• by Wayne Friedman , April 25, 2006

Looking to further heighten consumer interest in cycling, Discovery Channel has launched a four-and-a-half month marketing campaign around Lance Armstrong culminating in a cycling race event on the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August.

The race, called, "Race2Replace," is part of a campaign that seeks to find the next team leader of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team taking over from Lance Armstrong, the seven-time winner of the Tour de France, who retired last July. The race will feature cyclists of all levels and ages, who will compete for a chance to become an honorary team member of the Discovery Channel cycling team. Proceeds of the race will be donated to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, an organization founded by Armstrong for Americans who are diagnosed with cancer.

In addition, Discovery has said in a press release that the Race2Replace winner will race as a member of the team during the U.S. Pro Championship in Greenville, S.C. in September.

The marketing campaign is starting this week, after the just-concluded Tour de Georgia where the team was racing. A series of exclusive Internet webisodes, at www.racetoreplace.com, will feature an in-depth look at the stars of the team beginning May 15. The webisodes will also be available as video podcasts.

Discovery Channel's team members in contention, who will be featured in the webisodes, are: Jose Azevedo, Tom Danielson, Viatcheslav Ekimov, George Hincapie, Yaroslav Popovych, Chechu Rubiera and Paolo Savoldelli.

Typically, cycling teams choose a team leader for each of the major races. For the just-concluded Tour de Georgia, Tom Danielson was the team leader. He came in second this year after winning the six-day stage event last year. The next big stage race starts in a week--the Giro d'italia, where last year's winner Paolo Savoldelli, and Discovery race team leader, will again look to repeat.