Team Rubicon  - Sponsor Wanted
Successful UCI Continental team Land Rover - Orbea, Benefiting  the Lance Armstrong Foundation seeks main sponsor for 2010 season...  Young Guns, Good Works, Hard Racing and Results

Portland, Oregon Team Rubicon-ORBEA, presently known as Land Rover-ORBEA; Benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a first year UCI continental team, is in search of a title sponsor. Rubicon’s  successful two-year partnership with Land Rover will end December 31st, 2009.

“For 2010 the team’s goals are to grow the young development team’s roster to 13 road riders and add three development track  riders with a focus on the 2012 Olympics in London,” says Godfrey, the team’s co-owner and co-founder. “We are looking to grow the team slightly to help a few more young riders reach their dreams. While leading five-to-six charity rides throughout the US in 2010 and send even more cancer survivors to the LIVESTRONG Challenge events in Seattle, California, Philadelphia and Austin.”

In order to continue on with the team goals for 2010, Team Rubicon-ORBEA needs to come up with a title sponsor by November 5th.

“Securing a title sponsor by the UCI November 5th deadline will be tough, but not completely impossible, to meet,” said Godfrey. “If there is anything we have learned from working with the Lance Armstrong Foundation over the last nine years, it is that you never tell a cancer survivor they can’t. You build your support network and you ask for help when you need it. We are asking the global cycling community for help.”

“We have all been affected by the down turn in the economy, but we can never lose sight of the people in need and whatever we can do to help support Team Rubicon-ORBEA further in their pursuit, we simply must” –Celeste Moser, Schwalbe North America.

Team Rubicon-ORBEA was born when Norrene Godfrey, a competitive cyclist, lost her mother to cancer in the fall of 2001, after being diagnosed with lung cancer and given only 6 months to live. Although her Mother gave up on life after hearing the “c” word, Norrene was determined to not give up on her Mother.

Norrene contacted a friend at Nike, who reached out to Lance Armstrong directly. Lance sent Norrene’s mother one of his race jerseys with the inscription, “Fight Mom -Lance Armstrong.”

That simple gesture of kindness encouraged Norrene’s mother to wage her own personal war on cancer; giving her the strength to fi ght and push through countless hours of chemotherapy treatments. Even though Norrene’s mother lost her battle, she lived longer than anyone ever expected; allowing her the chance to enjoy one last summer and watch Norrene get married. In order

to repay Lance for his kindness and “pay it forward,” Godfrey dreamed of a cycling team that would ride in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and its fi ght against cancer. In 2008, Team Rubicon-ORBEA partnered with carmaker Land Rover to create Land Rover-Orbea; Benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

The team is built up of primary young development riders between the ages of 19–to-25 year olds from the US, New Zealand and Canada. When traveling to NRC races through-out the US, the young professional riders spend countless hours visiting children’s hospitals handing out LIVESTRONG wristbands and helping some extremely sick children have a moment of fun during long regiments of chemotherapy and other daily treatments.

However, the teams goodwill does not stop with hospital visits. The Land Rover- ORBEA team raises funds and awareness for the Lance Armstrong Foundation through leading charity rides in Philadelphia, Utah, Portland, and more, sending seven cancer survivors to the Seattle, Philadelphia and Austin LIVESTRONG Challenges and raising over $71,000 in donations for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

“Norrene and David Godfrey [owner and co-founder] are the two most “never say die” people Orbea has met,” said Justin Slarks, Director of Marketing ORBEA-USA. “The two of them are the glue that has held this team together since its creation and are the two who have put all of their personal time and energies into one of the best vehicles for stewardship out there.

 “Team Rubicon – Orbea is the one constant in our sponsorship program and hope that we can continue as the teams bicycle sponsor for years to come. The team earned great acclaim in 2009 for its criterium stage win at Tour of Gila by Roman van Uden. Mike Northey followed that win up with winning the U23 New Zealand Criterium Championships and Dean Tracy won the US National Team Sprint Championships in Carson, California. The young Land Rover-ORBEA team also won the best young rider jersey at Nature Valley Grand Prix, the climber’s jersey along with the team overall GC at Tour of Delta.

“For a first year professional development team, the results were great,” said Norrene, “What’s truly amazing about this team is what they do off the bike, when not racing, that has them winning the hearts of so many.”

“It was a pleasure to have Land Rover-ORBEA at our events this year”, said Nature Valley Grand Prix director David LaPorte. “Our goal is to grow the fan base of cycling fans and they did a great job of interacting with the people in our host communities and at our events. They are excellent ambassadors for the sport and for their sponsors. This is a great opportunity for any company who’s interested in engagement marketing.”

More information can be found on the team at www.landrover-ORBEA.com including a short video, complete team resume and more. Contact us direct at landrover-orbea@comcast.net or by phone at 503-806-2215 or 503-806-5305.

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