September 23, 2011 — The Rapha-Focus professional cyclocross team announces the addition of Julie Krasniak for the 2011-12 season. Ms. Krasniak will be the first woman on the Rapha-FOCUS cyclocross team, joining Jeremy Powers, Chris Jones and Zach McDonald.
Ms. Krasniak, a French National rider, is representing France at the Road World Championships this weekend in Copenhagen, Denmark. Before becoming a professional on the road, Ms. Krasniak competed at a World-level on the mountain bike. This will be her first full-season of cyclocross as a professional, but her palmares on both the road and mountain give her a strong foundation for racing this winter.
“We’ve come to know Julie this year as she has been a key member of a European women’s road team that Rapha is involved with,” commented Slate Olson, General Manager of Rapha, NA. “That Julie is coming slightly out of nowhere to ‘cross is exciting, we expect that she might surprise some people this season.”
Planning a short break after Road World Championships, Ms. Krasniak will begin her cyclocross season in the Czech Republic, racing the UCI World Cup events in Plzen and Tabor. Holding a base in Portland, OR for most the season, her first US races will be at the Boulder Cup (Oct 28-29) in Boulder, CO. From there she will target the remaining Exergy USGP of Cyclocross series races in Louisville, KY and Bend, OR.
“Focus Bicycles is excited to have Julie on the team for a number of reasons; for starters we think that Julie epitomizes the sort of talent that is coming into the fields of women’s cyclocross”, said Scott Rittschof, CEO Of Focus Bicycles, USA. “Her nationality emphasizes the importance for Focus and Rapha to be recognized as global performance brands.”
