The Champion System Pro Cycling Team kicked off their 2013 team presentation today in Carson, CA. It was a great experience and an in depth look at what the team has conquered in its first season, along with the teams future plans and goals.
This year’s 22 man squad is packed with tons of talent. The team will have 5 current National Champions including Canadian National Road Champion Ryan Roth, Chinese National Road Champion Gang Xu, and new signees Irish National Road Champion Matt Brammeier, South Korean National Road Champion Chan Jae Jang, and Japanese National Time Trial Champion Ryota Nishizono. The team roster will also include 3x former World Championship National Team member Ryan Anderson, former New Zealand MTB National Champion Clinton Avery, winner of the 2009 Tour of Romandie sprint leaders jersey Chad Beyer, 3 time Collegiate National Champion with one Road Race Title Chris Butler, 2008 Beijing track Olympian and 2011 National Champion Chun Kai Feng, 1st in General Classification of Tour of Qinghai Lake Gregor Gazvoda, China’s National Track Champion Kun Jiang, former Chinese National Mountain Bike National Champion Pengda Jiao, two-time U23 National Champion (Road & Criterium) Craig Lewis, 4th in 2012 Tour of Fuzhou Biao Liu, Estonia’s 2011 National Champion Mart Ojavee, participant at the 2012 London Olympic Road Race Championship Adiq Othman, German U23 National Champion Fabian Shnaidt, 3x Hong Kong National Champion Wang Yip Tang, winner of the 2010 classic Kuurne Brussel Kuurne Bobbie Traksel, 2007 U23 Hong Kong National Road Race Champion Kin San Wu, and all around strong man and 3rd in final stage of Tour de Beauce Matthias Friedemann.
The riders were asked if having so many different personalities, nationalities, and language barriers were a problem? Team rider Craig Lewis responded, “No, we are a team and we have learned how to communicate and adapt in certain situations. Whether we use hand signals or go back to the car for translation, we stick together and work through it”.
One of the primary goals for the Champion System Pro Cycling Team is to allow Asia’s top cyclists to compete at the highest level of the sport. With the strength of this year’s roster, they are now given the chance to race the major UCI tours in not only Asia but will have the chance to compete in the professional tours in the U.S. and Europe, which will allow the Asian riders to develop into World and Olympic Champions. The team will compete in over 100 professional races across the world in countries such as China, United States, France, Germany, Canada, Belgium, Italy, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Australia, Japan, Korea and Malaysia for 10 months out of the year.
One of Champion System Pro Cycling Team’s key to success is general manager Edward Beamon, who has an array of accomplishments himself and will be utilizing his tactics, knowledge, and teams strength to further the success in there squad this season. Edward began running/managing cyclists in 1996 with Velocity Sports Management, he then furthered his career by managing teams such as Navigators, Team Type 1, Pegasus, and Fly V Australia. He is a great asset to any professional cycling team and will be guiding this Asian based team to success to what looks to be many more years of success.
Report by Anthony Canevari, SoCalCycling.com Elite Team
Photos by Frank Sarate, SoCalCycling.com
