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Kuota-road.cc pro cycling team launches

New team co-sponsored by your favourite cycling wesite makes debut at Eddie Soens Memorial

The Kuota-road.cc cycling team made its racing bow this weekend. Kuota-road.cc? Yes, there's been a change of sponsor after Planet X decided that criterium racing didn’t fit with its strategy – so we are proud to unveil the Kuota-road.cc team… we'll be unveiling the jersey soon but for their first race Kuota-road.cc rode in Continental kit.

The team made its debut at the Eddie Soens Memorial at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool on Saturday, more of which later, but first we’d like to introduce you to the riders and management, many of whom come from what was the Plowman Craven-Madison team which ran into problems last year after Plowman Craven hit financial problems.

We believe that it’s a talented set up which blends promise with experience, and we’re confident we’ll be celebrating many successes on the road in 2010 together wih co-sponsors Continental, High 5 Sports Nutrition and, of course main sponsor, Kuota. We will be bringing you plenty of news about the rider's progress throughout the season as well as some behind the scenes looks at their equipment, race preparations, and training schedules. So let's meet the team that raced at the weekend, we'll give you a full line-up with pics in their new team kit soon…

Manager – Eddie White

A widely-known and well-respected ex-professional and former National Junior Road Coach, Eddie has considerable experience in managing teams at National and World Championship level, and has been responsible for bringing a number of our current professionals through from the junior ranks.

Team Director – Cherie Pridham

Cherie is a former National Squad rider and competed seven times in the Tour de France Feminin and once in the Giro D’Italia Femminile. Cherie’s experience in working and bringing on young riders has been recognised at the highest levels of the sport.

Riders

Jeroen Janssen

 

Nicknamed “The Flying Dutchman” or simply “JJ,” the 25-year-old from the Netherlands is based in Loughborough and is a crit specialist and sprinter, with top ten placings in the Tour Series to his name. Winner of two rounds of the National Criterium Series, he was one of the fastest riders in the UK during 2009.

Jefte de Bruin

Another 24-year-old Dutchman, Jef is a former international speed skater before switching to cycling, with 11 victories, seven second places and five third places to his name in 2009. Ranked number two in the Netherlands, and came sixth on Stage 6 of UCI 2.2 category race, the Tour de Faso.

Jon Mozley

“Moz” is aged 22 and comes from Derby. A team sprinter with five wins in 2009, he is a crit specialist and a past winner of the Under-23 National Criterium Series.

Andy Tinsley

Nicknamed “Tinhead,” Andy hails from Burscough and is an elite category rider and criterium specialist, bringing years of experience to the team.

Martin Smith

Aged 39, Martin is based in Milton Keynes and is a sprinter and crit specialist and team domestique. Listed in the top 20 in the Elite rankings in 2009, his nickname is “Sarg.”

Dan Davies

Dan comes from Wolverhampton and is 23 years of age. He’s an all rounder with a particular talent for time trialling, is a past British Cycling Under-23 Time Trial Champion, and spent two years based in Belgium. Last year, he won the Points Competition Green Jersey in the Kalas Cup Two-Day event in Somerset.

Tom Martin

Aged 19 and living in Tamworth, Tom is a climber and all-rounder and the brother of Garmin-Slipstream’s Dan Martin.

Eddie Soens Memorial

Saturday's debut race at the Eddie Soens Memorial didn’t produce a maiden win for the team on its first outing – victory went to Joshua Edmondson of Motorpoint Marshalls Pasta – but the team, riding in Conti shirts while we get the new jerseys finalised, did provide a moment of drama when Jefte de Bruin was involved in a spectacular crash after being brought down and while he landed hard, Cherie assures us that nothing was broken.

Jon Mozley also managed to get himself into the spotlight, getting off the front early on with none other than Team Sky’s Ben Swift, who was riding the event as a break from his preparations for the World Track Championships in Copenhagen later this month.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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20 comments

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JJ the Flying D... | 14 years ago
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Martin told me that he did some BMX when he was a youth last Saturday...

Btw, the team is on twitter too, must team members too. Not too hard to guess what the team twitter is called I think  26

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JayBee replied to JJ the Flying Dutchman | 14 years ago
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Can you do some more digging next time you see him please?

If he's the same fella it would have been racing in Devon and Cornwall in the mid 1980's I'd guess!

Cheers

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JayBee | 14 years ago
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Is that Martin Smith, former BMX'er from the South West?

Reckon our paths may have crossed if it is!

Also migrated to MK from Devon if he's the same guy!

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Old Cranky | 14 years ago
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No problem  4

I just hope you have decent bidons and caps to give away to the young fans when your emotions become colourful language.

Good luck during the season!

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JJ the Flying D... | 14 years ago
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Sorry about that! Guess sometimes after a race with all the emotions you don't really think about it, must have been quite a race if I was swearing. Will do my best to avoid it!

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JJ the Flying D... | 14 years ago
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Think the plan is to ride the Cicle Classic yeh! I'm looking forward to race there. Will make sure I'll trim my beard or shave  3

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Old Cranky replied to JJ the Flying Dutchman | 14 years ago
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JJ the Flying Dutchman wrote:

Will make sure I'll trim my beard or shave  3

and keep the post-race language clean too  4 as my young kids might be nearby again  13

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James Warrener | 14 years ago
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You riding the East Midland Cicle Classic?

It is the day after my wedding but I am hoping to see it go past the venue  1

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Simon_MacMichael replied to James Warrener | 14 years ago
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jimmythecuckoo wrote:

It is the day after my wedding but I am hoping to see it go past the venue  1

Dedication, that's what we like  4

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Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
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 39 but as I understand it all the invited teams are sworn to secrecy until an official announcement of the lineups is made… which will be quite soon, or so I've been told

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Old Cranky | 14 years ago
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I read in a weekly cycling journal that Team Corley had been re-invited so I wonder what teams will make up the other 9 places.

The team application form on the tour series website (http://www.tourseries.co.uk/TEAMAPPLICATIONFORM.pdf) indicates that the decision was made on the 19th February  26

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Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
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The Tour Series teams haven't been announced yet…

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Old Cranky | 14 years ago
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Have you got an entry into the Halfords Tour Series?

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Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
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Sadly probably not - although Planet X will be riding in something pretty similar to that light blue shirt that was the favourite.

The problem with the original designs is that they don't fit in with Kuota's corporate colour scheme and they want a jersey they feel that they can sell to people buying new Kuota bikes. We're kicking variations on a theme back and forth at the mo… but we don't have much time.

What we will probably do is have a team jersey and then have another road.cc jersey (as was suggested by a couple of people on that original jersey story) based on those designs… we really liked them and were loathe to give up on 'em, but Kuota are putting a big stick of cash in and they also came in at the last moment so fairs fair.

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Simon E replied to Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
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tony_farrelly wrote:

The problem with the original designs is that they don't fit in with Kuota's corporate colour scheme and they want a jersey they feel that they can sell to people buying new Kuota bikes.

Kuota are putting a big stick of cash in and they also came in at the last moment so fairs fair.

Well done Kuota!

Shortly after I replied it occurred to me that the previous design may not fit with their brand identity/colourscheme. Look forward to seeing the end result - and the team doing their thing.

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Simon E | 14 years ago
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Will the jersey design we helped choose be the basis for the new one? I guess we'll find out shortly.....

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Veloiste | 14 years ago
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Many congratulations on the new team - will watch progress this year with much interest. Looking forward to seeing the new jersey too.

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JJ the Flying D... | 14 years ago
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Small correction, I'm 25  1

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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Kuota, nice choice!

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James Warrener | 14 years ago
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Well done for getting the team off the ground.

I wondered what was happening when it all went quiet with Planet-X.

Good luck for the season.

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