Specialized Kynkyny Cycling Team

shed moment for the female side of the sport in this country. Five of India’s strongest road riders, Naveen John, Naveen Raj and Lokesh Narasimhachar, make up the rest of the squad, along with Kiran Kumar Raju, one of India’s top mountain bikers. The main competitive focus for the squad this year is a strong showing at the national championships in October and then at an international race toward the year’s end. Aside from this though, the team also aims to help push the promotion of cycling in India, not just as a sport but also as a fun, environmentally-friendly mode of transport, a social community activity and as an exhilarating part of a healthy lifestyle. In Specialized, the team has been incredibly fortunate to find a title sponsor that shares the same aims, ambitions and ethos as they do. After their partnership with the Indian team, the brand entered the country in 2013 by partnering with BumsOnTheSaddle (BOTS). Their flagship retail outlet, The Specialized Concept Store on Infantry Road is the first of its kind in India, and a vivid demonstration of how the brand represents a new level of cycling experience. BumsOnTheSaddle, the pinnacle of cycling expertise in India, has been instrumental in developing the sport of cycling in the country. The young cycling company has been authoritative across multiple aspects of cycling - community building, riding clubs, corporate bike to work programs, long distance cycling and executing professional races. They also run some of the best bicycle retail across the country and have a strong presence on the internet. TVS and Peaks Coaching Group are both new and hugely important additions to the team this year. The riders had been struggling to find consistent, up to date direction for their training program, a gap that has now been handsomely filled by Peaks Coaching Group, an online coaching service based in Boulder, Colorado. Thanks to the generous support of TVS, the team’s riders are now using state of the art equipment that allows every nuance of their performance to be measured, uploaded daily to the internet and shared with their coaches in the US, who then prescribe a custom training regime based on the team’s racing calendar. Support from abroad has also increased; Champion System, who clothe many of the world’s top teams, continue to provide phenomenal apparel, and Skratch Labs of the US are also on board from this year. Founders Allen Lim and Biju Thomas have become the professional cycling world’s go to guys for advice on all things nutritional, and regularly accompany teams to the worlds’ biggest races, including the Tour de France. In addition to their invaluable guidance, they’re also providing their superb, all natural energy drink to SKCT. Park Tool from the US are also a new partner, providing the team with absolutely the best cycling tools available anywhere, another major advance that allows the team to properly maintain their state of the art equipment. GoPro of California, as manufacturers of the world’s leading action video camera, need no introduction, and have very kindly provided the team with the complete range of their excellent products. Closer to home, Gold’s Gym have continued their much appreciated support, providing the riders with the perfect space for their off bike conditioning work. The founding sponsor Kynkyny, a company that designs and manufactures high end furniture, continues to provide the infrastructure necessary to run the team, and remain a title sponsor through 2014. The benefits of these new and continuing partnerships are already in evidence; with 16 wins and 37 podiums, 2013 was a stellar year, but with 7 wins and 16 podiums already this year, 2014 looks like it’ll break all the records!