Miranda Unveils Portugal Based 2018 DH Team - Video

Press Release: Miranda Bike Parts

We are excited to announce our new Miranda Factory Team.

Miranda, the Portuguese manufacturer of cranksets and bicycle drivetrain solutions shows its commitment to the development of the sport and takes a step into the top level of DH racing. The new Miranda Factory Team will take part in the UCI DH World Cup and at some stops of the IXS DH Cup.

After a successful 2017 as co-sponsor of the official EWS BH-Miranda Racing Team, Miranda will continue to support the enduro team although as being the title name sponsor in 2018. Alongside with enduro, boosting this new DH team makes sense for us because at Miranda we want to show our full trust in supporting racing as a way to develop the sport and help riders to progress. On the top of that, the UCI DH World Cup will serve as a premium testing field for our products.

2018 Miranda Factory DH Team

The riders of the Miranda Factory Team will ride Trek Session bikes at the races and also Trek Slash bikes for training, all bikes will be equipped with Miranda cranksets, chainrings and bottom brackets.

At Miranda we are proud of our roots, so the natural path for our team was to gather the best Portuguese young DH riders. We welcome Vasco Bica, Tiago Ladeira, and the promising talent Gonçalo Bandeira to the team. Vasco Bica and Tiago Ladeira already have some experience at international level, with top 40s for Vasco and some good results as Tiago placing 10th junior last season in Lourdes DH World Cup. Vasco and Tiago will be focused on the 2018 UCI DH World Cup season, Gonçalo, being 15 year old, will enter a development program that will allow him to compete at the international IXS DH cup.

We are thrilled for the season to begin. Bring it on!

Vasco Bica

The first time that Vasco ripped a bike down a hill was near his home in Coimbra. He'd join his friends for fun until he was old enough to pin on a plate number and race for real. While DH for him is still about having fun, he's gotten more serious about racing and trains hard with the goal of improving his results at the World Cup races. At 23, his racing future looks promising.

"Choosing to sign with Miranda Factory Team was pretty easy. I've been working with them as a sponsor for 2 years and I like how they work. When they told me about the team project I had no doubts in saying "Let's go". It's the first DH Portuguese team WorldCup oriented and they offer me all the necessary means to reach my goals. Being in a pro team makes everything so much easier for the rider... We can focus on training and racing and forget about the rest. In 2018 my goal is showing my real speed, being consistent in the top30 at the World Cup, among the best European riders and hopefully within the best riders of the World. Miranda has hired the services of a World-class coach, bringing us a professional training method. Some things are changing and I'm excited to see how everything turns out."—Vasco Bica

Tiago 'Yiao' Ladeira

Being only 18 years old, Tiago is still in the junior category, where he showed his potential speed last season. In 2017 he managed to put his feet in a World Cup top 10 in Lourdes.

"I'm very excited to get this season started with the Miranda Factory Team. Last year I was in a national team, and now, this opportunity of racing the World Cup with Miranda, hitting the best tracks,... for me it's a dream come true. I know it's going to be sick, and together with Vasco and Gonçalo, I can learn and progress a lot with them and what's the main thing, having a great time. My goals at Portugal level is to win all races, and at the World Cups being consistent with at least, top10 results. I'm training hard like never before and I can't wait to see the result."—Tiago 'Yiao' Ladeira

Gonçalo Bandeira

Gonçalo is only 15 years old. Born in the village of Lousã, the famous Portuguese DH location, he enjoys a perfect shredding playground on daily basis. 2017 was his first racing year and he achieved some great results like winning the Portuguese DH cup overall title in his category and the DH and Enduro national championships.

For me, joining Miranda Factory Team is an opportunity to evolve both as a rider as an individual, together with riders that I already know as Vasco and Tiago. Besides the outstanding Miranda cranksets, we'll have a great support at the races and for training. Miranda has offered us the services of a coach that works with some of the best DH and enduro riders in the World, what is helping me to follow a great training plan. Since I'm too young to race the DH World Cup, I will focus on developing my riding, racing the IXS DH cup and let's see if I can prove myself at World level next year.—Goncalo Bandeira

Events calendar, launch video and more info on the Miranda Bike Parts channels.

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