New cycling team, sponsored by Bikestop Darlington, gets in gear

Tell me about your interest in cycling?

“My love for cycling started with watching Lance Armstrong on his way to winning his seven Tour de France titles. At the time it was the only cycling races I would watch, but there was no way we would miss it. I remember once we were on holiday and for each stage we would go back up to the room to watch it on the TV. It was definitely the best time for racing with the likes of Iban Mayo, Jan Ullrich and Ivan basso battling it out for the win with Lance.

How did the new team come about?

“I’ve been thinking about setting up my own team for a few years now. After a move to a promising team fell though a few years back I was considering doing it then but then I found a new team in the T1diabetes.info team which was something that was quite personal to me, having been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes myself a few years before. So this led to it being put on the back burner.

"Fast-forward three years to around June and July this year and the idea came up again when talking to a few other riders who are without a team for the 2019 season, on one of our regular Friday morning rides. From that came the decision to finally go for it and do it.”

What is the make-up of the team?

“For the 2019 season, we are going to have a team of ten riders. Ranging from experienced down to relative newbies to the racing scene but who have shown big improvements and promise in a short space of time. For example we have a young triathlete who has represented GB at his age group who will ride for us on the road next season. He has improved massively in the last six to 12 months and someone I think could get some good results for us next season if he can transfer that into racing on the road.

“Our aims for races will be to target those in and around the North – Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and the North-East – in our first season. We don’t want to stretch ourselves too much in our first season and make unrealistic targets. We want to give ourselves a good base on which to build upon for the following seasons.”

How did Bikestop come on board?

"When I was initially thinking about setting the team up, Bikestop were the ideal candidate to become the main sponsor as they didn’t already have an involvement with another cycling team.

I have been doing some work for them for around one-and-a-half years now and put it to the manager Rob one day, who was very keen on the idea and within no time the idea quickly became a reality.

"Bikestop have provided us with the funds to set the team up and get it registered along with our other title sponsor Tyrekey, a company based in Stokesley. The team will be known as Bikestop Tyrekey. In return for their investment they get coverage through the team kit and our social media sites which will help them to gain extra exposure. For Bikestop we also aim to take in donation bikes through the team which is the shop’s main source of income.”

How will you prepare for events?

"Each rider will have a different approach and way of going about getting in the best shape possible for the season ahead. For me there will be a lot of hard work through the months of November through to march, with a final training camp at the end of march in Mallorca to finish off the winter training before heading into the season.

"Some of our other riders are more time constrained with family and work commitments, so training will be based around more quality than quantity and when they can best fit it in and some may choose to race the very early season crits to race themselves fit.”

What are the ultimate goals?

“I want the team to take a step forward each year. To build on the previous season’s successes and push on and see where it can take us. I don’t want to set a limit on where I think we can take the project.

“I want a team that people will look at and want to be a part of and a team that sponsors will look at and think is definitely worth investing in.”