The Linda McCartney Racing Team was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 professional road bicycle racing

Road bicycle racing

Road bicycle racing is a bicycle racing sport held on roads, using racing bicycles. The term "road racing" is usually applied to events where competing riders start simultaneously with the winner being the first to the line at the end of the course .Historically, the most...

 team.

History

The team began in 1998 with Linda McCartney Foods

Linda McCartney Foods

Linda McCartney Foods is a British food brand specializing in vegetarian and vegan food. The brand was created in 1991 by Linda McCartney , sold in 2000 to Heinz, and sold again in 2006 to the Hain Celestial Group, though the McCartney family remains involved in its development...

, maker of vegetarian food, sponsoring vegetarian riders and staff. The company was started by Sir Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

's wife, Linda

Linda McCartney

Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....

. Team success would promote vegetarianism and Linda McCartney Foods.

The team was to compete in Britain before expanding to international events. It was initially of British riders with more experienced riders joining later to improve credentials for the UCI

Union Cycliste Internationale

Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....

 World Cup and the Grand Tours

Grand Tour (cycling)

In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour refers to one of the three major European professional cycling stage races:* Tour de France – Tour of France , held in July* Giro d'Italia – Tour of Italy , held in May...

.

It was the first British team to ride the Giro d'Italia

Giro d'Italia

The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

 but the increase in cost as the team and its commitments grew - Linda McCartney Foods did not continue sponsorship - led the team to disband in 2001 with reported debts of more than US$1m and a dispute with the UCI over riders' wages.

Notable riders

• Tom Barras
  Tom Barras
  Tom Barras is an English professional road racing cyclist. Barras is also the son of former professional racing cyclist, Sid Barras. Barras is ranked 13th in the UK national road rankings at the end of the 2007 racing season.-Palmarès:2007...
  
  
• Taveb Braikia
• Ben brooks
  Ben Brooks
  Ben Brooks is a Republican member of the Alabama Senate, representing the 35th District since 2007.-External links:* official government website* profile*Follow the Money - Ben Brooks** campaign contributions...
  
  
• Íñigo Cuesta
  Íñigo Cuesta
  Íñigo Cuesta López de Castro is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer. Cuesta turned professional in 1994 for the Basque team. Here his results included a second place in 1995 Vuelta a Asturias, and in 1996 he signed a contract with Spanish team ONCE...
  
  
• Maurizio de Pasquale
• Matthew DeCanio
• Scott Guyton
• Gregg Imlah
• Brian Kenneally
• Alan Lacoune
• Martin Lonie
• David McKenzie
• Ciarán Power
  Ciarán Power
  Ciarán Power a.k.a powershower is a former professional cyclist. He is a member of the Irish Pezula Racing Team. Power turned professional in 2000 with Linda McCartney Racing Team and rode the 2000 Giro d'Italia, gaining 2 top ten stage finishes. He was the first Irish cyclist in a major tour...
  
  
• Huw Pritchard
  Huw Pritchard
  Huw Pritchard , is a Welsh racing cyclist. He represented Wales at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, and again in Manchester in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, where he won the silver medal in the 20 km scratch, the first Welshman to win a medal on the track at the...
  
  
• Mirko Puglioli
• Pascal Richard
  Pascal Richard
  Pascal Richard is a French-speaking Swiss former racing cyclist. He is most notable as a former King of the Mountains winner at the Giro d'Italia and Olympic Games gold medalist.-Biography:...
  
  
• Mark Scanlon
• Max Sciandri
  Max Sciandri
  Maximilian Sciandri is a retired British road racing cyclist of Italian descent. He competed as an Italian national up to February 1995, then took British citizenship. He won the bronze medal in the men's individual road race at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a professional...
  
  
• Spencer Smith
  Spencer Smith (triathlete)
  Spencer Smith is a British triathlete. During his career in the early 1990s, his main rival was Simon Lessing-Short course titles:His short course titles include:* ITU World Triathlon Champion**1993**1994* ITU World Triathlon Junior Champion**1992...
  
  
• Matt Stephens
  Matthew Stephens (cyclist)
  Matthew Stephens is a British professional road racing cyclist who rides for .-Biography:Stephens was successful as a junior rider, winning the Junior Tour of Wales in both 1987 and 1988, one of only two riders to win the race twice. He represented Great Britain at the 1992 Summer Olympics in...
  
  
• John Tanner
  John Tanner (cyclist)
  John Tanner is a British racing cyclist from Yorkshire. He competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games.He has won the season-long British Cycling Premier Calendar five times.-Palmarés:1992199419951997...
  
  
• Bjørnar Vestøl
  Bjørnar Vestøl
  Björnar Vestöl is a Norwegian former professional racing cyclist whose last team was Sparebanken Vest.-Career highlights:19992001-External links:...
  
  
• Julian Winn
  Julian Winn
  Julian Winn from Abergavenny, Wales is a former Welsh competitive cyclist who now manages the UCI Continental cycling team Endura Racing. He represented Wales in the 1998 Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur and at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester...
  
  
• Bradley Wiggins
  Bradley Wiggins
  Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE is a British professional track and road bicycle racer, currently riding for Team Sky. Wiggins' career began on the track, where he specialised in the pursuit and madison disciplines....
  
  
• Charly Wegelius
• Sean Yates
  Sean Yates
  Sean Yates is an English former professional cyclist and head Directeur Sportif at Team Sky.-Career:Yates competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics, finishing sixth in the 4,000m individual pursuit. He also competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics...