PHILADELPHIA – June 23, 2008 – It’s among the most basic tenets of the athletic arena: You can’t beat the competition if you don’t know who they are. Yet come the opening day of the American Eagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania Presented By Highmark Healthy High 5^®, no one will know exactly who are the riders to watch among this talented field of 108.

But that’s the nature of the game when you bring together teams from all corners of the globe (five continents in this case). Unfamiliarity is inevitable, meaning there will be extra pressure on riders and team directors to make quick assessments and seat-of-the-pants decisions.

“Normally when you are directing a team in the U.S. you know all the guys you’re racing against,” explained Frankie Andreu, a former European-based pro who will be calling the strategic shots for the California-based ZteaM. “But here we are going to have all these guys coming over from Europe and elsewhere that you don’t know anything about. So if we have a breakaway go up the road, it’s going to be hard to know exactly how to handle it. You’re constantly going to have to ask yourself, ‘Is this guy strong or can he climb or can he sprint?’ There are going to be question marks everywhere and that will make it a lot harder to direct.”

The good news is that the 420-mile race kicks off with a prologue time trial. And while the 2.5-mile stage won’t necessarily decide who will be crowned overall winner six days later in Pittsburgh, it will at least provide an idea of who are the riders to watch among the 18 six-man teams.

“For us, it’s going to be like going to Europe and doing an international stage race,” added Jonas Carney, director of the Minnesota-based Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast team. “I think that kind of racing is more exciting because there is not as much control. A lot can happen and you have to be on your toes and think fast. It will be pretty cool to do a race when it’s game on every day. They’ll shoot the gun and it will be racing. You won’t be able to sit back and say, ‘We don’t have to worry about that breakaway because Toyota-United or Health Net will bring it back.’ Everyone will have to pay attention all the time.”

Carney’s cause will be bolstered by a talented line-up that includes GC contender David Veilleux. The Quebec native comes to Pennsylvania fresh off a final stage win and top 10 overall effort at the Nature Valley Grand Prix, where he raced toe to toe against a field of top pros. Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast could also be factor in the sprint stages, boasting the dangerous duo of Jake Keough and Kevin Lacombe.

Steven Van Vooren of the Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy will likely be among the top European threats for the overall Pennsylvania title. The Belgian won the climber’s jersey at the recently run Volta a Galicia. Van Vooren’s Pennsylvanian teammate Jim Camut could also be a factor. He won the under-23 competition at the same Spanish pro-am event.

Home state team Pennsylvania Lightning will benefit from intimate knowledge of the course, including the ever-important stage 3 and 4 climbing days. The Philadelphia-based team is led by a pair of local riders, Taylor Brown of Fleetwood, and Michael Chauner of West Chester. Both are former junior national champions with international experience. Also keep an eye on Chris Ruhl of Quakertown. He’s a four-time national champion and former junior world’s team member.  But PA Lightning’s ace in the hole is likely to be West Point Graduate, Ben Showman, who dominated the Eastern Collegiate racing scene and is an excellent all rounder who can climb and time trial with the nation’s best.

“I definitely think knowing the course will help,” predicted Denny Dansak, team director of the Penn State Cancer Institute-GPOA-Cannondale team, the other Pennsylvania-based squad in the field. “All our guys went out and did reconnaissance rides so they’ll be better prepared.”

Dansak’s team will be led by Chris Kuhl and Elliot Gaunt. Kuhl is a multi-time collegiate national champion and former captain of the Sakonnet Technology team. Gaunt has a closet full of junior national championship jerseys, and spent time racing for the Belgian Cycling Center team, since renamed the Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy.

Colorado’s VMG-Felt will be captained by Peter Stetina, a superb all around rider from Boulder who was a member of America’s 2007 under-23 world championship team, and took best young rider honors at last year’s Tour de Toona. Stetina comes from sturdy cycling stock. His father Dale won more than 200 domestic and international races during the 1970s and ’80s, and was a member of the 1976 and 1980 U.S. Olympic teams. Uncle Wayne Stetina was a 10-time national champion and member of the 1972, ’76 and ’80 Olympic squads.

South Africa’s Konica Minolta will look to make its mark in the flat stages with fast men Christoff Van Heerden and  Herman Fouche, who are both highly capable sprinters.

Andreu’s ZteaM has it’s own dynamic duo, but Stefano Barberi and Nate English will look to make their mark in the climbing stages not bunch sprints. Barberi previously rode with Jonathan Vaughters’ TIAA-Cref development team and then the powerful Toyota-United professional squad. English has already won a pair of hill climb races this year.

The California Giant Berry Farms-Specialized team is led by Max Jenkins, winner of the under-23 road race at last year’s U.S. national championships, and fresh off a stint with the U.S. national team where he spent two and a half weeks racing in Europe.

“Not all these squads have kids that have ridden together as a team, so it could end up being a free for all,” said team director Anthony Gallino, whose team is made up entirely of riders who’ve come up through the Cal-Giant program. “Our main goal will be to protect Max. He’s a really good climber, so there’s at least two stages that will really suit him.”

Arizona’s Team Waste Management-Racelab U23 is yet another regional outfit that’s developed a solid core of young riders. The Jelly Belly feeder team’s Tour of Pennsylvania effort will be spearheaded by Kiel Reijnen, who was top amateur and 10^th overall at mid-June’s Nature Valley Grand Prix. Racelab Teammate Alex Boyd could also be a factor. He won the 2007 national collegiate road race title while a member of the powerful Midwestern State program.

Indeed, all the team’s competing in the Tour of Pennsylvania work especially hard to track down talented riders.

“I spend a lot of time looking at race results,” said Time Pro Cycling director Erik Saunders, whose team leaders are Nick Frey and Mike Stoop. “We have a pretty big network of people who are always on the lookout for promising riders. A lot of it is just observing a guy’s personality. That’s really important when you get a team of twenty-somethings out on the road for weeks at a time. You’ve got to be able to get along.”

You’ve also got to be able to think on the fly, a skill that will be even more important at what is sure to be an unpredictable Tour of Pennsylvania.

“It’s going to be a really dynamic race,” concluded Andreu “It’s the first time there’s been an under-25 stage race like this in the U.S. There’s lots of prize money ($150,000 total) and I love the idea that the playing field will be level, so these guys can show their strengths. I may not always know who to watch, but I know it’s going to be fun to watch.”