Hello and welcome to the biggest South American team around! We are promoting the young talent from South America and Iberia this season. We will even be having at least 50% Argentine roster. Now let me introduce the sponsors!

Interviewer 1: Hello francopell and the current staff of Globant-Telefe. Welcome to this press conference and thanks for not being late! Now first we will francopell will take questions, then the coaching staff and at the end we are scheduled to speak to the company CEOs of Globant and Telefe.

Now francopell, what motivated you to take this offer?

francopell: I wanted a new challenge and after many of the established teams were out of funds I had to look elsewhere. I was cycling in cyclo cross a few seasons ago and I was aiming for a job in management given my past experience. Unfortunately few teams were willing to take me on board, my contract was just too high. After the great financial crisis I had to look across the Atlantic as at that time many sponsors like Lotto and Rabobank were pulling out. The South American continent has always fascinated me and I am looking to carve out an Argentine cycling empire here. I am looking at many youth prospects and hopefully I will sign some young talent in the upcoming draft and gain a monopoly on Argentina. Iberia is also tightly linked with Latin America so we will be looking to Portugal and Spain for cyclists. Globant-Telefe are good sponsors and we have the backing of several important figures of the Argentine government.

Interviewer 2: Who are your transfer targets for the draft?

francopell: The Haedo brothers are big names for us, they are two of the best Argentinian cyclists. A lot of Argentinian domestiques will be signed and we are even looking at Kim Po-Ding of North Korea. Contador is the most ambitious goal, he'd lead the team everywhere and attempt to win Le Tour again. Murilio Fischer is interesting and we may look north to the USA occasionally as well. Given that Spain is an untapped market and Argentine talent is not the best of late we will hunt for Valverde and Luis Leon Snachez. We are looking for a strong team capable of winning a grand tour, fighting in the classics and taking a top three in the World Tour standings. We are going to be promoting youth a lot but we are mainly focused on having Spanish leaders, at least for now. Youth takes time to blossom and we are not going to be led by young Argentinians. Instead the stronger Spanish will take the reigns. That doesn't mean Argentina is not our focus however as we want a 50% Argentine roster. Italy (Nibali) and Portugal (Rui Costa) are two other targets to take.

Interviewer 3: Latin America and its origin nations are generally of bad reputation when it comes to doping. How will you confront the rumours that will surely come up if your team is successful?

francopell: I like to maybe cause a few stirs. I want to take a team of clean riders to the top. Some of them, I assure you, will have a history of doping or suspicion. But that doesn't matter, as long as non of them are doping now it is fine. We are giving the disgraced cyclists a second chance, the nations I am focusing don't have a good reputation. I guess we will come under scrutiny but in a sense that is a good thing, it shows that we are successful. I will immediately fire anyone caught of doping. We will have a no tolerance policy on doping. If you dope you are getting kicked out of the team and hopefully cycling as a whole. My job is particularly difficult as the nations I am trying to improve have dodgy histories. Hopefully this team will cover itself in glory and defeat all the ideas that these nations are doping nations. They do not deserve to be accused of doping just because of nationality, that could even be interpreted as racist. Marco Pinotti does not have a history as far as I know and he is a target because of it.

Interviewer: What are realistic goals for the season?

francopell: We want to win a lot and make some money. Firstly we will make a profit as we need to so we can ensure our continued growth. With that money we will then increase our scouting network and hopefully we will find two or three nice prospects from South America. We also aim to find a rider to start with us this year who could become a great who would ideally be Argentinian as that is our main target nation. We will try and win a grand tour and one of the classics. Top five in the World Tour is the aim but top three is preferable. If we can we will win five short tours but this is a difficult aim. Twenty stages is difficult so we will cut it down to ten as we are not a sprinting team. For specific Grand tours we will be going top ten in the Giro, top three in Le Tour and the win at La Vuelta. Our ideal leader would be Valverde for the Giro as well as J. J. Haedo and have Contador at TDF and La Vuelta. However, this is dependent on us signing these riders. If we can't get them our goals will obviously change.

And that is all we have time for! Tomorrow we will be meeting the coaches.

Early this morning Team Globant-Telefe manager francopell announced his first signing of the season. One of the biggest names in Asian cycling, Kim Po-Ding will be riding with the team for the 2012 season. The North Korean is said to be looking forward to the opportunity. This new signing has made Globant-Telefe also announce that no more signings will take place until the draft now. The team however will be a force to be reckoned with in the Ardennes and short tours with this latest signing.

Jesleyh wrote:
Although I'm jealous that Kim writes his great reports for your team, instead of mine

SSJ2Luigi wrote:

+1 even though he wouldn't fit in my picture

Introduction

Welcome to the opening issue of the Inside Argentinian Cycling Magazine. We will be covering a variety of subjects today mainly based on the new cycling team Globant-Telefe and the future of Argentina in cycling.

Contents

Page One - Haedo Brothers vs. Lucas Gonzalez
Page Two - Spain or Italy for Globant-Telefe?
Page Three - The Future Prospects
Page Four - Closing Text from francopell

Haedo Brothers vs. Lucas Gonzalez

JJ Haedo and Lucas Haedo have been the face of Argentinian cycling for years now. Once they were regarded as something new and maybe with the right guidance we could have possible even seen JJ challenge for green in Le Tour. Now though they are considerably less spectacular than they were before with the arrival of a South American Bradley Wiggins. Lucas Gonzalez is a climber who can also time trial and will surely feature often this season. A great cyclo cross rider he has proved himself on many levels and with a good transition he could challenge for a grand tour victory.

The two brothers are sprinters making it hard to compare to a cyclo cross/Stage Racer. JJ is regarded as the stronger of the two and Lucas is younger. JJ has won a stage in the Vuelta before which stamped him out as a great rider but he is yet to build on it. In terms of stability, Lucas is a lot stronger. He has been consistent and he could develop well if managed correctly. JJ may be coming to the end of his career soon but he surely has a few more years left in him. Either would be a good acquisition for Globant and both could make it a strong force in the sprints. However, as francopell has said before, the team aims to win in the Ardennes and the Grand Tours.

Lucas Gonzalez is a future Grand Tour Winner. With his spot at Lierse-Pizza Ullo he has a good manager and a chance to shine. His skill up hill is something to marvel at and combining that with his sensational time trialling capabilities he is quite incredible. A slightly younger version of Cadel Evans and he has been labelled a 'Bradley Wiggins' in the past. His talent is undisputed.

When put to comparison it is obvious who is the stronger of the riders, JJ Haedo has no chance at green this year whilst Lucas Gonzalez has a shot at winning GTs.

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Spain or Italy for Globant-Telefe?

The new cycling project has an aim to hit 50% Argentinian cyclists when it comes to the roster but they have opted to focus on Iberia and Italy as well. These two nations both have incredible riders such as Contador and Nibali. We'll be looking at some of the pros and cons of the two nations.

Spain is by far the strongest cycling nation of all when it comes to going up hill. Joaquim Rodriguez, Samuel Sanchez, Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde, all these names are known around the world. They also have good sprinters as well making it an unstoppable force. If they could tap into it they would surely be honoured with many good riders. They also have good cobble riders so they are a large ocean and there is enough talent to have all the WT teams led by a Spaniard.

Italy is the nation of choice when it comes to sponsorship however. We have a large amount of Italian teams for next season and wt will be interesting to see them duel it out. Nibali is a young rider still with a great future and will surely be chosen by a team in the first round of the draft. Basso, although ageing, still has skills and Viviani and the sprinters have talent as well and great potential.

Italy's pool of young talent seems to be deeper than Spain's but with Spain having a lot of good talent right now it is very difficult. If this is a long term sprint project then Italy should be favoured. A combination is very possible however and will be expected.

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Page Three - The Future Prospects

Peter Sagan is first on the list. He can cobble, climb, time trial and sprint. His potential seems boundless and will certainly be an early name on many team's lists for the draft. I think that in a few years time he could be winning grand tours or sprinting for victory at Milan-Sanremo. His ability on the cobbles are also very good and any avenue he takes will surely result in success. His current strongest skill is sprinting though.

Tejay Van Garderen is a decent round two pick or even round one for the American teams. His potential rivals that of Sagan, his current climbing and time trialling ability is very strong. Past results indicate that this might be his year and with a good manager he could surely come on a long way. Maybe one day he will win a Grand Tour, his ability shows that it could be possible come time in the future. Unlike Sagan though he is not versatile so he will probably have to focus on the climbs and time trials.

Finally we have Joe Dombrowski. A promising rider who could be good for a round three to six pick. He is young and although his current abilities are lacking compared to Sagan and Tejay he has a lot of potential. He is definitely a future Tour winner.

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francopell

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you read the next one that will probably be released next weekend. We at Globant-Telefe hope you will support us in the upcoming campaign and follow us to the end of the season. With the draft upon us our roster will be quickly filled soon!

francopell - Editor of 'Inside Argentinian Cycling'

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