Craig Alexander announces new Vespa Tri Team featuring Lucy Charles-Barclay

The rivalry between Craig Alexander and Chris McCormack will continue through a new avenue – triathlon teams. Today three-time Kona champ Alexander announced that he’s founded the new Vespa Triathlon Team that is “slated to include 12 of the world’s most accomplished and charismatic pro triathletes by the end of 2021.”

McCormack is the CEO of the Bahrain Endurance 13 team, which recently announced the addition of Canada’s Tyler Mislawchuk. The star-studded team includes Jan Frodeno, Daniela Ryf and Javier Gomez and its roster boasts 20 world championship titles.

Alexander’s squad is certainly living up to the “accomplished and charismatic” billing based on the first four members announced today, all who will be racing at Challenge Miami on Friday. The star-studded crew includes race favourite Lucy Charles-Barclay, Heather Jackson, Sarah Crowley and Rudy Von Berg.

Alexander remains a big name in the sport after having taken the three Kona titles and two Ironman 70.3 wins. He’s continued to win races and appear on podiums well into his 40s and will serve as one of the team captains at the upcoming Collins Cup in August.

“We’re thrilled to bring a classic brand like Vespa to the sport of triathlon,” Alexander said in a press release today. “Despite the challenges of 2020 due to the pandemic, Vespa remained focused on creating a program that touches all levels of triathlon. While we’re launching the campaign in partnership with some of the best professionals in our sport, we’ll soon be announcing other initiatives designed to improve the multisport experience for triathletes at all levels.”