South African James Reid joins hands with Team 360Life – Cycling News
Managing Director of Nedgroup Life’s Lance Blumeris further strengthened his squad as the young South African cyclist, James Reid, was made a part of Nedbank Team 360Life for the upcoming season.
The talented racer, James, will join two of South Africa’s most accomplished and brilliant professional cyclists, Kevin Evans and David George, in a squad that had a booming first year in 2011.
360Life Team recorded its first best result on January 15, when George showed his tremendous effort by winning the MTN Attakwas Ultra-marathon in Oudtshoorn. He easily beat some of the strong cyclists, including Stefan Sahm and Karl Platt.
Reid took his first U23 title in the African Mountain Bike Continental Championships on February 12, and set the fastest time of 1 hour, 36 minutes and 33 seconds, ahead of his country-mates Dominic Calitz and Adriaan Louw.
He also won the South African National Series Cross country title. He showed a good performance and grabbed the 11th position in the Junior Cross Country World Championships in Canada, 5 minutes and 1 second down to the winner, Michiel Van Der Heijden.
Lance Blumeris told the media, “The ability of Nedbank Team 360Life to integrate him into an already existing team of two of South Africa's top professional cyclists is critical in harnessing his current abilities and enabling his future success within the
sport".
Reid will continue looking forward to cross country racing. The four-time South African marathon champion and George will also continue to focus on marathons and stage races in the next season.
Reid added that, "For me, Olympic cross country racing will still be the main focus. I think that at my age I need to stay away from the long distance marathon and stage races as it will compromise the explosive speed and power needed for the shorter, more
intense nature of cross country racing".
James was pleased after joining 360Life and really excited to be working with David and Kevin. He will also focus on the next year Under 23 Cross Country World Championships title. It will be interesting to see how he help his new team in the next seasons.
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