Britain's first-ever second tier team announces 20-rider roster for next season
Image 1 of 4
Chris Opie (ONE Pro) celebrates victory at the Stockton Grand Prix(Image credit: One Pro Cycling/SWpix)
Steele von Hoff was a very happy man today(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Matt Goss (MTN-Qhubeka)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Stage winner Marcin Bialoblocki (Poland)(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
It’s official: One Pro Cycling will be Great Britain’s first-ever Pro Continental team. The young-but-ambitious new program, founded this year by former England cricketer Matt Prior, announced the news today after learning that the UCI accepted their application.
"We’re incredibly excited to finally have confirmation that ONE Pro Cycling will be racing on a Pro Conti licence in 2016,” Prior said in a team statement.
One Pro Cycling was not among the initial list of teams when the UCI announced them last month, but the team cleared up a 'paperwork hiccup' and got the approval they needed to move forward.
“It’s been a whirlwind journey from when we first initially decided to set up the team to then get to where we are now," Prior said. "As most people will know, we’re an ambitious team and after a strong debut season racing in Britain we were in no doubt of where we wanted to be next season.”
Racing their inaugural season this year as a Continental team, One Pro Cycling notched three UCI wins from Marcin Bialoblocki of Poland and Peter Williams of Great Britain. Both riders will return on 2016’s expanded new roster, along with six other riders from the 2015 team.
One Pro Cycling also added experienced talent such as Matthew Goss and Steele Von Hoff to mix in with promising Kiwis James Oram, Dion Smith and Hayden McCormick.
“We’ve spent the last few months carefully selecting new riders to join the squad preparing us for what will be a huge step up,” Prior said. “We have a great balance of talented up-and-coming riders who are hugely motivated to fulfil their potential, as well as experienced riders who have already tasted success at the top level. This mix of experience and youthful exuberance will stand us in good stead.”
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
General manager Becky Frewing said plans are already in place for the team’s first training camp in December.
"Having overseen each of the new rider signings, it will be very rewarding for all of us to finally see the whole team come together,” she said.
One Pro Cycling 2016 roster:
Yanto Barker Tom Baylis* Marcin Bialoblocki Karol Domagalski John Ebsen Matt Goss Richard Handley George Harper Kristian House Josh Hunt Sebastian Lander Hayden McCormick Martin Mortensen Chris Opie James Oram Glenn O’Shea Dion Smith Steele Von Hoff Pete Williams Sam Williams*
