4th Annual Race, presented by BMC Software, draws 500,000 to downtown
San Francisco, Calif. — Aug. 26, 2004
Internationally-renowned cyclist Lance Armstrong is scheduled to join a strong field of riders from around the world in the fourth annual T-MOBILE INTERNATIONAL, presented by BMC Software, Sunday, Sept. 12, on the streets of downtown San Francisco.
The schedule includes a pro women’s race and a celebrity race plus myriad festival and exposition activities in what has become a daylong, downtown happening revolving around the spectacle of the five-hour, 108.1-mile men's competition. It will be Armstrong's first planned U.S. outing since his triumph in France, winning the sport's premier event for the sixth consecutive time.
The 56.1-mile women's race begins at 7 a.m. and the men's race at 10 a.m. with the Start/Finish line for both on the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building. ABC affiliate KGO-TV will provide live coverage beginning at 6 a.m. with updates during news programming and Good Morning America. A live, two-hour special covering the culmination of the men's race begins at 1 p.m. Outdoor Life Network (OLN) will also produce a post-race special on the event.
A total of 120 men, including several coming directly from competition in Athens, Greece, are expected to race at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour along the 8.8-mile course. Prize money of $65,000 is at stake.
Since its creation in 2001, the event has become one of San Francisco's largest and most popular special events, bringing visitors to the city from all over the world. It has earned a reputation as "America's Toughest Bike Race" because of its length and two of San Francisco's most fearsome hills - Fillmore and Taylor Streets. Estimated crowds of over 500,000 have lined the streets each of the past two years, as the race has become a sort of pop-culture phenomenon, spawning tailgate parties, front porch gatherings and restaurant special events.
This year's course has changed slightly from the 2003 race. Instead of racing along the Marina Boulevard, riders will continue on Bay Street to Fillmore and then to Chestnut Street. The course continues along Chestnut until the intersection of Chestnut and Lyon Streets. The race wraps back around on Greenwich Street, up the grueling Fillmore Street climb onto Broadway Street and finishes along the same streets leading up to The Embarcadero.
This year, for the first time, race festivities will begin Saturday at noon with the opening of the Cycling Expo near the start/finish line in front of the city's landmark Ferry Building at Justin Herman Plaza. Music and other attractions will be interspersed throughout the downtown area as part of the festivities, which are free and open to the public throughout.
The T-MOBILE INTERNATIONAL, presented by BMC Software is owned and operated by Tailwind Sports of San Francisco and Threshold Sports of Philadelphia, two of the leading companies in the sport and producers of the event.
Lindsay Morio
T-Mobile USA Media Relations
425-383-4002
About T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile USA, Inc. is the U.S. wireless operation of Deutsche Telekom AG. By the end of the first quarter of 2010, approximately 150 million mobile customers were served by the mobile communication segments of the Deutsche Telekom group - 33.7 million by T-Mobile USA - all via a common technology platform based on GSM and UMTS, the world's most widely used digital wireless standards. T-Mobile USA's innovative wireless products and services help empower people to connect to those who matter most. Multiple independent research studies continue to rank T-Mobile among the highest in numerous regions throughout the U.S. in wireless customer care and call quality. For more information, please visit http://www.T-Mobile.com. T-Mobile is a federally registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG.
About BMC Software
BMC Software, Inc. [NYSE:BMC], is a leading provider of enterprise management solutions that empower companies to manage IT from a business perspective. Delivering Business Service Management, BMC Software solutions span enterprise systems, applications, databases and service management. Founded in 1980, BMC Software has offices worldwide and fiscal 2004 revenues of more than $1.4 billion. For more information about BMC Software, visit www.bmc.com.
Threshold Sports is a sports marketing and event management company that organizes the nation's biggest and best professional bicycle races - www.procyclingtour.com. Tailwind Sports Corporation is a sports marketing agency that owns and manages the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team®, presented by Berry Floor. The USPS team is the only American-based team ever to win the sport's premier event, the Tour de France (1999-2004).