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American Biking has taken flight for the 2023 highway season within the US, making an announcement by way of social media on Saturday that the brand new males’s home elite squad would characteristic Michael Hernandez, who was the staff chief with the previous Finest Buddies Racing staff that folded in September. The staff introduced an eight-rider roster.
Finest Buddies Racing have been some of the dominant males’s groups on the North American criterium racing scene the previous two years, successful the lads’s staff standings within the season-long American Criterium Cup. That squad was led by Thomas Craven, who additionally directed the Hincapie Racing staff for a few years, and he returns to steer American Biking, confirming to Cyclingnews that the squad will focus solely on criterium occasions.
“There’s a lot momentum on the market, with our staff from final 12 months, and I wished to remain on the forefront of sponsorship in addition to companions and the game. We’re for certain making an attempt to construct this staff as a mannequin for the longer term. We’re greater than a one and carried out,” Craven informed Cyclingnews.
“We’re making an attempt to be rather more strategic about the place we’ll race. We’ll do the American Criterium Cup stuff in addition to all these different unbiased, good races, like Arlington, Somerville and Athens. We’ll do all of the crits, we won’t do any stage races. We’ll go to beginner nationals, however once more, there is no profit for us to go Professional nationals.”
Craven will reunite a number of of the Finest Buddies alumni who competed alongside Hernandez, together with Robert Sierra, Danny Summerhill and Ben Wolfe. Brendan Rhim final competed on the Continental degree with Wildlife Era, taking three victories in 2022 together with the second on the Armed Forces Biking Traditional and a second on a stage on the UCI 2.1 Turul Romaniei. He additionally raced 5 seasons with the Hincapie programme.
Three Colombians might be on the staff, together with Jaime Castrañeda who had a stable 12 months of racing with Emanuel Ibarry and 2NDBIKE final season with 9 high 10s. Sebastian Cano is a former velocity skater who’s the reigning masters 35-39 Florida State highway champion. Jordan Parra has a background in highway and monitor biking.
Hernandez will race within the stars-and-stripes US champion’s jersey having received the lads’s beginner criterium title in early July. He then made headlines for a disqualification, and three-month suspension, for his involvement in a multi-rider fist battle after the Salt Lake Criterium. Sierra accepted a one-month suspension for his involvement in the identical incident.
The staff confirmed it’s going to incorporate an icon of an American eagle for a yet-to-be unveiled equipment, saying “the eagle represents our desires”. Hincapie Sportswear will produce racing and staff attire, and BMC is on board because the bicycle companion with LUN wheels and a Shimano 12-speed arrange. Kask will present helmets and 1st Endurance is the vitamin sponsor.
The staff will begin its season with a brief camp and races in Florida, as one of many high traders, Pablo Santa Cruz, CEO of Topview Worldwide, relies out of Tampa.
“Pablo’s been concerned in biking, soccer and auto racing, so he has a imaginative and prescient for biking – junior biking, in addition to skilled biking. So he is actually helped get this venture going,” Craven added.
They’ve inquired about becoming a member of forces with a girls’s staff to qualify for participation within the new Nationwide Biking League however haven’t heard again from NCL administration. These days, American Biking will concentrate on energetic engagement with sponsors and followers at distinguished criterium occasions which have lengthy histories of success.
“We have type of recognized for weekends that we’ll be doing a little larger occasions across the staff and races. The primary one goes to be Athens Twilight,” Craven stated. “We will have sponsors and potential companions all becoming a member of us at that race, and near 100 folks on the occasion with us alongside the sidelines with all of us there. So it ought to be fairly cool.”
American Biking staff roster 2023
- Michael Hernandez (USA)
- Sebastian Cano (COL)
- Robert Sierra (USA)
- Danny Summerhill (USA)
- Jordan Parra (COL)
- Brendan Rhim (USA)
- Ben Wolfe (USA)
- Jaime Castañeda (COL)
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