February 2010 News Articles

Posted on 28. Feb, 2010 by lyne

Well known as a time trialing and stage racing squad, the BISSELL Pro Cycling team added speed to their roster this year.

“Obviously we’ve been very competitive in the past years and we’ve been known as a time-trialing and tour team, we’ve always performed beyond what our expectations were in some of the tours and we’re a force to reckon with at every race we enter, especially in the multi-day events.” said Team Manager Glen Mitchell. “We’ve always wanted to bring a little bit more speed, to be competitive in the criteriums and just having a more rounded team.”

The team brought in Kyle Wamsley and Daniel Holloway to add more finishing speeds to build on the existing fast guys on the team. Mitchell continued, “I’m super excited to have the likes of Frank Pipp, Andy Jacques-Maynes and Peter Latham, they have huge engines and they can definitely ramp up the speed, and to have Kyle and Daniel behind those three guys, any combination of those guys I think we’re going to be right up there with every other team going for the win.”

Mitchell’s focus is still simply to win races. “The overall plan for the year is the same as last year, we just want to go to races and we want to win them. Now we definitely feel that we can enter every race and we have the ability to win it, we just have to work out the game plan on how to do that depending on the other teams that are there and what the courses. I still think that we have a strong tour team now we should be able to back up our time trial stages and road stages with good results in criteriums as well.”

One goal not on the list are the start of the year is the NRC title. “There are so many factors involved in racing for a series win, if you get an invite to go out of the country and you miss a couple of races automatically you’re losing points. If you’re sending riders to some races and not others you can lose points. If you’re going for the individual and that rider gets injured or gets sick for one of the main races then they don’t get points and that’s your whole season gone. “ explained Mitchell. “It’s definitely in the back of our minds but it’s not our focus for the year. Our focus is hopefully get to the end of the year and say yes we won this amount of races, we had this amount of riders on the podium.”

So does that mean that we’lll see a BISSELL leadout train battling at the front “I hope so, I definitely hope so.” smiled Mitchell.

“We’ve tried it in the past, the part especially when we come to the criteriums in the tours have been hard, we’ve always been racing for GC so it’s always taken a lot of fire power out of the lead out, we’d been doing a lot of work in the stages.” said Mitchell who is ready to try it again.

“I don’t know with some of the guys around, Dan, Kyle, Cody, I might be one of the guys getting whipped on my backside.” laughed Frank Pipp about his position in the train. “Being one of the team captains or leaders, I can play whatever role they need me to but realistically looking at the speed we have, I’ll probably be more of a leadout guy but if there’s an opportunity for me, I’ll take it.”

The 2007 Elite Crit Champion Holloway is ready for the train. “I think I’m at the back of it or in the middle of it and I’m happy to do it all, I think we maybe a little bit under-rated in that department and I think we’ll surprise people.”

Northern California resident Holloway was enjoying a somewhat slower start to his season and could relax at training camp as he knew most of the riders, having trained or raced with them in the past. “Now it’s getting to know everybody on a more personal level rather than just knowing their names and how they are as a bike rider. It’s pretty easy, it’s comfortable, a lot less stress, it’s good.”

The 22-year old Holloway has been building for Track World Championships and then his first major goal of the road season, the Tour of California. “To make that roster and ride really well there. That’s what I’ve talked to my coach about and talked to the team and that’s my preparatory focus right now in May. From them we’ll go.”

Another engine powering the train will be returning rider Cody O’Reilly, who like Holloway and Peter Latham has been having success on the track. Both O’Reilly and Holloway were waiting to hear if they were racing at the Track Worlds in March.

For 22-year old O’Reilly, the track “definitely helps my power that’s for sure, being able to spin, I can do that 5-minute super high effort kind of stuff. Most of the time I have to make sure that I do enough miles so I can get over the hills whenever I need to.” O’Reilly is the reigning Omnium and Madison National Champion.

Already leaner, O’Reilly wants to improve his stage racing this year and improve his climbing abilities. “I’m already lighter than I was last season. I definitely want to try and stay lighter this year.” On his final year as a U23 rider, he is targeting the U23 National Championships and Philly and Nature Valley races.

Radio ban and captains. “I think the speeds are going to be faster, the plan for most teams is don’t miss the breakaway which is going to make it faster at the front because every team is going to try and make sure to send someone across to the break, I have a feeling speeds will go up a little bit which will make it more decisive when the break does go or the hill comes or something like that.” said Mitchell about the radio ban.

For co-captain Pipp, the responsibility has to be shared across teammates. “I think it’s probably more responsibility on everybody on BISSELL, unless we’re all together all the time, I can’t be yelling across the peloton to the other guys so everybody has to take it on their shoulders to understand. I’ll do the best job when we’re together to make the call but we won’t be getting much from the car unless we drop back for bottles to have a little chat, it will be interesting.” said Pipp who is a co-captain along with Ben Jacques-Maynes. “It could go a couple of different ways I think, there could be a lot more team sprints because teams are too nervous to let things go without really knowing time gaps because some races are good with time gaps and some races are horrendous. Or you could have races that are wide open where overall situations change every day.”

Pipp named two races that he particularly likes, Philadelphia International Championships and USPro National Championships in Greenville.

“I could do well at any race, I believe that but Philadelphia is a race that I like, it has to be pretty selective. The last few years it’s been a pretty large group at the end and I’ve been in a leadout role, so if it’s a larger group I might be doing that part for Kyle.” said Pipp. “I love Greenville, obviously it’s USPro, it’s a very hard race. Last year I did make the selection, I was in the break and I dropped like a rock the last time up and watched everybody go by me but every year is a new year with that race.”

U23 riders. This year BISSELL has added three U23 riders to the roster, David Williams, Ian Boswell and Shane Kline.

“It’s a dream come true to be honest, it’s hard to put into words sometimes, especially on a team like this, first year, really exciting for me. I really can’t wait to see that I can do this year to help the team out, get some race wins.” said 21-year old Williams about joining the BISSELL team.

Based out of Grand Rapids Michigan, the headquarters of title sponsor BISSELL, Williams is attending Marion University and will be racing collegiately this spring. His strengths are time-trialing and he hopes “to soak up as much info as I can, technique” from from his teammates Jacques-Maynes and Jeremy Vennell, “it’s definitely a year from learning.”

Another neo-pro is Boswell who raced as a junior last year with Hot Tubes Development team. The 19-year old turned heads at last year’s Nevada City Classic when he rode away from a strong field to win the junior race in the morning and then raced with Elites in the afternoon and jumped on the Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Ben Jacques-Maynes break. “Ben lapped me and hooked on with them as long as I could. It was fast, it was a huge adrenaline rush being with those guys, it was so loud, surreal at that time, I digged deeper than I normally have been able to do stick with those guys as long as I could.”

Boswell is also going to school, part-time at Butte College and will also be racing with the National Team. His goal for this year is to make the transition to Elite racing and to learn. “All of a sudden stage races are twice as long so just being able to make the transition to the upper level and learning from the guys on the team to learn the ropes of the professional circuit.” said Boswell who lists time-trialing and climbing as his strengths.

“I’m on the team for some speed and crit racing.” said 20-year old Kline who also comes from a track background and has come to the road in the past two years. Kline was recovering from knee surgery at training camp and was just getting back on the bike. “Things are shifting around a little bit but the recovery is going good so far so I’m looking forwards to having a good strong finish to the season.”

Mitchell is looking forwards to the year. “I think the racing is looking like it’s going to be good. There’s a couple new teams obviously, it’s going to be interesting to see how they shape together. I’m very happy with our core group of guys they’ve been working together for the last couple of years and we’ve been fine tuning stuff and now to bring that added speed on top of what we already had, that’s the exciting part for us.”

Returning riders are Andy Jacques-Maynes, Ben Jacques-Maynes, Peter Latham, Paul Mach, Cody O’Reilly, Frank Pipp and Jeremy Vennell. New riders to the team are Ian Boswell, Rob Britton, Daniel Holloway, Shane Kline, Kyle Wamsley and David Williams.

http://www.podiuminsight.com/2010/02/28/bissell-speeds-up/

Andy Jacques Maynes and Katerina Nash Headline Group

MONTEREY, Calif. Starting in 1991, the Sea Otter Classic laid the foundation to bring a celebration of cycling to mid-coastal California. Now in its twentieth year, Sea Otter continues to create the opportunity for competitors, fans, families, and people who influence the cycling industry to forge and galvanize reputations in front of an international community of peers and leaders.

Thule, SRAM and Specialized have become annual attractions while competitive events set the backdrop for racers to test themselves against some of the fastest cyclists in the world. But don't take our word, the following spokespeople are at your service to provide some perspective of the Sea Otter Classic. This year's Sea Otter Classic takes place April 15-18, 2010 at Laguna Seca Recreation Area in Monterey.

Andy Jacques-Maynes, 31, professional road racer for Bissell Pro Cycling

Elite road pro, Andy Jacques-Maynes, grew up in Berkeley, Calif. and started racing at Sea Otter as a teenager. Whatever Sea Otter could offer, Jacques-Maynes would race, which included cross-country, downhill, dual slalom, short track, road, mountain bike stage racing, and whatever else he could sign up for. He turned pro for a while before settling in behind a desk at Specialized, where he continued to race at the elite level until a horrific crash three years ago literally airlifted him right out of the sport. As one who doesn't dwell on past experiences, Jacques-Maynes charged back into racing and picked up the US national cyclocross title for men 30-34 less than seven months after the crash.

Last year Jacques-Maynes scored his first win at Sea Otter as part of the Bissell Pro Cycling Team. For Team Bissell, Sea Otter stands out as a chance to show sponsors the value of their investment.

"It's a unique opportunity for us to race in front of our sponsors and give back to them," Jacques-Maynes said. "Fausto Pinarello was in the crowd watching me win the Circuit Race last year - that was really cool. My job last year was to look for opportunities to attack and our overall goal was to win. On the day, my legs worked like magic, and I didn't even feel the climb. It was a good day, I'm glad I could win the race for the team."

Jacques-Maynes is married to Josie (formerly Beggs, if you follow pro women's bike racing), who also holds a US national 'cross title. They live in Morgan Hill, Calif.

http://uscyclingreport.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2933

Tour of California a worthy challenge for Bissell Ben

Bissell Pro Cycling Team's Ben Jacques-Maynes is relishing the myriad challenges presented by the toughest edition of the Tour of California, which begins on May 16 in Nevada City.

Jacques-Maynes has a history of strong performances in the three previous editions of the Tour of California. Last year, he placed inside the top 15 in three stages and captured the most courageous rider jersey following a lengthy breakaway in stage two. In 2008, he placed 11th in the prologue, ninth in stage five and 16th overall.

"I'm going to take a lot of opportunities to try things," said Jacques-Maynes. "I want to put myself out there to try, even if it seems like it's a long shot. I'm not afraid to get out there and race my bike to see what I can do."

"With the excessive amount of climbing, every stage is just bigger, with an extra climb and more miles in every stage," he added. "It will be typical late spring racing, with a lot of fit people who are going to be able to race hard all day long."

Jacques-Maynes made name for himself while racing for Priority Health at the 2007 edition of the Tour of California when he placed third in the prologue and 10th in the stage five time trial. He nearly took the yellow leader's jersey following stage one after a series of overall contenders, including Levi Leipheimer, were involved in a large crash on the Santa Rosa finishing circuits. Eventually the race officials blamed the crash on the course condition and awarded the injured riders and the peloton the same time.

"That was good example of being a good bike racer and getting the job done right, which is what you strive for in racing," said a modest Jacques-Maynes. "But that also involved a lot of circumstance far removed from my control. It was not something that I engineered but just barely didn't accomplish. Which was why I wasn't too upset having missed that opportunity. That was something that was a null event, it could have happened but it didn't," he added.

This time around, Jacques-Maynes intends to know exactly what he is up against. He has pre-ridden all of the northern California stages from Nevada City to Sacramento, Davis to Santa Rosa, San Francisco to Santa Cruz and San Jose to Modesto. Over the next two weeks he plans on acquainting himself with the roads from Visalia to Bakersfield, paying a visit to the Crestline and Big Bear ascents, testing out the Los Angeles time trial and the final circuits through Thousand Oaks.

"Whether it will be riding a couple of breakaways, trying for some of the medium stages, a late attack into Bakersfield might be an opportunity," Jacques-Maynes continued. "If I'm well down on GC a break might stick on that last day when all the GC riders just mark each other on the circuit. You never really know how it is going to play out until you get there."

The Bissell Pro Cycling Team patiently awaits an invitation from AEG Sports, organiser of the Tour of California. Bissell Directeur sportif Glen Mitchell is confident that his team will receive the invitation they are hoping for.

"We are in the same position of waiting until they send out invitations, as is every other team," said Mitchell. "We believe we will get an invtation. We have had a good track record in California and in the other bigger tours in America like the Tour de Georgia and Tour of Missouri.

"All we can do is build the strongest team that we can and let the organisers know that every time we line up we are there to race. We'll cross our fingers a little bit and wait until the invites come out."

By VeloNews.com Updated: Feb 22nd 2010 11:09 PM Est

Follow Link to Photo Gallery

PHOTO GALLERY

Ace photographer Casey B. Gibson recently spent some time with Team Bissell’s Pinarello Dogma 60.1 bikes and sent us this photo gallery. He was impressed, and we expect you will be, too.

The BISSELL Pro Cycling Team landed in Santa Rosa, CA on February 16th for a week long training camp. The days were filled with bike fittings, photo shoots, interviews, and, of course, some hard riding.

The team arrived to overflowing Merrell bags filled with their 2010 Giordana riding gear, team casual wear, and Merrell shoes and after sport apparel. The Christmas atmosphere continued as the guys were fitted on their new Pinarello Dogma and the Montello TT bikes.

From there, they hit the roads. The team used camp as an opportunity to recon parts of the Tour of California Davis to Santa Rosa stage 2. On Saturday, the riders participated on the Grasshopper and had fun mixing things up for some aggressive yet good-humored sparring.

The week was also time to take care of the official team photo shoot. The locations for the shoot were the outstanding facilities and grounds at the Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards & Winery. Photographer, Casey Gibson, capitalized on the setting. He took brilliant team and individual rider shots and also was able to keep spirits light throughout the day.

As always, the Hotel La Rosa and the City of Santa Rosa made the BISSELL Team Camp flow effortlessly. Thanks to all who made the 2010 BISSELL Team Camp a success!

Meet and greet concludes in Santa Rosa on Sunday

The Bissell Pro Cycling Team welcomed its new recruits at a week-long training camp held in its hometown of Santa Rosa, California.

Among the new recruits are sprinters Kyle Wamsley and Daniel Holloway, who hope to bring their new squad the winning sprint it lacked in years passed.

Holloway is a former elite US national criterium champion who raced for the Garmin-Slipstream U23 program. Wamsley joins the team having previously competed for Navigators Insurance in 2008, and played an integral role in bringing Colavita-Sutter Home into its leading national ranking in 2009. His performances did not go unnoticed by Bissell’s Directeur Sportif, Glen Mitchell, who gave Wamsley a leading sprint role for the 2010 season.

“I think we make one of the strongest teams in the country last year a more complete team,” Wamsley told Cyclingnews. “Last year they were lacking in sprinting. We have a lot more of finishing speed needed to take some stage wins and single day races. I feel like we are key components for rounding out the team this year.”

“I’ve never been the sprinter for the entire season,” Wamsley said. “It’s a tall order to live up to but it’s also really good motivation to know that you’re the guy they are depending on and that motivates me to do everything right. I’m really excited to have this position, that’s why I’m in the sport. I want to put Bissell on the top as many times as I can this year.”

Wamsley revealed the importance of racing well against the other sprint teams early in the season at races like the Redlands Bicycle Classic held in March in California. The highly ranked and prestigious event is known as one of the toughest on the National Racing Calendar (NRC). Last year, Wamsley won the forth and final stage.

“Our immediate goals are to have a similar performance at Redlands,” Wamsley said. “It’s a hard race and it’s the early season selection of who’s going to be the ones to watch in the NRC calendar. Doing well there creates a pecking order of who lines up behind whom and it will be important to establish that.”

The Bissell roster includes returning riders Ben Jacques-Maynes, Frank Pipp, Andy Jacques-Maynes, Cody O’Reilly, Jeremy Vennell, Paul Mach and Peter Latham along with new riders Wamsley, Holloway, David Williams, Ian Boswell, Rob Britton and Shane Kline.

“We kept a balance of returning riders and we definitely have a new crew of incoming new riders for the team,” said Mitchell. “We are excited about bringing Kyle Wamsley on board and Daniel Holloway who are definitely going to add a little it of speed for us. We have a lot of strong and fast riders but to add these two to finish things off at the end of a race adds excitement that we didn’t have in the past.”

“Frank Pipp is a great captain on the road and we have the strength of both Andy and Ben Jacques-Maynes along with Peter Latham and Jeremy Vennell,” he continued. “But, when you add that experience to try to get both Daniel and Kyle to the finish line, everyone is excited about that new opportunity. We can have that while still keeping the core guys that have proven to get results for us in the past.”

New riders, new bikes and new Tour of California stages

The 13-man roster arrived to the Santa Rosa training camp on Tuesday, February 16. The team management welcomed the riders at a breakfast-style meet-and-greet for the new comers. The first two days were devoted to media, team photos and fitting each rider to new clothing, equipment and the team issued Pinarello Dogma.

“So far the weather has been perfect for us,” Mitchell said. “It can be hit or miss this time of year but we got lucky. The camp is shorter than normal running over six days and it was more about the photos and getting the equipment out and then getting the guys back to their families, were they are happy and can train at home to prepare for the season.”

According to Mitchell, the team had the opportunity to do some long rides venturing out to the Gysers, a notoriously challenging five-hour loop through the mountainous wine country of Sonoma County and contesting the local Grasshopper race. They also took half a day to visit the final leg of the Tour of California’s stage two from Davis to Santa Rosa.

“In the next two days we have two more big rides planned in the area and possibly participating in the local crits in the Bay area on Sunday to conclude the camp,” Mitchell said. “Racing our local criteriums is good for the new guys to get in some fun racing with no pressure. It’s good to see how the bikes handle, do a couple of little lead-outs and sprints in a race situation because it’s hard to practice lead-outs when they are just riding.”

Bissell will kick off its racing season at the OCBC Cycle Singapore Criterium on March 7. Directeur Sportif Eric Wohlberg will lead a team of sprinters to contest the fast growing one-day race.

“That organization is building it up to be a big attraction,” Mitchell said. “They run a big cycling weekend in Singapore with a Gran Fondo and other races that are open to the public. A lot of international teams participate in this event. It is hosted by the tourism board so they have a lot of public events and it is being used as a tourism platform for Singapore and cycling.”

The team will focus 90-percent of its race calendar in North America from March through September. Starting with the Merco Credit Union and the Redlands Bicycle Classic. The team will move on to the Tour of the Gila and the Joe Martin Stage Race to prepare for the Tour of California, pending its invitation. It will then target events like the Philadelphia International Cycling Championships, Tour of Elk Grove, Bend Memorial Cascade Cycling Classic, USPro Criterium Championships,

“Our overall plan is to be able to go to any race and regardless of whether it’s a local race, important for sponsors, UCI or NRC and have a team that can perform,” Mitchell said. “It’s a matter of figuring out what the best strategy of the day is to get the guys on the podium.”