Xander Graham, the 12-year-old boy who went viral at the Tour of Britain last September, has been signed by a new US team that includes former pro riders.
The boy became an instant hit when, dressed in full kit, he kept pace with the winning breakaway in the closing kilometres of stage 7 at the Tour of Britain last September and was handed a bidon by Jumbo Visa’s Pascal Eenkhoorn.
The unique moment was captured by the TV cameras (video below) and quickly became a hit. Xander was invited back to the race the following day for the VIP treatment, during which he met all the riders from Jumbo Visma and British sprinter Mark Cavendish, among others.
Now Xander – a Scottish youth cyclocross champion – has been signed by US-based team Jukebox Cycling. It includes a number of former WorldTour riders and will focus on inclusive cycling experiences, embracing all forms of the sport in the year ahead.
Jukebox Cycling said it would “experiment with different ways to embrace cycling for a sense of community”, riding road, cyclocross, gravel and on Zwift. Its three gravel riders – Dylan Johnson, Alexey Vermeulen and Adam Roberge – will focus on the Life Time Grand Prix; a six-event series with $250,000 prize money.
Jukebox Print has also signed cyclocross rider Ruby West and Phil Gaimon, who retired from the pro peloton in 2016 when he rode for Cannondale Pro Cycling. West (22) is a rapidly emerging cyclocross rider from Canada.
Alexey Vermeulen, a 27-year-old from the US who rode for two seasons with WorldTour team LottoNL Jumbo, is also among the seven riders signed by the new squad.
The team is sponsored by jukeboxprint.com, a worldwide printing company based in Canada. Its chief executive, Loredo Rucchin, said the firm he founded was looking forward to backing a group of riders with very varied goals in the year ahead.
“We want our athletes to all be different. We want to empower our riders to push the envelope with what’s possible in cycling,” Rucchin said. “This isn’t like it is a team but in the sense of the word a traditional word of team. It doesn’t exist like that. We all have some different sponsors. We all have different events we’ll go to.
“But we will be at some events together, and we all get to experience cycling in the way that best fits us, which for me means blending racing with creating communities.”
