When asked whether the race, and presenting sponsor Amgen, will be back for 2011, Messick replied pointedly, “Yep.”

A source who declined to be named confirmed that headline sponsor Amgen, which was founded in Thousand Oaks, California, is signed on for the 2011 edition, the final year of a two-year extension of the company’s original partnership agreement.

Messick confirmed Sunday that his team will begin work on next year’s route in early June and plans to pursue the event’s first true mountaintop finish for 2011.

According to Messick, the 2011 race will again feature eight stages. “I don’t think that for 2011 we’ll look at expanding to nine days, but that is possible,” he said. “I think we want to go back to our core team — Jim (Birrell), Chris (Aronhalt) at Medalist and our guys — to see what we want to do for 2011 and what is required from our perspective to continue to take positive steps toward growing this race and making it increasingly relevant.”

The increasing relevance may come in the form of ProTour status for 2011. Messick has made no bones about his company’s intention to take the race to the top level of the sport and it appears that AEG may pursue that status for the next edition. This move would come with the stipulation that all ProTour teams field a squad for the event. It would also mean that Continental teams like Jelly Belly-Kenda and UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis would be excluded.

Los Angeles, CA – Eric Barlevav of the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis is the featured rider in the first of a series of cycling documentaries by Emmy-Award winner Brian Smallwood and his Pro Road Access Productions.

Smallwood followed Barlevav around over the course of several months, including the week leading up to the team’s Arizona training camp, as well as time at camp and through races in Central and Southern California during the early season.

The Pro Road Access documentary featuring Barlevav is the first in a series that will highlight the pro cycling lifestyle. Smallwood featured Barlevav, a rising talent in the U.S., precisely because he isn’t yet a household name.

“As a huge fan of Pro Cycling, I really want to bring my experience and passion to the screen and help more North American Pro riders get into public view,” Smallwood said. “We know who the stars are, the networks do a great job of that. I am trying to bring forward the super talented, though lesser known riders in the peloton. There are some great personalities out there. As a fan, I really want to see them and know their stories.” The show’s mood is fun and relaxed,with lots of music, travel and good living, I take my inspiration from Surfing films.”

The Barlevav feature is intended to be the first in a series of made-for-TV documentaries about the lives of pro road cyclists. Other documentaries in the series will focus on riders from a variety of teams racing at different levels in the United States and Europe.

“I have spoken to many pro’s over the last few years and have received great interest from riders such as Chris Horner, Tim Johnson and Christian Vande Velde.”

Already attached to future projects are Mike Friedman of Team Jelly Belly, the recent winner of the 10 day tour of Korea, and Ivan Dominguez from Team Jamis, Sutter Home. ” I expect more riders to show interest as the show becomes more visible and funding for the series increases.”

Smallwood is currently pitching the weekly series to several networks.

You can see more at: www.proroadaccess.com

About Brian Smallwood

Brian Smallwood is a former pro mountain bike racer with Klein and Raleigh, Category 1 roadie and California state track champion. In 2005, he won an Emmy® for his work on the Fox Super Bowl pre-show.

Source : The Localizer (subscribe)