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TEAM LAUNCH! – WHEELBASE CABTECH CASTELLI

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Cycling Team

The Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli road racing team is back! A fair number of our riders from the senior squad as well as the U23 / Junior squad recently got together for a decent training ride in the South Lakes. It was one of the first opportunities to ride in a larger group following the relaxation of the Covid 19 restrictions and a chance for riders and staff to plan how, what and when the team will race in the remaining months of this shortened 2021 road racing season. Team Manager Toby Dalton was keen to pull together as many of the Wheelbase team riders as possible together for a quality group ride, helping to build solidarity and get everyone enthused about the opportunities coming up in the weeks and months ahead. It’s been a strange time, this last year, with lots of changes in circumstance with regards to road and circuit racing, with numerous cancellations and false starts along the way. It goes without saying, that to remain focused and as near to being race-ready as possible during the past year has been a challenge for every team rider on the squad, with each of them living through their own personal experience of the Coronavirus Pandemic and the restrictions caused by an ever-changing succession of Lockdowns, Tier Systems and national or regional rule changes.

The UK road racing calendar for 2021 is ever evolving as we come out of Lockdown and there looks like there’s going to a good amount of local and regional races for our riders to get themselves tuned up and really race fit for the bigger National races. Competition at the highest level will be spread between races on the open road and elite circuit races in popular venues such as Otley. National road races include the British Cycling Elite Road Race Series with iconic races such as the gruelling Beaumont Trophy in Northumbria and our ‘home’ race on the super-tough Dolphinholme circuit at the Lancaster GP. With a late start to the season we’ll also see road racing stretch further into Autumn this year, with the National Road Race Championship due to take place in Lincoln on the 17th of October. Our Junior and U23 riders will continue to build experience at a local, regional and national level and we’ll keep you up to date with how they progress through the summer.

A big thank you to everyone involved in the Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli team; from our supportive co-sponsors who have continued to partner with us despite the difficulties that we’ve all had to work through over the past year, to our staff and team helpers who work tirelessly behind the scenes getting the team bikes built and tuned to race, organising riders and ensuring race entries are done on time. A special thanks to Tyla Loftus for all his hard work putting the Junior / U23 team together and for keeping the wheels turning during lockdown as well as ensuring Wheelbase was well represented during the sporadic Cyclocross season.

Look out for our individual rider profiles coming out over the next few weeks and months, where we’ll find out more about their racing backgrounds and their ambitions for this season and beyond. We’ll also be asking them some random questions in our ’20 Questions’ feature just like we did recently with our multi-discipline star Lucy Bell. Good luck to the Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli cycling team! Have a successful and safe racing season.

UNITE. FIGHT. BELIEVE.

 

Senior Races, Confirmed Key Race Dates:

British Cycling Elite Road Races

  • Lancaster Grand Prix, Lancaster (15 August)
  • The Ryedale Grasscrete Grand Prix, Ampleforth (22 August)
  • Beaumont Trophy, Northumbria (26 September
  • National Road Race Championship, Lincoln (17 Oct)

British Cycling Elite Circuit Race Series

  • Otley Grand Prix, Otley – Wednesday 30 June

Junior Races, Confirmed Key Race Dates:

  • Fensham Howes – MAS Design Junior Tour of Yorkshire (12th June – 13th June)
  • 7th Junior CiCLE Classic (27th June)
  • British Cycling Junior National Time Trail & Road Race Championships (10th July – 11th July)
  • Fenwick’s Junior Tour of Mendips (13th August – 15th August)

 

Senior Team:

  • Logan Maclean
  • Matt Clarke
  • Fraser Martin
  • Finn Crockett
  • James Coates
  • Harry Hardcastle
  • Stuart Reid
  • Alex Turner
  • Sam Lashley
  • Fin Robertson
  • Davie Lines
  • Ben Barlow
  • Tim Shoreman

A selection of our Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Senior squad…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

Junior / U23 Team:

  • Ryan Middlemiss
  • Ben Houlihan
  • Adam Bent
  • Flynn Gregory
  • Tyla Loftus

Our Junior / U23 squad continues their efforts following a successful (albeit shortened) Cyclocross season…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

The team enjoyed a successful training session in the South Lakes…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

Road captain Davie Lines has so much knowledge and experience to pass on to the younger team members…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

Watching the team put themselves through their paces, Team Manager Toby Dalton is always on hand for support and guidance…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

Fraser Martin and Fin Robertson dictate the pace, keeping the team in close formation…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

Fraser Martin returns to the team for another season and is itching to get back to racing…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

We depend on Davie Lines for his passion for racing, his coaching and guidance as well as his great results! He shows no signs of slowing down!…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

Coming off the back of a successful Cyclocross season Adam Bent has a real appetite for road racing too…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

Thank you to P.V. Dobson for your continued support, helping to kit us out with our awesome Volvo Wheelbase team car…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

Tyla Loftus put in so much work during the past year to set up our Junior and U23 squad, thanks Tyla! Have a great season…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

Fraser shows off his stunning Cannondale SystemSix aero road bike; it’s great to be working with Cannondale again for 2021…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

We’re so pleased to see Logan Maclean make a return to racing after a very serious, life-threatening accident last year; great to have you back Logan!… 

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

The Wheelbase squad enjoyed a relaxed get together after a long period of training in isolation due to Covid 19 restrictions…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

The South Lakes provides some great training roads with very little traffic…

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli

 

Following on from the 2020 race season that never was, we’re again equipping ourselves with the awesome Cannondale SystemSix aero road bike. With a super-aero profile carbon fibre frame and fork, lightweight Vision SC55 carbon wheels, Shimano Ultegra groupset and some great finishing kit including an aerodynamic Vision Metron 4D Flat UD carbon handlebar our team bikes are ready to perform at the elite level of UK road racing. The team bikes have been finished off with some very slick looking custom Wheelbase graphics so the SystemSix looks fast even when it’s stood still and with our elite racing team piloting them they ride even faster!

Our stunning Cannondale SystemSix team bikes feature Wheelbase custom graphics by James Vincent…

Cannondale Systemsix

Cannondale SystemSix Key Features:

  • Frame: Ballistec carbon
  • Fork: Ballistec carbon
  • Wheels: Vision SC55 Carbon Clincher
  • Crankset: Cannondale Hollowgram w/ OPI SpideRing 52/36
  • Gears: Shimano Ultegra, 52/36 – 11-30
  • Brakes: Shimano Ultegra hydraulic disc
  • Finishing kit: Vision Metron 4D Flat UD Carbon handlebars, Hollowgram 60 KNOT Carbon seatpost, ProLogo Dimension saddle

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

All photos by James Vincent