Nicole Cooke – a gold medal for Great Britain (Image credit: Tour of Japan)
The new team of reigning World and Olympic champion road racer Nicole Cooke is taking shape, as the first five riders have joined the British star on the new Vision 1 Racing team for 2009.
According to the team, Welsh rider Katie Curtis had a very successful 2007, where she finished fourth in the U23 national road race Championships, and represented Great Britain at the World Track Championships finishing eighth in the scratch race. Curtis has been recovering from an illness during the 2008 season but with this behind her, is highly motivated to race in 2009 and support fellow Welsh rider Cooke on the road.
"Katie is young, motivated and very talented," Team Director Stefan Wyman said. "I'm really happy to be working with Katie in 2009 as all of my experiences of Katie have been positive. We worked together in 2007 and she can be exception for the team."
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Also joining the team will be Australian rider Vicki Whitelaw, who raced her first season in Europe with the National Team. Whitelaw started the season by taking a stage in the Tour de l'Aude in May, and backed this up with a win in the individual time trial in the women's Giro d'Italia.
"We're really pleased to have Vicki on our team in 2009," Wyman added. "She's a very naturally gifted cyclist who has performed so well in 2008. I think a lot of people in cycling sat up and took notice of her performances this year. She's going to a add a great dimension to our team in stage races with her excellent TT ability, but when you add this to her all round ability, we're confident she'll have a major impact for us."
French rider Aurore Verhoeven and British duo Gabby Day and Helen Wyman, well known for their cyclo-cross ability, round out the team roster.
More news on the teams racing calendar will be announced soon, along with the further details of the rider roster for 2009. According to Wyman, the team is still adding sponsors for 2009, and welcomes interested parties.
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For more information, visit www.vision1racing.com.
