Velocio and htSQD Partner for the 2025 Season and Beyond

January 28, 2025

Welcome to Velocio, Keegan, Alexis, Tobin, and Ruth. Here’s to a bright future alongside Santa Cruz, SRAM, and RockShox.

Chicago, IL (January 28, 2025) /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ — Velocio, the leader in performance cycling apparel, is partnering with the esteemed htSQD as their cycling apparel sponsor for the 2025 season. The elite XC and gravel team, composed of four riders with four distinct styles, represents the fastest off-road talent in North America.

“Adding the htSQD to the Velocio family came at the perfect time for us,” says Sarah Leishman, GM of Velocio. “The potential to leverage our decade-plus legacy of design and sustainability alongside a leading, gender-balanced roster was clear from our first conversations with the team. We’re excited to realize a new path in race kit with these riders.”

Combining the finest bikes, components, and equipment to help the htSQD reach the podium, Velocio is joined by SRAM, Rockshox, and Santa Cruz for a complete set of equipment with a singular focus: speed.

Keegan Swenson, Alexis Skarda, and Tobin Ortenblad are joined by Ruth Holcomb to round out the four-rider team as the race season approaches.

Keegan Swenson, 30, from Park City, Utah, is the most decorated gravel and XC rider in the business. Keegan has been winning races his whole career, and with the support of the htSQD, has taken his riding to the next level. His formula for success is simple. Ride for records, not wins. The right equipment is the difference between domination and defeat. Heavy metal is essential. His career highlights are a laundry list of records and championships, including multiple Lifetime Grand Prix Overall wins, the Leadville 100 course record, 1st Telluride 100, 1st Breckenridge Epic, and the White Rim FKT holder.

Alexis Skarda, 36, from Grand Junction, Colorado, didn’t start racing until her junior year of college. Despite the truncated timeline, she’s surpassed the competition to become one of the most successful racers on the scene. An XC rider first, Alexis has the FKT on the White Rim Trail, multiple XCM national championships, and is a regular on the top step of race podiums, including top finishes at the Lifetime Grand Prix alongside fellow htSQD members.

Tobin Ortenblad, 31, from Santa Cruz, California, is the defacto htSQD domestique. From setting the pace for the course-crushing Leadville 100 record to his accomplishments in cyclocross, XCO, gravel, and road, Tobin is a versatile and talented rider.

Ruth Holcomb, 21, from Durango, Colorado, is new to the htSQD but not new to cycling. Ruth moved to Durango in fourth grade, was put into bike camp, and has been knocking off bucket-list rides and races ever since. From the Bear Development Team to multiple Junior XCO podium finishes, Ruth is a seasoned off-road racer with a long-range engine. Don’t be surprised if the current UC Santa Barbara student is making her name known as she joins the htSQD for the 2025 season.

For more information visit velocio.cc or contact Hayden Carpenter at Press Forward (hc@pressforward.agency).

About Velocio

Velocio began because they believed there was a better way to create, market, and celebrate cycling and cycling apparel. Launching a women’s collection in 2014, they have been driven by three pillars: design, responsibility, and culture. Built on design differentiation and performance, their apparel is recognized as the premium choice that delivers a high level of sustainability and community support within cycling.

About Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz Bicycles was founded in 1994 in a space not much bigger than a two car garage at 104 Bronson Street in Santa Cruz, California. The Seabright Cannery industrial complex was also home to Santa Cruz Skateboards, RockShox, a surfboard shaper, two bakeries, a salsa company, multiple artist studios, a coffee roaster, a climbing gym, and other assorted riff-raff—an eclectic, but very creative environment. Their first bike model was the Tazmon—an 80mm travel, dual-suspension bike that rattled established sensibilities, and launched the Santa Cruz Bicycles brand into the full-suspension future. 30 years and 89 bike models later, Santa Cruz is still pushing the envelope while remaining simply advanced.

Media Contact

Hayden Carpenter
Press Forward
hc@pressforward.agency