Lights by Linea Pro Cycling Team raises bar for South African cycling

Lights by Linea, the committed supporter of South African cycling, is extremely proud to announce the launch of the Lights by Linea Pro Cycling Team. The concept of the team is to provide a platform for the long term growth and benefit of South African Cycling.

The company has been the main player in the resurgent cycling scene in the Western Cape with its generous sponsorship of events such as the Polkerdrai Criterieums, the Stellenbosch Criteriums and the Lights By Linea HERO Challenge and Elite series.

The Team will be managed and coached by LEADout, a Coaching and Cycling Academy under the directorship of the hugely experienced Barry Austin. Based in Cape Town all the riders will be living in the Lights by Linea Team house.

The racing program will include all the prestige events on the National South African racing circuit, additionally the riders will be motivated with an incentive plan that includes the opportunity to race internationally. The Lights by Linea Juniors will also be able to participate in a LEADout International racing schedule as part of their incentive plan.

LEADout will take care of the team training plans, monitoring the riders on a daily basis, provide personal coaching sessions and conduct goal orientated assessments from time to time to ensure the team and riders maintain their drive towards the set out development and performance goals. The best staff will be handpicked to assist Barry Austin in guiding the training and racing of the cyclists. An educational program will cover social responsibilities to sponsors, basic physical education, cooking classes, social media training, marketing and bicycle mechanics. The Athletes will be expected to familiarise themselves with the UCI rules and be subjected to an exam in this regard.

Other cyclists, earmarked by LEADout, will also be able invited to join the Lights by Linea sponsored athletes in the team house, receive the same personal training sessions and be treated as part of the team. They will however ride and race in different colours of the LEADout Academy. By doing this a natural succession path is created.

Lights by Linea MD, Wayne Roberts noted “We are very pleased to be to support this fantastic program along with Colnago providing great bikes and LEADOut being the hub of the operation”.

Lights by Linea is a national leader in energy efficient and LED lighting and as Roberts, puts it “We have the perfect parallel with this exciting new team”.

The 2015 Team full line up will be as follows:

Elite/ u23 Athletes:

1. Stefan Jacques Ihlenfeldt(24)

2. James Tennent(25)

3. Jos Le Roux(26)

4. Rohan Du Plooy(20)

5. Declan Sidey(20)

6. Carl Bonthuys(18)

Juniors:

1. Jarrod Hattingh(17)

2. Keanu Slinger(16)

Currently the team is having a training camp in the Western Cape from the 5th to the 14th January to prepare for the upcoming season.