Sweat ‘n Gears appears on Tour Series broadcast by ITV4

Spotted in the background sporting my Rudy Projects during the Stoke round of the Tour Series

For those of you who were watching the Tour Series on ITV4 on Wednesday evening, you may have spotted me in the background halfway through the broadcast while Marcel Six of Team Twenty3c-Orbea was being interviewed.  Now some say I looked like a nightclub bouncer (thanks Ian), but I think I looked quite dashing, sporting my Rudy Project Rydon.

So, if you agree and want to look just as good with your own pair of Rudy Project’s, make sure you check out Sport and Speed.

And if you missed the programme from Wednesday evening, you can watch it again through the ITV Player by clicking here.

The Twenty3c – Orbea Professional Cycling Team Launch

The Twenty3c - Orbea Professional Cycling Team

This weekend, at the Mercedes Benz’s UK Headquarters in Milton Keynes, saw the launch of the Twenty3c – Orbea Professional Cycling Team.

In front of the team’s key sponsors, the 12-man Twenty3c-Orbea team was unveiled. From there we  spent the weekend together training and in team meetings, planning our race schedules for the 2011 season.

A heads up to the other UK teams out there. The team features a strong International line up with the addition of Rafa Rodriguez Segarra from Elche, Spain and Gunnar Gronlund from Skara, Sweden. They will join forces with the core of the 2010 Orbea team, former Premier Calendar winner Rob Sharman, National U23 Time Trial Champion Andrew Griffiths and talented young riders Mike Cuming and Dan Shand.

Team issue Orbea Orca's with Fast Forward wheels

During the launch event, along with Marcel and Rafa, we took the new Mercedes Vito Sport out for a photoshoot. The results of which you can see below.

If you want to keep up-to-date with the happenings of the team, you can find them on the following:

www.twenty3c-orbea.com

facebook.com/Twenty3cOrbea

twitter.com/Twenty3c_Orbea

Rafa and Marcel and the new Mercedes Benz Vito Sport

2011 Team Palmares

Lewis Atkins
Resides: West Drayton, Middlesex, Age: 23, Elite
Former bronze medallist in the National Junior Road Race Championships and a prolific winner on both the road and the track, Lewis clocked up 8 victories in 2010 despite struggling with a persistent injury for most of the early season. Lewis excels in criterium races and will be a key rider for the team in the 2011 Tour Series.

Mike Cuming
Resides: Stoke On Trent, Staffordshire, Age: 20, Elite
The youngest member of the team, Mike is a talented young climber and time triallist with four wins in 2010, including the final round of the Rudy Project Series. Mike has been knocking on the door of a big result in the Premier Calendar races and will be a huge asset to Rafa, Marcel and Rob in their assault on the biggest races in the UK.

Kristian Downs
Resides: Basildon, Essex, Age: 23, 1st category
2010 was Kristian’s comeback year after a break from cycling to concentrate on his studies. A very talented and successful Junior, Kristian will be one of the key riders in the team’s 2011 criterium campaign.

Andrew Griffiths
Resides: Hornchurch, Essex, Age: 22, Elite
Andrew is the reigning National Under 23 Time Trial Champion, a title he won in September 2010. One of the hardest and most tenacious riders around, Andrew has spent three seasons with some of the biggest amateur teams in Belgium and returns to the UK to become a key part of the
Twenty3c-Orbea team for 2011.

Gunnar Gronlund
Resides: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Age: 23, Elite
Gunnar represented Sweden in mountain biking before moving to the road and gaining some notable results. A natural climber, Gunnar is looking to fulfill his undoubted potential in the Premier Calendar and Continental races in 2011.

Andy Lyons
Resides: Chelmsford, Essex, Age: 41, Elite
Andy is a man with a wealth of experience. He has represented Great Britain many times in Continental single day and stage races and brings all the race craft gathered over 20 years of racing at the highest level. Andy won the Eastern Regional Road Race Championship for the fifth time in 2010 and has over 50 Victories in E/1/2 events to his name.

Rafa Rodriguez Segarra
Resides: Alicante, Spain, Age: 28, Elite
Rafa is part of the team’s three pronged attack in the Premier Calendar and Stage Races. A former UCI professional, Rafa rode in the UK for just two days in 2010 and went back to Spain with a fine solo victory and a second place to Team Sky rider Alex Dowsett. In 2010, Rafa won the first stage of the Volta a Galicia and the overall General Classification of both the Volta Ciclista del Llagosti and the Trofeo Moros y Cristianos.

Daniel Shand
Resides: Rochdale, Greater Manchester, Age: 24, Elite
A quiet guy off the bike, Dan prefers to let his legs do the talking. With three years of experience riding for strong Belgian teams such as Scott and Profel Prorace, Dan has produced some fantastic performances in high profile races. Sixth place in stage 3 of the Cinturón Ciclista Internacional a Mallorca and 5th in stage 4 of the Ringerike Tour Norway in 2010 are just an indication of the talent and potential that Dan brings to the team in 2011.

Dean Shannon
Resides: Southend, Essex, Age: 30, Elite
The epitome of a team player and a fantastic criterium rider in his own right, Dean is completely committed whether dropping back to help a team leader, leading out the team for a sprint or charging towards the line for himself. An man who has experience in the Tour Series, Dean will be one of the team’s main players in circuit races in 2011.

Rob Sharman
Resides: Derby, Derbyshire, Age: 32, Elite
2005 Premier Calendar winner Sharman needs no introduction. A former winner of the Rutland-Melton and the Girvan 3 Day, he competed in the 2005 World Road Race Championships in Madrid and the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and brings not only a wealth of experience, but also a wealth of talent to the team. Rob will be back to his best in 2011 and is a man to watch.

Marcel Six (Team Captain)
Resides: St Albans, Hertfordshire, Age: 25, Elite
Marcel came to the team in 2009 after two years of injury sustained from a collision with a car in Spain. A confident rider, a leader and a true winner, he promised a great deal and has delivered every time. Marcel has notched up four victories in 2010 but it has been his performances in the more prestigious races that have had the more established teams in the UK Peloton reaching for their cheque books. Despite working full time, Marcel placed 4th in the National Criterium Championships, 4th in the Chas Messenger Memorial and 8th in the Smithfield Nocturne, and with the opportunity to become a full time rider again next season, the sky is the limit for Marcel in 2011.

James Whatling
Resides: Brentwood, Essex, Age: 36, 1st Category
James is a team rider through and through. A strong rouleur and time triallist, James will be riding hard to help the team leaders achieve their goals throughout the 2011 season.

2010 Le Tour de Femmes: Babes on Bicycles

Babe on a bike

I came across this site today – COED Magazine – and thought, “Why not share it?!” As I’ve described on my About section, this blog has to do with all that is bicycles. And that is what I’ve done here. So for all the guys out there, enjoy! And for the ladies, well, just turn to all the cycling news sites around the world and enjoy!

Bianchi Babes

Fishnet babe

Orbea babe (for those eagle eyed readers, she's holding an Orbea Orca)

Victoria Pendleton

Beach babe

Swimsuit babe

Well, if you want to see more, make sure you head over to COED Magazine and see the masses of babes on bikes that Pez Cycling News’ Daily Distractions would be very proud of.

British Pro Cycling Teams and Rider Twitter Profiles

So I’ve been thinking of different items to place on my blog that would hopefully be of use to all those that visit this page. One thing that did come to mind was the twitter profiles of all the British professional cycling teams and riders. There isn’t a single source available where you could find this (well. not that I could find), so thought I’d give it a go.

The teams and their twitter profiles are:

CYCLEPREMIER.COM – METALTEK

TEAM @Cycle_Premier

Raphael Deinhart @GermanRacer

Ashley Finn @ash_finn

Simon Wilson @Si_Wilson

James Millard @JamesMillard

ENDURA RACING

TEAM @enduraracing

Rob Partridge @RobPartridge

David Lines @davidlines

Evan Oliphant @evantwats

James McCallum @Jimmy_mach10

Ross Creber @creber1

Scott Thwaites @Scott_Thwaites1

Gary Hand @Handinator

KUOTA – ROAD CC

TEAM @Kuota_RoadCC

Cherie Pridham @CHEZPRO

Jeroen Janssen @FlyingDutchJJ

Jon Mozley @Jon_Mozley

Jefte de Bruin @JeftedeBruin

Dan Davies @dan_davies86

Tom Martin @tommartin7

Martin Smith @Martyvelo

ORBEA – FOR GOODNESS SHAKES!

TEAM @Orbea_FGS

James Whatling @OrbeaJames

Daniel Kogan @dankogan

PENDRAGON COL COLNAGO

TEAM @PendragonSports

Yanto Barker @YBLECOL

Richard Tanguy @richtanguy

Chris Opie @SpeedyOpie

Rhys Lloyd @RhysLloyd

TEAM RALEIGH

TEAM @TeamRaleighUK

Liam Holohan @lh_holohan

Dan Fleeman @Danfleeman

Mike Cuming @mike_cuming

Peter Smith @petersmith35

Chris Truett @christruett

RAPHA CONDOR SHARP

TEAM @raphacondor

Kristian House @kristianhouse

Dean Downing @deanodown

Ben Greenwood @benjigreenwood

Matt Cronshaw @mattcronshaw

John Herety @RaphaJ

Andy Verrall @andyverbals

SIGMA-SPORT SPECIALIZED

TEAM @teamsigmasport

TEAM SKY

TEAM @TeamSky

Greg Henderson @greghenderson1

Russell Downing @russdowning

Chris Froome @chrisfroome

John Lee Augustyn @jlaugustyn

Simon Gerrans @simongerrans

Kurt Asle Arvesen @kaarvesen

Bradley Wiggins @bradwiggins

Kjell Carlstrom @kjellcarlstrom

Serge Pauwels @sergepauwels

Ben Swift @swiftybswift

These are the teams that I have so far. Obviously, when I get more, I will update this post with the additional info. I have also created a page dedicated to these teams and their online profiles. Make sure to bookmark it.

Orbea – For Goodness Shakes 2010 Team Launch

The Orbea - For Goodness Shakes Men's and Woman's Team for 2010

Just under two weeks ago, the Sunday following the Endura Team launch, I attended the launch of the newly created Orbea-For Goodness Shakes cycling team.  The launch took place at the Redbridge Cycling Centre, or Hog Hill as it’s known to many of the cyclists that frequent its track.

But this was a launch like no other in the UK. Why? Well, because its the only UK professional cycling to also announce a woman’s cycling squad in their team line up.

Together with my friend Peter from Shutt Velo Rapide, we saw the day start off with team manager, Stephen Charles, introducing the men’s squad and then the woman’s squad to the waiting audience, which included team sponsors, friends and family. But the second main announcement for the day was that the woman’s squad was being headed up by Olympic Individual Pursuit Gold Medallist, Rebecca Romero MBE.

The Orbea-For Goodness Shakes Woman's Squad (From L-R: Caroline Gammel, Janet Birkmyre, Rebecca Romero, Emilie Fisher, Cassie Gledhill)

According to the team’s offical press release for the launch:

The Men’s Squad brings together a talented mix of youth and experience, captained by the former GB rider Andy Lyons. With the experience of Lyons, Dean Shannon and Ben Thompson to guide them, expectations are high for the talented youngsters, Dan Kogan, Marcel Six, Steven Griffiths, Lewis Atkins and Kristian Downs to come through and shine in the mixture of Domestic and Continental racing the team will undertake in 2010.

With Olympic Gold Medallist Rebecca Romero MBE heading the Women’s Squad alongside Multiple National and World Masters Champion Janet Birkmyre, Cassie Gledhill, Caroline Wojcik-Gammell and Emilie Fisher, there is a wealth of talent and experience designed to deliver results on the road, in time trials and on the track.

Following the UCI’s decision to eliminate the individual pursuit from the Olympic programme, Romero has decided to turn to the Road Time Trial and will aim for glory at September’s World Road Championships in Melbourne. By joining the OFGS squad, this will give her the opportunity to focus on the road and develope her time trial skills.

The Orbea-For Goodness Shakes 2010 Men's Squad (From L-R back row: mechanic Andrew Brown, James Whatling, Kristian Downs, Andy Lyons, Stephen Charles, Matt Ewings, Ben Thompson, Marcel Six, mechanic Dan Kouglan. Front row L-R: Dean Shannon, Adam Norris, Lewis Atkins, Steven Griffiths, Dan Kogan)

The Orbea – For Goodness Shakes Men’s Squad are:

• Lewis Atkins
• Kristian Downs
• Matt Ewings
• Steven Griffiths
• Daniel Kogan
• Andy Lyons (Team Captain)
• Adam Norris
• Dean Shannon
• Marcel Six
• Ben Thompson
• James Whatling

The Orbea – For Goodness Shakes Woman’s Squad are:

• Janet Birkmyre
• Emilie Fisher
• Cassie Gledhill
• Rebecca Romero MBE (Team Captain)
• Caroline Gammell

Looking at this line up, I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of the team this year, in both the men’s and woman’s racing!

And don’t forget to check out the team’s Facebook page, and you can also follow them on Twitter if you’d like to be kept up to date with the their developments and progress.