With much anticipation, the eight-rider roster of CANYON//SRAM Generation is announced today.
The new UCI Continental team is part of the World Tour Team CANYON//SRAM Racing’s long-term D&I program. This two-tier structure is the first of its kind for a European-based WorldTeam creating a formal pathway to the Women’s World Tour.
CANYON//SRAM Generation is supported by the same partners as CANYON//SRAM Racing. In particular, the additional financial commitment and support from co-title partners Canyon and SRAM have allowed this new team to come to life.
The line-up covers riders from seven different countries across four different continents, as a German-registered UCI Continental team, CANYON//SRAM Generation contains two German nationals. Here is the final eight-rider roster:
Siti Nur Alia Mansor – At 20 years of age, Alia Mansor said she started to consider a cycling career more seriously in 2016 when she raced Sukma Sarawak, one of the biggest cycling events in her home country of Malaysia. With experience predominantly racing track cycling, including several national titles to her palmares, Alia Mansor said she is excited to start her career as a road cyclist.
Agua Marina Espinola Salinas – A multiple national champion and the first-ever cyclist to represent Paraguay at an Olympic Games, 25-year old Espinola Salinas joins the team as the more experienced rider. Having lived and raced in Europe at various times over the last five years, Espinola Salinas will be the unofficial road captain of CANYON//SRAM Generation.
Fatima Deborah Conteh – Winner of the biggest race in Sierra Leone, Tour De Lunsar, in 2018 and on the podium again in 2021, and stepping on the podium at national road championships, Conteh has consistently shown her talent as one of the best riders in her country. Now at 22 years of age, Conteh says she can’t wait to start her season with the team and especially wants to show her sprinting strength.
Valentine Nzayisenga – Nzayisenga became Rwanda’s national road champion in 2019 at just 19 years of age and achieved that after racing her bike for only one year. She competed at both the African Continental Championships with a top ten in the road race and the UCI Road World Championships last year and says hard work and determination have been key to her achievements in cycling so far.
Antonia Niedermaier – From a background of competing in ski mountaineering, Niedermaier only started racing her bike a little over one year ago. In a short time, the 18-year-old German has shown that her world-class strengths and achievements in ski mountaineering at a junior level, have quickly transferred also to road cycling.
Llori Sharpe – In 2020, Sharpe decided to focus solely on cycling after several years of competing in swimming and triathlon. With a long list of achievements in her home country of Jamaica, Sharpe has also shown her talent competing in several Central American and Caribbean championship swimming and triathlon events. A bronze medal at the Caribbean Cycling Championships time trial and a fifth place in the road race last year affirmed her decision to concentrate on cycling where she believes her best strengths are as a climber.
Ricarda Bauernfeind – Considering herself as a climber, 21-year-old Bauernfeind also showed she has a burst of speed after she took home a bronze medal from a bunch sprint at the German national road championships in 2021. Competing on the track at a junior level, Bauernfeind has coached herself for the last three years while focusing on her university studies.
Olivia Shililifa – The current Namibian road champion in the U23 category, Shililifa started racing in 2019. Already experienced racing MTB at an international level, 19-year-old Shililifa says she quickly fell in love with cycling and competition and that tactics and strategy are one of her favorite aspects of road racing.
The CANYON//SRAM Generation team will give talented female riders from underrepresented countries around the world a unique pathway to race in Europe. Here, they will learn from the best and have access to one of the top female programs, with the goal of riding in the UCI Women’s World Tour.
Terengganu cyclist Siti Nur Alia Mansor has become the first southeast Asian woman to join a professional world-acclaimed cycling team after she signed on as a rider for Spain-based Canyon-SRAM Racing Team.
The 21-year-old will now be the first and only national woman cyclist to compete in the UCI Women’s World Tour.
