A new women’s race cycle team will be officially launched at Altrincham’s Velo Espresso cycle café on Saturday.
The Sunsport Velo team will race in the British Cycling Women’s Road Series and in the track league at Manchester Velodrome. They also have plans to race in Holland, Belgium and Ireland later this year.
Two of the five-strong team – 17-year-olds Grace Rogerson and Jane Hellewell – hail from Altrincham.
Saturday’s evening event, which is free and open to all, will include an introduction to the team as well as a rollerpaluza racing competition and the chance to win a Basso Diamante racing bike worth £7,400.
Local cyclists will also be able to find out more about the specialist services on offer from the Sunsport Velo team, including performance testing, one-to-one coaching, sports nutrition, sports therapy, bike fit and cycle camps in the UK and Spain.
Tony Orrell, Sunsport Velo’s team manager, said: “Sunsport Velo is a long term venture and there is no pressure on the riders. We want to put them in an environment where they will flourish. The big growth area in cycling is women’s racing, and we identified that there would be strong support for a north west team.”
As well as the race team, Sunsport has also launched a new cycling club for cyclists of all abilities (children are welcome), with rides departing from Velo Espresso on Sunday mornings at 9.30am.
Neil Lee, owner of Velo Espresso, said: “Altrincham has an enthusiastic cycling community, and Velo Espresso is very much at the heart of that. The launch of Sunsport Velo race team and cycle club is the next step in our vision to build a vibrant hub for cyclists of all abilities in the Altrincham area.
“To have a race cycle team based here in Altrincham is a fantastic coup for the town, and we’re looking forward to a great launch night on 27th February. We hope as many people as possible will come down from 7pm to find out more about Sunsport Velo and meet their local race team.”
