Transfer season 2012 opened their gates

We had to wait a long time before contacting possible riders. But now the teams have 2 weeks time to find the best riders. It`s always hard for a new team to find the right feeling you need for the transfers but every manager started with this experience.

So far the there are bids from everywhere and our new manager is trying not to lose the overview over the actual wages and names that are fill several lists so far.

But hopefully we can announce the first riders soon.

Johim Ariesen joins Rothaus - Aegon

With the young Dutch rider, Johim Ariesen, the first ever transfer of the new German Team Rothaus - Aegon is made. He isn`t a big name in cycling yet and has still much to learn, but we think he could have a good development in our team.
We will give him the chance to improve in the Continental Tour and maybe he will even get the opportunity to ride in the Pro Tour one day.

When he heard about our offer very early in the transfer season, he was immediately sure that this would be the best team for him. He is very proud to perform for us.
Especially as he is a big fan of Rothaus beer as he admitted later. But this haven`t influenced his decision of course.
Now he waits for the next transfers that are hopefully made public very soon.

Team Rothaus proudly presents more signings - First leader

After hard negotiations with other teams for Team Rothaus - Aegon can present one of their leader for the next season. Lars Boom is a great time trialist with a good punch on uphill sections and also on the cobbles. He will definitely lead our team in several races going for good results.
Another good signing is Rob Ruijgh. The Dutch might be our strongest climber and so also some kind of a "leader" role in some races, while helping in non mountain stages.
Third signing is Martin Velits, who already rode for the German teams Wiesenhof and Milram. His biggest strenght is riding against the clock on his time trial bike. But he is quite average in most of his stats and also a good man for a sprint out of a small group. So we might see him in some breakaways for sure.
Last rider yet to announce is the first German rider Carlo Westphal, also a former Wiesenhof rider. He is pretty good on flat terrain and might support our sprinters in general. But he will also get his chance to go into some breakaways.

Welcome to all of them.

So we have 5 riders now and are expecting more in the next days.

Germans, Germans, Germans and Hermans

5 riders already announced and 7 more to come. Today it was a very successful for us.
With the Belgium rider Ben Hermans we were able to get a good puncheur on loan from Wiggle - San Pellegrino. He will for sure take a leading role in the harder races as he will be one of our best puncheurs. He is also very strong in flat parts and could be a great leadout in the flat stages, but therefore we will normally have other riders.

Then as a mainly German team we need more German riders of course. So we are happy to announce 6 German riders now:

With Eric Baumann, Hannes Blank and Christoph Von Kleinsorgen we have signed three experienced riders. While Baumann is a sprinter on pretty flat stages and a great lead-out for faster sprinters, the other two have their biggest strenght in time trialing. They might be seen in some breakaways probably as tthey will get some freedoms.
Paul Voss also signed with us. He is a quite average rider with best chances in the mountains. As he has some potential left, a loan to a PT team would definitely be a possible thing. But first we have to check our final team of course.
Artur Gajek is another fast man. but just on very flat stages as he might struggle on every hill. So is main task might be to help the leaders. But he also might get some chances of course.
Last signing is the young German talent Alexander Krieger. He already shows some sprinter skills but has lots of room left to improve into a very nice sprinter. We can`t expect very much of him in the first season, but maybe in 2-3 years he could compete in the sprint finishes.

12 riders are signed now, some big names and some talents are announced in the next days hopefully.

Maxime Vantomme joins Rothaus - Aegon

With the Belgium sprinter Maxime Vantomme, one of the fastest man in the peloton has signed for the new Rothaus - Aegon team. Rumors are saying that he is paid an unnormal high salary, but the manager of the team wasn`t free fo an interview.
But he will definitely help the team and will for sure be their sprinter no.1.
[...]

Team almost complete now

Next to Vantomme, who was in the newspapers during the last days, we can announce 3 more riders.
Frederik Willems will be the road leader in our team. He will help our leaders to avoid crashes and is some kind of a role model for the young cyclists. But he is also the kind of rider that will be seen in breakaways a few times.
Aurelion Passeron from France is quite a similar rider to Willems. Next to his work as domestiques he is one rider with lots of freedoms. He just loves to attack and ride a long time in the break looking to surprise the sprinters. Exactly the kind of rider we wanted to have in our team.
Last rider to announce today is the young and talented German Thomas Koep, who signs his first professional contract with us. We hope to develop him into a good stage maker to compete in one week stage races. But in his first season he will have to work for his helpers of course.

Our journalists just had a talk with Maxime Vantomme about his new team.

[...]
Journalist: It was announced that you will ride for the new German Team Rothaus - Aegon in the Continental Tour next season. You already had some big results like a podium in the PT classic Vattenfall Cyclassics and it`s not for sure that you will take part in this kind of races with the new team.
Maxime Vantomme:I knew this before I signed but I see lots of potential in the team. Also there are some more Belgiums there and we will ride some Belgium races, too. So I have a good surrounding for the new season.
J: We don`t get the exact numbers, but rumors say, that you earn quite a lot of money. Is the pressure higher now?
MV: I don`t really want to talk about money. I just can say that this wasn´t the main reason for this team. I had no contract and 2-3 teams really wanted me. In the end I think this was the best decision for me.
Of course the manager expects a bit of me, but I need this feeling, that a manager trusts you. So I don`t have too much pressure.
J: What are your main targets for the season?
MV: We haven`t talked about my race plan yet, but I will definitely get a chance in the Berlin Pro Race, which suits me a lot. Not sure yet, what Belgium races I will take part.
J: Good luck for the season and let`s hope for some Belgium wins.

Although it`s pretty late here in Germany this news is worth to be announced as early as possible. Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, a great allrounder signed with our team. He had a good time with his former Pirelli team, but here he will get the chance to have a leading role. Also his experience will help our new formed team. With 32 he isn`t the youngest of course, but he is the kind of rider that every team can need.
He climbs pretty well in harder mountains as also on shorter hills. Plus his average time trial skills, that will make him a perfect rider for harder one-week races.
He will be our main climber of course and will look for his chances.

Welcome to Germany.

Although the transfer season isn´t over yet, our leaders for the next season are signed. There won`t be more money to get another rider like these 4.
Lars Boom might be the biggest hope for good results in stage races. With his combination of time trialing and puncheur qualities he will be a great leader for these kind of races.
Next Maxime Vantomme, who will be our main hope in the sprinter classics and stage wins. He already proved that he is one of the fastest but he must learn how to save his energy until the final, as he will have some problems with hills one the stage.
For the harder stage races we just signed Ryder Hesjedal. The Canadian is our hope in the mountaineous stage races. he proved to be a great domestique, now he will have to prove his leader qualities.
Last leader is Ben Hermans. He will lead our team in the hilly races. He will have chances in smaller races. For the big races he misses the big punch towards the big names.

As you might notice, they are all not from Germany. But in meetings with our main sponsor, Rothaus, we decided to go an international way with the main core in Germany and the neighboured countries but also world wide. As there were too many offers for possible German leaders we had to go another way. Also it was hard for us to get the biggest German talents.
But I think we found a good mix of experienced and talented riders.

Quite early we can announce that our core is signed. The next few signings might be some domestiques and young talents.

But beforehead some new transfers to make public.

We were looking for another sprinter with better climbing skills for harder races. We found him in Christoff Van Heerden. The South African was riding for the Nordic team Saab-Scania, but team manager viking90 allowed him to look for another team. So we are pretty happy with this signing as he is still able to ride some seasons on a high level and will definitely be an immediately support for us. May it be as lead-out for Vantomme or riding as main sprinter.
Then we can announce 2 more loan deals with the Milka-Vittel team. The two very talented Czech riders Jakub Novak and Daniel Vesely might have a great future. But they need to learn in a smaller team, so we were able to make a deal with them. We guaranteed them to improve them as much as possible, that they are well prepared for the Pro Tour next season. As we don`t have to pay a fee and just the minimum wage it`s some kind of a win-win situation as Novak is a good domestique in harder races, while Vesely is already a decent sprinter.
Last announcement is that Paul Voss, who just signed with us, will already leave the team. As he is already quite experienced but with chances to improve we decided to send him into a Pro Tour team. The big Festina-Conec team was happy to make a loan deal with him and we are hoping for a maximum improvement, when he will be back in the next season.
A few more will come for sure, but definitely no big names.

We proudly announce two more riders.
First is the Italian sprinter Claudio Cucinotta (77sp). He will be the main sprinter in some races, where Vantomme isn`t participating. But he could also be a nice lead out man for the Belgium. We are happy that we were able to sign him with the minimum wage of 50.000 as we think he is worth every penny.
The other domestique is Andrei Kunitski from Belarus. We were quite surprised to see no team bidding on him as he is a great helper in the hilly races plus he has some decent time trial skills. So he might even be able to ride on his own in smaller races. A great signing for us anyway.

Welcome to Team - Rothaus - Aegon


You might have noticed that there are less than half of the team German riders. We arranged with both of our sponsors that the team will be international with ~ 1/3 Germans at least. More would be better. As we are still in negotiations with some German talents, we are confident to have about 10 German riders in the end.
Also we arranged to go without German leader in this season, but definitely looking for a German one in the next year, when we already have the core.
But especially Koep and Krieger have the potential to get the lead in some seasons.

With one week to go in the transfer season Team Rothaus - Aegon has announced the squad for the 2012 season. Only changes could be 1-2 stagiares for the late season.

Already yesterday Valentin Iglinski signed with us. He is a average sprinter, but with good hill climbing skills. A good addition for our team to sprint out of smaller groups and be an important domestique in the harder races.
Then we can announce 3 German talents. Maximillian Schachmann is a young 20 year old future sprinter with big potential. He is also a sprinter, that can already climb pretty well. We hope to bring him forward that he can become a great sprinter one day.
Third signing is the 21 year old Florian Scheit. He loves to be in breakaways and is also a good puncheur for his age. We will improve him in the next season as he can be a great domestique one day and leader in smaller races.
Last but not least young sprinter Nico Schoch. His potential isn`t as high as the others but he is already a decent sprinter and will improve more.

With these four signings Team Rothaus - Aegon will start the season with 25 riders. (Paul Voss not included as he is loaned to Festina)
10 of them are Germans, that are the biggest contingent in our team. 3 Dutch riders, 3 Belgiums, 2 Czech, 1 French, 1 Italian, 1 Canadian, 1 South African, 1 Kazakh, 1 from Slovakia and 1 from Belarus.

We have some time trialists, good puncheurs, some average climbers and good sprinters for the next season. Plus some very young and talents and some experienced riders. A good mix for the first season in the Continental division I think.

As mentioned we signed 2 stagiaires for the next season, which will join us in the late season in August.
First is the German allrounder Franz Schiewer. He is a rider being good on most terrains, so we will have to see how he develops.
Second young rider is the Czech Daniele Turek, who will be the 3rd Czech rider in our team. He is a fighter and time trial talent and with some room to improve. Both of them will ride for the minimum wage of 10.000€.

In other news we are able to announce another loaned rider, although we already finished our transfer season.
But we received a good offer for the young Spaniard Mikel Landa, who is already a good domestique in the hilly races for us. He will go back to his Festina - Conec team after the season, which pays also most of his salary. With just 5.000€ paid by us, we were able to stay in the salary cap, which is now totally exhausted. So don`t expect another rider.

Hi!

I am Thomas Koep, new rider of Team Rothaus - Aegon. I am one of the young riders, that wants to improve for bigger tasks.
As we have lots of nationalities in our team, it was a bit hard to get to know to each other at first. Most of us of course speak English, but there are also some with little problems.
One important thing for our team manager is a good atmosphere in our team, so a common language is necessary to avoid isolated riders.
Therefore we came to the decision that we will have an English team blog over the whole year.
Rotational we will post some kind of a diary of the actual races or other situations.
As you already see I was drawn lots for the first post in our blog.

With the transfer season over for our team we started the first team meeting. It was quite impressive for me to stay and talk with guys like Lars Boom, Ryder Hesjedal or Maxime Vantomme. All of them had great results in the past. This is where I want to be in a few years. I was surprised that all of them were really open and not snootily at all. Immediately we had a nice atmosphere in the room and all of us were integrated into the talks.

We are in the Schwarzwald at the moment absolving our first team training camp. It`s just a few kilometers from our head quarter, but the area is perfect for training with a beautiful view and lots of hilly climbs.
Some of us of course had less problems climbing here but in general we had lots of fun together.

I am really looking forward to the next 2 weeks within the team and can`t wait for the first race. Pretty soon our manager wants to talk with us about our race schedule, so let`s see, where I will going t this year.

Ciao
Thomas