Written by: Andy Layhe

Cycling can be a cruel sport. Deep down Dan Fleeman knows that if it were probably not for a crash in the Bayern Rundfahrt in Germany in May of this year, he would be more than likely riding for Cérvelo in 2010. After winning the five day Tour of the Pyrenees in 2008 and finishing 7th overall in the Tour of Britain in 2008 under Sean Kelly’s An-Post team, 2009 looked rosy for the Englishman. He had signed a one year contract for ProTour team Cérvelo with the prospect of starting his first Grand Tour and several of the major single day classics.

But 27 year old Fleeman is not one to dwell on his unlucky season and has long since put the events of the crash behind him, “It was great to be part of a ProTour team for the season, although I didn’t really get a chance to shine with having the broken wrist at what was a very important time of the season for me and the team. I missed over two months of racing and by the time I had returned to full fitness the season was almost over.”

In late 2009, Fleeman’s one year contract with Cérvelo came to an end and he recently put pen to paper to join the new Team Raleigh. “I’m very much looking forward to being part of Raleigh as they have major long term plan to develop the team and become a major force in Europe. I’ll have a major say in the team and I’m really looking forward to being part of Raleigh’s return to top level racing.”??

Although the main part of Fleeman’s season didn’t go to plan, he had a good end of season, riding his first Tour of Lombardy and winning the British Hill Climb Championship in October, “Although it took me well over six weeks to get back to race fitness, I prepared well for Lombardy and rode well there, the setbacks I had suffered gave me added impetus to try and make up for my disappointment.” Fleeman’s biggest successes to date came with Sean Kelly’s An-Post team, winning the five day Tour of the Pyrenees stage race and finishing 7th overall in the Tour of Britain in 2008 and also claiming the British under 23 road race title in 2004.

Fleeman’s tone is eager and it’s clear he is relishing his move to the Raleigh outfit, his thoughts quickly turning to the new team bikes he’ll receive in the coming days, “We’ll be riding the Raleigh Avanti, fitted with full Shimano Dura Ace groupsets, really nice bikes.” Fleeman is clearly proud to be part of a team with so much cycling history.

Raleigh first formed in 1887 in Nottingham, England and have had several involvements in pro cycling over the years, the most notable being the TI-Raleigh team of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1980 Joop Zoetemelk won the Tour de France on a Raleigh they also supplied bicycles to the French Système U team in the late 1980s. Many will associate Raleigh with the production of the classic Chopper, a 70’s cultural icon which was re-introduced to the Raleigh range in 2004. I jokingly ask whether we’ll be seeing the Raleigh team race on Choppers this coming season, “The guys at Raleigh have relaunched the Chopper and I had a Raleigh Burner BMX as a kid so I guess I’ve come full circle!”

Team Raleigh will be based mainly in the UK and will also compete on the continent, “Although my programme is still to be finalised, we hope to start racing in Majorca in February, with major objectives being the Tour of Britain and Tour of Ireland should the team gain entry.” After a short break at the end of the 2009 season, preparation for 2010 is in full flow with Fleeman piling in the miles, recently spending a week with Russell Downing in Portugal where they clocked almost a thousand kilometers. Not surprisingly, much of Fleeman’s internal desire to succeed with his new team will come from his disappointing season with Cérvelo and this will only benefit the young Englishman from Staffordshire.

Our conversation shifts to the topic of doping in professional cycling and I ask him for his assessment of the current situation, “The sport seems a lot cleaner than at any point I’ve been involved which is a great thing.” I ask him if he puts this solely down to the introduction of the bio-passport programme, “Certainly it’s a huge part of the solution, coupled with the Whereabouts system, it has made it very difficult for the cheats and pushed them into a corner.” Many pro athletes have been critical of the ‘Whereabouts’ system, which forces athletes to inform authorities of their location for at least one hour in each day so that they may be called upon to provide a surprise out of competition test. I ask if he feels it an intrusion of his privacy, “Not at all, it’s not ideal at times but it’s just part and parcel of being an athlete in this day and age.” Fleeman was one of the first pro riders to sign up to Bike Pure’s anti-doping philosophy along with his good friend and former Cérvelo team mate Dan Lloyd and is regularly seen sporting the blue wristband in major cycling events and will continue to fly the Bike Pure flag with Team Raleigh and fit the blue headset spacers to the new team bikes.

Our attention moves to Fleeman’s longer term goals within the sport, “I have one eye on Commonwealth Games selection in Delhi, early October 2010 and I still want to defend the British Hill Climb title I won last season.” Fleeman’s new team has an average age of just 22 and is a mixture of experience and youth. The experienced Tom Barras will also form part of the squad along with international riders Australian Peter Smith and German Julian Rammler. So barring accidents it will be more of a season to remember for Fleeman in his new Raleigh colours and we wish him every success in 2010 and beyond.

A big thank you to Dan for the interview and his support of Bike Pure.

Please go to BikePure.org and help support their cause.