South Australia.com - AIS team heralds new era for Australian cycling

On midday Sunday at the Adelaide Hilton, Cycling Australia announced the formation of the South Australia.com - AIS Cycling Team, a major initiative in the growth of the country's high performance program.

The team will be registered as a UCI Continental Team in the Oceania Region and will integrate the current AIS U23 road development program with the talent of Australia's track endurance riders with major sponsorship support from the South Australian Tourism Commission.

"The Australian Institute of Sport has been our partner for many years and now, with the added financial support of the South Australia Government through the Tourism Commission, we look forward to a new era of cycling success," said Mike Victor, President Cycling Australia.

The Hon. Jane Lomax-Smith, South Australian Minister for Tourism, says the Tourism Commission's sponsorship of the team is an innovative approach to drive tourism visitation to the state.

"Cycling is well positioned to capture the imagination of millions of potential visitors to South Australia," she said. "We have benefited enormously from the profile of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under but this is the first time we know of that a tourism agency has undertaken such a bold and unique campaign."

The economic value of cyclo-tourism in Europe is forecast to be more than 32 billion (AUD) dollars by 2020 and Britain estimates cyclo-tourism currently contributes to the economy 1.5 billion (AUD) annually.

"The challenge for us is to continue to attract the cyclo-tourism dollar to South Australia and the South Australia.com - AIS cycling team project is evidence of our ability to think outside the square to promote South Australia to the world."

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Team website: www.southaustralia-ais.com