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Forget about courting a professional football team - Albuquerque's varied terrain and climate have already drawn a group of top professional athletes to the city.

Two of the highest-ranked American cycling teams appreciate the altitude, grueling bike trails and friendly Duke City residents so much they've decided to hold their first training camps of the season here.

On Saturday, they'll also formally announce their rosters for the year at an event at the Albuquerque Balloon Museum.

"Everyone in this community has been really supportive," said Kristin Armstrong, the current woman's world time-trial champion and U.S. time-trial and road national champion. "The city of Albuquerque is behind our camp - and they're really getting us out and showing us the culture."

Residents can meet cyclists from the Navigators Insurance Pro Cycling Team, the top-ranked North American men's team in the world, and from Team Lipton, an all-women team that includes Armstrong, for free on Saturday at the 2007 Albuquerque Bike Show and Expo.

Those teams, and an amateur developmental team from the Belgian Cycling Center, will announce their rosters at the event at 2:30 p.m.

Afterward, the public can chat with riders like Armstrong, who is favored to win an Olympic medal in 2008, and Hilton Clarke, an Australian who could possibly win the upcoming Tour of California, said Ed Beamon, managing director of the two professional teams.

"We have some star-quality people on our teams," Beamon said. "We'll compete in all the major events in North America and many in Europe and Australia. People here in Albuquerque can come meet them and say hello."

The event will include displays from local bike shops, information about the Albuquerque Veloport cycling center and a community ride from the Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum starting at 11 a.m.

"One of the beautiful things about cycling is it's a very approachable sport," Beamon said. "Everybody can ride a bike."

Last year was the first Expo, but it was much smaller. Organizers are hoping for a good turnout with all the international cycling pros in town, said Marte Lightstone, a member of Albuquerque Veloport Inc., a nonprofit supporting the event.

"We want to introduce Albuquerque to these teams, and the teams to New Mexico," Lightstone said. "We're trying to build support for cycling in New Mexico and the fact that these teams want to train here."