Stradalli First Race Weekend Hot then Cold

It was an up and down weekend for the Stradalli race team, literally. The team had awesome results Saturday night at the Sunny King Criterium Race but cold temperatures and hilly terrain made Sundays Fort McCellan Road Race anything less than desirable.

“Needless to say our Florida Fast Crit squad is not cut out for the hilly, cold road race courses. This was a race more suited for Cesar Grajales.” Jokingly said Tom Steinbacher after the race was over. “This was a new challenge for the Florida boys! I mean it was so bad the team was in Wal-Mart looking for extra gloves and we spent over an hour finding Princess more clothes. She definitely was not happy about the conditions.”

Sundays’ rough conditions aside this was undoubtedly a successful weekend for Stradalli Racing, starting of their 2015 NCC season at the Sunny King Criterium Pro Race with a top 5 finish. Led by newcomers Ruben Campioni and Sebastian Morfin, the team was able to make huge strides in a single race, proving that the offseason moves and work was well worth the effort. Steinbacher, the team owner was more than pleased. “To come out here to the Sunny King Crit and compete against 120 other racers and almost 25 teams is huge. It is a major race to even be in, yet alone finish in the top 5! That is an awesome start to what we expect to be the best season ever for Stradalli Racing.”

It was extremely important that the team get off to a fast start in the NCC this year to justify all the moves Steinbacher made as well as to make sure the rest of the circuit is aware of the presence of team Stradalli.

“At the end of last year I looked at the team as a whole. Not just can we improve with new riders but can we get better everywhere. How can our frames be better, our gear be better, how can I be better as an owner? I wanted to find answers to what has been holding us back for years and just like a race team it starts from the top. I knew we wouldn’t go anywhere in 2015 unless I showed we are serious about being competitive this year. What surprised me is how much support and interest I found. Our sponsors were all in with us and the changes I would be making, racers wanted to come here because they knew we were heading in the right direction. It is just such an amazing feeling to see all your hard work pay off and this is just the start of the season for us!”

Sponsorship has played a big part in the success of the Stradalli race team with SAFETTI providing the uniforms, JACO Athletics providing additional clothing gear, DIADORA providing the shoes and FULL SPEED AHEAD (FSA) providing the cranks. Many who follow professional cycling noticed the change in the Stradalli game plan early on when riders were looking to join the team. Now the question is can Stradalli continue and even improve upon its early success? Many believe they can. 

Healthy dinner in Georgia for Team Stradalli with friend and cycling buddy UFC Fighter Cole Miller

Look at these bad boys…

From the left

Yosvany Falcon - Veteran Pro Cyclist former Cuban National team member

Ruben Companioni Blanco - Pan American medal winner and top level Pro Cyclist 
Cole Miller - Pro MMA - UFC Fighter and World Champion medalist

Sebastian Morfin - Pro Cyclist and State Champion

Thomas Steinbacher - Stradalli team owner and entrepreneur

Princess the Stradalli Team mascot and 7 lbs happy cheerleader :)

Stradalli Begins 2015 NCC Season With a SPLASH!

The buzz around the Stradalli Race team for the 2015 NCC season was certainly warranted. Saturday night, at the Sunny King Criterium Pro Race, the first for team Stradalli in 2015, newcomers Ruben Campanioni and Sebastian Morfin led the team to an exciting 4^th place finish despite facing steep competition. Almost 25 race teams and 120 racers entered the competition. This was a great opportunity for the team to prove that its offseason moves were warranted and the results speak for themselves. No one was more excited than team owner Tom Steinbacher.

“This was an absolutely amazing way to start the season. I am so excited, we not only had great support from our fans and sponsors, but we were able to get off to a great start for our season. I knew brining in Ruben and Sebastian was going to help us be more competitive than in years past, but I am amazed at how quickly we have now seen the impact and results. This is a big step for team Stradalli and it shows we are headed in the right direction. You do not come to the Sunny King Crit and place in the top 5 without having an offseason of hard work and dedication. I am so proud of our team and it’s like I told them all day on the drive up here, we can do this, we can steal the show each race because we have the talent to do just that!”

The offseason Steinbacher is referring to was certainly a busy one for team Stradalli. It began with a more focused look at all aspects of the team starting with the bikes themselves. Stradalli manufactures and uses its own frames and the team wanted to make sure that the frames and other products being used were going to be an asset rather than a negative for the upcoming season. Next came the sponsors; Jaco Athletics providing performance wear, Safetti providing the uniforms, FSA providing the cranks and Diadora providing the shoes. There is little doubt that Steinbacher wanted to have the best gear and products available to help lure big talent to the team. Once these were in place he was able to add Campanioni and Morfin to an already talented race team and the results are showing.

“You have to build a team from the ground up and in cycling that means the equipment being used. Stradalli has to have amazing frames and products if it is going to compete in the NCC against some of the giants in this sport. We cannot just show up with anything and anyone and think we are going to compete. After last season I took a long look at this team and said we need to start over, I wanted better equipment, better athletes, better training routines, better everything. This was the most time and energy we have put into this team and I am so proud of the results. This is the start, this race is what justified all the hard work we did this offseason and it shows we are going to be a team to watch this season!” 

Stradalli starts its 2015 NCC racing season with new dream team!

Stradalli starts its 2015 NCC racing season with new dream team!

Friday March 27^th 2015: The Stradalli race team loaded up the van today to head towards their first NCC race of the season. Team owner Tom Steinbacher, racers Sebastian Morfin, Ruben Companioni, Yosvani Falcon, guest rider Yasmani Pol and of course Princess, the team dog(pictured above), are eager to start this season with the Sunny King Pro Criterium Saturday night and the Fort McClellan Pro Road Race Sunday morning.

This is the first race for the new dream team put together by Steinbacher during the offseason and the expectations have never been higher. “We have an exciting team this year, a great combination of youth and experience, racers who have had success all around the country and the world and want to come to the NCC to prove they can compete with the best there is in all of professional cycling.”

News of the new Stradalli 8 man team has been well received as the team had no trouble finding sponsorship for the upcoming season. JACO Athletics will be providing active wear, DIADORA will be providing the shoes, FSA (Full Speed Ahead) will be helping with the cranks and SAFETTI is providing the team racing uniforms. Needless to say the optimism surrounding this season is undeniable as the team gathered this morning to begin the 2015 season, a season they expect to be the most successful in Stradalli racing history.

With such a high level of support from fans and sponsors of the Stradalli race team, team owner Tom Steinbacher knew that he had to put together the best team possible and he is confident that he did just that. “You look at last year and we built a foundation, this year we added Sebastian and Ruben to the team and it is very exciting. The sponsors have been awesome and the support for the team we have built is undeniable. You combine all of this with the Stradalli frames and products we are already using and it’s going to be fun. We have Yosvani on this trip as well for the weekend, he is an awesome racer with great experience and it is just another example of the excitement and expectations surrounding this year’s team. Even Princess is excited and she does not get excited for just anything! We are very excited, we want to thank our fans and sponsors, they have all been fantastic and they are the reason we are here. We want to put the best products, the best frames, the best gear into a team that already has the best racers and that’s what we finally have. ”

This is expected to be one of the more competitive seasons in recent NCC history with so much talent from around the world coming to the United States to compete. The NCC has gained enormous popularity over the last few years with better coverage and viewership via the internet and more cycling events across the country. Stradalli has high expectations for what this team can do.

Team Stradalli cycle - Safetti smart wear

Team Stradalli cycle - Safetti smart wear
Doing Team building Thursday morning Ride,  in sunny Florida with the new all snow white super fast diadora vortex shoes and safetti race kits , what a fun morning and thanks to all riders that joined us.