Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefit Strategies) won the Tour de WingHaven, an National Race Calendar (NRC) event in O'Fallon, Missouri.(Image credit: Tour de Winghaven)
Scott Zwizanski in the leader's jersey at the 2009 Tour de Beauce.(Image credit: Jerome Lessard)
Kelly Benefit Strategies Pro Cycling team, a US-based Continental squad, announced its 15-rider 2010 roster, which returns 10 core members from its 2009 line-up and sees five additions.
Jesse Anthony joins Kelly Benefit Strategies (KBS) from Team Type 1 and is best known for his cyclo-cross skills. The 24-year-old is a seven-time national champion in the cyclo-cross discipline. Ian Macgregor, 26, also joins KBS from Team Type 1 and is a two-time Under-23 National Road Champion with strength in tackling climbing stages.
Alex Boyd, 22, comes from Rock Racing and was the 2007 Collegiate National Road Race Champion. Guy East, 22, joins KBS from Trek-Livestrong. East's strengths lie in time trialing and track racing.
Mark Hinnen was a member of KBS in 2007 and 2008 but had trouble with illness and injury. After a one-year hiatus, the 22-year-old Canadian returns to the team for a third season.
Returning from the 2009 roster are Americans Andrew Bajadali, Dan Bowman, Alex Candelario, Cheyne Hoag, Reid Mumford, Neil Shirley and Scott Zwizanski and Canadians Ryan Anderson, Zach Bell and David Veilleux.
"Our 2010 roster will be our strongest yet," said Jonas Carney, KBS performance director. "We have retained the majority of our team that delivered so many great results in 2009 and also added more power, experience and young talent.
"Our philosophy has always been to build a team, not buy one superstar. Having said that, we could not be more pleased with our new additions. I am very familiar with each of these guys and their potential."
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Kelly Benefit Strategies ended the 2009 season as the highest ranked non-ProTour team on the USA Cycling Professional Tour (5th place) and the highest ranked North American Team on the UCI America Tour (3rd place). The team also won three international UCI stage races - Andrew Bajadali took overall honours at the Tour of Thailand while Scott Zwizanski won both the Vuelta Ciclista del Uruguay and Canada's Tour de Beauce.
Additionally, team members made two podium appearances at the USPRO road championships in Greenville, SC - Zwizanski earned bronze in the time trial while Bajadali claimed silver in the road race. Kelly Benefit Strategies also won four NRC events during the 2009 season.
In 2010 the team will work to expand its international schedule, making a return to Asia in the early season for several races including the OCBC Cycle Singapore and the Tour of Thailand. The team will also make two trips to Europe, once in the spring to prepare for the Tour of California and again in the summer.
"Last season we won road races, stage races, criteriums and time trials at the UCI and NRC level," said Carney. "In 2010 we will be more versatile and have even more depth while fielding a roster that consists of all North American athletes."
Kelly Benefit Strategies 2010 roster: Ryan Anderson (Can), Jesse Anthony (USA), Andrew Bajadali (USA), Zach Bell (Can), Dan Bowman (USA), Alex Boyd (USA), Alex Candelario (USA), Guy East (USA), Mark Hinnen (Can), Cheyne Hoag (USA), Ian Macgregor (USA), Reid Mumford (USA), Neil Shirley (USA), David Veilleux (Can) and Scott Zwizanski (USA)
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