About the Univest Grand Prix

Overview

Marco Quezada/www.marcoquezada.com photo

Saturday, September 6
The Univest Grand Prix -- An international pro road cycling competition for men. The race was amateur for the first eight years and became a UCI professional race in 2006. Now in its eleventh year, it is one of only thirteen professional UCI (International Cycling Union) races on the United States calendar. The Univest Grand Prix is open to UCI Continental Pro, Continental and invited USA Cycling amateur teams. The Race Direction focuses on bringing together North America's best Mexican, Canadian and USA racing teams and mixing them them with excited and motivated challengers from Europe. The racing at the Univest Grand Prix is always tactical and brutally hard. In 1998 three riders contested the finish; since then, only 2-man sprints or solo riders won the race.

Many young riders have won professional contracts following their performances at the Univest. The race will always strive to maintain its position as a gateway to the pros for driven young talent.

The area community is involved through athletes staying with local families and visiting grade schools to speak about their sport.

Opening ceremonies begin at 10:30 am, with the Pro Men's start at 10:45 am.

The race features start to finish live television coverage on WFMZ-69 from 10:30 to 3:00pm. Universal Sports will carry same-day coverage of both the Souderton and Doylestown race at times TBA. Spectators in Souderton and Doylestown will be treated to Start to Finish live jumbo screen TV coverage.

Comcast SportsNet will carry a one-hour summary program at times TBA.

The Cyclosportif 100K precedes the pro race. Go to Cyclosportif Ride for information on riding the 100 kilometer race course two hours ahead of the pro race.

Sunday, September 7
Univest Grand Prix Criterium of Doylestown -- A fast circuit race for men held within the town limits of Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The famous Doylestown Arts Festival is located in the middle of the 1.5 mile race-course providing a great way to both watch the race and experience the thriving Bucks County arts scene. Race fans love to walk through the festival to exciting parts of the race-course - they see the race from a variety of vantage points, all while taking in wonderful regional culture.

The 2004 (Chad Hartley) and 2005 (Mike Friedman) winners, then both amateurs, were offered professional contracts immediately after their respective victories. The 2007 Winner, Will Frishkorn, made the jump to racing professionally in Europe in 2008, placing second in a stage of the Tour de France.

Children's races - 12:00 to 1:00 pm, please see Kids Races or below for more information.
Pro Race - Opening Ceremonies: 10:30 am

Univest Grand Prix (Souderton, PA) North America's Pro Classic
Ranking:	UCI America Tour 1.2 - USA Cycling Pro Tour
Televison:	Live coverage on WFMZ-69.
Same-day delayed coverage on Universal Sports
Men's Pro Race Distance:	100 miles
Date:	Saturday, September 6, 2008
Opening Ceremony:	10:30 am
Official Start:	10:45 am
Children's Sprints:	12:00 pm
Estimated Pro Men Finish/Awards:	2:45 pm
Number of competitors:	180 riders from 25 teams
Teams represented:	USA, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Colombia and Hungary
Prize List:	$15,000, 20 places
Univest Grand Prix of Doylestown, PA
Date:	Sunday, September 7, 2008
Men's Pro Race Distance:	50 miles/80 kilometers, 35 laps of a 1.4 mile circuit
Children's Sprints Registration:	9:30 - 10:00 am
Children's Sprints:	10:00 - 10:30 am
Autograph Alley for Kids:	10:30 - 10:40 am
Opening Ceremonies:	10:30 am
Pro Men Start:	11:00 am
Awards Ceremonies:	1:00 pm
Number of competitors:	180 riders from 25 teams
Teams represented:	USA, Canada, Mexico,Belgium, Italy, Germany, Colombia and Hungary
Prize List:	$2,000, 20 places

The Univest Grand Prix is presented by: Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania, www.visitPa.com, Leidy's Premium Pork Products, Saab, Doylestown Hospital, The Intelligencer, WFMZ-69, Universal Sports and Comcast SportsNet.

For more information, see Univest Grand Prix: A Brief History.

About Univest Corporation

Headquartered in Souderton, Pa., Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania and its subsidiaries Univest National Bank and Trust Co., Univest Investments, Inc. and Univest Insurance, Inc. serve the financial needs of residents, businesses, and nonprofit organizations in Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery counties. For more information, please visit www.univest.net.

About Sparta Cycling

Sparta Cycling, Inc. promotes and produces televised professional cycling events. Founded in 1997, the Manhattan-based company produces the Univest Grand Prix. Sparta Cycling provided technical and television production services for the US Open Cycling Championships as well as having produced three national championship events for USA Cycling.

For More Information

Kim Detwiler VP, Director of Corporate Communications Univest Corporation 215-721-8396 detweilerk@univest.net

John Eustice President Sparta Cycling, Inc. 917-699-4566 jde@spartacycling.com