The Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling Team presented its 2014 line up to a room of invited guests at the CastelBrando Hotel, above the village of Cison di Valmareno, in north east Italy yesterday, with the ambition of even more success than in its debut season. The 16-rider line up has been strengthened in key areas and has set itself up to achieve the tough target of matching last year’s 22 wins in UCI road races.
“Last year I expected three wins in our first year,” said Team Manager, Commonwealth Champion Rochelle Gilmore. “We actually had 22 UCI wins and over 50 race wins. It is a hard year to follow, our first year was really phenomenal but we have added some strength to the team.”
Among the VIP guests were senior representatives of Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s technical sponsors Campagnolo and Fi’zi:k, while the team was also honoured by the presence of Ernesto Colnago, whose World-beating C59 and K-Zero frames have carried the riders to so much success.
Along with the rider introductions, the guests were informed of the history of Wiggle from its small beginnings in the back room of a Portsmouth bike shop, as well as the story of the development of Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s clothing partner dhb, and an overview of its upcoming ranges.
“We have some big ambitions,” Gilmore explained. “Of course the Giro d’Italia is very important for us, because of all our Italian sponsors. We would like to win a stage there again, if not a few, it’s still one of the most prestigious women’s races.”
A clear target for the team in 2014 will be to take victory in one of the nine rounds of the World Cup, having come so close in the Tour of Chongming Island last year, while some of the new, prestigious races on the calendar will also be big goals.
“La Course by Le Tour de France is a huge step for women’s cycling so it has to be high on our list too,” Gilmore said.
“The most important goal for us is the new race – the Women’s Tour,” she added. “This is the biggest thing to ever hit Britain. There is so much hype around this race, all of the best riders will be there. We will be doing everything possible to put on a good show.”
The black and orange team retains its British core, with the three Olympic Champions Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanna Rowsell, along with fellow World Track Champion Elinor Barker and former British and European Champion Amy Roberts. The British riders’ dominance of the velodrome has already continued into 2014 with victory in the first ever Women’s Team Pursuit over four kilometres, along with Rowsell’s maiden title in the Individual discipline.
Double Olympic champion Trott recently completed the first ever perfect Omnium in an International event, winning all six rounds of the contest at the recent Revolution event on the boards of the London Velodrome where she took her medals in 2012.
Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s two Italians return, in the shape of Giorgia Bronzini, the three-time World Champion on Road and Track who scored 17 of Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s UCI victories last year – including a World Record six straight stages of the Route de France – and emerging Track star Beatrice Bartelloni.
Also returning are the team’s two New Zealanders, with Linda Villumsen, who completed Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s almost total domination of the Route de France by riding the peloton off her wheel on the final day to take the overall victory, alongside Emily Collins, who took the team’s first ever victory in last year’s Omloop van het Hageland.
The line up holds on to its two German riders, with former National Road and Time Trial champion, and World Team Time Trial Champion, Charlotte Becker, who joined the team in the middle of 2013. Hardworking Anna-Bianca Schnitzmeier’s sense of fun puts her at the centre of everything in Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling and guarantees that her teammates’ morale is always at its highest!
Eight-time Japanese Champion Mayuko Hagiwara also returns for 2014, having enjoyed her first full season in Europe, with a Kermesse victory in Belgium and some strong work for her teammates to her credit.
Five-time National Mountain Bike Champion Peta Mullens joins manager Rochelle Gilmore as the team’s second Australian this season, and will combine racing on and off road as she aims for glory at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, this summer.
Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s already international line up becomes even more so in 2014, with the addition of Swedish Road Race Champion Emilia Fahlin, while Spanish Time Trial Champion Anna Sanchis will add strength to the team in hilly races and stage races.
Team captain Bronzini best summed up the feeling inside the 2014 Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling line up with the words: “This is my Dream Team.”
Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling 2014 rider line up
Giorgia Bronzini (Italy) Three-time World Champion (@GiorgiaBronzini)
Laura Trott (Great Britain) Double Olympic Champion (@LauraTrott31)
Dani King (Great Britain) Olympic Champion (@DaniKing1)
Joanna Rowsell (Great Britain) Olympic Champion (@JoannaRowsell)
Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) National Champion (@LVillumsen)
Charlotte Becker (Germany) World Champion (@lottibecker)
Elinor Barker (Great Britain) World Champion (@elinorbarker)
Emilia Fahlin (Sweden) National Champion (@EmiliaFahlin)
Mayuko Hagiwara (Japan) Seven-time National Champion (@MayukoHagiwara)
Rochelle Gilmore (Australia) Commonwealth Champion (@RochelleGilmore)
Peta Mullens (Australia) National MTB XCE Champion (@PetaMullens)
Anna Sanchis (Spain) National Champion (@annitasanchis)
Emily Collins (New Zealand) National Champion (@EmilyCollins_NZ)
Anna-Bianca Schnitzmeier (Germany) (@AnaSchnitzmeier)
Amy Roberts (Great Britain) (@AmyRoberts94)
Beatrice Bartelloni (Italy) (@beatricebartell)
Photo Credit Picture 4: Augustus Farmer/Wiggle
