'Our riders and our team have forced everyone else to try a little harder,' says director Creed
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Rob Britton (SmartStop) and team director Mike Creed happy after the win(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Mike Creed and Eric Marcotte have a talk before leaving on the ride.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Mike Creed jumps in to get camp off to a good start(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Mike Creed was dressed to impress as usual for tonights team presentation(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Mike Creed is ready to spend his first full season behind the directors wheel.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Mike Creed spent his first race in the director's seat for the Smartstop team.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Team SmartStop is known for being one of the most aggressive and cagey teams on the American bike racing scene. This year alone, the Continental outfit have garnered wins at the professional criterium championships with Eric Marcotte, who also won the road title last year, and the overall title at the Tour of the Gila with Rob Britton.
The team's no-holds-barred approach to bike racing extends into the Tour of California this week as they race some of the top teams in the world. In our latest video, director Mike Creed spoke with Cyclingnews after the second stage about the team's strategy and how he prepares his riders for the big races.
"I don't hire wallflowers. I'm not a wallflower," Creed said. "I don't mind losing, hey, you lose most of the time but I just want to make sure that we lose in a very combative and very smart way. I think that our riders and our team have forced everyone else to try a little harder."
