News Flash! (The wait is over...)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:

Tim Jackson, Masi Brand Manager
Masi Bicycles
tjackson@masibikes.com


Masi Bicycles signs sponsorship deal with Inferno Racing for 2006.

November 11, 2005- Vista, CA- Masi Bicycles and Inferno Racing ink sponsorship deal for the 2006 road racing season.

Masi Brand Manager Tim Jackson and Inferno Racing team manager Chad Thompson began a dialog that ultimately lead to team sponsorship during the bicycle industry tradeshow, Interbike, in Las Vegas in late September. “I was impressed by the professionalism of Chad and the team rider he had with him during the show when they stopped in the booth between visits with potential sponsors”, said Jackson. “We hit it off pretty quickly and the conversation turned from a sponsorship pitch from Chad to just talking about bikes and racing. That doesn’t happen often when you are talking with a Pro or Elite level team.”

Thompson had a similar version of the events as well, recollecting “we stopped in the booth while we were waiting to meet with another potential sponsor and ended up having a pretty fun conversation with Tim. In fact, while the bikes and their quality speak for themselves, representatives such as Mr. Jackson are very rare in this growing industry.”

Inferno, currently a Pro/Elite team, will be seeking one of the few UCI Continental Tour licenses issued to US domestic professional teams in 2006. All things look good for the team to be racing at all of the National Racing Calendar (NRC) events and potentially events like the Tour of Georgia, the new Tour of California and the USPRO Championships in Philadelphia, as well as all USCF Elite National Championship Events.

Masi will be providing the team with framesets for the season and hopes to be able to partner with the team to use their valuable feedback to further develop new and better bicycles for all Masi consumers.

“I really can’t quantify how excited I am about this deal”, offered Jackson. “This marks a big moment for the brand as we try to re-establish ourselves as one of the premiere road brands in the US. I am very optimistic about what the team can do and I look forward to reporting on some great racing.”

The Inferno Racing team website (www.infernoracing.org) is currently being updated with the final calendar, roster and sponsor information.

Masi bicycles have been ridden to victory by many champions for several decades and the brand looks to make a triumphant return to sponsoring professional/ elite level cycling teams.