From CA Wine Country to the Big Apple and Altoona,

Media Contact: Julie Upton
212-749-7971

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

From CA Wine Country to the Big Apple and Altoona,
Team Aquafina Delivers

–Aquafina Finishes International—Tour de 'Toona
in 5th Place While Teammates Participate in the
BMC New York City Cycling Championships
and Vineman Half-Ironman–

New York, NY (August 2, 2004) ---Team Aquafina had a busy and solid weekend of racing with the finale of the six-day International—Tour de ‘Toona, the BMC Software New York City Cycling Championships and the Vineman Half Ironman all taking place on Sunday, August 1.

During the finale stage of the International—Tour de ‘Toona, Team Aquafina held onto their fifth place in the team General Classification category, after six days of long, hard (and soggy) races. In the end, three Team Aquafina athletes finished in the top-20. Team Aquafina’s top placed finisher in overall general classification was Katie Lambden, 18th, after a spectacular ride during the infamous 100-mile Blue Knob road race. In the team classification, the only squads to best the women in blue included Quark, Genesis-Scuba, Equipe Rona and Victory Brewing.

Back to the streets of lower Manhattan’s financial district, Aquafina’s Sinead Fitzgibbon, Julie Upton and Tara Parsons competed in one of the fastest criterium courses in the U.S. that winds around Wall and Water streets and includes eight turns and a cobblestone section. The star-studded field over nearly 70 women included 2000 Olympic silver medalist Mari Holden.

Thunderstorms and heavy rains made during the entire 25-lap, 1.2-mile course more than treacherous with a series of crashes and flats. Despite crashing early on that separated them from the lead group, Fitzgibbon and Upton would finish the race right-side up in the chase group.

On the other coast, Team Aquafina triathlete, Bodil Arlander, competed in the 2004 Vineman Half IronmanTriathlon in Santa Clara, CA. Vineman is the biggest and most competitive triathlon in the USA as 2,000 athletes from all 50 states and more than 20 foreign countries battle for the right to compete in the Hawaii Ironman. The Vineman Half Ironman Triathlon is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run through Sonoma County’s Wine Country. Arlander finished first in her age-group, despite having little recovery after competing in the Ironman Coeur D’Alene as well as the World Long Course Triathlon Championships in Europe.

Team Aquafina is the only women’s pro-am road cycling and multisport team in the United States. For more information about the team, visit www.nycvelogirls.org. Team Aquafina is part of Think Racing, Inc., a NYC-based nonprofit organization designed to help develop athletes for national and international competition. For more information about Think Racing, Inc., go to www.thinkracing.org.