Team name takes up a lot of real estate this year

Exclusive photo gallery from Trek HQ in Wisconsin

This article appeared on Bikeradar.

Trek’s race department is heavily tasked. This six-man team must support the company's professional race teams and individual athletes, and use those programs to test new products and make existing products better – because at Trek, they race what they sell, and sell what they’ve raced.

The team, who are a mix of engineers, ex-racers and mechanics, work out of a 3,000sq ft corner of Trek’s massive 205,000sq ft headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin. Every single one of the company's sponsored bikes runs through this 'Race Shop', from those used by K-Swiss triathletes, the C3 gravity program, Trek World Racing and the new RadioShack-Nissan-Trek road squad, to privateer athletes and outfits, like the new ODI-Trek squad.

Between them, these teams require roughly 1,000 frames per season, which range from the new carbon fiber Session 9.9 downhill bike to the super-fast Speed Concept triathlon and time trial machine, and everything in between.

The Race Shop was founded due to pressure from Lance Armstrong for better products during his Tour de France reign. “The starting point was the Lance rise, and what we needed to do to support that,” said Mark Andrews, the department's road and triathlon engineer. “Having dedicated resources to support teams became a huge asset.”

For years the race department was part of the Advanced Concept Group (ACG) and run entirely by Andrews and Scott Daubert, who then served as Trek’s 'Lance liaison'. The 'shop' was just a small corner in Trek’s prototype lab. Then, when Trek took on full equipment support of Astana in 2008, the department grew and the true Race Shop space was created.

“We’ve always been best-in-class, with dedicated outdoor support and dedicated indoor support [for our race teams] that's superior to our competitors,” said Ben Coates, Trek’s former road team liaison and current road product manager. “It shows, at least to us, in the support and happiness of our athletes.

"In 2008, we signed up for Astana, and we were full clothing, full bike, everything, and it was a huge undertaking. At the end of that year John [Burke] and Joe V [Vadeboncoeur, Trek's vice president] talked about expanding our racing presence. We spent a bunch of time identifying what would limit us from doing it properly, and the dedicated space and people were the two hurdles that we had to overcome.”

While the department was founded to support Trek's headline road team, its directive – to be on-time and on-target with race team support that's second to none – transfers to all of the company's sponsored teams and athletes. The expansion of the Race Shop allowed Trek to take on Martin Whiteley’s Trek World Racing outfit and the C3 gravity program in 2010, and in 2011 a second top-tier European professional road team, in the form of Leopard-Trek.

“The additional teams were only possible, and successful, because we set this place up to support them,” Coates told BikeRadar. “You hear about a lot of teams having the disaster of not getting enough bikes fast enough, or new paint schemes, or new product, or stuff like that, and we really don’t have those problems.

“Mark has a great connection with the manufacturing group and this room really operates as a leverage point. Ray [Waxham, mountain bike teams technician], Vance [McCaw, C3 technician], Matt [Shriver, team liaison] and Scott [Daubert] can walk up to anyone in the building and say, ‘I need something’, and then use their resources in this room to leverage our external [to the Race Shop but still within Trek] resources to supply and fulfill all those needs."

Making all of this possible are Trek’s on-site engineering, product management and 'halo' product production teams. Without that last resource – the on-site carbon factory and custom metal production – Trek’s race team support could never be as successful. Managing a similar Asia-based program would be harder, and infinitely slower. “In the event that we have an issue, it’s not just four guys back here in a room trying to solve it,” said Coates. “It’s a 'four guys who have the run of the company' kind of deal.”

Of course, it's not all about custom products. There's plenty of more menial work to be done, too. “Simply putting the bikes in boxes can be a huge challenge,” said Coates. “Making sure they’re all painted properly, sized, have headsets in them [or any other parts], screws, nuts and bolts, and all that, is really what this place does; it makes sure that we deliver on time, on target, and that the support is second to none.”

Case in point: the day BikeRadar visited the Race Shop, Matt Opperman and Jon Rourke, the head mechanic and team manager from Subaru-Trek, were there to pack and ship all of their team’s equipment for the first UCI World Cup mountain bike race of 2012 in South Africa.

The fun stuff

It’s not all spinning wrenches and packing cardboard, though. The Race Shop facilitates all kinds of special team projects. It’s a playful environment and you can tell Andrews, Waxham and McCaw have a fair amount of fun doing their jobs. Recently, Waxham made some custom horizontal dropouts so he could build Frank and Andy Schleck a pair of fixed-gear Madone training bikes.

“They [dropouts] are actually from our T1000 track bike,” he said. “And it allows them [the Schlecks] to have a bike that fits just like their race bike, but have a fixed-gear training tool. We did two 58cm bikes for them in the same team colors; they were kind of cool looking once they were built up. Those are the little side things and little tweaks that we’ll do to production stuff, if there’s a request.”

The engineers also build their own custom projects just to stay sharp and creative. Andrews is known for his custom bikes for his two girls, and Waxham has become interested in the fixie scene. “It’s great to be able to have stuff at your fingertips,” said Andrews. “Ray has been doing a lot with fixies and belt drives. I like the kids' bikes. It’s just, ‘I want to try this’ [type projects]. Anyone can make a regular bike but [we like] taking it to the next level. Like, we did a bike for Shaun Bradley, who’s 7ft 6in, a few years ago.”

Other projects can range from prototyping shock linkages for the gravity teams – Ross Schnell needs these because he runs RockShox rear shocks instead of the stock Fox dampers – to playing with different derailleur hanger materials. Recently, the Race Shop played a part in the Madone 6.9 SSL’s swap from an alloy to carbon front derailleur boss, as well as other odds and ends like this.

Jayco/2XU team manager and former European pro-rider Patrick Jonker with his gold medallist and stage winner Benjamin Hill.

Two squads chasing the best in the NRS

Eclipse Pro Cycling heads into the 2012 season with a bumper roster for its two squads, the previously announced under 23 team, Jayco-Honey Shotz, and elite outfit RBS Morgan-ATS with both set to make their mark on the Australasian racing circuit.

Embarking on its sophomore season, RBS Morgans-ATS (known as Jayco-2XU in 2011) has announced its roster for 2012, the team significantly stronger and more experienced with an eye to setting a new standard for Australian domestic racing.

Gunning to improve on its fourth-placed ranking in Australia's National Road Series from 2011, the RBS Morgans-ATS roster is a mix of youth and experience with the skill to claim results over all terrains.

Sports Director Pat Jonker said that with a best-ever roster will come higher expectations for the team.

"Looking at all the NRS teams closely it is clear that we have five even six teams that are all very evenly matched so it promises to be a very exciting 2012 NRS series," he said. "Both teams will strive to be the number one NRS team in 2012 they will be racing against each other not with each other.

"We now have a second directeur sportifs, two mechanics and two soigneurs, so the structure of the program is very strong. As Sports Director it is my responsibility to ensure the success of this program."

New signings for RBS Morgans-ATS include 2011 Joe Martin Stage Race stage winner Cam Peterson. The 28-year-old turned full-time this season, and riding with V Australia found his peak at the Tour of Tasmania where he finished third on general classification behind winner Nathan Haas (Genesys) and then the following week, took out the KOM classification at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

Canberra-based 22-year-old Joe Lewis has found refuge at RBS Morgans-ATS following the shock collapse of PureBlack Racing. A stage winner of the Tour of the Gila in 2011 while racing for Trek-LiveStrong in his first season racing in the United States, Lewis previously took out the Tour of Bright in 2010.

Former Australian National Team representative and runner-up on general classification at the Tour of Hainan (2010), Johnnie Walker will also ride for RBS Morgans-ATS in 2012. Hayden Brooks, and 2009 Tour of Geelong winner Darren Rolfe bring valuable experience to the squad.

Returning riders Nic Dougall, James Hepburn, Victorian Open Road Championship winner Ben Hill and Grafton to Inverell winner, Mark Jamieson will all be looking to continue to continue their ascendency of 2011. Meantime former Australian mountain bike representative Trenton Day, and Ben Kersten who claimed a dozen podium finishes for the team, both return having joined the squad late in 2011.

Eclipse Pro Cycling will also support Jamieson, a former world champion on the track, in his bid to gain Paralympic selection for London 2012 as a pilot for Bryce Lindores.

Meantime, Jayco-Honey Shotz is a partner in Cycling Australia's High Performance program and designed to provide an additional stepping stone for young Australian male road talent aiming toward selection into under 23 National teams and the Jayco-AIS Continental Team.

Eclipse Pro Cycling's experienced staff, including Pat Jonker, Raoul Luescher, Rachael Gibson and Kat Murray receives a further boost with renowned coach and Director Sportif Warren McDonald adding his experience to the program.

"The environment we are trying to create is that of physical and mental toughness," Jonker explained. "We search for riders who are willing to suffer make sacrifices and are hungry to win races who themselves dream of racing the Tour de France someday basically we hope to see at least a few of our riders eventually racing at WorldTour level and for that to happen we need to further develop our boys into hardened, tough all-round riders. It's up to all the people at EPC to create this environment and we are slowly but surely getting there 2012 will be a crucial year I expect our boys to match the best NRS teams and with the quality that we have anything less will not be acceptable."

Eclipse Pro Cycling continues to attract unrivalled corporate backing in 2012 with program sponsors Altitude Technology Solutions, Audi, Ausenco, BMC, Bonk Breaker, Capilano–Honeyshotz, Craggy Range, Flight Centre-Healthwise Active Travel, Garmin, Jayco, Kask, Luescher Teknik, Paradice Investments, Prologo, RBS Morgans, Ronde, Schwalbe, Seasucker, Shimano, Salice, SIS and 2XU.

Jayco-Honey Shotz 2012 squad: Jack Beckinsale, Edward Bissaker, Alex Edmondson, David Edwards, Jackson Law, Bradley Linfield, Mitch Lovelock Fay, and Jordan Kerby.

RBS Morgans-ATS 2012 squad: Hayden Brooks, Trenton Day, Nic Dougall, James Hepburn, Ben Hill, Mark Jamieson, Ben Kersten, Joe Lewis, Cam Peterson, Darren Rolfe, and Johnnie Walker.

Eclipse Pro Cycling made its debut on the Australian National Road Series for the 2011 season, claiming impressive victories at the Victorian Open Road Championship with Ben Hill, the gruelling Tour of Tasmania team time trial on Mt Wellington and most recently the Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic where Mark Jamieson posted the fastest time in the event's 51-year history.