International Cycling Competition and Non-profit Leader Unveil “Spokes of Change” Campaign
May 13, 2011, New York – For the first time in a professional sporting event in the U.S., the USA Pro Cycling Challenge today announced the donation of the competition’s presenting title sponsorship to Millennium Promise, the leading international non-profit organization solely committed to helping end extreme poverty. With the new official title “USA Pro Cycling Challenge for Millennium Promise,” this donation will introduce the organization’s life-saving work to the millions of fans around the world who will be following the event through live television coverage on NBC, VERSUS and online.
In addition to sponsorship donation, USA Pro Cycling Challenge (UPCC) and Millennium Promise launched “Spokes of Change,” a philanthropic campaign to harness the energy of cycling enthusiasts and sports fans in the global movement to end extreme poverty.
The tagline is “If we move faster, we win.” Spokes of Change seeks to equip mobile health workers in Africa with bicycles, cell phones, medicines, and other necessary supplies to deliver basic medical care to young children and mothers in rural locations. Spokes of Change will be promoted at race-related events and through public service advertisements.
“We are proud to be the first professional sporting event in the United States to name a charity as a presenting sponsor,” said Shawn Hunter, co-chairman of the UPCC. “There are millions of bikes out there, creating a lot of energy. We want to use the USA Pro Cycling Challenge as a resource to harness some of that energy and make it work for Millennium Promise.”
“To break the mold by having a charitable component tied into the race in some capacity has been a goal of ours for some time,” said UPCC co-owner Rick Schaden. “The global magnitude and scope of the platform that the USA Pro Cycling Challenge provides gives the charity a means to generate mass awareness to an audience that might not otherwise be reached. We are proud to share this platform with such a noble cause and look forward to the continued development of our relationship and the positive impact we can have as we move forward.”
To begin the initiative, Schaden has donated 1,000 bicycles to Millennium Promise through the Spokes of Change campaign. This will support the work of community health workers and other key activities in the Millennium Villages Project, the flagship initiative of Millennium Promise.
“As part of this great race, the Spokes of Change initiative launched today is a special way that racing fans around the world can be a part of this great uptake of new approaches to saving lives and helping the poorest people in the world,” said Millennium Promise co-founder and president Jeffrey D. Sachs. “Spokes of Change will empower Community Health Workers to be trained and put into positions to make a world of difference.”
“A properly equipped community health worker delivers critical live-saving services at extremely low cost to several hundred people at a time in the poorest communities around the world,” said John W. McArthur, chief executive officer of Millennium Promise. “Bicycles, mobile phones, medicines, and training are all essential underpinnings of success, so we are incredibly grateful to the USA Pro Cycling Challenge and Rick Schaden for their efforts to promote such practical breakthroughs across the cycling community.”
Donations to Spokes of Change can be made on www.SpokesOfChange.org or USA Pro Cycling Challenge www.USAprocyclingchallenge.com.
About the USA Pro Cycling Challenge
The USA Pro Cycling Challenge is expected to be the largest spectator event in Colorado history and one of the largest sporting events to ever take place in the United States. For seven consecutive days, 128 of the world’s top athletes will race across more than 500 miles through the majestic Rockies, reaching higher altitudes than they’ve ever had to endure, more than two miles in elevation. It’s the best of the best in professional cycling, competing on a challenging course through some of America’s most beautiful scenery, including cities such as Aspen, Vail, Breckenridge and Steamboat Springs.
As the interest in professional cycling continues to grow as a global sport, (which is evident by the addition of two new UCI-sanctioned races this year alone in Beijing and Quebec), the USA Pro Cycling Challenge becomes the second anchor cycling event for the United States.
The inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge will be August 22-28, 2011. More than one million spectators are expected at the event, and national television exposure on NBC and VERSUS.
Spectators of this race will see Olympians, World Champions and Tour de France competitors.
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