Love Child of Stans and Champ Sys ?
Love Child of Stans and Champ Sys ?
NYVC: Hi, Igor. I have to ask this first becuase I’m a bit confused;
isn’t there already a Stan’s NoTubes team? How did we get two No Tubes teams in
the CRCA? Did you take the sponsor from the existing team?
isn’t there already a Stan’s NoTubes team? How did we get two No Tubes teams in
the CRCA? Did you take the sponsor from the existing team?
Igor Volshteyn: I think it’s a little inaccurate to just call us both “NoTubes” teams.
Yes, we are both sponsored by Stan’s NoTubes (SNT), and both of our teams will
compete exclusively on tubeless technology in 2012, but SNT is our presented
by sponsor while it is the title sponsor of SNT/AXA. The distinction between the
two levels of sponsorship is significant and it’s actually not unique in cycling for
two teams to share sponsors at different sponsorship levels. There are a couple
of teams and relationships that come to mind. There’s Kenda/5-Hour Energy Pro
Cycling p/b GEARGRINDER and Jelly Belly Cycling Team p/b Kenda. In addition
there’s the GEARGRINDER Pro Development Team. One other that comes to mind
is UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team and Chemstar p/b UnitedHealthcare Cycling
Team.
When we were introduced to SNT, it was our understanding that they were
interested in adding another road team to their sponsorship program. And even in
my introductory email, because I thought it was the right thing to do, I made it very
clear that we were not interested in stealing the sponsorship of any other team.
In addition, we were told early on that SNT would continue its title sponsorship of
SNT/AXA in 2012, so for us it really felt like a win-win for everybody. SNT after all
is a New York based company, so I’m not sure it’s at all surprising that they want to
support New York based teams. And it’s not just men’s teams and NYC, SNT is also
working with teams such as the NYVelocity women’s team and even title sponsoring
the Great American Cycling Series which includes races such as the Tour of the
Battenkill.
Knowing the type of races that SNT/AXA will most likely target, we are very focused
on making sure our race schedule provides SNT very differentiated exposure.
There are also a number of other things we are looking to do on the ground that
will differentiate ourselves from the SNT/AXA team. Just because both teams are
based in NYC doesn’t mean it’s exclusively our “target market” and I think that with
both teams SNT will see a very thorough level of local, national and international
exposure with very little overlap. So to finish answering your questions, I don’t
believe it’s our job to concern ourselves with the corporate decisions of SNT…we
leave that completely to SNT.
NYVC: Another confusing point, there already is a pro Champion System team, what is
your relationship to them, if any, and why do they need two teams? Will you race
each other, help each other? And could we see a race where it’s Champ Sys vs SNT vs
Champ Sys/SNT- confusing right?
Igor Volshteyn: Champion System has sponsored our team since 2005. Last year Champion
System formed a Continental team and this year they have made the historic step
of launching the first ever Asian-based UCI Pro Continental team. However, my
understanding is that the Pro Continental Team will not have much of a focus on
the US this year. I think that’s the value that Champion System sees in us. We have
really elevated our program, so I truly believe we can provide them the type of
exposure that they are seeking in the States. In the years to come, we would hope
to aspire to a level that would allow us to be a formal development program for
the Champion System Pro Team. I think you will see some hint of that this year
as Champion System will be sending a few riders to race with us this summer in
order to develop some skills that aren’t as easy to necessarily develop in Asia.
But in terms of racing together, I think the chances of that are very remote and we
have enough communication between the two programs to make sure we avoid
any unwanted conflicts. Not to mention the type of UCI license the Pro team holds
pretty much prevents it from doing non-UCI events and the UCI events it would
likely look to do in the States would not be something that we would be eligible for.
NYVC: Thanks for allaying my fears. So explain how this all came together then.
Igor Volshteyn: Ok, so last year I raced with Jonathan Adler and started getting close with Greg
Olsen and Mitch Jacaruso who were also part of the team. The three of us all shared
a strong desire to not only give back to the sport but also to grow the team to
compete on more of a national level. With this in mind, we started to test the waters
and entered the team in a couple of major NRC/UCI stage races such as the Tour de
Toona and the Tour of Elk Grove (which included riders such as Olympian Bobby
Lea).
At the same time, the Champion System Racing team, which had been managed
by Andrew Kozak for the last few years, and was founded by Ray and Rennie
Alba, was going through a bit of a rebuilding period and was looking to jumpstart
things for the following season. Greg, Mitch and I decided late summer that we
would each make a personal financial contribution to help start this team that we
envisioned. From there, things really just started to snowball and finally began
to cement following the Univest Grand Prix (where I actually rode for Champion
System). Kozak and Champion System came on board and immediately raised the
prospects and scale of the program. Around the same time, Chris Johnson, who we
had approached as a possible rider but was not initially available, departed the
Stan’s NoTubes/ AXA Equitable team. I had raced with Chris the previous summer
on 2 separate composite teams, which were ironically both sponsored by Champion
System and managed by Kozak. Chris had been helping SNT to produce marketing
material for the road line and made the introduction to SNT once he learned
they were looking to increase their presence in the road market. From there, the
structure of the team really started to take shape and we focused our attention on
filling out the roster.
NYVC: Will we see the "Elite team" racing locally in NYC, either at open races or in the
CRCA? Almost none of them seem to live in the city, correct?
Igor Volshteyn: Yes, you will definitely see the entire team at various local events. While we are
going to be registered with USA Cycling as a Domestic Elite team, which is a nice
distinction by USA Cycling for aspiring teams like ours, we are also part of CRCA
this year. Many of the riders, including myself, have been part of CRCA for many
years and it was a no brainer for us to embrace them. While we will be doing some
international races as a team, being present locally is also very important to us.
As far as riders living in the city, I define the “Elite team” as the Cat 1s, of which
we have 11. Of those 11, I would say that 7 of us are local (living right across the
GWB makes you local in my opinion). In order to be competitive on a national
and international level, we obviously have to draw from areas outside of NYC, but
between one rider in Allentown and two other riders from suburbs of New Jersey,
all but one of our riders are definitely regional and close enough that they could be
considered local in many places.
NYVC: There are sort of three levels to the new team, and you have from Cat 4s to
Cat 1s, is that correct? Can you explain how it works- What races does each team
compete in and how is it decided who gets on which team?
Igor Volshteyn: The focus of our program is on the Cat 1s and 2s. We have very few riders
outside of that and all of those riders are either non-racers from the respective
legacy teams, management, sponsors or sponsor liaisons. In terms of how we
determine the roster for each race, it will be a balance of racers that we feel
have a shot at making the podium and those that are capable of providing the
support necessary for that goal. It’s really not any more complex than that and we
fortunately have a team that I believe has many riders that are perfectly content
playing both roles depending on the type of race. The only thing I would add is that
for the Cat 2s, our goal is that each racer is well on his way to becoming a Cat 1, so
instead of just playing support roles, we are also going to look for opportunities for
them to shine through participation in Cat 2 only races.
NYVC: You said earlier that one of your goals was to give back to the community, besides
the racing team what exactly do you have in mind?
Igor Volshteyn: I’m happy you asked that. Yes, that is absolutely a core principle of what this
team is going to be about. First, as you may know, CRCA has recently formed a
not-for-profit entity called the CRC Development Foundation and Ken Harris is the
President as well as Director of the CRCA junior team. We are very happy to have
Ken continue with our program after several years of racing with Adler. As part of
our mission to establish a true development platform in the NYC area, we plan to
work closely with Ken and his athletes so that in the seasons to come we can create
a seamless transition between the programs that will allow very talented local
juniors to move into our program as they graduate from the junior ranks.
Second, we are working with CRCA to put a criterium on the CRCA open calendar
for this season. Our sponsor, Scott Snyder, has a restaurant in Kenilworth, NJ
(BoulevardFive72) and has strong ties to the community there. He is helping us
work with the city to make this a reality. Not only do we hope that we can bring
another high quality event to the area, but our mission is to put all of the proceeds
to charity. What a lot of people may not know is that we have our own not-for-
profit that was established many years ago by Ray and Rennie Alba. Ray and Rennie
continue to be an integral part of our program and we hope to build on their passion
for charitable causes.
And lastly, we are very happy to be able to offer everybody in NYC an opportunity
to personally test the terrific tubeless technology of SNT. Mark Purdy from iFIXBYX
will be running a formal SNT wheel demo program from his bike shop. Mark was a
very early adopter of tubeless himself and I don’t think there is anybody in this area
that has converted more wheels to tubeless. We hope that many of your readers
will be able to test the technology first hand.
NYVC: You also mentioned some International racing? Can you elaborate on this, what is
the schedule looking like?
Igor Volshteyn: Yeah, we’re really excited about the schedule. Right now two of our riders are
actually in China attending the Champion System Pro Racing team training camp.
In late February we are sending a few riders to compete in the Dominican Republic
for the UCI Vuelta Independencia Nacional and then in March we will be sending a
full squad to Brazil for the UCI Giro do Interior de Sao Paulo. Matthew Koschara has
come on board as the Director of Performance and has a pretty ambitious schedule
for the boys this year. You will see us field elite squads at select UCI America Tour
races and a lot of the NRC and NCC events; we also hope to make it to Asia at some
point towards the later part of the racing season. But again, we intend to have a
strong presence locally, as the local races and local cycling community were really
the catalyst for this team to begin with. We’re looking to make a splash, but we’re
also looking to create a program that will be around for years to come and will
continue to grow.
NYVC: Where do you see the team in say four years if all goes well, do you have
ambitions of racing to become a UCI pro team?
Igor Volshteyn: Sure, it would be fun to run a pro team, but that’s not what this is really about
for us. The mission right now is to create a real development program for the NYC
region, something like Toga used to have. If we do this right, there may eventually
be an opportunity to elevate our program to something similar to the development
programs run by Garmin, RadioShack and BMC. But before we start dreaming about
something like that, I would personally be ecstatic to just have a successful 2012
season and not have too many hiccups in the process.
NYVC: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Is there anything else you
would like to share?
Igor Volshteyn: Thank you, we’re looking forward to a fun year and thanks for your interest in
the team. If you have a minute, please check us out at www.champsysracing.com.
New York, NY (FPRC) January 24th, 2012
Champion System and Stan’s NoTubes Create a New U.S. Based Elite Team
Champion System and Stan’s NoTubes have expanded their support of cycling by
creating a new U.S. based elite team for the 2012 season. The new Champion System
p/b Stan’s NoTubes/CRCA team will be based in New York City, registered with USA
Cycling as a Domestic Elite Team and is an official development program for the
Champion System Pro Cycling Team based in Asia.
“We’re very excited to be working with Champion System and Stan’s NoTubes on
this new program,” says managing director Igor Volshteyn. “Having the support and
experience of a company like Champion System behind us is amazing. Partnering
with Stan’s NoTubes is key as their tubeless technology is revolutionizing the road
bike industry and will provide us with a significant competitive advantage.”
The team will focus on select UCI America Tour races, National Race Calendar races
and National Criterium Calendar races, as well as some opportunities in Asia. “First
up for the team will be the UCI Giro do Interior de Sao Paulo in Brazil from March
14-March 18,” says Director of Performance Matthew Koschara. Koschara, a former
pro with the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team and Team Shaklee, who has almost
100 career victories to his name, will oversee the elite riders.
In line with the partnership with the Champion System Pro Cycling Team, the
team will host a number of developing Asian riders in the US during the spring and
summer months. “This program will allow developing Hong Kong and other Asian
based riders a direct way to travel and race in the US,” says Louis Shih of Champion
System, “kind of like an exchange program.” Adding to the exchange element of
the program, the U.S. based Domestic Elite Team currently has two of its riders
attending the Champion System Pro Cycling Team training camp on the island of
Hainan in China.
Team sponsors include : Champion System, Stan’s NoTubes, Morrison Foerster,
Lenox Advisors, Hahn Family Wines/Cycles Gladiator, IRC Tire, iFIXBYX, MOJO
Compression Socks, Henry’s and BoulevardFive72 Restaurants, DrinkUpNY,
enduranceWERX and Clif Bar & Company.
2012 Domestic Elite Roster:
Gavriel Epstein (CAN)
Richard Gargiulo (USA)
Chris Gruber (CAN)
Tony Hall (USA)
Colin Jaskiewicz (USA)
Chris Johnson (USA)
Gregory Olsen (USA)
Sean Smith (USA)
Zoltan Tisza (HUN)
Roberto Torres-Aguiar (PUR)
Igor Volshteyn (USA)
Management is comprised of Igor Volshteyn, Andrew Kozak, Mitchell Jacaruso,
Gregory Olsen, Matthew Koschara, Chris Johnson, Ray Alba and Rennie Alba.
Champion System p/b Stan’s NoTubes/CRCA is owned and operated by 9W Sports
Group LLC.
Contact:
Igor Volshteyn, Managing Director
Champion System p/b Stan’s NoTubes
Igorvols@yahoo.com
www.champsysracing.com
is there still an adler team this year?
Nope. There will be no Adler team this year.
The infamous Capcha question will need to be updated, as Adler rides off into the sunset. Smartly, of course.
Well then I hope ChampSys p/b SNT rides a smart race!
racing for this year?
RIP Adler.
Adler rode a good derriere…http://www.jonathanadler.com/kiki-s-derriere/?cat=701&initial=
Adler schmadler…..THE question of the day is for whom, or what, will DA be riding in 2012?
so, who are the lower cat guys on the team? where is the roster?
Think of the $ these guys and Axa will save on not having to buy inner tubes this year. Inconceivable!
Please see the link to the entire team roster
http://champsysracing.org/team/
way to screw over the existing guys on Champ Sys. but hey, this is NYC and the guy with the most money wins
Adler raced a very smart takeover
Who is Will Schneider riding for this year?
Team Results p/b Bro
is it me or did all the out casts find themselves a home? you guys should see if you can get radioshack and nissan to sponsor you as well-i mean it’s common to go after the same sponsors. it really sets you apart.
” Ok, so last year I raced with Jonathan Adler and started getting close with Greg Olsen and Mitch Jacaruso..” That is my favorite line. Gavi should fit right in.
What happened to Jonathan Adler? Rumor was they ended sponsorship, but this sounds like a different scenario. Big loss of a loyal sponsor.
isn’t mengoni to foundation moving the wrong direction?
Chumps p/b Shite NT
“our goals are to dominate the clubs races like Will “zultz brah” Duane Schneider has dominated the Group Rides…”
Women’s team?
Junior’s? looks like they co-op the “BS separate nothing to do with CRCA”, CRCA development slush fund…nice…more smoke and mirrors
The home furnishing business is slow
Adler to Home Shopping Network.
Yeah I can’t believe a sponsor would bail on the opportunity to continue having its name associated with THIS SHIT.
right on.
HA, look at the list of “managers”. Too many “kooks” in this kitchen. Good luck with that.
Good luck to the new team and congrats on making the vision a reality. These are organized, motivated and talented guys – no wonder why they are successful in their careers – and they have applied those skills to support their passion – awesome!
Do you turkey’s know how challenging it is to get a new team off the ground? You’re a bunch a critics – all talk, no action.
Chapeau to all that take initiative and make the effort to improve the sport, the local racing scene, CRCA and their own lot. If you can do better, or want to be part of a solid team – then do something about it. You think others are jokers – show them on the road. Talk = cheap.
These guys have made their own success – lessons for us all.
Good luck guys.
Cry all you want about these guys, but every single one of you would say “Yes, Sir” if they called and asked if you wanted to be on the team.
Team Dunkin Donuts p/b Man’s No Boobs.
IS it available as an iBook download?
He and his two but buddies (just keeping the hate going) are constantly trashing Lance and who ever else they please… setting a perfect forum here at nyvelocity.
I’m not saying they are wrong, as I’m not saying the haters don’t have reasons to hate.
I personally love the shake up, and look forward to these local power houses to do battle.
“but” buddies? We’re more “and” buddies if anything…
CRCA Most Hung Rider 2012: [ ? ]
What we are seeing is that instead of buying a new groupo or frame they bought a whole team. I’m interested to see how Smith and Epstein pan out in the NRC and UCI races. By having a lot of last years talent travel, I think we will see a very different team fielded at the CRCA events.
I want this team back:
Slokar
Albergotti
Tron
Kansas
Riseth
Peppo
Olson
The Cat4s powerhouse back in 2007!
Wow, this thread seems to have taken a sharp and deviant turn to the childish realm of attempted butt/dick/condom humor.
Take a sec to look at our facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/champsysracing
the captcha for this quote was “Who rode a smart race? Adler or the Mets”
Thanks,
Ariel Mendez
I think I was just passed on the right by more than a whiff of self-important self-promotion
Holdja line!
Enter the era of douchebags buying their own cycling teams for no other reason than ego. I have a lot of respect for anyone who can climb the USAC points system in their late-30s and get to Cat 1, but there’s a few hundred other guys TWENTY YEARS younger, hungrier, and poorer who will be doing anything to get that prize money in the big boy races. Is Olsen willing to put everything on the line in a crashfest like the Athens Twilight or Giro de la Bullshito E-stage E-race against guys, pro riders mind you, who are one meal out of poverty? I doubt it.
This “article” is a lot of hype for a bunch of guys in their 40s about to get fucking smoked by KBS and the rest of the NRC teams. These guys have NO IDEA what they’re in for. I wish them luck – they are going to need it.
It’s funny seeing these hotshots go and race with the pros in Tour of Somerville and get crapped out the back by the Pros and real Cat 1 racers!
Adler wearing the ChampSys logo!? What next? Bike Nashbar shoes and gloves?
The horror… the horror.
Crash and Burn: and you’ve been there so you know how hard it is, right? Right….
Oh wait, that’s right, you read about how tough it is on Velosnooze, maybe even rode a few laps around Central Park in the rain, ergo, you’re an expert.
Face it, after years of toiling away as pack fodder in Cat 4 or maybe even Cat 3, you still can’t upgrade, hence your rage/jealousy. And since you’re probably eligible for masters categories, you get your ass smoked by Cat 1-2 masters there as well.
Frankly, you might as well hang up the bike. Or maybe get one of the new pedal-based power meters and a Di2 kit. At least you’ll impress someone at Runcible Spoon.
Isn’t that what it’s all about?
Looks like you guys got a lot of people that have been asked to leave Empire/AXA/Stans over the years
In the race for Runcible Spoon acceptance, to the victor goes the everything bagel.
I’m pretty sure only Greg is in his 40’s. Rick and Gavi are both early 20’s.
cool roster, bros. but it’s jacaruso, jaskiewicz, koschara.
All you haters need to stop drinking haterade and chill the f&%!out, dig? Get your online-training ass off the couch and go start your own team.
so, chabanov is with Foundation now? step down?
I wish these guys well and anyone with ambitious to help the Jr’s and promote NYC racing nationally should be applauded. Its good for NYC and the CRCA
Actually, the answer would be “no thanks.” To be that good, and maintain that good given the time and money sacrifice is just not possible for all but a few. Still, I admire these guys for their talent and perseverance, and wish them and the team the best of luck.
the Rapha team so I can look nice while going hard on Gimbels…
Good Luck, seems like a good team and I like the kits. One question, how is Olson going to race on those ugly Champ Sys bikes and box rimmed clincher no tube wheels? I hope they are some stealthy black aero bikes and deep rim tubs for him to run…
Who in the world races on box type clincher rims? Everybody is racing on deep dish Zipps, Mavics and HEDs!
Cutty!!! YOU BE CRACKIN ME UP YO
Why is this a bad thing. We need more guys stepping up with cash to fund this sport at the lower elite levels. I always say that if I hit the lottery big I would found an elite level cross team to travel around to the USGPS and Europe. yes it would be a hobby and a way for me to ride with the pros and get cool gear but it would also be a way to give talented elites who are not at the top level of sponsorship an opportunity to race on a real team with a real salary. Good for Olson and company for building something in NYC. Since Sakkonet and FiordiFrutta/Bikereg there has not been a great feeder team in a while (Mengoni does not count).
I saw Jacaruso sprint once to state line, he was actually going faster than Joy Behar’s mouth on The View. That’s no small feat.
kind of like Bloomberg and Romney
Megoni is a great feeder team, for foundation
Gavi
Lisban
Guzman
Almonte
Rafael Meran
Chabanov
Are they putting together a team this year?
Will the Champion System tour bus be parked at CP when they race CRCA? I heard there will be free hot dogs!
I like this site better when it was off line! Assheads
“Cat3’s never do anything in the A field anyways”
Definitely not true. Probably mostly the type of Cat3 who on their way up quickly (as opposed to the Cat3 lifer type, but plenty of them are competitive in the As.
I’m also alright with how the a, b, and c fields are setup. A 3/4 and 4/5 field would be fun. It might help to split up the 40-50 people riding for velocity each race.
Ariel and Zach were Cat 3’s most of the year and they were killing it in the CP races.
The CRCA races are fun. If you are not having fun you are donig it wrong. Don’t fix what ain’t broke.
These older guys. though accomplished cyclist locally, as Crash and burn points out, have worked hard to create a situation that allows the younger ones to race bigger races, they will not be going to these NRC races but rather giving them the younger “elite” guys the opportunity
Great to see a new team. Best of luck!
I love Greg’s speed racer goggles. He looks like a giant bug!
I hear pro-as-shit is coming back.
holy shit just race your bikes, podium gets the laughing rights
Pretty cool to see a new elite team emerging from the CRCA. Takes a lot of work to pull that off and be competetive on a national level. Good luck with the first season.
p/b and j.
do you ride smooth or nutty?
very smoov…
reality check for everyone before we get into another year of this shit. this is cycling in america. it’s bullshit at every level. get over yourselves.
Crash and Burn still hasn’t gotten over the 6th grade, when he was tossed in the dumpster by the glam rocker clique after school. Imagine getting hoisted by some dude with long curly white hair and pink tights. Or maybe that was a chick. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Kind of explains why he’s wearing lycra today, albeit with such open hostility.
I would hope so. No sense making the team of soigneurs sit outside.
When you say “born,” was the team given a natural birth? Who cut the cable?
cat 3-4 teams, seriously people?
why bother even entering in the A field.
CRCA should be split up C for cat5’s, B for 3/4’s and A for 1/2’s.
Cat3’s never do anything in the A field anyways
A better format may be 1,2,3 3/4 and 4/5
Although the current format is fine.
Also, I’m a cat 3, and I plan to do something in the A field.
Only about one month until the first race, it’s time for some preview of the CRCA season. We start with some brief news about developments in CRCA sub-teams and some promotion of the sponsors who help make our racing possible! The bulk of the information given here comes from the teams themselves. Nevertheless, if there are inaccuracies, do not hesitate to email the CRCA communications director (David Carr; email is communications[at]crca.net) and the items will be corrected.
Among sub-teams primarily focused on the men’s A field, one big news item is the demise of the Adler team as we knew it and the move of most of its members to a new, domestic elite Champion Systems p/b Stan’s No-Tubes CRCA sub-team. This team is composed primarily of cat. 1 and cat. 2 riders, many of whom will be doing club races when they are not racing the team’s schedule of UCI America Tour Races, the National Race Calendar, National Criterium Races, along with some opportunities in Asia. For more information about the team and their sponsors, see the interview on NYVelocity by Alex Ostoy with managing director of the team, Igor Volshteyn, and the team’s own website.
Foundation has added Dan Chabanov to their roster (among others). Dan is ranked number 1 among male cat. 1 racers in New York State and raced in the cross nationals. In addition, the team has moved to Jeff’s Bicycle Shop (79th-80th and 3rd) as the shop sponsor, and has an impressive cluster of equipment and major sponsors. For a list go to this link (but now add Duvin Adventures). Both Champion Systems and Foundation are CRCA sub-teams that are racing a national schedule along with local and regional races.
Pending sub-team application approval (and formal announcements), there are some other new teams planning to be part of the CRCA sub-team mix. Westwood Velo, which has been an outstanding local team for a number of years is entering the CRCA with 30+ new riders of various categories. As per Mark Alpert, the team will continue to put on two cyclecross races and the Silvermine/Longmeadow TT. Meanwhile, CJ Jammet, who was part of FGX has joined with members of what was once the Kingpin racing team to form a new Wafels and Dinges/NYC Velo multi-disciplinary (road, mountain, CX, etc.) team. More information will be forthcoming on that team when it’s ready. A couple of former members of the Setanta Team, Andrew Shapiro and Keith Goldman, are starting a team whose name sponsor is Bicycle Planet, along with other sponsors such as Champion Systems and EliteEndurance coaching. The roster is mostly cat. 3 and cat. 4 racers who frequent the Long Island Triangle Ride, some of whom are masters and a few of whom are newer, beginning racers. Finally, Sixcycle-RK&O, a team made up of graduates of the Siggi’s/NYVelocity program looks to be a part of the CRCA sub-team structure as well. Additional sponsors for this new team include Milk Studios, LG clothing, Litespeed bikes, and ifyxbikes service. Finally, Arc Racing, a team of cat. 3′s and 4′s is coming together and looking to add a few more racers to make up a roster of 10-12 to do Battenkill, the Tour of the Catskills, and other regional races. Other sponsors of this team include Performance Labs HC, Bike Dr. NYC, Castelli and Gasoline Alley Coffee.
The former BH-Garneau team has become the BH/Comedy Central team with the addition of three female riders from the former separate Comedy Central Team, Sarah Sauvayre Ellen Moses, and Becky Koh. On the men’s racing side, they added Evan Murphy, Alessandro Matteucci, Eli Mernit, and Warren St. John. Word is that they are switching to Castelli as their clothing sponsor. Goals remain, according to Andy Shen, “winning races and saving baby animals.â€
The bulk of the former FGX team has merged with members of the former TEANY team and added Veselka Restaurant as sponsor. After losing five key riders in 2011 (all cat 3’s), FGX has recruited a number of new cat. 3 riders, making up a roster now of 11 cat. 3 riders and 13 cat. 4 riders, many of whom will be racing in the masters 45+ and 50+ categories.
What was once the women’s Finishline-Gotham-Toga team has merged with Signature Cycles and Rockstar Games to start a new women’s CRCA sub-team. For more information see the announcement and press release.
What was once the NYVelocity Women’s racing team is becoming the Innervation Fitness/Stan’s No Tubes Women’s Racing Team. Added to their roster are Becca Schepps, Gina Rocco and MacKenzie Landers. This racing team is merging with the NYVelocity women’s team development program (with nine new racers). As per Anneliese Haines, “the team fields both a racing component, featuring category 2 and 3 racers and a unique development program that combines blood lactate testing, online training and group strength routines to foster new cycling talent in the area.â€
Finally, The Fuoriclasse team is happy to announce a new named sponsorship by Eumaeus Asset Management, the investment company of Llewellyn Connolly, a former CRCA racer for the Western Union/Moneygram team. In addition to the new named sponsor and continuing sponsors Betsy Hafkin and Bicycle Habitat, the team also has added the support of Dr. Harry Koster, a leading eye surgeon. With this support, the team looks forward to building on its 2011 success with more wins and new racers to add to its roster of three men and four women (including no 1 ranked in NYS cat. 1 female racer, Fabienne Gerard). More details to be available at the team website and the CRCA team news.
Many other teams continue (following is in alphabetical order).
Asphalt Green has recruited four racers (two men and two women) new to their roster that for 2012 includes Cat 3, Cat 4 and Cat 5 racers. They expect to have a total of 30-32 racers this season wearing a new kit (with Castelli).
The Dave Jordan-Zephyr team is now simply the“Dave Jordan Coaching†team, continuing with sponsors Leopard Cycles (frames) and Hermes-Sport.com (wheels) while adding several new ones (Purium Health Products, Saul Zion Physical Therapy, Thred (Marketing/Advertising Consulting), Richard Gray Gallery (Madison Ave), Boefly, Ciel Urban Bike Worx (65th and 1st), and Bike Doctor NYC. The team includes both male and female racers of the full range of categories, with offers of training rides, sessions, camps, etc. The team website and soon-to-be-updated facebook page have more details.
Die Hard-Think Racing will be “back in black†with a new black kit. See NYVelocity for a story about team leader, George Suter’s, incredible experience racing and crashing in the Masters Worlds in Fall 2011.
EnduranceWERX continues with its named sponsor, some new (mostly lower category riders) and additional sponsors Rotor Cranks and Chainrings, BONT boots, and DFS custum orthodics.
The Finkraft cycling team begins its second year as a CRCA sub-team with several new riders (Matthew Howard, Justin Lubeley, Jeff Mandell, Rob Lyons, Criag Rotile and Jocelyn Gertel) and some new sponsors: Giant Bicycles, Westwood Cycle Shop and Team Recovery.
The Gennaro’s team has added evidon as a sponsor and will have a newly designed kit in 2012.
The Global Locate team brings back a roster of five masters racers, including club masters champion Gerry Martinez.
The Gotham/Toga continues as well, adding adding cat. 3 racer Raul Galliano and three cat. 5′s to its roster of two other continuing cat. 3 racers.
Team Houlihan Lokey returns to the 2012 season with a strong roster of women, minus Raquel Miller (racing in Colorado this year), but plus Carol-Lynn Mills and Lisa Mirabella. Veteran racer Vinny Vicari, is leading the charge to build up the Men’s Squad and welcomes applications from interested candidates. In addition to continuing sponsors Houlihan Lokey and Mariella’s Pizza, the team has signed some new sponsors, including the Center for Hearing and Communication, The BMC Group, Inflection Point Media, and LIC Bicycles.
Team OrganicAthlete is looking forward to start 2012 with additional members and their long time sponsors Candle Cafe and Nutiva.
The Radical Media women’s team enters its tenth year in 2012 as a CRCA sub-team. They have added Liz Marcello and Laura Lee Vo to their roster and continue to support Damian Lopez in his preparation to compete in the 2012 para-olympic games.
The Setanta team continues to move toward a balanced roster of cat. 4 and cat. 3 racers, many of whom are now coached by the new coaching sponsor, Ken Lundgren of Elite Endurance Training Systems. Shown here is the 2012 kit redesign by team member Graham Macbeth.
The Sid’s Bikes NYC team has added eight new riders and will continue with their orange kit in 2012. Riding on the Cannondale Supersix EVO and CAAD 10 bikes (with SRAM and Zipp wheels), they aim to be a factor in all CRCA races, improve from last year’s results in the team competition, and add a podium finish in the NYS championship at Harriman to repeat podium results from 2011 at Battenkill and elsewhere.
Siggi’s/NYVelocity brings a big new batch of racers into the CRCA once again. They also have added as sponsors Transportation Alternatives (including adding TA’s president, Paul Steely White as a racer), LaFont accessories (www.lafont.com), and FXCM trading software (www.fxcm.com). Several other teams also continue with similar rosters and goals (e.g. Axis, Chomper Body), and many other teams not named here will continue as well, but no more specific information was available at the time of the writing of this piece.
Teams not continuing. In addition to Kingpin, Teany, and the separate Comedy Central Team not continuing, the Western Union team will not be a part of the CRCA mix in 2012. The Stan NoTubes/AXA team will continue, but not as a CRCA sub-team. As per team leader Henoch Getz, the Eastern Mountain Sports team has merged with the Scotto’s CRCA sub-team.
This is just a snapshot of developments underway among the sub-teams of the CRCA. Of course, once we get out of the park and our own races, CRCA is a team-club to itself, and we should look to work with other team-club members in out-of-town fields made up primarily of riders from other teams. Nevertheless, the sub-team dynamic is part of what keeps racing interesting in the park and hopefully this story adds something to your mid-winter racing chatter.
Feel free to send the communications director (David Carr; communications[at]crca.net) more info and ideas for future stories across the 2012 season: achievements of club members and their stories (propose an email interview!) and other information of interest to club members.
I do the A field
Too many old man cat3’s with no results in the A field…………see entire Brauer team
They should run a masters race
Do you wear protection when you do the A field?
yes but only in my mouth
CRCA Races should be:
Cat 5
Cat 4
Cat 3
Masters
Women
Juniors
where are the development races? these are “Club” races…no self respecting cat1-2 should be racing a Club race…
tell that to foundation!
they shipped in Cat1’s from the DR just to win the Team Cup
just run an open 123 race instead of these club races. Why not just have all open races. The cost cant be that much different, the WS united guys managed a great series with two officials and a camera
Want to make CRCA better? Whining on this forum isn’t going to help. Either run for office or actually take the time to speak to the club officers. They will listen to you and your ideas might get implemented.
Running races in the park as open races instead of club races is not a good idea. To put on a club race in the park you need about 50 marshals. Quality marshals don’t come cheap. The size of the park will not allow you to run more than 4 concurrent races, and we have all seen that sometimes even that is pushing the limits, there is no way to run more than 4 fields and put on a safe race. It’s pretty easy to figure it out if you do some math. There are quite a few lap times for the various fields posted on the CRCA web site.
PS, Schmalz, TMI. What you do with the A field is between you and the A field.
http://www.crca.net/results/races11/2011-club-races/
Guys in their early 20’s winning, guys in their 40’s winning. Guy who won 2 races gets up at 3am and drives an hour from CT to make the early starts. Boyd winner started out season as a Cat 3. Spinters won and breakaway guys won. Guys like Meran and Euris are supposed to win when they race. I dont think the club could have asked for less lopsided results in the A field.
“what would be so bad about opening the races to everyone?”
they are open to everyone–just pay the membership fee. you apparently have no problem paying a standard entry fee for other races, there’s really not much difference.
@Tegghiaio Lube
Look at the CRCA schedule. This year there will be open women’s racing concurrent with club races.
As far as running the club races as open races go, if that was done there would be very little incentive to join the club. You would also end up in a situation where you might not be able to have a race because you did not have enough marshals. Racing costs would also jump quite a bit as you would need to hire 50 marshals at $50 each. Not to mention that with lower membership you would have a much smaller pool of members to work as officers of the club. I see no benefit to going that route.
Shocking as it may seem, there is a world of racing out there beyond crca. You can, shockingly, participate in that. And when you need something close and local, crca fits the bill.
Why would the races be any less fun if they were open usac races? Four fields is plenty(run a 1/2 field, a 3 only field, a 4/5 field, and a womens field). Club members could still race cheap in exchange for marshaling a few races a year. The club could make a profit from non club members paying a little more. That could be put towards the jr program or womens racing or whatever. The various race formats are fun so what would be so bad about opening the races to everyone? As it stands the crca is the only game in town for womens racing so opening those fields to non crca women would only help bring more riders to the sport. Maybe this is a bit optimistic but I don’t really see a huge down side.
TELL ME OF THIS MAGICAL WORLD!!
ARE THERE CAT5’s WITHOUT CARBON WHEELS?
DO THEY HAVE RESULTS BRO?!?
I am tired of the “race somewhere else” argument. I am a hot shot business man and I want to race HERE
Soooo the guy who drives from CT…….gets up at 3am, eats/poops/drinks his coffee and leaves by 4am, drives an hour and get to the park at 5am………and then what?
Rides around for an hour and a half until 6:30?
Sounds like he would have won more races if he’d gotten some extra sleep
Raise your hand if you’ve done someone in the A field
I race CRCA for the camaraderie
The A races sound kinda kinky.
I don’t know how this guy can race thinking that he’s going into a time trial at every race!
Hey Yanis why dont you post your results for everyone to see. I would bet anything you are some life long cat 4 who gets dropped on the gimbels ride. Its fun to post negative comments when you have no talent or drive…isnt it?
take it easy greg
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It’s funny how your wins Greg are only at Rockleigh training series races!
“The mission right now is to create a real development program for the NYC
region, something like Toga used to have.”
I count 6 riders in their 20s and 7 riders in their 30s and 40s. So much for the development of junior riders.
He wants to give back to the sport ? They already give away all their entry fees to be pack meat for real Pro’s.