Recap of Stradalli - Bike Aid Success At Tour of Cameroon

Very good news from Stradalli – Bike Aid who sees it’s young rider from Eritrea, Amanuel Mengis achieve an authentic feat by winning the green jersey of the Tour du Cameroun 2016 UCI 2.2

In the final overall standings of the Tour of Cameroon the Stradalli – Bike Aid pro cycling team can be very pleased with their 4 podium finishes (including 1 victory by Jean Bosco Nsengimana in the 5^th stage). Amanuel Mengis finished 4^th place and only 1:01 minutes behind the overall leader. Patrick Lechner, Daniel Bichlmann and Joschka Beck also had strong showings. Mengis also finished 2^nd overall in the youth white jersey category and winning the green jersey , great tour for team Stradalli – Bikeaid .

The 13^th Tour du Cameroun finished Sunday with Stage 8 where riders fought to the finish to decide the outcome of several close battles for leaders jerseys and all jerseys .

Stradalli – BikeAid again placed several riders in the top 10 while working to give Amanuel Mengis the chance at victory in the general classication and the youth classification. At the finish of the race, Amanuel Mengis finished in second place in the youth classification, only 7 seconds behind the leader.

Amanuel Mengis took the youth classification jersey on the hardest stage of the Tour du Cameroun and in the process acquired many points in many different competitions of the race. He took 4^th place in the mountains classification and 4^thoverall in the general classification of the race.

Yves Beau, Stradalli – Bike Aid team director, said pressure was on all the teams to make improvements on general classification.

“Our plan before the stages was to be very active and make sure we are represented in the breakaway,” Beau said. “We were able to put most of the pressure on the Morrocan teams to compete for the GC and Amanuel Mengis brought his time gap to the yellow jersey down to just one minute.”

Though Amanuel Mengis fell short on the general classification, he won the points competition overall for best sprinter of the race and got the green jersey . The Stradalli – Bike Aid rider was in the top 10 at the finish of each stage, showing his great all around skill in flat finishes and hilly, windy stages and his great conditioning .

Patrick Lechner, Stradalli – Bike Aid rider, grabbed a podium spot on the way to helping the team fight for the general classification.

“I am more than happy and proud about today,” Lechner said. “I really wanted to win the stage, but in the end Martin was the strongest in our group and he deserves the victory. I am also very happy about the teamwork we have here at this race. That is a joy for all of us.”

Daniel Bichlmann, Stradalli – Bike Aid rider, said the roads in Cameroun threw all sorts of obstacles at them, but the team stuck together and the bikes rode great.

“Some of the roads we were on were very dangerous,” Bichlmann said. “The bikes rode and handled really well. Some teams had trouble navigating the rough roads, but we were able to just ride and focus on the race and that was key to our success.”

After great showings at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo and Tour du Cameroun, Stradalli – Bike Aid is now ranked top 10 in the world in the UCI Africa Tour. This is a huge success for Stradalli – Bike Aid and the team will travel next to race the Tour du Maroc at the beginning of April.

Stradalli-Bike Aid Heads Into The Tour du Cameroun

The Stradalli – Bike Aid Conti team begins the Tour du Cameroun today as the defending champions of the race. It's a race rich in history where the team has had major success in the past.

Last year Bike Aid racer Dan Craven, formerly Team Europcar, led the team to a general classification win in the Tour du Cameroun which was one of the biggest wins in team history. Craven is one of several success stories of Stradalli –Bike Aid who will be looking to match that result this year.

The Tour du Cameroun is a UCI 2.2 race and has been a part of the UCI Africa Tour since 2005. UCI Africa is contested by the top cyclists in all of Africa and attracts many pro continental and World Tour teams as well.

Daniel Bichlmann, Joschka Beck and Jean Bosco Nsengimana of Stradalli Bike Aid are all racers who have had a great amount of success so far this season and will be racing the Tour du Cameroun in hopes of continuing that trend.

Bichlmann, who was continuously present in breakaways at the Challenge Mallorca is looking for a repeat performance at Cameroun.

"The goal for each race is to improve as a team. I am off to a good start this year but we are not a team that is top heavy. Every race someone else will have a big day, we are only as strong as the last guy on our roster but that's the team you want to be on. We all pull for each other and do anything we can to help our teammate." Bichlmann 

Beck had the most impressive outing of the year for Stradalli – Bike Aid at the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, the biggest race of the year in the UCI Africa Tour. 

“We have a great group of guys here and we battle each and every week. It's always special for us to race in Africa because we spend so much time here. The competition is always tough but we love these races and hope to represent the team well." Joschka Beck

Meet Stradall-Bike Aid Rider Joshcka Beck

Joschka Beck, the 23 year old 6’4 German powerhouse riding for Stradalli – Bike Aid has started the 2016 cycling season on a mission.

Beck started the season in La Tropicale Amissa Bongo and was continuously bringing Stradalli – Bike Aid their first top placings of the season. He played a huge role in guiding Meron Teshome to a podium finish on stage 2 and throughout the Tour of Gabon he netted a couple top 10 placings as well.

After Gabon it was time for an even tougher competition as Beck headed to the Challenge Mallorca. Facing the toughest teams in the world during the stage won by Andre Greipel of Lotto Soudal, Beck was able to finish a solid 32^nd after battling hard the entire day. Even more impressive was that of the 167 starters for the stage only half managed to even finish in the front group.

Only racing for 6 years, Beck has accomplished an incredible amount in such a short period of time. He regularly races in the Vuelta Independencia in Dominican Republic, a UCI 2.2 race, and has held the young leaders jersey on 3 separate occasions as well as multiple time trial victories. His size and strength along with a surprising calmness make him a great addition to the Stradalli-Bike Aid race team.

“It’s important to me that my teammates know they can rely on me during a race to be at the front. I get opportunities but my focus is to help the team succeed, that’s more important than any individual results. That’s been the key to our success so far and our team/family mentality is what keeps us battling, we know we are here to support each other.”

Despite being a full time racer, Beck is also working on a college degree.

“I love cycling but there are other interests I have outside of the sport. Education is very important but the charitable work of the Stradalli-Bike Aid team is also very important. I am looking forward to racing in Africa because we make a difference there for people. That’s what I am most grateful to this team for, I get the opportunity to race against the best in the world and still get to help real people.” 

Meet Stradalli-Bike Aid Pro Racer Damien Garcia

One of Stradalli-Bike Aid's newest young racers is Damien Garcia. At 23 he is entering his third-year as a professional out of Pau, France. 

Originally from the Southwest of France, Garcia has already seen and experienced a lot in races all around the world. He raced for Euskatel Development Team in Spain before transferring to GSC Blagnac, the best elite team in France. 

2014 Garcia began racing for a continental team out of Luxembourg before ending up in Norway for 2015.

With all that traveling Garcia is very excited to find himself with the Stradalli-Bike Aid team, mostly because of the family atmosphere. 

“When you spend countless weeks together with the same group of guys you want to make sure you get along with them. The Stradalli –Bikeaid team is truly like a family and that's what I like about them. We enjoy racing with each other and work hard to help our teammate. Now we have to keep racing hard but also stay humble as we prepare for upcoming races. I am excited to be a part of the team and help us advance to the best of my best abilities.” Garcia said.

Stradalli – Bike Aid began their season at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. Since then they have raced in the Mallorca Challenge as well as the Vuelta Ciclista a Andalucia Ruta del Sol. Garcia said the Ruta del Sol was a great experience for him.

“I believe i learned more in the 5 days of racing the Vuelta Andalucia than eight years of cycling. The team, staff and riders gained  knowledge and experience in that race and it will serve us for the rest of the season.” Garcia said.

The Ruta del Sol was the perfect testing ground for Stradalli – Bike Aid’s young talents and a taste of what is possible for the team in the future.

“For me personally the race was a great experience. I'm racing with World Tour riders through the mountains on live television in 120 countries. That's an amazing experience and something you dream of doing.” Garcia said.

Garcia feels that racing against such competition is important for the growth of the team.

“You had Valverde, van Garderen, Mollema, Kelderman, Kyrienka and Poels all there. The biggest difference with the races at World Tour level is when the top teams such as Sky, Movistar, BMC or Lotto start to push it is real steamroller and you cannot go back to front. We have to fight to keep our place.” Garcia said.

One area where the Stradalli-Bike Aid team will not be overmatched this year is with equipment as the team is armed with the latest Aversa full carbon road bikes from Stradalli Cycle, an advantage Garcia is grateful to have. 

“The performance of the road bikes we got from Stradalli have been spectacular. They were well tested in the high mountains and the performance was perfect. The bikes are super reactive and easy to climb with. The Ruta del Sol was a grueling race with only 81 of the 165 racers finishing. I was proud to be one of the 81. ” Garcia said.

Stradalli-Bike Aid Heading To for Palma de Mallorca

Stradalli CEO Tom Steinbacher and execs left Miami airport heading for Palma de
Mallorca to join the Stradalli - Bike Aid conti team. 

The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca is 4 days of UCI 1.1 races around the island Mallorca off the coast of Spain. 

Tom and Peter will be arriving early for the pre-race press conference and photo
shoot leading up to the race.

The competition will be tough. 

Lining up alongside Stradalli - Bike Aid are World Tour teams with star
riders finding their feet for racing in 2016. Lotto Soudal will be present
with a full team Andre Greipel and Jurgen Roelandts. Trek - Segafredo will
be present with a full team including Fabian Cancellara and Frank Schleck.
Team Sky, Movistar and Cannondale Pro Cycling Team will also be present with
top riders. 

The Tour of Majorca began in 1992 and is world renowned for being the biggest race
for professional riders to find their early season form. 

Past winners of the general classification include Alex Zulle, Alejandro Valverde and Philippe
Gilbert. 

Stradalli - Bike Aid is currently racing and having success in the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo and have found their way to the podium. The Tour of Majorca will be only the
second of over 100 UCI races for Stradalli - Bike Aid in 2016.

The German Team Stradalli - Bike Aid Racing Gabon Africa UCI Race

January 18, 2016 marked the start of the 11th edition of the Tropical Amissa Bongo (18-24 January) for the second consecutive year. Led by a former French professional, Yves Beau, the Stradalli _ Bike Aid team has the distinction of hosting the last three years of top African athletes and allowing them to compete with professionals in European and African races.

Stradalli - Bike Aid completed stage 3 of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo today placing Niko Holler riding the Stradalli carbon Aversa in fifth place on the most grueling, hilly stage of the 7 day UCI 2.1 race.

The race finished in an uphill sprint with Adrien Petit of France’s Direct Energie, formerly Europcar, taking first place. The sprint was very close with Jarrier Benoit of Fortune – Vital Concept finishing on the wheel in second and Andrea Palini of Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team rounding out the podium in third.

Former riders such as Namibian Dan Craven were spotted by Bernaudeau for Team Europcar two years ago. Recently, the Eritrean Mekseb Debesay was recruited by Team Dimension Data, South Africa’s UCI World Tour Team with team mate mark Cavendish

"With the energy and effort of our sponsors we are able to combine the sporting progression of our riders and our involvement in educational projects in Africa,” Stradalli – Bike Aid staff said.

The Stradalli - Bike Aid team also continues humanitarian work for children in Africa. The success of Mekseb Debesay in 2014 when he was named Best African Cyclist of the year and 2015 with 8 wins UCI obtained the highest score by an African rider on the mainland last year, gave ideas to leaders of the German Continental professional team who have decided to move to the next level with six African riders in 2016.

Three will be present this week on roads of Gabon with former Eritrean national champion Meron Teshome, Tanzanian Richard Laizer and Jean Bosco Nsengimana of Rwanda who in November won brilliantly the Tour of Rwanda.

Stradalli - Bike Aid Gears Up For La Tropicale Amissa Bongo

The beginning of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo is closing in. January 18, 2016 the UCI 2.1 status race features some of the best teams in the world. More importantly it is the most prestigious race in Africa and it is the first race on the calendar for Stradalli-Bike Aid.

         For the 10th straight year the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo will be held in Gabon, Africa.  This race consists of 7 stages. 3 stages that will take the riders on a tour through the hillier parts of Eastern Gabon. 1 stage is an individual time trial and the rest of the stages will be held near the flat coastline of West Gabon.

          Competing with Stradalli-Bike Aid for the race are teams representing countries from each region of Africa as well as Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team.

          La Tropicale Amissa Bongo is one of the few races during the season that amateur African cycling teams have the chance to race with professional teams who race a full UCI calendar. The race focuses on developing African cycling, which makes it a large target for Stradalli-Bike Aid.

          Timo Schafer, team leader for Stradalli-Bike Aid, said La Tropicale Amissa Bongo is the perfect place to begin the season and debut the new racing team.

          “This was the most successful and exciting off season in team history between training in the United States and all around Europe, the new racers we have added to the team and the new sponsorship with Stradalli Cycle. Having the support of a great sponsor makes you even more optimistic about the upcoming season and we are excited to see what the new members of the team can do as well. Now we get to go to Gabon, Africa to show how serious we are about our mission to develop African cycling.” Schafer said.

          Stradalli - Bike Aid has had several success stories including Mekseb Debesay, a Eritrean professional cyclist. Dimension Data, UCI World Tour Professional Team, bought Debesay from Stradalli-Bike Aid because of his performances over the course of 2015. Debesay is just one success story of the Stradalli-Bike Aid team and Dimension Data are not the only major players who have noticed.

          Matthias Schnapka, professional rider for Stradalli-Bike Aid, feels that the new sponsorship which includes Aversa full carbon road bikes, is going to make a big difference for the upcoming season.

          “We have been training with our new bikes for a couple of months and they are fantastic. Every pro cyclist in the world will tell you about the importance of having reliable equipment when competing at such a high level. I know I speak for the whole team when I say the support from FSA - Full Speed Ahead has been outstanding. I can say the same for Prologo Seats. Having these big companies like those go out of their way to support us is very special.” Schnapka said.