We're delighted to announce the transcontinental cooperation between Risa and Ergon Energy. Together they will start a brand new cycling team, mainly with cyclists from Norway and Australia. Both nations have very talented young boys coming up, and both Risa and Ergon wanted to make sure that they get a good start on their carers. At the moment, the team isn't hunting for instant glory. With one Norwegian PT team and one Australian PCT team, the team hopes to give the other Norwegians and aussies another option.
We want to be a team with a lot of talent, a team who can develope into a PCT-team, and later on, a PT-team. At the moment, this is some years forward. It will be a tough ride for every member of the team, but we want to compete with the best. Risa and Ergon have already signed a 2-year contract, and they are both very keen on continuing afterwards if it should be successful.
Risa is a big company from the Norwegian county Rogaland. Rogaland is known as "the cycling region" in Norway. They haven't had so many professionals out there yet, but it's certainly many talented youngsters there at the moment. Risa has over long time seen who important cycling is in Rogaland and Norway. That's the main reason that Risa wanted to be behind the next norwegian team. They failed to get another norwegian sponsor, but the help came from down under;
Ergon Energy also wanted to get behind a new cycling project and when the opportunity came to join Risa it was a true match. The Australian cyclists were screaming for a new road team. They wanted to be able to live in Australia, race for an Australian team and race with their mates. Risa - Ergon Cycling Team will give them the opportunity, with trainers in Norway and Australia.
As for the bikes, the team will be provided with Bianchi bikes. After the big breakthrough in Scandinavia last season, the Italian bike producer wants to establish themselves as the number one brand in Scandinavia and also introduce the Australian audience for the fantastic bikes.
Edited by tastasol on 07-08-2018 15:23
CT Team Standings: Top 5
Great Ocean Road Classic: Top 5
New Zealand Cycle Classic: Top 5
Himmerland Rundt: Win
Herald Sun Tour: Top 5
Edited by tastasol on 02-03-2014 22:12
Team roster: Hakon Frengstad Berger Vegard Robinson Bugge Andreas Landa Krister Hagen Alexander Kristoff Øystein Stake Laengen Christer Rake Ken Sebastian Vassdål Johan Fredrik Ziesler(on loan at Aker - MOT) Bjørn Tore Hoem(loaned in from Aker - MOT) Michael Matthews Damien Howson(on loan at Aker - MOT) Christopher Sutton Calvin Watson Nathan Haas William Walker Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Rasmus Sterobo Michael Olsson Johan Lindgren Joseph Cooper Kenny De Haes
2013 squad:
Hakon Frengstad Berger Vegard Breen Kristian Dyrnes(loaned in from Aker-MOT) Sondre Holst Enger Krister Hagen Alexander Kristoff Øystein Stake Laengen Christer Rake Ken Sebastian Vassdål Johan Fredrik Ziesler Anthony Giacoppo Damien Howson Christopher Sutton Calvin Watson Nathan Haas(loaned out to Aker-MOT) Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Sebastian Lander Michael Olsson Brice Feillu
Edited by tastasol on 24-03-2014 19:26
Vegard Robinson Bugge - Tour de Beauce
Kenny De Haes - Cigar City Brewing Twilight GP
Michael Matthews - Circulo de Juarez
Michael Matthews - Tour of Utah - Stage 1
Vegard Robinson Bugge - Tour de Beauce - Stage 3
Nathan Haas - Oberosterreichrundfahrt - Stage 2
Michael Matthews - Circulo de Juarez - Stage 4
Michael Olsson - Tour de Bretagne - Stage 6
Victories from 2013:
Michael Olsson - Tour de Bretagne
Jonas Aaen Jørgensen - Boras Runt
Christopher Sutton - Volta ao Alentejo - Stage 2
Anthony Giacoppo - Geelong Tour - Stage 6
Edited by tastasol on 28-04-2015 19:39
Together they will start a brand new cycling team, mainly with cyclists from Norway and Australia.
I'll advise you strongly to look for the Aussies, and I'm sure tsmoha will be happy
Seriously though, nice to have another Norwegian manager in the game. And as we're from the same region of Norway, I'm sure we can find a way to co-operate and not end up in bidding wars for some of the Norwegian riders
With one new Swedish team and one Japanese-Australian team, the competition has raised for Risa - Ergon.
" We're not afraid of competition. We want to compete witht the others and prove that we're good enough. The new teams will make it more difficult, but that's a challenge we want and a challenge we want to cope," the manager said to the press.
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team needs at least 15 cyclists and a maximum of 20 riders for the next season. So who will Risa - Ergon be hoping to sign?
" Well.. First of all, we're a continental team and we don't have the budget to pick up the biggest riders with a high fee and a high wage. We want to go after the young talents, and there are really lots of them at the moment. We don't want to go out with any names, since that could interrupt our scouting," the manager said.
"The big star from Rogaland is clearly Alexander Kristoff. Kristoff is cycling for the PT team UBS - La Pierre, and we would be very interested in a deal which could bring him home. There are others team interested in him, but we hope that our offer is good enough," tastasol said, and with those words the press conference was over.
Edited by tastasol on 23-10-2012 19:59
Nice jersey indeed, in the end work of ANF is a high standard. Good luck with nice crazy combination of norwegian and australian focus, it sounds interesting.
Already wanted by Venchi and Aker, Haavardsholm seems to be one of the hot riders this winter. Rumours say that also the new norwegian continental team Risa - Ergon are interested in the talent. Any comments?
Ole is from the same city as the manager, and the manager has followed him closely in the start of his career. Ole is a very good rider, but at the moment we are not crazy about signing him. If we can get him for a low fee it's certainly interesting, so there is a possibility for Risa - Ergon wanting him home.
Edited by tastasol on 24-10-2012 11:22
After the goals for the season was decided last week, Risa - Ergon held a press conference in Stavanger today. The Norwegian-Australian team want to do well in their first season and their biggest target will be the Norwegian race Glava Tour, where the team wants to take home the win.
It's certainly a hard race and the route is challenging. There are lots of riders who can win Glava Tour, but we hope that we can take the big victory. Even though it's on the "wrong" side of the country, this is the only Norwegian C2 race and it was a natural goal for us.
Another Norwegian goal is Rogaland Grand Prix.
Rogaland Grand Prix is a C1 race, but we really hope that we could get a place in the race. The race represent Rogaland in a fantastic way and since the team is based in Rogaland this will be a fantastic opportunity for us to show off in front of the home audience. Rogaland GP is more of a sprinters race, and we will target many sprinters in the transfer season. Since Rogaland GP is a much harder race than Glava Tour we hope to achieve a top 5 position.
Risa - Ergon will also target the Australian race Herald Sun Tour.
Since we want to build a sprinter team, Herald Sun Tour seems like a very nice race for us. With many Australians on our team we know that we will get the support from the fans Down Under, and we hope that it could help us to a top 5 spot in the stage race.
Risa - Ergon want to sign many Australians, and since it's a long way from Norway to Australia the teams want to establish to bases. One in Stavanger and one in Geelong. The Australian boys will train in Geelong and for the most part race in Asia.
Since we are racing a lot in Asia we think that we can get many good results, which would give us a good ranking. Therefore our fourth target is to finish top 10 in the Asian Tour Team Standings. To be honest, the competition in Europe is harder and I don't think we would be close to a top 10 spot in Europe. In Asia it's different.
Risa - Ergon want a good first season and with the upcoming transfer season, the team think they could be able to wrap up some good signings.
As mentioned earlier, we have scouted lot of sprinters. Clearly we will have some climbers, but the flat races will be our priority. There are many Norwegian and Australian talents out there and we hope to sign some of the biggest, to insure the team in 2-3 years. Aswell we want to sign some instant quality and our goal for the season is therefore to finish top 10 in the Continental Tour Team Standings
Seems like this in general is the best season for talents ever. Though we have had some seasons that have been great for some nations (Spain got one seasons I believe (Madrazo, Tenorio), and last seasons was really great for German talents (Vogt, Arndt, Zepuntke, Zabel))
Heine wrote:
Seems like this in general is the best season for talents ever
28 guys will reach 80 in a main stat if the training schedules stay this way (plus maybe my way of maxing them differs from others), and another load of riders will be close.
On the one hand, bad for the managers expecting their last season talents to be extremely valuable (like the two of us ), on the other hand probably everyone willing to get one this year should be able to.
Edited by cio93 on 26-11-2012 22:31
The new talents were needed - what sums it up is that the quality of field in the Tour de l'Avenir was decreasing year on year. Plus many of the established riders are soon to start decreasing - they need replacing.
--
But back on topic, a Norwegian-Australian team certainly makes for an interesting mix. And some challenging goals for yourself with 2 C1 races and 2 standings targets.
After some hectic days on the market, Risa - Ergon held a press conference today.
"We are very pleased with our signings so far. We were targeting Lachlan Morton heavily in the first days, but eventually he became too expensive. Because of that we went for more experienced riders. We are mainly building a sprinters team, which is the reason that we have picked up some sprinters that should be able to perform right away. We will have the likes of Chris Sutton and Jonas Aaen Jøgensen leading us out in the sprints, and we are confident on them stringing together some wins. For the norwegian fans, the signing of Alexander Kristoff may be the biggest. Kristoff has grown up in the county Rogaland, where Risa is from. He is a big star in Norway, and as a Norwegian team we think it's very good for our own PR that we have one of the most famous Norwegian riders in our team," the manager opened the press conference with.
"Don't you have some riders who can go uphill," the strongly criticized journalist Per Mandagsfjord asked?
"Well, Mandagsfjord.. First of all. I'm tired of your constant criticism since the start of this team. Secondly, we will have some climbers in our team. Our bike-sponsor, Bianchi, gave us some extra money so we could get a strong italian. Unfortunately, the Italian market is very expensive at the moment. Instead we went west and found Brice Feillu. Feillu is good on the climbs and will alongside the Swede Michael Olsson and the Norwegian Christer Rake lead our ranks in the hills and mountains," the manager said.
The annoyning Mandagsfjord continued: " So you don't have any talents? With your lack of talent, I bet you don't!" he said, giving the word to tastasol.
"Talents? Do we have talents? We have loads of them. Vegard Breen is a huge classics talent, Sebastian Lander is just a huge pack of cookies. From Down Under we have the hill talent, Calvin Watson and the big TT-talent, Damien Howson. So, Mr Mandagsfjord.. I think we will cope absolutely perfect," tastasol said.
After that the riders came in, one by one, so the press could ask them some questions. First out was Vegard Breen.
"What are your goals on the team, Vegard?" a journalist from a national paper asked.
"Well. I'm still a young rider and I've previously shown that I can win races in all terrains. In Risa - Ergon I hope I can develope into a even better rider, especially in the hills. In the future I look towards Ronde van Vlaanderen and such races. I really hope I can manage something in those races in 3-4 years time," he said.
Calvin Watson followed Breen, and also he could tell that the hills will be his strength in the comming years. The next rider was certainly not a hilly rider.
Anthony Giacoppo entered the stage. "He is one of our finest sprinters, and he can also do some TT. With a little bit of luck, he can do well in some flat stage races. Anthony isn't the most famous rider from Australia, but he clearly has the abilities to sprint with the best," the team manager said about the Australian sprinter.
Another sprinter, but not from Australia, is one of two riders from Denmark.
Jonas Aaen Jørgensen enjoyed a good spell in Aker - Mot, but when they promoted to the ProTour, Jørgensen gave a clear message to team manager ember to let him go to a Continental Team. In Risa - Ergon Jørgensen can build on his two wins from last year.
"I certainly hope to improve my palmares. I was very pleased with the two victories last season, but there is still things to improve. In Risa - Ergon I've the chance to be a leader and that is excatly what I want," Jørgensen said. Jonas waved in his fellow Dane, Sebastian Lander, and togehter they answered some more questions from the media.
"Sebastian, where do you see yourself in 4 years? Will you still be riding around at a junior team?" Mandagsfjord asked. The fellow journalists their eyes in frustration of the Norwegian.
"Well...," Lander seemed very nervous with Mandagsfjord asking the questions. "I.. I.. I think I can be anything. I'm good on the cobbles, in the hills and I've a good finish. But I can assure you that Risa - Ergon isn't a junior team, and if we can keep this team for the next years, I'm sure that we will promote to the PCT in 2-3 years time," Lander said.
Next in was the only Swede in the team. "In Michael Olsson we have a good allrounder who will be a good helper for Feillu, and a rider who can do something by himself. We have riders from Norway and Denmark, and therefore it was important for us to sign Michael from Sweden. Sweden isn't the biggest cycling nation, but they have som fairly good riders. Michael is clearly one of them," tastasol said.
"We were looking for a good climber from Norway quite some time, and we thought we had found him in Andreas Landa. Unfortunately, he was overbided and at the end of the story, Christer Rake is our best Norwegian climber. Rake isn't a pure climber, but he is good in the hills and he is a very good fighter. If he has a good day he can compete with the best," tastasol said about the norwegian puncheur.
"Rake isn't our captain, but he has the abilities to do something on his own. I can say the same about Øystein Stake Laengen and Krister Hagen. Stake Laengen will be our cobble-captain, but mainly they will be riders who are allowed to join a breakaway. We hope and believe that they can take some surprise victories to the team," the manager said.
Alexander Kristoff is the next rider to enter the room, and he is clearly a popular rider. "You have been riding for a ProTour-team, Alexander. Why drop down to the CT?" Mandagsfjord asked.
"I want more chances on my own, it's as easy as that. I look forward to race with my fellow Norwegians again. It will be fun," Kristoff said.
"Is it realistic that you can manage something better than a top 20-place, Alexander?" Mandagsfjord asked with his weird grin all over the face.
"Well, Mandagsfjord. I'm not the best rider in the world, but I certainly think that you and your litte paper will have something to write about. All. Year. Round. Risa - Ergon isn't going for top 20-places. We want the wins. And we will get them," Kristoff said.
The next person who entered the room was Christopher Sutton.
"CJ Sutton is one of my absolute favourites. He is just a good sprinter who takes every risk to get first over the line. He is a rider of my taste and a rider who can get a good season here. He is clearly one of our captains," tastasol said.
The last Norwegian for today is Hakon Frengstad Berger. "Hakon is a massive talent. He is a sprinter, but he climbs very decent and he will be pure quality in a few years time," the manager said.
With all those sprinters, who will set them up? tastasol think Damien Howson is the solution. "Damien is a big guy with the potential of being one of the best TT'ers in the world. With his abilities, we should be able to bring Anthony, Alexander, CJ or Jonas in position. Together with Sebastian and Krister they should be able to have a good train for our main sprinter," tastasol said.
And now over to the last rider, Brice Feillu.
"We weren't planning on bringing him in. We were scouting in Italy, but when you see Brice you just fall for him. He is one of the most classy riders I've ever seen. So with Brice we hope to race some French races and hopefully he will manage to get some good results. He's having a lot of expectations, but we believe he will cope with it. Hopefully, he will get enough points to get us in the race for promotion," tastasol said.
"1,2,3,.... I've only counted 14 riders, tastasol! Are there more signings to come or will you start the season with an outnumbered squad?" Mandagsfjord asked.
"Mandagsfjord.. Sometimes I wonder who stupid you are. We are in the middle of the transfer season, and there will of course be some new signings. I reckon that 2-3 might come in tomorrow," tastasol said and then the press conference was over.
Edited by tastasol on 13-12-2012 23:15
Veri intresting read i got to say. You clearly will go all flat so don't expect us to meat a lot in the season but I gotta say you have quite some intresting talents! Good luck!
Hakon Frengstad Berger
Michael Matthews
Jonas Aaen Jørgensen
Michael Olsson
Joseph Cooper
Kenny De Haes
Brice Feillu
their eyes in frustration of the Norwegian. 
