Cole House (right) chats with former-pro-turned BMC sports director Mike Sayers (Image credit: Wil Matthews)
Young American sprinter Cole House has been taken under Gordon Fraser’s wing at RealCyclist.com and believes that the former pro can develop his burgeoning skills as of the most promising fast men in the US.
House rode for BMC’s development team in 2009 and 2010, serving briefly as a stagiaire towards the end of the season. He tasted success on the road in the US this year, claiming a stage in the Valley of the Sun Stage and the International Cycling Classic.
“It was kind of touch and go whether I would sign with BMC but it was kind of hard to compete for a spot when they're signing big names,” House told Cyclingnews.
“But RealCyclist.com just came out of nowhere. I had my agent working on trying to get a ProTeam deal but with all the teams merging or down-sizing there wasn’t much. Then one day I got an email from Gordon Fraser saying he was directing this new team and wanted me to join them.”
House made his stagiaire debut at the Tour de l’Ain, and raced 30 days towards the end of the season. Despite the opportunity BMC gave him, he did admit a level of disappointment at not being offered a pro contract.
“I wouldn’t say I felt really let down but it was a bit disappointing. I did something like 30 race days in about two months of being in Europe with the team and it was a great experience and they gave me a fantastic opportunity.”
However with a new chapter in his career about to start ,House is looking to build some solid foundations in Fraser’s UCI Continental Team. The team will compete in the NRC series as well as UCI races in America, with the hope of gaining a place in the Tour of California and Utah – races where team leader Francisco Mancebo has performed well in the past.
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“We're just a Continental team but we have quite a few big names, I think we'll surprise a lot of people,” House said.
“As far as my role, well that’s going to be sprinting and that was one of my reason for joining the team. Gordon wanted to work with me and help me develop my sprinting.”
“I don’t really feel like I have a lot to prove. I'm just racing my bike and doing my best, other people may say, well you don’t do this ,you don’t do that, but that’s easy to say when you’re standing back watching. I’m super competitive and I like to win so that’s what I’m going to try and do this year, I know I can be right up there with the best on the NRC circuit... so anything less than that I'd be disappointed with my self.”
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
