As Best Buddy Austin Thornburg left the stage at the start of stage two of the 2008 Amgen Tour of California, it was he, not George Hincapie—a Tour de France stage winner—who faced a sea of adoring fans seeking autographs and journalists after interviews. Austin was at the Amgen Tour as a part of Best Buddies Buddy Up program in which five of the top professional teams had each donated a stage to a Best Buddy.
The Slipstream/Chipotle, High Road Sports, Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast, CSC, Jelly Belly and Bissell professional cycling teams teamed up with Best Buddies Rachel Lofton of San Francisco, Michael Thorne of Monterey, Trevor Lucken of Sacramento, Austin Thornburg and Nick Douglas of Bakersfield and Amy Lewis, Travis Raefield and Breanna Barlow of Taft.
Each team had a Buddy join one of their riders at the start of each stage for the sign-in ceremony. It only took a few minutes into stage one?s ceremony—at which Rachel joined Sliptream/Chipolte's Christian Vandevelde, a two-time member of Lance Armstrong's Tour de France winning teams—for everyone watching to realize that Lofton was the star.
"Each day it was an incredible moment. These Buddies were the stars. They were ones being interviewed, signing autographs and getting cheers from fans," said Richard Fries, marketing director for the Audi Best Buddies Challenge. "This is what Best Buddies is about. We remind others—in schools, in jobs, in society—that an intellectually disabled person is special, is a star and is capable and deserving of anything and everything that you and I are."
After Austin cheered on Hincapie as he and his team, High Road, headed out for more than 100, twisty, hill miles through Wine Country, he headed to Sacramento for an exciting finish up Capitol Mall. He then joined Governor Arnold Schwarzenagger on stage to present the leader's jerseys for that day.
For stage three, Nick buddies up with KBS/Medifast rider, Nick Waite—a former National Champion. On stage four, Michael of Monterey joined CSC's German superstar Jens Voigt, and on stage six, Amy and Trevor will team up with Jelly Belly's Nick Reistad, while on stage seven Travis and Breanna will join Bissell's team leader, Ben Jaques Mayne.
The teams have also donated a spot in their team cars for each stage, so if you are going to be in the area for stage six and seven, drop by the Audi Best Buddies Challenge tent in the expo at the finish of each stage and register for the ride and for your chance to win a ride in the car. A special Tour discount on your fundraising commitment is also available for those who register at the event.
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