Kelly Benefit releases 2010 roster

Neil Shirley returns to Kelly Benefits

The Kelly Benefit Strategies team has been a greenhouse for young talent. Team manager Jaime Carney discovered Matt Busche who had an impressive 2009 season. For 2010 Busche made the leap to the “big show” with the new RadioShack team. With the 2010 season nearly upon us, what is the next great talent on the Kelly Benefit team? Beyond the young talent the Carney seems to find every year is the return of the veterans: Neil Shirley, Andrew Bajadali and Alex Candelario. Any of these riders can and have taken victory in the past. Their season will include domestic racing as well as a European and Asian campaign. Hopefully we can expect to see them at the 2010 Amgen Tour of California.

PRESS RELEASE

The Kelly Benefit Strategies Pro Cycling team has announced their 2010 season roster, which sees 10 returning riders and four new additions. The team will enter the 2010 season with a line-up that includes experience, added horsepower and young talent.

“Our 2010 roster will be our strongest yet. We have retained the majority of our team that delivered so many great results in 2009 and also added more power, experience and young talent.” Said Jonas Carney, KBS Performance Director.

“Last season we won road races, stage races, criteriums and time trials at the UCI and NRC level. In 2010 we will be more versatile and have even more depth while fielding a roster that consists of all North American athletes.”

Jesse Anthony joins KBS from Team Type 1 and is best known for his cyclocross skills. He is a seven-time national champion in the cyclocross discipline. Ian Macgregor also joins KBS from Team Type 1 and is a two-time U23 National Road Champion with strength in tackling climbing stages. Alex Boyd comes from Rock Racing and was the 2007 Collegiate National Road Race Champion. Guy East joins KBS from Trek-Livestrong. East’s strengths lie in time trialing and track racing.

“In planning for the 2010 season, we wanted to continue progressing without taking any shortcuts. Our philosophy has always been to build a team, not buy one superstar.” Said Carney. “Having said that, we could not be more pleased with our new additions. I am very familiar with each of these guys and their potential. Our team environment tends to bring out the best in the athletes and I expect these four additions to surprise a lot of people.”

KBS racing saw great success during the 2009 season as the highest ranked non-ProTour team on the USA Cycling Professional Tour (coming in at 5th place) and the highest ranked North American Team on the UCI America Tour (3rd place). KBS also won three international UCI stage races including the Tour of Thailand, the Vuelta Ciclista del Uruguay, and the Tour de Beauce.

Riders from the KBS team made appearances on the podium in 2009 at the USPRO Time Trial and Road Race Championships and won four NRC events, which included the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium, the Wilmington Grand Prix and The Tour de Winghaven.

In the 2010 season the team will work to expand its international schedule, making a return to Asia in the early season for several races including the OCBC Cycle Singapore and the Tour of Thailand. KBS will also make two trips to Europe, once in the spring to prepare for the Tour of California and again in the summer.

Kelly Benefit Strategies 2010 Season Roster

Ryan Anderson
Jesse Anthony
Andrew Bajadali
Zach Bell
Dan Bowman
Alex Boyd
Alex Candelario
Guy East
Mark Hinnen
Cheyne Hoag
Ian Macgregor
Reid Mumford
Neil Shirley
David Veilleux
Scott Zwizanski

Andrew Bajadali on the podium at the 2009 US Pro road race