VN ticker: Floyd's of Leadville Racing back on the dirt for 2023; Ayuso misses debut with tendonitis, CAMS-Basso becomes DAS-Handsling

Floyd’s of Leadville Racing adds new riders to six-man squad

Floyd’s of Leadville Racing, an off-road oriented squad that debuted last year, will be back in 2023 with a new roster.

Again headlining the squad is multi-time master’s MTB world champion Tinker Juarez. Joining are 10x cyclocross national champ and former WorldTour pro Logan Owen and domestic mountain bike pro Kyle Trudeau.

Both Owen and Trudeau have been selected to compete in the Life Time Grand Prix in 2023. Owen was 17th overall in the series last year.

Juan Ayuso to skip season debut with tendonitis

Juan Ayuso will have to wait a little while longer to get his 2023 race program underway after tendonitis forced him to miss his season debut.

Ayuso was due to get racing at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, alongside some of UAE Team Emirates’ climbing squad such as Brandon McNulty and Rafał Majka. It’s not clear when Ayuso will start racing again, but the team is confident the tendonitis won’t hold him back too long.

“For Valenciana we have a very experienced team with an attacking mentality so we aim to animate the race and go for victories. After the fantastic win at the Tour Down Under we’re very keen to taste our first victory here in Europe,” sport director Joxean Matxin Fernandez said.

“Juan Ayuso was due to start his season here but he has been suffering a bit from tendonitis so we preferred not to rush into racing. Juan is in good spirit, and we have no doubt he will be ready to start his season very soon.”

Pascal Ackermann hoping for Saudi Tour rebound

German sprinter Pascal Ackermann was out the back in the opening two stages at the Saudi Tour after being zapped by a bad stomach. UAE Team Emirates sport director Fabio Baldato said the team is hoping he can hang in for the final sprint Friday.

“He was already sick on the flight to Saudi. He was vomiting during the first two stages and he really worked hard to finish the race,” Baldato said. “We hope he can survive the next two stages and be back in condition to sprint Friday. We brought the whole team to support him here in the sprints.”

CAMS-Basso rebrands as DAS-Handsling for 2023

The British women’s team CAMS-Basso will race with a new name and new colors this season after rebranding as DAS-Handsling.

DAS is a British furniture brand, while Handsling is a UK bike manufacturer based in Hampshire.

“As a British team, it’s an ideal fit for us to have two important British brands as partners. It also enables us to continue for a fourth year as a UCI registered team and deliver a healthy domestic and international programme in road, TT, gravel and track,” team manager Simon Howes said.