Welcome to the HQ of SPAR - Shimano - SCG. Despite having Asian sponsors, the team leaders in the first three seasons of the team were always European. The management has found it difficult to persuade the strongest Asian riders to sign a deal with the Siam Cement Team. With that in mind a sponsor with a more international focus was searched, after the Asian sponsors reduced their sponsoring. With the dutch retailing brand SPAR the perfect partner was found. Despite having their HQ in Amsterdam, the biggest sales numbers of the chain are recorded in Austria. This made this team interesting for SPAR, having Denifl, the strongest Austrian cyclist in its roster. Here is a full list of countries SPAR is interested in: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spar_(r....282014.29
Shimano and Siam Cement stay on board as name giving sponsors for at least another year. This will ensure a major Asian touch being kept by the team.
Main Sponsors
SPAR
Retailer
Shimano
Groupsets/Wheels
Siam Cement
Conglomerate
Equipment
Merida
Frames
Pearl Izumi
Clothing
Kabuto
Helmets
Spoiler
Going into it's 4th season the main kit will have it's 4th different main colour. After red, white and blue our jersey the 2017 campaign will be majorly green representing the colour of the fir on the logo of SPAR.
Moazemi returns from his one year loan stay at Red Bull - Huawei. In the pro tour he collected the necessary experience to become this year our leader on any hilly terrain.
Moazemi first in a mountain sprint at 2016s Criterium du Dauphine
As part of Red Bull's protour team Moazemi showed already some decent performances, including active displays at the Tirreno - Adriatico and Criterium du Dauphine. In the end he scored an impressive 139 World Tour points.
Lukas Postlberger, 25
OVL
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
71,35
71
58
68
75
74
70
67
56
68
69
73
61
75
4.82
Postlberger returns after 3 years to the team. In his first pro season he was part of a loan deal: Ensuring him to kick of his development the Austrian spent his first season as a pro at the back then newly founded Siam Cement - Lenovo team.
Postlberger attacking at the Austrian Championships 2014
Three years later the team evolved a partly Austrian influence, having the strongest rider of the Alps republic in its squad. In a swap deal with Wiesenhof, letting Franzoi go the other way, Postlberger was secured. After spending the first year of his development in the team, he'll also take the last step in his development here. Postlberger is already now our strongest time trialer but will continue to improve.
Vitor Rodrigues, 31
OVL
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
75,03
70
78
73
67
71
74
70
56
63
72
74
68
67
4.100
The biggest name to return to our team is without a doubt Vitor Rodrigues. In 2014 he single-handedly ensured the Siam Cement team promotion. With 5 stage race victories his season must have been one of the most successful seasons in MG history. With 886 ranking points he scored more than 9 entire teams. Vitor won almost anywhere he turned up.
Rodrigues winning the Tour of Utah in style, adding the 5th GC to his 2014 win list.
The season after Vitor was kept, but in PCT he was only the number 3 behind strong climbers Emanuele Sella and Robert Kiserlovski. That's why he moved to Novatek where he got a lot more chances to lead, for example at the Vuelta a Tachira where he was a strong 3rd. Knowing of Robert Kiserlovski's departure we already early had the goal to get Rodrigues back as our number 2 in the mountains. Thanks to the great cooperation of Novatek's team manager we made that reality.
Maxime Daniel is our most expensive new signing. For a fee of 825.000 the French classics specialist joins us from last years 6th place Pro Tour team Puma - SAP.
Daniel beating Tom Boonen to take 2015 Gent - Wevelgem
Daniel's win at Gent - Wevelgem is surely the highlight of his career. In Puma's Pro Tour campaign Daniel also delivered on the highest level including an 8th place at the Ronde van Vlaanderen. During the off season Daniel improved his cobbles skills and will lead us at any race including cobbles we'll take part in.
Felix Grossschartner, 24
OVL
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
68,85
66
69
70
66
70
70
69
50
61
66
65
67
68
2.0
Grossschartner is the second Austrian talent that joined us this year. To optimize his development, the young puncheur will spend this season at Novatek. We're looking forward to welcome him back stronger for the 2018 season.
Óscar Guerao, 29
OVL
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
76,29
74
57
64
57
71
64
81
68
83
76
71
78
57
4.100
Guerao is besides Daniel our other big signing this off season. Last year Guerao was part of the now disbanded Coldeportes team. So he knows the PCT already well and wants to improve on his 39th place last season.
Guerao taking a close win against Bellis at the 2016 Berner Rundfahrt
Guerao is by far the fastest man ever in our squad. We're looking forward to seeing our jersey towards the front of the field also in races with a flatter profile.
Hsuang Ping Hsu, 21
OVL
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
68,33
68
63
66
69
69
66
61
68
70
72
67
70
67
1.0
Hsu was besides Jiankun Liu of Compal arguably the most talented Asian rider turning pro this season. We're happy we have secured his signature. Due to his alround abilities we are not yet sure what Hsu's main specialisation will be. Likely he will become a strong sprinter with abilities in the northern classics as well.
Nawuti Liphongyu, 26
OVL
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
71,97
67
73
71
72
71
71
72
65
58
62
68
63
71
4.26
Already since our first season we had an eye on Liphongyu. Now we finally can announce his signing for our team. Liphonyu is currently the biggest Thai stage racing talent and will spend this season at last year's Pro Tour winners Festina. There he will gain the necessary experience to become a permanent part of our stage racing squad.
Nipuna Shira Manamalage, 25
OVL
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
67,32
77
51
58
52
67
61
54
72
53
55
63
60
57
3.0
Completing our tripple of promising young Asians signed is Sri Lankan Manamalage. He'll be essential for us in any flat races, especially if they include cobbles. When fully developed he'll become one of the strongest riders around on flat surfaces. Manamalage is the only rider racing for his country this season not contracted by Sri Lankan Pro Tour team Ayubowan!.
Having invested in quite a few new members of our squad, it was inevitable to also part with some of our riders. These are the riders that rode for us last season, but won't do anymore:
Laurens Sweeck ---> Spotify Haglöfs
Sweeck was only a loanee at our team. Despite our efforts to develop Sweeck, he was not good enough to get another contract offered by his team World Cycling Center. Luckily he found late during the transfers a team: He'll ride for the swedish Pro Tour Team Spotify.
Kritsada Changpad Amir Kolahdouz Phucong Sai-Udomsin Mustafa Sayar
These four riders were released into the free agency.
Dmitriy Rive ---> Compal - Merida Meiyin Wang ---> Compal - Merida
Compal - Merida is probably our most valuable trade partner, after completing various transfers already in previous seasons. This time we struck two deals with the Taiwanese team: Our stagiare Rive left to develop into a great sprinter among a higher number of Kazakh riders and Meiyin Wang returned back home after two years with our team.
Rasmus Quaade ---> Carlsberg - Danske Bank
Quaade failed to gain much appreciation in the time with our team and now had the chance to transfer to a team of his home country Danmark. We didn't want to stay in the way of this opportunity for him and wish him all the best at Carlsberg.
Robert Kiserlovski ---> Kraftwerk Man Machine
Robert Kiserlovski provided us with the most special moment of last season, after winning the last stage of the Pro Tour race Criterium du Dauphine after an epic solo.
Kiserlovski celebrating SPAR's only road stage win of the season 2016 after an 65km solo
At new german PCT team Kraftwerk Man Machine Kiserlovski will have the chance to be the climbing leader. We are sure he'll be able to be more successful there than in the two season's with us, where he stood in the shadow of a stronger climber each year.
Enrico Franzoi
Franzoi is our other stage winner of last season and also he left us for another team. In a swap deal against Lukas Postlberger Franzoi moved to PT team Wiesenhof - Andritz where he will try to help their cobbles squad achieving their ambitious cobbles goals. This will probably Franzoi's last season, so we are happy he can get a chance to compete at Pro Tour cobbles events a last time.
Without further ado, this leaves us with this team for the next season:
This time around we have focused more than in previous seasons on signing riders, that still have room for improvement in their abilities. Despite signing no future world star, we are quite happy about some of our prospects.
First a short mention on those riders that only are temporarily on our squad:
OVL
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
Bico
Nuno
66,30
65
64
65
62
69
67
67
67
61
66
55
58
56
1.0
Bohli
Tom
70,82
70
63
66
68
74
71
63
72
72
67
65
67
71
3.1
Fabbro
Matteo
67,38
64
69
67
65
67
68
67
50
61
67
67
69
68
1.0
Ghani
Muhammad
68,59
68
68
70
65
68
66
66
70
63
61
63
66
64
3.1
3 teams are trusting us in providing the perfect environment for their talents to take a step (or two) forward in their development. Bohli and Ghani joined us from Sauber and will be already an important part of our cobbles squad around Maxime Daniel. Matteo Fabbro was signed by reigning Pro Tour champions Festina. He will be a very strong climber in the future and will spend his first professional year at our team. Bico is also a neo pro and his original team is Porto - Prio. He is the second Portuguese besides Vitor Rodrigues, who will mentor the young prospect.
Now let's take a look at our own talents. 9 of our contracted riders can still take a step up from their current abilities, next is following a short overview on how their future looks: Ajay Pandit Chhetri, 27
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
67
74
69
61
72
64
65
55
64
71
68
78
61
4.12
67
76
71
61
73
65
67
55
64
73
70
78
61
4.100
Chhetri is this season a part of Strava's PT squad to achieve the last step of his development. The 6 time Nepali champion will be a great climbing supporter who also will try his lucks in breaks sometimes.
Felix Grossschartner, 24
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
66
69
70
66
70
70
69
50
61
66
65
67
68
2.0
69
72
77
67
76
73
72
50
62
70
69
68
69
4.100
67
74
77
67
72
73
72
50
62
72
71
68
69
4.100
The Austrian puncheur is a new signing for our squad, his final development is yet to be decided. This year he'll ride for Novatek-Panarmenian.net.
Hsuan Ping Hsu, 21
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
68
63
66
69
69
66
61
68
70
72
67
70
67
1.0
75
63
67
69
76
70
72
74
78
78
68
71
67
4.100
75
64
67
69
76
69
73
73
79
79
67
71
67
4.100
75
64
67
69
76
69
73
75
79
75
67
71
67
4.100
75
64
67
69
76
69
73
74
79
77
67
71
67
4.100
Hsu is our biggest signed talent. Also his way of developing is not yet fully decided. The taiwanese will in the long term become one of our strongest sprinters, but will also be great on cobbled sections. How much focus on which of these discipline is put is not decided yet.
Chun Wing Leung, 23
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
69
56
63
73
62
73
65
50
68
70
64
62
77
3.3
73
57
65
78
65
77
69
50
68
70
67
63
82
4.100
Leung was our big talent signing last season, the prologue specialist is still looking at two years of developing before becoming one of the world's best in his speciality.
Nawuti Liphongyu, 26
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
67
73
71
72
71
71
72
65
58
62
68
63
71
4.26
68
75
72
74
73
72
74
65
58
62
68
63
73
4.100
Liphongyu is like Chhetri loaned out to the Pro Tour to achieve the last step of his developing into a valuable stage race domestique. At Festina he is even part of a team fighting for the Pro Tour crown this season.
Nipuna Shira Manamalage, 25
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
77
51
58
52
67
61
54
72
53
55
63
60
57
3.0
81
51
59
52
71
64
55
77
57
56
64
61
57
4.100
Manamalage will try to become one of the best cobblers of his country. As long as the road doesn't rise he has good chances of becoming that.
Lukas Postlberger, 25
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
71
58
68
75
74
70
67
56
68
69
73
61
75
4.82
73
58
68
77
75
72
69
56
69
70
73
61
77
4.100
Postlberger returned to our team to make his last step in becoming a respectable time trialist. For our future chrono department he'll be a very important rider besides Leung.
Sarawut Sirironnachai, 25
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
69
59
72
65
73
69
71
57
64
72
79
65
65
4.73
70
60
74
65
75
70
72
57
64
73
80
65
65
4.100
Sirironnachai is a very special rider for us, as he won our debut race at the Great Ocean Road classic and the very first C2HC rated race ever in 2014. Since then he has already made a big leap in his development, this year he'll finally reach his highest point of performance.
Sirironnachai crossing the line first at the 2014 Great Ocean Road Classic
Bambang Suryadi, 27
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
XP
69
56
62
64
71
68
75
57
77
74
61
60
64
4.80
71
56
62
64
72
68
76
58
79
76
61
60
64
4.100
Suryadi is also a part of our team from the very beginning and will reach his peak as well after this season. Already now he is an essential part of Guerao's leadout train. He'll become even stronger.
Mustafa Sayar
Robert Kiserlovski ---> Kraftwerk Man Machine
