Launched in 2006 this incredibly talented & successful team has developed into a force to be reckoned with on the UK circuit. 2008 will see a new direction for the team with the introduction of four young riders aged between 16 and 18 years. Together with the key members of the old team expectations are high.

Meet the riders:
Daniel Smith (Expert MTB/2nd Cat). Dan grew up in Swindon and is a big part of the driving force behind GWR. Dan decided to get on his bike at about 14 having had enough of falling off his skateboard! His friends were all into MTB (Mountain Bikes) so he joined them. He started racing in the Summer of 1994 and it's fair to say he hasn't looked back since. Riding for the MTB junior ranks he achieved the top 10. While attending university, Dan was forced to quit serious riding for a while although he was back racing MTB by 2000 using Road races for training purposes. He was 9th in the National Championships in 2003 and nationally he was ranked 20th in senior category in 2004. He was spotted and signed up by AngliaSport in 2004. He switched to full time RR, obtaining his 2nd Cat licence in the Summer of 2004. 2005 saw him, set up and secure sponsorship for GWR. He's been a rider / manager of the GWR team ever since!

Peter Kench (1st Cat). Peter hails from Somerset and started off in BMX at 14 progressing to MTB. As he puts it " I got so fed up with the punctures, I started Road Racing and Time Trialing instead!" Lucky for him he did, he was a natural! He's particularly proud to have reached the Top 5 placings in the National Time Trialing series.

Nic Tilling (Elite Cat). Nic grew up in Swindon. Being an active sporty kid he enjoyed going out with his dad on his bike from his early teens. He loved it so much he joined Swindon Road Club around about 15, then progressed onto Wembley RC at age 18. In fact, he was so good he was racing in Spain by his early 20's, signing up for the professional squad 'Amore & Vita' at 24. A season later found him back on home turf riding for AngliaSport Condor. Now at the ripe old age of 31 he's still showing us he has what it takes riding for GWR. When he's off the bike Nic likes nothing better than to track down his favourite bands and "travel to sunny places!" spending time with his family and friends. He's currently trying to con.... [sorry typo] ... convince Dan into giving him three weeks off to watch "some really big race in July"....Good Luck with that one Nic! 

Jon Pain (1st Cat) Born in Gloucester Jon joined the GWR team as a stagiere for 2007. In his very first team race (and his birthday!), he recorded his first win at the Worcester St Johns RR. He went on to have a fine season taking a bronze medal in the South Region RR championships, not to mention a string of top ten performances despite often being forced to play the role of super domestique.

Sam Redding (Junior) Sam grew up in Portsmouth, where he started riding his road bike at about 15. He must have been good because he was spotted and taken on board the Brittish Cycling Talent team. in his words " My first year was a steep learning curve as a 1st year youth. My second year I got a coach and subsequently had a good competitive year as a 2nd year youth which included a number of of top 10 placings at both National Championship and Criterium events. As a 1st year junior I got some good results at National Series events and gained invaluable Road Racing experience." Sam got a top 15 placing in the Tour of Wales (a top 5 in one of the stages), a top 3 and a green jersey at the Isle of Man Youth Tour. His aim is to get within the top 8 at the National Championships not to mention a top 10 placing in the Junior Road Race series.
Hobbies off his bike include riding his motorbike, taking his car for a spin and playing his drums (lets hope he and Sandy don't get together eh...!) 

Peter Dibbden (2nd cat) Peter grew up in Totton Southampton. He started riding from the tender age of 5, but he really start to work at it from the age of 11. as he puts it " a friend of mine was into it (BMX) and so I gave it a go, I liked the mud...and the mars bar at the end of the race!" 
Getting his first road bike was his first milestone then getting 2nd in Het Volk (Jnr) and achieving a place on the National Youth Squad come prettty close too. He's hoping to ride for Gt Britain at Junior Europeans and the Worlds. When he's not attending college classes he likes to play the odd bit of badminton and swim but most of all "just chilling". 

Alexander "Sandy" King (Junior) Sandy grew up in Windsor until he was 10, then his family moved to the States (washington) for four years, then moved back again when he was 14. He started riding his bike more seriously at around this age enthused by his dads touring excursions a few weekends a month. In Sandy's case it wasn't an immediate thing.
He counts getting onto the British Cycling Talent team at 15 a major a major milestone, not to mention winning the National Championships the very next year and eventually getting a place on the Olympic Development Programme are probably his proudest moments to date. His goals are to work his way through the British Cycling system and eventauly get a full time ride with a top pro team.
When he's not busy training he likes to play the trumpet (ear muffs anyone?) and read all manner of cycling books. 

Llewellyn Kinch (2nd Cat) Llewellyn grew up in Longworth which is a little village about 10 miles out from Oxford. He started riding his bike at 16, having been on a couple of mountain bike rides with his dad. He enjoyed them so much he joined his local club for training rides. He had caught the bug.
He tried a few club races over the winter, then decided a few more races over the 2006 season might be a good idea, including a few in the Junior National series; although he only finished mid table in those he enjoyed them so much he started to train harder over the following winter in readiness for the next season. Unfortunatley a broken leg in April pretty much put paid to the Summer, but as soon as the pain bearable and cleared by the Doc's he was out on his bike again getting some miles in over the winter ready for this season.
Asked about milestones in his life his reply was "Aren't a huge number yet....but give me 6 months!" This lad means business!! His current goals are to get some podium places in Elite races and do well for the team.
His hobbies include basketball & rugby for the school teams, sking and of course going out with his mates!

For more information on the GWR Team please visit: www.gwrteam.com
Images courtesy of Ann & Richard Owens and the GWR Team

GWR TEAM JUNIOR UPDATE 15/08/08

Peter Dibben, Sam Redding and Sandy King from the GWR Team/Scott Wilson/Giant have had a successful three weeks with taking a superb win in the international Assen tour, sixth place in the Trofee van Vlaanderen and a bronze medal in the National Championships respectively.
Assen International Tour – (Holland) 28th July to 2nd August Peter Dibben competed as part of the South east Select team in the international Assen tour, in the capital of the "Cycling Province" of the Netherlands. The race held over six days included 7 stages of racing, starting with a prologue followed by two criteriums a road stage, time trial and finally a town centre Criterium to bring a close to the stage race. Peter took a superb stage win on the fourth stage, outsprinting his break away companion and putting in 24 second to the bunch. Due to Peters consistency over the six days, he earned fifth place overall, three minutes behind the winner of the race.

Trofee van Vlaanderen – (Belgium) 3rd August Sam and Peter rode the Trofee van Vlaanderen as part of the South East Select team lining up against 122 competitors, on the 120km course made up of 10 laps of a 12km circuit. An early split in the race had a break of eight riders went clear from the pelaton with both of the GWR Team riders in it. At mid-distance Peter had to take a wheel change and lost his position in the lead group and by the time he had received service the pelaton had also passed. Two riders split from the lead break in the closing stages to contest the win in sprint to the line. Under the pressure the remaining riders splintered and Sam finished 6th only 27 seconds down on the two leaders.

National Junior Road Race - (Britain) 10th August The race was over an 80 mile hilly circuit, with all three GWR Team juniors present and in good form Sam, Peter and Sandy were looking to take the race to the quality field for the 2008 edition of the race. An early break of seven riders went clear and with none of the GWR riders present. After two laps Sam Reding was forced to have a bike change and due to the delay in setting up the bike and the difficult weather conditions Sam was put out of contention. The pelaton pegged back the lead break to within 30 seconds where Sandy joined the counter attack on the 5th lap to bridge the gap with four riders. Coming in to the closing stages the lead group was now down to nine riders. As the riders took the bell for the final lap eventual winner Erik Roswell attacked the lead group to solo for the win. The chase group splintered under the pressure to chase the leader and coming in to the finish, Sandy crossed the line a fantastic 3rd , only 31 seconds down on the winner on an extremely hard course.

NIC TILLING 2ND FOR GWR TEAM AT CASTLE COMBE

Nic Tilling, riding for GWR Team, continued his return to form taking an excellent 2nd place in a sprint finish at the latest round of the Castle Combe Summer series. Victory would have been his had it not been for a slipped gear in the final metres. Jon Pain followed Nic in, finishing 6th, to continue to dominate the overall series standings, with Llewellyn Kinch finishing in the bunch.

Kalas Sportswear Two Day - Peter Kench 2nd in three stages
Pete is back on the road and produced a string of stunning performances over the weekend at the Kalas Sportswear two day. Beginning with a 2nd place in the prologue, Peter followed this up with another two 2nd place finishes in the 1 hour crit and the team TT. However his string of 2nd places came to a disappointing end on the final road stage. Contested over 65 miles and with just 3 miles to go, heading up the last climb, his earlier exertions over the first three stages came back to haunt him and he was sadly dropped from the leading 20 riders. Peter provisionally finishing in 10th place overall.

Smithfield Nocturne - Sandy finishes alongside an Olympian!
Sandy King rode strongly during the (Senior Elite Race) Smithfield Nocturne on Saturday 8th June finishing in the main group alongside Chris Newton, an excellent ride from one of our junior riders at just 16 years old. Commenting afterwards King exclaimed “That was the hardest race I’ve done!”

Brentwood crit – Peter 2nd and Sandy 5th
Peter and Sandy entered the 5th round of the Junior National Series in Brentwood, London. In a break from the usual road races, this was a short closed circuit with multiple laps for an hour of racing + five laps. Peter covered an early break of three riders which rapidly went clear from the peloton. Sandy covered a counter attack and after two laps managed to bridge to the lead group. The five riders worked well to nullify the peloton and allow the race to be fought out by the break. With two GWR Team riders in the break Sandy attacked early but was pulled back before the final 1km. Peter finished 2nd in the sprint for the line with Sandy coming in 5th

Riders Update 25/05/08
JON PAIN VICTORY FOR GWR TEAM AT CASTLE COMBE

Jon Pain, riding for GWR Team/Scott Wilson/Giant, continued his excellent run of good form with another victory, this time in emphatic style, in Sundays Omega Castle Combe Race in Wiltshire. Pain, 24, from Gloucester was joined by GWR teammates Nic Tilling, from Swindon who was celebrating his 34 birthday and Llewellyn Kinch, 18, from Great Coxwell, for the 51 Km circuit race.

With multiple attacks from the gun covered by GWR team ending with a bunch sprint won by Pain with Kinch finishing in 6th (although official results place him 9th) King in fine form at the Junior Ingear Tour of Sussex Over seven miles of a picturesque circuit consisting of exposed, treeless downland, flanked by Beachy Head and the English Channel and in unexpected, and very warm sunshine, Sandy King out sprinted Luke Rowe to take second place at the latest round of the Junior National Road Race Series. Which sees him rise from 8th to 4th in overall standings.

With team mate Sam Redding making the first break of the day, deciding to join the chase group trying to catch the lead break proved to be the right decision for team mates Pete Dibben and Sandy King. With the chase group containing two GWR team riders, biding their time before catching the lead group of eight, until at 4 laps to go King attacked the group taking eventual winner Eric Rowsell and Luke Rowe with him. A move which brought the groups together until King again attacked on the penultimate lap and was caught just before the line missing out on victory by only 200 metres and out sprinting Luke Rowe to take an excellent second place by just over a bike’s length. After Pete Dibben’s earlier exertions whilst chasing down the lead break in dry heat caused him to withdraw, Sam Redding rounded of a successful day for the GWR team by coming in 11th.

Afterwards a happy but gutted King said. “I really liked the course today, it suited me; I like the heat. I started off today sixth in the National series, and hopefully I’ve done enough today to get me to the European Road Championships at the end of June.” An excellent day of racing sees GWR’s junior riders all inhabiting the top ten of the National series with Sandy 4th, Sam 7th and Pete 9th.

Earlier this week Llewellyn Kinch took an excellent 2nd place in the 4th round of the Castle Combe Summer Series with Jon Pain 5th and Nic Tilling 7th. This has allowed Pain to extend his lead in the 16 event series standings.
This coming week will see the GWR Team,  tackle the Divisional Road Race Championships in Chitterne Wiltshire and the Fifth round of the Castle Combe Summer Series.

Riders Update 11/03/08 - Thruxton

Thruxton Motor Racing Circuit was the venue for the Omega Circuit Race on Sunday 9th March. Peter Kench, from Hungerford, and Dan Smith, from Aldbourne, lined up for the 14 lap, 56 kilometer Elite event, facing almost 40 rivals.

After his previous day’s exertions in the Roy Thame Cup race, Smith set about covering the early attacks. After 4 laps, Kench was able to join an eight man breakaway. This group worked well together and steadily built a lead, while Smith continued to “monitor” the moves from the following bunch.
As the leaders approached two laps to go, Kench, aware of the strong sprinters in the group, launched a searing attack, and gained a small advantage, but with the strong wind making it difficult, combined with a concerted effort by the remainder of the breakaway, he was caught as they approached the bell. Allowing himself to recover before the final dash to the line, he was able to finish a close 2nd in a tightly contested sprint.
Smith finished in the remainder of the peloton, and claimed 21st position.

Riders update 03/03/08 - Dan Smith

Last week I was recovering after putting in two weeks of a hard training block trying to find good form for the beginning of the season. Energy levels were high due to a recovery week and of course the Sport Beans, Pete is still raving about the Lemon/Lime flavour but I still think the Blue Berry flavour is best!

Inspiration was starting the season this month with a closed circuit race at the Hillingon E12. I finished in the main peloton after my saddle came loose while in the lead break. I was forced to stop and fix it and then ride back up to the race, disappointing as my legs felt good and the break I was in was THE winning move.  It still felt good to get 2008 off to a solid start though.

It was also great to see our new team signing Llewellyn move up a category and claim his first top ten in an Elite circuit race-his first. He came a respectable 7th beating some more seasoned Elites in the sprint- Result!

My winter training has not been as structured as previous years as I have a lot of team duties this year to fulfil. Due to a new training programme from my coach I have based all my sessions around power and it seems like my form is not far off race pace. The next few weeks shall see me trying to build my form and hopefully get some good results.