The road to TWENTY12 | Cyclingnews

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The returning Proman members of Peanut Butter & Co./Twenty12(Image credit: Rob Evans)

With the announcement of the receipt of the USA Cycling Foundation grant for Centers of Excellence, the addition of a new title sponsor, my dream roster of riders and management, as well as a cupboard full of peanut butter, the season is already off to an excellent start.

Columbia-HTC has added another US rider to their roster, and both TIBCO and Colavita/Baci pb Cooking Light have bolstered their programs, Webcor will continue to be a force, Vera Bradley Foundation has a solid well rounded team, and grass roots programs, Kenda Tire, NOW-MS, Touchstone, BMW-Bianchi, Velo Girls, Dolce Vita & others all continue to support U.S based development women. The competition should be fierce this season, but the real competition will be the rest of the world.

From the person that buys a couple of raffle tickets at a fundraiser, to the corporation that financially supports us, or the industry sponsor that supports us with nutrition or equipment, or the journalist that takes the time to give women press, the gratitude is the same. The team is driven to facilitate sponsorship activation, providing as much feedback and data tracking as possible to ensure continued relationships.

Thank You Sponsors Peanut Butter & Co. Fuji Bikes, SRAM, JL Velo, Edge Composites, Nature Made, ProMan, USA Cycling Development Foundation, Catlike, Oval, Arundel, Lezyne, Speedplay, Thule, Enduro Bearings, K-Edge, Oakley, Defeet, Paradigm Cycles, Northwave, Rock Tape, Clif, Defeet, Luna, Peets Coffee & Tea, BrakeThrough Media, Pure Swiss Water and Dumonde Tech, Larkspur Hotels, Violich Farms, Chapel of The Hills, Marin Mazda Subaru, Testarossa Vineyards and so many individuals who have contributed advice and support over the years.

But more than that she has been the backbone of many teams like Victory Brewing, Lipton and TIBCO. While still in her twenties, Lauren is a veteran rider with 13 years racing experience. A multiple junior and U23 National Champion, Lauren is also a National Team member who has represented the U.S. in both the Junior and Elite World Championships. Lauren is a phenomenal athlete and truly selfless teammate earning her teams to countless wins with powerful, well-calculated lead-outs. Lauren has shown that she is a versatile rider with results to show both on the road and track, she recently earned a silver medal at the Colombia Track World Cup with Sarah Hammer and Dotsie Bausch in the team pursuit. It's an absolute honor to have her on the team. Lauren has the 'Its Peanut Butter Jelly Time' app on her iPhone.

Kat Carroll has been teammates with Lauren both on Victory Brewing and Tibco. Kat, another tireless team player and keystone rider for the TWENTY12 squad. She is known for breakaways and has won sprint jerseys in at the Tour of New Zealand, Tour de Berne and Tour de Ardeché, 1st 2008 Presbyterian Invitational, 1st 2008 International Criterium, Downers Grove, she also has contributed to many team wins.

Mara brings a lot of experience to the team. A former swimmer and student at Whitman College, she transitioned to cycling. In her second year as a professional cyclist Mara won the US National Road Title and placed fourth in the Time Trial, took a podium placing in the Montreal World Cup, won Tour of the Gila and represented USA at the road World Championships and has since had two successful years racing for Columbia-HTC with stellar results including 2nd General Classification Giro d'Italia Femminile, 1st Stage 6 Giro d'Italia Femminile, and 1st Stage 3 Giro d'Italia Femminile.

Kristin McGrath is a talented all-rounder who excels in the mountains, and time trials. She claimed two podiums at Cascade Cycling Classic, including a win on Stage 6 and then went on to take her first European podium with a third place effort in the Time Trial at La Route de France. Kristin will get a later start as she suffered a double compound fracture to her femur in a recent cycling accident; she was hit by a truck but is rapidly on her way to a full recovery.

Shelly has been instrumental in defining the Proman team, She is a natural leader, and has carried much of that responsibility since joining the team as a cat 4 rider. Commonly known as one of our 5-foot assassins, Shelley has the lungs and heart of a giant. This athlete is tenacious and always exceeds expectations. She is very much looking forward to working with her more experienced teammates this year. She is noted for her track racing accomplishments finishing on the podium in the last three UCI Track World Cups; she is also an excellent sprinter on the road. 2nd GC Nature Valley Grand Prix (NRC) - Sprint Jersey 2nd Giro Donne, Italy (UCI 2.1) - Stage 8, 5th Tour de Ardeche' (UCI 2.2) - Stage 5. She is current National Scratch Race Champion. Although primarily track focused the past few years watch out for her on the road this year.

With a stellar team to back her up, you can count on Shelley to be in the mix at the end of a race. She studied Health and Human Performance with a concentration in Exercise Science at Roanoke College in Virginia, where she also played soccer. She recently married the man who taught her how to ride a bike; she now beats Rob Evans regularly on the track. Rob also contributes many of the images that you can see on our blog and websites.

She also started the Flatiron Flyers Junior Cycling Project, a Boulder-based junior cycling team with 25 riders. Cari will focus on track but will join the girls for a few bigger criteriums. Cari's first bike ride was the 7-day B.R.A.G. (Bike Race Across Georgia), which she completed on a borrowed bike, white t-shirt, and running shoes. Cari is the 2009 USAC Elected Athlete representative and is very involved in junior development.

You will be hearing a lot about this rider this year, although racing for seven years, she really put a stamp on the USA scene last year, winning several bigger criteriums against the best sprinters in the U.S and on junior gears. Coryn is a great team player and for being just 17 years old, one of the most professional riders in the peloton both on and off the bike. Another versatile rider, Coryn boasts 25 junior national titles in road, cross and track, some notable 2009 results for this youngster include 1st place, Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 5 NRC. 1st place, San Rafael Twilight Criterium and 1st place, Manhattan Beach Grand Prix. Coryn's father, Wally, introduced her to cycling by riding tandems with her when she was 10.

The following year, Coryn began to participate in the junior races and dominated. Her first USCF race she placed 2nd among the 10-12 boys and started to cry because she didn't win. She used that as motivation to win her first California State Championships and eventually won 2 Jr National Titles by the end of the year. From then on her racing evolved and has been developing to become a world class cyclist, winning races for the US National Team in Belgium and winning her first NRC criterium marking her first big domestic victory.

Kristin will be our team director and consultant. Kristin's dedication to development riders is very apparent. Kristin is working on a number of projects outside of the team while she is riding the wave of her Olympic and World Championship success.
At the Beijing Olympics 2008, Kristin Armstrong won the Gold medal in the women's individual time trial to become the first US woman ever to win the event at the Olympic games. She has become one of the most accomplished American cyclists of all time.

Kristin Armstrong was born into a military family on August 11, 1973. By the time she was 17, Armstrong had become a Junior Olympian in swimming. She excelled as a triathlete and competed in the Hawaii Ironman World Championships. As a professional triathlete, she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis. Running was out of the question, but cycling was considered her best therapy. Within a short time, a relatively inexperienced cyclist became an Olympian and World Champion. Armstrong has raced professionally for T-Mobile Women, Team Lipton, and is currently on the Cervélo Lifeforce team. She has lived in Tennessee, California, Japan and now makes Idaho her home. Kristin loves cooking.

I began my competitive days on the horse in England, gymkhanas, cross country and eventually thoroughbred racing. Grew up around sport, my dad was a pro football player in UK. My mum used to ride horses for renowned racehorse trainer Sir Gordon Richards.
The first bike race I watched was the Milk Race in 1985 the riders raced through the village where I lived. I think Eric van Lancker won that year.

Moved over to road racing much later but soon realized I would be more valuable in a management role. I founded Proman Racing 4 years ago. Fast forward to General manager of Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 Women's Professional Cycling Team, managed under my company United By Sport LLC. I am motivated as a manager by motivated riders, motivated management and clear goals. I love to cook cozy food and will challenge Kat Carroll to a crock off any day!

The Exergy/Twenty 12 riders will be contributing on a regular basis to Cyclingnews, although content will have a team emphasis, its my hope to create a hub for women cyclists fun stories, informative articles, health and wellness tips and the occasional peloton gossip column.

The Exergy/Twenty12 team: Kaitlin Antonneau, Kristin Armstrong, Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Jackie Crowell, Andrea Dvorak, Cari Higgins, Kristin McGrath, Greta Neimanas, Jessica Phillips, Coryn Rivera, Lauren Tamayo, Alison Tetrick Starnes and Tayler Wiles. International riders include Canadians Rhae Christie Shaw and Heather Logan-Sprenger along with Switzerland's Pascale Schnider.