Fletcher, Croeser and Roff lead Orange Monkey Pro Team
Mountain bike squad announces roster
The Orange Monkey Pro Team announced its roster for 2013 and noted that it has switched bike sponsors. The team will start the season with five riders - including two new signings, and it will continue to compete internationally.
Top riders David Fletcher of Great Britain, African Continental & South African U23 cross country champion Rourke Croeser and Ben Roff of Great Britain are returning to the team, which is beginning a four-year plan looking toward the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
Two new additions to the team are the Serbian National Champion and under 23 athlete Jovana Crnogorac and British first-year junior athlete Billy Harding. Crnogorac is just 20 years old, with a promising future while Harding has proven throughout his time in the youth category that he is a born winner, taking the British National title in 2012 and most recently being selected, as a junior, for the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships.
Orange Monkey Pro Team managers Paul Beales and Will Cooper both have high expectations going forward, "After re-evaluating our position in the winter, we believe that our goals are very much achievable and we expect to have our athletes compete in both the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games in 2014 and 2016."
For 2013, the team has replaced bike sponsor Cannondale with Polygon Bikes, an Indonesian brand looking to push into the European market. Riders will race the Cozmic RX29 3.0 29er mountain bike.
The team, which will soon announced a co-title sponsor, is registered with the UCI for its third year, and it will concentrate on the UCI World Cup as well as selected European events and the British and South African national series. The team will finish the season in Malaysia at the Tour of Langkawi.
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