Plowman Craven have announced the launch of their new Racing Team featuring the evergreen former Vuelta a España points winner and Tour de France rider, Malcolm Elliott.
Plowman Craven will be expanding their sponsorship of Tony Gibb, forming a new seven man team for 2006. Plowman Craven who have been long term supporters of Gibb will also be joined by close friend and three times Madison Champion partner James Taylor.
The team will ride mainly a domestic programme taking in Premier Calendar events and the National Circuit Series, with the new National Track Series being a firm target.
Simon Barnes, Managing Director of Plowman Craven, said “I have found that sponsoring Tony Gibb over the last four years has been a good PR move. The new seven man team will be a publicity vehicle for my fast moving company and whilst Malcolm, Tony and James are already multi national champions Adam and Tom will benefit from the mentoring of the more experienced riders. Wesley and Craig enjoyed their racing in the UK in 2005 and are keen to make their mark in the UK this year.”
The Official Team Launch will be at the end of February with team building events taking place early in the month. The team’s first race is the “Eddie Soens Memorial Race” at Aintree where Gibb aims to become only the second rider to win the event four times.
The other four riders in the team are Wesley Cole and Craig Butland, coming over from South Africa (who both rode for Plowman Craven in the Surrey 5 Day last year) plus talented youngsters; Welsh Track Star Tom Smith and National Junior Road Race Champion Adam Norris.
Phil Griffiths (Yellow Ltd) will sponsor the team with OPERA bikes, Giordana Clothing, RUDY Projects accessories, DMT shoes and M.O.st components.
Michelin will be supplying tyres and Trevor Madden at Ciclos Uno will continue to help the team.
Plowman Craven, who are recognised as one of the world’s leading and most innovative geomatics companies, have also obtained sponsorship from their major equipment supplier Leica Geosystems
LINKS:
• PCA
• www.leica-geosystems.co.uk