Advantage Benefits Endeavour to race professionally in 2005

As recently announced by USA Cycling, the Advantage Benefits Endeavour Cycling Team will race professionally in the U.S. in 2005 as a UCI Continental team. The team is the successor to the highly successful Milwaukee-based Endeavour Cycling Team that operated as a non-UCI registered team in 2004. Tom Schuler will be the Team Manager and ex-US Postal pro, Robbie Ventura, will be the team's directeur sportif, with Todd Hancock as assistant.

The Advantage Benefits Endeavour Cycling Team, presented by Bissell Homecare, Inc. intends to take the already successful Endeavour program up a notch this season. The Endeavour team was the number one ranked amateur team in 2004, with returning team leader Frank Pipp winning the USCF National Elite Criterium Championship in Downers Grove last August. Pipp will be joined by veteran standouts Brian Sheedy and Eddy Hilger, who are expected to lead the team in stage races. Talented neo-pros Garrett Peltonen, Wes Hartman, Nick Reistad, Brent Bookwalter and Jake Rytlewski will use the season to gain confidence and support the team in any way they can. Two Australians, Karl Menzies and Richard England will further strengthen the team. Finally, two amateurs, Dave Sachs and Graham Howard, will fill out the 2005 roster.

"I've been talking with all the guys over the last couple of weeks and everyone is stoked to get racing," said Ventura. "I believe that our approach of building a strong regional pro team that not only races together but also trains together will give this young team a big advantage this coming season. Our title sponsors are all looking forward to watching this team mature and to see them get better and better each week on the circuit," he added.