Felt Bicycles has extended its sponsorship of Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30, the American pro cycling team dedicated to promoting ethical sporting and developing the next generation of champions, until 2011.

Already engaged in a multiyear agreement, Felt and team management worked together to build on their already successful relationship when Garmin became the team’s new title sponsor just prior to the 2008 Tour de France. Under the extension Team Garmin-Chipotle will race exclusively on Felt’s framesets for the next three years. The chosen Felt models for 2009 include the F1, Z1, AR and the DA.

"The relationship we have with Felt is tremendous” commented Jonathan Vaughters, Garmin-Chipotle Team Director and owner. “Not only do they know their business better than any other, they work tirelessly with our riders and staff to push the edge of what’s technologically possible. We are fortunate to work with such a progressive and passionate bicycle company.”

Team Garmin-Chipotle physiologist and sports science and technology responsible Allen Lim, Ph.D. told Roadcycling.com that "A huge part of the advantage that we have as a team is our ability to work directly with Jim Felt on the design and development of the Felt bicycles. This year alone, they took real-time feedback from the races and wind tunnel and constantly evolved our frames, making them stiffer, lighter, and even more aerodynamic all the way through the Tour. Just looking at the frame options hanging in our service course - options that range from our custom Roubaix frames to our Grand Tour climbing bikes - there is no doubt that Felt is the most innovative, progressive, and hardest working bicycle company in the industry."

When we asked Mr. Lim to provide us with an example he told us that "When we asked them to apply their DA time trial technology to our road frames in January, they delivered what is currently the fastest aero road frame in production to us in June, giving us a huge advantage on the flat stages of the Tour. It’s no coincidence that in grand tour time trials we are consistently the best team and this season alone our riders have exceeded all expectations, racking up top  finishes at races like the Tour of California (2nd, 3rd), Paris Roubaix (4th), Giro D’Italia (1st TTT) the Tour de France (5th), and US Pro Championships (1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th in TT, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th in the Road Race). The bottom line is that in today’s peloton speed is the only thing that matters and Felt bikes are the fastest bikes."

Felt’s US President Bill Duehring said that “In one short year the team went from vision to reality and for us, we could not be happier. Jonathan Vaughters has done a brilliant job of putting all the pieces together. Between the team’s core message and its bona fide results, it is clear that Team ... is the new face of cycling. Felt is proud of this association.”

In association with the team and its family of sponsors, Felt will be offering three different team model bikes in 2009, including the AR Team Issue, the Z35 Team and the F95 Team.

Links:
Felt Bicycles: www.feltbicycles.com
Team Garmin-Chipotle: www.slipstreamsports.com