Landis' cannabis product business, Floyd's of Leadville, has signed on as presenting sponsor for the event, which grew out of the former UCI and National Racing Calendar event of the same name.
The one-day, 120km tour includes a pro/am competitive event that Landis and Zabriske will ride, a non-competitive 'open' event and a 41.5km 'Tour for Pink' breast cancer awareness benefit ride.
Landis, who is now CEO of Floyd's of Leadville, finished second to Caleb Fairly in the 2010 Tour of the Battenkill as a member of the Bahati Foundation Cycling Team during his final year of professional racing.
"Battenkill was one of my last races as a pro and it'll be special to come back in support of the event and our new products," Landis said in a press release promoting the event.
Next year will be Zabriske's first attempt at Battenkill. He raced the Leadville 100 MTB race earlier this year.
"Battenkill has such a great history and I am finally able to race it," Zabriske said in the press release. "The new mass-start format for the pro/am is really interesting. I've raced Leadville and they have a mass-start every year. Everyone lines up all at once and races on the same course together. It makes sense for the sport."
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The sponsorship announcement coincides with the upcoming release of a new line of "wellness and energy" products from Floyd's of Leadville that feature "internationally sourced Cannabidiol," or CBD, which is classified as a dietary supplement by the Food and Drug Administration and is legal in all 50 states, according to the Monday's press release.
"We're excited to offer these new products across the USA this coming spring," Landis said. "The recovery benefits of CBD supplements to athletes are obvious now."
Former professional teammates Landis and Zabriske, who is the Floyd's of Leadville Marketing Manager, were previously banned from competition for anti-doping offences. Landis was banned for two-years following a positive test in the 2006 Tour de France. Zabriske served a six-month ban in 2012 and 2013 for admissions of doping during his time with the US Postal Cycling Team as part of the US Anti-Doping Agency's investigation of Lance Armstrong. Landis is currently a plaintiff in the US government's suit against Armstrong regarding the US Postal's sponsorship of Armstrong's teams.
