Congrats Kyle Perry for winning Tour of Bloomington, Morgan Monroe pro road race , texas roadhouse - stradalli cycle

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 !” 

Emile Abraham Testing Stradalli White R7 Frame; Reviews and Findings

Stradalli Racing continues to push the envelope of what a cycling team can do in a single season. Designing and manufacturing their own frames, team Stradalli has unveiled its new White Stradalli R7 bike which is now in production and available as of spring 2015. Even bigger news is that accomplished pro racer Emile Abraham will be racing for team Texas Roadhouse - Stradalli Cycle on the brand new White R7. Abraham (pictured above) has a long and impressive resume in Pro cycling since 2001 with nearly 40+ wins including the his home race, the tour Trinidad and Tobago International and has raced and won all over the world. Currently the team leader for Texas Roadhouse-Stradalli Cycle, Abraham is the first pro cyclist to test out the new R7 and so far it has not disappointed.

When asked about the new frame and why it is being tested out with the Texas Roadhouse Stradalli Cycle team owner Tom Steinbacher had this to say; “I didn’t pick one cycling team over another. Emile is a badass, look at his resume. You put him in a Crit race; he wins, if you put him in a circuit or road race he wins. I’m pretty sure if we dropped him in the ocean with a bike he would find a way to win. You win and finish in the top 3 of all those races you know what you are doing. We have our guys in Florida and we have our guys with Texas roadhouse and others around the country and internationally. I went with Emile because of his track record. There is no one I trust more to literally beat up on the new frame and tell me what he honestly thinks about it. I need the best to review how this bike will work. Emile has been in more races than I can count and he knows what it takes to win those races. That’s why when I had to find someone to test out the frame it was him, no question about it.”

The decision to go with Abraham wasn’t surprising, but what has surprised people in the industry is how quickly the frame went into production for public sale as well as being used in professional races. After going through rigorous wind tunnel and factory tests along with countless reviews, Steinbacher wanted to put the frame under the ultimate test, having Abraham use it in Pro races. This is certainly an aggressive move by the team and Steinbacher wasn’t shy about the decision.

“We are going against the titans of the racing world and we have spent years putting together a great product and now a great team. This is a frame built for racing at the highest level of competition and I want everyone to know it. We spent years designing and manufacturing the R7 and it is ready to be shown off. I want other teams, fans of the sport and anyone else who follows cycling to know exactly what we are bringing to the table. Stradalli has the best bikes, the best sponsors and the best riders in these races and we are going to win and look good doing it. Emile has been working with this bike for months and I wanted him to be the first one to use it in pro races. The results speak for themselves and we are ready for the next step. People are going to know very soon if you want to win you win with a Stradalli Cycle!”

Stradalli has begun to sell the R7 “Team Edition” publically and racers from around the world have inquired about it already. This is a major boost for the team as a whole and seems to be the start of what could be the most successful season for the entire team, racing as well as business.