Somerset Rebels have announced the seven riders who will represent the club next season.

THE Somerset Rebels have announced the seven riders who will represent the club for the 2014 season, as the team look to defend the three trophies won this season.

The team will see three of those riders returning to the side - skipper Jason Doyle, his Australian compatriot Nick Morris and Englishman Charles Wright.

The four new faces to the septet are the current Premier League riders’ champion, Olly Allen, who spent last season with Rye House, Todd Kurtz, who has made the move from local rivals Plymouth, Kurtz’s younger brother, Brady, who will be making his debut season in the UK and Paul Starke, who rode for Berwick.

There will, no doubt, be some disappointment amongst the Somerset fans that the club were unable to retain the seven riders that took them through to the best-ever season in the club’s history, but as team manager Garry May explained, this was never a possibility.

“Of course, in an ideal world we would have wanted to retain the side that did the league and cup double in 2013, but the rules just did not permit this, and so regrettably, for one reason or another, we have to say goodbye to Josh Grajczonek, Alex Davies and Kyle Newman.”