New Skil – Koga women’s cycling team: the road to London 2012

A new women’s cycling team – Skil-Koga – is set to start racing next season with the support of the Skil-Shimano professional cycling team. Skil-Koga’s two title sponsors are also prominent Skil-Shimano team sponsors – electronic tool producer Skil Power Tools and Dutch high-end bike manufacturer Koga. The goal is to help one or more women cyclists to prepare for the 2012 London Olympics in the most professional way possible. Preparation for the World Championships in the Netherlands is a second major goal.

Dutch rider Regina Bruins, a candidate for the Olympic time trial, has already been signed up, alongside her fellow countrywomen Suzanne de Goede, Amy Pieters, Roxane Knetemann, Hannah Welter and Marte Lenferink, as well as Germany’s Christina Becker. Former cyclist Sharon van Essen is directeur sportif.

Skil-Koga will ride in a similar team outfit to the men’s team, as well as operating on the basis of the same core values: investments in rider development, team spirit, ethics and health, innovation and sustainability. Skil-Shimano’s commercial manager Sissy van Alebeek, a former Dutch road champion, has been appointed team manager.

‘This is a fantastic, special project, with a wonderful sporting focus, the road to the London Olympics in 2012’ says Skil-Shimano’s general manager Iwan Spekenbrink, ‘managed by a driven, knowledgeable colleague, Sissy van Alebeek, who has worked out a new concept for a women’s team. Our coach Merijn Zeeman will map out the optimal training schedule in the run up to London. With this project, Skil and Koga connect men’s and women’s cycling in terms of marketing and communication.’

Sissy van Alebeek

Sissy van Alebeek’s most impressive performance came in the 2001 Dutch road title in Nijmegen. Van Alebeek experienced many more highlights and victories in major international events, before retiring from racing in 2009 and joining the Skil-Shimano cycling team as commercial manager.

Next season sees Sissy take on the running of the Skil-Koga women’s team, which is based on a new concept. ‘We will endeavour to map out the optimal road to the Olympic Games for one or more of our cyclists, based on an optimal combination of a specially tailored race programme and very professional, intensive training. There are obviously various other challenges on the schedule in this period, such as the Dutch championships and of course the world championships in Copenhagen and Limburg. It’s a great challenge.’

Regina Bruins

Regina Bruins’s career has taken off since the 23-year-old gave up skating for cycling in 2007. Her best performance to date was the Dutch national time trial title in 2009. Regina opted to make the switch to Skil-Koga from Cervélo TestTeam despite receiving offers from virtually every other international women’s team. ‘I can work towards a number of major goals in this team on the basis of a tailored programme,’ says Regina. ‘I come into a team with some talented, dedicated girls, who are all very similar. I was especially looking for far-reaching, intensive guidance, in terms of coaching, equipment and aerodynamics, mental guidance and so on. I am confident this is the way to get the best out of myself over the next few years.’

Skil Europe and Koga

With this project Skil Power Tools and Koga establish a link between men’s and women’s cycling. In the words of Gerhard Kobesen, President of Skil Europe, a brand that has made a name for itself with high-quality, user-friendly hand tools: ‘At Skil we were looking for ways to further extend and activate our brand’s commitment to professional cycling through the Skil-Shimano team. The addition of an ambitious women’s project to this serious commitment to road cycling is a logical step, because it enables us to reach the full spectrum of elite cycling – men and women. We are especially enthusiastic about this project because we find it very important to give something back to society. Establishing optimal conditions for sportsmen and women with Olympic ambitions fits in perfectly with this. The ability to continue to work with the same organisation we know and with Koga was of overriding importance for us.’

Wouter Jager, General Manager of Koga, identifies important shared values between Koga, part of the Accell Group, and the new project. ‘Innovation and high-quality guidance are two very decisive values in the team’s sporting operations. These are clearly shared by Koga and also embodied in our innovative products. With this in mind, the team has a highly experienced partner that offers the best in high-performance framesets for professional use. The team’s cyclists will be equipped with the high-quality Kimera carbon framesets and Regina Bruins will prepare for the Olympic time trial on our revolutionary Di2 carbon TeeTee time trial bike.’