Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France champion and Olympic gold medallist, is the latest athlete to become a StarEvents Ambassador and will be participating in the final round of the 2011 Gran Fondo USA series at the Gran Fondo Miami on 20 November 2011.
Ullrich will be on the start line with thousands of amateur cyclist to take part in the ‘Italian style’ event. “After some private difficulties in the past, I have found the love for cycling again. Cycling was always the most important part of my life and I now find it enjoyable again, said Ullrich.
“The sport of cycling provides a certain lifestyle as well as an additional quality of life through health, fitness and pleasure. Moving forward I would like to share this with others and the concept of ‘Gran Fondo USA’ fits perfectly within this goal. At some points during my professional career, I was not able to enjoy the simple pleasures of racing over different terrain, the camaraderie with my teammates and at some points the hard effort was no pleasure at all.
“Today all this has changed and the values and philosophy of the professionally organized Gran Fondo USA series fits perfectly with my objectives and values to have fun while still being competitive”, Ullrich added.
With events such as Miami, with its picturesque landscapes and a view to the Caribbean sea, or Gran Fondo Los Angeles, where cyclists ride on the world famous Rodeo Drive, Gran Fondo USA has created a series with something unique and special for everyone who participates. “StarEvents have created a great product for amateur cyclists and along with Georg Hochegger and Paco Wrolich, we aim to create and organize additional Gran Fondos in Germany and all around the world”, Ullrich said.
Gran Fondo USA produces mass participating cycling events, now owned and organized by StarEvents, which also produces the popular TriStar international triathlon series. Held over certain distances and in special and exclusive destinations, the Gran Fondo USA events have gained a popular following . Furthermore, the international TriStar series is facilitating the incorporation of many cyclists into the world of triathlon by participating in the races either individually or as part of relay teams.
In addition to Jan Ullrich, StarEvents has welcomed current and ex-professional cyclists Mark Renshaw, Paco Wrolich, Geoffroy Lequatre and Peter Luttenberger as ambassadors of the StarEvents and TriStar brand.
The TriStar111 format, in particular, provides perfect distances for cyclists and all kind of athletes with its short swimming and running distances and easy recovery formats. TriStar111 equates to 1K swimming, 100K cycling and 10K running.
The TriStar and the Gran Fondo USA labels are owned by Star Production SARL, a Monaco based company specializing in the organization of high quality sports events that are focused on fun, social responsibility and environmental protection.
