![\"evans.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-2-0-63089800-1354101246.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nKevin Evans, seen here in action during the 2012 Sani2c stage race, has signed a two-year contract with FedGroup-Itec.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Photo credit: Full Stop Communications.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were quick to offer Kevin a ride on our team, largely because he\u2019s such a great ambassador, not just for his sponsors but also for the sport of mountain biking. His addition to our team allows us to grow the team to a new level and really tackle the serious racing side of the sport at the highest level with more consistency and confidence,\u201d said Stewart, who also owns the team. \u201cWith myself, Kevin and Neil, we\u2019ll have a wide range options in our quest for all the major race podiums in South Africa and even abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have yet to finalise our Cape Epic plans, but Brandon and I have started every single edition of the race and obviously, being the 10th<\/sup> anniversary, it\u2019s a big year for the race and for us each personally in 2013. I\u2019ll be on the start line for sure and riding my heart out as usual. It\u2019s a race I\u2019d love to win still, but I do have my eye on a Marathon World Champs medal too; and with the 2014 Marathon World\u2019s in South Africa, that will be a big focus for me,\u201d said Evans.<\/p>\n For Scott Field, Executive Member of FedGroup, the signing of Evans is another opportunity for growth:<\/p>\n \u201cLife throws you a curve ball every now and then and it\u2019s those that turn the situation around that really show true character. We can identify with Kevin\u2019s curve- ball situation and didn\u2019t hesitate to offer him a contract. In fact, we actually started this team by throwing Brandon (Stewart) a similar lifeline in 2011. It turned out to be sound decision that\u2019s reaped great results.<\/p>\n \u201cKevin\u2019s got a superb racing pedigree and is a family man, two qualities we can identify with as a business. Signing him up for a two-year period will help give the team stability from which I\u2019m sure the results will be impressive. This is simply also an extension of FedGroup\u2019s involvement in mountain biking in South Africa,\u201d said Field.<\/p>\n FedGroup is the title sponsor of the annual FedGroup Berg & Bush, a series of three popular mountain bike stage races in the KwaZulu-Natal province.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in this sport for the long haul and signing Kevin up is a pivotal move in our quest to move forward with the intention to grow this team. As sponsors, we have some experience now in what it takes to run a team successfully, so we\u2019re not just being blindly optimistic, we are passionate about mountain biking and see this as a sound investment in the team\u2019s future,\u201d said Gavin Meyer, Managing Director of Itec Connect.<\/p>\n Over an 11-year professional racing career, the popular Evans has been a four-time national marathon champion, one-time Elite men\u2019s cross-country national champion, one-time national Elite men\u2019s road individual time trial champion, multiple ABSA Cape Epic stage winner and overall podium finisher and Marathon World Cup round winner. He has also won virtually every major marathon and short stage race in South Africa.<\/p>\n The team will be riding SCOTT bicycles as a result of the equipment and financial backing the brand is offering to the team in support of Evans, who has helped the Swiss-based brand raise its profile in the growing endurance racing category over the past two years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After finding himself without a pro contract for 2013, following the recent, sudden closure of his team due a doping infringement, multiple South African mountain bike-racing champion, Kevin Evans, has been thrown a lifeline by former rival team, FedGroup-Itec. Evans has been signed to the growing professional mountain bike racing team for a period of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":53445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-22118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22118"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=22118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}