Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Ben Spies’ day job is beating the best MotoGP riders in the world. The 2010 Rookie of the Year has been so successful in his first year in that Yamaha pegged him to replace the legendary Valentino Rossi on the Fiat Yamaha team. Now, with a year in the grand prix wars almost behind him, Spies has set his sights on his new team. Only this one has more riders, less horsepower, and a whole lot less technology.
The 26-year-old Texan is using his good will at Yamaha, Monster, and Oakley to create a non-profit amateur/pro bicycle racing team that will be based near his home in Dallas, Texas. The as yet unnamed squad will feature ten riders, six of whom are pro/semi-pros who will travel for months at a time. There will also be another four pro/amateurs that will stick to the local races in Texas and Alabama. And if there are any standout performers, Spies knows the right people to get them over to Europe, which was where he wanted to end up on two wheels.
“Right now it’s all coming together good,” Spies, who’s passionate about cycling, said at a recent grand prix. “We’re coming in with Monster and Yamaha, who are going to be my title sponsors.” The team is going to “hit all the races in Texas, do the whole USA Crit series, some selected big races; not like Tour of California or anything like that, because you’ve got to have a UCI (International Cycling Union) license and stuff like that. But it’d be nice to do some of the bigger races, like Battenkill, that’s up around upstate New York. Some good races like that.
“It’s going to be more of a chance for younger riders. Definitely we’re going to bring in an experienced veteran rider for the year to get some results to be a mentor for the team. But my whole idea behind is it I’m fortunate and able to build something without spending money, but I don’t care to make money. It’s a nonprofit deal and working with some charities, as in working with Oakley and Monster and Yamaha and a bunch of other sponsors, to be able to come in and work together. I think it’s great most of the team is going to be young kids. And it’s kind of their chance to make it.”
Spies said that success in cycling, like motorcycle racing, often depends on networking. Living during the season in Cernobbio, on Lake Como, outside of Milan, Italy, Spies has befriended a number of top cyclists and trainers and “if we’ve got a guy that can push x-wattage at this many minutes, one call can get him racing in Europe. And it gives the kids in Texas, some of the ones that I’m looking at, kind of that boost, that this could be their ticket.
“Like I said, it’s going to be a small team. It’s probably going to be a ten-man team, six guys that are going to go on the road for months at a time and race. And that’s their job. But yeah, it’ll be like kind of a little feeder team. And I want to build it up into something that gets invited to the Tour of California, things like that, in years. But the first couple of years, just have fun with it, build a nice team. Nothing extraordinary, but done right, clean, nice, and like I said, I’m able to do it. I’m going to do it and have some fun with it and look forward to it.”
The team will ride Specialized bicycles, Spies’ current sponsor, and will be based out of his hometown of Dallas. Spies is currently negotiating with various component suppliers and will also get help from Enervit, an Italian nutrition company. The full roster and all suppliers should be known within weeks. The team will travel in a logoed Sprinter van the first year.
Despite a racing season spent mostly on Lake Como, in the pointy end of airplanes, or at racetracks around the world, Spies is committed to making time to join the team for a few early races while he’s in training mode in Dallas.
“When I go home I will race with the team for fun,” he said, hoping to get a jump on the others. “I actually have a chance to do well at a couple of early races when they’re kinda doing their base training and I can kinda go for it. But I won’t be a pro, compared to them, but we’ll race together. It’s going to be a fun deal, but I won’t be with the pro/pro team.
“Hopefully, like I said, in the next couple years I’ll be able to be upgraded to an amateur/pro and go to races and help them. And have fun. And I won’t be spitting blood to try to get the team a result. It’s all fun, but it could turn into something serious and it’s going to be done right and should be pretty cool.”