Santa Rosa, 2009-03-19

Though the team was unable to send a squad to San Dimas in 2008, BMC is
looking forward to returning to the race in 2009. “I really like San Dimas
and think it is a great three day race,” General Manager Gavin Chilcott
reported. “Schedule conflicts made it impossible for us to be there last
year, but we are very happy to be using it as a nice spring-board into
Redlands.”

Though the race starts with a very tough uphill time trial, it is not
necessarily a pure climber’s event. “To win the overall, you have to climb
well enough to do very well in the time trial, but the other two stages are
certainly not easy and you have to remain tactically astute,” Chilcott
explained. Chilcott will be looking to Jeff Louder as well as Chad Beyer
and Brent Bookwalter to provide the team with some strong cards to play.
Jonathan Garcia will also return to racing for the first time since the Tour
of California after recovering from an illness. “The team won the race in
2007 with Scott Moninger,” Chilcott said. “So we are anxious to go back and
try again for the GC.”

GC ambitions also for Redlands

In 2008, BMC had very strong showings in the final two stages of the
Redlands Bicycle Classic, winning stage 3 and finishing second in stage 4.
However, the team fell short of their goal for a top GC finish. They plan
to make amends in 2009. “Jeff Louder will be the leading figure for the
team this year,” Chilcott explained. “Though of course we can’t
underestimate how much Chad Beyer and Brent Bookwalter will be able to
accomplish since they are both riding very well.” Louder and Bookwalter have
proved themselves to be strong time triallers which will be important for a
race like Redlands where the demanding stage 1 time trial has often played a
decisive role in shaking out the GC. And Chad Beyer’s recent victories at
Murrieta indicate that his form is very much on fire. Scott Nydam will also
be returning to racing after crashing out of the Tour of California. “All
the key players seem to be in good condition,” Chilcott explained. “I’m
really curious to see what our
progress has been since last year and we’re excited to be going for the GC
with the strong group of guys we’ll be bringing.”

BMC roster for San Dimas:
Jeff Louder, Chad Beyer, Brent Bookwalter, Jonathan Garcia, Steve Bovay,
Tayor Tolleson, Chris Barton, Jackson Stewart