US Continental team visits Honda Museum in Torrance for official season-opening gala
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Danny Pate went from a WorldTour standout to one of Rally Cycling's team leaders for 2017 and beyond.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
The 2017 Team Launch took place at the Honda Museum, a private collection of Honda'sand Acura's greatest vehicles.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Some hand signed Rally Cycling koozies from Borah Teamwear for this trio of youngsters.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Rally Cycling's Acura RDX comes with a two-tone gloss and matte wrap job for 2017.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
The 1984 Civic Wagon, one of the cars that launched the Honda brand into the stratosphere.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Palos Verdes Road gives new meaning to the word scenic – here Nelson Vails, the first African American Olympic medalist in cycling, leads the charge.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Rally Health COO David Ko flanked by the Rally Cycling women's team before the cew embarked on a group ride in Torrance.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Kirsty Lay, fresh off an Olympic medal in Rio, was all smiles at the first day of women's training camp.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
But first... let us take a selfie.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
CLIF provided an amazing spread for the VIP group ride participants in Torrance.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Tom Soladay provides some one-on-one motivation during one of the steepest sections of the group rides on Palos Verdes Road.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
The group ride was no stroll through the park – Palos Verdes Road had steep slopes and stunning views of the Pacific Ocean for the participants who were willing to make the trip.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
From San Francisco to Los Angeles, Rally Health's management team came along for the ride in Torrance.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Rally Health's Rhett Woods.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Rally Cycling's Acura RDX fit in nicely with this collection of candy painted, retouched Honda and Acura classics.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
The first generation Honda Prelude began an iconic line of cars for decades to come.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
A timeline of the company's work in the auto industry that turned it into one of the world's greatest brands.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
A look inside the Insight Hybrid chassis and engine with this cross-section treatment.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Caitlin Laroche heads to the stage to officially begin her first season with Rally Cycling.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Katherine Maine returns for her second season with Rally Cycling.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Brandon McNulty won a historic Junior World Championship in the time trial discipline in 2016. Expect big things from this young rider in his first season as a pro.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Danny Pate is interviewed onstage alongside Matteo Dal-Cin, Sepp Kuss and Eric Young.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Kelly Catlin answers a few questions, flanked by Sara Poidevin, Erica Allar, and Kirsti Lay.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
New team partner Kinetic provides Rally Cycling with its state-of-the-art smart trainers for 2017.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Acura's Kelly Lynch.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
Rally Health's Rhett Woods introduces Rally's platform to 2017's roster of athletes.(Image credit: Sam Wiebe / Rally Cycling)
The men and women of Rally Cycling officially launched their 2017 seasons this week with a team presentation at the Honda Automotive Museum in Torrance, California.
The men were coming off two weeks of training in Oxnard before heading to Europe for their first race of the season at the Vuelta a La Murcia starting February 11. The women's training camp is currently underway in Oxnard through February 12.
The program run by the Circuit Sport management company out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is entering its 11th year, with the men's Continental team starting up in 2007 as Kelly Benefits-Medifast and the women's team taking shape in 2013 as Optum. Rally took over title sponsorship of the teams in 2016.
The 2017 Rally women's team is a mix of experience and youth, with four new riders joining four returning riders as the team rebuilds flowing the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The men's team lost veterans Tom Zirbel and Will Routley to retirement but added three young riders to fill the void. Reigning junior World Champion Brandon McNulty joins the team for 2017, along with Redlands Bicycle Classic winner Matteo-Dal-Cin from Silber and Tour of Alberta stage winner Colin Joyce from Axeon Hagens Berman.
"It's definitely a younger group, and that's the direction we want to go, to bring in more young guys," Rally Performance Director Jonas Carney told Cyclingnews. "I think it's a good balance. We kept a lot of our core dudes from last year, and we brought in some really powerful young guys. That's kind of the route we want to go, to keep our core rout together - kind of the backbone of the team - and then every year reload with a few really badass young guys."
The team can continue to lean on WorldTour veteran Danny Pate to be a captain on the road and provide leadership in races, while Rob Britton and Evan Huffman will shoulder much of the team's general classification hopes. They are joined by veteran strong men Jesse Anthony and Tom Soladay, along with talented climbers Adam de Vos, Emerson Oronte and Sep Kuss. Also returning is Rally Cycling’s sprint train, including National Criterium Champion Brad Huff, Shane Kline, Pierrick Naud, Curtis White and Eric Young.
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The teams will have similar programs as they've had in the past, with the men getting an early start in Europe to prepare for the big domestic races.
"There's just not much going on over here until Joe Martin," Carney explained. "We were fortunate enough to get some invitations to some really nice European races like Murcia and [Volta ao] Algarve. We're doing Volta ao Alentejo again, which is probably our fourth or fifth time doing that race in Portugal, and it's a 2.1 now. We have another one-day race in Portugal and we just picked up Tour of Normandy in France in March.
2017 Rally Cycling women's roster: Erica Allar, Amy Benner, Sara Bergen, Allison Beveridge, Kelly Catlin, Megan Heath, Kirsti Lay, Caitlin Laroche, Katherine Maine, Sara Poidevin, Monica Volk, Emma White.
2017 Rally Cycling men's roster: Jesse Anthony, Robert Britton, Matteo Dal-Cin, Adam de Vos, Brad Huff, Evan Huffman, Colin Joyce, Shane Kline, Sepp Kuss, Brandon McNulty, Pierrick Naud, Emerson, Oronte, Danny Pate, Tom Soladay, Curtis White, Eric Young
Growing up in Missoula, Montana, Pat competed in his first bike race in 1985 at Flathead Lake. He studied English and journalism at the University of Oregon and has covered North American cycling extensively since 2009, as well as racing and teams in Europe and South America. Pat currently lives in the US outside of Portland, Oregon, with his imaginary dog Rusty.
