Former WorldTour professional Harry Tanfield and his Olympic silver medallist brother Charlie face a race against the clock to form a new men’s British UCI Continental team after the demise of Saint Piran.
As first reported by The British Continental, the Tanfields and a group of close friends are currently making a last-ditch attempt to form a new squad, in a bid to stop the British scene being left without any Continental teams for the first time since 2004. As it stands, the two remaining teams, Saint Piran and Trinity Racing, are both closing their road squads in 2025.
The Tanfields were given a ten-day window to present paperwork to British Cycling.
According to the group, there's optimism around the team becoming a reality. Positive talks with interested sponsors have taken place, and more than 30 riders have said they would be interested in getting involved.
"We've been speaking with some big companies already and the support has been really amazing. I'm really overwhelmed with all the messages and all the people trying to help out," Harry Tanfield, who rode for Saint Piran in 2024, told Cycling Weekly.
"This wasn't the plan to start a team at this time of year, but there's nothing else for the UK. British Cycling aren't going to make a Conti team, are they? So we just felt we should try it."
The Tanfields have been told they have until 6 December to send some agreements in principle to British Cycling for a UCI licence application. "They don't have to be anything formal, just some letters of intent," he said.
"It's kind of just commitments of good faith, which will help us meet the British Cycling deadline for the UCI application. We have a really positive plan for the team and just want to get to a decent level."
The 30-year-old explained that the budget he has calculated for the project is around the £300,000 mark.
"It's very hard because we don't know with bike sponsors yet, I'm talking with a few. But getting bikes is really hard, potentially that could cost us up to £30,000-40,000, maybe even £50,000, which would obviously be a big part of the budget," he said.
"Some brands can offer us really good prices so that we then have those bikes – they become ours because we buy them. We buy them at low cost, but we still buy them so it takes budget."
The focus now is on turning the goodwill he has felt from the wider UK cycling community into meaningful sponsorship deals.
"It's a nice opportunity for people that are passionate about the sport and passionate about UK cycling," he said. "We would effectively be the only UK men's team. It's a really great opportunity for someone to come forward and help us make a name for ourselves in the sport."
