February 17, 2017 – Evan McNeely and Andrew L’Esperance are proud to announce the creation of new Canadian Mountain Bike Team: Forward Racing-Norco. The roster includes Evan McNeely, Andrew L’Esperance and Sean Fincham.

Forward Racing is the brainchild of Evan and Andrew. They jumped at the opportunity to create a new mountain bike team after learning that they would not be continuing with the Norco Factory team for 2017. Norco Bicycles will be a key player in this racing program, supplying the riders with race bikes and offering support at select races. “We are very excited to be working with Norco Bicycles. The athletes have a strong history with the brand and are thrilled to be on the Revolver again this season.” says Andrew.

Evan and Andrew have been hard at work the past few months assembling the sponsors that will be backing Forward Racing. They have utilized a strong presence in their own communities to reach out for support. “We have brought on some strong financial partners that will not only help us cover the costs of racing, but have offered invaluable advice and guidance throughout the process of building this team,” says Evan. The key financial partners of Forward Racing are McNeely Engineering, Pro Source Bookkeeping, Group ATN Consulting Inc and Custom Clean Atlantic.

Along with building a program to support their own aspirations in the sport of mountain biking, Evan and Andrew saw an opportunity to help out an up-and-coming athlete, Sean Fincham. Sean had a very strong 2016 season where he finished 8th at World Championships. “I am very excited to race my bike this year because of all the new opportunities,” says Sean. “I look forward to proving myself as a first year U23.” Forward Racing will offer Sean equipment support for the 2017 season along with guidance to help successfully navigate the transition from junior to U23.

Forward Racing athletes will target the World Cup rounds in Nove Mesto, Albstadt, Lenzerheide and Vallnord as well as select North American events and Canadian National Championships.The season will kick off in a couple weeks at the Bear Mountain Canada Cup.

For the 2017 season, Forward Racing will be supported by Norco Bicycles, SRAM, Kenda Tires, Rebec and Kroes Cycle and Sport, Sugoi, McNeely Engineering, Group ATN Consulting Inc, Custom Clean Atlantic, Java Blend Coffee, Clif Bar, Smith Optics, Innovasium Inc., Prosource Bookkeeping, Rob Orange – CIBC Wood-Gundy and Sneaky Socks.

In collaboration with sponsor Java Blend Coffee, the team will be selling a special edition coffee. Start Line Blend by Forward Racing is a blend of coffee from Ethiopa and Brazil and it a medium ‘plus’ roast. It will cost $15.95/lb and is available today. The first 30 orders will be shipped with a custom Forward Racing water bottle. Get yours at the Java Blend online shop and support Forward Racing. Get some here!

You can follow the team on their socials @fwdracingMTB #ForwardRacingMTB and #ForceForward.