PIRATES SIGN BASSO

POOLE have completed the signing of Danish youngster Benjamin Basso after accepting defeat in their bid to bring in Ondrej Smetana.

Travel complications hampered the Czech rider’s planned arrival, and 20-year-old Basso is now set to make his Pirates debut in this week’s Northern tour starting at Edinburgh on Friday.

Club owner Matt Ford said: “I have to say, it has not been an easy ride to get the signing completed as there has been a lot of additional hurdles in our way as a consequence of Brexit, including a spoken language test and a personal hearing before he was granted the necessary paperwork to allow him to get the clearance needed.

“We need to be sensible and not put any undue pressure on his young shoulders, but I feel that working alongside the likes of Danny (King) and Rory (Schlein) we will be able to bring his career along – and given that he currently holds a higher average for his Danish side Fjelsted than both Frederik (Jakobsen) and Peter Kildemand we are already starting from a reasonable foundation.”