All being well, there will be a new cycling team on the start list at January’s women’s Tour Down Under in Adelaide. “If everything goes as plan, we’re hoping and praying that we’ll be on the starting line,” says Patrick Shaw, an ex-pro and one of the figures behind the new venture.
This is not, in itself, unusual. Cycling teams come and go, new colours and new riders are a common feature at the start of each season. But what is unusual is the way in which Shaw and his colleagues are hoping to get to the Tour Down Under: via crowdfunding. The group recently launched a GoFundMe campaign in the hope of securing $100,000 to “create opportunities for Australian women’s cycling.” (At the time of writing, they had raised over $11,500).
