The Shesha Fuels Racing squad for the 2021 season. Photo: Supplied
Shesha Fuels Racing has named its six-man squad for the season ahead.
The team, which largely consists of U23 riders, has undergone both a name change and a rebranding in 2021 and will ride in the red, black and white colours of its new sponsors.
Relatively small in squad size, the team will be captained on the road by 2013 Tour du Rwanda and double Jock Classic winner Dylan Girdlestone.
The 31-year-old also won a stage of last year’s Tour of Good Hope and will hope his climbing and sprinting legs propel him to a successful season ahead.
Reigning Cape Town Cycle Tour winner Travis Barrett is also primed for a big year.
Speaking to In the Bunch, Barrett has plans in place to not only shine on the local scene, but to take the international stage by storm in the coming years.
Based in Gauteng, the 21-year-old was also a stage winner at last year’s Tour of Good Hope.
JP Lloyd was selected in the South Africa squad for the 2020 African Continental Road Championships in Mauritius, only for the event to fall victim to the coronavirus outbreak.
He will look to put that heartbreak behind him and build on the recognition in the coming year.
Alex Worsdale, winner of the 2019 Mpumalanga Tour, is another 21-year-old with a bright future.
His stellar 2019 season also included podium finishes at the 947 Ride Joburg and Tour Durban.
Ryan Terry and Travis Stedman round out the Shesha Fuels Racing squad.
Terry’s most notable result to date came at the 2020 SA National Championships where he finished ninth in the U23 individual time-trial.
Stedman is equally adept on his road and mountain bike and at 20 years old has a bright future in the sport.
Dylan Girdlestone, Travis Stedman and Alex Worsdale in action. Photo: Supplied
After a year of uncertainty, team owner Jamie Taylor told In the Bunch that he was hopeful the recent changes to the Covid-19 restrictions would result in event confirmations rather than cancellations.
“With the 2021 racing calendar still up in the air, we are taking each race as it’s confirmed,” Taylor said.
“We are hoping the recent changes in restrictions will have a positive impact on race organisation and more event confirmations will follow in the very near future.”
In terms of goals on the road, Taylor was optimistic his riders would find their way onto the podium – and the top step – in the months ahead.
“Our short-term goals are podium finishes in the U23 road and time-trial races at the SA national championships in Swellendam in March and definitely a win in one of the local ‘monument’ classic races,” a confident Taylor concluded.
