RALEIGH-CLEMENT BECOMES CLEMENT PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM

After a rewarding five-year partnership with Raleigh, a division of Accell North America, the Raleigh-Clement Professional Cycling Team will finish the remainder of the cyclocross season as the Clement Professional Cycling Team.

The Raleigh-Clement program was born in July 2012 from the union of the two historic brands. Together the two companies formulated a plan to create and build a professional cyclocross team that would compete at the highest level in the sport.

“Brian Fornes, then marketing manager at Raleigh, and I met at nationals in Bend, Oregon to formulate a plan to create a top level, international cyclocross team,” said Donn Kellogg, owner of Donnelly Sports. “We started with a focus on the US Pro CX and within in a very short period of time we earned both the male and female overall titles two years in a row.”

“The Raleigh-Clement team was a tremendous partner for the last five years,” says Chris Speyer, CEO Accell North America. “Our involvement with the team helped us develop world class product and elevate Raleigh back into the upper echelon of bike racing.”

In its inaugural year, the team notched over 40 podiums, including a third place at the esteemed CrossVegas, and over 30 victories. Year two proved to be even sweeter as the five-rider team tallied 54 podiums and over 25 wins at prestigious races such as the Providence Cyclocross Festival, Gateway Cross Cup, CXLA and Boulder Cup.

As the team grew, so did its success. In five years the program amassed over 220 podiums with more than a third of those (80) coming as victories. The most celebrated result came in the form of a silver medal at the 2016 UCI World Cyclocross Championships in Belgium. While stockpiling its outstanding record, Raleigh-Clement raced across 15 different states and seven different European countries.

During the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 cyclocross seasons, Kellogg partnered with the Amy D. Foundation to offer full race support to the foundation’s scholarship recipients. Although the recipients raced in the bold orange and blue kits of the Amy D. Foundation colors, the racers were fully integrated into the Raleigh-Clement program as they traveled with, raced alongside and learned from the pro team’s veteran riders.

Recognized as one of the leading cyclocross programs in the US, Raleigh-Clement also offered support to riders on the mountain bike scene at the US Pro XCT level and at acclaimed gravel events such as Crusher in the Tushar, Gravel Metric and Dirty Kanza.

Unique to Raleigh-Clement, Kellogg took an invested interest in his development riders education in offering collegiate scholarships to both male and female student-athletes.

“We are extremely proud to have put a cycling scholarship program in place,” says Kellogg. “To help offset college expenses, we are simply doing what we believe is right with our overall team budget.”

Without the support and commitment from Raleigh since 2012, the program would not have had the means to reach its pinnacle and reputable standing in the sport.

“We cannot thank Raleigh and Accell North America enough for investing in a top-level professional program for five years,” says Kellogg. “We believe they were in front of the times.  From Clement’s perspective, we have forged a great business relationship with Raleigh USA, Raleigh UK and the Accell Group, and we are and will continue to discuss future marketing opportunities to further strengthen this partnership.”

“We are eternally grateful for the relationships we developed over the years but most importantly the friendships and history we have created with the team,” says Speyer. “Best of luck to the team as they move forward.”

“In addition to Raleigh and Accell North America, there are many others who were incredibly instrumental to the success of the Raleigh-Clement Professional Cycling Team,” says Kellogg. “We’d like to thank Brian Fornes (aka Sally), who had the vision; Mark Landsaat, who provided world class bicycle design; Dave Pearson, for always being there; Jordan Schware, Head Mechanic in the very beginning – no dirty bikes in the van kind of work ethic; James Sullivan, Head Mechanic for the last four years and always steady as a rock; Larry Pizzi, for always having kind words for the team. Last we owe a tremendous amount of thanks and gratitude to Chris Speyer, who from the very beginning backed the project and provided incredible support over the last five years.”

As a team, we are simply thankful to all.

Article credit to Raleigh Clement Pro Cycling Team
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