Amateur Cyclists Can Test Themselves Against Amgen Tour of California Professionals With New Partnership Between AEG and Strava

SAN FRANCISCO, April 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- North America's top cycling event just got more social for riders and fans. Today, Strava, creator of powerful Web and mobile applications for avid athletes, and AEG, one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world, announced that Strava will power social fitness for Amgen Tour of California fans. Strava is a social platform that allows athletes to compete with each other and interact as a part of an online community. The addition of this technology to AEG's cycling event websites makes them valuable resources for training and racing information.

This three-year partnership adds Strava's event maps and compare-and-compete GPS technology to the websites for the Amgen Tour of California, its Stage 7 "ride the route" event, L'Etape du California, and the Leadville Qualifying Series. As an added benefit to all registrants, Strava is supplying complimentary premium memberships to all race participants and will also offer training and race-day challenges.

"We are excited to partner with AEG to bring the sport of cycling even closer to the fans," said Michael Horvath, CEO of Strava. "Strava's GPS maps and online competitions allow avid cyclists to follow their favorite pros, compare and compete, and gain deeper insight into their own training."

Amateur riders can compare their distance, speed, heart rate and elevation gain against professional riders such as Ted King, a U.S. pro with the Italian powerhouse Liquigas-Cannondale team and Levi Leipheimer of Team Radio Shack, the three-time Amgen Tour of California champion. Many fans will be inspired to pre-ride segments of Amgen Tour of California, L'Etape du California, and Leadville courses to track their fitness and compare performance on climbs and sprint with others.

"Strava has developed a powerful tool for serious cyclists to test themselves in a competitive format against professionals and other local riders," said Andrew Messick, President of AEG Sports. "With Strava's technology, we are expanding the social aspect of our websites which will give fans of the Amgen Tour of California an interactive experience that is unique to the world of cycling."

Strava provides an easy-to-use GPS-based solution for athletes, who now represent nearly 25 percent of all U.S. households, according to the Simmons National Consumer Survey. Strava uses unique segmentation technology to provide a range of comparison and competition data, enabling athletes to track milestones and compete with themselves and others to improve performance. In March, Strava also launched an iPhone application that allows athletes to easily and seamlessly upload their workouts and races to their Strava account. In the twelve months since launch, the company has grown more than ten-fold through simple word-of-mouth.

For more information about the 2011 Amgen Tour of California, please visit www.amgentourofcalifornia.com. For more information about Strava, the new mobile application and up-to-date news on professional cyclists, please visit www.strava.com.

About the Amgen Tour of California

The largest cycling event in America, the 2011 Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race presented by AEG that challenges the world's top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course from May 15-22, 2011.

About Amgen

Amgen discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers innovative human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one of the first companies to realize the new science's promise by bringing safe, effective medicines from lab to manufacturing plant to patient. Amgen therapeutics have changed the practice of medicine, helping millions of people around the world in the fight against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, bone disease, and other serious illnesses. With a deep and broad pipeline of potential new medicines, Amgen remains committed to advancing science to dramatically improve people's lives. To learn more about our pioneering science and vital medicines, visit www.amgen.com.

About AEG

AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Anschutz Company, owns or controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES Center, The Home Depot Center, Sprint Center, The O2, Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE and Best Buy Theater Times Square; sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), two Major League Soccer franchises, two hockey franchises operated in Europe, management of privately held shares of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Zazzle Bay to Breakers foot race, and the Amgen Tour of California cycling road race; AEG Live, the organization's live-entertainment division, is a collection of companies dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performance, touring and a variety of programming and multi-media production.

About Strava

Strava feeds the avid athlete. Building powerful online and mobile software, Strava lets some of the most enthusiastic athletes in the world experience social fitness – sharing, comparing and competing with each other's personal fitness data, online and via mobile apps. Strava Velo focuses on the needs of avid cyclists with unique features including automatic climb identification and categorization, virtual climb competitions and member-created online races, making cycling a social web experience.

About L'Etape du California

L'Etape du California is a mass participation, "ride the route," event on May 7, 2011 which allows amateur cyclists to ride Stage 7 of the 2011 Amgen Tour of California. The climb up to Mt. Baldy, one of the most difficult in the history of the Amgen Tour of California, may determine the overall winner of this year's race. Two riders will be named King and Queen of the Mountain based on the fastest cumulative time up ride's two major climbs.

About the Leadville Trail 100 MTB

Since 1994, the Leadville Trail 100 MTB Race has been the pinnacle of the mountain biking world.  Currently 103 miles in length and 11,500 feet of climbing, the ultra-distance event is a single and double-track-style mountain bike race on one of the world's most challenging courses. The weekend event is produced by Life Time Fitness and challenges both amateur and professional mountain bikers to steep climbs and descents, with elevation topping out at more than 12,500 feet.

About the Leadville Qualifying Series

Recently established for riders to gain entry into the famed Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race, the 2011 Leadville Qualifying Series will initially consist of three races held in June and July in California, Colorado, and New York. The series will offer a total of 300 starting positions into the 2011 Leadville Trail 100 through a lottery and qualification system. In 2012 and 2013, additional qualifying races will be added in Texas and California as well as the Southwest, Midwest and Southeast.

Media Contacts:

SOURCE Strava, Inc.