Leda Cox Signs for top Italian Pro team

After a testing year of racing by herself on the professional women's circuit Leda Cox, from St Albans in Hertfordshire has signed for one of Italy's professional UCI teams, team Saccarelli.

Cox's last UCI Professional team dissolved in January of this year leaving her without a contract or a team. With the help of her personal sponsors, Onimpex and Billato she was still able to compete full time and set about making a name for herself in Belgium and in a short while she had a string of top five places to her name in Elite Kermesses. Later in the year she came a creditable 3rd in the Karrakurrams Tour in Pakistan before riding as a stagiere for the pro team 'SystemData' in the final UCI womens' tour of the year, the Giro Toscana. It was here that she caught the eye of the team Saccarelli management as she worked to keep her Brazilian team leader in her high GC position.

Cox's 2007 season will see her based in the Teams' quarters in Marciano in Umbria, central Italy. Her early season will build up to the first European world cup races with the Tour of Flanders in early April, closely followed by the Fleche Wallone classic and then the Tour de Berne world cup in Switzerland. The middle part of the season will no doubt be dominated by the Giro D'Italia in which Cox will be hoping to rid a few 'demons' having ridden the majority of her only attempt at the race in 2005 with broken ribs. Cox's reaction to the signing was one of satisfaction after a hard year in 2006 out on the circuit by herself.

“I'm pleased that my efforts as one of Britains' few Pro women have been recognised. Saccarelli is by far the best team I will have ridden for and I am looking forward to riding all the classic races again after all the gains in strength and speed that I have made over the last year whilst I was out there fending for myself in the races that I was able to get into. I will be back In the UK for our national Road championships and I hope to be doing some more derny racing if my new team will allow me as I seem to have caught the 'derny-bug' this year so I will be back at least twice.”

Leda's progress can be followed on her personal website, www.ledacox.com and at her team's website, www.saccarelli.it