After having problems throughout the first two races the team were almost back to normal for the final round of the Sunshine Cup in Amathous near Limassol.

The race was set on an archaeological site right next to the sea and actually dropped onto the boardwalk over the sea during the short lap. The course was very rocky with some short sharp climbs and fast sketchy descents which was enough to keep even the best riders in the world on there toes!

After a reasonable set of results from the riders in round 1 of the Sunshine Cup, the focus now turned to the demanding stage race in the Macheras mountains. The format for the race was a one lap Time Trial of the XC course on Friday afternoon followed by a point to point marathon the day after and finally a Cross Country race on the Sunday followed by a huge barbeque… we were looking forward to that the most!

Help flew in on the Wednesday in the form of team manager Will along with Paul’s girlfriend to make sure the riders were fully looked after and could focus on the race in hand.

The first race of the Sunshine Cup saw us waking up to cloudy skies but it wasn’t long before the cloud had gone and the beaming hot sun was shining brightly off the chalky trails… and when you consider its snowing in the UK life couldn’t get better!

Ben was the first Monkey to go at the early time of 9.30am against a quality Junior field. The Junior race was now UCI ranked giving it an even higher significance. A bad start didn’t deter the youngster from getting in the mix and he was soon up with the leaders before over shooting a corner and dropping his chain leaving him to play catch up with the leading group. By now the sun was hot and the climbs seriously hard on a technical course. Ben came in shattered in 10th spot after a solid opening race.

Three riders from the team will gingerly pack their sparkling Cannondale Scalpels and Taurine’s into a box this week and head out to the much warmer climate of Cyprus for the European UCI opening event, The Sunshine Cup.

The team have been travelling to Cyprus for 5 years now to take part in this prestigious series. An excellently contructed race series with hard courses, warm weather and some of the worlds best riders makes this the perfect winter training camp and with races including the British opener in Sherwood Forest and World Cups at Dalby and Houffalize to take into consideration this once again fits well into the teams plans.

This year the team are delighted to be joined by national Champion Sue Clarke, top Elite Lee Williams and endurance specialist Anthony Morris.

The final preparation for the Sunshine Cup in Cyprus was the local Gorrick race in Surrey. This came at the end of a very hard block of training for the riders and was designed to be a big test to some very tired legs. The course was excellent as you would expect with a Gorrick race and gave the riders plenty to keep them amused on a surprisingly dry course.

As part of the pre-season preparation the team headed to the latest round of the Whyte Enduro at Thetford Forest. Although the season is almost upon us this is the first race mountain bike race that the team have participated in as they look forward to a long season with some important European races.

This was to be a training exercise and a guide as to how well the winter preparation had gone. It was a full turn out with Paul, Chris and ben taking on the 2 hour senior category and Alex setting himself up for the 2 hour Juniors.

Orange Monkey are delighted to introduce Hygia as a new sponsor for the 2010 season.

The Taiwanese brake company will supply the team with their top of the range braking systems which will shortly be available for purchase in the UK market. The team are excited about this new partnership and look forward to using the stylish equipment throughout the new season.

After three seasons with Orange Monkey, Nat has decided to move on to pastures new and will join up with an all new Orbea team next year.

Nat joined us in 2007 prompting the set up of our successful Youth Development Scheme and went on to race in the Youth and Junior categories...

For the fourth year running the team will be heading to the sunny island of Cyprus for a winter training camp and the opening race on the UCI European circuit - The Sunshine Cup!

The Sunshine Cup is now one of the most popular events for both professionals and amateurs at the start of the season. The star studded line up often see's riders from around the world preparing for their World Cup season!

2009 has been another new adventure for Orange Monkey stepping up their game off the bike bought some fantastic results on it. Take a look back at some of the highlights of a wonderful season!