San Luis Obispo, CA, 23 August 2008 - Team Columbia’s men’s and women’s team will be looking for double success on Sunday and Monday at the GP Plouay races in western France.

The races in Brittany are one of the few events where the men’s and women’s race are held together and so offer Team Columbia a great chance to show the strength of both the men’s and women’s teams.

The women compete first on Sunday in the GP Plouay World Cup race and Team Columbia’s Judith Arndt has a great chance of sealing overall victory in the women’s season long competition.

Arndt leads the highly prestigious World Cup with a total of 260 points. Suzanne De Goerde of the Nurnberger Versicherung team is second with 173 points but with just the Rund um di Nurnberger Altstadt race in Germany on September 14 remaining, Arndt could seal an early overall victory.

The 114.6km race is always tough because of the demanding circuit used but Arndt will have the support of a strong Columbia team. In the six-rider line-up are Kimberly Anderson of the USA who was second in the Open de Suede Vargarda World Cup race in early August, Chantel Beltman, Luise Keller – the winner of the Route de France stage race, Linda Villumsen and Anke Wichmann.

Team Columbia have already mathematically sealed overall team victory in the women’s World Cup and so Arndt could give the team a rare World Cup double and confirm the teams dominance in 2008.

The mens race on Monday in the GP Ouest-France race over a distance of 229.2km. They are not chasing a World Cup victory but will equally be looking to win to continue Team Columbia’s amazing season.

Directeur sportif Allan Peiper will have a mixed team that can do well if the race is decided in a sprint or with a breakaway. In the provisional team line-up are Canada’s Michael Barry, Belarus’ Kanstantin Siutsou, sprinter’s Scott Davis and Bernhard Eisel and the on-form Frantisek Rabon who played a key role in Linus’ Gerdemann’s recent success in the Tour de L’Ain stage race.

France’s Thomas Voeckler of the Bouygues Telecom team won the GP Ouest France race in 2007 and wears number one this time. Other major contenders from the victory are Italy’s Alessandro Ballan and Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Frank and Andy Schleck (CSC-Saxo Bank) and Romain Feillu (Agritubel).