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Welcome to the website of Team Aberdeen Asset Management |
Aberdeen Asset Management enter an exciting 2008 season with new squad members, a full Calendar of races and ongoing partnerships with key sponsors and coaches.
On the personnel side, the squad now includes Iona Robertson, John Laughlin and Bruce Duncan who are eager to show their abilities on the international stage and over the 'expedition' format.
Aberdeen's major focus once again will be on racing overseas in 2008. With more options than ever and a busy race calendar, it's been a tough choice in deciding what races to do in 2008. The decision was made to base the season around the World Championships in Brazil and fit other races in a logical fashion around this. The current international race line up includes:
Bergson Winter Challenge - February - Poland
An Turas Mor - June - Ireland
Explore Sweden - September - Sweden
World Championships - October - Brazil
XPD - December - Portugal
Team Captain, Warren Bates commented on the overseas plans for the year: "The team is very excited about heading off next week to Poland for its first ever expedition-length, winter race. We've enjoyed some interesting cross-country ski training in recent months and invested a lot of time in finding the right kit to race with. Ireland's An Turas Mor is unknown territory and a new race on the calendar but will probably be the race where the team feels most at home this year. There was a collective shout of glee when we heard that Explore Sweden was returning. Mikael and Helena Lindnord put on such sensational races and we put that in the diary straight away. Brazil appeals on so many levels but it was tough to decide between this and Ian Adamson's new race. The team have heard a lot of great things about South American races and opted to make the committment, watching to see how Terra Traverse plays out and whether the rather hefty price tag can be in any way be justified."
On the domestic front, Aberdeen will be in attendance at various UK races and will be actively looking to defend it's Rat Race title. The Dirty Weekend will see multiple Aberdeen teams on show and of course will be ever present at various locations throughout the year.
On the performance side, Aberdeen team members are now using a full time training programme with Marc Laithwaite at TheEnduranceCoach.com. Nick Gracie has already seen the benefits of having someone guide him through winter: "We've always been guilty of doing too much long slow training without much structure, actively avoiding the stuff that doesn't appeal.....usually paddling and anything based around a track. These days we have a far more balanced approach and all of us have been paddling 3 times a week which should pay huge dividends later in the year".
Such a season comes with huge costs in terms of time and money. All the above is made possible by the hugely supportive nature of the squads sponsors and race partners. The squad would like to thank everyone involved for their ongoing support, but particularly:
Aberdeen Asset Management
Marin Bikes
Paramo
Helly Hansen
EAS
Nuun
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