Amateurity: Catch the fever!

Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team has confirmed it will take a step back in 2009, with the team adopting amateur status. The team will concentrate on racing on the east coast and continue working with young rider development. "While the support from Jittery Joe's continues to be strong, the combination of the loss of auxiliary cash sponsors and the spike of travel costs has caused us to re-think our budget," said team manager Micah Rice. "We just decided that we needed to take a step back to keep the programme healthy-neither riders nor sponsors would be happy if we tried to stretch the budget too thin". The team will also continue its Patron Program which allows individuals to sponsor riders to help in the development of young aspiring professionals. "I hate to see it happen, but on the other hand since as a firm we're trying to expand in the southeast, in some ways we can have a stronger presence as an amateur team because we'll be at more things in more concentrated ways," said Bob Googe, the CEO of Jittery Joe's Franchising. "We expect to be back in the pro peloton very soon as we start opening new stores and can afford to put more money into the programme."