Nsengimana Still in Reach - Tour du Rwanda

While Meron Amanuel took with his 7th place today another Top Ten result for STRADALLI - BIKE AID, the Rwandan Jean-Bosco Nsengimana stays in reach for the GC with just 1:27 down on leader Valens Ndayisenga

It is called the "country of the thousand hills" and that has a reason. Every day the guys have to fight with endless kilometers of uphill roads and suffer a lot on Rwanda's roads. While the African riders from Rwanda and Eritrea dictate the tempo in the hills, the European riders have to work very hard to follow them.

STRADALLI - BIKE AID rider Jean-Bosco Nsengimana knows the roads very well and is every day in the top of the race, so he currently ranks 4th in the GC with just 1.27 minute down on Valens Ndayisenga - also from Rwanda. The upcoming days will bring dramatic fight for the GC where Jean-Bosco will definitely have a word to say until the race finishes on Kigali's roads on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Meron Amanuel could show an impressive final today and sprint to a good 7th place when Rwandan rider Joseph Areruya took the stage win.

Meron Amanuel takes lead in KOM classification - Tour du Rwanda 1st stage

On today's first stage of Tour du Rwanda, Meron Amanuel from STRADALLI - BIKE AID took the lead in climbers classification while Jean-Bosco Nsengimana now ranks on 3rd in GC with 1 second behind.

After 96,4 hilly kilometers from Kigali to Ngoma, the Canadian Guillaume Boivin from Cycling Academy Team won the final sprint out of a 19 man front group that managed to break away 30 kilometers from the finish. Also in this group, STRADALLI - BIKE AID leader Jean - Bosco Nsengimana who came in with the same time and now sits on 3rd place overall with just 1 second down.
"Now it is a perfect situation for us and Bosco, as the gap is just 1 second and the responsibility to control the race is on the Rwandan team, so we can be relaxed and wait for the right time", Yves Beau (Sporting Director of STRADALLI - BIKE AID) said.

The Eritrean Meron Amanuel won the only KOM of the day and overtook the leaders jersey that he will wear on tomorrow's second stage.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

STRADALLI – BIKE AID to UCI Road World Championships in Doha

This year's UCI Road World Championships will be held in Doha, Qatar. And STRADALLI – BIKE AID will be in the middle as the team receives official start allowance from UCI for Team Time Trial.

It sounds again like crazy news or April's fool, but it is true and real. How can it be that a „small team“ goes to the official UCI World Championships and even more: how to try to challenge the „big guys“ from the World Tour such as BMC, SKY or Tinkoff?

Yes, indeed: we have been surprised the same way But we already received the confirmation from UCI in July, so we had enough time to prepare ourselves how we can announce this awesome news. It is a great honor for us but at the same time this opportunity means also a huge responsibility for the team, the riders and all involved people.

Yes, the guys from STRADALLI  – BIKE AID will be for sure the underdogs and the most important thing at this stage so far is sure to be a part of the World championships and that we made it there, but on the other hand everybody is highly motivated and ready to fight with all he has to achieve the best result possible. Six riders will represent the team colors of STRADALLI – BIKE AID besides the best teams in the world.

Also our partners and suppliers were the same way excited as we were when we told these news and there was not just one second of hesitation to support us a little extra for this event.

Team Time Trial is a huge invest in equipment, as it is a lot about aerodynamics etc. The challenge was also to adapt all of our equipment for this special demand and without any question the partners like STRADALLI CYCLE  (TT – frames), Citec (disc – wheels) or Bollé (TT helmets) or Biehler Sportswear with the new developed high tech TT suits jumped on our side and did their utmost to make all this come true. So our riders will definitely look fast when they will climb the starting ramp in Doha.

„This event is a real big thing for us and means a Lot . „ STRADALLI - BIKEAID Manager 

Given the fact that we actually are a small professional team with limited budget and based on great sponsor and the cycling community we never could imagine that we could take all these steps from winning UCI Africa Tour  to participate as a team in the UCI World Championships . We can not achieve more with the given budget“.

In 2016 Many top 10 results in races of UCI category 1 and HC but also lot of podium places were taken this year. The best result so far was for sure Meron Teshome's 2^nd place on stage 11 in Tour of Qinghai Lake (UCI 2.HC) but also Nikodemus Holler delivered many strong performances with good results in the GC in Tour of gabon (UCI 2.1), Ireland or Tour of China. KOM Ireland jersey.

The team currently holds a special training camp in Bad Salzhausen to finetune the technique for team time trial. On Monday October 3^rd the last race in the Europe Tour will take place for the team at Münsterland Giro with guys like Marcel Kittel, Mark Cavendish or André Greipel before the riders and staff fly to Doha on next Wednesday

Stradalli-Bike Aid Gears Up For Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol

The Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol UCI 2.1 race, which can trace its history back to 1925, is one of the longest running races on the schedule in Europe. The Stradalli – Bike Aid pro team continues its 2016 UCI calendarcampaign at the Ruta Del Sol, arriving with a full line up comprised of the top riders from the German Continental Professional Team. 

The race has been dominated in recent years by Alejandro Valverde from Team Movistar and Chris Froome of Team Sky who won last year’s edition, but historically German riders have excelled here. Erik Zabel is the most recent German to win despite facing quality competition.

One of the primary early season races, the Ruta del Sol is frequented by World Tour teams including, Trek – Segafredo, Team Giant – Alpecin among others. Half of the 24 teams in the race are World Tour teams while the rest of the field is made up of the top professional continental teams in Europe.

At the Challenge Mallorca, Stradalli – Bike Aid showed their ability to compete with the best in the world and they look to improve upon their results at the Ruta del Sol beginning tomorrow with the first 165.2 kilometer stage, Almonaster la Real – Sevilla.

Stradalli-Bike Aid Team Enjoys Training Day In Mallorca

Preparing for the UCI 1.1 Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca race is a lot of work but it also is a lot of fun, especially when you are doing it in beautiful Mallorca, Spain.

The Stradalli-Bike Aid conti team is currently training there in preparation for the upcoming race where they will compete against world tour teams including Team Sky, Trek-Segafredo, Movistar Team, Etixx-Quick Step, FDJ, Cannondale Pro Cycling Team, Lotto Soudal, IAM Cycling.

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.