Help keep EvoPro young Irish cyclists dreams alive

Hi

I’m Morgan Fox of EvoPro racing and I am here to ask for the support of the cycling community to keep our hopes of the Evo Pro development program alive.

In 2018 myself and my friend PJ Nolan saw the gap in development of Irish riders in particular and had the idea to form EvoPro (Evolution to Professional), an Irish Continental level Professional bike racing team based in Belgium and racing across the globe. We punch way above our weight in typical fighting Irish fashion. Gaining entry into many of the pro calendars top events. Rubbing shoulders week-in ,week-out with teams of €50M budgets. We have 9 UCI victories to our name showing that sometimes the minnow can out manoeuvre the shark!

Our dream was always to provide an opportunity for young Irish cyclists and some international riders to race at a professional level. Furthermore, we wanted to give young Irish Cyclists the platform to compete on a global stage, to ths point we have been able to do this.

We have 10 of the best Irish riders and 5 international riders who also deserve the support of the wider cycling community. British, American, Belgian and French ex. World Tour, European and Worlds medallists ready to pass their knowledge on. Our fantastic experienced staff are excited to work with Irish riders and their backroom staff alike. Creating a true pathway of development right through from helpers to riders!

Over the past three years we have raced at the highest level in Europe, Asia and Oceania; some of our riders have even gone on to secure World Tour contracts and represent their countries at World and Olympic level. We are regarded as a Continental pro team with one of the best calendars in the World. This is the result of a lifetime of connections and merit gained from previous years at EvoPro Racing.

We have had a lot of Irish riders who have raced with us, and who have raced against the very best riders in the World, against Olympic and World champions and have proven that given the opportunity, they can compete at this level.

We have funded the team with our own resources with private loans and help from friends and family and with some deals with equipment and clothing sponsors.

We have managed to construct a hub for the development of our cyclists in the heart of Belgium where the riders have access to everything they need.

Belgium is the heart of European cycling and our riders learn all the skills required to compete on the bike but also acquire real world skills to operate as a high performance sport in the competative world of cycling. Our cyclists develop valuable skills to help them as sports professionals and life skills which will help them in all walks of life.

The infrastructure we have built would give aspiring cyclists, typically from 14 to 20+ years of age, safe and very strictly supervised access to the world of cycling and an introduction to top class Continental racing. We want to work with the stakeholders in every contact at Club, Provincial, and Natonal level to improve the pathway for Irish cyclists.

With this in mind we signed an agreement with the National Governing body for Cycling in Ireland that would allow us to achieve this goal.

They informed us last week that they are not going ahead with the project with just a week to go to the start of our season

This is devastating news to us and leaves both the project and our team in a potentially terminal situation.

The support of the cycling community in Ireland, on hearing this news, has been incredible.

Irish cycling wants to see the team succeed and for us to be able to give the team and the young cyclists of Ireland a pathway to the very top of international cycling.

We have riders in our team who have the potential to be World Class and given the chance we can create a talent route for all who do not have the existing support network or the opportunity to showcase their potential.

It will cost over 250,000 euros to run this project for the rest of 2022 but in terms of race and training days that is just 25 euro per rider at full capacity.

We at EvoPro will put every euro back into our project and we will operate an open book accounts policy.

This project can be transformational for Irish cyclists and these young boys and girls can benefit from an experience that has been unavailable up to now.

Please give us a chance to allow them explore their dreams.