As the start of the 2018 road season approaches, the UCD Cycling FitzCycles.ie team are gearing up with a new look and some new faces for 2018.
After many years in the Irish peloton UCD’s distinctive white and blue team strip has been retired and replaced with a new design that remains faithful to the UCD college colours while giving a retro nod to the jersey used by the first UCD team over 20 years ago. “We’re really happy with the new design” said team captain Conor McKenna. “The design team at ROCA Sports really captured what we were looking for and the quality of the Sportful custom clothing is superb as always”.
Roca Sports have also partnered with the team to supply new BMC time machine bikes. “We’ve been working with UCD Cycling since becoming Irish distributors for Sportful Custom clothing and are really happy to continue working with a team that develops young talent into top level cyclists” said Thomas Cahill, Director ROCA Sports. “Now that we are the distributor for BMC bikes in Ireland we saw a natural progression to become official bike supplier to UCD FitzCycles.ie and hope to see the BMC Timemachines carry UCD FitzCycles.ie riders to victory throughout 2018” added Cahill.
BMC Timemachine Road 02, team bike of UCD FitzCycles.ie for 2018
The team will also focus this season on rider development with a large number of young, talented athletes joining the team. “We have a large number of Under 23’s in the club this year. Our aim is to support these talented riders both financially, with scholarships where possible and through structured race support” said UCD Cycling Vice-President and team manager Noel McGlynn. “We have been developing this formula in recent years and have had great success helping riders transition from A4 to A1. Sean McKenna, Eoin Morton and Ian Richardson are all riders that have come through this system” added McGlynn.
Continuing the successful partnership with UCD Cycling is Stillorgan based ‘FitzCycles.ie’. “I’m delighted to continue my support of the team” said owner of FitzCycles.ie and former UCD team captain, Paul Fitzsimons. “Given the success of the team in recent year such as Eoin (Morton) winning a stage in the 2016 Rás and Ian (Richardson) taking the county rider prize two years in a row, I’m particularly interested in helping the younger riders progress to similar success”, added Fitzsimons.
Paul Fitzsimons of FitzCycles.ie with members of the 2018 UCD Fitzcycles.ie Team
UCD FitzCycles.ie have also confirmed that Spirit Skoda are continuing their support of the team as official support car supplier for the 2018 racing season. “Having a team car as good as the Skoda Octavia has been an integral part of our success over the past number of years” said Noel McGlynn. “Without the continued support of Spirit Skoda we couldn’t compete at the level we do” added McGlynn.
Simon Barrett, Brand Manager Spirit Skoda, with the UCD Fitzcycles.ie Skoda Octavia
Speaking on the continued partnership, Simon Barrett, ŠKODA Brand manager at Spirit Skoda said: “We are very proud to partner with UCD FitzCycles.ie as their official support car entering the fifth year in a row. The challenging world of elite cycling in Ireland places high demands not only on racers themselves and their equipment but also on the technical and organisational support of the team during the season. We feel there is a real synergy between cycling and ŠKODA which we’ve felt while working with such a dedicated team of cyclists over the last four years.”
Any UCD students or staff members interested in joining the club or competing for the team can still do so. Membership benefits include access to official team clothing, discounts on the full range of Sportful Clothing / BMC bikes / full range of stock at FitzCycles.ie. For those new to cycling and / or interested in leisure cycling free coaching advice is also available. Contact Conor McKenna (conor.mc-kenna.2@ucdconnect.ie) for further details.
Brian Grogan – UCD Cycling
