Team News: Clancy Signs for Vitus Pro Cycling

Triple Olympic champion and one of the most prolific winners in British domestic racing, Ed Clancy, has signed for Vitus Pro Cycling in 2019

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Team News: Clancy Signs for Vitus Pro Cycling

Triple Olympic champion and one of the most prolific winners in British domestic racing, Ed Clancy, has signed for Vitus Pro Cycling in 2019

Ed Clancy- front and centre, was part of the a World Championship winning team in 2005 and is still winning over ten years later

Cherie Pridham, Vitus Pro Cycling Team’s owner and manager, said she was very pleased to have signed Clancy, describing him as a vital asset to the team.

Clancy is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and a six-time world champion on the track, who has proven himself a formidable force on the road over countless seasons. This year, he won the prologue at the Herald Sun Tour and two rounds of the Tour Series, as well as claiming a second career victory at the London Nocturne.

“Ed’s achievements as a bike rider speak for themselves. You don’t win three Olympic gold medals and six rainbow jerseys by chance. He is a world-class athlete, and a significant addition to our roster,” Pridham said. “We know too that Ed’s value to the team extends far beyond his unquestioned ability to win races. It’s hard to imagine a more inspiring figure for our younger riders: highly successful, but friendly, approachable and entirely down-to-earth”.

“His career exemplifies the value to a professional cyclist of hard work and a level head. Gold medals haven’t changed Ed. He’s a model professional, able to lead by example, and will be a vital asset to the team next year, both on the bike and off.”

Clancy has ridden for the same trade team manager since 2011; John Herety. When Herety’s team announced in September that it would not compete next year, Clancy found another vastly experienced team manager in Pridham. “I have been fortunate to ride for some really great teams and managers over the years. Moving to Vitus Pro Cycling Team is a really exciting opportunity for me for the road ahead. I look forward to getting together with Cherie and the boys in the New Year,” Clancy said.

Clancy will campaign on the road for Vitus Pro Cycling Team, while continuing to race on the track, in a bid to gain selection for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. “With less than two years to go until Tokyo 2020, I’ll be working hard on getting myself in the best possible position to be selected for the Great Britain team. Riding on the road with Vitus Pro Cycling Team will complement my track work in preparation for what I hope will be selection for a fourth Olympic Games.”

As well as World and Olympic titles, Ed Clancy has also been British Circuit Race Champion, and pictured in Aberystwyth where ‘s also had a good run of victories in the Tour Series

Clancy’s recruitment signals a smooth progression to the second year of Vitus Pro Cycling Team’s three-year strategy. The rider roster has been strengthened significantly for 2019, with Clancy the first new signing to be announced. The full squad will be unveiled at the team’s official launch in Derby on Thursday November 22, 2018.

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Vitus Pro Cycling Team has five key values at its core: Responsibility, Activity, Teamwork, Innovation and Opportunity (RATIO). While its debut campaign focussed on granting opportunity to teenagers like Junior Tour of Assen winner Liam Davies, who came of age in a series of courageous performances at this year’s Tour de Yorkshire, the scope of the team’s ambition will broaden in 2019.

Pridham was a world-class rider in an era of epic races for the women’s sport. Riding for the legendary Mapei squad, and later for GS Mazza, she started ten Grand Tours and finished eight, racing on Europe’s toughest climbs, from l’Alpe d’Huez to the Monte Zoncolan.

As a manager, her teams have won the most prestigious races on the domestic calendar and come close to winning the Tour de Normandie – a race she regards as unfinished business, and to which she hopes to return next Spring. Pridham is looking forward to racing in 2019 with such a talented squad of proven winners, as she was, with continued backing from a Derby-based board of directors, chaired by Michael Kirkland.

“By signing a rider as accomplished as Ed Clancy in our second year, we’ve embarked on the next phase of our strategy for Vitus Pro Cycling Team,” said Mr Kirkland. “We believe that the management of a cycling team demands the same level of responsibility, accountability and commercial discipline as any business, and plan to demonstrate the value of a sustainable strategy in the years ahead.”

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