Specialized sponsor Festina

Putting an end to months of speculation by the cycling press on three continents, Specialized Founder and Chairman Mike Sinyard announced today that his company

will supply the Festina cycling team with a broad range of products, from bicycles and helmets to bottles and cages, computers, and Body Geometry saddles for the 2000 and 2001 racing seasons. The announcement comes on the heels of a banner year by the company’s offroad racing team, Mt Dew/Specialized, which garnered a world championship and overall #2 ranking in the 1999 World Cup rankings.

"We are delighted to establish a partnership with one of the most powerful teams in the pro peloton", Sinyard explained. "In addition to increasing our presence in the worldwide road market, the Festina/Specialized collaboration offers the opportunity to showcase technologies like our M4 Manipulated Aluminum frames, Brain Trust helmets and ergonomic Body Geometry saddles, all of which provide

professional-level performance benefits not just to racers, but to all kinds of riders."

Festina will ride customized S-Works M4 road frames currently being handbuilt in the company’s new multimillion dollar Morgan Hill, CA Design Center. Team frames will be built from the same M4 manipulated aluminum as the company’s popular production road bikes with some new

technologies brought to bear to create a superlight edition, a time trial version, and, Sinyard hinted, a "secret weapon" to be unveiled only after the Tour de France has begun and pending UCI approval