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Donnelly renews sponsorships with Hagens Berman | Supermint & Aevolo teams

  • Ron 

Donnelly Cycling has renewed its long time support of both the U-23 Aevelo Cycling Team and the Hagens Berman | Supermint Pro Women’s Team.  While widely known to many for their gravel and cyclocross tires, Donnelly is no newbie when rubber meets the road. The coming road season marks year five that Hagens Berman has turned to Donnelly Cycling for its skinny tires while the young guns with Aevolo have been making waves in the pro peloton with Donnelly from day one.

Both teams will be logging training miles on the LCV clinchers and racing for podium spots on the Donnelly LGG tubular. Unknown to many and fairly unique to Donnelly is its choice of locale for the manufacture of their premium road tires. Like many tire brands, the majority of tires are made in Asia. As owner Donn Kellogg explained, “We have been manufacturing high-end road tires and cross tubulars in Eastern Europe with the end result being a superior quality casing which yields increased comfort, durability and speed.“

Vincent Gee, Aevolo’s head mechanic with more than 25 years of pro wrenching under his belt has handled a lot of tires throughout the years and is always counting flats – of his competitors. Of last season he told Kellogg, “Happy with our tire performance would be an understatement. The tires were great all season long. There were teams that had more flats in one stage [of Tour of Utah] than we had the entire tour.”

Gee continued, “I’ve mounted thousands and thousands of tires in my career as both a shop mechanic as well as a team mechanic,” he said. “Besides the performance advantages that help our riders achieve their best, I can feel the suppleness in my hands when I mount these tires and suppleness equals performance.”

While Hagens Berman | Supermint kicks off its fourth season, Donnelly kicks off its fourth as their tire supplier. Squad newcomer, Leigh Ann Ganzar, the 2018 Pro Crit National Champion will clearly be counting on her tread to carry the team through twisting turns and tight corners while she’s flying the stars and stripes.

The ten-women strong squad also includes Aimee Vasse, a top hill climb champion and 2018’s breakout star Lily Williams. Sports Director Tad Hamilton when press for highlights commented, “More than 75 race days in 2018, with only two flat tires and among our wins, six on rain soaked roads. Donnelly tires hook up and we trust them to always get us to the finish line.”

Key to this team’s program is their continuing Ambassador Program that pairs each of its pro riders with new ambassadors for race mentoring and imparting product knowledge. The Hagens Berman| Supermint Pro Women kick off their race season at the Vally of the Sun Stage Race Feb 16-18 before heading into the USA Cycling Pro Road Tour Calendar.

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