Greenville).”

Raisin began racing at the age of 13 on mountain bikes. He later switched to road cycling and signed with French-based professional cycling team Credit Agricole in 2005. That first year as a professional, Raisin finished 13th in the Tour of Austria and won the GE Best Young Rider award jersey at the top-rated Tour de Georgia. The Georgia native started strong in the 2006 campaign by winning a climbing stage of the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia and finishing 17th in the Amgen Tour of California.

On April 4, 2006 in the first stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe in France, he crashed three kilometers from the finish, landing on his head and breaking his clavicle and hip. Two days later, Raisin suffered bleeding around his brain and lapsed into a coma. The brain damage caused significant weakness on the left side of his entire body and temporary brain damage. He then spent time at the Shepherd Spinal Center in Georgia for therapy, where he regained the ability to perform basic functions such as eating,
talking and walking.

“Before his crash, Saul was on the road to becoming America’s next cycling phenomenon. Now he’s one of more than 5.3 million people in the United States who are living with disability as a result of traumatic brain injury. That hasn’t stopped him from believing he can win the world’s toughest bicycle race, the Tour de France. Now others are starting to believe him, too,” said Dave Shields, author of a new book about Raisin’s life.

Tour de Life: From Coma to Competition is a book written by Shields and Raisin, which will debut to the public the weekend of the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships. The 278-page hardback book recaps Raisin’s battle to recapture his promising career as a professional cyclist. In March 2007, Raisin returned to his bike to lead the inaugural Raisin
Hope Ride. Over 500 cyclists joined Raisin in his hometown of Dalton to raise money for The Shepherd Center, Camp Twin Lakes, The Brain Injury Association of Georgia and the USA Cycling Development Foundation. Last year Raisin and his parents traveled to Greenville to help promote the Palmetto Peloton Project.

“It means more than words can describe,” Raisin added about returning to Greenville, but this time to compete in the Championships. “(Last year) I gave a speech before the ride (Palmetto Peloton Project) telling everyone how much it meant me. Everyone including myself was crying. It meant a lot to everyone. It was my first organized group ride after my accident, definitely a bench mark.”

Top-ranked athletes expected to join Raisin at the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships will be announced soon, with rosters for both events posted at the official website (www.usacyclingchampionships.com). Close to 70 athletes are expected for the 18-mile USA Cycling Professional Individual Time Trial Championship, presented by The Cliffs, and a field of over 100 is expected for the 110-mile USA Cycling
Professional
Road Race Championship. Professionals will compete for over $60,000 in prize money. The events are sanctioned by USA Cycling, the governing body for the sport of cycling in the United States, and managed by Medalist Sports.

The Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships will feature two national championship races and a full day of recreational activities and concerts over Labor Day weekend in Greenville, S.C. Over 150 of the nation’s best professional cyclists competed in the dual championship last year. The USA Cycling Professional Individual Time Trial Championship presented by The Cliffs, won last year by Salt Lake City’s David Zabriskie, will take place on Saturday, September 1. The USA Cycling Professional Road Race
Championship, won last year by George Hincapie, a Greenville resident, will take place at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, September 2. Other activities for spectators and sports enthusiasts include concerts, wellness expo and the Stars and Stripes Challenge fundraising ride. For more information, visit the official website, www.usacyclingchampionships.com.

ABOUT USA CYCLING
Recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling promotes American cycling through its 54,000 members and 2,000 annual events. USA Cycling associations include the BMX Association (BMX), National Off-Road Bicycle Association (mountain bike), U.S. Cycling Federation (road/track), the National Collegiate Cycling Association and the U.S. Professional Racing Organization professional men’s road). USA Cycling is the license holder for the USA Cycling Professional Individual Time Trial Championships and USA Cycling Professional Road Race Championships. For more information visit
www.usacycling.org, or contact USA Cycling Director of Communications, Andy Lee at 719-866-4867.

ABOUT MEDALIST SPORTS
Medalist Sports is a full-service international sports marketing company. Medalist Sports specializes in the planning, promotion and management of multi-day, multi-jurisdiction sports and special events. The Medalist Sports team has experience in all facets of the successful management and promotion of world-class sporting and cycling events in the United States, England, Australia and China. Clients and event experience include the Tour DuPont, Tour de Georgia, Amgen Tour of California, Tour of Missouri, USA Cycling, Inc. and the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s LIVESTRONG Challenge Series. Medalist Sports’ headquarters
are located south of metro Atlanta at P.O. Box 415, Tyrone, GA 30290. The company website is www.medalistsports.com.

ABOUT GREENVILLE HOSPITAL SYSTEM
Greenville Hospital System is one of the Southeast’s leading healthcare providers, nationally recognized for advanced technology, innovative research and teaching excellence. The system’s five campuses include a Level I trauma center, three acute-care hospitals and numerous outpatient facilities. Greenville Hospital System Cancer Center offers the region’s broadest array of cancer specialists, many working through the Oncology Multidisciplinary Center. This multidisciplinary approach to the effective management of cancer allows patients to meet with a medical oncologist, radiation oncologist and surgical oncologist to receive a comprehensive
treatment plan all in one day. More information is available at www.ghs.org.