Today saw the presentation of a new German continental cycling team,
Team Puma - SAP.
The press conference held in Herzogenaurach was used to introduce both team management and future plans for "the new hope of German pro cycling", as the official invitation stated.
During the event, the new jersey for Team Puma - SAP was presented to the public. This will be the outfit for the new season.
(Thanks a lot to Sykkel_Freak for this great jersey!)
We managed to grab the CEO of Puma for a short interview after the announcement.
What was the intention for Puma to invest in a new cycling team?
Well, as a sports equipment manufacturer, we're especially interested in expanding into diverse sports. After successful years in football or athletics, we had the idea of supporting a (at least in Germany) less known sport.
Cycling was the ideal choice for that.
SAP as our co-sponsor was brought into this project because it's a fast growing, expanding enterprise interested in presenting itself in many countries.
How do your future plans look like?
At first, we have to slow down all the people demanding ProTour wins soon.
We know that most of the valuable riders have contracts, and our budget does not allow big guns.
Apart from that, our idea is to support young German riders with potential.
We are aware of the lack of GC riders in Germany, therefore we want to be a sprints team with riders specialized in sprinting or leading our sprinters to the finish.
Surely we'll closely watch the transfer season and if we get a shot at a classics rider or a real GC contender, we try to hire them.
As we don't want to focus on sprints only, we hope to give promising GC riders a chance to fully develop into TDF threats.
About the nationality of both riders and the team, I can say that the team will be based in Germany, so we try to have a big German base in our roster. But as both Puma and SAP are involved in French business, we'll also search the transfers for French riders. Any other nationality should be keeped low in terms of numbers, but we are also keen on prospects from Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and BeNeLux.
That seems to be really promising, thank you for this interview.Edited by cio93 on 24-03-2011 18:00
As the transfer season is opened for some days, Team Puma - SAP is proud to announce not less than 9 signings for the new season.
Three riders will play a special role in the next season.
Thomas Vedel Kvist is a good sprinter with great secondary stats and will either be the last lead-out man or might as well compete on his own. We would like to thank Heine for his kindness during the negotiations.
Belgian Lars Croket could be the man to ride for in flat stages. He is capable of securing good results for the team.
Pierre Rolland plays an important part in our stage races team. This allrounder might mix up the standings as his time-trial abilities can be crucial when the GC will be decided.
No team works without domestiques, and we were able to sign some.
Jetse Bol and German Tony Martin are great allround domestiques in every type of race, and Team Puma - SAP is glad to have transferred them into the team for small transfer fees.
As we want to focus on young, developing riders from Germany and France, we are proud to announce the signing of three promising prospects:
Nacer Bouhanni could mix up the sprints in a few years.
His fellow countryman Jocelyn Bar is a very promising rider who is able to help our team on flat stages for now. Maybe he'll get his own chance on winning stages if he develops well.
Mike Aaron Egger will be introduced into pro cycling this year. He will gain experience, and many scouts see him competing in the mountains in the future.
Thanks a lot for these kind words. That's some sort of reward for the work put into selection and auctions.
I really hope I can live up to these expectations.
@Smowz: I was surprised to see noone counter, but well... Edited by cio93 on 14-06-2016 13:42
Preparing a shortlist for transfer season helps...
...but sometimes, unpredictable things happen.
I would have never dreamed to say this once in my lifetime, but Team Puma - SAP is proud to announce the signing of TDF points jersey winner Daniele Bennati!
Noone could have foreseen that, and so, the management decided to switch the specialization of the team from classics to pure sprints. Luckily, our roster is fully capable of supporting Daniele wherever he needs help.
As an result of that, many transfer goals will be unaccomplishable.
But watch out for our jersey in every flat stage you enter!
A full roster and some words about every signing can be expected soon.
Team Puma - SAP presents its 21 riders for the season 2012.
Team Leader
Normally, you would expect that we name 3 or 4 riders now. But the events during transfer season saw us focusing on a single rider.
Daniele Bennati is the man to watch out for if you see our team jersey at the front. His signing made all of us very happy.
Daniele is the best sprinter in the CT, and we hope he can live up to our expectations. He should be able to rely on the full support of all team members in every situation.
Co-Leaders
Pierre Rolland is our best stage racer by far.
He will compete in short stage races where the TT will be the decisive discipline. We don't expect him to win many races, but he has the strengh to finish high in the standings.
Lars Croket will be our main sprinter if Bennati is not around.
He won't be the favourite, but he is capable of being right in the battle for the win.
Sprint preparation
Although Bennati is a rocket, he needs the right support to win a race.
Enrico Gasparotto will be the main lead-out for Bennati. Both Italians have quite the same abilities uphill. With his power on the flat, Enrico can position Daniele exactly where he needs to be.
Watch out for this duo!
Thomas Vedel Kvist could replace Gasparotto in flatter races. He has a strong sprint, and his great secondary stats should help him saving energy for the lead-out.
Sebastien Minard will help setting up the sprint as well. In the important races, he might support Daniele, but normally, he should be the main helper for Lars Croket.
Edited by cio93 on 04-07-2011 14:29
As we are a pure sprint team, and usually there's a breakaway to reel in and a high pace to be set, these riders will be crucial for results.
Gianni Meersman is a real powerhouse. With his strenght, he will be seen at the front of the peloton in decisive situations when a high speed is necessary.
Mickael Delage is a great allround helper. He can push well in flat and hilly parts.
Jonathon Thire is a young sprinter who will either help out relaying or preparing a sprint.
Domestiques
Domestiques are the base for an succesful team.
Jetse Bol joins us this season. He is a good allrounder and we are glad that he left Cal Giant to fill up our squad.
Tony Martin is the same type of rider as Bol. He joins us after racing for Domina Vacanze.
Edited by cio93 on 04-07-2011 14:40
Last but not least, we are proud to present our young prospects we were able to sign.
Wilco Kelderman is a very talented puncheur. Expect him to be seen up front in a few years!
Jocelyn Bar already has some pro experience. He is a strong rider with a good sprint. If he develops well, he will join our sprint train soon.
Mario Vogt might not be as good as the future German superstars Arndt or Zabel, but don't underestimate this guy!
He will able to compete in the Ardennes Classics soon, believe me.
Olivier Le Gac is the third young puncheur in our team. Just like his two companions, he has a great future.
Jasha Sütterlin already dominates the U23 TT's, and we are confident that he will do so as well in pro cycling in some time.
Tom Dumoulin is a TT specialist as well. The yound Dutchman will develop into a good rider.
Nacer Bouhanni is quite experienced already, but still young. He might be able to get some points here or there in a breakaway, and if he continues to improve, he will be a very fast finisher.
Mike Aaron Egger is another German rider who has much room left to improve, especially when the road rises.
Stagiares
We were able to sign two stagiares as well.
Daniel Klemme is a German sprint talent who will have the chance to show his abilities in some races for us this season.
Karel Hnik is a flexible youngster. His strenghts are the cobbles and sprinting. We are excited to see what he can show.
Edited by cio93 on 06-07-2011 11:54
*** Daniele Bennati (sprinter)
** Lars Croket (sprinter)
* Pierre Rolland (Timetrialist)
Great talents
Olivier Le Gac, Mario Vogt, Tom Dumoulin, Jasha Sütterlin
This is a team who can sprint, sprint, sprint, sprint and... oh, they got a timetrialist!
It's acctually as simply as that, they got the best sprinter in the world, and a great sprinting team built around him, but apart from that there is pretty much nothing in this squad. Wait for them to chase the breaks so they can win the mass sprint.
The problem for them is that Sprints is not the most reliable way to get points, and even though Bennati is the best sprinter in the world even he can be beaten. Still Vedel Kvist, Gasparrotto and Croket can also get some good results
Apart from their sprinters they got Rolland, a good timetrialist, but he's a bit behind the best timetrialists and will not be the best scorer in the league.
For the future however they got some interesting riders, Vogt and Le Gac will become 2 really strong puncheurs in the future, whle Dumolin and Sütterlin will become really strong timetrialists.
This team is dependent on a good season from Benatti, if he fails they can end last, if he does well they will still end far behind. I gotta place them within the bottom 5.
roturn's preview
Spoiler
Leaders:
Daniele Bennati, Pierre Rolland
Sprinters:
Enrico Gasparotto, Thomas Vedel Kvist, Lars
Croket
This is the first of 3 new German CT teams. It`s one of the strongest sprinter teams, not just in the CT.
Daniele Bennati of course the big surprise in this team. He is one of the best sprinters in cycling. So it was a big surprise that he signed for the new German team for 550.000, what much less than paid for similar riders. But obviously he was convinced that the whole team will be build around him to be the most successful sprinter this season.
Most of his lead-out will also be able to ride on their own. Especially Gasparotto, Croket and Vedel Kvist are excellent sprinters with good top10 chances.
Pierre Rolland is also a nice signing. The timetrialist with a good punch in the harder stages is supposed to collect some points in the easier stage races.
Biggest problem is that they don`t really have riders for the other races. They won`t do well in cobbled classics, not in the hills and also not in the mountain races. So lots of points might be missing in the end.
Although they will have lots of great stage results in the end, they will be in the second half of the CT ranking in the end. But riders like Keldermann, Egger, Dumoulin, Le Gac or Vogt will take care for this problem in the next seasons.
Heine's rider evaluation
Spoiler
The Best Sprinters
1) Daniele Bennati (Puma - SAP)
Perhaps the best sprinter in the world? And to top that he also got his entire team built around him. Simply put, the Italian supersprinter hopes to take the CT as a tornado. And his DS prays for him to win everything he enters, since that's his teams only plan.
The biggest talents
3) Wilco Kelderman (Puma-SAP)
A up and coming puncheur star who in the future could be a winner of the hilly classics. I bet Puma-SAP are really looking forward to his development
8) Jasha Sütterlin (Puma-SAP)
A Timetrialer with a fantastic potenial, he's going to become a rider to win stages, and a fantastic asset in TTT's
10) Mario Vogt (Puma-SAP)
The third Puma-SAP rider on the list, and their second rider who can reach 80 in hills. They got a really talented squad!
roturn's rider evaluation
Spoiler
Sprinters
Daniele Bennati Puma - SAP
Roman Maksimov CSC-Orbea
Maxime Vantomme Rothaus - Aegon
Claudio Corioni Venchi
Mitch Docker Cyclevox
Bennati of course the top favourite as best sprinter in the world.
Time Trialists
Gustav Larsson Aker Solutions
Lars Boom Rothaus - Aegon
Ivan Kovalev CSC-Orbea
Rick Flens Koppert
Pierre Rolland Puma - SAP
Pierre Rolland can perform well in these races, too, but he lacks the big uphill punch.
As Team Puma - SAP now fully starts into this year's CT season with a highly anticipated Down Under Classic, it was time to get some information from the team manager about the current situation.
"Our season start iat MTN Cycling Classic went better than expected. We weren't able to send a squad competing for the win there, thus we are very pleased with the performance of our youngster Olivier Le Gac.
Not only did he manage to establish himself in the breakaway, he also hung on to the fast peloton after they were reeled in. A 24th place in the end is a great result, especially as only 3 of the 13 other breakaway members finished in front of him.
Next up is the Down Under Classic. We decided to let our best sprinter fly to Australia to secure a good start into the sprint season.
We know that everybody expects Daniele to win this race, just as every other flat race that appears during the season. But what we also know is that bunch sprints always deliver both positive and negative surprises.
Therefore we would be pleased to see Daniele in the Top 3 today as well as enjoying a good sprint preparation from Enrico Gasparotto and Thomas Vedel Kvist." cio93
Twitter account released
In other news, Team Puma - SAP decided to join the Twitter community with an own account.
The Down Under Classic is all about sprinting and staying on the bike.
Both of these tasks were well-executed by our Italian superstar Daniele Bennati, who only had to surrender to Allan Davis to secure a deserved second place.
Allan Davis crossing the finish line first in his home race, Bennati right behind.
2
Daniele Bennati
s.t.
38
Mickaël Delage
s.t.
45
Enrico Gasparotto
s.t.
46
Tony Martin
s.t.
50
Gianni Meersman
s.t.
51
Jetse Bol
s.t.
66
Thomas Vedel Kvist
s.t.
101
Jocelyn Bar
+ 1'45
The manager's reaction:
Especially with an HC classic like this, it's important to score. A favourite like Mohs just finished 8th, so we are happy with this result.
Tour Down Under
Enrico Gasparotto came here to make an impact in the hillier stages. He exceeded all expecations by finishing in the Top11 in all stages, crowned by a great stage win in the Willunga stage.
Another good result came from Lars Croket, who finished on the podium on the last stage into Adelaide.
Our team in New Zealand was led by Enrico Gasparotto, who hoped to carry on his great form from Australia. Mickaël Delage should try his luck on the hilly second stage.
Enrico continued to impress with a strong second place behing Wegmann on stage 2, while Mickaël failed to surprise. He still finished as satisfying 12th overall.
Additionally, a strong display in a successful breakaway gave Gianni Meersman a nice stage 4 finish in 3rd place.
Our jersey shining in the sun, revealing a great positioning by Delage, Gasparotto behind just slightly misses a deserved win afterwards.
12
Mickaël Delage
+ 1'15
22
Gianni Meersman
+ 2'15
30
Enrico Gasparotto
+ 2'57
33
Olivier Le Gac
+ 3'19
39
Wilco Kelderman
+ 4'14
53
Mario Vogt
+ 6'09
81
Mike Aaron Egger
+ 16'09
The manager's reaction:
I guess that's all we could have demanded from this race. There were many stronger puncheurs present, so a high GC position was never to be achieved. Strong stage results compensate that a bit.
Tour Mediterraneen
Sponsor goal: Top 5
Despite being a sponsor goal, we knew that none of our riders would stand a chance in the GC, thus we decided to send our youngsters here.
Hopes were on breakaway presence, and that was exactly what our riders managed. Our jersey was seen in every BOTD, resulting in a satisfying second place by Olivier Le Gac in the KOTM classification.
Olivier in a typical Puma situation in France.
49
Wilco Kelderman
+ 9'03
52
Mario Vogt
+ 9'49
54
Olivier Le Gac
+ 9'54
73
Tom Dumoulin
+ 18'16
77
Mike Aaron Egger
+ 21'14
The manager's reaction:
Considering our line-up had an average age of 20.4, what do you expect more? Our youngsters instinctively knew how to get into breakaways and competed well in mountain sprints.
Edited by cio93 on 02-03-2012 17:36
Not pancake flat all the way, but inevitably a mass sprint. Therefore it's all for Bennati here.
A breakaway of only 4 never stood a chance, but a sneaky late attack by Romain Feillu disrupted the sprint preparation. Daniele had to go from long out, but as everyone did so, he easily outsprinted the others.
A beautiful jersey presented in the most beautiful way!
1
Daniele Bennati
3h59'197
7
Thomas Vedel Kvist
s.t.
21
Enrico Gasparotto
s.t.
38
Gianni Meersman
s.t.
44
Mickaël Delage
s.t.
52
Jetse Bol
s.t.
55
Tony Martin
s.t.
The manager's reaction:
What else should I say: Perfect!
Mumbai Cyclothon 2
Another race, the same line-up, and the same goal: Repeat the win!
Our helpers had a hard job to reel in the breakaways, but they did so brilliantly.
In a resemblance to yesterday's race, Feillu tried his luck a second time, but again it wasn't meant to be. Daniele was battling a lot more though, but he still managed to edge out Manan and Sutton for the win.
A lot closer now, but it's still celebration awaiting!
1
Daniele Bennati
2h30'56
6
Jocelyn Bar
s.t.
9
Tony Martin
s.t.
15
Gianni Meersman
s.t.
36
Thomas Vedel Kvist
s.t.
41
Enrico Gasparotto
s.t.
52
Mickaël Delage
s.t.
The manager's reaction:
Another perfect race, and even more because of a great team performance with 3 riders in the Top 10.
Tour of South Africa
This tour, like the Tour Med, provided a chance for the less experienced riders to shine. And how they did! Jetse Bol succeeded on stage 5 in a great sprint, and the GC looks better than we could expect. A nice points haul for us!
The momentum is on our side! Jetse Bol about to overtake Hiratsuka.
11
Jetse Bol
+ 3'28
17
Tony Martin
+ 5'02
19
Wilco Kelderman
+ 6'23
20
Jocelyn Bar
+ 6'32
21
Olivier Le Gac
+ 7'03
36
Mario Vogt
+ 11'40
48
Mike Aaron Egger
+ 22'07
The manager's reaction:
It was certainly not the strongest line-up we had to battle with, but nevertheless a win is a win! Consistent presence in BOTDs pays off again.
Cape Argus Cycle Tour
A short race that favours guys with a decent uphill ability, although it should end in a bunch sprint.
It should? It didn't!
In fact, it went completely crazy, with an unauthorised mid-stage breakaway attempt by both of our leaders, Daniele and Enrico!
It was a risky move and was surely strange to watch, but in parts, it played out.
Sadly, Bennati had to let go of the strenghtened successful breakaway, and Gasparotto didn't have the legs to match the acceleration of the winner Ruslan Sambris.
Still, a 4th place is better than what we would have got when staying with the peloton.
The strangest of all races. Our two leaders on the attack!
4
Enrico Gasparotto
s.t.
12
Daniele Bennati
+ 53
16
Mickaël Delage
s.t.
21
Gianni Meersman
+ 4'22
25
Tony Martin
s.t.
28
Jetse Bol
s.t.
43
Thomas Vedel Kvist
s.t.
The manager's reaction:
Realistically, Enrico should have won that sprint, but we have to be content with being in the right move.
Tour of Taiwan
Again a race where we couldn't compete for the GC, so as it was very successful, we again decided to give our younger riders another possibility to present our jersey.
And how they did!
Surprisingly, many breakaways made it to the end, leading to a total of 6 Top 10 stage results by Sütterlin, Le Gac, Kelderman and Dumoulin.
The absolute highlight for Puma - SAP was Wilco's great stage win on the seventh day, easily outsprinting his breakaway compatriot Pereyra.
The deciding mountain stage unsurprisingly saw all Puma riders dropping back in the GC.
Wilco's big day! Often he tried, now it pays off.
34
Olivier Le Gac
+ 11'51
35
Wilco Kelderman
+ 12'03
42
Mike Aaron Egger
+ 13'50
49
Mario Vogt
+ 18'18
53
Tom Dumoulin
+ 19'50
62
Jasha Sütterlin
+ 29'41
67
Nacer Bouhanni
+ 34'10
The manager's reaction:
Our talents pay back more than we could ever give them. Another race where we came home with unexpected success.
Edited by cio93 on 03-03-2012 16:30
The first pro appearance in the Czech Republic cumulates in a TT and a steep climb to finish the race.
We sent Pierre Rolland here, but after managing a great runner-up position in the TT, the hopes of finishing high in the GC were dashed a bit, as the hilly stage produced bigger time gaps than we wanted.
Thomas somehow wasn't able to make an impact in the flat stages.
Pierre, in a beautiful TT gear, justifying our participation.
11
Pierre Rolland
+ 1'55
68
Wilco Kelderman
+ 8'51
69
Jasha Sütterlin
+ 8'59
70
Olivier Le Gac
+ 9'00
74
Thomas Vedel Kvist
+ 9'24
94
Mario Vogt
+ 10'47
145
Tom Dumoulin
+ 30'38
The manager's reaction:
Not great, but about what we expected. The laziness of Kvist is not excusable, though.
Tour of the Battenkill
Sponsor goal: Top 5
Another sponsor goal, and we sent two leaders here: Daniele for a possible sprint and Mickaël for a strong performance over the hills.
Luckily, Mickaël did everything right and ended up in the right move. He had to surrender to three of his fellow attackers, but it was enough!
Mickaël, here on the attack, overperforms and pleases our sponsors.
4
Mickaël Delage
s.t.
59
Daniele Bennati
+ 9'46
60
Wilco Kelderman
s.t.
63
Jocelyn Bar
+ 10'16
73
Tony Martin
s.t.
75
Jetse Bol
s.t.
98
Mario Vogt
+ 16'47
The manager's reaction:
Our little French fighter Delage justifying his signing.
Rund um den Eschborn-Frankfurt
The first home race for Puma - SAP! The same predictions like in the USA: Daniele for a sprint, Mickaël to attack. And what else to say: The same result!
Although Delages initial attack didn't make it all the way, it led to his presence in the reduced group that decided the race. His great sprint got him another fourth place, just edged out for the podium by Manuele Mori.
Trilux domination, but again Mickaël in the mix!
4
Mickaël Delage
s.t.
43
Jocelyn Bar
+ 5'30
48
Enrico Gasparotto
+ 6'21
49
Daniele Bennati
s.t.
58
Gianni Meersman
s.t.
65
Jetse Bol
s.t.
82
Mario Vogt
+ 13'04
The manager's reaction:
Again Delage! You got to love his allround abilities.
5 Jours de Dunkerque
A mediocre cobbles team determined to compete in the sprints.
But neither Thomas nor Lars did enough effort to compete for the win, a 7th place being the best result for Croket.
Gianni Meersman though exceeded our expectations.
Showing an agressive style, he outperformed many stronger riders to finish 10th in GC, just missing out on more because of a time loss due to inattentiveness.
The start of a series of some pure sprinting classics where Bennati wants to show why he secured the TdF points jersey last year!
So it's all for Daniele here, and he delivers. Even though the sprint preparation was disturbed by breakaway riders, he found a space and rocketed away to celebrate another stunning win.
Congratulations go to the whole team, everyone finished in the Top 31, a great display of strenght and a confirmation why Puma was labelled as a sprinter's team.
Some say he just does his job, others are amazed, but either way, it's pure domination!
1
Daniele Bennati
3h44'12
7
Mickaël Delage
s.t.
14
Jetse Bol
s.t.
19
Thomas Vedel Kvist
s.t.
25
Gianni Meersman
s.t.
28
Mario Vogt
s.t.
31
Enrico Gasparotto
s.t.
The manager's reaction:
Sprinting in perfection!
Edited by cio93 on 03-03-2012 18:00
Due to the late season points haul led by Daniele Bennati and Lars Croket and the "surprising" disbanding of Cafe de Colombia, we are glad to announce Team Puma - SAP will be amongst the 20 best teams in the world and from now on competes with them in the most prestigious races, especially in the legendary Tour de France!
Team Managers and staff are still in a shock, but still, we will deliver a statement tomorrow where some of the important questions will be adressed.
Additionally, a season recap is due in the next days.
Edited by cio93 on 08-10-2012 23:36
