New Team: Velo Bavarian

A new grassroots cycling team from Derbyshire which hit the ground running in its first year of competition on the verge of partnering with a global brand as main sponsor for next season.

New Team: Velo Bavarian

A new grassroots cycling team from Derbyshire which hit the ground running in its first year of competition and finished top of the British Cycling East Midlands regional points table, are now on the verge of partnering with a global brand as main sponsor for next season.

Velo Bavarian, an independent bike shop based in Duffield just outside of Derby launched its first ever race team at the beginning of this year and is now doubling the size of its roster with 21 men and 12 women riding across various disciplines for the team in 2023.

Owned by Luke Frixou, proprietor of the Velo Bavarian shop, and managed by John Vicars, (previously involved with Raleigh Pro Cycling), the Velo Bavarian Race Team has quickly made an impact on the Midlands scene.

The team’s philosophy is to progress in a controlled and sustainable manner with its primary aim focussed on creating a platform for rider opportunities and being seen as a team that is inclusive and diverse in its outlook.

“First and foremost, we are an independent bike shop that serves the local cycling scene. We want our race team to represent the community and one of our key goals is to develop young riders and create pathways for the increasing number of women who want to race their bikes.

“We will move forward on a step-by-step basis. We enjoyed a successful first season at a relatively modest level so we will just see where things take us.

“That’s not to say we aren’t ambitious, but we are not in any rush, this is a long-term project and we will only progress when it is viable and economically sensible to do so. We are looking forward to announcing our new sponsor in the next few weeks which will then allow us to complete our preparations for 2023” said Frixou.

General Manager John Vicars added “It’s very early days for the team. At the moment we are operating towards the lower end of the cycling pyramid and as such are effectively building from scratch. Our preferred approach will be one of incremental improvements year on year rather than the ‘go for broke’ approach which we don’t believe is sustainable in the current economic climate.

“That said we intend to have some fun next year, hopefully win a lot of races and create an environment where our riders can develop”.

New signings for the team for 2023 include Rebecca Lineker who recently finished 3rd in the prestigious Monsal Hill Climb and the experienced former An Post – Chain Reaction rider Kieran Frend.