SRAM and Troy Lee Designs form new race team

SRAM, in partnership with Troy Lee Designs, announced today the formation of its own mountain-bike team for the 2014 season. SRAM has had a longstanding tradition of supporting racing, from grass-roots contests through the World Cup level, and now, the company will also fly its own colors in local, national and World Cup competition.

The all-American squad currently consists of downhillers Walker and Luca Shaw, and cross-country racer Russell Finsterwald.

“For years we’d been talking about starting our own in-house team but extra resources and athlete opportunities never seemed to coincide,” says John Dawson, SRAM Mountain Bike Sports Marketing Manager. “Then it all just came together at Ft. William last season, hanging in the pit with longtime friend Craig Glaspell from Troy Lee Designs. We got all fired up on caffeine and started brainstorming the idea of creating a program that was free from outside influence. The foundation being each athlete would have total freedom to race any frame they felt was the fastest and we would take care of the rest. Now that it’s a reality.”

Hendersonville, North Carolina-based Walker Shaw was the 2013 U.S. Junior National Downhill Champion. As a first-year pro, Walker will campaign a carefully selected schedule that will include national and World Cup downhill events and enduros. Younger brother Luca starts the 2014 UCI Junior World Cup Downhill series ranked 3rd.

Russell Finsterwald, from Colorado Spring, Colorado, was the 2012 U23 U.S. National XC Champion and is a former U23 Pan Am Champion. Finsterwald will concentrate on a national and UCI World Cup cross-country schedule.

Beyond being the program’s co-sponsor, and clothing and design partner, Troy Lee Designs’ rich racing heritage and dedication to athlete development played a key role in SRAM’s decision to create the new team.

“Our brand is seeing a lot of growth in mountain-bike riding currently, but as most people know, our roots lie heavily in racing. When it came around to becoming a reality, Troy was adamant about being involved and doing whatever it takes to be a design partner for the team.” said Craig ‘Stikman’ Glaspell, Troy Lee Designs Global Bicycle Marketing Manager.