Peloton Cafe || Dion Smith (image courtesy PureBlack Racing) By Astrid van Uden (@astridvanuden) With the first race of the National Road Calendar (NRC) about to get underway on April 2nd, young Kiwi rider Dion Smith is ready to build on his successful 2013 season with his new team, the Hincapie Sportswear Development Team. Smith will be joining fellow Kiwi Alexander Ray in their first year with the team, whilst friend Australian, Joseph Lewis, will be returning for his second season with the American outfit.?This will be the first full year Smith has spent on a professional team, having had stints with PureBlack Racing in 2012 and racing on amateur teams Full Circle Cycling and Predator Carbon Repair Cycling Team in 2013. ?Yes this will be my first ‘real’ team I?will be?apart of for a whole year. I was racing in America last year with an amateur team for 6 months, I managed to get some good results throughout the year and with that started sending my resume out to as many teams as I could.? Smith caught the eye of Chief Sporting Director for Hincapie Sportswear Development Team and former professional cyclist, Thomas Craven, at the beginning of 2013 and Craven kept his eye on him ever since. ?The first I heard about Dion was from my good friend in California, Jamie Paolinetti. ?He and I raced on the Chevrolet LA Sheriff team in the 90?s. ?He sent me a Facebook message in the beginning of last year when Dion first came to the States and said he had someone for me to take a look at. It was Dion and so I took note.? Racing on amateur teams can be tough, especially without the full support that a professional continental team provides to cyclists, but that did not stop Dion from racing at the highest possible level and achieving good results. Having won a stage of the Merco Cycling Classic in March against riders from the Bissell Pro Cycling and Jamis Hagens Berman teams, it was all uphill for Smith in his first season racing in the USA. ?The 2013 season gave me a good insight into what the American racing scene is like, I know what races will suit me well so I can go into those races more confident and know what to expect,? said Smith. Craven continued to keep an eye on the young rider from New Zealand: ?The next time I saw him was in the Parx Classic in Philly. ?[It is] a super tough race for anyone and a hard race to read for a new guy to the US scene. ?Dion was really very active in all the right times during the race and he ended up winning the king of the hill and was 6th or 7th in the gallop to the line after being off the front the final lap I introduced myself to him there as I was quite impressed.? The rest is history, Craven made sure to enquire his circle of trusted cycling friends to find out more about Smith, contacting Kiwi, Graeme Millar, who spoke very highly of him. ?So I kept looking at his results through the year and I saw that he could sprint, climb and hold is own with the guys already on the team so it was only a matter of convincing him that this would be the right environment for him.? For Smith it was a no brainer, the Hincapie Development Team has a great set of values and structure behind them to set up young riders for the future. Having spent the later part of the season as a Stagiaire (a cycling intern) for the now defunct Champion Systems Pro Cycling Team, Smith has learnt a lot in the past 12 months on the bike and is ready for a new challenge. ?It was a great experience and an eye opener doing a stint at the pro conti level over in Europe last year?racing some of the best guys in the world,? said Smith, ?I now?have a better understanding what it takes to get to that level, which is improving year by year and learning from every opportunity.? Smith is currently training in California with the Hincapie Development team in preparation for the Redlands Bicycle Classic, a five-day stage race that has been running for over 30 years now. Smith is looking to make a good first impression for the team, as he believes that it could be a race that suits his strengths. ?My first race will be Redlands Bicycle Classic and going off last year its a race that could suit me to win a stage or do well on GC but we have a really strong team going so anyone of us could be up the for the win.? With riders such as Ty Manger, Joey Rosskopf and Lewis (to name a few) on the team, whom are all proving themselves as talented riders; Smith is set for an exciting year of racing. ?I would like to see Dion race as he did last year, hopefully he can focus on his training and racing and not on where he will be sleeping and how he is going to pay for food! ?I want him to race the tougher stage races that we have on our schedule and let him step into whatever role he wants. ?Our team is not about propelling one or two guys into the next stage of their career but building better bike racers out of everyone on our team.? Smith has put his hand up for the big invitation races such as the Tour de Beauce, Tour of Utah and US Pro Challenge, should the team get invited. ?There are a lot of races that I haven’t done like some of the big tours like Utah, Colorado and Tour de Beauce which are all on Hincapie’s schedule and depending on if we get invites to them they will definitely be races I would like to give a good go.? But for now Smith is focusing on the NRC and getting to know his new teammates. ?I would like to do well in the Winston-Salem Classic, which is a one day race and which I got 3rd in?last year, but hope to better that, also the Philadelphia Classic and the Tour de Beauce would be at the top of the list. But I am not looking to far ahead at this stage, just concentrating on these first few months then I will go from there.? With a mixture of returning riders and new riders in the team, Smith and the other newcomers spent team camp getting to know his fellow teammates and finding his position within the team. ?The team has been great so far, all the staff look after us really well and?all?my team mates are top blokes and get on really well together. Although being 1 of the 4 foreigners on the team I get a bit of stick about my accent, strangely enough?the most from my Aussie team mate Joe Lewis.? Despite the language (accent) barrier, Craven believes Smith is the perfect fit for the team stating: ??He has all the attributes that I look for, humble, funny and enjoys racing bikes. So I am confidant he will fit in, he? just like the rest of the guys on the team.? You can follow Smith in 2014 through his or the team’s Twitter handles @DionSmithy or @HincapieDevo.
