Metlife Pro-Am Team's sponsorship strengthens

The Boston-based Psyclone Sports Pro-Am Cycling Team picked up an additional sponsor and a new name on Wednesday. The American team will now be called the MetLife Pro-Am Cycling Team presented by unlose.it.

The insurance company stepped up from presenting sponsor to title sponsor, citing cycling's positive impact on health, physical fitness and quality of life. "Our prominent alliance with one of the nation's leading cycling programs presents an ideal medium for us to connect with customers face-to-face and promote MetLife's brand and services through an exciting sport – which is undeniably gaining huge momentum in the United States," said Kim Taylor, manager, Global Advertising, Promotions and Blimp Operations at MetLife.

The team will donate a portion of all prize money to Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. "Our team members take nothing for granted, especially health," said team captain J. Alain Ferry. "Cancer has touched each of our lives in some way and we are inspired knowing our efforts are helping to win a greater battle."

The squad's experienced roster of category one and two racers will race primarily in the Northeast, focusing on larger National Racing Calendar events such as Rhode Island's Cox Charities Criterium and the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic Stage Race in Massachusetts, both part of the growing New England Race Week series. The team will go beyond New England for appearances in races such as the USA Crits Speedweek (North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia), the AT&T Austin (Texas) Criterium and August's National Road and Criterium Championships in Orange County, California and Downer’s Grove, Illinois, respectively.

MetLife Pro-Am Cycling Team for 2008: Peter Bell, Nick Bennette, Thom Coupe, Chris Coutu, Scott Dolmat-Connell, J. Alain Ferry (Team Captain), Ryan Fleming, Graham Garber, Corey Masson, Charles McCarthy, Aaron Molloy, Brad Sheehan (Team Director).