After a long winter in the UK the British based riders from Orange Monkey-Cannondale are finally about to jet off to South Africa to hook up with Rourke Croeser and Ben Roff as the team meet for the first time in 2012.

It has been a long, testing pre season for the team but as everything begins to fall into place the team are now set for a series of 4 UCI races culminating in the first round of the UCI MTB World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, just north of Durban.

Ben joined Rourke in his native country on New Years day and the pair have been training hard in 40+ degree heat. This weekend they travel to Cape Town for the first round of the National Cup MTB Series, a qualification race for Rourke and a big test for Ben, his first XCO race in SA.

On the 16th February the rest of the team will meet Rourke and Ben and spend 4 weeks on an intensive training camp as they look to open the season with a bang on the much loved and much coveted course in Cascades National Park. Our new signing David Fletcher returns to a place he knows well having picked up a 6th place finish in the U23 World Cup last year and now moves into the Senior ranks for the first time.

Rourke will look to improve on his 13th place finish from last year and with such an intensive period of training under his belt who knows what he could achieve in his home race. Our Under 23 star rider has been a dominant force in cycling within South Africa for many years and will look to make his mark in Europe this year with the consistent performances he craves against the best riders in the world.

The team are extremely excited to start there season in South Africa for the very first time and will kick things off with a press launch followed by the first of a Series of KZN races in Giba Gorge on 18th February.

The riders will showcase there new sponsors for the first time in 2012 including the latest Cannondale Ultimate Team bikes and their all new race kit from Primalwear.

2012 Rider List
David Fletcher - Elite
Paul Beales - Elite
Rourke Croeser - Elite U23
Ben Roff - Elite U23
Alex Baker - Junior