From CyclingNews.com Team Freewheel in for the long haul By Jeff Jones
A brand new US division III team has been launched, with the working name of Team Freewheel. The
team will be managed, directed and captained by Vietnamese medical practitioner, Dr Ho Jow Inn, who
has registered the team in the Cayman Islands for tax reasons. The team has yet to find a sponsor
(hence the working title), but Dr Inn wants to lay down the foundations and infrastructure before
reaching too far.
"Obviously the UCI registration is the first step," Dr Inn told Cyclingnews from his Cayman Islands
residence. "In the future we'll look towards getting a head sponsor, some bikes and equipment, and
ultimately the riders, who I believe are an important part of the team's plan."
This may take years, according to Ho Jow Inn, whose ambitions stretch to racing in some of the major
tours in Europe. "We hope to be invited to the Tour of San Marino by 2025," he added. "A national
tour of this calibre would give great exposure to our sponsors, which are yet to be named."
The team's philosophy is very much 'grass roots', and Dr Inn hopes to involve some of the sport's up
and coming riders in his fledgling squad. "We're talking to Andrei Tchmil, who I'm told retired last
year. But in my opinion he is a rider that never realised his potential. He would be a great asset
to our team, especially in some of the local club criteriums."
With that in mind, Team Freewheel will feature a 25-strong roster of masters riders, most of whom
are current (or future) state champions. The elite squad will ultimately be picked from the best
performed masters, as well as the team's proposed U12 development squad.
"By 2010 we hope to have the nucleus of our future super team," concluded Dr Ho Jow Inn. "By 2020,
some of those riders may have moved on or passed away, but we are hoping by that stage that the
younger riders will be fully mature and ready to tackle the best in the world in San Marino 2025."
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David Sommerville