2015 Speed Week Athens Twilight Pro Criterium ,first official USA crit race

2015 Speed Week Athens Twilight Pro Criterium ,first official USA crit race

Team Stradalli cycle went to Athens Georgia to make a statement, that they were a team to be reckoned with.
After lots of blood, sweat and tears the team left Speed Week having proven just that. Ruben Companioni  finished 2^nd in one of the most competitive races of the year, but this was a win for the entire team as owner Tom Steinbacher discussed; “Look at the field, look at the course. You are going against the defending NCC Champ, Daniel Holloway, you are going against a fully stacked Pro field with world champions and Olympians. This is where you have to prove what you are made of and right now I’m completely ecstatic.”

Stradalli brought a full team including Ruben Companioni , Sebastian Morfin, Yosvany Falcon, Grant Potter, Cesar Grajales and Abel Quintana, a new rider to the team. This was the biggest group to go to any race this year and before the race Stradalli cycle received a special call ups for 2 riders, Ruben Companioni and Yosvany Falcon were among the call-ups to begin.

It didn’t take long before there were some fireworks first a 9 man break and then Olympian Bobby Lea went down in turn 1 causing several riders including Ruben Companioni to crash as well.

“My heart jumped in my throat when I saw Ruben go down. You worry about these guys like they are your own kids , they are going extremely fast and it’s not like they are wearing nfl football pads. Ruben hurt his lower back and got bad road rash but got up and got back in there.” He is a real fighter.

Following the crash, Companioni went into the Sram Wheel Pit to get his bike fixed before returning to the race. After 2 laps another break in the field formed with Holloway and Companioni  leading up front and with in minutes it was just 2 racers of the front alone .  Companioni continued to battle, rotating in the breakaway to finish 2^nd with plenty of time left over to wipe the blood off and put on his Stradalli Cycle ball cap and ascend to the podium.

“What an exciting race. I never feel like an owner at these events, I always feel more like a fan ( and father )
but I am so proud of what we accomplished this weekend. Stradalli Cycle/ SAFETTI and Team Texas Roadhouse/Stradalli have been doing great this season and we wanted to come into Speed Week and make people realize we are contenders at every race.” Tom Steinbacher

Steinbacher wanted an “all hands on deck” mentality this weekend because of the competition. Speed Week is the first official USA Crit Race of the year and with brutal competition from all around the world it was important that Stradalli have an impressive showing. The sponsors; FSA providing their cranks, SAFETTI providing the uniforms, DIADORA providing the shoes and JACO Athletics providing additional athletic clothing as well as the new racers added to a team of veterans has played a major role in the early success of the team.

“I wanted this to be a team building experience and it was a great weekend. We stayed together, trained together and ate together and I feel that the younger guys all learned a lot from the veterans. I see a lot of teams out there with the next young stud of cycling but if you cannot surround that youth with veteran guidance and a “team” mentality it doesn’t usually workout the way you planned. This is such an exciting year and we circle races like these on our calendars because we know how important they are. The field was stacked but we left Georgia knowing AND proving we can compete with anyone and we raced and worked togther like a Family !” 

Stradalli Race Team Ready for Sea Otter Classic Challenge

If there was a race circled on the calendar at  Stradalli  Headquarters before the season started it was the Sea Otter Classic, and the date has finally arrived. The Stradalli group will be joined by mountain bike competitor Bob McCarty, Doug deweese and road racing great Cesar Grajales. This is the 25th anniversary of the Sea Otter Classic, the World’s Premier Cycling Festival and there will be over 10,000 competitors and 65,000 fans in attendance for the weekend. Team owner Tom Steinbacher had this weekend circled on his calendar because he wanted to see how his team would match up against some of the best cyclists in the world. We’ve talked about the offseason moves, we’ve discussed the early season success for the race team, not only in South Florida but all around the country, but for this team the time has come to show what they can do.

This is such a big weekend for us because it’s not just about what the team is going to do, it’s not just how well the riders will do, this is going to be an opportunity for  Stradalli  as a brand to showcase how far it has come and prove to everyone we are a serious race team. Road, Crit, Mountain and more. If it is a competitive race, we want to be competitive in that race. The team, Sebastian, Ruben, Yosvani and others are in Florida getting ready for Speed Week in Georgia, but this weekend we are joined by Cesar after his huge win at Boulder Rubaix Pro Race and we are excited!”

Along with Bob McCarty and Cesar Grajales, who will be racing in road and circuit races, the team will be joined by Grant Potter. Steinbacher attributes a lot of the early success of the team to the help and support he has gotten from the teams sponsors. DIADORA providing the shoes, JACO Athletics provides additional clothing SAFETTI has provided the uniforms, and Full Speed Ahead (FSA) providing the cranks. This will be one of the most heavily watched race weekends around the cycling world and the team is ready to make an impact. The 25th anniversary of the Sea Otter Classic will feature riders from all around the world and is the perfect opportunity for team Stradalli to turn some heads. They have seen early success this season and with the team getting ready for Speed Week in Georgia next weekend this weekend is a great chance for the rest of  Stradalli  to compete on a bigger stage and no matter what happens, this is a big step in the right direction for the team as they look to move forward.

Visit Stradalli Cycle for more information about the Stradalli Race Team and the best bikes!

Ruben Companioni Wins Belmont Criterium on his Stradalli Faenza Aero bike

Team Stradalli cycle entered the Belmont Criterium Pro Race this weekend with only a three man team. Team Stradalli left the Belmont Criterium Pro Race on Sunday with another victory. Ruben Companioni once again took the jersey as he finished first in the race with the help of teammates Sebastian Morfin and Yosvany Falcon. The conditions were fair but it was undetermined how the team would fair with only three riders but that proved to be enough to take the victory in Sunday’s race. This was a great race but the team knows the competition is about to get a lot tougher. However, team owner Tom Steinbacher is more than pleased with the early season success of the Stradalli Race team.

“When we brought in Ruben I told him you were going to be part of a great team and the whole Stradalli family . A team with great frames, great bikes, great components, great sponsors and great teammates. The point I was trying to make to everyone is that cycling is a team sport and the better your team is, the better the chances are of you picking up victories and enjoying it together like a big cycling family . I am proud of our early success, it shows that what we did this off season was worth it but we still have a lot of work to do. The season has really just started and we are about to face steeper competition, harder races and tougher conditions. I know we are up to the challenge and it is nice to gain some early momentum to the season.”

The sponsors Steinbacher referred to; SAFETTI has provided the uniforms, DIADORA with the cycling shoes, JACO Athletics provides additional clothing and FSA the cranks, have all been a huge component if the teams early success as well. The new “one global force” model of team Stradalli has been an early success. The focus being the brand, rather than just individual success. Building the team around strong sponsors, veterans and athletes, better training routines and preparation for races. Input from other riders usingStradalli cycle bikes has also been a big advantage and all of this has worked well together in resulting in early season success.

“We don’t have one rider, we are never in one race, we have dozens of riders and are in multiple races each weekend. There are riders all over the world who race on Stradalli bikes and when they win it is a win for the whole Stradalli family. I looked at successful teams and tried to see what they were doing and I realized the key was the team mentality. Our manufacturers, the designing of the bikes, the sponsors, the riders, everyone had to go all in to make this year a true success for team Stradalli and that’s what you see happening this year.”

The team mentality and momentum has people looking at Stradalli Racing in an entirely different way this year. Now we will see what this new team can do as the meat of the competition and race schedule comes up. But Stradalli is ready to take on the challenge!

 

VICTORY for Team Stradalli at Florida Pro Crit Championship

Would the moves work? Would the new players, the new frames and products, the new training routines, the new strategies, the countless hours of work, would they all pay off and result in wins? The answer is YES! The reviews are in and yes the plan worked; yes it was all worth the effort because team Stradalli has won the Florida Pro Crit Championship!

Ruben Companioni led one of the most talented Florida pro teams ever to start a race for team Stradalli. In an extremely competitive pro field, Companioni along with Sebastian Morfin, Yosvany Falcon and Grant Potter all contributed to a team victory. This win is extremely special because of how competitive the Florida Pro Crit Championship field was this year. Team owner Tom Steinbacher was undoubtedly pleased by the news Saturday; “Last year we did our best but I knew we had to start over, rebuild the team, rework the frames, our strategy, everything and it started from the ground up. When we came in 4^th  last weekend at the NCC UCI Crit ,I was very proud of the results but to be very honest it just made this weekend’s Pro Crit race more nerve-racking. I wanted this team to prove that we are on the right track and it wasn’t a fluke that we are getting great results. This is the validation I and the entire company needed. We know that the hours we spent working were all worth it because it was a step in the right direction.”

Steinbacher is not exaggerating with the exception of the team name, a few racers and Princess, the team mascot, the owner of StradalliRacing cleaned house and made drastic changes to his team. The changes came fast with the early acquisitions of Companioni and Morfin to join an already talented team. There was even more pressure put on finding the best sponsors to contribute with SAFETTI’s uniforms, JACO Athletics’ gear, FSA (Full Speed Ahead) contributing the cranks and DIADORA providing the carbon cycling shoes.

Every inch of this team was reevaluated during the offseason and the moves have paid off with early dividends with the results already seen.  “Words cannot express how excited I am right now. I wanted the best possible team I could build and put together and when you go with the aggressive approach you run the risk of making mistakes. I know a lot about this sport, I love this sport but until you start winning and competing at the highest of levels you aren’t sure if you are going in the right direction. I believe in this team, from the racers to the people who put the bikes together to the people who answer the phones at our shop in Pompano. We are a team and when we win it is a team win. But it is a long season and we don’t have much time to celebrate. Our sponsors, our riders and the rest of team Stradalli racing know that the only way we are going to make a statement this year is to keep getting results like this, keep winning and everyone else will know we are the team to beat!”