Matrix Fitness/Prendas Ciclismo Shine in Oxford Opener/ Jo -Anne MaCrae, 5th

Press Release

Clean sweep of prizes for Annie Simpson and her Matrix Fitness – Prendas
on St Giles circuit

Annie Simpson of the Matrix Fitness – Prendas team took the honours in
the opening round of the Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix Series in
Oxford. Simpson took a clean sweep of prizes, adding the evening’s
Sprint prize and helping her Matrix Fitness – Prendas squad to the team
prize, launching a well-timed attack on the final lap.

Simpson jumped clear on the back straight from a select group of five,
and endeavoured to hold off the pursuers, including the hard charging
Junior World Champion Lucy Garner, who almost caught the break in the
final metres.

A 50-rider strong field has assembled on St Giles in Oxford for the
first round of the Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix Series in a strong
entry headlined by World Champion Garner and last year’s Series Champion
Helen Wyman.

The main move of the race came halfway through, when five riders went
clear with Simpson joined by British Circuit Race Champion Hannah
Barnes, Corrine Hall, Jo McRae and Jo Tindley.

Jo McRAE (Look Mum No Hands)

The five worked well together to build what looked an unassailable lead.
But over the closing laps the gap gradually came down thanks to the work
of Garner who pulled a small group closer and closer.

Simpson and Tindley duked it out in an incredibly close second Sprint,
which the VC St Raphael rider just edging Simpson, but there was no
stopping the Northumbria University student who did enough to collect
the Sprint honours for the evening.

Onto the final lap and Simpson attacked coming onto the long back
straight, powering clear of her four breakaway companions. Through the
final hairpin of the St Giles circuit the group closed, with the Garner
led chasers in turn closing.

Simpson held on though, just crossing the line ahead of Barnes and
Tindley for the win and the Series lead.

Speaking after her win, Simpson said; /“It was all or nothing for me
tonight. I thought that I was just going to go for it, my legs held in
there and it’s so nice to get my arms up, it was really good./

//

/“I’ve just finished University on Wednesday so I’ve got a full summer
of cycling ahead and that gave me a bit of a lift I think today.”/

//

Talking about the Series, in which she won a round at Oldham in its
inaugural year in 2011, the Matrix Fitness – Prendas rider commented,
/“It’s amazing. Everyone hears about you, they know your name and it
gets the team out there. That’s brilliant as they give us so much
support. To give TV time to them is the best thing I can do. Without my
sponsors I wouldn’t be here at all.”/

Simpson’s Matrix Fitness – Prendas team take a narrow two point lead
over rivals Node4 – Giordana Racing into the second round of the Series
in the team competition, while Simpson herself enjoys a slightly larger
three point buffer atop the Sprint standings.

Highlights of Round One can be seen as a part of The Halfords Tour
Series on ITV4 at 8pm on Wednesday 23^rd May. Round Two of the Johnson
Health Tech Grand Prix Series takes place at 17:00 in Peterborough on
Tuesday 29^th May.

Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix Series, Round One, Oxford, Provisional
Results

Round One Individual Result

1) Annie Simpson, Matrix Fitness - Prendas

2) Hanna Barnes, Team Ibis Cycles

3) Jo Tindley, VC St Raphael

4) Corrine Hall, Node4 - Giordana Racing

5) Jo McRae, Look Mum No Hands!

6) Lucy Garner, Node4 - Giordana Racing

7) Helen Wyman, Kona Factory Racing

8) Tamina Oliver, Abergavenny Road Club

9) Natalie Creswick, Mule Bar Girls

10) Sarah Reynolds, Matrix Fitness - Prendas

11) Lydia Boylan, Look Mum No Hands!

12) Adele Carter, Team Hope Factory Racing

13) Penny Rowson, Matrix Fitness - Prendas

14) Adel Tyson-Bloor, VC St Raphael

15) Amy Roberts, Scott Contessa Epic

16) Harriet Owen, Node4 - Giordana Racing

17) Louise Mahe, Mule Bar Girls

18) Rachel Stokes, Zappi's Cycling Club

19) Alice Barnes, Twenty3c.co.uk - Orbea

20) Laura Massey, Vivelo Bikes / Inverse Cyclaim RT

Round One Team Result

1) Matrix Fitness - Prendas, 39pts

2) Node4 - Giordana Racing, 37pts

3) Look Mum No Hands!, 26pts

4) VC St Raphael, 25pts

5) Mule Bar Girls, 16pts

6) Team Hope Factory Racing, 9pts

7) Scott Contessa Epic, 6pts

8) Zappi's Cycling Club, 3pts

9) Vivelo Bikes / Inverse Cyclaim RT, 1pt

Overall Team Standings, post-Round One

1) Matrix Fitness - Prendas, 39pts

2) Node4 - Giordana Racing, 37pts

3) Look Mum No Hands!, 26pts

4) VC St Raphael, 25pts

5) Mule Bar Girls, 16pts

6) Team Hope Factory Racing, 9pts

7) Scott Contessa Epic, 6pts

8) Zappi's Cycling Club, 3pts

9) Vivelo Bikes / Inverse Cyclaim RT, 1pt

Sprints winner Oxford:Annie Simpson (Matrix Fitness - Prendas)

Sprints standings, post-Round One

1) Annie Simpson, Matrix Fitness - Prendas, 8pts

2) Lucy Garner, Node4 - Giordana Racing, 5pts

3) Jo Tindley, VC St Raphael, 5pts



*2012 Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix Series Calendar*

Round One Tuesday 22^nd May Oxford, Oxfordshire

Round Two Tuesday 29^th May Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

Round Three Thursday 7^th June Colchester, Essex

Round Four Tuesday 12^th June Woking, Surrey

Grand Final / Round Five Thursday 14^th June Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

About Johnson Health Tech UK Ltd

Johnson Health Tech UK Ltd is based in Stoke-on-Trent and was founded in
1998. It is the UK subsidiary of the Johnson Health Tech Co. Ltd., one
of the world’s largest and fastest growing manufacturers and
distributors of commercial and home fitness equipment.

About the Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix Series

Launched in 2011, the Johnson Health Tech Grand Prix Series brings
top-class televised women’s racing to towns and cities across the UK as
part of The Halfords Tour Series.

Dani King at Club 10 !, Contre le Montre 1-2!

New Forest CCs Bob Jolliffe reports......
WORLD women’s team pursuit champion Dani King showed most of the lads how to time trial when she was an unexpected and welcome visitor to New Forest Cycling Club’s second evening 10-miler of the year.King, from Hamble, was part of the trio that set a new world record in Melborne earlier this month.Starting number 21, the Matrix-Prendas rider ripped around the Ringwood-Sopley-Bransgore-Kingston North loop in 24min 8sec on a damp and windy Tuesday which failed to attract any other visitors.Despite her speed, she failed to catch her minute man, New Forest’s on-form Gary Lock, who pulled ahead by 44sec to win in 23-24. Clubmate Ben Boardman clocked an excellent 23-52 to finish second on a difficult night, leaving King third.Fourth place went to Geri Robinson with 25-54, Stuart Peckham was fifth with 26-05 and James Bannister sixth with 26-16.
Norwegian good,New Forest CC’s Chris Hughes hacked a huge 1min 8sec from his personal best 10 in the Andover Wheelers’ event on Sunday morning, reducing it to 23-38.Hughes put it down to some serious gym sessions while working in Norway the previous week, though he has trained hard all winter and his breakthrough was deserved.“It was cold but it was perfect. There was no wind and we missed all this showery rubbish,” he said later.VC St Raphael’s Stephen Walkling and Simon Tout took first and second places with 20-37 and 20-46 respectively. Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers Dave Pickering and Paul Jones were third and fourth with 20-57 and 21-00 while Sotonia CC’s Stuart Martingale slotted into eighth with 22-02.Stuart winsAnother Forest rider benefiting from winter training is Stuart Peckham who claimed victory in Bournemouth Arrow CC’s first evening event on the Ringwood Sopley course, clocking 24-52 in the cool conditions.Second claim New Forest member Rob Ellis (VC St Raphael) took second with 25-22 while Poole Wheeler Mark Valentine took third with 25-26.
Contre la Montre one-two ,
Southampton-based Contre la Montre’s James Gilfillan beat his teammate Julian Jenkinson into second place in Alton CC’s 50km test on Sunday.Top triathlete Gilfillan powered around the hilly course starting at West Meon and taking in Chawton, Four Marks, Ropley, the A272 and Cheriton and Bramdean in 1-10-28 against Jenkinson’s 1-13-38. Gilfillan said.. “I think the big thing from my point of view was putting 30secs into Jules on the opening 1km prime, straight up the hill from the start! It’s a good circuit, perfect for the all-rounder shame they don’t use it for more events and every year, perhaps then it’s get a bit more support. Couple of weeks off racing for me, mainly due to lack of events locally, before hitting some longer distances in May!”
1 James Gilfillan Contre la Montre s 1.10.28
2 Julian Jenkinson Contre la Montre v 1.13.34
3 Mark Jones GS Stella v 1.16.34
4 Ian White Farnham Road Club v 1.17.34
5 Graeme Stirzaker a3crg SIS v 1.17.44
6 Robert Watson North Hampshire Road Club v 1.17.50
7 Gawie Nienaber Farnham Road Club v 1.18.29
8 John Glaysher a3crg SIS s 1.19.01
9 Shaun Green Army Cycling Union s 1.19.24
10 Tony Reeves GS Stella v 1.19.37
11 Philip Watts North Hampshire Road Club v 1.19.56
12 Edward Renwick Oxford City Road Club s 1.20.00.
13 Steven Richards Pedal Heaven RT s 1.20.02
14 Gawain Young Sotonia CC s 1.20.33
15 Adam Morris Army Cycling Union s 1.22.40
16 Graham Fielder a3crg SIS v 1.22.55
17 Peter Anderson Kingston Wheelers v 1.23.21
18 Richard Bremner North Hampshire Road Club v 1.24.48
19 Ben Fielden GS Stella v 1.28.31
20 Tim Burrows Westerley Road Club v 1.29.13
21 Stuart Jago GS Stella v 1.29.29
22 Edward Hitchman Charlotteville CC s 1.36.28
23 Simon Craig-McFeely a3crg SIS v 1.37.11
24 Bob Jolliffe New Forest CC v 1.42.12



Other results – NFCC 10 (all NFCC): Rob Brinsdon 26-36, Dan Mitchell 27-02, Andrew Hanley 26-58, Richard Rajski, Phil Underwood and Gary Plumb all tied with 27-12, Hugh Roper 27-14, Richard Mason 27-19, Keith Bradfield 27-23, Konnor Bracher-Walsh 27-55, Peter Weaver 28-15, Antony Moyle 29-43, Bob Jolliffe 31-38, Roger Bacon 31-39, Chris Mills 32-10, Geoff Weller 32-35 (off course), Chris Grant 33-37.Sotonia CC 25: 1, Colin Yeates (Sotonia) 1-00-55; 7, Mike Ahearn (NFCC) 1-09-13.Andover Whrs 10: Marc Barfoot (Contre la Montre) 23-49, Dave England (Crabwood CC) 24-37, Rob Ellis (VC St Raphael) 24-45, Colin Crocker (Sotonia) 26-26, Chris Summers (Sotonia) 27-46.Alton CC 50km: Gawain Young (Sotonia CC) 1-20-33, Bob Jolliffe (NFCC) 1-42-12.

Local Riders,Local Races

Photo,Graham Robins

Toby Neave gave his new team, Primera-Specialized their first win of the season at the Mountbatten centre, Portsmouth. Neave made his move with four laps remaining in the senior race. The bunch hesitated and the Primera rider was clear, crossing the line alone. Neaves teammates Jason Eastwood & Will Stephenson both finished comfortably in the main field. Stephenson had ridden the BJW 20 tt the previous day, finishing 2nd.

Dave Gilham reports on the womens race.......The women’s race came down to a sprint finish and with 2 laps to go the pace went up substantially leaving 3 riders in contention for the sprint. The speed went even higher down the back straight on the final lap shedding Fran Blake (Southdown Velo / Hunter Spring Consultancy), leaving Nikki Wheeler (Wiggle) leading out the sprint with Ellie Gilham (VC ST Raphael/Waites Contracts) on her wheel. Ellie jumped coming into the home straight attacking Nikki on her outside quickly drawing level, then drawing on her track experience, used the height gained from the corner banking and came past Nikki to take the victory by a clear bike length and finished about 11th in the men’s sprint!.....Gilham has just come off a three week intensive training block,her next competitive outing is at the Thruxton motor racing circuit on Sunday 18th March.It will be her first opportunity to race with her VC St. Raphael racing team.
In the supporting men’s race Steve Moss (Bournemouth Arrow/Hotel Collingwood) had to settle for second place behind Matt Hargroves (Hargroves Cycles). Harrison Fielding (Poole Wheelers) also took second place in the youth race.

Dave Pickering (BJW) won round 4 of the inter-club series. Pickering clocked 48.16 for the 20 mile two lap circuit at Furzehill. Will Stephenson (Primera-Specialized) 48.45 took second place, with Cliff Rowe (BJW), 50.16, third.

The following day on the Wareham –Gallows Hill 15 mile circuit, Gary Dighton (Poole Wheelers) won round 5. Several riders went off course but Dighton had no problems, recording 35.03. Tim Wallis (SUCC) 37.41 finished a distant second.

VELO Club St Raphael’s Andy Rivett was the only rider to better 25-mph in New Forest Cycling Club’s first 10-mile time trial of the season. Bob Jolliffe reports.......He was on the rivet right around the tough Holmsley-A35-Burley Lawn-Burley loop which this year was made even more difficult with a cyclo-cross element thrown in for good measure where a cattle grid is being replaced in Lyndhurst Road.Veteran club member Chris Gannaway took charge of the adjoining access gate to ensure livestock did not get onto the A35 while competitors took to the mud for a few yards.Despite the short delay, Rivett took full advantage of the sunny but cool conditions to clock 23-55.

His time was 29 seconds faster than those of New Forest CC’s Gary Lock and GA Cycles’ Ray Claridge who tied for second with 24-36.Sotonia CC’s Stuart Martingale was a further 24 seconds off the pace with 25-00 for fourth, while Rivett’s teammate Bryce Dyer took fifth with 25-20.There followed a trio of good times from NFCC riders with John Heffernan clocking 25-30, Ben Boardman 25-37 and Colin Humm 25-41.Women’s 25-mile competition record and multi-national champion Julia Shaw (Drag2Zero) followed up her winning ride in the recent Mersey Tunnel time trial with 26-09 for ninth place, while New Forest CC’s Stuart Ward made a welcome return after a broken wrist kept him out of competition last season with 26-15 for tenth.There was a record turn-out for the event, with 40 signed on and one non-starter.Other times (NFCC) unless stated: Peter Wilson (Bournemouth Arrow CC) 26-25, Chris Grant (private trial) 26-35, Chris Hughes 26-40, Stuart Peckham 26-42, Geri Robinson 26-52, Steve Roberts and Lee Hookem tied with 27-13, Rob Brinsden 27-32, James Bannister 27-50, Richard Mason 27-51, Ben Saunders 27-57, Gary Plumb 28-21, David Wilson 28-40, Richard Rajski 28-44, Phil Underwood 29-01, Nick Williams 29-06, Konner Bracher-Walsh 29-23, Mike Ahearn 29-31, Stuart Grace (GA Cycles) 29-44, Nigel Gemmell 30-22, Antony Moyle 30-26, Peter Weaver 31-21, Bob Jolliffe 31-35, Donna Shaw 32-23, Chris Mills 32-26, Peter Hawker 32-45, Nick Cooper 33-19, Martin Balk 34-34, Andrew Bunch 35-09.This Sunday’s (MARCH 18) event, the second in the Forest Aggregate Series is over 12.8 miles starting from Holmsley and taking in Brockenhurst and Rhinefield before returning south along the A35 to Holmsley. Event HQ is Goatspen car park and the start time 9.31am.

Mark Chadbourne (Ridebike.co.uk) reports on the Gorrick MTB series Rnd 3 at Crowthorne Woods in Berkshire.

A typical Gorrick course, with lots of fun, twisty singletrack with a few short sharp climbs to tire the legs. At first glance its not to tough, but if you race it, the constant accelerations out of the corners will take their toll by the end.
Liz Gilmour got her first win in the Masters women and looked very comfortable as she crossed the line. Stu King had a fantastic start that saw him leading at the end of the first lap with a small gap. However luck wasn’t on his side as he had a slow puncture and had no choice but to fix it. Stu was pleased to be back on his Top Fuel again and knows he is in shape. Mark Chadbourne had his first race back and spent it dicing with his main rivals from last year. Lacking that little bit of a racing edge he was content to watch the sprint unfold and rolled in for a satisfying 3rd. Steve Moors was sampling the Grand Vet racing for the first time this year. Finding he was very quick in the technical stuff but losing out on the fire roads meant that he was playing catch up. Despite this he recorded a great 2nd place and has the opportunity to take a look at his rivals for the season ahead. Other Locals in action included, Mark Hardwicke & Ash James (Bournemouth Arrow) & Garrett Hill & Ashley Sutton (UK Biking-Primera). The first round of the Southern series is this weekend at Checkendon,Kent

Parkstone cycle clothing specialists, Prendas Ciclismo are to continue their support for one of the country’s top women’s teams.

The Matrix Fitness-Prendas Ciclismo team includes Great Britain Olympic hopefuls, Dani King and Jo Rowsell and has a full programme of national and European races. The average age of the team is just 20 with former British Champion Chris Walkers daughter, Jessie, the youngest at just 17. Mick Tarrant of Prendas said: “They all make great role models for other girls looking to get into the sport, they don’t get supported like the guys do, so it’s great for Prendas to put something back into the sport” (HARGROVES CYCLES have announced they will also be sponsoring the team this season)

Matrix Fitness/Prendas Ciclismo: Training Camps, Proud Fathers & 2012!

Jessie Walker & Helen Wyman.

On the eve of the official team launch, Matrix Fitness /Prendas Ciclismo took delivery of their new kit. Team Manager, Stefan Wyman, the squad’s youngest member, Jessie Walker and team mentor Helen Wyman called in at Prendas HQ in Poole, Dorset. Most of the team were up the road in Southampton, having Bike-fits for their new Velocite frames, ahead of a two week training camp in the south of France. While Prendas Ciclismo Patron, Mick Tarrant loaded boxes full with bib shorts, tops, skinsuits, gilets, mitts and rain jackets “E D” took the chance to chat to all three. Always keen to know what training other cyclists are doing, I asked Helen to take us through a typical day on camp: “The girls will have a lot of specific work to do; they have their first race, the Cheshire Classic when they return to Britain, while I will just be there to crack the whip. We will breakfast together as a team and go out on a set ride. The area we are going to is quite hilly; they will have specific sets for the climbs or the flat parts. Normally Stef will follow behind in the team car so if they need anything, drinks and food they can go back; it’s a good learning experience. We might do 4 hours as an endurance ride, the next day might be 3 hours with 2 minute threshold efforts on the climbs, and another day might be sprints or lead out training. We will also do 15-20 minute intervals and 10 second sprints, all within the structure of 3 to 4 hour rides. It’s getting close to the season so you don’t need to be doing 5 hours, women don’t race much more than 3 hours anyway. At this point in the season it’s much shorter but much more intense. They will also practice feeding from the car, the team mechanic & soigneur are coming on camp, and the team will be able to practise with them getting bottles from the side of the road. It’s more for the staff really. The team are working with a level 3 graduate from the Cycles System Academy and two physio students and they are all girls which is really positive”.
Post training ride the team will have to cook their own food, a deliberate ploy to encourage independence & build team morale.
“When you are away from your parents it’s good to learn in an environment where there is always someone who knows what they are doing. They will share the cooking but all will have to learn. It’s good for team bonding; they can have a laugh at each other”

Jessie Walker is new to the Matrix/Prendas team but is no stranger to cycling, father Chris was a professional rider and prolific winner in the late 80s and 90s. Since November she has been doing gym work and long rides to build strength. What about the turbo? I ask “It’s alright when it’s done” she laughs “ I go on the spin trainer at home but I prefer to get out, I just can’t wait to race instead of just training, its good when you have a lot of racing instead of having to think about training, just turn up at the race, you don’t feel like you are training even though you are working twice as hard. I am really looking forward to racing as part of a team, last year I entered all the races as an individual in all the women’s races, it will be good to learn how to work for the team. I ask Jessie if she thinks women’s cycling goes unreported. “ I didn’t know about it, If you don’t know about women’s cycling, it’s not advertised, if you don’t know someone involved you don’t find out about it. At school everyone was shocked when they found out I was cycling, now, it’s like “WOW well done”. I am glad that they appreciate it and understand now. My dad was a professional cyclist, he never pushed me, but he is really supportive, after a race we always have a debrief on the way back. We criticise, in good and bad ways what we have done well and what we can improve on. If you make a mistake the benefit is you can learn from it. He doesn’t want to be pushy; he wants it to come from us that we want to ride. If we are having a bad day and we don’t want to do it, he doesn’t say you have got to, he just says ok don’t do it, then we can decide ourselves. The trouble is when he says don’t do it, straight away I think I should be doing it. We have kind of got him back involved in cycling and I think he likes it”
Matrix Fitness / Prendas Ciclismo have a full domestic programme for the coming season and the team will also race on the continent.

Mick Tarrant models one of the more generous sizes!

Team Manager Stef Wyman talked about exciting times ahead “2012 is a really important year with the Olympics and having riders with genuine Olympic aspirations is really important to us. I think it is going to be pivotal time in the cycling industry, it’s become such a key sport now with the television and the focus on the Olympics and the medal haul we have had at recent world championships. It’s got a disproportionately large amount of media coverage. So I think the cycling industry and all the teams will be looking at really expanding their operations this year and hope the Olympics bring further investment & opportunities for them and we are no different to other people. We hope to be professionally registered with the UCI next season and taking on the biggest races, the Giro d’Italia and Tour of Flanders in a good position with strong riders. We are looking very long term, this year we have an average age of 19 on the team, we need to be developing these riders over the next three or four years as a group. Inevitably you lose a few riders and you gain a few a come through the junior ranks. We are in a good position; we are one of the big teams that people will focus on when they are coming through the sport. It has always been a goal of ours to provide a second opportunity for people so that the British Cycling system isn’t the only option. British Cycling are doing amazing things with riders and what they have done to change, develop and professionalise the sport in all areas it’s not just track. We would not have Cav if it wasn’t for their system and we would not have half the interest in the sport in general, everybody at British cycling deserves a big pat on the back. But i also think that in some ways it has become so powerful that people think if don’t get into the British cycling development route that they haven’t got the potential for a career in the sport. The People like Helen, who can help our riders develop have proved that there is a good career for people in non-Olympic disciplines or outside of the BC structure. Helen has been in the top 5 in the world for Cyclo-cross for last 5 years and is a regular world cup and podium challenger, it’s a really exciting time. We have been really lucky that 2012 has given us the chance to re-launch what we do. It’s a focal year, everybody is looking at cycling. It’s our third year and with a new title sponsor name, changing our colours, a complete new image that comes with that we have been able to take forward our image on and off the bike, to raise the levels of professionalism and a really look to the future with the riders we have on the team. The blend of riders is really exciting as is the blend of sponsors and partners.” Stefan was involved with the design of the kit, the sharp, red and black colours are the main colours of Matrix fitness The design has been embraced by bike suppliers Velocite, shoes from DMT and Casco helmets are all colour matched
“Everything is done so we look really sharp, hopefully it can set a standard to other aspiring teams coming through which will have a knock on effect on the sport. When I first got involved with women’s cycling some 8 years ago there wasn’t a team structure, now teams are actually being turned away from races. Competition is big; we work with our sponsors to ensure there is a Johnson Health tech grand prix series, to ensure there is a professionally run set of races that all of the female rides in the UK can aspire to be a part of”.
With Stefan’s vision, Helens experience and Jessie’s enthusiasm, the team will only go from strength to strength
Mick Tarrant from Prendas has the last word “They all make great role models, especially for other girls looking to get into the sport, they don’t get supported like the guys do. It’s nice to put something back, I get a real buzz out of it”
2012 team line-up: Sarah Reynolds, Dani King, Hannah Rich, Joanna Rowsell, Penny Rowson, Annie Simpson, Hannah Walker, Jessie Walker plus Team Mentor Helen Wyman.

Matrix Fitness/Prendas Ciclismo

As reported earlier on "E D" local firm Prendas Ciclismo will once again co-sponsoring the Horizon Fitness Road Team in 2012.

"Patrons" at Prendas, Mick Tarrant & Andy Storey are first and foremost, cycling fans and Prendas Ciclismo has a proud tradition of supporting Cycling Teams and Individual riders.

Mick had this to say:
"Prendas Ciclismo are happy to announce a further collaboration with Horizon Fitness RT for 2012. The team will slim down to 8 riders including 3 new additions. Notable absentee will be Sarah Storey as her focus will be Paralympic based for next season. Sorry to see such a high profile athlete depart but Dani King and Jo Rowsell, both Olympic medal prospects will stay.

Our involvement with the team commenced in 2010 with an accessory only package for the team but we stepped to full clothing sponsor in conjunction with Santini for 2011. The team performed way beyond expectations last season and did us proud. They send out a very positive message to women (and men for that matter) wishing to get started in competetive cycling.

This past season saw the team punch way above their weight, mixing it with the elite level women racers in various continental stage races. DS Stef Wyman (husband and just about everything else to to our top Cyclo Cross woman Helen Wyman) has performed wonders on a limited budget practically single handed. The girls on the team for 2011 made huge advances throughout the season and will put that experience to good use in 2012".

In addition, they looked great. Check out this little video clip which encapsulates the season nicely.(CLICK ON HORIZON JERSEY ON RIGHT).

The team will be racing under the new name of Matrix Fitness/Prendas Ciclismo