With the 2015 UCI World Cup Series just around the corner and having seen firsthand how young prospects struggle with travelling and racing overseas, Squirt has decided to lend a helping hand and provide accommodation for our fast developing mountain bikers at the World Cup XC events.
More precisely the idea was born when witnessing how emerging talent like Gert Heyns (Scott Factory Racing) struggled to overcome language and cultural differences, never mind the deep European competitive field, during the 2014 season Bundesliga finals in Bad Salzdetfurt where Squirt provided him with accommodation.
The program is mainly aimed at South African riders, but will not be limited to them as international teams sponsored by Squirt such as the BH Sr Suntour KMC and the Brentjens MTB Racing Team will also be welcome to join. As an added benefit, this would potentially give riders access to the experience and knowledge of international stars such as Julie Bresset, Stephane Tempier, Maxime Marotte and Bart Brentjens.
Riders from BH Sr Suntour KMC.
Especially the ladies can benefit from this arrangement as it is often intimidating riding the technically demanding World Cup courses with men and Squirt will endeavour to get the girls to ride together and share pertinent advice.
For the first 2 rounds of the Cross Country Series Squirt has booked accommodation near Albstadt only 8 kilometres from the actual race course in Tailfingen. Accommodation consists of several bungalows, each unit sleeping 4 persons.
The idea is that participating riders base themselves there from the 11th of May 2015 to train on the Albstadt course between 11 and 17 May. There is also a Bundesliga race in Schopp on the 16/17 of May about 3 hours drive from Albstadt which can form part of their preparation for the World Cup.
After the Schopp Bundesliga race, riders will travel to Nove Mesto for the first round of the XC World Cup where accommodation has already been booked for the week of 18-24 May. Afterwards riders will return to Albstadt for the final build up towards the 2nd World Cup race on May 30/31. The extra time on the Albstadt course and being familiar with their surroundings should eliminate a lot of uncertainties and allow riders to focus on the race itself.
In the same vein Squirt is currently also busy finalizing rider accommodation for the XC World Cups in Lenzerheide June 29 to July 5, Val di Sole August 19 to 23 and from there to Andorra from August 24 to September 6 for XC World Championships. While CSA will most likely provide the SA team with accommodation during the XC World Championships, Squirt will look at providing riders with accommodation from August 24 to 31 so that they may better acclimate to the high altitude. At Val di Sole Squirt will already attempt to book accommodation at altitude to better prepare riders for Andorra’s altitude of 1500m to 2500m.
As a bonus riders will also be offered the opportunity to stop over at Eurobike as they travel from Italy to Andorra.
Not part of the XC World Cup but Squirt has also booked accommodation for riders attending the Marathon World Championships from June 22-28 in Selva Val Gardena, Italy. As South African MTB racing is so focussed on the marathon discipline, Squirt sees the Marathon World Championships as an important opportunity for riders to shine at an event they are familiar with.
Squirt is a proudly South African company and as such the long term vision of the program is to be a vital part of the process that will see a South African mountain biker scale the podium at a World Cup event. Squirt believes the talent and ambition is there, it’s just a question of making it possible for our hopefuls to fulfil their potential.
The accommodation will be supplied to riders free of charge, so the only cost to athletes will be travel and food expenses. Squirt personnel will also be staying at the same venues and can assist riders by coordinating travel arrangements and providing local knowledge and experience with an in-house official German language interpreter!
Currently there are still a few spots available and riders interested in forming part of the program can contact Squirt at info@squirtlube.com.
Flipping awesome