Simon Kessler's French Connection

As far as professional cycling teams go, it is doubtful that many fans will remember Catavana–AS Corbeil–Essonnes–Cedico. Born out of the Parisian club AS Corbeil–Essonnes, Catavana only lasted one season, that of 1994. A closer look at its roster, however, reveals some interesting names – Sean Kelly and Marc Madiot both completed their final racing seasons with the small outfit while future star Lars Michaelsen launched his career in the white and green strip. Michealsen would, in fact, win a few European races in his neo-pro year and venture back to South African shores later that year to defend his Boland Bank Tour title. Unbeknownst to most, though, is that a young South African rider would make up part of the Catavana squad tasked with helping the emerging Dane achieve repeat success that year.

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For many years, Simon Kessler was a stalwart in the South African professional cycling scene. A key part of Doug Ryder's early teams like IBM-Lotus and Microsoft, his palmares includes two national road titles as well as being a regular member of the SA National Team to races like Le Tour de Langkawi. Coaching was – and still is – a big part of his life and he developed into a well-respected road captain and mentor to his younger teammates as his career progressed. The aforementioned credentials, though, are but a snapshot of Simon's greater cycling and life story. Lesser known perhaps are his moving to Europe straight after school to pursue a professional contract. Or experiencing – and overcoming – career threatening injuries. Not to mention driving all over Europe as an 18-year-old, often alone.