News: Pridham to ‘DS’ for Tour of Britain Day Ahead Challenge

Vitus Pro Cycling Team’s Cherie Pridham, the only female team owner and manager in the British peloton, will support Phil Jones MBE’s ‘Tour of Britain One Day Ahead’ ride as sporting director.

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News: Pridham to ‘DS’ for Tour of Britain Day Ahead Challenge

Vitus Pro Cycling Team’s Cherie Pridham, the only female team owner and manager in the British peloton, will support Phil Jones MBE’s ‘Tour of Britain One Day Ahead’ ride as sporting director.

Pridham, who rode ten Grand Tours in an era of epic races for the women’s sport, and whose managerial expertise has yielded victories in some of the most prestigious races on the domestic calendar, including the Lincoln Grand Prix, will be a vital presence in the convoy of support vehicles for Jones’ 1,140km ride.

Jones, the managing director of Brother UK, will ride with cancer survivor and cycling world record holder James Golding in a bid to raise £50,000 for the Dave Rayner Fund, a voluntary organisation supporting young British riders in their dream of turning professional. Some of Britain’s most successful cyclists, including Grand Tour stage winners Adam Yates (Mitchelton Scott) and David Millar enjoyed the support of the fund at a critical stage in their careers.

“I’m delighted to support Phil and James in what will undoubtedly be a hugely challenging ride,” Pridham said. “This year’s Tour of Britain course is arguably the most demanding in the modern era of the race, and there will be moments when each rider is forced to explore their deepest reserves of strength, both physical and mental, if they’re to complete such a gruelling course.”

The Tour of Britain was revived by race organisers SweetSpot Group in 2004, after a five-year hiatus. Previously known as the Milk Race, the Kelloggs Tour and the PruTour, the modern incarnation has rapidly built a reputation as the perfect preparation race for the World Championships, and now attracts the biggest names in the sport.

This year’s World Championships will take place in Austria, on a savagely steep course in the Tyrollean Alps, around Innsbruck. The 2018 Tour of Britain route has been designed to prepare riders with similarly unrelenting gradients, including a double ascent of Cumbria’s Whinlatter Pass on stage six. Jones and Golding will tackle every inch of the eight-stage race, starting their odyssey in Carmarthenshire on Saturday September 1, 2018 – one day ahead of the world’s elite professional riders.

[pullquote]“I’m under no illusions about the scale of the challenge, and to be able to call upon the advice of someone as experienced as Cherie, whose knowledge has been built over thousands of hours in the saddle and at the wheel of a team car will be a huge advantage,” Jones said.[/pullquote]

“Having raced on the Monte Zoncolan and l’Alpe d’Huez in the Giro Rosa and Women’s Tour de France, Cherie knows more than a little about suffering. I’m confident that her hard-won experience will help to guide us through the toughest moments of the #TOB1DA ride.”

Under Jones’ leadership, Brother UK has become a committed and generous supporter of British cycle sport. The technology business, which this year celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, sponsors seven domestic teams, as well as providing a fleet of neutral service vehicles, equipped with Canyon bikes, to the biggest races in the UK. It also sponsors the Tour of Britain, the Women’s Tour and the Tour Series, and is official printing and results partner of each.

Jones’ vision of long-term sustainability for British cycle sport and the affect of Brother UK’s investments in raising the professionalism of the domestic peloton has allowed him to call upon a groundswell of support for the #TOB1DA ride. With a fundraising target of £50,000 for the Dave Rayner Fund, every last penny raised by clubs and supporters around the country will prove vital.

Phil Jones MBE: Twitter/Instagram: @roadphil

James Golding: Twitter: @jamesgolding1 Instagram: @jimmythelink

Cherie Pridham: Twitter/Instagram: @chezpro

The Dave Rayner Fund:  Twitter/Instagram: @daveraynerfund

HashTag: #TOB1DA2018_MerlinCyclesAdvert

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