News
Team SpiderTech, Canada’s first professional cycling team to achieve UCI Professional Continental status introduces Canadian Squad
Team sets off for 2011 inaugural racing season powered by C10, a unique alliance of leading
Canadian companies
Toronto, Ontario – February 4th, 2011
Team SpiderTech today unveiled Canada’s first ever professional cycling team to achieve UCI Professional Continental status, one level before the Tour de France. Never before has a Canadian team been in pursuit of the Tour de France, considered the highest level in pro cycling in the world.
According to Team SpiderTech founder Steve Bauer, Olympic silver medalist and fourth place finisher at the 1988 Tour De France and one of only two Canadians ever to wear the coveted yellow jersey, this team has what it takes to compete against the best in the world.
“Each year since 2008, we have climbed successively to the next level of professional cycling in our pursuit of the Tour,” said Bauer. “For the first time in Canadian sports history, a Canadian professional cycling team achieved Division 2 status, a Professional Continental license, which means we will race at events across Europe and in North America that will host many of the top professional cycling teams on the Tour. We will get experience, we will challenge and by 2013 we hope to reach World Tour status and be invited to race at the Tour de France,” he added.
Last year, Team SpiderTech was ranked #1 in North America on the UCI America tour reaching UCI podium 22 times and achieving 15 victories. This year’s team is the largest contingent since Bauer began the pursuit three years ago. Attracting high profile Canadian riders from international teams and across the country. “We have doubled our size since we began and now have 19 talented riders that are pushing for the podium,” said Bauer. “Will, Zach, Svein and Guillaume are all challenging the top cyclists internationally and they are winning.”
Among the 19 team members are several new riders including Svein Tuft, silver medalist World Cycling Championships, Zach Bell, current World Cup Track Leader and Silver medalist UCI Track World Cup 2010 and Will Routley, the Canadian Road Champion in 2010. Returning to the team are Guillaume Boivin, bronze medalist in the World Championships 2010, Martin Gilbert, four UCI wins in 2010, and Keven Lacombe, three UCI wins in 2010, just to name a few. There is a total of 16 Canadians, two Americans and one rider from Mexico on this year’s squad.
Bauer and Team SpiderTech have also created a unique Made in Canada approach to get corporate Canada involved in the team’s pursuit. C10 is an alliance of 10 potential corporate partners who work together to provide the funding and support required to field a competitive team on the world’s cycling stage. Currently six companies, SpiderTech, Research in Motion – BlackBerry, NRS Brakes, Planet Energy, Saputo and Pinetree Capital are part of the alliance and the team is actively recruiting for four more to join.
“Pro cycling is a thrilling competitive sport around the world with millions of passionate spectators and television audiences,” said Bauer. “We need four more Canadian partners who want to reach an international audience at this elite level of professional cycling,” he added. “It is an opportunity to become part of Canadian sports history at a more affordable cost than many professional sports sponsorships.”
The team departs for Europe to start this year’s racing season on February 5, 2011. They head to Italy for the first two races, Tropheo Laigueglia Feb. 19 followed by Giro di Sardegna (Sardinia) Feb. 22 to 27.
About Team SpiderTech
Team SpiderTech powered by C10 is Canada’s first Continental Professional Cycling Team. Founded by Steve Bauer in 2007, the team has earned a Professional Continental license from the Union Cycliste Internationale(UCI). The 19 rider team of 16 Canadians and three other North American riders is sponsored by SpiderTech Inc. and a consortium of Canadian corporations known as C10 including BlackBerry, NRS Brakes, Pinetree Capital, Planet Energy and Saputo.
About SpiderTech
SpiderTech is the Canadian developer and world leader of pre-cut and ready to apply kinesiology taping solutions. SpiderTech is committed to excellence and innovation in the management of pain and myofascial dysfunction through the use of specialized elastic tape applications. SpiderTech’s focus is on the development and manufacturing of products and therapy protocols that meet the demands of today’s health care clinician and therapist.
For more information:
Josee Larocque
(905) 704 1224
media@cyclesportmanagement.com
Rob Hogan
(647) 404-4808
Searching for simplicity
Blaise Dubois is teaching a seminar on running technique to a group of physiotherapists at a military base in Halifax, NS. Like many of the best coaches, he has been there, done that. Based in Quebec City, he is a physiotherapist and former competitive runner. He asks for volunteers to run on a treadmill, then gets them to take off their shoes and run barefoot. In most cases, the runner’s stride changes from landing on the heel to landing on the forefoot. “This is a more natural way to run,” he explains. Dubois tells the group that elite distance runners tend to have a quick stride of 170 to 180 steps per minute, whether they are racing or jogging. This is
more efficient for the body than the slower cadence and longer stride of most recreational runners. The lower cadence of 140 strides per minute typical of many recreational runners creates a higher impact force that puts more stress on the skeleton, creates more vertical displacement and leads to a less efficient movement overall. This creates more work for the runner and increases the likelihood of injury.
Since 1980, studies have shown that the cadence of runners has been decreasing. The design of many running shoes encourages this, he suggests, as the cushioning tends to encourage more heel strike. This leads to more time in contact with the ground and in effect acts as a brake. In recent years, there has been a contrasting trend in shoe design, toward flatter shoes with less cushioning and even “five-finger” and other minimalist styles that mimic the close fit of a sock and encourage landing more on the forefoot.
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