The professional cycling team sponsored by SmartStop Self Storage, the retail brand for Strategic Storage Trust Inc., will compete in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, Aug. 4-10. Team SmartStop Pro Cycling will join 128 professional cyclists, representing 26 countries, riding in the event. The race is the first competition sanctioned by Union Cycliste Internationale, cycling’s international governing body, since the Tour de France concluded last month.

Riders for SmartStop will include reigning Canadian National Road Champion Zach Bell, 2013 Tour of Utah KOM Competition Winner Michael Torckler and Elite National Criterium Champion Travis McCabe. The team placed riders first and second at the USA Pro Road Race National Championships in May.

The race will stretch from southern Utah to the Wasatch Front, a metropolitan region along the Wasatch mountain range in the north-central part of the state. The seven-stage event will begin in Cedar City and finish in Park City.

"We are excited that Team SmartStop will be part of this prestigious event," said H. Michael Schwartz, chairman and CEO of Strategic Storage Trust, a publicly registered, non-traded real estate investment trust. "We're proud of our team of world-class professionals, who represent our philanthropic desire to keep our communities healthy and promote an active lifestyle."

In addition to Bell, McCabe and Torckler, the team returns 2013 members Flavio De Luna, Shane Kline, Travis Livermon, Eric Marcotte and Adam Myerson. Newcomers include Joshua Berry, Rob Britton, Cameron Cogburn, Shane Haga, Jure Kocjan and Julian Kyer.

Launched in 2008, Strategic Storage Trust operates a portfolio of 126 self-storage facilities in 17 states and Canada. Branded as SmartStop Self Storage, the properties comprise approximately 80,000 units and 10.5 million rentable square feet of storage space.

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