Team bonding time for Julian Kyer and Rob Britton.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
National Champion Eric Marcotte gets ready for a ride in his new team kit.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Mike Creed was dressed to impress as usual for tonights team presentation(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
The team wraps up the final introductions with team owner Jamie Bennett(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Mike Creed introduces team strongman Julian Kyer(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
The team presentation took place at the swanky Pedalers Fork in Calabasas(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
The Team SmartStop Pro Cycling Team for 2015.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Abbey Bike Tools own Jason Quade helped out with the mechanic duties at team camp.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
The week included motorpaced climbs for the team.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Warm weather made it easy for the long training rides.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Riders got to enjoy sunny rides along the California coast.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Zach Bell is back with SmartStop and ready for another strong season.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Julian Kyer launches an attack on a climb.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Team kits got a slight redesign for the new season.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Team SmartStop heads out for another long day.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
The team takes a coffee shop break after a long day in the saddle.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
This year the team signed up with Neil Pryde bikes.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Kristofer Dahl takes a flyer off the front of the team ride.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Nice roads and good weather treated the team to another successful training camp.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Riders cool off on the final day of training camp.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Team SmartStop launched its 2015 team in Calabasas, California last week after finishing up a two-week training camp. The winners of the 2014 UCI Americas Tour team classification are looking to repeat that accomplishment this season, and earn a place in the UCI Road World Championship team time trial event.
Toward that end, the squad will head to the Dominican Republic for the Vuelta Independencia Nacional and the Vuelta Mexico as its first UCI events of the season.
"This is a chance to solidify our chance at starting the World TTT, this is a important marker of where the new guys on the team are at and how hard we'll have to chase UCI points for the rest of the year," team director Mike Creed said of the early season strategy.
New to the team this year is last year's Vuelta Mexico champion Juan Pablo Villegas, and the team hopes his presence will help it accumulate the points it needs. "It was a major goal of the team to keep its champions and UCI points leaders intact for 2015," team owner James Bennett said. "We wanted to show the cycling community that we intend to grow on our success from last year and start this year where we left off, leading the rankings."
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