Butler, Lewis hoping to lead team to overall victory
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Craig Lewis (Champion System)(Image credit: Champion System Pro Cycling Team)
The Champion System Pro Cycling Team held a final media presentation in Hong Kong before breaking camp.(Image credit: Champion System)
Great move by Lee Rodgers, Cameron Wurf and Volodimir Gustov(Image credit: Tour de Taiwan)
Champion System Pro Cycling Team riders (left to right) Jaan Kirsipuu (Estonia) Chris Butler (United States) and Avery Clinton (New Zealand) were introduced.(Image credit: Champion System Pro Cycling Team)
Craig Lewis (Champion System)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Americans Chris Butler and Craig Lewis headline the team's five-man roster.
General Manager Ed Beamon said the mountainous, five-day race in New Mexico is an ideal event to launch the first Asian pro continental team's American campaign.
"We won't have a full squad because of our international schedule, but I think we're sending a very good group of guys with the goal of trying to win the overall," Beamon said. "I know there will be some good, strong American teams there. But Craig is really starting to come into form and Chris and Australian Cameron Wurf are both ready to tackle the climbs. So we feel pretty confident we'll be able to challenge."
Joining Butler, Lewis and Wurf on Champion System's roster is former Malaysian national road champion Adiq Othman and past Chinese national road champion XU Gang. Othman's five top 10 finishes this year include a pair of third place performances at the Tour de Taiwan last month.
The SRAM Tour of the Gila features mountain-top finishes on Wednesday's opening stage and Sunday's final stage and a 26.6 kilometre individual time trial with two categorized climbs on Stage 3. Champion System Assistant Director Chris Wherry, a two-time winner (1999, 2002) of the Tour of the Gila himself, will direct the team.
Lewis has not competed at Gila before, but said he is familiar with some of the climbs after doing a few training camps in the area.
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"It's been five or six years since I've last been there, but I remember the climbs and how the roads are," he said. "So I'm pretty comfortable with it even though I've never done the race. The altitude is kind of an unknown for everybody. And there aren't that many races at high elevations. But I'll be coming from Colorado. The courses are tough for the U.S. for sure, so that kind of suits me."
Champion System SRAM Tour of the Gila roster: Chris Butler, XU Gang, Craig Lewis, Adiq Othman, Cameron Wurf.
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