Julie Dibens has started her 2008 season on a bit of a high with a major new sponsorship deal. She will be riding Planet X's bikes for both triathlon and her off-road XTERRA races. Unlike her previous bike deal, Julie has already taken delivery of the bikes and it's not even the end of January! Most of her racing will be done on a Stealth Pro Carbon, she's not going for the bubblegum pink colour, which is kitted out with Xentis wheels. There's also talk of her having a 29" single-speed MTB... Supporting the deal will be Schwalbe tyres, Oakley eyewear and Giro helmets.

Julie's plans for her 2008 season pretty much mirror her 2007 campaign, although she is determined to get a better result at the 70.3 Championships. Her racing will start a little later owing to a bout of illness over Christmas so it's likely that she will miss out on the Guam and Saipan XTERRAs and start racing in earnest at St Anthony's at the end of April. You can keep track of her progress via her website (www.juliedibens.com) which, unlike some pro sites we could mention, is updated very regularly.