The Gerolsteiner team will be getting its sports supplements from First Endurance for the next two years. The Salt Lake City, Utah company will supply Gerolsteiner with Optygen, Multi-V, E3 and Ultragen, and will work closely with the team on new product development. It's expected that some of these new products will be ready by the Tour of California next February.
The sponsorship evolved from a 2005 agreement between First Endurance and Gerolsteiner rider Levi Leipheimer. "Levi had his best year ever in 2005," said Robert Kunz, VP of Research and Development at First Endurance. "He won the Tour of Germany, got sixth in the Tour de France, second in the Tour of Georgia and third in the Dauphiné. The other guys on the team saw how Levi was training and what he was using from a nutritional standpoint. They knew we were working with Levi on his diet and were providing him with product. Naturally, the other guys wanted to try First Endurance stuff too. Because they all noticed the benefits, they kept asking Levi to get them product. The sponsorship came about because the riders wanted First Endurance products and wanted to be able to work with the First Endurance directly."
