News: Catford CC/Banks Team Launch

A great British story of a team made in London – the Catford CC/Banks Equipe Team Launch on Saturday

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News: Catford CC/Banks Team Launch

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Team Press Release

The Catford Banks Equipe team had their official team launch on Saturday 25th February.

After a very successful 2016 season, the team will be registered as one of only thought to a handful of UK based Elite teams. Headline sponsor, fashion guru and long time Catford member, Jeff Banks CBE, will once again bring style and pizzazz to the peleton in the shape of the 2017 CatfordCC Equipe/Banks team.

Jeff Banks CBE said of the team, “We’ve had a truly fantastic 2016 season and it just felt right that the team should be back in amongst the top tier for 2017. We really want to bring riders through to be able to ride at the top level. We definitely feel that some riders slip through the net; look at Bertie Newey and Owen James last season.

So this year we’re got some really keen, young riders who will learn their race trade from the more experienced guys. We’ve brought in Lloyd (Chapman), Will (Fox), Josh (Lawless) and George (Fowler) to give the team some stability and guidance in the races; they all feel they have something to prove in terms of their own results as well.

We’re keen for there to be true ‘matesmanship’, an expression coined by Orica-Bike Exchange ( Jeff Banks also sponsors the World Pro-TourTeam) and let the riders see that if they ride for each other and give their all, the results will come naturally which – nobody can argue – works for Orica.”

Last season success
In 2016, the team kicked off the year in fine style with Bertie Newey out-sprinting the whole field at one of the UK’s major classics – The Eddie Soens Grand Prix in Aintree.

Bertie went on to win 2 out of his next three races. Over the following season, he won 6 races before excelling in the Pearl Izumi City Centre televised crit series with a string of top 15 places against the UK’s top professionals.

Owen James began the year slowly but, after garnering his first win, his form continued and he finished near the top of the field in the Premier Lincoln Grand Prix and took third place in the Under 23 competition in the same race. Owen went on to win the Tour of Carmarthenshire, took 4th in the Welsh Road Race Championship before the icing on the cake; 8th place in the UCI Ranked Beaumont Trophy.

Owen was also part of the successful team that took the team prize in the Croydon round of the Pearl Izumi crit series. James Jobber rode consistently all year, gaining his 1st Cat licence and winning the Eastern Region Road Race Championship, before riding the Tour de Martinique stage race and winning the Grand Prix de la Municipalité in France.

Josh Green also rode incredibly consistently throughout the year: he had numerous placings in the top ten and podiums on National B races. Two riders who stepped up from the Junior team ranks had strong progressive years; Matt Clements winning one race and Laurence Kirby finishing well throughout the year to also attain his 1st cat licence going into the 2017 season. Both are retained for 2017.

Junior members of the team had some great results along the way: Buauna Ball finished 2nd in the 6 stage Tour of Assen in Holland (on count back only after finishing level on the same time), Kieran Hotson won the Lincolnshire Road Race League against senior opposition and Tim James was the junior team’s best finisher in the Tour of Wales. With some great performances by George Clark, Alex Touché and Sean McGovern it was the best year so far for the team.

New signings for the coming season
For 2017, the team is very much stepping up a gear, if not two, with a blend of youth and experience. Incoming are three riders Lloyd Chapman, Will Fox (ex Pedal Heaven) and Josh Lawless (ex PMR) who are in the top twenty riders the UK.

Add to this the experience of George Fowler (ex NFTO), and it gives the younger riders some great stability and a wealth of experience. Also joining the team will be Elite riders Matt Webster and Lawrence Carpenter. At the younger end of the spectrum, Charlie Walker, Alex Dalton, Callum Ferguson and Josh Haasz come on board to prove their pedigree after all having had a stellar 2016 Season. Retained from 2016 are James Jobber, Joshua Green, Laurence Kirby andMatt Clements.

Incoming Lloyd Chapman and Will Fox both rode for Pedal Heaven in 2016; Will kicked off the year in style winning the Stockbridge RR before going onto to take overall victory in the Corley Stage race, win the Worcester St. Johns RR, and take a great 2nd place in the Premier Wiltshire Grand Prix, amassing an impressive 568 BC points making Will the 9th highest ranked rider in the UK.

Lloyd also started the year well winning the prestigious Wally Gimber RR, the National team TT Title and went on to finish in the top five of the Premier RideStaffs. Josh Lawless (PMR), had an impressive run of performances in National B races, and along with George Fowler who rode for the NFTO pro team in 2016, these riders who have had the experience of riding races like the Tour of Bulgaria and the An Post Ras in 2016 bring a wealth of knowledge to the team which will help the younger riders show their true potential in the important race calendar that the team will undertake in 2017.

Coming in to compete at a higher level is Matt Webster, who had a 2016 season gaining 450 BC points, finishing in the top 10 in his last consecutive 21 races with 11 podium placings. Lawrence Carpenter returns after a season of riding with the Nunn-Sigma team, looking to prove the potential that we are sure is in him.
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Also incoming are a whole host of young, keen, riders that have had an impressive 2016 Season and want to show what they can do at Elite level. Charlie Walker won 11 races in 2016 along with an impressive performance in winning the 6 stage Ras de Cmyru; Callum Ferguson returns to the UK after riding abroad for a few seasons with the Zappi team and is keen to show what he has learnt in Italy and put it to use in the UK.

Joshua Haasz is an untapped talent that has come through the Trainsharp Academy; Josh has a string of top 6 placings achieved whilst riding with little team
support in 2016. Alex Dalton is another young rider who is keen to show what he can produce at National level after winning four races in 2016 and a string of highly rated performances.

These, along with the riders retained from 2016, will allow the team to produce results from many directions with strengths in all terrains. The points gathered by the 2017 team in 2016 would have put the team in third place in the BC ranking table.

The team is looking to ride the Premier Calendar Road Race Series, the City Centre and Televised Crit Series, the UCI Road Races such as Beaumont and Rutland. It is also looking to race in France and Belgium and some stage races. The Catford Club will also being running a junior team who will compete in the National Junior Road Series.

The team will be wearing a new range of racing sunglasses that can be fitted with optical prescription lenses from leading sponsor Specsavers designed by Jeff Banks along with a newly designed strip designed by Jeff Banks supplied by London based Le Col. Additional sponsorship will come from OTE (nutrition), Scott (helmets), MM Nutrition and Performance, training will be supplied by Elite Coaching based at Crystal Palace and, joining the team as new bike sponsors, Argon 18 from Canada. They will be supplying their top of the range carbon frame along with with Di2 group set.

RIDERS

Elite Team
Alex Dalton
Callum Ferguson
Charlie Walker
George Fowler
James Jobber
Josh Haasz
Josh Green
Josh Lawless
Lawrence Carpenter
Laurence Kirby
Lloyd Chapman
Matt Webster
Matt Clements
Will Fox

JuniorTeam
Josh Copley
Alfie Banks
Liam Davies
Joe Laverick
Hector Corey
Leuan Woods

Development Team
Buauna Ball
Sonny Parker
George Clarke

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