Following a renewed sponsorship deal between title sponsors, Rapha Condor and Sharp – the no.1 ranked British Continental team has announced that it intends to build on its most successful season since it’s 2006 inception. In 2012, the all-important Olympic year, the team will retain Olympic team members Andrew Tennant and Ed Clancy MBE, Gold Medallist at the Beijing Games. The team will also continue to gain experience from former National Champion Kristian House, as well as the longest serving member of the team Dean Downing. Perhaps more intriguingly there is to be a new commitment to training a new generation of cycling stars.
Commenting on the team’s young development plan, Simon Mottram, CEO of Rapha, says: “We all hope that a new generation of fans are being drawn to cycle racing and, among them will be hundreds if not thousands of young hopefuls, keen to try out racing and emulate their new heroes. And yet, these promising juniors and espoirs have very few opportunities or openings to get into the sport and move up through the ranks. For all the professional teams competing for TV airtime and UK professional race victories, few structured programs exist to develop and nurture British racing talent. The British cycling academy only has spaces for the best eight young riders each year. There are no programs in this country to rival the proven systems such as those run by Rabobank or AN-Post…Starting in 2012 Rapha Condor Sharp aims to fill that gap with its own development program and, ultimately, a cycle racing academy”.
Cyclo will bring you more details as they unfold.
