Joop Zoetemelk, Jan Raas, Gerrie Knetemann, and Johan van der Velde; some of the most successful names in cycling history rode Raleigh bikes. That’s why Eddie White couldn’t turn down the opportunity to have a hand in the rebirth of one of the pro peloton’s most famous manufacturers.
“When the Raleigh job became available I knew it was the one,” said White, directeur sportif of the current Raleigh-GAC team. “With Raleigh being such an iconic firm, and because of all the history, it was like being asked to manage Manchester United, so we jumped at the chance.”
Ti-Raleigh was a by-word for success when Zoetemelk, Raas, Knetemann and van der Velde pummelled the peloton into submission through the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Under the guidance of boss Peter Post, who won Paris-Roubaix in 1964, the team’s crowning glory came in the 1980 Tour de France, when Ti-Raleigh riders won 11 stages, Zoetemelk claimed the overall title and van der Velde was crowned best young rider.
The team disbanded in 1983 and, after an initial return to the fold as Raleigh-Banana and Raleigh-Weinmann in the late 1980s, the iconic bike manufacturer announced its comeback ahead of the 2010 season, 30 years after that Tour de France victory.
White said: “The team was so successful in the 1980s, through the Peter Post era, and they won just about every race there was in Europe, including the Tour de France, World Championships and all the Classics, and people still remember that when we go to race in Europe – everybody’s heard or Raleigh and it is such an iconic name.
“The first year for Cherie [Pridham, team manager] and I was a holding year. We came in late and most of the good riders had already been snapped up so we put the groundwork down for this year. We knew what we wanted and we’ve been working on it since May last year.”
That behind-the-scenes graft has seen White and Pridham assemble a 12-strong roster for 2012, with nine new faces including team leader and national criterium champion Graham Briggs, and Australian Bernie Sulzberger, who has just ridden the Tour Down Under for Uni SA-Australia.
While Raleigh may have dropped out of cycling’s top flight, the UCI Continental-registered team will contest the Premier Calendar, Tour Series and Tour of Britain on home soil, with races also planned throughout Europe and in America.
Briggs joins the team from Rapha Condor Sharp on the back of a career-defining win to secure the national crit champion’s jersey, which in turn has given the 28-year-old the confidence to lead Raleigh’s resurgence in what is the company’s 125th anniversary year.
“I had just come back off my honeymoon, so I’d had a week off the bike and only had four or five days to get ready for the nationals,” said the Doncaster-born rider. “So it’s given me a lot of confidence that I came back, got in the break, and then still won the sprint. I now know that I don’t always have to be on top form to win.
“I had contact from three of the biggest teams after my nationals win and I picked Raleigh because they were willing to give me more of a leadership role. I want to win more races and, with Raleigh’s support, I think I can do that.
“There will be a lot more pressure on me but hopefully I can take that on my shoulders. In the past I may have wimped out and have been going as well as some of the other guys but chose to ride for them instead of them riding for me – but you live and learn.”
Raleigh-GAC’s squad will ride one of the manufacturer’s off-the-peg SP Team bikes through 2012 and the move to the British team means Briggs, who started cycling on a Raleigh Activator as a child, has come full circle.
“For a lot of people my age their first bike was a Raleigh,” he added. “It’s a well known brand across the world so it’d be good to get them back to the top level again.”
