MACLEAN JOINS PLOWMAN CRAVEN EVANS

Top British track sprinter Craig MacLean is the latest signing for the Hertfordshire based team, Plowman Craven Evans Cycles.

The world, Olympic and Commonwealth games track medallist joins the team with less than twelve months to go before the Beijing Olympics and aims to be working hard to ensure qualification and selection for the British team:

"It's nice to feel part of a team," said MacLean: "I have not been part of a racing team since I was with the City of Edinburgh and that's going back a few years. The coming year is going to be important and quite intense. I imagine that the majority of my duties with be with the GB team and concerning selection issues for Beijing, but there will be plenty of opportunities to pull on the Plowman Craven Evans Cycles top in the national championships and the Revolution track series in the UK."

Britain is currently blessed with multiple world-class sprinters and MacLean will have to work hard to secure his Olympic team place. "The qualification process will start from the World Cups in November and run all the way to the World Championships in Manchester in March," continued the 36-year-old Scot: "All of your results will count towards your individual ranking and qualification. Then there are the issues with team selection where we have seven sprinters going for three places. It is going to be a tough year."

Plowman Craven Evans have also just started an independent testing system, 'Race Clean', which will provide blood passports for each team member. The team are also joining Cycling Weekly's 'I support drug-free sport' campaign, wearing the white wristbands with pride.