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The Emma James Diary 2004
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Welcome to one of Cyclingnews' up-and-coming female talents, Australian Emma James. Emma has spent the past two years with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) team based in Italy, and in 2004, she has graduated to a full professional contract, firstly with Team S.A.T.S. and now with Bik Gios. She's a gutsy rider who's decided that she'd rather be testing the waters of professional cycling than testing the salinity of the Sydney's waterways as an environmental scientist - which used to be her previous occupation before Emma decided to take the plunge.
February 13, 2004
My new team
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The press release announcing the team went out a few weeks ago, but finally I have put together something of my own to let you all know I will be riding with the Danish based Team SATS in 2004.
Check out the team's website, www.teamsats.com. There will be reports from the riders and everything you might want to know about the team - updated often too with the help of the team's administrative manager, Anne Ludvigsen.
SATS is the largest fitness centre chain in Scandinavia, and the primary sponsor for the team. Last year the SATS team raced at most of the major tours, and their team organization seemed to be good. Now I am immersed in it, and from the other side - as a rider for the team I can tell you, the plans for the season are great! We have a complete list of racing with all the world cups, a talented collection of riders, professional organization and support, and a real passion and enthusiasm that should have us all working smoothly and wining races!
The riders
We have a strong team with world number one and double world champion Suzanne Ljungskog, as well as strong international riders.
- Anita Valen (Norwegian with Bik Powerplate in 2003, a strong character, and powerful sprinter; 7th at the World Champs in 2003, top 10 UCI ranking)
- Rochelle Gilmore (fellow Aussie, not a bad room mate and a seriously awesome track rider & sprinter, 2nd at Track Worlds 2003 in the points race)
- Manon Jutras (from Quebec, Canada; a strong rider with experience successfully supporting the top riders at Saturn in 2003, and at Rona for 2001-2)
- Sara Symington (talented track and road rider from the UK, getting ready for 2004 with the Australian summer racing and showing her sprinting prowess)
- Meredith Miller (American strong all-around rider, and stage racer who has been with the Danish SATS team for the last couple of years racing in Europe)
- Emma James - ME! (a strong tour rider, raced with the Australian National Team in 2002 & 2003, 2nd in stage 9, and 18th overall in Tour de France fem.- 'Grande Boucle', 2003))
And some strong Danish riders who I will no doubt get to know much better once I arrive in Denmark in early March!
- Mette Fisher (Denmark: only 20 years old, but has already shown that she is a World Class Sprinter, multiple top 5 placements and a podium position in Tour de France for women).
- Trine Hansen (Denmark: great all-around rider, very strong in time trials, placing 8th in the time trial during the Giro d'Italia)
- Christina Peick (Denmark: super strong all-around rider, strong climber)
- Mette Andersen (Danish MTB Champion, and Cross Champion, and will be representing Denmark at the 2004 Olympic mountain bike race)
- Karina Sørensen (Denmark: strong all-around rider)
I am looking forward to arriving in Copenhagen for the team presentation and my first taste of Scandinavia. The weather forecasts for this part of the world have temperature ranges like 'minus four to zero degrees'! Perhaps one month more will be enough to let it thaw out a bit, but I will be taking all the thermal kit that has arrived - the stuff that I quickly disregarded in the current 30+ temperatures in Sydney.
The team started a few years ago as Team G.R.A.C.E. (Gracefully Reaching After Competitive Cycling Excellence). The director of the team is Chris MacDonald who is a physiologist, former elite rower and the real driving force behind the idea of establishing a Scandinavian team at the highest level in women's cycling. He has been able to clearly convey his aspirations for the team and for the professional organization and support essential for the team to excel, and be the very best that we can be in 2004.
The racing program
Team SATS will race in all of the great and prestigious races all over the World in 2004, including the entire World Cup series and the Giro d'Italia. My first chance to represent Team SATS was at the Canberra Tour over the weekend, with team mates Manon Jutras (Canada) and Sara Symington (UK). We had a bit of fun countering moves and stirring up the peloton; with a full size squad we will be hard to beat! In a couple weeks we will be lining up with Rochelle Gilmore and Meredith Miller to contest the Geelong Tour and the first round of the World Cup. It is a solid start to a long season, and we are sure to hit the early months of European racing with good form. The team will have racing galore at the start of the season with plenty of rounds of World Cup Races through March and April, followed quickly in May by two week tours with a women's Vuelta (Spain) and Tour de L'Aude (France). It is a wonderful line up for a strong team!
Sponsors
Team SATS has strong support with a range of sponsors. We will be riding Pinarello Prince SL bikes with Shimano 10 speed. I am looking forward to testing out a new frame and will send a full report in March! Other key sponsors include ITM, Giro helmets, Giordana clothing, Rudy Project glasses and PowerBar race food.
The team has support from nutrition companies Ferrosan, Nutramino and Matas with multivitamins, supplements, massage oils and sun-protection. We will be dressed in style with casual clothing from Tommy Hilfiger!
It is looking like it will be a very exciting year with plenty of opportunities and all the support that a team of cyclists could want to push themselves to the limit for one another and get the results against the tough competition in the most important races. Bring it on!
