 Oct 7th, 09. Kiwi Sam Bewley has been announced as one of the riders to join Lance Armstrong in Team RadioShack! A fantastic achievement for the 22 year old.
Bewley (r) racing with Armstrong(mid) in the yellow helmets, photo courtesy Bewley
Update: Interview with Sam Bewley ...
Bewley has spent the 2009 season racing for Trek Livestrong, the Under 23 team set up by Lance Armstrong with Axel Merckx, Olympic medallist and son of all-time great Eddy Merckx, as Team Director.
"It has been a pleasure for me to work with Sam this year," Axel Merckx told RoadCycling.co.nz this afternoon. "Sam deserves the "jump" up and I wish him all the best for the future."
Now the Rotorua cyclist steps up and into Lance Armstrong's pro tour team, Team RadioShack.
"He is a really mature rider and has been strong throughout the year. It is great for our team to provide a rider to the next level," Merckx said.
Bewley has already raced alongside Armstrong this year. It was in the kiwi's first event with Trek Livestrong, the Tour of Gila. Since then Bewley had a busy season not only racing all the big tours across the US, but also spending time in Canada, Luxembourg, Belgium and France.
He counts the U23 Paris Roubaix as his best ride of the season. "I finished 14th and 35sec behind the winner who was my own Trek-LiveSTRONG team mate, Taylor Phinney. I had never ridden cobbles before, let alone 22 sections of them in one race so to perform how I did made me very satisfied with my ride," he said.
Bewley told RoadCycling.co.nz he valued being part of the amazing team setup behind Trek Livestrong.
"Working under Axel Merckx is a pretty rare opportunity. He was a man I respected as a cyclist and now a man I respect as a great director," he said.
"I believe I have developed a lot under the guidance of Axel not just physically but also mentally. I have matured a lot more as an athlete and my knowledge for a bike race has also been improved," he said in his season round-up with RoadCycling.co.nz
The kiwi's progression on and off the bike has obviously been noticed. He has been rewarded with the biggest opportunity any young New Zealand cyclist could have, a place in a top pro tour team.
The only words from Bewley since the news became public, "I'm pretty excited about this huge opportunity!" he twittered.
Team RadioShack have applied to the UCI for a pro-tour license but the final decision has not yet been announced. Their first race is the Tour Down Under in Adelaide, Australia this January.
Comments from the NZ Cycling community
Ron Cheatley, Managing Director of Cycle Sport NZ Ltd, ex NZ Track Coach and NZ sponsor of Bewley said he is "proud to have supported and sponsored Sam for a few years now and it was good that we could play a part in getting him and Jesse on the new Trek-LiveStrong U23 Team."
"I always had confidence nominating Sam as he proved to me in three Tour of Southlands that he could sit on the front and do the hard yards and play a big part in us winning all those tours." said Cheatley who was the manager of the Southland Times - Trek team lead by three time winner Hayden Roulston.
"Sam's performance in the U23 Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Gila would have impressed Lance and Johan," he said.
Cheatley commented that Sam and Jesse Sergent, who has another year with the U23 Trek Livestrong team, still have a serious focus on the NZ Track Endurance program as they are Olympic Medallists.
Related article
Home page photo courtesy Bewley
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