Rob Britton returns to North America for 2014

Rob Britton is returning home to the North American circuit this year. He’s motivated and ready to regain his winning form.

Rob Britton’s 2013 season was one to forget. Moving to Great Britain and racing for the Raleigh professional cycling team proved to be unsuccessful for the 29-year-old Canadian. A few of his challenges included racing on the smaller roads of Europe for the first time, where positioning plays a major factor into success, living in England through a horribly cold spring, and dealing with frustrating management that didn’t provide a long-term racing schedule. One of the highlights of his season finally came when he raced at the Tour de Beauce with the Canadian national team. His efforts helped power the team to a stage win (Guillaume Boivin, Stage 2) and third place overall (Christian Meier). Under the organization of national team coach Gord Fraser the week was well organized. A week later, however, Britton finished fourth just off the podium, at the Canadian national championships. It was his fifth finish at nationals inside the top five without winning the jersey. Britton was left frustrated again.

A true journeyman of the sport, Britton is excited about competing back in the North American circuit. He is confident he can perform here with his new team, SmartStop presented by Mountain Khakis. Coming off a three-week training block in Maui, Britton will spend 10 days at home in Victoria before heading out on another pre-season training camp. In Tuscon, Ariz., he will be joined by fellow Canadians, Zach Bell and Kristofer Dahl at the re-vamped team’s first official meeting of the 2014 season. Here they will stay at altitude and fine tune their condition under the tutelage of recently retired professional cyclist and new team director Mike Creed.

With this new beginning, Britton is ambitious and determined not to leave any stone unturned in his training regime. His New Year’s resolution mirrors this: “This year I would like to invest more into myself and really take things a bit more seriously on and off the bike. I would like to win some bike races again.”