April 15, 2008 — The first Ontario Road Cup is complete and one thing is certain, Team RACE Pro came to play. With a complete sweep of the podium, Team RACE Pro made the Flanders of Flamborough, otherwise known as the Westover-Strabane Classic, their own personal playground. The team recently returned from an early season trip to Europe and Pedal Magazine had the chance to catch up with the riders and talk about their thoughts on racing for Team RACE Pro, having a Steve Bauer as a Director, and what their goals are for the upcoming season.

This year marks a big jump for Team RACE Pro with notable signings such Mark Walters, Dan Timmerman and Ryan Roth and all last year’s key riders staying on. Tell us about the changes and increased interest in Team RACE Pro?
Josée Larocque: From the beginning of his involvement with Team RACE Pro, Paul Devries, the owner of Planet Energy, wanted to sponsor a team that would progress. Steve [Bauer] and I proposed to help the team last year at a couple races and at the road Nationals. In June 2007 we suggested we’d manage the team for 2008+ and step it up to the next level. After we returned from Europe in September 2007 this new adventure began.

Mark Walters: For me, the opportunity to work with Steve Bauer was a big draw. Also, the chance to ride for a Canadian team was important. Several other riders from my generation, such as Michael Barry and Eric Wohlberg, have often talked about what a good team we could have if we put the best Canadian riders on one team. Hopefully this is the start of that.

Buck Miller: I knew in August 06 that Team RACE Pro was going to step it up for 08. When Paul DeVries talked to me at Elliott Lake, that’s why I left FiordiFrutta and came to the team for 07, so the word was out early. Then, with Steve’s name attached to the team in “full time status” I knew it was going to be serious. To work under the wing of one of North America’s best cyclists ever on a Canadian team is a rare opportunity. That was certainly the draw for me.

Dan Timmerman: Well, Steve and Josee pulled together a solid program with good direction. However, in this sport, you never know. North American cycling took a major hit last season with the folding of a couple teams as well as some budget reductions leaving a lot of unemployed riders, myself and Mark Walters included. But this also opened the door for some teams like Team RACE Pro to pick up riders. Having Steve Bauer on the radio and in the office making team decisions certainly counts for a lot when it comes to having faith in the program.

Keir Plaice: For a young rider, being presented with the opportunity to be a part of Team RACE Pro in 2008 represents a tremendous chance to participate in the top class races that I aspire to alongside some tremendously accomplished team mates. To me; having a relationship with Steve Bauer, whose sporting exploits I absolutely revere, is incredible.

Steve Bauer and Mark Walters are two of the most successful Canadian riders of the last quarter century. What is like having the opportunity to learn from them?
BM: I’ve been learning from Steve since I was a junior, although more direct now, it’s always exciting. As for Walters, I’ve known him since 2001, and although we’ve never been teammates I always looked up to him, and learnt many things from just watching him race. He also taught me a big lesson in life on a group ride in Arizona once, he may not even remember, but I do. In short, not to judge a book by its cover which I’ve learnt before, but it hit home coming from Mark.

Mark Pozinak: Having both of them is great, Steve is helping me so much, since he is also coaching me, and his race tactics are never wrong and is always great to have over the radio in races. Mark is a great team leader and will also help me push myself as I do not want to let him or Steve down.

Ryan Roth: I think having Steve at the head of things is a big part of why everybody is here. In talking with him last year, we both agreed to that bringing onboard an experienced guy would be key with such a young team. We ended up with Mark and I think we would be hard-pressed to find somebody better to fill that role. Not to mention he is more than capable, of getting some big results along the way.

Dustin MacBurnie: It’s great having both of those guys to learn from this season. Having Steve in the car has already paid off many times this year in Europe. With all his experience he really knows how to read races. In the pack it’s always good to have an experienced teammate and Walters is pretty much as experienced as they come. I’m sure throughout the season he will be the voice of reason many times in races and will hopefully call us out when we make dumb mistakes, that way it will only happen once.

A lot of the riders on the team have grown up racing against, and with each other, in Ontario. How does this affect team atmosphere? What do you think this says about the racing scene in Ontario? And for riders not from Ontario, what’s it like joining a team where everyone has known each other for so long?
BM : In some way’s it’s good, in other way’s it’s bad. We’re all friends, but when you’ve known each other that long (Pozniak and I since 98ish – Roth and I since ’99 – ’00) and someone’s annoying you due to whatever – being on the road too long, sharing tight living quarters – you’re bound to let you feelings show, fast, and with us that are old friends, we don’t hesitate or hold back (which sometimes we should). The new guys, they kind of avoid confrontation, as it’s all new, they’re not as comfortable. But in the end it always works out, as we’re all friends. Pozniak and I let out our aggression by playing “Tapout”, it originated a few years back while living in Arizona together. It can hurt though.

MP: I have known some of the riders for over five years, it`s really good to have that, as long as you all like each other, and we do. Getting along and being friends off the bike and respecting each other is a huge part in how you will race together on the bike. I really like that, as I have no problem working for one of my teammates – I like them all and would also like them to succeed.

DT: Well, of course it’s a bit weird jumping into a team that has already been together for a while, but you mesh in and get on with it. I have been teammates with Buck before back in 2006 and of course with Walters last year, so I had connections coming in. If there were an issue, being the only American would be a more likely one. I grew up not far away in CNY, but I haven’t done all the Ontario races that others have done. At camp, I swear, most of the time I didn’t have a clue what the St. Catharines crew was talking about — lots of inside jokes about races I’ve never done and people I don’t know.

What are the team goals and your individual goals for 2008?
MW: I’d like to see us winning most of the races we do in Ontario. Consistent results in the NRC races and a few wins there should be something that the team aspires to. I’d like to get to the Olympics, but to do that I’ll have to be riding really strong in all the UCI races from late May till June, which included the US Open, in Rhode Island, the Philly Week races and Beauce, so any of those races, I want to win. Philly is of course the one I’d most like to win. Nationals are another big goal for me and the team’s goal as well – a rider on the podium is a must.

Outside of results, my goal is to get the guys on Team RACE Pro working together as a truly professional team. It’s really important that they learn how to work together, to maximize the strength of every individual.

BM: I know Steve’s got his sights set on a strong Nationals, so we’ll be sure to sharpen the knives for that week in July. For myself, I’ll play the teammate role and get done what is expected of me in the races for whoever’s the team leader on the day. When I come in to form I’ll also be ready to take that roll myself. I’ve won some bike races, but none big enough, I have a few on my mind for now, but we’ll have to see how the form comes along.

RR: I think it is important for the team to have a strong presence in Ontario and any other races we do in Canada will also be goals. Nationals, Tour de Beauce, etc. My personal goals are to help the team continue to grow and improve, as well as trying to get the most out of myself.
KP: Looking ahead, this is a very ambitious team. For 2008, we aim to show ourselves as a competitive and exciting squad against the best in North America, paying special consideration to the biggest races held in Canada. I aim to demonstrate myself as a valuable team mate at this level, learn all that I can and come to the National Championships in June prepared to fight for victory. Otherwise, I aspire to race in a combative manner whenever I am able and help make 2008 a successful year for our team.

Team Race Pro are just finishing a tough Euro spring campaign. How do you think several weeks in Europe will translate to racing back in North America?
MW: Yes, the racing is a little different over here. Especially this time of year, the weather conditions make the racing extra tough. I think this trip has pushed the guys quite far and they have learned a lot. After surviving the races over here, they should have more confidence at races in North America. The seven of us that went to Europe have gotten to know each other a lot better, which is vital for building good team work skills.

BM: I’ve done it before, and it often works in our favour. In 2005 we did a month over there and I managed to come back and get 9th overall at the Nature Valley NRC, and I was still a bit tired. But this trip might be a little different. Many of us got sick in the last half of the trip; I didn’t really get sick until I got home, so it’s keeping me off the bike now. Hopefully it’ll clear up and I can get back to good training. I also had a spell of bad luck in many of the one-day races we did, not being able to get to the finish simply because I couldn’t stay out of trouble. Not getting those hard days in affects the overall outcome of the trip. So I might not have gotten all I could have out of the trip, but it was a good experience none the less.

DT: I think it will help by giving us a good start. The racing is hard in Europe. Unfortunately I was sick for most of the time there and couldn’t fully take advantage of the racing. However, even without good legs, it’s still good to be fighting in the peloton over there – in the sideways rain/hail, crosswind, death line. Maybe when we get home it’ll seem sunny all the time and taking wheels will be like taking candy from babies”¦ 😉

RR: I think overall it will be a positive thing. We did a lot of long, tough races that just aren’t as common in North America, which will hopefully raise the level of the guys that were over there and provide a solid foundation for the rest of the year.
DM: I think it will pay off a lot in the races to come. The racing over there is so fast and aggressive that hopefully we gained a lot of leg speed. I find the racing in Europe always hard to get used to at first. They race a 200km race right off the line like a crit, that doesn’t happen very often in North America. Also if we end up doing any flat, windy and rainy races in North America this season the seven of us that were in Europe should be quite comfortable.

Is the experience different racing for a Canadian trade team in Europe than racing for Euro-based team or with the National Team?
MW: Other than not having to listen to Russian Techno music, it’s not all that different from my experiences with Navigators.

RR: In a way it is pretty similar, but it is nice to be with guys that are your teammates the whole year and not just for a few weeks. It kinda creates a bit more comfortable atmosphere for everyone I think.
DM: I’ve spent a few months racing in Europe as a U23 on the national team a couple years ago and I think compared to racing over there on trade team the experience is quite a bit different. With the national team the first time I was there was really tough and I was mainly gaining experience. Being over there on a trade team you are racing against other trade teams of the same level so I think a lot more is expected of you.

Any diamonds in the rough on the team that you think are ready to make some break-out performances?
MW: Ryan Roth isn’t really a “diamond in the rough”, but he’ll continue to improve and I’m sure this will be his best year ever. I hope Buck really steps it up this year, because I think he’s capable of more than he realizes.

BM: Not a diamond in the rough, but Ryan Roth is on the razors edge of a big win. He works very hard, so I know it’s going to come to him. For the young guys, the sky’s the limit for them, but I’ll use this space to plug Keir Plaice, he’s not well known yet on the Canadian U23 scene, but I think that’s going to change. Everyone this year has good skills. Pozniak finished the year with a solid win at the Green Mountain Stage Race he’ll build on that, MacBurnie and Timmerman can climb with the best on the NRC and have both proven it, Eric Robertson’s in Europe with the National Team, Walters won a very hard opening stage of Beauce last year, and is obviously capable of big results Batty, Thuss and Hunt have all put in solid winters down south, so I think they’ll all have they’re moments.

DT: After a year of early breaks and slaving away on the front, I now have a leadership opportunity. I hope to take full advantage of that. Ryan has great potential and like me, will also be given more leadership opportunities this year. Look out for him. Walters broke out a long, long time ago. Maybe he will re-break out. The rest of the squad is strong and could surprise some people. When you throw in some veterans and stronger riders, it can inspire the whole team. Whenever, I’ve been in that situation I have surprised myself and become a better rider because of it.

If you could have any other Canadian rider as a member of Team Race Pro, who would that be and why?
MW: Dom Rollin would be my number one choice. Not just because he’s so strong, but also because I enjoyed racing and being on the road with him last. We worked well together and I’d like to be team mates with him again.

BM: You didn’t specify current or retired, so I’ll have fun with this.

Retired – Obviously Steve Bauer and Gord Fraser. They’re both one man wrecking crews on they’re own. They’re results alone are enough to make any sponsor happy.
Current – This is tough. There’s a lot of good Canucks right now. I think a rider like Zach Bell is a good guy to have. We were teammates in 05 on Jetfuel, he’s developed in to a good all-rounder and a good friend too. He can drive the breaks, get over the climbs, TT, and has a nose for the finish line, those are rare qualities to have in the same rider. There are many others too: Meier, Evans, Tuft, Gilbert, Lacombe, Wohlberg, Randell, Rollin, Barry, I know I’m forgetting some. But to be honest, Steve believes in the team he has now, so I’ll stick with that for this season.

MP: For me, I think Andrew Randell, we were teammates on Jetfuel and I thought he was a really good team captain who knew how to lead a team on and off the bike.

DM: Either Christian Meier or Cam Evans, they are both young and great bike racers. And it would be much easier to have those guys on the team so we won’t have to use up all our energy chasing them.

Andrew Hunt : Anyone from God’s city (St. Catharines) but if I had to pick just one, Tim Lefebvre.