NEWS

We've been working on revamping the website for who we think is one of the most talented riders in the peloton, Richie Porte.

He's joined Team Sky for 2012, and we've made some changes to his site to reflect the move.



Click here to view the site.

We’re delighted to announce that we’re working with Participate Sport on their promotion of the Festival of Sport Cornwall and Etape Cymru events in 2012.

With extensive experience in the sport events industry, Participate Sport currently own and organise Cycletta, Festival of Sport Cornwall, British 10k London Run and Wiggle Dragon Ride. Many of the team, formerly at IMG Mass Participation Sport created and ran events such as Etape Caledonia, Etape Hibernia and Run to the Beat.



Fusion’s knowledge of the cycling and niche sportive markets will help spread the key messages across cycling and national media. The Etape Cymru is being re-launched for 2012 under new organisation, and Fusion had a key part in making sure the right messages were communicated. The event is backed by Geraint Thomas MBE, who we’re no stranger to working with, we do his website (here).

It’s going to be an exciting 2012, Participate, we’re very much looking forward to working with you.

You can see the Etape Cymru website here, and the Festival of Sport Cornwall site here.

Fusion Media are pleased to have launched the new official website for Team UK Youth.

Fusion Media’s Adam Tranter travelled out to their recent training camp in Gran Canaria to gather fresh images, videos and content for the new website.



In 2012, the team will ride bespoke bikes from WyndyMilla and take on an increased programme in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world; spreading the message of the charity UK Youth further afield.

The team will again be supported and sponsored by Formula 1 World Champion Nigel Mansell CBE and headed up by Paris-Roubaix winner and Tour de France rider Magnus Backstedt.

The new website gives fans an outlet to communicate and find out what’s going on in the day-to-day life of the professional cycling team.

You can visit the new website by clicking here.

We're pretty focused on cycling. But when a cyclist owns London's Best Pizzeria (rated by Time Out magazine), then we thought we should get involved.

We filmed and edited this short video about why Santa Maria in Ealing is different (and the best). It's been watched by pizza fans, locals, the press and those who want to go but want to find out a bit more first.

You can find out more about them, by clicking here.

Watch the video, below:

Last weekend saw Fusion continue our work with the Revolution Track Cycling Series, at this season’s third event at the Manchester Velodrome on Saturday 7th January.

We were once again media-managing the event, which saw Team Sky neo-pro Luke Rowe impress in his first appearance for his new team, winning the 10K scratch race, taking the lead on the final bend from Marcel Kalz and Russell Downing.


Photo: Chris Keller-Jackson (Crankphoto)

"It's a great honour, as soon as I pull the Team Sky jersey on today there's a massive smile on my face," said Rowe. "It's always a great vibe here, it's always a great night out so I'm really happy to be back at Revolution."

Tandem track racing was featured at Revolution for the first time, in an international battle between two Dutch and two British teams, The British team of Craig MacLean and Anthony Kappes taking the overall win in the omnium-style event.

Meanwhile, the two young riders leading the DHL Future Stars competition tightened their grip on the leader’s yellow jersey, as Emily Kay and Jake Ragan remained at the top of the standings.

The next edition of the Revolution looks set to be a great occasion, as Olympic legend Sir Chris Hoy will be competing to the delight of a packed crowd. We’ll be managing the vast amount of media requests that come with a rare Hoy appearance before the 2012 Olympics.

Here at Fusion we’re having a busy start to 2012, with lots of exciting projects on at the moment. One such project is the introduction of Sponser nutritional products to the UK market.

We’re working with Everest Sports Ltd, Sponser’s UK distributor, to handle the PR and create the website for the brand. A huge success in Europe, we’re confident that UK athletes of all abilities will love the products and their positive effects on performance and recovery.



As well as that, we’re sure they’ll enjoy the unique flavours, such as Apricot & Vanilla, as they really are delicious and a welcome break from the ubiquitous flavours of other sports nutrition products.

The nice folks over at Everest Sports have even been so kind as to provide us with some special Fusion Media orange bottles, which fit in very nicely with the décor of the new office.

Stay tuned to hear more news about Sponser in the UK as we launch the website and secure coverage in the cycling press.

It took a lot of patience, a lot of van hire and a lot of unpacking of boxes, but we've finally done it. We've moved office.

We've left behind lovely and leafy Ealing in favour of being closer to many of our clients in Central London.

We're based in Bloomsbury, Central London. We're just one street away from the British Museum. If you're near, give us a call first and come and say hello. We've got coffee.


(Nearly done, still some work to do!)

Fusion Media Services Ltd
32 Bloomsbury Street
London
WC1B 3QJ

Nearby Underground Stations:
Tottenham Court Road (Central Line): 0.3 miles
Goodge Street (Northern Line): 0.4 miles
Russell Square (Piccadilly Line): 0.5 miles

Please make sure your contact details for us are updated accordingly.

Fusion are pleased to launch a new website for cycling TV production company, VSquared TV.

VSquared TV, specialist producer and distributor of road and track cycling, has a great reputation for delivering first class television programmes, live and highlights, on time and on budget. Its production team is respected by broadcasters and sports governing bodies Worldwide and clients include ITV, BBC, Channel 4, British Cycling, UCI and Locog.



They needed a revamped site that fitted in with the kind of quality programmes they have been delivering. The company has a long running history of producing cycling for TV; they have been producing the Tour de France coverage for UK television since 1986.

Click here to see the site.

Fusion Media are pleased to launch the new website for DHL Sprint School, a youth track cycling initiative backed by the world’s largest logistics company.

DHL Sprint School is run in conjunction with top British Cycling coaches and aims to support young riders from all over the country with developing their talent, by focusing specifically on their sprinting skills.



Fusion Media created the new Sprint School website for DHL under the branding guidelines of one of the most-recognised companies in the world. We also created a range of short videos and photos to improve the user experience on the site.



We look forward to seeing more and more success stories thanks to the support of DHL to youth cycling. Dan Ellerton, CEO Mainland Europe, DHL, said: “Sprint School is a great example of how a company such as DHL can attract young people into the sport of cycling and help develop the top athletes of the future.

“We are proud to be involved in such a well run programme that combines excellent coaching with the chance to learn from, and be inspired by, some of the top riders in the world.”

You can see the DHL Sprint School website at www.sprintschool.com.

Last Saturday saw the second round of the Revolution at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester. The event, which sold out well in advance, featured World Champion Mark Cavendish; it was his first time on the track since 2009.

Fusion Media managed all the media requests surrounding Cavendish on the night, as well as managing riders for ITV4 interviews. We created the post-event report and press release, which has been picked up by local, cycling and national press.



The Guardian ran a two-page photo feature from the Revolution on Monday. The Observer, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, City AM and Metro have all run stories around Cavendish and the Revolution series.

Mark Cavendish finished the night on a high by winning the Scratch race, getting the huge crowds out of their seats time and again. Speaking on his return to the track, Cavendish said: “It’s good to be back, I’ve missed it! The Revolution was hard; more intense than what I’m used to at this time of year. The reception I had was amazing. It’s packed here again tonight, and it’s great.”



The Revolution one-hour highlights are on ITV4 tonight (Monday 21st November) at 7pm.

The next event is on the 7th January 2012 and tickets are on sale now at cyclingrevolution.com.

17 teams from across the cycling industry revealed their competitive edge last Wednesday, at the first edition of the IG Markets Cycling Pub Quiz.

Fusion Media managed to assemble a fairly handy team, featuring Garmin-Cervelo rider Daniel Lloyd, Eurosport commentator David Harmon, cycling agent Andrew McQuaid and Team Sigma Sport-Specialized team manager and former pro Matt Stephens.


The Fusion Media team

Even with such a wealth of professional knowledge on board, the questions (provided by Opta) were certainly taxing, but a brave late surge meant that the Fusion team leapfrogged a few rivals to finish just one place off the podium, a respectable fourth place. We were perhaps helped by the fact that one of our team featured as an answer in the final round of the quiz! Matt will be relieved that he got that one correct.

It was a terrific evening enjoyed by all involved, so a special thanks must go to the team at IG Markets for organising such a great event. We hope to return even stronger for the 2012 edition, and will be aiming to wrestle the winner's trophy from reigning champions Cycle Sport Magazine.

If you want to have a go at the quiz yourself, click here. You can see the answer sheet by clicking here too.

Results (so you can see who we beat):
1. Cycle Sport magazine: 79
2. Bin Ends: 57
3. IG Markets: 49
4. Fusion Media: 48
5. Tour of Britain: 43
6. Shift Active Media: 42
7. Team Sky: 41
8. Influence: 40
9. FACE: 36
10. Rocacorba: Velo Club 34
11. Dallaglio Flintoff Cycle Slam: 31
12. HotChillee: 28
13. Road Cycling UK: 28
14. Rapha: 27
15. Sharp: 18
16. Condor: 17
17. Sky Velo: 14

On Thursday 10th November, Action Medical Research hosted the second edition of their Champions of CycleSport Dinner at London’s Porchester Hall. We were delighted to receive an invite, and Adam went along to enjoy some good company, and to celebrate a great cause.

Next year will see Action Medical Research mark 60 years of research, in which time they have discovered many vital medical breakthroughs to help change the lives of thousands of children.

And last Thursday, the biggest names in British cycling were in attendance to celebrate Action Medical Research’s valuable work, and to help raise over £100,000 for the charity. Guests included Mark Cavendish, Geraint Thomas, Chris Boardman, David Millar and Dave Brailsford.



Adam was also seated on a table with wildlife presenter Hayden Turner, who delivered a touching speech on his own connection to the charity.

With the charity auction proving such a success, and everyone throroughly enjoying themselves, we are already looking forward to next year’s.

Remember to check out Action Medical Research’s series of sportive events in 2012, info here >>

Round 1 of Revolution Series 9 got underway this weekend at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, which meant that Fusion Media were hard at work.


Photo: Luke Webber

The event was once again a huge success, with Alex Dowsett and David Daniell particularly impressing. Fusion client Russell Downing also performed well, winning the Points Race and showing that, in his own words, “I’ve still got it”.

The Revolution Track Cycling Series is one of the premier track cycling spectacles in the UK, attracting the likes of Sir Chris Hoy, Mark Cavendish, Victoria Pendleton and Bradley Wiggins.


Photo: Luke Webber

Fusion were managing the media on the day for the event, which meant dealing with national, local and cycling press, photographers and ITV4, who are showing the event tonight [Monday 31st October 2011 at 7pm]. We also produced the post-event report and communicated this with the press.

The next Revolution event is on Saturday 19th November 2011, and you can find out more by clicking here.

Earlier this week, Fusion Media’s Adam Tranter participated in the very first Geraint Thomas Track Day at the Newport Velodrome.

With 50 riders took part in the morning session, the group included some pros, sponsors, fans and journalists. It was followed by 60 budding young cyclists riding with their hero in the afternoon; the event was a huge success and we’re already looking forward to the next one.



As well as picking up some valuable coaching from the Olympic Gold medallist, Adam caught up with Geraint to chat about his official website, designed, created and maintained by Fusion Media.



After a great day on the track, Adam left Newport with a pack of Welsh cakes, which have since proved to be a big hit in the office!

You can take a look at Geraint’s official website, by clicking here.

On Saturday 22nd October, we were delighted to be in attendance at the 2011 edition of Dean and Russell Downing’s Out of the Saddle charity dinner and auction. It's the third year the two professional cycling brothers have set up an evening for charity.

Among the 230 guests were Team Sky’s Alex Dowsett and Ben Swift, Rapha Condor Sharp team manager John Herety, and former Tour rider Adrian Timmis.



This year, the Downing brothers' chosen charity was CRY UK (Cardiac Arrest in the Young), a cause close to the heart of their local cycling community after riders Pete Hinchcliffe and Lewis Barry both died at an early age due to cardiac problems.

The charity auction, hosted by Eurosport’s David Harmon, featured such fantastic items as Bradley Wiggins’ Red Leaders Jersey from the Vuelta a España, memorabilia from HTC-HighRoad, PDM, Tour of Britain and various items of artwork. The event was once again a huge success, and raised over £5300 for CRY UK on the night.

Fusion Media took official photos for the event and distributed press information which has seen coverage on outlets like Cycling Weekly and VeloUK.

You can read the Cycling Weekly article, by clicking here.

Fusion Media are pleased to have launched the new official website for Rapha Condor Sharp professional cyclist, Dean Downing.

Downing is one of the most familiar faces on the UK cycling scene, and as well as being a multiple National Champion, he has also worked as the face of ITV's Tour of Britain coverage.



The new website gives fans an outlet to communicate and find out what's going on in the day-to-day life of a professional cyclist. The sleek design we created for Dean reflects his maturity as an athlete as he increases the broadcasting and endorsement work he does in 2012.

Dean said: "Thanks to Fusion Media for putting together this fantastic website for me. Not only does it give a great platform for people to find out more about me, it matches my style perfectly and I can update it easily on-the-move."

You can visit the new website by clicking here.

We’ve been kept busy in the Fusion office this week continuing our work with Team UK Youth, with a series of exciting announcements regarding the team for the 2012 season.

Team UK Youth will be competing as a UCI Continental team, a signal of their ambitions to expand and compete at a higher level, while spreading the word of the great work done by the UK Youth charity.



The team continues to be supported by Nigel Mansell OBE, and led by legendary rider Magnus Backstedt. Many of the riders from 2011 will remain with the team, and the addition of some key new faces leave Team UK Youth in a great position to make a real impact on the continent. Yanto Barker, Chris Opie, Richard Tanguy and Swedish rider Christofer Stevenson will all be joining the team.

The final piece of big news from the team is that they will be riding bikes from British manufacturer WyndyMilla, featuring a custom Union Jack colour scheme. WyndyMilla’s dedicated approach to providing bespoke bikes will see each rider visit their Surrey store for a custom fitting.

To keep up with all the latest news from the team as they prepare for next year, visit their official website.

We were quite excited to head to Birmingham for the Cycle Show 2011 last week. Mainly because it’s a chance to meet our clients, and talk to new ones, but also because I’m from near Birmingham.

There’s lots going on in the cycling world at the moment and it was great to talk to some really interesting brands about how they can get their messages out via our PR, social media and website services. It was a nice way of getting the Fusion team out of the office, and to show off our matching messenger bags.

We also bumped into a few familiar faces. Rapha Condor Sharp’s Dean Downing kindly handed out some of our new brochures, in return, we are launching his new website for him.



The show had a different atmosphere from when it was based at Earl’s Court, London. There were fewer after show parties, but it did mean that I inadvertently became social secretary; my basic knowledge of Birmingham proving invaluable to find a place to eat and enjoy a few drinks.

We’re organising a few social gatherings for the industry over the winter months, so we might see you there!

We’ve been busy this month as we continue our work with the Etape Cymru, with several exciting new announcements being made to the press. Entries for the 100-mile closed road event have been extended to the 30th of September, because of their new timed hill climb competition.

We have also been delighted to announce that Zipvit and Mavic have partnered with the event, with Zipvit stocking the route’s three feeding stations, and Mavic providing mechanical support to the riders.


Article on BikeRadar, just some of the coverage received for Etape Cymru by Fusion.

Both brands are also getting involved with the event by offering some great prizes in several competitions. Zipvit have been running a competition to win a free entry for the Etape Cymru, while Mavic are offering some great prizes to riders on the day.

The name of one rider will be drawn at random to win a set of Mavic R-Sys wheels, worth £1,330. And a brand new Mavic SLR helmet will be presented to the fastest male and female riders from the Under 30s, 30-40, 41-50 and Over 50s age groups to climb the Horseshoe Pass.

With less than three weeks to the event, we are looking forward to seeing over 1600 riders enjoying the challenge of the UK’s best new sportive. Enter now: www.etape-cymru.co.uk

When we discovered that a former national champion was going to be riding the Etape Cymru, we had to dig a little bit deeper.

It turns out that 22 years ago, Scott O’Brien raced up the Horseshoe Pass in a Wrexham RC hill climb, coming second only to then teammate Chris Boardman. The below image of O'Brien riding The Horseshoe Pass was taken by Paul J Wright at the event.


Image: Paul J Wright - www.pauljwright.co.uk

O’Brien, then racing for the Manchester Wheelers, finished the hill climb in 09.25 behind Chris Boardman’s 09.07 time. “The Wrexham RC hill climb on the Horseshoe in 1989 was one of the events I entered as preparation for the National Hill Climb later that year,” explained O’Brien. Boardman went on to win the National Hill Climb Championships in 1989.

He continued: “I was nervous about this particular climb because it is hard to judge your effort. Some shorter, steeper hill climbs can be ridden like a flat out sprint, but the Horseshoe is more of a time trial.”

O’Brien, now 41, was a multiple national champion and joined Chris Boardman, Paul Curran and Peter Longbottom to win the British National Track Team Time Trial and in 1991. O’Brien also won the Team Pursuit with Boardman in his career.

As a local lad, O’Brien’s participation in the event is likely to bring back some memories from racing days. “I have ridden up the Horseshoe Pass countless times in training as a youngster,” added O’Brien.

“I spent many a Wednesday in the summer holidays in the 80s riding to Llangollen, swimming in the river, then riding home (a 90 miles round trip) before going to ride the Kirby Track league in the evening!

“I am looking forward (if not a bit apprehensive) to be riding on the roads I last trained on 18 years ago. I have started doing longer rides and have ventured to the lower foothills of Wales recently, but nowhere near the level of the Horseshoe or the other climbs on the route.”

We at Fusion Media wish Scott and all other riders the best of luck for next month’s Etape Cymru.

Last month we paid a visit to the Manchester Velodrome for the third session of the DHL Sprint School 2011. We caught up with Star Riders Craig MacLean and Dean Downing, as well as former GB sprint coach Geoff Cooke.

Fusion Media was taking photos and gathering video content in preparation for the launch of a brand new DHL Sprint School website, coming soon!



The DHL Sprint School runs throughout the year, both in Manchester and at Newport Velodrome, offering expert coaching to promising young riders who are currently not in the GB set-up, and giving them a chance to shine. Young GB rider Louis Oliver was also in attendance, having claimed a spot on GB Team by impressing coaches at a DHL Sprint School only a few years ago.

DHL, the world’s leading logistics provider, has long been involved with the development of young cyclists in the UK, having established the DHL Future Stars program in 2003.

We look forward to seeing Britain’s next generation of cycling stars in action at the next DHL Sprint School, on 14th October in Newport.

Fusion Media's Adam Tranter is currently on the Haute Route cyclosportive. It's an incredible challenge of 730km riding from Geneva to Nice over 15 Cols, incorporating 17,000m of climbing.

It's pretty challenging. Riders need some good preparation and motivation to get through. Even the easy stages are hard.



But behind the scenes, it's also pretty hard work. Fusion are putting together all the English speaking communications and social media throughout the week, most of it you'll be able to see online or in the cycling press.

Adam has put together a blog for the Haute Route website, which you can read here.

You can also have a look at some of the stage highlights, Stage 6 being a personal favourite (below):



More info on www.hauteroute.org.

This time it's four-time World F1 Champion, Alain Prost. We're used to working with Nigel Mansell through our client Team UK Youth. But this time Fusion's Director, Adam Tranter, is at the first edition of the Haute Route. And Alain Prost is riding.

The ride includes 300 riders and 58 Brits. In total, they will travel 730km, over 15 Cols and take on 17,000m of climbing; equivalent to climbing Everest twice. Starting in Geneva and ending in Nice, once riders complete the event they will know they have finished the highest and hardest cyclosportive on the planet.

Fusion is putting together English-speaking PR content and managing Haute Route's social media on the event. As part of that, we grabbed a quick interview with Alain Prost.



More info at www.hauteroute.org

Fusion client and all-round-nice-guy Dean Downing popped into our offices today to say hello.

The Rapha Condor Sharp man chatted to us about a new site and his work with our clients Cyclosure. And he had a go on our swivel chair, in this video below.



Cheers Deano!

Imagine one of Wales's biggest sports stars, at Wales's largest festival, promoting Wales's newest and most exciting sportive, the Etape Cymru.

Yep, we did it. Geraint Thomas MBE arrived at the Eisteddfod Festival in Wrexham to promote the Etape Cymru; the second closed road sportive in the UK, which happens on the 9th October. The Eisteddfod attracts around 160,000 people each year.

Thomas was greeted by a flurry of mainstream media, arranged by Fusion, and a whole load of excited school kids (not arranged, but appreciated by Fusion) at the festival. He spoke about his time after the Tour de France and the positive impact of the Etape Cymru to the local community and cyclists around the UK.



We even went for a pedal, and were joined by Cycling Weekly, who are producing a feature this month.

Thanks to Geraint Thomas MBE and to everyone who turned out at the festival to support him and the Etape Cymru event.

You can visit Geraint's website (Powered by Fusion) by clicking here.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the website for Saxo Bank-Sunguard pro cyclist Richie Porte. Richie is one of the most exciting emerging talents in professional road cycling.

He started cycling at the age of 21 and has had some fantastic results over the past few years. His new site will help him and his management, Trinity Sports to be able to connect with his fans easier than ever before.

With such a busy schedule and constant movement worldwide it is vital for Richie to have a great website to keep fans and sponsors happy.

We at Fusion Media wish him luck for the rest of the 2011 season.

Click here to visit RichiePorte.com >>

South Yorkshire professional cyclists, brothers Russell Downing (Team Sky) and Dean Downing (Rapha Condor Sharp), have joined forces with Sheffield-based Claremont Sports Medicine Centre to organise a weekend of exciting cycling events for charity running in October.

The event will be run by the “Out of the Saddle Club” founded last year by Russell and Dean. All proceeds go to the Danny Porter Foundation that provides research, support, care and equipment to people suffering from Cancer and/or requiring neurological surgery. http://www.dannyporterfoundation.org/

The weekend will run under the auspices of the “Out of the Saddle Club”, which was founded by Russell and Dean in 2010 – set up to raise funds for charities and the Danny Porter Foundation will be the beneficiary of the weekends activities.

On Saturday 15th October, Roller Racing powered by “Rollapaluza” will head to the Mercure Hotel, Sheffield. Popular during the 1950’s and revived over the last few years, Roller Racing sees riders go head-to-head over a distance of 500 metres on fixed rollers.

Twelve teams, including a top professional in each, will battle it out for the top honours. A public taster session (which includes child-sized bikes) will also be available, so the whole family can join in.

The following day (Sunday 16th October) will give cycling enthusiasts the chance to feel like a pro for the day with a choice of 100K or 50K routes for the “Ride of the Falling Leaves” sportive. Joined by fellow cycling professionals and team cars, participants will feel like they are riding in the real deal on roads that Russell Downing used to train for the 2011 Giro d’Italia.

“It’ll be great to see people out with us at the weekend,” said Rapha Condor Sharp’s Dean Downing. “We supported The Danny Porter Foundation last year and will continue to do our best to get the cycling community involved and raising money.”

For more information about how to get involved and to enter the events, please visit www.csmapc.com.

Cyclosure teamed up with Dean Downing to provide cycling specific travel insurance on his recent trip to France for the Etape Act II. Fusion put Cyclosure in touch with Rapha Condor Sharp pro Downing, who is one of the UK's top criterium riders.



Of the 6,000 riders entered, roughly 4,000 started on the day, with only 1982 crossing the finishing line. The drenching rain, strong headwinds and cold temperature were too much for many riders who had to either turn back, find refuge in local villages, or wait for a bus back.

It was really tough, the weather proved a real challenge for many riders. All the descents were extremely cold and pretty tricky,” said Downing, who managed to finish in a time of 8 hours and 45 minutes.

Cyclosure has developed a specific policy that covers both participation in organised cyclosportives and amateur racing overseas. Policies can be purchased as a single trip European (from £13.86), worldwide single trip and annual worldwide (from £72.60).

Dean Downing is a Cyclosure ambassador and you can ask him a question about training or racing over on our Twitter and Facebook. Click here to find out more >>

Our clients, Etape Cymru, have a pretty special event on Sunday 9th October 2011. It's the second only closed road sportive, and takes part in a delightfully picturesque area of North Wales.

To launch the route, we brought rising GB star Sam Harrison along to ride one of the bigger climbs of the event, the Horseshoe Pass. Harrison was riding the Horseshoe Pass with organisers of the Etape Cymru, sponsors, journalists and members of the public. The 6.1km Horseshoe Pass climb gains 317m in height and at times the gradient reaches 20%.



The weather was a bit miserable, but we got some fantastic content which was seeded out to the national and cycling media. We'll be launching another media ride next month.

You can find out more about the event by clicking here >>

We've arrived back from a hectic week which has included two trips to events in Ireland and The London-Paris 2011.

Fusion have managed The London-Paris 2011 website for over three years and each year, during the event, we collate photography, video and results during a live updates service.

The London-Paris 2011 is the professional event for amateurs which features 1987 Tour winner Stephen Roche, Nigel Mansell and Will Carling, to name a few. It's also only the second event (besides the Tour de France), to finish in the centre of Paris with a rolling road closure.



To give you an idea of the kind of content that goes on the live updates service, here's the Stage 3 highlights from the team at Cyclevox:



Fusion also brought the world's largest logistics company, DHL, to the event last year. They continued their sponsorship into 2011, entering a team raising money for Right to Play. DHL, who generate revenues of more than 56bn Euros, sit impressively on The London-Paris 2011's already high profile sponsor list.

We can't wait until next year! Entry information will open soon. You can find out more about the event here >>

We're pleased to launch the new website for Team Sky cyclist, Ben Swift. He's one of the most promising talents in Britain and his new site will allow him to communicate regularly with his fans and followers of pro cycling.

Ben says: "Thanks so much to Fusion Media for helping me put together my new website. I've been having a great time on the bike and I can't wait to start communicating what it's like to be a bike rider through the site. It's everything I need it to be and I couldn't have asked for more."



Click here to visit the site >>
Click here to follow Ben on Twitter >>

Last week, we teamed up with charity UK Youth to promote the Team UK Youth Cycling Team, which is funded by Formula 1 legend Nigel Mansell.

Nigel Mansell is also the president of the charity. UK Youth is at the heart of network of organisations that supports young people to realise their potential. Through regional associations and local youth groups, UK Youth reaches 750,000 young people each year.



With the Canary Wharf Tour Series happening just a few hundred metres from the charity's office, and the Formula 1 season hotting up, it was a fantastic opportunity to get some key media involved.

Former BBC Head of Sport and Evening Standard columnist Mihir Bose produced an excellent piece for the standard, while BBC 5 Live gathered content for their breakfast show. The Press Association also produced video content for their worldwide clients.

Team UK Youth will be racing tomorrow (Thursday 16th June 2011) in Canary Wharf, where Nigel Mansell will be there to cheer them on.

We're pleased to launch a brand new website for sports management firm, Trinity Sports Management. Representing some of the top names in cycling, the website will showcase their athletes, news and services.

Stay tuned for some new websites from Fusion for some high-profile cyclists. We're busy at work on them at the moment.



Click here to visit the site >>

We've been busy turning some of the content we got from our ride with Olympic cyclist Ed Clancy MBE into media to put out virally for our client, 9Bar.

Here's a video we created to give a feel for the thoroughly nice (and windy) day we had in the Peak District.

As part of our continuing PR work with Team UK Youth, we're releasing some video interviews with members of the team. Here, just after Lincoln GP, we speak to Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt about the team's progress so far.

Last Sunday (1st May 2011) saw Ed Clancy MBE and road.cc competition winners enjoy the sunshine in a ride in the Peak District.

The competition allowed winners a once in a lifetime opportunity to ride with an Olympic Gold Medallist and Triple World Champion. The sunshine was out for the Fusion-organised event, but that didn't make the ride easy, thanks to gusts of high wind in the Peaks.



Fusion gathered some great content from the day for 9Bar's promotion throughout 2011, including this viral video of us being attacked by some angry ducks.



More content to come soon.

While most of the nation may still be nursing a post-Royal Wedding hangover, this weekend we’re off cycling with Olympic Gold Medallist and World Champion, Ed Clancy MBE. It’s thanks to 9Bar; we’ve launched a competition with road.cc where five lucky winners can join in and tackle some of Clancy’s favourite training roads in the Peak District.



Afterwards, winners will be able to have lunch with the Olympic hero and ask any questions they may have on cycling, training or his career. Predictably, they’ll also get sent home with a healthy supply of 9Bars.

So if you have not already entered get over to road.cc before 6pm Wednesday 27th and enter for free. Click here to enter >>

Winners will need to have their own bike, helmet and transport to get to the Peak District for 10am on Sunday 1st May 2011. If you’re lucky we might see you there!

We're pleased to launch the latest in our portfolio of websites, TheTriTouch.co.uk. It's a website for sports massage company TheTriTouch, based in Surrey.



They're sponsors of The London-Paris 2011 event, which we've been working on for the past three years. They're also moving their clinic to the Sigma Sport bike shop very shortly, so go and say hello if you're there (and tell them you like the website).

You can see the website here >>

We were lucky enough to be at the famous Paris-Roubaix race last weekend (10th April). Fusion's Adam Tranter was there on behalf of Cyclosport.org, and was invited by IG Markets to promote their new IG Pro Cycling Index.

Few races demonstrate the beauty and difficulty of cycling than Paris-Roubaix. It’s a race firmly engrained into the history of the sport, and through all conditions has consistently provided fans with entertainment of the highest order.



With our press vehicle, we were able to take dedicated routes to see other parts of the course, and managed to see the race go past five times including in the velodrome. When we saw the race early on in Noyon, the group was still together and having an interesting take on negotiating a narrow roundabout. We managed to see the race gradually unfold up-close-and-personal on Pave sections 25 and 14.



You can read the full report over on Cyclosport.org >>

We've been working hard on a brand new website for Cyclosure, an insurance product aimed specifically at cyclists. The products have been created by Towergate Wilsons, a leading insurance firm, with over 60 years of experience.



Now, cyclists travelling abroad can get travel insurance that's tailored specifically to their needs. Many travel insurance policies won't cover any form of amateur or competitive cycling in events abroad, but Cyclosure offers this amongst many other features.

There's also event insurance for organisers of mass-participation cycling events, such as cyclosportives.

The website was brought from the consultancy process into design, creation and completion by Fusion Media.

Take a look at the website here >>

Last weekend saw Fusion’s Adam Tranter head to the National Cycling Centre for the Manchester Track World Cup. The event was an important platform for Team GB to test their form ahead of the World Championships in Apeldoorn in just over 4 weeks.



He was producing video content and podcasts for the event organisers along with cycling journalist Matt Rendell. As well as behind-the-scenes features about the event, the pair also managed to deliver an exclusive on cycling’s most talked about injury; Malaysian sprinter Awang’s splinter. (Click here for video)

The opening day saw Team GB pick up four medals, with the women's Team Pursuit trio of Rowsell, Houvenaghel and Storey breaking the national record twice on the way to gold. Jason Kenny also provided one of the most thrilling men’s sprint finals in years taking on Frenchman and world number one, Kevin Sireau.

Day two saw what will no doubt end up as a “What Happened Next?” on future sporting quiz shows when Sir Chris Hoy took gold in one of the most dramatic Keirin final ever witnessed, resulting in a five rider pile up on the final lap. Whilst winner Hoy sat up spinning lightly waving to the cheers of the home crowd, Dawkins, Niblett, Peralta, Kuczynski and Awang frantically picked themselves up, dusted themselves down and attempted to drag their battered bodies and carbon bikes across the line.

Though the focus and heroic credit must be given to Malaysian sprinter Awang who remounted his bike and got over the line, but swiftly collapsed as a result of what has been described as a splinter placed through his calf. We feel a bit bad calling it a splinter (it was 25cm!), but are still trying to work out at what size it stops becoming a splinter and becomes a javelin. Adam and Matt Rendell later caught up with Awang’s coach and surgeon at Manchester Royal Infirmary catching an exclusive video of this so-called splinter…Video is here, it's had 35,000 views so far!



Sunday saw Wiggins come off the road to complete a GB quartet with Clancy, Burke, and Thomas. Recording an incredible 3:55.438, only seconds off their own world record. Whilst Victoria Pendleton took bronze in the women’s keirin leaving it late eventually coming around the outside to claim the medal only in the last few yards.

BBC Radio 5 Live has since picked up the story, where Adam Tranter was interviewed during their prime time Drive program (Link: here – 2:24:00).

With the joys, drama and excitement over, all eyes now turn to the 23rd March and the UCI World Championships in Appledoorn.

We were at the Avon Tyrrell activity centre in the New Forest this weekend, gathering content for the launch of Team UK Youth. Fusion has been supporting the team with their PR and media relations, and we’re the Official PR Partner.

The team, which aims to raise the profile of the UK Youth charity, is supported by UK Youth’s president, Nigel Mansell OBE and headed up by Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt.



The team met up for the first time at the activity centre, to enjoy group training sessions, team bonding and a host of other activities on offer at the UK Youth HQ. Fusion’s Adam Tranter gave media training to all the riders ahead of the season.

UK Youth help over 750,000 young people each year through youth clubs and projects all over the UK, and raising the profile of the work they do is something that really appeals to Magnus Backstedt: “I felt very strongly for the charity from the start. It’s one of the best kept secrets in the UK, and together with the team we’ve decided we want to change that.”



Backing the team is Formula 1 World Champion and UK Youth President, Nigel Mansell OBE. Sons Leo and Greg Mansell will take part in their first year of competitive cycle racing after a history in motor sport.

Nigel Mansell OBE said: “It’s tremendously motivating for young people and as President of UK Youth I believe the team will bring new visibility for the charity and ignite dreams and aspirations of all young people we are trying to help.”

Charlotte Hill, CEO of UK Youth said: “The team will hopefully raise the profile and let people know all of the great things we do.”

She continued: “We’re asking people to be positive about youth because young people do amazing things all the time and hopefully they will be inspired by the likes of Magnus [Backstedt] and the team.”

The team will compete in their first race this weekend [Sunday 13th February 2011] at the Perfs Pedal near Portsmouth. They will sport new Kuota bikes and Craft clothing. The team aim to compete in the top UK Road Races and criteriums throughout 2011.

Good luck Team UK Youth from all at Fusion! It’s a cause we really support.

PS: We made this little video with Magnus, we hope you like it.

With cycling’s profile and professionalism increasing year on year, this January has been a busy time for setting up websites for professional cyclists and companies.

We’ve just launched www.geraintthomas.com for Olympic Gold Medallist, Geraint Thomas MBE of Team Sky. We’re delighted to be working with such a high caliber athlete and are glad to have delivered a site that suits the needs of him, his management and of course, his fans!



"When you're travelling all over the world as a professional cyclist, I think it's really important to have a great website to keep fans and sponsors up to date with my progress,” says Thomas.

“I needed something user friendly, smart and functional from people that understood cycling. Adam Tranter and the team from Fusion Media have been attentive and prompt from start to finish and I'm chuffed with the site!

“I hope people will use it frequently to keep up to date with my blogs, pictures and videos, as well as leaving me messages to read." - Geraint Thomas MBE, Olympic Gold Medallist.

Stay tuned for more high profile websites for early 2011.

Click here to visit geraintthomas.com >>

The Revolution track cycling series came to a spectacular end last Saturday, with a sell-out crowd and a star-studded line up.

Fusion manage the PR and media for the four-event series, which has been running since 2003. It’s a family night out designed to deliver high octane racing from the world’s best cyclists and provide the perfect competitive arena for the development of future talent.


A packed crowd at Manchester Velodrome (Photo: British Cycling)

For Revolution number 32, Ed Clancy MBE was the star of the show with Fusion facilitating interviews and features with the Olympic Gold Medallist.

BBC Radio 5 Live ran a feature where a reporter learned to ride the Manchester Velodrome boards with Clancy, which played on Sunday morning. The Revolution was also a key point in BBC Radio Manchester’s Manhunt show, with a live visit to the velodrome from the BBC Radio Car.


Olympic Silver Medallist, Ross Edgar at Revolution 32 (Photo: British Cycling)

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed promoting the event to the cycling and mainstream press, as well as getting the public involved through social media campaigns. If you haven’t been to a Revolution yet, we suggest you keep an eye out for when the series returns in October 2011. The event is also set to be televised for the next series.

They're here! The first batch of the long awaited "We've Got Cycling Covered" T-Shirts have made it into the Fusion offices.

They've got the stylish cyclist in paint motif on chest, with Fusion Media logos below and on left sleeve.



The motif was designed by Richard Mitchelson, whose illustrations regularly appear in Rouleur magazine amongst many other places.

A cool cycling T-Shirt, we think. So cool, even Rapha Condor Sharp pro Dean Downing has got one.

They're available to order now and they'll be shipped in January.

Available in:
Small - 34/36", Medium - 38/40", Large - 42/44", XL - 46/48", XXL - 50/52", XXXL - 54/56"

Priced £14.99

Click here to get yours now >>

It's being dubbed as the world's hardest cyclosortive, and we think the press have a point.

The Haute Route, a brand new cycling event that will challenge even the most hardened of riders. The first edition of the Haute Route (the ‘high road’), an exceptional cyclosportive event involving 7 stages, 720 km and 14 cols between Geneva and Nice, will take place over 7 days 21-27 August 2011. There's 17,000m of climbing involved, in case you were wondering.



It's run by global events company OC Thirdpole, and has been promoted by Fusion Media here in the UK. We've set up their launch event in central London and facilitated some fantastic press coverage so far across the media.

Starting from the shores of Lake Geneva and finishing on the “Promenade des Anglais” in Nice, the Haute Route has been named after the legendary mountaineering route across the Alps, first charted in the mid-19th century by the UK Alpine Club and dubbed ‘The High Level Route’. The Haute Route competitors will race at high altitude over a week, with 7 timed stages, showcasing various formats - in line stages, marathon leg and even a time trial.

We hope to see you there in August. Get training!

Images: British Cycling

Fusion are handling the PR and promotion for the Revolution cycling series; a popular track cycling event that has been running since 2003.



It combines an evening of glitz and glamour with some pretty gripping racing and has featured riders like Sir Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins, Victoria Pendleton and Mark Cavendish, to name a few.

Revolution 30, held on Saturday (20th November) was particularly spectacular, featuring a three-man Madison race and a Future Stars sprint. Team Sky trio Geraint Thomas, Ben Swift and Peter Kennaugh were present, keeping a close eye on six-day regulars Alex Rasmussen (Scratch Race World Champion), Franco Marvulli and Sebastian Donadio, who sung Robbie Williams' 'Angels' to the crowd half way through the evening. Which was, er, bizarre to say the least.



The next event is on Saturday 11th December, we'll be there handling the media, as well as promoting the event to regional, national and cycling press beforehand.

Hope to see you there!

We were lucky enough to be invited to 'Out of the Saddle 2', an evening with the Downing brothers in Rotherham.

Fusion have supported the Downings with web and media assistance throughout their cycling careers. Recently, Russell Downing has been rewarded with a contract at Team Sky and Dean Downing has enjoyed a healthy career at top UK team Rapha Condor Sharp.



The evening is run for a charity and this year the chosen cause was The Danny Porter foundation, a local charity. It attracted 180 people on Saturday 6th November 2010 and included a charity auction at the end of the evening.

Present were a host of various cycling celebrities including 2009 National Champion Kristian House and Malcolm Elliott.

We supported the event and provided a signed and framed Fusion Media Bike Pure print, signed by Dean Downing.

Amongst a signed Alberto Contador jersey, Team Sky jersey signed by the team and some of Mark Cavendish's HTC-Columbia kit, we weren't too sure how our print would go down. But it proved to be one of the most popular and most talked about items, with the bidding finishing at an amazing £400!

The print shows the collaboration between Fusion Media and Bike Pure, who are campaigning for clean cycling from grassroots to professional level.


Going, going, gone!

The print was bought by Rapha Condor Sharp Directeur Sportif, John Herety. He has said that his £400 print is going in the bathroom wall. Thanks for supporting the cause John!

Remember, you can still get your limited edition print but they're going quickly...

To buy, please visit: http://www.bikepure.org/store/fusion_print.html

Reviews, trailer sneak-peaks, competitions and a star-studded VIP list are all ways Fusion Media are giving an all-important push to the upcoming Chasing Legends film.

It's showing in 50 cinemas across the UK and Ireland for one night only, Thursday 21st October. Once the film has been shown, there'll be a live Q+A session with Mark Cavendish, amongst others, beamed via satellite to all of the venues.

The film follows the HTC-Columbia professional team throughout the 2009 Tour de France, using HD cams mounted to cars, riders and helicopters, as well as a dedicated crew following the team. The result? An amazing behind-the-scenes story showing the nitty-gritty of winning stages of the Tour de France, the biggest free annual sporting event in the world.



If you've seen reviews, entered a competition or seen the hype on Twitter, chances are it's down to Fusion Media. With only a couple of days left, we're looking forward to sitting down and watching the film (again).

More info: www.chasinglegends.com

Cycling media company Fusion Media has formed an exciting new partnership with Bike Pure, the global anti-doping organisation.

The first outcome of this new collaboration is the production of limited edition prints of Bike Pure champion, Dean Downing. The images were originally part of Fusion Media’s new ‘We’ve Got Cycling Covered’ branding launched this summer. Downing was photographed by top London snapper, Stuart Hendry, who has also worked with football stars like John Terry and Peter Crouch.



The striking images have been modified to incorporate the distinctive blue of Bike Pure. The prints, sized 78cm x 30cm will be strictly limited to 100, and are printed professionally on high-quality photographic paper. They will be priced £39.99 including free postage, with all the profits going to support the Bike Pure message.

The limited edition prints will be available at the Bike Pure Store: (Click here to buy the prints) and at the Downing brothers’ second ‘Out of the Saddle’ charity event on November 6th at Sitwell Park Golf Club near Rotherham, which is in aid of the Danny Porter Foundation charity. Signed prints will be auctioned off in aid of the charity.

Double National Criterium champion Dean Downing said he is excited that two companies he has had a long establishment are joining forces. “It’s great to see Fusion Media and Bike Pure working together. Fusion Media has helped over the years by producing stunning websites and providing media support while Bike Pure is an organisation that I strongly believe in and proudly support,” he said. “It's a very important message to get out there, and hopefully these images will be a different way of improving the sport."

Andy Layhe the founder of Bike Pure also welcomed this new partnership: “This new partnership is another exciting step in the growth of Bike Pure, we’re a big fan of the photographs and our ambassador Dean Downing, so putting them together made complete sense. We hope it’ll spread our message in a different way.”

Adam Tranter of Fusion Media echoed this point saying: “The aim of Bike Pure to lead the restructuring of cycling to a cleaner future is one that Fusion Media supports. Hopefully these limited edition prints will make an impact and help promote the important anti-doping message we support in all the work we do.”

Click here to buy the prints >>

Here at Fusion, we can’t wait for the World Road Race championships. The GB team has a great chance to pick some medals during the week. In the under 23 men’s we have Alex Dowsett looking strong for the Time Trial and a strong team for the road race including British under 23 champion Andy Fenn.

Our women’s team is even better with three riders; Lizzie Armistead, Nicole Cooke and Emma Pooley all very capable of winning the road race and Pooley also a strong favourite in the time trial.


GB's Emma Pooley is a favourite (Photo: luca.pedroni Flickr)

In the men’s elite events, GB has David Millar going in the Time Trial and a three man team, based around Mark Cavendish, going in the road race. Instead of being boring and mundane in our predictions for the men‘s road race (predicting a Cav/Gilbert/Freire win). Instead we are going to pick out three riders to look out for who many will not be talking about before the race but offer great value for money if you fancy a flutter:

1. Allan Davis (Australia) 50/1 William Hill
At the Vuelta he put in some very strong performances on the toughest climbing stages which shows that he has the form and ability are where they need to be for the tough route. Furthermore his sprinting is still strong enough to finish 3rd behind Farrar and Cavendish on the final stage of the Vuelta.

2. Matti Breschel (Denmark) 33/1 Bet 365, Stan James and William Hill
This is a rider who is suited to the long route of the worlds as evidenced by his bronze medal in the 2008 edition and a 7th place in last year’s edition. His sprinting is not shabby either as shown by his 8th place in the final stage of the Tour de France this year on the Champs-Elysees. If he gets away in a small group near the end of the race then you would back him winning the sprint.

3. Giovanni Visconti (Italy) 33/1 Sky Bet and Eurosport Bet
Not a familiar name to the casual cycling fan due to the fact that he races for the Pro-Continental team: ISD-NERI. But the double Italian champion is a strong candidate due to his ability to wins sprints in races that have a large amount of climbing in them. Another thing in his favour is the makeup of the Italian team which does not have an out and out sprinter like Bennati in it. Visconti is like to share the leadership of the team with Pozzato who has had a poor season riddled with injury.

The odds are correct at the time this was written, obviously.

Hope you enjoy the race as much as we do!

Fusion were put the task of promoting the Blackpool Nocturne, the finale of the successful Nocturne Series run by Face Partnership. It's city centre cycle racing at its finest; some of the UK's most well-known cyclists race around tight circuits as night falls.

The event itself was great fun, and the rewards of the local and national media awareness, promoted by Fusion Media, was there to be seen. The event was featured in national cycling press, on BBC's local homepage, local radio as well as multiple features in local press. We hope to see you there at some of next year's events!

Wow, it's been a busy summer of cycling so far. We've spent most of the warmer months hopping across Europe, armed with a suitcase of media equipment, working on some pretty exciting tasks for some great clients.

As the weather's getting a bit grim, here are some of our favourite activities of the summer so far.

Interviewing Graeme Obree (Cycling Weekly):


What a bloke. Graeme Obree is one of the biggest legends of cycling. His fairytale story of his battle against depression to take the World Hour Record 16 years ago has made it onto the big screen in the film 'The Flying Scotsman'. Fusion's Adam Tranter was lucky enough to interview Obree for Cycling Weekly (out Issue August 26th).

Bringing Olympian Ed Clancy MBE to 9Bar


Fusion Media's PR client 9Bar produce nutritious seed bars that are available in every major supermarket and health food shops. Ed Clancy is proving to be the perfect ambassador thanks to his cheeky charm and love of the product; the partnership is also generating some healthy press interest.

Organising DHL Corporate Track Day


We set up a day of cycling for the world's largest logistics company, DHL, so that they could build on their rapport with key customers. Representatives from Mark's and Spencer's, Next and Sainsbury's (to name a few) thoroughly enjoyed their day of cycling team-building at Manchester Velodrome.

Producing Etape media for BSkyB


The time at the Etape was an certainly an interesting one. Over one hundred Sky employees took on one of the biggest cycling challenges there is; the L'Etape du Tour. Fusion's Adam Tranter was there (after walking to the top of the Tourmalet with 25kg of equipment) capturing the moment on film for Sky's internal promo video.

--

The year is still young and there's plenty of ongoing projects to be getting on with, we'll keep you posted!