Elevate-KHS adds Law, Cheyne and Simpson
US Continental team continues to build 2018 roster
US Continental team Elevate-KHS continues to build its 2018 roster, adding Australian Scott Law from Cylance, Jordan Cheyne from Jelly Belly-Maxxis and US amateur time trial champion George Simpson from Gateway Harley Davidson. The team previously announced renewing with Canadian James Piccoli and Mexican sprinter Jose Alfredo Rodriguez.
Law, 26, spent last season with US Continental team Cylance after having ridden for the Australian Avanti team the past two years. Law's top-end speed played into the Cylance lead-out train as well as his own victories.
"To see Scott win the biggest criterium in the US, Tulsa Tough, and then head to Canada to finish on the podium of the 100 mile White Spot-Delta UCI road race, shows just how much depth and commitment he has," said Elevate-KHS director Heath Blackgrove. "We believe with our program we can help him progress and challenge the idea that Scott only shines in criteriums and shorter distance races."
Law said he's excited by the opportunity to compete in longer races with his new team.
"I've always been very handy in criteriums, and I really want to prove to myself and everyone that I'm not just a criterium rider," he said. "I really want to help the team and target specific sprint stages in the big UCI events like the Tour of Utah, Colorado and Alberta. Seeing the Elevate-KHS team this year perform so well and really enjoy themselves both on and off the bike is something that I truly love and want to be a part of. You should feel like a family, and this team definitely has that feeling about it."
Cheyne, a 26-year-old from Canada, has ridden with Jelly Belly the past two seasons, riding in support of Lachlan Morton in 2016 and Serghei Tvetcov this year. He finished seventh on the difficult Mont Megantic stage at the Tour de Beauce, where he finished third overall.
"Being a support rider for riders such a Lachlan Morton and Serghei Tvetcov gave me an up close look at what it takes to become a champion," Cheyne said. "I missed some general classification opportunities this year finishing a close second at the San Dimas Stage Race and 3rd in the Tour de Beauce. Joining the Elevate-KHS team allows me to focus on getting that big stage race win that I am looking for."
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Simpson, a 24-year-old who rode for the Gateway Harley Davidson amateur team that also launched the road career of LottoNL-Jumbo's Sepp Kuss, was a hot commodity on the domestic market after taking 11 wins in 2017, including the US Elite time trial championship.
"We really started to take a close look at George in May," said team co-owner John McAllister. "He was very dominate in the way he won both the time trial and road race at the Superior Morgul Classic Stage Race in Colorado. From that moment, we started to keep a close eye on him. Winning the US time trial championship was confirmation of what we saw earlier in the year."
Simpson said he'll target the US pro time trial championship in 2018.
"I'm looking forward to shining in hilly circuit races like the ones in Redlands, Gila, North Star and Alabama as well as being a part of larger team objectives in the Tour of Utah or the Colorado Classic," he said. "I am really excited to focus on the US pro time trial championships as my primary target for the season."