Team Raleigh announce 2010 roster

Team Raleigh has announced their roster for the 2010 season. The newly formed, British-based squad have applied for a Continental licence and this week confirmed the nine riders who will compete for the team in their debut season.

With an average age of 22, the Raleigh line up is composed of seven British riders and two internationals. Briton Tom Barras, 31, will be the team's most experienced rider and will join compatriots Dale Appleby, Liam Holohan, Daniel Shand, James Stewart, Richard Handley and Michael Cumings on the roster.

Australia's Peter Smith, 22, and German Julian Rammler, 22, have also been recruited to the squad.

Raleigh announced in August that the riders will compete in Britain's Premier Calendar, Tour series and Elite criteriums in its first season. It will also aim at securing invitations to the 2010 editions of the Tours of Britain and Ireland.

Team Raleigh marks a return for the Nottingham-based bicycle marquee to the professional peloton. Raleigh was highly visible in the professional peloton during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and their TI-Raleigh squad was highly successful.

Joop Zoetemelk, Jan Raas and Gerrie Knetemann were all members of the team, and their victories included World Championships (Knetemann in 1978 and Raas in 1979) and the 1980 Tour de France (Zoetemelk).

Team Raleigh's longer term ambition is for the squad to make a return to racing on continental Europe within the next five years.

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