This year is set to be a very promising one for team FBUK and for the wider UK women's cycling scene.
Team Fat Birds UK has come a long way since it started with its first member, Helen Wyman, and early this year announced it's new UCI professional Team status.
The legacy of the FBUK team started when, Helen Wyman was spotted as a promising young rider by the owner of the bike shop 'Fat Birds Don't Fly, based in Hunstanton Norfolk. Helen has ridden under the Fat Birds name ever since and now holds the National Champion jersey for Cyclo-cross. Next to join the Fat Birds team was Gabby Day and over the subsequent years the shop continued to support a growing number of riders.
Since then, team manager Stefan Wyman has come on board, the team has acquired additional sponsors, has now signed 16 international riders and this year became the first UK team to achieve UCI professional trade status. We went along to the team launch at the National Space Centre in Leicester as they announced their line up of elite riders and asked just what this means for the future of women's cycling in the UK.
What does this all mean?
Having a professional team in Britain indicates a huge step forward and could potentially have a huge impact on the women's cycling scene in Britain. UCI Trade Team status will allow the team to gain starting positions in the world's biggest races, an opportunity that hasn't before been possible.
In the past female riders had to ride for teams abroad to progress in the international racing scene. FBUK hope that other teams may follow their lead and open more doors to furthur strengthen the presence of female Brits on a world wide level.
National Cyclo-cross champion Helen Wyman explained the significance of the team's new status.
"At the minute in the UK road scene, a lot of the riders don't even know that there's an international scene out there. They don't know that there are races that are equivalent to the Tour de France that women are racing. You may hear that Nicole Cooke rode in some race but most women don't really understand what it's about.
"With a UCI trade team in Britain they can see that there is a step, and there is a way that they can go from racing domestically, from racing the women's team series, to racing the National series, to racing lower grade one day races in Europe. They can see that there's a progression, they can see that there's no longer this huge gap."
Team Captain, Clare Gross
Team Captain Clare Gross began racing with MTB pro Caroline Alexander and has represented Great Britain throughout her career. She told SheCycles that whilst the team are being very realistic about the time ahead it's a very exciting time for both the team and aspiring young female riders in Britain.
Her focus will be both racing home and abroad, supporting the development team as well as the A-team, whilst juggling a career in physiotherapy.
Key to the success of FBUK, according to Clare, is the teams ability to support each other, to work together effectively and to see any FBUK rider's win as a result for the whole team.
In addition to Helen and Clare, the line up for 2006 includes Lorna Webb, ranked 7th in the UK, Line Rumsrud twice a medallist in the Norwegian National Championships and Cath Hare a seasoned professional who has been signed from the Bianchi team - so the girls have a huge amount of experience under their belts. FBUK will be spilt into The Development Team and The Elite Cycling Team. Furthur backing the Elite Team are strong riders Suzie Godart, Emma Silversides, Gabby Day and Emma Pooley.
The Development Team
Bringing together the strengths of the seven Development Team riders is former squash player Tracey Fletcher. Tracey previously rode for the East Midlands Division who came 2nd in the Women's Team Series 2004 and also received the award for most aggressive team for the second year running.
We spoke to 19 year old ex-runner, Lizzy Goodband, whose impressive display of team work as well as promising individual results have earned her a place on the Development Team. Lizzy has been riding and running from a young age and is currently studying for a degree at Loughborough University whilst preparing for an exciting year with the team.
As with most of the girls, Lizzy doesn't purely focus on her racing, she has to balance her training with studying. When we asked her if she managed to stay disciplined she explained that "you've got to be" and she stressed the importance of recovery time.
"It's important to listen to your body. I take my resting heart rate every morining" which tells you if you're not recovered enough from illness or training. Lizzy described riding for FBUK as "brilliant. "It's an amazing experience, really good."
The Management Team
With the heightened status of the team has come the expansion of the Management Team. Manager Stefan Wyman has been joined by assistant managers Rene Groot and Sam Pheasant, and furthur technical assistance will be provided in Europe by Marc Godart of Luxemburg.
"When we set this team up two years ago, it was a distant dream to gain trade team status," said Stefan. "This has now been achieved and we are already seeing the rewards. Two major signings and international sponsors coming on board look likely to help secure the long-term future of the team. We've even got a fan club now with members in several different countries."
The Sponsors
There was a strong sense of community and team work among the riders and management which was furthur emphasised by supporters at the launch, such as Schwalbe Tyres' Chris Hearn, & Dale Smith & Gary Mather whom were excited to show off some of the kit the women will be using in 2006. The Lake shoes & Vangard base layers in particular caught our eye. As did the lovely Schwinn bikes.
So, a very promising time ahead, watch out for FBUK on both the UK and international race scene this year.
