Hello, my Name is Stephen Roche, and i have the pleasure to introduce myself as the new DS of the Garmin-Sharp Cycling Team.
At the start i'll just write a few lines about myself and the team and then we'll get to the Riders. So, most of you probably know me for being the second rider after Eddy Merckx to win the Triple Crown (Giro, Tour and the Worlds). After my retirement in 1993, caused by never-ending knee Problems, i haven't been involved in cycling very much. Thanks to all the cycling fans out there, that said enough is enough, i am lucky enough to be in a Position to Change that now though.
I have taken over at Garmin-Sharp, a Team focusing quite a lot on american riders and american races. The two main Sponsors are Garmin, an american GPS Provider and Sharp, a japanese Electronics Company. We have decided to Keep the main Focus american, but, if possible, also to sign one or two asian riders. This is our HQ, where you can find all or News. All articles are linked up a bit further down. That was it then from me, more to come about our riders later on!
Dan will be our Leader in the Ardennes and in one GT, since hills and mountains are his strength, as he has shown already, winning both La Doyenne and a stage at the Tour de France. He's neither your typical climber nor your typical Puncher, but i have high hopes in him being one of our highest-scoring riders this season.
Ryder Hesjedal
Ryder will be our leader in at least one, but possibly even two Grand Tours this season, depending on how Andrew Talansky is feeling. He is pretty much our strongest stage racer, beeing equally good climbing and time-trialling. The biggest win on his palmares must surely be his Giro win in 2012, were he took over the Jersey on the last stage, beating Joaquim Rodriguez to it in the Time-Triall
Nick Nuyens
Nick is by far our best Cobbler and can lead pretty much everything he wants to along those lines. Amongst his wins are Omloop het Volk, as it was still called back then, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and, above all, the Tour of Flanders in 2011.
Tyler Farrar
Tyler will be our main sprinter this year, and though he hasn't had the results he has hoped for in the last while, he still has our full trust. He has won stages at every Grand Tour, and also won back-to-back Vattenfall Cyclassics in 2009-2010. After the death of his best mate Wouter Weylandt on stage 3 of the 2011 Giro, he hasn't been the same, but as mentioned above, he has our full trust.
Our biggest Talents: Andrew Talansky
Andy is one of the biggest american talents around, and so a must-have rider for us. He is a very strong stage racer, which he showed in the vuelta and the tour already, finishing 7th and 10th respectively.
Michel & Raymond Kreder
The two dutch Brothers are Sprinters that can both reach a very high Level in the future, though there are many doubts wether they can really reach a world-class Level.
Rohan Dennis
Rohan is an aussie time-triallist, who has had his biggest succes on the track, winning two Gold medals at world Championships. On the road, his biggest rsult so far was a silver medal in the U-23 Time-Trial world Championships, followed by achieving the Double of Road Race and Time-Trial in the 2012 australian U-23 national Championships.
Other Riders: Jack Bauer Tom Danielson Thomas Dekker Koldo Fernández Nathan Haas Alex Howes Robert Hunter Martijn Maaskant David Millar Lachlan Morton Ramūnas Navardauskas Alex Rasmussen Jacob Rathe Peter Stetina Johan Vansummeren Christian Vandevelde Steele Von Hoff Fabian Wegmann David Zabriskie
Nicklas will be our main threat for the Sprints alongside Tyler Farrar. He'll ride at least one GT, maybe even the Tour! If you want more info on hime, you can find some in his intro, right here!Edited by Dippofix on 28-10-2013 11:29
World Tour: Santos Tour Down Under [22 – 27 January] Omloop Het Nieuwsblad [23 February] Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne [24 February] Strade Bianche [2 March] Paris-Nice [3 – 10 March] Tirreno-Adriatico [6 – 12 March] Nokere Koerse [13 March] Milan-San Remo [17 March] Volta a Catalunya [18 – 24 March] Dwars Door Vlaanderen [20 March] E3 Harelbeke [22 March] Gent-Wevelgem [24 March] Ronde Van Vlaanderen Pais Vasco Paris-Roubaix Amstel Gold Race La Fleche Wallone Liege-Bastogne-Liege Tour de Romandie Giro d'Italia Criterium du Dauphine Tour de Suisse Tour de France Tour de Pologne Clasica San Sebastian Eneco Tour Vuelta a Espana Vattenfall Cyclassic GP Plouay GP du Quebec GP du Montreal Il Lombardia Tour of Beijing
Edited by Dippofix on 15-10-2013 18:00
Easy: Top 5 GC Volta a Catalunya Medium:Stage Win Santos Tour Down Under Hard: Top 3 Milano - San Remo
(You can post now)
Edited by Dippofix on 28-09-2013 16:41
As the UCI wants to bring new faces in to cycling, i would like to invite all the young riders out there to test-train with us as soon as the new UCI Scheme is started. We will then select the strongest riders to join our Team. We are currently looking for a capable hills rider, though also a cobbler or a mountain rider would have good chances. We would also sign Sprinters and Time-Triallists, though they would have to be quite talented indeed. Prefered, though this isn't most important to us, would be riders from America, Asia and, if possible an Irish helper for Dan. Feel free to contact us at our Headquarters if you'd like to talk about joining us for the upcoming season.
Edited by Dippofix on 01-10-2013 23:28
Hello there, it's Stephen Roche again. I can tell you that we are still looking for up to two new riders. At the Moment we haven't signed anybody yet, but we are very interested in two riders: Number one is an American Cobbler, who has attracted the sights of many Team Managers, but we are confident that we have given him pretty much the best possible offer. The other one is a dutch Sprinter with a good Punch to him, who we believe has also received a few offers. Again we think he is the ideal man for us, and we are the ideal Team for him, since we have many Dutch riders, like Martijn Maaskant, Ray Kreder and Michel Kreder. Thats it from me for the Moment, more to follow.
Edited by Dippofix on 05-10-2013 17:06
Today we can joyfully anmounce that Nicklas Strömberg, a 23 year old Swedish Sprinter, has signed with the team. After missing out on Oget and Brouwers, he was ddefinately the most important target for us. We believe that in one or two years, he can beaat Cavendish, Kittel and co. For the moment he will still be able to challenge for wins in smaller stageraces and maybe even the giro or vuelta, depending on competition. Thats it for now, you'll hear from Nicklas himself a bit later.
Edited by Dippofix on 05-10-2013 17:06
It had always tempted me. The drugs, the partying and the drinking.
It did until that day. The day I took cocaine for the last time.
My life began in Uppsala. I was born in a wealthy family where I had a great upbringing.
We moved to Lund after a year, and that's as much drama that happened in the early days
Then, when I was five, my parents separated. I never lived completely at one place so I saw them as much as I could.
My mother working in Stockholm so she was there one week, and the next week with me in Lund. It was quite hard for me, because if something happened at one point when I was at my fathers, she couldn't help me. And my father is quite hard to read, so you never know how he's gonna react.
But after some years, she became a lawyer and moved back down completely, and she's been down here ever since.
When i started the seventh grade, my up to then, best friend turned on me. So I just left him and was incredibly depressed and sad. That's when I found the bike.
My dad had always watched the tour on TV and admired Greg LeMond and Miguel Indurain, and I knew this was a sport where pain rewarded it self, so I joined a club ten kilometers outside Lund.
I always used those ten kilometers as a warmup and challenged myself with how fast I could get there. Once it took thirty minutes and I was so proud with myself.
It needs to be said that my bike was too small and the ring on the front didn't have enough spikes.
Then I got a new gang to hang with. These were guys who trained soccer and handball.
After a while I and the rest of them got invited to a party. Me and a guy called Mathias went there. That's the first time I had a beer.
It was a pretty bad beer so I didn't get a great first impression.
Then they brought out the Carlsberg beer and I was stunned.
I think I took two or three bottles and drank pretty quickly. I got drunk pretty quickly, and it wasn't nice. When I sobered up a little I thought how am I gonna explain this to my mom!
I took a bag of mints and ate them. It covered the smell but I looked like shit.
I somehow got out of that okay, but soon the parties got wilder and someone brought drugs and shit.
I took some cocaine once to get some extra energy, and it sure as hell worked.
It wasn't going to shabby in my club and I was winning almost every race i entered. Except for long time-trials. There I never did any good.
But when I discovered cocaine and took a shitload of it before races, the club soon found out and kicked me out.
But that wasn't too worrying. The biggest shame was the mail they sent to my parents.
So I was put in a rehab center and then at the youth psychiatry.
My brother Jonas had just moved to Copenhagen to study there. During the weekends he would come with mine and his bike and we would ride maybe 100 or 200 kilometers together.
He was the greatest help for me during that period.
I joined a new club, and this one was based in Lund. I started winning again, and won the Swedish NC for them.
Jonas was also riding in that club for a year but never did any good in it.
When he obtained danish citizenship he stopped riding for them and went as a stagiare to Concordia Forsikring.
He took a win on a mountainous stage in the Tour de l'Avenir.
I on the other hand won the points classification in the same race and got many offers then. That's how I ended up here.
I hope for a long and successful season for both the team, myself and my brother!
It's been quiet here at Garmin-Sharp over the last few days, but behind the scenes we've been busy looking att young riders to fill the last free spot on the squad. This has come to an end now, as we can announce the signing of young brit Robert Andrews. He will be our Leader on the cobbles and also a lead out man for Tyler and Nicklas. We see that he doesn't have the level to win a big classic just yet, but with a bit of luck a podium or atleast a top 5 should be very possible. That was it for now, stay tuned for an update by Andrew himself.
Robert Andrews is delighted to sign with Garmin-Sharp:
Flying the flag for Cornwall!
I'm excited to be joining such a well regarded team as Garmin-Sharp. With my strength being in the cobbles and with this team having many experienced riders who can perform in tough cobbled races, I'm sure I'm going to feel right at home.
My talents are not solely on the cobbles, I believe I have a lot to offer on the flat lands, burying myself for my team leader or my sprinter on the end of a lead out train.
I'd also like to wish luck to my Cornish buddy Aaron Arblaster who has signed for Cofidis.
Can't wait for the season!
Robert Andrews
***FOLLOW @pcm_NetApp for my PCM13 story!***
DEVONIAN
*****[EPIC]***** Agent of Aaron Arblaster and Robert Andrews DS of Sojasunas Morgan Schneiderlin
Santos Tour Down Under
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
Strade Bianche
Paris-Nice
Tirreno-Adriatico
Nokere Koerse
Milan-San Remo
Volta a Catalunya
Dwars Door Vlaanderen
E3 Harelbeke
Gent-Wevelgem
Robert Andrews is happy to let his new manager decide upon his schedule for Part 1, though is hopeful he can compete in as many cobbled races as possible.
***FOLLOW @pcm_NetApp for my PCM13 story!***
DEVONIAN
*****[EPIC]***** Agent of Aaron Arblaster and Robert Andrews DS of Sojasunas Morgan Schneiderlin
His schedule so far would look something like this:
STDU?
Omloop
K-B-K
Strade Bianche?
P-N?
T-A?
Nokere
MSR?
DDV
E3
G-W
As you can think, the questionmark means it's a maybe race. Any Objections/Wishes so far? Also, want to ride a GT? If yes, which one?
Edited by Dippofix on 15-10-2013 18:06
With great regret i have to announce that not one, but two of our riders decided to retire Pre-Season. Caleb Fairly has decided, though he may yet still be Young, that he will never be an outstanding rider and would prefer to go to University and study law. We wish him all the best at that!
The other rider is Sebastien Rosseler, who at the Age of 31, has come to realise that he's no spring chicken any more and that his Body can't cope with riding so hard. He is yet unsure of what he will do now, but we have heard a big belgian tv channel would like him as commentator.
Edited by Dippofix on 23-10-2013 16:59
We can now announce our Squad for the first World Tour race of the season, the Santos Tour Down Under. We decided to go for Dual Leadership, bringing Nicklas Strömberg for the Sprints and Fabian Wegmann as a bit of a "Dark Horse" for the two hilly stages. In Support of Nicklas, we are bringing Robert Hunter, Jacob Rathe, Ramunas Navardauskas, and Martijn Maaskant. They will either help chasing breakaways or function as lead-out. A few of those are also handy on the hills, were we only have Christian Vande Velde is the only real Support for Fabian. So that's it for now, we're looking forward to seeing how Nicklas can do in his first ever Pro Race!
Edited by Dippofix on 23-10-2013 16:59
How does it feel, with your first ever race as a Pro coming up soon?
It feels great. It's all I've ever wanted. I hope I can take at least one stage win in the STDU.
How are you getting along with the squad?
All of the guys are great. My whole lead-out train feels like It knows their stuff. I hope I will not dissapoint them.
But apart from my lead-out train, my favorite guy is David Millar. All his experience will really help us this year.
Have you made any particularly good friends yet?
David Millar and Tyler Farrar.
Have you got any tactics worked out yet?
Ride fast and don't brake
What are you're Longterm Goals?
Winning the green in the Tour de France
Who will be the standout rider of the upcoming season?
Me.
Who will dissapoint a lot next season?
Well. I can't really answer this question. It wouldn't be fair to any rider.
Who do you think will be your main rivals in the Sprints (Both STDU and the whole season)?
The top three and Kristoff and Sagan. I hope there isn't too many good sprinters at the STDU. I haven't read the startlists yet.
So, Stage 3 of the Santos Tour Down Under is over now, so we're at 3/6. At the Moment we have had some ups and downs. The Downs mainly being not getting the stage win yet that the Sponsor wants, the Ups are that both Fabian Wegmann and Ramunas Navardauskas have shown some great things already, Fabian finishing third on the hilly third stage and Ramunas trying something on stages two and three, picking up a nice amount of mountain points on the way, which makes him second in the classification. Now, let's hope for the best on the remaining three stages!
Edited by Dippofix on 27-10-2013 14:37
Jack Bauer 
Koldo Fernández 
Robert Hunter 
David Millar
Ramūnas Navardauskas
Alex Rasmussen 
Fabian Wegmann
Nicklas Strömberg
Strade Bianche [2 March]
Paris-Nice [3 – 10 March]
Tour de Romandie
Tour de Pologne
Tour of Beijing
)
