News shorts: WIGGINS announce Harrison and Davies, Germany joins MPCC
£12,000 for Dave Rayner Fund from Prendas, Moolman-Pasio nominated for award
Harrison and Davies to WIGGINS
Team WIGGINS have announced the signing of Sam Harrison and reigning U23 British time trial champion Scott Davies for the 2016 season. The duo are the latest in a raft of riders confirmed with the team in recent days, including Ashley Dennis, James Knox, Chris Latham and Dan Pearson.
Davies spent a season at Continental level with Madison Genesis in 2013 but has spent the past season on the Great Britain team. He took the youth classification at the Tour Down Under and the Fleche du Sud before winning the under 23 title at the British national rime trial championships for the second year running.
Harrison has spent most of his career on the track but signed his first major road contract with NFTO in 2014. He is a two-time under 23 national time trial title and has two more national titles on the track.
German federation joins MPCC
The German national cycling federation, the Bund Deutscher Radfahrer, has become the latest addition to the Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Credible (MPCC). They are the ninth national federation to join the voluntary organisation, along with France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and others.
“German media, especially the first channel ARD, have started again to report on the Tour de France this year, with particular consideration for the fight against doping,” said Secretary General Martin Wolf. “Our national association wishes to be exemplary in anti-doping matters by joining MPCC and apply its principles into the national team. Thanks to this membership, BDR wants to increase its influence in this process in a credible and lasting manner, but also to encourage all the German teams to commit to MPCC.”
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The MPCC has endured a challenging season in 2015 with a number of high-profile departures from WorldTour teams including Astana, Lampre-Merida and LottoNL-Jumbo, who said they were unable to work within the framework of the organisation. Bardiani-CSF also left after a disagreement during the Giro d’Italia earlier this year.
£12,000 tailor-made for aspiring British riders
An online clothing company has provided a leg-up to aspiring British cyclists by donating a portion of its revenue to the Dave Rayner Fund.
In 2014, Prendas Ciclismo teamed up with handmade espresso machine manufacturer Rocket Espresso to create a clothing range, with both sides jointly donating to the Fund for every garment sold. Nearly two years on, they have raised over £12,000, which will support young British male and female riders who choose to go abroad to pursue a career in the professional peloton.
"The Prendas Ciclismo/Rocket Espresso has proved to be a huge success again this year,” said Joscelin Ryan, a representative of the Dave Rayner Fund. “The Fund is very grateful for the support that has been received. These funds will enable more young riders to experience time spent abroad in their quest to become professional cyclists."
Set up in 1995 in memory of former British pro Dave Rayner, whose life was cut short the previous year, the Fund has helped the likes of David Millar and Adam Yates rise through the ranks. Among the items that benefit the Fund are a cotton cycling cap (£7.50), a long sleeve jersey (£69.95), bib shorts (£89.95) and a GORE windstopper gilet (£75), all hand made in Italy by Santini and available to buy online at prendas.co.uk.
“It gives us great satisfaction to be involved in a project that benefits something as worthy as the Dave Rayner Fund,” said Prendas Ciclismo’s Mick Tarrant. Since the late 1990's, we have provided many young aspiring riders with our own-brand clothing and if we assembled a hypothetical team, we'd have a competitive male and female World Tour team!”
Moolman-Pasio nominated in South African awards
For the second consecutive year, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio has been nominated for Sportswoman of the year in the annual South African sports awards.
The 29-year-old, who rides for Bigla Pro Cycling, swept the board at the national and continental championships at the start of the season, winning five titles in total. She won a stage and the overall classification at Auensteiner- Radsporttage and finished fourth in the GC at the Giro Rosa.
“It sounds like a cliché but it really is an honour to be nominated again,” Moolman-Pasio said. “I’m especially happy to be in the People’s Choice of the Year category. I’m the only woman in the category alongside some of South Africa’s premier sports men. A big part of my career is always to inspire girls to take up sport and this is another great opportunity to show young people in South Africa that with hard work and determination you can achieve what you set out to.”
