Sam, like Tobyn, is a talented Brit. He has multiple options of progressing, but mainly he's a sprinter. He however also has some potential in time trials and on cobbled roads, so we might look in to further training that. He is besides Mullen also our only eligible rider for the Tour de l'Avenir, so he will surely be there or thereabouts in the sprints there, hoping for placings in and around the Top 10.
Nic Hamilton
Nic is our main cobbler for the season, and came in with a low wage and low expectations. He is however not only a good cobbles rider, he's also a useful domestique for the hilly races. He is however a very attacking rider, so we hope he might if not score any big points at least show our jersey nicely, which might not happen otherwise on cobbles. He's also our first and probably only rider from the other side of the atlantic, but being Canadian he surely won't have many problems settling in.
Yauhen Sobal
Yauhen is somebody we didn't have any plans for initially. Partly because he's from a region we're not interested in at all, but mainly just because he's no leader. He was getting desperate though after not finding a new home after the disbandment of his former team, LukOil, he came contacting us, "because he liked his old manager, and he was Irish too". We decided to meet him, and because he was such a nice guy, we also decided to give him a try-out. He took his chance, and so he's here. He's a real all-rounder, with nice ability on the hills and in the TTs, as well as some phenomenal acceleration. He will ride in all sorts of terrain, though he probably won't lead anywhere. He does however like to attack, so maybe he can score a few points for us this way, when he's not helping our leaders.
Kevin is another nice addition from a region our sponsor obviously cares about. He might not be the fastest in a pure sprint, but he sure has got the acceleration and the skill on the flats needed to be a lead out for our new signing, introduced at the bottom. He isn't maxed out yet either, so we might not actually have him for this season, but i think it's a win-win situation. Either he's a great lead-out or he maxes out.
Damion Drapac
Damion is our last transfer, coming in from the Oz Cycling Project. It wasn't an easy path, but in the end we managed to secure him. Now our plan is to hide the hills from him, and find enough flat stages for him to have his fun on, hopefully winning a few stages. Except for his weakness on the hills and mountains and his debatable skills on the pure flats, he's got a great top speed, and doesn't really lack the acceleration either. We hope he can form a great partnership Adam, as well as with whatever last lead-out will be with him. There's also an excellent #history article on him in the Oz's HQ, chech it out here.
As said before, i'm sure Damion will do some good things to you! I'm really looking forward to what he's capable of doing in a full CT-season. Drapac and Mendes make for a nice duo of leaders, so you did well, imo. Good luck and i will follow your team with interest
@Tsmoha I sure hope he will bag us some great results. Though he won't be as good as he might be able to be, when you look at teams like Ameriabank that will likely dominate the bunch sprints.
@Gustavovskiy Yeah, Pires was brought in as Mendes "Personal Domestique", Scheepers style. IIRC he'll be at every Mendes race. And i think i have to thank you on that one, good punchers were hard to come by.
Squad: Mendes McConvey Kelly Sobal Pires O'Brien Mullen
Objective: The goal is clear: Get our season of to a stormer on Cuba, and have Mendes right up there. We know it's one of the fullest races of the whole season, but hey, Mendes is also one of the strongest punchers in the whole division. He has pretty much his top support team with him, with Ciaran Kelly and Connor McConvey as core domestiques, as well as Bruno Pires as his personal lieutenant. Yauhen Sobal will be our man for covering the attacks. Paidi O'Brien will hopefully show his Irish NC jersey at some point during the race, while Ryan Mullen will have to see how he'll fare in his first ever Pro race.
Target: Podium
New Zealand Cycle Tour
Squad: Drapac Gudsell Harrison Laidler Hawkins Mullen Petrie-Armstrong
Objective: Here obviously Damion "The Hill Hater" Drapac will lead us, hoping for a good first few results of the season. For leading him out, he has hometown heroe Timothy Gudsell, Sam Harrison and Peter Hawkins, as well as Adam Petrie-Armstrong to pull the train to the front. Drapac's former Oz teammate Adrian Laidler will be used to catch breakaways if required, alongside the most promising talent in Irish Cycling, Ryan Mullen.
Target: Stage Win
Great Ocean Road Classic
Squad: Drapac Gudsell Harrison Laidler Hawkins Horton Petrie-Armstrong
Objective: This C2HC race is a very important race for Damion Drapac, because he wants to show infront of home crowd that his move here was the right thing to do. We brought over the same team that went to New Zealand too, with the exception that Tobyn Horton has been drafted in for Ryan Mullen. We hope that the fact that it's an Aussie-non hilly race might give Damion the speed he needs to achieve the podium that we have ambitously set as our target for this race.
@Stromeon It should be. Drapac having better Acc while Forero survives the hills better should definitely make for some interesting battles throughout the season!
@JT I hope so. Really would be great to start the season well! Edited by Dippofix on 08-04-2014 14:53
As some of you might know from twitter, i've got a new feature planned for here, called "All Eyes On". This will always be a portrait of a certain rider, including things like upcoming races, goals for the season, a profile, or an interview, which is exactly why i'm posting here. If there's something you want to know from Jose Mendes, please PM me the question and it'll be. anwsered in the interview.
Paul:You are generally seen as by far the best puncher in the division. A Cuban Journalist covering San Cristobal stated "A Podium is BoI's target, but Mendes is most capable to start the season with a bang.", whilst an English journo said you "should crush the competition". How do you handle that pressure?
Paul:Okay, that's good news for your Portuguese fans. Because we're running out of time a little, we'll get right to the fans questions. Let's start with something trivial. One of our British fans would like to know what your favourite flavour of Ice Cream is.
Paul:Now to a more racing related question, this time from Germany. He wants to know which riders you fear the most, both in the races themselves, and for the standings?
Paul:One last question, from the same fan. Since you're already 29, he's wondering wether you'll ask for a payrise next season, and if we're willing to pay that?
Paul:Yes, that's understandable. Our stance is that if you perform, you're worth the money you might be asking for, but if only to a certain extent. And if you don't perform, you shouldn't come looking for more money. Anyway, thanks for the interview, and good luck for San Cristobal!
Well, it's in Carrick-on-Suir, where Kelly lived (not fully sure on that one) and won his first race, so it just seemed like the right name for it. I also gave that Armenian race some sort of name, because Hill Classic seemed like an awfully lame thing to put in the calendar at the front.
Introducing our newest feature, #StatsHub. You'll find stats for our leaders and maybe later on the whole team here. Feel free to tell us what you think about it!
Clasico San Cristobal
Mendes
McConvey
Sobal
New Zealand Cycle Tour
Drapac
Harrison
