Castelli Blog

Last month, João Correia, a 34 year-old cyclist and ex-business man, was putting on the Cervélo TestTeam kit and starting in his first professional race in Europe, Etoile de Besseges. Just a few months ago he was running a sales meeting in New York City.

When I started my job as Bicycling’s associate publisher in 2004, I had already spent years selling Italian fashion accounts for the men’s magazine Esquire. As a kid, I had qualified for the junior world championships, and I had raced in Europe into my twenties. Now, I was getting dropped on the lunch ride, I looked like somebody’s idea of a prank with my 205 pounds.

In 2006, I set myself the audacious goal of competing in the time-trial national championship of my native country, Portugal, without being embarrassed. I finished twelfth in the TT in 2007. I kept riding — though now I thought of it as training — and the next year I was offered a chance to join the domestic American race team Bissell Pro Cycling. Late last year, the founder of the Cervelo team, Gerard Vroomen, asked me if I wanted to ride for him.

So 14 years after I stopped racing, and 60 pounds lighter than my peak weight, I find myself on the same team as Carlos Sastre, Thor Hushovd and Heinrich Haussler. I can’t adequately explain how odd it is to up-end your life the way I have, or how it feels to take the risk of leaving the solid career I’d built for the uncertain life of being a neo-pro at an age when many around me are considering retirement.

Today is the day, the first race of the season on my calendar, Etoile de Besseges. Let’s see how this season goes. As you can see I have a pretty good schedule and I’m looking forward to do these races — but for now I’m just going to enjoy the crazy ride.

Follow João Correia online: www.joaoisme.com - www.twitter.com/joaoisme

You might have heard of Stefan Denifl? The now 22-year-old Austrian rider finished 23rd in the overall classification at the Tour of Murcia last week. The former mountain biker changed to road cycling in 2003 where he quickly improved his climbing and time trialling skills to become the perfect GC rider of the one week stage races.

From the first day we meet with Stefan, he already knew about the innovative advantages of Castelli clothing. “A lot of riders have been talking about how fast the Cervélo kit is.” Denifl said.

Stefan, who lives outside Innsbruck, often drives across the Italian boarder to find warmer climate for training. Over the last three months, Stefan has already proven to be part of the Cervélo TestTeam by testing and helping in product development on the Castelli Winter 2010 collection.

Here are three of Stefan’s favorites:

MEZZO WS JACKET (New for Winter 2010)
I almost couldn’t believe how light and comfortable it was, and how well it kept the wind out. With a weight of only 359 g, full windproofness and water protection, you hardly feel it on. The Windstopper® X-Lite fabric makes it warm enough for even cold rides and very stretchy in all directions. Good for a temperature range around 5°C to 12°C degrees.

DILUVIO GLOVES (available in stores)
The Diluvio’s, my favorite gloves, are light and amazingly warm even in very cold temperatures. You just need to wear them properly. When putting on the gloves right before heading out on a cold day, no moisture built up, my hands stayed dry but a bit cold. But, if I put them on while my hands were still warm, they stayed that way during the full ride. 0°C - 10°C degrees.

MANNAGGIA! JACKET (available in stores)
This jacket has a fabulous “anatomic fit”, and a whole range of off-season conditions. I was wearing nothing under it except for the lightweight (129 g) UNO:UNO PLASMA LS baselayer. And when going uphill, I’d regulate the temperature with the chest zip vents and undo the main zip a bit at times — it really is an exceptionally warm winter jacket, perfect for riding in cold conditions and great styling. Temperature range: -5°C to 10°C degrees.

For more information, click here:  Diluvio Glove -  Mannaggia! Jacket -  Uno:Uno Plasma Baselayer

Stefan Denifl, profile: www.cervelo.com

Next race up on the calendar for the Cervélo TestTeam is the famous Montepaschi Strade Bianche on Saturday in beautiful Tuscany.

Held annually in the Tuscany region, near Siena, the Montepaschi Strade Bianche is famous for the 70 kilometres of gravel roads that make up a substantial portion of the race route. “I am confident we have a very strong team for this race,” said Jens Zemke, sports director, who once again will lead the team at this year’s race. “The riders are very motivated. In Roger Hammond (GBR) we have a specialist who is ideal for this kind of race. Then there is our young Italian rider, Davide Appollonio (ITA), who is also very motivated to perform well as this will be his first pro race in his home country. This kind of a race is also an ideal opportunity to test how our components perform in these extreme conditions so we can determine the best equipment setup.”

Castelli will be following the riders in the team car, and go riding with them on Sunday to get their latest product feedback on the bike.

Riders:
Davide Appollonio (ITA)
Roger Hammond (GBR)
Jeremy Hunt (GBR)
Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU)
Brett Lancaster (AUS)
Gabriel Rasch (NOR)
Martin Reimer (GER)

Race information:
Length    190 km
Start    11:10h
Finish    ±16:00h
Website    www.gazzetta.it

Photo: © TDWsport.com

Aero Rain jacket - Fully aero, fully breathable, and fully protected. The Cervélo TestTeam riders will be able to race in the rain, fully protected, and nearly as aero as their normal dry weather race kit.

With the futuristic and miraculous Aero Rain Jacket, we have been able to make race-wear that’s fully protective, very stretchy, and yet so breathable that you can keep the entire thing closed up without overheating. By adding this short-sleeve aero Rain jacket over the Aero Race jersey, the Cervélo TestTeam riders will be able to race in the rain, fully protected, and nearly as aero as their normal dry weather race kit. It’s made possible thanks to a revolutionary new fabric being developed by Castelli and GORE.

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