A new British racing team is aiming to support its riders to compete across cycling disciplines, with big name sponsors backing the squad.
Spectra-Wiggle powered by Vitus were unveiled on Friday (April 16) as a new UK-based racing team for both men and women, racing on the road, and in the mountain bike and cyclocross scenes.
The team, who aim to obtain UCI licences across all three disciplines, said they aim to shake up the status quo of cycling, with a gender-blanaced line-up of riders, and are looking to compete in traditional races, while also taking on challenges and records outside of the usual cycling norm.
Team principal Bruce Dalton commented “We think that building a different path for the sport starts with teams taking the step to do things differently. We want to inspire others to do the same and for riders to look beyond riding just one style of cycling."
Operations manager Josh Hand added: “We were keen to try and get out of the rut that cycling has been in, repeating the same thing with an expectation of different results.”
The team, which features riders like cyclocrosser Beth Crumpton, former British cyclocross champion Ian Field, and the world number one Zwift racer Christophe McGlinchey, is sponsored by online sports retailer Wiggle and French bike builder Vitus, which is owned by Wiggle’s parent company.
Wiggle’s Head of Marketing Sarah Pain said: “Wiggle has huge respect for amateur and pro racing teams, but the ethos of Team Spectra offers something new and valuable to the sport. It’s an exciting new perspective and way of doing things that makes elite cycling more accessible to everyone. We hope cyclists of all stripes find the launch of Team Spectra just as inspirational as we do.”
Vitus brand marketing manager Alex James added: “Vitus is excited to be working with a team that’s going out with the intention of doing something different within cycling. As a brand, we are keen to support real racing, and are looking forward to seeing the team compete across a variety of disciplines on our bikes .”
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The team’s first goal is to become a UCI-registered cyclocross team from September and will be officially launching their kit in the next month.
Spectra-Wiggle powered by Vitus line-up
Beth Crumpton
Abbie Taylor
Hannah Larbiester
Hannah Payton
Xan Crees (U23)
Amira Mellor
Mikey Mottram
Ian Field
Ben Chilton (U23)
Dan Barnes (u23)
Bruce Dalton
Chris McGlinchey
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