Cheerwine Cycling has announced its roster for their 2006 Elite Women’s Cyclo-Cross team. Anne Bolyea, owner and director of the Women’s team has chosen the following riders: Tara Ross (2005 member Canadian National Cyclo-Cross team and 2004 bronze medallist Canadian National Cyclo-Cross Championships), Clara Beard (2005 U-23 U.S. National Cyclo-Cross Champion), Elizabeth Frye (2000 Bronze medallist MTB Master’s Worlds), Mandy Lozano (15th overall 2005 Verge Mid-Atlantic series) and Cara McCauley (20th overall 2005 Verge Mid-Atlantic series).
"I'm very excited about the riders on this team," Bolyea commented. "Tara and Clara are very strong racers and they will be joined by veteran mountain bike racer Beth Frye along with up and coming cross racers Mandy Lozano and Cara McCauley. I'm so happy to have Tara back in our program because she has so much talent. I can’t wait to see how Beth Frye will fair since she has so much experience from the mountain bike side of racing."
Bolyea also announced that the team will join forces with Greg Becker and his men’s cyclo-cross team, Sonic. "Becker brought Kona bikes and SRAM to the table and our riders are thrilled to race on the new SRAM gruppos and Kona frames. Cheerwine hopes to 'make the leap' with SRAM for our 2007 road program so this should be a wonderful fit for everyone. The women will be racing the Verge Mac Series, the Verge New England Series, and the USGP of Cross. Verge has been Cheerwine’s clothing sponsor for three years now and we are loyal to their dedication to cyclo-cross and look forward to doing as many Verge races as we can," continued Bolyea.
Cheerwine will also help sponsor the North Carolina Grand Prix of Cross in Hendersonville, NC, as well as another UCI race. "I am so happy to be able to give these riders a chance to race cross," said Bolyea with a smile. "I will be sending Ross to Belgium in December to race and that should be a blast for her! Don’t be surprised if you see other Cheerwine riders on the cross scene in both California and in Pennsylvania, I’ve heard rumours that a few of my other road racers are planning on 'crossing-over' as well."
