Tour de force

Celebrating a partnership between luxury property agents, Rohrs & Rowe, and Saint Piran, Cornwall’s first elite cycling team.

This month we’re delighted to meet up with Richard Pascoe (Ricci to his friends), Team Principal of the Saint Piran Cycling Team, and Matthew Rowe of Rohrs & Rowe Estate Agents, to introduce their collaboration and to hear how things are progressing for Cornwall’s first and only professional cycling team.

“We are proud of our location and heritage, so we wanted to use a team to help promote Cornwall” – Richard Pascoe

The Rohrs & Rowe and Saint Piran’s alliance was born out of a shared passion for cycling, and from Matthew and Richard having known each other for a number of years. Cycling has been a big part of both their lives, Richard on a professional level and Matthew purely for enjoyment. Matthew tells us: “A number of years ago I was fortunate enough to meet and get to know Ricci, who has been a major part of the Cornish cycling scene for decades. I’ve always loved cycling and from a young age it has enabled me to see so much of our beautiful county, whilst keeping fit at the same time! I have keenly followed the progress of Saint Piran since their launch four years ago and last year, I approached Ricci about how Rohrs & Rowe may be able to help the team. We are now delighted to be working with them in 2019. We have the obvious mutual passion for cycling but we also share the same ethos; promoting what a fantastic place Cornwall is to live and the healthy lifestyle it enables. We feel that the unique and excellent work that Saint Piran are doing perfectly reflects these benefits and we’re now very proud to be partnered with the team, helping them to achieve their goals and to attract further sponsors.”

The Saint Piran team was formed four years ago by Richard and former Team Sky rider, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, to realise their shared vision of a Cornwall-based team that could compete on a national level. Richard explains: “It has come about by true Cornish spirit! We asked ourselves why we couldn’t form a team to compete at the highest level despite geography, a lack of rider numbers and less potential national sponsors, and we have managed to successfully achieve it! We are proud of our location and heritage, so we wanted to use a team to help promote Cornwall. It also provides young local people the opportunity to become professional riders and race at the national championships, against teams like Sky, Wiggins and Bike Channel.”

Impressively, the team has been invited to ride the televised Tour Series in May, an exciting 10-round series of races held within major city centres. It is due to broadcast on ITV4, with a 50-minute programme focusing on Saint Piran!

The team’s star rider is Steve Lampier from Helston, one of the UK’s top domestic riders, who has returned to Cornwall specifically to manage and represent Saint Piran. Saint Piran has five other riders from Cornwall, including top-performing Jake Alderman and Will Harper from Falmouth. Development riders Alex Platt from Redruth, Joe Healey from Perranarworthal and Alfie Peters from Bissoe make up the team. Championing cycling excellence in Cornwall, Saint Piran represents more than just the chance to cycle at a top level for young Cornish riders, which is illustrated wonderfully in the short film on the Saint Piran team website.

Matthew finishes: “There are so many amazing places to ride in Cornwall, with the cycle café at Bissoe (owned and run by Ricci) being a fantastic hub to start from. The location enables riders to access the Lizard, the north coast and far beyond, as well as shorter trips for less experienced riders, with many tracks and off-road sections, making it perfect for all abilities!”