News – Pedal Heaven in the Mix

2015_ContiEdco_Banner

One of the top four teams in the Pearl Izumi Tour Series is Pedal Heaven who were second on Tuesday night and are making many sit up and take notice

RST Cycle Clothing & Trigon Bikes

News – Pedal Heaven in the Mix

Cycling can be a great equalizer and whilst the riders in the Pedal Heaven team work or are at University, and the team is non UCI and on a small budget compared to the bigger squads, they are still making everyone sit up and take notice.

PedalHeaven5

Through out 2015, the Pedal Heaven riders and team have earnt the respect of their fellow riders in the top races in Britain. They are showing week in, week out, that a non-UCI team can compete for the win and they did just that on Tuesday night in Redditch.

From the very first races in 2015, their riders have been at the sharp end competing with the likes of One Pro Cycling, NFTO, Raleigh and so on in the early season classics followed by the Prems and now the Pearl Izumi Tour Series.

Looking at the team, it’s a very professional outfit. No motor home but the riders are looked after at races in a covered awning with massage for the legs and mechanics looking after their very slick looking green Specialized bikes. It is their results though that have made others from rival teams complement them on their riding.

At Redditch, there were two teams that had a full complement of five riders in the lead group, Madison Genesis and Pedal Heaven. These races are brutal and I saw many a ‘star’ well gassed. Each lap I watched as up the climb, different riders had a go at the front and stretched the peloton to breaking point up the circuit’s main climb.

PedalHeaven3

After all that attack and more attacks, the Pedal Heaven team’s riders finished as follows:
5 Gruff Lewis
8 Will Fox Pedal
9 Rory Townsend
17 David McGowan
25 Alex Paton

The team were second to Madison Genesis whose riders finished as follows:
3 Mike Northey
7 Tobyn Horton
11 Tom Stewart
12 Tom Scully
23 Matt Cronshaw

Not a lot between them as you can see but the Madison Genesis team got the verdict and now lead overall whilst Pedal Heaven are in 4th place, seven points adrift but certainly in the mix.

PedalHeaven_web

Speaking to Tim Elverson afterwards, he admits it could have been even better on the night but for a crash in the lead up to the sprint.

“There was only Madison and us with five riders in the lead group and the guys were aware of that. We had discussed the finish and they were lining themselves up and they went into the last corner four abreast. One clipped off on the last lap so everything was covered and I was confident knowing we had four good sprinters in that group”.

“Unfortunately, some one clipped a barrier who clipped a rider which hit two of our riders, one of them went down with a couple of One Pros and one Madison and the other hit the barrier and stayed up. We finished fifth, eighth and ninth and I think they would have rolled through in tenth and eleventh and we would have won it.”

“The riders were there on merit because they have worked hard and I think we have a good chance of being in it on another day as well. The guys are working really hard and we come to races with a plan and they are really getting amongst it”.

One of the name sponsors of the team is Trainsharp and Jon Sharples explained that he and the team at Trainsharp have been working closely with The Pedal Heaven Team since October 2014. “We initially profiled each rider at our base in Tunbridge Wells to determine each rider’s strengths, physiological characteristics, and perhaps most importantly, their weaknesses” Jon explained.

photo

“From the initial assessment, I started coaching a number of riders from the team; Gruff Lewis, Rory Townsend, Will Fox, Max Steadman, Robert Moore and Mitch Webber. Throughout the winter, we were able to focus on what mattered, fitting in specific sessions and improving the aspects of their profile that needed it”.

“Although the season is still young, we have had a number of great results with our riders. Rory wanted to have a solid start to the year, racing early on in Dubai and carrying some good form through the early Premier Calendar series (and continuing to show his strength)”.

“Gruff and Will Fox have been targeting the Tour Series and have both started strongly with good individual starts. Robert Moore secured a Divisional Championships Title after riding away from five of the others guys in the team at the SE Regionals on the weekend (the team finished 1-6 in the race!).

2015_FSA_MidstoryBanner

Tim went on to explain how most of the riders racing are back at work today (Wednesday) and will then be off to Aberystwyth on Thursday to do it all over again. Asked about the progression the team are making, he says “we have a five year plan and this is year four and we are confident we’ll continue on that track”.

“I was fortunate that a few of the guys who excelled last year stayed with us when they had offers at UCI teams when we’re non-UCI because they believe in what we are doing. Them staying allowed me to attract other good riders without spending money because we don’t have money to spend on salaries.”

IMG_0700

The team have many a young rider mixed with more experienced riders like Dave McGowan but most of them are 25 or under. Rory Townsend is 19 and the other half of the squad that haven’t ridden the series yet are also only 18 or 19 and riders who have been part of the set up since they were juniors.

Friday is the Aberystwyth round of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series which Pedal Heaven are classing as their home round with two Welsh riders in the line-up as well as sponsors from the town such as Shelley at Continental cycle tyres and Edco components.

“If we could choose which one to win, the next one (Aberystwyth) would be it” said Tim before continuing to pack up the van long after the riders had left. Good luck to them on Friday, I am sure the team will be closely watched by more than just the spectators!

0_PedalHeaven_01

Send your results as well as club, team & event news here

Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)

Other News on VeloUK

Tags: , ,