USA Cycling on Thursday announced the eight-member squad that will represent the USA Cycling National Development Team at the Tour de Georgia April 16-22.

The third event on the inaugural USA Cycling Professional Tour calendar and a UCI 2.HC-ranked race, the Tour de Georgia will feature some of the top European-based UCI ProTour squads as well as other top domestic and international pro cycling teams.

Supported heavily by Specialized, AMD, the USA Cycling Development Foundation and VMG Racing, The USA Cycling National Development Team is comprised of some of the best and brightest young competitive cyclists in America. At the Tour de Georgia, the following riders will compete against notable world-class professional athletes on one of the biggest cycling stages on this side of the Atlantic:

Chad Beyer, 21 (Phoenix, Ariz./VMG Racing)
Sheldon Deeny, 22 (Fort Collins, Colo./VMG Racing)
John Devine, 21 (Dixon, Ill./VMG Racing)
Caleb Fairly, 19 (Amarillo, Texas/VMG Racing)
Brice Jones, 28 (Fort Smith, Ark./Jelly Belly)
Eric Keim, 26 (Winterville, Ga./ AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork)
Nick Reistad, 24 (Brookfield, Wis./Jelly Belly)
Eric Riggs, 19 (Antelope, Calif./VMG Racing)

The USA Cycling National Development Team will compete alongside five UCI ProTour Teams: Team CSC (DEN), Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team (USA), Predictor-Lotto (BEL), Quick Step-Innergetic (BEL) and Prodir-Saunier Duval (ESP). They will also face four Professional Continental Teams: Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle (USA), Navigators Insurance Cycling Team (USA), Health Net presented by Maxxis (USA) and Tinkoff Credit System (ITA). Five Continental Teams – BMC Racing Team (USA), Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light (USA), Jittery Joe's (USA), Priority Health Cycling Team presented by Bissell (USA) and Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team (USA) – will also compete in Georgia.

For more information on the Tour de Georgia, please visit www.tourdegeorgia.com.

For more information on the USA Cycling Professional Tour, visit www.usacycling.org/protour.