Just a few days ahead of his namesake race, Trek Bicycle is formally announcing a partnership with the Crelan AA Drink team consisting of World Champion Sven Nys (BEL) and Sven Vanthourenhout (BEL). Trek will be Nys’ and the team’s frame supplier, while Bontrager will assume the role of equipment and components supplier.
The world’s most accomplished cyclocross racer and current World Champion, Nys brings a new level of prestige to a program that already includes UCI World Cup Champion Katie Compton. As with all Trek athletes, in addition to racing for the brand, both Nys and Vanthourenhout will work with Trek’s product development team (DEV) to further push Trek’s cyclocross products. “The partnership with Trek and the work we put into the bikes is another dimension for me in cyclocross,” said Nys. “I am really happy to be part of the family of Trek and to do something special with them.”
Trek will unveil the team’s new bikes on January 1 at the GP Sven Nys in Baal, Belgium. Both Nys and Vanthourenhout will join Trek Cyclocross Collective’s Katie Compton for a special event and press conference.
Matt Shriver of Trek’s Race Shop has been at the forefront of Trek’s movement into a leadership role within the cyclocross community and sees the signing as another step in the brand’s commitment to the sport. “When we really dedicated ourselves to cyclocross a few years back, we had a strategy to support racing with the full commitment of our product development team and partner with some of the biggest names in the sport,” Shriver said. “This move in particular is a huge step for us, and one that we are really excited to take.”
In just a few short years, Trek has transformed from a company that offered a bike for cyclocross to a company filled with passionate ‘cross racers that supports the biggest names in the sport and even hosts a UCI cyclocross race in their backyard, the Trek Cyclocross Collective Cup. Trek’s current cyclocross program, the Trek Cyclocross Collective will continue to race as such in 2014.