The women of team Velo Bella/Kona stand poised to spread glitter and flair across the U.S. and Canadian professional MTB series with a brand new professional women's team made up of international talent from both inside and outside the Velo Bella organisation.
For 2006, Velo Bella has partnered with Kona Bicycles USA to provide opportunity for four professional women to focus on cross country events in the U.S. NORBA National Series, the U.S. and Canadian National Championships, and perhaps even supporting an athlete or two at the World MTB Championships in New Zealand later this year.
Canadian Wendy Simms will captain the four-member team and after years of racing on her own, Wendy chose to join the pink conga line because of the Velo Bella's focus on fun, their relationship with Kona Bicycles and the ability to race in a supportive family and female-oriented environment. Kristin Danielson makes her return to the U.S. MTB scene and looks forward to showing what Durango and a little road racing can do for one's off-road form.
In between giving birth to a baby boy and preparing for the upcoming racing season, Shannon Holden ran a marathon in Seattle to celebrate her son's three month birthday... Yeah, we'll just say she is hyper organised and leave it at that. Noel Weddle completes the team, adding her climbing talents and electrifying enthusiasm to the group. Living at altitude, Noel lives with a continuous case of oxygen deprivation explaining her eagerly looking forward to the more vertical races in the NORBA series.
The Velo Bella/Kona core will be augmented at certain races by professional Velo Bella/Kona riders from around the country including Sami Fournier (Washington, DC), Allie Rau (Detroit, MI), Jennifer Tilley (Lawrence, KS) and Erin Duggan (Apton, CT). In addition to national and international racing, the Pro MTB Team will be joined by hundreds of amateur racers who will compete in local MTB races throughout California, Minnesota, Michigan, the Mid Atlantic, North Carolina, Tennessee, Connecticut, Georgia and other events across the United States.
The entire team is brand new to one another and will meet for the first time at their camp in and around Auburn, CA from March 1st to 5th.
Team roster
Wendy Simms (Nanaimo, British Columbia)
Kristin Danielson (Durango, CO)
Shannon Holden (Spokane, WA)
Noel Weddle (Grand Junction, CO)
