Team manager ember said earlier today that he doesn't plan on selling Roux, and it would take a good offer to let him leave, as he will be a great domestique in Aker - MOT in 2013, and he'll also get chances to shine on his own. He's a great rider to have in the team, with his good abilities on hills, his great stamina and his low demand speaking of wages.
Though, ember admitted Festina - CANAL+ interest in Norwegian superstar Boasson Hagen concerns him, as he's without doubt transfer target #1 in the coming transfer season for Aker - MOT. Thus, ember questioned the highly respected Danish manager Andreas Jøhnke if Boasson Hagen will still be interesting for his team if they get to sign Roux to be Ulissi's lieutenant. Ember imagines Ulissi won't be happy at all if SotD signs Roux as his helper, only to sign Boasson Hagen as his absolute captain.
Both Aker - MOT and Norwegian media wonders if Jøhnke have any comment on ember's latest say.
Comments regarding Boasson Hagen, Anthony Roux and Diego Ulissi
Comments have been made that Team Festina should be very interested in norwegian superstar, Edvald Boasson Hagen. Manager, Andreas Jøhnke took some time to elaborate
"Edvald is a monster, and obviously very interesting to most teams, ours aswell. But I think we have been misinterpretated a bit in the media. We haven't made an offer for Edvald, and doesn't really have the intention to do so. The comments we made on Edvald was based on interests for Markus Fothen, made by Boasson Hagens, team - B&O. A possible deal could be made of that, but Boasson Hagen is not top priority to the team at the moment, and Diego Ulissi has a very large amount of respect from our team. The past two years he have been riding as a co-leader for us. First with Samuel Sanchez, and last season with Olympic Champion Filippo Pozzato. He is great at teaming up, hence we would be very interested in strenghtening our hilly setup. Both for Ulissi, and for the team. Anthony Roux would fit perfectly into the teams priorities - We even made a go for him in the past because we believed he would be the perfect match to the Festina setup."
Edited by SotD on 16-10-2012 08:59
We're thrilled to announce our new design, Sykkel_Freak and KenL have come up with brilliant pieces of work. Without further ado you'll get the pictures of them:
We thank them both for their brilliant work, and we simply won't have any excuses not performing this season. The colours of the graphics and jersey also underlines we'll be a Norwegian team, which we think fits good to our intentions.
Transfer season
There has been a lot of talk about the coming transfer season, and we're definitely looking forward to it, as it will be thrilling!
We got a clear plan starting the transfer season, though, it remains to be seen whether our plan succeeds. All I can say is that we plan to make our team a lot more nationalistic, and we hope to sign at least ten Norwegian riders, with my friends Hoelgaard, Bystrøm, Galta and Blikra all high on the list of "most wanted" riders. They'll all develop to solid riders, who either can act as domestiques when finished developing, or aim for a top 10 in various races. They enjoy the road rising, and we'll try to build our team for climbs and hills, just like we successfully did last year. Though, it goes without saying we'll be interested in sprinting talents like Holst Enger and the big Swede, Ahlstrand, too.
Though, we expect strong competition for Ahlstrand's signature, as the Swedish teams must be eager to have him sign for their team, but we'll at least try. How hard and how much we'll try to sign him is still to be decided on.
19.11.2012 officially marked the start of a new cycling season for the Norwegian team Aker - MOT. The first press conference in their new headquarter was held, and it was all about 2013, and the goals for the upcoming season. Below follows some quotes from team manager ember.
Next year is a huge step for us. It's still hard for me to realize we'll compete in the biggest races in the world, like Tour de France and Giro d'Italia. That's also where our sponsors want us to perform speaking of Grand Tours, and we've made a podium in Giro d'Italia a goal for the upcoming season. It's very ambitious indeed, but we believe we can pull it off. Though, it's unlikely a goal that fits Alarcon, as there are lots of kilometers to be raced on the time trial bike, which means we feel forced to let Alarcon leave our team. It's sad it needed to end like this. But as a newly promoted and Norwegian team, we can't do like last year, where our whole season were tailor made for him. In other words, we'll need to buy a stage racer, and you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure who we'll target.
A podium in the Giro d'Italia was only the first goal to be announced, and it certainly didn't become less ambitious!
Next on the list is obviously Tour of Norway. No doubt we'll try to win our home race, and for those reasons it's a win goal aswell. We hope to get helped by the crowd, as they should go crazy seeing the Pro Tour take on Norway for 8 consecutive days. It'll be huge race, both for our team and the spectators, but also for the country. We hope to deliver there.
The journalists present were obviously happy with what they had been told so far, but when the next two goals were announced, they didn't know if it was meant serious or just a joke.
We really want to do well next year. It will be a year that should define us as a team, and we want to be successive. For that reason, we target a win in two monuments. Milano - Sanremo, La Primavera, is a race that anyone with a decent sprint ability, climbing ability and stamina can win, and we hope to have such a rider at the end of the transfer season. The other monument we dream and hope to win, is La Doyenne. Liege - Bastogne - Liege has a history back to 1892, and we hope to make our mark 121 years later.
It goes without saying Edvald Boasson Hagen will be the perfect leader for both monuments and Tour of Norway, and we'll do quite a lot to sign him from Team B&O.
Finally it was time to take a breather for the journalists, and when they were back on their seats, ember announced the final goal for 2013.
As said earlier, we want to be successive, and a top 10 in the Pro Tour in our first year would be outstanding. It will obviously be a tough task, but I believe we stand a good chance. We'll need a transfer season according to the plan and also some luck in the racing, but I wouldn't make this a goal if I didn't believe in it.
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Top 10 in the team standings Top 3 in Giro d’Italia Win Tour of Norway Win Milano – Sanremo Win Liege – Bastogne – Liege
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Aker - MOT
emberEdited by ember on 19-11-2012 17:57
Yeah, but we shall see about Alarcon. I haven't closed the door completely for him. It depends a bit on his wage, but also a lot on what possible interested teams want to pay for him, and if the interested team(s) is PT or PCT.
Itll be interesting to see how you balance buying top riders and Norwegian talents actually. Particularly since youll also need to loan out the talents if you want them to develop.
I bet I could round up enough money from all the PCT managers to bribe you so you don't bring Alarcon back to the PCT level to compete against us again next season
Mresuperstar wrote:
I bet I could round up enough money from all the PCT managers to bribe you so you don't bring Alarcon back to the PCT level to compete against us again next season
I'd be happy to participate in a campaign like that!
As stated earlier, a lot of the riders we've re-signed will be available during the transfer season. We're happy that most of last season's "big guns" were happy to take a serious pay cut, especially Alarcon, which should make him attractive in the transfer season.
Wow "Million Dollar Man" took a huge pay cut for being the best CT rider last year. Looks like he really wants to pursued you into keep him another year.
The transfer season has been going on for close to 100 hours, and Aker - MOT has been, as predicted, extremely active. Team manager ember had this to say about the team's biggest deal:
It has been absolutely amazing, but also very emotional. It sad to see Alarcon leave our team, but it was simply necessary to complete our transfer goals. Originally we wanted to sell him to another Pro Tour team, as that was his highest wish. Though, we got an outstanding offer from Team Bintang, and we could simply not reject it. The money we got from that deal has given us a lot of opportunities. It was extremely pleasing to wish John-Lee Augustyn welcome to our team. He will be a great asset for us in any tough race, and we certainly got some expectations for him.
Admittedly, Aker - MOT wasn't strong in sprints last year in the Continental Division. It looks like that's about to change for 2013:
Augustyn isn't the only South African we've brought to the team. As stated earlier, Daryl Impey from Simply Red Bull was a huge transfer target for us. We succeeded, eventhough it meant our highly valued puncheur, Anthony Roux, went to Simply Red Bull in a trade. Impey is an outstanding signing, he's rock solid, and he will be even better in 2014, which really bodes well for our future.
That's the only two riders officially confirmed to ride for Aker - MOT in 2013, coming from other teams. Though, as managers, riders, fans and media may have noticed, Aker - MOT is looking for a deal on Edvald Boasson Hagen, the Norwegian superstar.
That has definitely been the highlight of the day, if it's possible to say so. I thought our first offer for Boasson Hagen was going to go through, and it was obviously a surprise when I saw Festina and Venchi had made bids for him. Especially Festina's offer was a surprise, as we got a message saying "Congratulations" yesterday. We obviously thought that meant they wouldn't "interfere" with our deal. That made it just great to come to a final agreement with Team B&O today. We'll announce him tomorrow, as Team B&O has assured us we can have a press conference about Boasson Hagen tomorrow. We're really looking forward to it, it's a dream come through for us.
Aker - MOT has also managed to sign six Norwegians from the free transfer market, and all of them are decent talents for the future.
I'm thrilled to have signed Bystrom, Sørtveit, Holm, Aasvold, Dyrnes and Nesset. We will obviously loan out Bystrom, Dyrnes and Nesset, as they'll be best developed in a lower division. Please let us know if you're interested in loaning any of them. We've high hopes for all of them, especially Bystrom and Dyrnes, and we hope to see them as a vital part of our future team for the hilly classics.
All in all, we're happy with the first days of the transfer season. We hope to seal a couple of deals the coming days, meaning our team will soon be ready for massive challenges in the Pro Tour in 2013. We're looking forward to it!
It's with incredible delight we can announce that Edvald Boasson Hagen will ride for us this season. It's absolutely amazing, a dream coming true. We can't really wait for the season to start.
He was our main transfer target this season, and we're all over the moon for the fact that we managed to pull it through. It was certainly not without drama, but that made it even better when we finally managed to seal the deal.
I also have to say a huge thank you to niconico and Team B&O. The Danish manager received an outstanding bid from another team on Boasson Hagen, but unlike many other managers, judged by their reactions, he turned the offer down, and started to negotiate with us once again. We managed to come to an agreement also niconico and Team B&O was delighted with, and it goes without saying we were extremely pleased with that. Thank you, niconico and Team B&O!
We hope Boasson Hagen will get a new start with us this season. He struggled in 2012, but we strongly believe in him and his abilities. We can actually see the effect on Boasson Hagen already, he seems more motivated than ever, and it looks like that will show off in the hilly classics. Last year, Jan Bakelants and Fränk Schleck was without doubt the two best riders in that terrain. This year we believe Boasson Hagen will be able to compete with them and all the others.
We were also allowed to buy Kobe Vanoverschelde from Team B&O. We're very happy to have him in the team, and the Belgian will strengthen us for the flat races and stages. He has already expressed his joy to become part of our Norwegian team, and we hope he can deliver a couple of good results for us. He will together with Impey lead our team for the sprints, and he'll have lots of opportunities for a stage win. We'll try to give him the necessary support.
That's all for now. We hope all of you are looking forward to the season just as much as we are!
Aker - MOT
emberEdited by ember on 12-12-2012 01:37
Aker - MOT is currently going from strength to strength on the transfer market. Just a couple of hours after Edvald Boasson Hagen and Kobe Vanoverschelde was introduced, we're delighted to say Simon Spilak will ride for Aker - MOT the coming season.
There's no doubt we have high expectations for the former winner of Tour de France, and he certainly has the ability to deliver another Grand Tour win. Last year he showed his class in Dauphine Libere, and we hope he can deliver great results this year too.
He's one of the best climbers in the world, one of the best puncheurs, and he's also familiar with the time trial bike. We hope that will be enough to succeed in Giro d'Italia, where we hope to get a podium overall.
We will give everything for Spilak to succeed, and especially Augustyn is thrilled to have him as captain.
Yesterday's evening was also emotional for our manager, like a couple of evenings have been the last days. Rumours has it he was celebrating wildly after Daniel Hoelgaard finally accepted to ride for us in 2013. He'll be an incredibly strong rider in the future, and we're pleased Team PrivatBank wanted to take him on loan this season, to optimize his development.
In other news, we've also loaned out most of our talents. Dyrnes is the only one we're now interested in loaning out. If a PCT or CT team is interested in loaning him, and can offer a solid rider in return, which we can loan and develop, we should be able to come to an agreement.
We're extremely pleased to announce we've 12 Norwegians on contract for 2013. Some of them have been loaned out, but we're satisfied that almost half of our team is Norwegian riders.
Edvald Boasson Hagen
He's the Norwegian road race champion, and we hope he can win races in our jersey this season. We're thrilled to have him, and he'll lead the team in the hilly classics, especially focusing on the Ardennes.
Vegard Stake Laengen
He's already a solid domestique, and his individual goal for 2013 is to improve as a stage racer. In the process of doing so, he'll ride at least one Grand Tour, and we hope he can see what they're all about, as he could be a future leader of our team in stage races.
Vegard Robinson Bugge
His focus will be to help Boasson Hagen in the hilly terrain. Also, we've promised him he'll be in our line up for Giro d'Italia. He has actually moved to Italy, to train on hills and mountains, more motivated than ever before. We have high hopes for him, although, this season will mostly be about learning for him.
Lars Petter Nordhaug
He was a vital part of our team last year, and we're happy to say he'll ride for us next year as well. He was the first (and only) Norwegian rider to win for our team, and he also did brilliant in the road race at the Norwegian championship, where he challenged Boasson Hagen. This season he'll be vital as a domestique in the hilly terrain, but he'll also look out for his own chances.
Anders Lund
Our other Norwegian rider from last year. His speciality is flat terrain, and we hope he can improve even more through 2013. He'll be an important team mate, protecting our leaders from wind, bringing them bottles and always looking out for them.
Lorents Ola Aasvold
Aasvold looks set to play a key role as a team mate, both this season and season's to come . He'll be a domestique in various stage races, as his climbing skills are good. We also believe he has a lot of development left, and he'll be of great value to the team in the coming years.
Sondre Sørtveit
He's a pure climber. The steeper and longer a climb is, the better for Sørtveit. We hope he can play his part as a domestique on the mountains, and hopefully he'll be able to guide Spilak and our team on the early climbs.
Daniel Hoelgaard
Admittedly, we've high expectations for Hoelgaard. Not for this year though, as he's loaned out to Team PrivatBank. He'll develop into a good puncheur, and he'll be a key member of our future "hilly squad," which will be based around Norwegians.
Sven Erik Bystrom
He was arguably our biggest bargain of the transfer season. Just like Hoelgaard, he's loaned out, and we hope he'll enjoy his stay at Iberia - Communidad Valenciana. We hope to make him a puncheur that can compete about Pro Tour victories on a regular basis.
Kristian Dyrnes
Another future strong puncheur. He'll race 2013 for Risa - Ergon Cycling Team, which is a Norwegian team with a main sponsor from the same area as Dyrnes himself. We think that should be great for his development, as we've about the same ambitions for him as we've for Bystrom.
Sigurd Nesset
He's a great prospect for the future. He has the potential to become a great stage racer, and we'll encourage him on the way. Though, he'll spend 2013 in Iberia - Communidad Valenciana, together with Bystrom. We expect him to be an important team mate for the Spanish team, as that will be his role in our team in the coming years as well.
Bjørn Tore Holm
Another future stage racer for our team, and just like Nesset, it looks like he can become a strong climber. He'll race for Cisco Cycling Team in 2013, and he's reported to be excited about an opportunity to race for a Kazakh team.
Top 3 in Giro d’Italia 
Win Tour of Norway 
Win Liege – Bastogne – Liege
Jose Alarcon 
Jairo Agudelo 
Gustav Larsson 
Anthony Roux 
Jonas Aaen Jørgensen 
Lucas Sebastian Haedo 
Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil 
Andrey Zeits 
Jure Zrimsek 
