Chicago, Ill. – Burnham Racing, an elite-level cycling development program based in Chicago, will partner with Colnago Bicycles and Chicago’s Kozy’s Cyclery for the 2010 season. The sponsorship ties Illinois’ fastest-rising competitive cycling team to the world’s most prestigious bicycle brand and Chicago’s largest family of bicycle shops. Burnham Racing enters the year on a hot streak after capturing the 2009 Illinois Cup Men’s Team Championship, winning its second-consecutive USA Cycling Category 3 State Criterium title and claiming its second-consecutive Category 3 Illinois Cup individual crown. Eight members of Burnham Racing’s current 18-man roster won events in 2009. The team retains past Cat 3 State Criterium winner Matt Smith (Chicago), reigning Cat 3 State Criterium champion Jeff Wat (Chicago) and 2009 Cat 3 Illinois Cup champion Nate Iden (Chicago). Also returning are Julian Baumgartner (Chicago), winner of the 2009 Cat 3 O’Fallon Grand Prix and Glencoe Grand Prix, and Jason Knuaff (Chicago), winner of the Glencoe Masters 1/2/3 event, the Cat 3 Wonder Lake Criterium and the Masters 30+ Jackson Park cyclocross race. Joining the roster are 2010 is Sean Piper (Barrington, Ill.), winner of the 2009 Cat 3 Whitnall Park Road Race, as well as Shane Winn (Chicago, Ill.) and Matthew O’Keefe (Chicago, Ill.), two distinguished Cat 3 racers who bring valuable experience to the squad. Winn is also a Cat 2 competitor on the track with national-level experience. “Few teams attack the regional cycling calendar with as much enthusiasm as Burnham Racing,” said Eric Goodwin, the program’s Managing Director, “and while different riders stand out each year, we also strive to compete with a team-first philosophy. It means that each athlete has a role to play on race day and it has served to keep the sport exciting day-in and day-out. The philosophy has been successful enough to open doors on the sponsorship front and we are blown away to have drawn interest from Colnago, an icon in the sport of cycling, and from Kozy’s Cyclery, a household name here in Chicago.” Established in 1944, Kozy’s Cyclery has grown to four locations in Chicagoland, including its flagship store on Milwaukee Avenue. This will mark the first time that Kozy’s Cyclery has allied with a racing team. The Kozy franchise is the exclusive Chicago retailer of Colnago bicycles and owner Ron Kozy is looking forward to seeing the brand in action on the local racing circuit. “The team will be racing on Colnago CX-1s, a revolutionary frameset which makes use of new construction technology while upholding the Colnago standard,” said Kozy. “Burnham will also be using a range of Easton wheelsets and additional equipment that we carry at our stores. While we aim to increase our visibility with this partnership, we also want to gather feedback on the product that will help us better serve our customers.” In addition to adding Kozy’s Cyclery and Colnago, Burnham Racing will benefit from sponsor relationships with Chicago’s Universal Sole Running Store and Eldorado Trading, LLC, Craft Technical Apparel, Clif Bar, SRAM, Saris/CycleOps, Mad Alchemy Embrocation and BikeReg.com. Burnham Racing is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to fostering competitive excellence, community involvement and promoting the high level of sportsmanship that is a hallmark of bicycle racing. BURNHAM RACING 2010 ROSTER: Julian Baumgartner (Cat 2; Chicago, Ill.)
Brian Boyle (Cat 2, South Bend, Ind.)
Andrew Daley (Cat 2, Chicago, Ill.)
Joel Feinberg (Cat 3, Chicago, Ill.)
Andreas Fischer (Cat 3, Chicago, Ill.)
Nicholas Gierman (Cat 3, Blue Island, Ill.)
Eric Goodwin (Cat 3, Chicago, Ill.)
Timothy Hermanas (Cat 3, Chicago, Ill.)
Nate Iden (Cat 3, Chicago, Ill.)
Chris Kelley (Cat 2, Bloomington, Ill.)
Jason Knauff (Cat 3, Chicago, Ill.)
Jason Mindeman (Cat 3, Crown Point, Ind.)
Matthew O’Keefe (Cat 3, Chicago, Ill.)
Sean Piper (Cat 2, Barrington, Ill.)
Matthew Smith (Cat 2, Chicago, Ill.)
Jeffrey Wat (Cat 3, Chicago, Ill.)
Matthew Welch, MD (Cat 2, Oak Park, Ill)
Shane Winn (Cat 3, Chicago, Ill.)
|
