French wildcard Tony Gallopin has been racing for Liberty Seguros' since its foundation. In another Eurosport ES excklusive, the french looks into the past of the team, and questions his future destinations.

		WT	CT	U23	PR
2014	Liberty Seguros - Würth	83(258Pts.)	251(42Pts.)		144(300Pts.)
2015	Liberty Seguros - Würth	160(148Pts.)	161(126Pts.)		186(274Pts.)
2016	Illes Balears	195(78Pts.)	94(236Pts.)		165(314Pts.)
2017	Illes Balears	119(211Pts.)			225(211Pts.)

I: Tony, you have been with the team since its foundation. How do you see the recent transition to young hopefuls?
Mon dieu, these are exciting times. The team is being renewed for the future as has been the goal of the previous two years. It's a shame that a ton of invested money was lost with the departure of Contador, think of all the yoga sessions to keep him from declining. But at the same time, this is invested money to get someone like Betancur, who hopefully will deliver for us big time. Sometimes you have to say farewell, for me I have ridden 3 Tours with Alberto Contador and it was a pleasure throughout.

I: Indded you have been a reliable rider, both as domestique and occassional captain. What's your schedule like?
I feel ride the Tour again, this time in support of Herrada. I will also attend the classics, in help of Betancur. And I will ride the cobbles as a co-leader next to Roberto Romero-Martinez. I have had some decent results the past year but I hope to get a stage win again. My last win dates back 4 years, 2014 in Paris-Nice. This is a long time ago.

Fouryears is really some time. Is this your goal for this season, to get back on the top podium?
My priority is that the team has a successful campaign. Our targets are the Grand Tours and the Monuments, as has been in the past with Contador and Purito. Our new leaders are the spearhead of a new generation, think of Van der Poel and Pulido and Romero-Martinez. I am excited to be part of this new project at Liberty Seguros. I will do what has to be done that the team stays in PT and can transform it into a long-developing project. If I end up winning along the way, that's added bonus.

I: Liberty Seguros was desperatley seeking liquidty this transfer season after the steal attempts on Contador, Pulido and Herrada, and they also offered you on the transfer sheet. However you are still with the team. Does this hurt your confidence?
No, I am a professional and I know that this is part of the game. Truth is, I was thinking about a change of scenery myself. I could well imagine going back to France permanelty, or ride for a CT team. In the end it didn't happen this season. I am happy at Liberty Seguros but the future will tell what opportunities may arise.

		WT	PR
2014	CarbonSports Cycling p/b Lightweight	2(3143Pts.)	2(3280Pts.)
2015	CarbonSports Cycling p/b Lightweight	7(2388Pts.)	7(2388Pts.)
2016	CarbonSports Cycling - Lightweight	3(2735Pts.)	4(2910Pts.)
2017	CarbonSports Cycling - Lightweight	13(1959Pts.)	14(1959Pts.)
2018	CarbonSports Cycling - Lightweight

Peter Sagan has been another long-time key rider for CarbonSports, having never raced for another team. With 26 professional wins and 10 jerseys won he is amongst the most succesful riders in league history. However, 2017 was a down year for him. For the first time in his career, he failed to reach the top 10 of WT Ranking and Prestige Ranking and he aims to come back stronger than ever.

	2014	2015	2016	2017
Amstel Gold Race	2	-	4	9
Asmara Cup	-	-	4	-
Bucamaranga Classic	3	-	3	-
E3 Prijs	3	12	17	3
Gent - Wevelgem	19	-	3	-
Il Lombardia	8	6	13	-
Liege-Bastogne-Liege	7	11	5	10
(University of) Lincoln GP	-	3	2	1
Milano - Sanremo	3	2	10	9
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad	-	5	8	4
Palm Classic	-	5	18	-
Paris-Roubaix	17	12	19	9
Quebec Sprint Challenge	-	-	7	-
Ronde van Vlaanderen	27	1	8	4
Strade Bianche	7	-	19	-

Sagan is good on all kind of classics. For most of the time he was leader of our cobbles, hills and sometimes also for some sprint classics. He is Mr. Monument after being the only rider to race 19 consecutive monuments. The streak snapped when Betancur replaced him as leader for Il Lombardia.

Highlights 2018:

***** World Cup
**** Tour of Northern Europe
*** Milan - San Remo
** Ronde van Vlaanderen
* Prestige Ranking

After starting in fewer classics in 2017 than ever before including a TDF participation Peter Sagan will focus this season on classics. His ultimate season goal is to win the individual world cup this season.

Race	Country	Start	End	St.	Role
Tour of Toowoomba	Australia	123	127	5	Leader
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad	Belgium	301	301	1	Leader	WC
Clasica di Tirreno - Adriatico	Italy	303	303	1	Leader	WC
Strade Bianche	Italy	305	305	1	Leader	WC
Roma Maxima	Italy	307	307	1	Leader	WC
Milano - Sanremo	Italy	322	322	1	Leader	WC
E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke	Belgium	328	328	1	Leader
Gent - Wevelgem	Belgium	330	330	1	Leader	WC
Ronde van Vlaanderen	Belgium	404	404	1	Leader	WC
Amstel Gold Race	Netherlands	423	423	1	Leader	WC
La Flèche Wallonne	Belgium	425	425	1	Leader
University of Lincoln GP	Britain	505	505	1	Leader
Asmara Cup	Eritrea	701	701	1	Leader
Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian	Spain	801	801	1	Leader	WC
Tour of Northern Europe	Sweden	805	812	8	Leader
Eneco Tour	Belgium	824	830	7	Leader
Richmond Criterium	USA	925	925	1	Leader	WC
Bucaramanga Classic	Colombia	1003	1003	1	Leader	WC

Sagan will be leading our team in 11 WC events - including four CT events which should give him a good chance to compete for that. He will lead our team in all of his races as sole leader with the exception of some of the cobble events where Senechal and Boom might have a co-leader role. Notably is also the lack of monuments. For the first time in his career he will only ride three of the five races as Contador headlines our teams for LBL and Il Lombardia.

Lufthansa will take part in a total of 16 stage races this season. These include the twelve mandatory races as part of the World Tour and four races from the Continental Tour.

First up, it's the Tour of Toowomba all the way in Australia. Van Avermaet will lead the team here, with a support cast consisting of Parra, Vanbilsen, Arndt and Bauhaus. The relatively stronger line-up is our way of trying to make a good first impression.

We stay with the hills as the team tackles Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco next. Benat Intxausti is the designated leader with Frank and Brambilla his able lieutenants. Meijers will also be on the startlist.

Vuelta al Tachira is the first race of the season where we tackle the high mountains. Intxausti leads here too, but this time his support is in the form of our full squadron of climbing youngters. Jansen, Nentwich, Kathman and Reuter, among a couple others get their chance to show the elite what they're made of.

The Ster ZLM Tour falls within the busy cobbles schedule but that does not prevent Degenkolb from being assigned leadership duty here. Vanbilsen will be his wingman, while Honigh and Vermote will play the role of the strongmen.

We ride our first stage race in the Continental Tour with 4 Jours de Dunkerque. Nino Honigh is a rider we believe would be a star in the future and he gets to lead in this race. Windischbauer and Berg will be his cobbles domestiques.

Richie Porte starts his season in the Grand Prix of Sochi, which clashes with the Giro d' Italia. Frank and Brambilla are tasked to be his mountain train with the rest of the climbers in Italy.

Our home race, the Deutschland Tour, will see a home leader in John Degenkolb. Vanbilsen and Bauhaus will be his lead-outs as he hope for a good showing in our home land.

We will not send a GC contender to the Vuelta a Guatemala, and instead will be hoping to pick up whatever we can in the sprints and via breakaways. Nikias Arndt is our designated leader, with Vermote as his lead-out. Another race where the young climbers will be in the spotlight.

We had a good run in the Tour of Fuji last year despite being a CT team. Atapuma managed to finish 4th and we hope to replicate some of that success this time around. That task has been put on the able shoulders of Porte, who start for his second race of the season. Brambilla and Parra will be his deputies.

The Tour de Pologne will see Intxausti get back leadership duties. Meijers and Runge will be his domestiques, while the youngsters come out to play again.

Van Avermaet leads the cobbled Tour of Northern Europe with the trusted Vanbilsen at his side. Arndt and Honigh are others who may possibly make a mark.

The Baltic Chain Tour will be one of just two races where Vanbilsen will have leadership duties all season. Honigh and Windischbauer will be his entourage.

The Eneco Tour will see Degenkolb lead again, with the always reliable Vanbilsen moving back to super-dom duties. Arndt and Honigh the other riders worth mentioning.

Van Avermaet leads in the Course de la Paix with a slightly weaker team around him. Honigh will be his deputy, while it's an opportunity for some of the youngsters again.

And finally, to round off our stage races for the season, we have the Virginia Chrono Tour. Specialist Svendsen leads with some of the sub-top TT-ers joining along.

		WT	PR
2014	CarbonSports Cycling p/b Lightweight	233(28Pts.)	445(28Pts.)
2015	CarbonSports Cycling p/b Lightweight	368(19Pts.)	495(49Pts.)
2016	CarbonSports Cycling - Lightweight	100(253Pts.)	110(485Pts.)
2017	CarbonSports Cycling - Lightweight	130(190Pts.)	146(392Pts.)
2018	CarbonSports Cycling - Lightweight

Senechal is another rider who started his ICL career for CarbonSports in 2014. You'd expect that a rider of his quality would have already quite some wins but in fact he is yet without a professional victory (not counting KoM and Youth Jersey in the Baltic Chain Tour) and has a 954 lifetime score. This season the team expects him to step up hugely from those numbers as he cannot hide behind multiple better riders whereever he races. Instead he will be co-leader on the cobbles and he will lead the team in a couple of C.1 classics.

Highlights 2018:
***** Paris - Roubaix
**** Eneco Tour
*** Ronde van Vlaanderen
** E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
* CT.1 Cobbles

Florian Senechal's season is fully focussed on the cobbles where he is now the co-leader of Peter Sagan. It will be important for him to prove himself in this role as Lars Boom and Juris Eisaks are pushing for a bigger role.

Race	Country	Start	End	St.	Role
Palm Classic	UAE	111	111	1	Key Domestique
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad	Belgium	301	301	1	Co-Leader
Milano - Sanremo	Italy	322	322	1	Key Domestique
Dwars door Vlaanderen	Belgium	325	325	1	Leader
E3 Prijs Vlaanderen	Belgium	328	328	1	Co-Leader
Gent - Wevelgem	Belgium	330	330	1	Key Domestique
Wallonië Prijs	Belgium	402	402	1	Leader
Ronde van Vlaanderen	Belgium	404	404	1	Key Domestique
Ster ZLM Tour	Netherlands	406	410	5	Key Domestique
Paris - Roubaix	France	412	412	1	Co-Leader
University of Lincoln GP	Britain	505	505	1	Key Domestique
Vuelta a Guatemala	Guatemala	603	608	6	Whatever
Tour of Northern Europe	Sweden	805	812	8	Key-Domestique
Baltic Chain Tour	Latvia	816	820	5	Leader
Eneco Tour	Belgium	824	830	7	Co-Leader
Richmond Criterium	USA	925	925	1	Co-Leader

Senechal will of course race lots of cobbles but he will also be an important domestique for Kittel and his leadout train in a coule of flat races. He will also be part of the waterboarding called triple header as he races in Guatemala.

Moreno Moser is the star of Wilier Triestina, and as that, the first thing we did when asking for invitations to races was where would he use his 53 RD this season.

He won't start his season until mid-february, where he'll head to Argentina tp race Tour de San Luis. You'll soon realise that he has the objetive to win every CT race he does, so i'll skip that part in every race . Despite being a CT.2 race, it's a race that suit Moreno perfectly, with 3 hilly stages plus a short timetrial. De Marchi and Pantano will be their main support cast in this race.

He'll comeback to Europe for a heavy-filled March and April, as he'll use a third of his total RD between these two months. First, Clasica Iberica which is basically an uphill sprint for the win after 225 kms, perfectly suited for him.

Then his first WT outing in Strade Bianche. As in every WT race, we will be going with the full supporting cast for Moser, with De Marchi, Rabottini, Madrazo, Pantano and Gatto. The goal here is to finish between 4th and 8th.

Then he goes to Croatia to race Istrian Spring Trophy is a very critical decision to skip Milano-Sanremo. He would have loved to be in the first Monument of the season, but this race is taylor-made for Moser. A very short prologue and two uphill finishes, which give him more opportunities to score than in San Remo

Next race is Wallonie Prijs, which is maybe a risky race for him, with some cobbled sections despite the hilly course. The hope is that the cobbles aren't important enough to drop him and that he uses his strenght climbing to win the race

Then we move to the Ardennes Week. Moser will ride all three Ardennes Classics, with the goal of finishing in the top5 in all of them. Last year he was fourth in LBL, and in the team we dream of a win in any of these classic, especially in Liege, being a monument and the first of our Season Goals

After a long hiatus, where he can rest and build his shape for the final part of the season, he'll be back in Spain to ride Clasica San Sebastian

Finally another long stage race for him in Tour de Pologne. Only 2 hilly stages in the race, but hard enough to create big gaps. It's also the second of our Season Goal

Then he will travel to Brazil for his final race of the month, to ride Tour of Rio

In September he'll ride his last stage race of the season in Tour of Britain, with 4 hilly stage and a short TT. It's also his only race of the month.

And this leaves 10 RD available for the month of October, ready to be used in 5 one-day races.

The first three are Tre Valli Varesine, Milano-Torino and Giro dell'Emilia, all of them CT.1 classics in Italy and with an uphill finish where Moser can shine at his best

The next race is the final Monument of the season, Giro di Lombardia. In 2017 he was 8th, and the aim is to improve that place.

So the final race of the season, and for Moser, is Japan Cup. It might a race where we have to earn promotion, so a great performance will be key

		WT	PR
2014	CarbonSports Cycling p/b Lightweight	154(103Pts.)	192(191Pts.)
2015	CarbonSports Cycling p/b Lightweight	51(535Pts.)	68(707Pts.)
2016	Hakse - ING Cycling	324(20Pts.)	68(769Pts.)
2017	Lufthansa IN Racing	104(254Pts.)	74(813Pts.)
2018	CarbonSports Cycling - Lightweight

Just like many other of CarbonSports stars, Lars Boom started his ICL career in the team's iconic black jersey. His best season came in 2015 when he finished as 51st in the WT Ranking. This convinced newly founded dutch team Hakse to offer CarbonSports 700 to get Lars Boom as new team leader. However, the connection between CarbonSports and Boom remained throughout the team. When Hakse's manager caught a serious illness it was CarbonSports' manager who helped Boom and his team with his season planning. And now, after two years away from CarbonSports he returned home to help CarbonSport clinch the World Tour ranking.

Highlights 2018:

***** Virginia Chrono Tour
**** Tour of Northern Europe
*** Cobbled Classics
** TTTs (Worlds, Toowoomba)
* Ardennen Triple

Boom is an allrounder who can do well on cobbles, hills and stage races with TTs and his highlights represent.

Race	Country	Start	End	St.	Role
Tour of Toowoomba	Australia	123	127	5	Key Domestique
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad	Belgium	301	301	1	Key Domestique
Milano - Sanremo	Italy	322	322	1	Key Domestique
E3 Prijs	Belgium	328	328	1	Key Domestique
Gent - Wevelgem	Belgium	330	330	1	Key Domestique
Ronde van Vlaanderen	Belgium	404	404	1	Key Domestique
Paris - Roubaix	France	412	412	1	Key Domestique
Amstel Gold Race	Netherlands	423	423	1	Key Domestique
La Flèche Wallonne	Belgium	425	425	1	Key Domestique
Liège - Bastogne - Liège	Belgium	428	428	1	Key Domestique
University of Lincoln GP	Britain	505	505	1	Key Domestique
Deutschland Tour	Germany	602	609	8	Co-Leader
Asmara Cup	Eritrea	701	701	1	Key Domestique
Tour of Northern Europe	Sweden	805	812	8	Co-Leader
Eneco Tour	Belgium	824	830	7	Key Domestique
Virginia Chrono Tour	USA	927	930	4	Leader
Bucaramanga Classic	Colombia	1003	1003	1	Key Domestique
World TTT Championships	TBA	1024	1024	1	Co-Leader

Boom will ride entirely in the World Tour this year. He only leads one race: Virginia Chrono Tour, but with his versatility he is one of the most important domestiques all season long and might even outshine his leaders at some point.

A total of 34 Classics are peppered across our calendar, including the first race and last seven races of the season. Among these, 20 are a part of the World Tour calendar while the rest belong to the Continental Tour.

John Degenkolb will lead us in flat and cobbled classics. He starts off the season with the Palm Classic. He gets leadership duties for Milan - San Remo before tackling the cobbles as co-leader in E3, Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris - Roubaix. He rides as a wildcard in the Amstel Gold Race, the onset of Ardennes week. The next classic he tackles is the Vattenfall Cyclassics, on home soil. He rounds off the season with leadership duties in the Quebec Sprint Challenge and Paris - Tours.

Richie Porte leads the team in one Classic, Il Lombardia.

Greg Van Avermaet is the designated leader for the cobbles and Ardennes week, among other races. He starts off with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and also champions Classica di Tirreno-Adriatico and Roma Maxima. He is the co-leader for Milan - San Remo. He leads in Dwaars door Vlaanderen before taking co-leader duties again in E3. He leads in Gent - Wevelgem and Wallonie Prijs before joining forces with Degenkolb in Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris - Roubaix. Next up, it's Ardennes week, where he co-leads Amstel Gold Race, leads La Fleche Wallone and co-leads Liege - Bastogne - Liege. It's back to the cobbles with University of Lincoln GP next. The Classica San Sebastien sees us betting on a puncher friendly outing. He leads in the Richmond Criterium before finishing off the season with Tre Valli Varesine and Bucaramanga Classic.

Benat Intxausti leads in Strade Bianche. He then co-leads in Liege - Bastogne - Liege. He is the designated captain for Asmara Cup and Course du Lac d'Annecy. He co-leads in Bucaramanga and takes leadership duty in Milano - Torino. He is our Plan B at Il Lombardia and finishes it off as leader in Japan Cup.

Matthias Frank leads our line-up in one race, Giro dell'Emilia.

Kenneth Vanbilsen leads us at Race Horizon Park.

Nino Honigh takes up leadership duties in Continental Tour cobbled Classics including Aleko Vitosa, Kigali GP and Cigar City Classic.

Ollfardh wrote:
Sagan vs. Van Keirsbulck then. Any other challengers?

AbhishekLFC wrote:

GVA and too a lesser extent, Degenkolb.

While it was already confirmed that Sagan will wear his 2016 NC once again, fans were wondering how Alberto Contador's spanish NC jersey for the 2018 season will look. The spaniard won the tt and dominated the road race by crossing the finish line 4'51'' ahead of runner-up Joaquím Rodríguez.

The new jersey has now been leaked and while the scource remains unknown the team quickly confirmed that this will indeed be Contador's jersey for the upcoming season whenever he doesnt wear a leader's jersey: "Fos some [censored] reason winners of national championship races are forced to ride in special jerseys seperating the national champions from the rest of the team. So we came up with one of the most beautiful NC jerseys we could imagine." Whether the world of cycling is equally appreciative for such a jersey is questionable and will be seen through the reactions soon.

Ollfardh wrote:
Sagan vs. Van Keirsbulck then. Any other challengers?

Bikex wrote:
That's a terrible NC for Contador, wondering if I make a rule for the NC jerseys to have to follow some standards, just for you knockout.

Our team for this race:

		AVG	FL	MO	HI	TT	PR	CB	SP	AC	ST	RS	RC	Age
	Patryk Komisarek	74,7	74	68	72	70	71	72	76	75	74	70	71	25
	Diego Ochoa	74,6	69	75	74	65	63	59	63	71	71	66	72	25
	Ever Rivera	74,5	67	75	73	65	64	60	62	71	70	66	70	27
	Egor Silin	74,4	69	74	73	72	71	57	64	71	73	68	73	30
	Eugenio Alafaci	71,6	70	64	68	63	66	65	73	73	70	66	67	28
	Adrian Tekliński	71,5	71	65	67	64	67	64	73	72	70	67	69	29
	Tomasz Brzeziński	66,5	66	56	59	58	64	58	68	67	64	64	65	21

Team goals for this race:

Top 10 place on at least four stages	???
Two riders at least in the top 20 of final general classification	???

Personal goals:

Patryk Komisarek	At least three top 10	???
	Top 30 in general classification	???
	Top 5 in points classification	???
Diego Ochoa	Top 20 in general classification	???
Ever Rivera	Top 20 in general classification	???
Egor Silin	Top 30 in general classification	???