Wilier/BigMaggys.com/Prendas Ciclismo Aim High in 2010

Jerseyman and CCC rider Chris Spence joins UK team

Story posted March 11, 2010; Team Press Release on the British Cycling Website

Luckwell targets his team winning Premier Calendar in 2010

The Wilier/BigMaggys.com/Prendas Ciclismo rider and team manager, Ben Luckwell, nailed his colours to the mast at the team launch at the Hotel Collingwood in Bournemouth on Friday 26th February when he announced that the team wants to win the prestigious road racing series organised by British Cycling.

“We have kept the core of the team this year and then expanded on it” said Luckwell. “Last year we had seven riders, but this year we made the decision to move to a ten-man team and we have set ourselves some big targets. We were disappointed to lose Jonathan Tiernan Locke to Rapha Condor this year but we are delighted to keep the other six core members of the team which include Elite riders Marcin Bialoblocki and Will Bjergfelt.”

“We have four new team mates who will add strength to the team, each with different areas of speciality and abilities. Ian Rees is the team sprinter and a prolific winner who had ten wins last year. Jon Pain is a good solid all-rounder and excellent team worker. Chris Spence is a very experienced rider from Jersey who has already been pre-selected for the Commonwealth Games in India this year. Chris is another all-rounder and a good climber on his day. The final new name is former Great Britain rider Matt Rowe who joins us from the Pinarello team. Matt is on the short list for the Welsh team at the Commonwealth Games and is a very talented young rider with a big future ahead of him.”

With twenty-seven victories and over forty further top three placings, the Sport Beans/Wilier team enjoyed an incredibly successful 2009. The team finished fourth in the British Cycling national team rankings and the first non UCI registered squad. With new sponsors and a bigger and stronger squad, the team will be looking for even greater success in 2010.

Polish rider Marcin Bialoblocki was a major part of the team’s success last year despite breaking his collarbone during the season. He finished third in the national rankings with ten victories and an additional forty podium spots. His biggest victory came in the Premier Calendar event, the Girvan 3-day stage race in Scotland.

“It was a priority for us to keep hold of Marcin,” continued Luckwell: “There were other teams that were interested in him but obviously he had a brilliant season with us last year and he is progressing every year. In 2008, he finished eighth in the Premier Calendar and he claimed third place last year behind Russell Downing (Pinarello) and Ian Wilkinson (Halfords). I don’t see why he can’t win it this year. Downing has moved to Team Sky and this leaves this year’s Premier Calendar wide open. I don’t think we are being unrealistic to think that Marcin can possibly win it but if he doesn’t, I think he will be right up there in second or third.”

“The Premier Calendar is going to be our main objective along with the Elite Criterium Series and we are simply out to win as many races as possible,” continued the veteran professional who missed most of last season with a broken foot. “We have a good chance of winning every race we enter.”

Other team riders also claimed the podium top spot last year. Will Bjergfelt won the early season Perfs Pedal Race and the Totnes Vire 2-day. Grant Bayton won the Python Road Race, Mark Perry was double South Region Champion and Billy-Joe Whenman took the verdict in the London Grand Prix.

Luckwell talks confidently about his team this year. “People might not know Ian Rees because he raced locally for the past few years but he has got a phenomenal sprint. If we can get him to the finish after a relatively easy ride, I don’t think there are many people in the country that can out sprint him. We have four good climbers in the team. Will (Bjergfelt) and Chris (Spence) are good climbers when they are on form. Marcin (Bialoblocki) and Mark (Perry) are always consistent when the road starts to climb.”

“We have got a bit of a mix in the team. We have a few young riders that we can help to bring them on and teach them a few things and they will improve as they go along.”

New team sponsor and former Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt went along to the launch to support the team as they pulled on the new team strip showing BigMaggys.com on the shirt front and sleeve. “The BigMaggys.com business came about in a funny way,” said Backstedt: “We sent a couple of the MagnusMaximusCoffee.com team over to Jersey to ride the town centre race last year. We made some friends over there and we decided to set up a coffee shop and my coffee is now being produced over there too.”

“Developing potential world class riders is something that I am very interested in and sponsorship of the Wilier team made good sense,” continued Backstedt: “It is a little bit of a strange feeling being here as a sponsor. It is great to see that everything is well organised and I think the team will have an excellent year.”

The team started their season with two races the following day. Grant took victory in the latest round of the Upavon Winter Series, with Marcin 3rd and Jon 5th, before the team travelled to Devon for the Springtime Pursuit, where Marcin took 2nd, Ben 3rd and Mark 5th. The first Sunday in March saw Grant Bayton take an excellent 3rd in the high quality Severn Bridge Road Race after teammate Mark Perry had been caught in sight of the finish line. Next weekend sees the team tackle the Roy Thame Cup and the Jock Wadley Memorial races.

 

Here's what Cycling Weekly had to say on 4 March 2010