Welcome here in Lviv, where we, after a thrilling transfer season, are glad we can present you the riders who defend our colours during the 2014 season.
Before announcing the riders we would like to thanks all managers we made deals with during this transfer season. Without them it wouldn't be possible to get a competitive squad ready!
Vladimir is a rider who agreed to come to our team at a fairly low price. He's our most experienced climber, and therefore we've assured him he'll be the captain in races like the Tour of Andorra.
Ignas Konovalovas
Role: Puncheur/Short Tours
Ignas is one the better riders in the division for short tours. His abilities to conquer hills and the strength to ride alone very fast makes him a real outsider on those races. He'll be our only shot at winning the Tour of Ukraine, and we're sure he can do pretty well there.
Luxury Domestiques
Tomas Vaitkus
Role: Lead-Out
Tomas can set an incredibly high pace in the final kilometres of a race, and for that reason he should be an excellent lead-out for Greipel. He'll also be allowed to try and win himself in a few races.
Artem Topchanyuk
Role: Climber
Artem comes back from Aker, where he gained valuable Pro Tour experience. He'll help Efimkin in some races, in some other races he'll be the leader. Strong climber, who can stay strong for quite a few years.
Kobe Vanoverschelde
Role: Sprinter
Kobe is another rider coming from Aker. He's just as fast as Greipel, but lacks the power to go over hills. He'll help Greipel in our goal races, and will lead in other races.
Maciej Ulanowski
Role: Sprinter
Very similar to Kobe, just a bit worse on the hills. Will also help Greipel in a few races, and gets his own chance in other races, mainly stage races starting with one or more flat stages.
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Role: Stage Races
Kononenko will be the main helper for Efimkin and Topchanyuk. He should be able to stay with them for a long time and should be a great support rider.
Domestiques
Eduard Vorganov
Role: Puncheur
Eduard has had a good season with us last year as our leader on the hills. This year he'll help Konovalovas.
Oleksandr Polivoda
Role: Sprinter
Had an awesome season in 2013, and now Polivoda will be a lead-out for Greipel and Vanoverschelde. He'll lead our sprints in C2 races!
Other Domestiques
Martin Puusepp
Puncheur Bruno Lima
Sprinter Filipe Cardoso
Sprinter Vitaliy Buts
Sprinter/TTT filler Sergey Nikolaev
Sprinter Muradjan Khalmuratov
Climber Robert Vrecer
Climber Arturs Ansons
Sprinter Volodymyr Gomenyuk
Sprinter Igor Abakoumov
Sprinter Marios Athanasiades
TT specialist
Talents
Polychronis Tzortzakis
Future Role: Sprinter/TT specialist Oleksandr Golovash
Future Role: TT specialist Kyriakos Skettos
Future Role: Sprinter Shaquille Sinclair
Future Role: Sprinter Alex Wohler
On loan from the Oz Andris Smirnovs
On loan from Metinvest
Loaned Out
Oleksandr Prevar
Loaned out to Simply Red Bull
Role: Puncheur
At the very last day of the transferseason we can announce Andriy Orlov will join our team in August. Until then he'll continue racing at the amateur level in Ukraine. We expect him to become almost as good as Prevar will be, and he should be a key rider in the team's near future. With this transfer done we can officially conclude our transfer season, and get ready for some racing.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
The season opener is also one of our sponsorgoals this season. We expect Greipel to sprint towards a top 5, hopefully better.
New Zealand Cycle Classic
Line Up:
Marios Athanasiades
Leader
Oleksandr Polivoda
Sprinter
Sergey Nikolaev
Domestique
Volodymyr Gomenyuk
Domestique
Alex Wohler
Domestique
Shaquille Sinclair
Domestique
Kyriakos Skettos
Domestique
We know Marios isn’t a top-class TT rider, not even in CT races, but he could do well here. Polivoda should be a decent bet on the flat stages, and with Gomenyuk and Nikolaev as helpers he could potentially win a stage.
Vuelta al Tachira
Line Up:
Artem Topchanyuk
Leader
Vladimir Efimkin
Leader
Kobe Vanoverschelde
Sprinter
Bruno Lima
Domestique
Robert Vrecer
Domestique
Filipe Cardoso
Domestique
Andris Smirnovs
Domestique
With two leaders, who aren’t the strongest in the PCT, we hope to do well here. Kobe is here simply to win the first 3 stages, which should be possible.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
We hope Konovalovas can do well in this race without a time trial, a top 10 could be achievable. Ulanowski is our man for the possible sprints, but if those stages turn out to be rather selective Nikolaev could be a surprise.
Tour of Oman
Line Up:
Vladimir Efimkin
Leader
Kobe Vanoverschelde
Sprinter
Tomas Vaitkus
Domestique
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Domestique
Oleksandr Polivoda
Domestique
Muradjan Khalmuratov
Domestique
Volodymyr Gomenyuk
Domestique
Shaquille Sinclair
Domestique
Efimkin will get some very decent support here with Kononenko and Khalmuratov. A top 10 is what we aim for. Kobe and Vaitkus do sprint here, and if there are strong crosswinds, like we’ve seen in Qatar, Vaitkus would always be a favourite.
Vuelta a Mallorca
Line Up:
Ignas Konovalovas
Leader
Eduard Vorganov
Domestique
Sergey Nikolaev
Domestique
Polychronis Tzortzakis
Domestique
Filipe Cardoso
Domestique
Andris Smirnovs
Domestique
Oleksandr Golovash
Domestique
This is a planning mistake. Should’ve brought Greipel here instead of Tzortzakis. Nonetheless we hope Konovalovas can achieve a top 10 here.
Middle East Tour
Line Up:
Robert Vrecer
Leader
Oleksandr Polivoda
Sprinter
Marios Athanasiades
Domestique
Martin Puusepp
Domestique
Alex Wohler
Domestique
Kyriakos Skettos
Domestique
Shaquille Sinclair
Domestique
Polivoda is looking to relive last season’s success here in the Middle East, and with this being such a long race the big sprinters should stay home, allowing him a chance. Robert could also do well here if the real climbers stay away. His ability against the clock would help him get a result here.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
Nice to see Smirnovs riding in Mallorca, he will have a chance to ride their against his "home" Metinvest team. We will also meet in South Africa, it will be interesting to see if Rabon will be stronger than Konovalovas and how Hoffman will do against your sprinter line-up.
As most of you will have noticed we're invited to race one protour event this year, the Tour of Northern Europe, taking place in September.
The race takes place in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. We are delighted we can bring a team here, with riders from these countries.
Lithuanian puncheur Ignas Konovalovas will try to do something GC-wise, whereas his fellow Lithuanian, Tomas Vaitkus could be an outside bet on the stage with cobbles.
Maciej Ulanowski from Poland and Kobe Vanoverschelde from Belgium are the sprinters we decided to bring here, and together with Ukrainian Igor Abakoumov, who happens to have a Belgian passport, and the earlier mentioned Vaitkus we could have one of the stronger trains here.
To help Konovalovas we ordered Martin Puusepp to come aswell, the Estonian is known to be a puncheur and therefore he could be an important factor in this team.
Youngsters Andris Smirnovs from Latvia and our exotic surprise from Jamaica, Shaquille Sinclair complete the team.
It's hard to tell what our goals will be for this race, as this'll be our first protour experience, but a stage win could be possible. For Konovalovas we hope a top 20 in the GC is within reach.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
This race overlaps our win goal in Ukraine, and therefore we’re not sending that strong of a team. However local riders Kobe and Igor could prove to be valuable here, and Polychronis is decent against the clock.
One of the strongest squads we could possibly send to our home race. Winning it will be very difficult for Ignas, and that’s why we moved our initial winning goal to a top 5 now. Also, we expect Greipel to win stage 1 in our home town, Lviv. Ukrainians Kononenko, Polivoda and Topchanyuk are all important pieces in this team.
Corsica International
Line Up:
Vladimir Efimkin
Leader
Artem Topchanyuk
Leader
Maciej Ulanowski
Sprinter
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Domestique
Robert Vrecer
Domestique
Muradjan Khalmuratov
Domestique
Polychronis Tzortzakis
Domestique
Alex Wohler
Domestique
Yes, 2 leaders… We can’t see who of the two is better, so we give both Topchanyuk and Efimkin a leading role. Kononenko, Vrecer and Khalmuratov are all decent climbers aswell who should be able to help the leaders for a long time. We don’t expect to see a lot of sprinters here, so Ulanowski may be a good bet on stage 1.
Since the end of last season, where Privatbank announced they would never extend their sponsorship with our team, we've been looking for a replacement to guarantee our future. Nemiroff had a contract running till the end of 2015 and therefore the most obvious thing to do would be asking them to increase the amount of money invested in the team, and surprisingly enough they agreed the team should continue, and the exposure outside of Eastern Europe proves to be great for the company.
However, they did have one demand. The devestating results of the Chernobyl-disaster are still very visable, something not many people realise. Nemiroff, who are friends of the Children of Chernobyl Foundation, wanted them to form the center of attention on the new shirt. The foundation is actually American, organise holidays for children from Ukraine and Belarus who are still living in the affected area. The foundation notices changes in the childrens' behaviour after those 5 weeks, they become more energetic and happier.
The signed contract will only last one year, but Nemiroff already said they like the project we have here and would love to stay involved.
Last but not least, admirschleck designed our jersey for the next season, even now we're still in the early stages of the current season.
Expect the team, named Children of Chernobyl Foundation p/b Nemiroff, to focus on Ukrainian talents, something Privatbank already started in 2013.Edited by fjhoekie on 08-07-2014 09:22
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
I love that jersey, it's great! I wonder which genius made it...
Nah, seriously now - good luck with your new sponsors! Hope I won't see you winning many times in C1 races (if you don't relegate) or C2/C2HC races (if you relegate) in that jersey.
With a strong team for the final team time trial we hope to get either Efimkin or Topchanyuk high up in the GC. A win or even a podium may be far-fetched, but a decent top 10 should be possible. Vaitkus is our sole sprinter here, and he’s one of the strongest guys you can imagine, he could do fine.
Dutch Food Valley Classic
line-up
Maciej Ulanowski
leader
Kobe Vanoverschelde
lead-out
Bruno Lima
lead-out
Polychronis Tzortzakis
domestique
Marios Athanasiades
domestique
Arturs Ansons
domestique
Alex Wohler
domestique
Kyriakos Skettos
domestique
We have no idea what to expect here really. Kobe has proven he can’t do anything well, and it would not surprise me if he would consider himself as the leader here. If that would happen all hopes for a top 5 would be gone.
Only 4 words come my mind when seeing this line-up: Kobe will fail hard. Nothing more to say… Just hope most sprinters prefer the flat Melaka over the lumpier Race Horizon Park.
Our second win goal of the season after the Tour of Ukraine. We failed that goal, so the pressure is on to win here. With local heroes Polivoda, Abakoumov, Gomenyuk and Golovash the crowds should support us and with Vaitkus and Greipel as sprinters we could very well accomplish the goal, however the pressure may also get to us just like last year…
@SN: Cool pictures of a struggling Super Marios! Your photos from races are always great, hope I can get a similar picture of Nibali and Westra tonight
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
Nice new jersey - I love it! Well done to Admir Also, that's an awesome choice of sposnors, I think their really cool. I must congratulate you on your ability to keep a cycling team together during the current Ukrainian times
Look forward to matching up against you this month!
Don’t ask me what I was thinking when I sent these guys… Vaitkus and Ansons are my best bets when it comes to cobbles but someone like Vanoverschelde may ruin Vaitkus’ chances… If Vaitkus can hang on to the best on stage 4 a top 10 could be within reach, but I’m almost 100% certain that won’t happen.
This can end in 2 ways… Either Greipel wins by a huge margin thanks to Ulanowski and Vaitkus leading him out, or we will see 4 guys sprinting for the places 2-10… I would be happy with both scenarios.
4 Man sprint train, 3 weak domestiques, what can go wrong?
Tour of the Czech Republic
line-up
Ignas Konovalovas
Leader
Kobe Vanoverschelde
Sprinter
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Domestique
Eduard Vorganov
Domestique
Polychronis Tzortzakis
Domestique
Martin Puusepp
Domestique
Filipe Cardoso
Domestique
Muradjan Khalmuratov
Domestique
A race quite similar to the Tour of Ukraine. This probably means Konovalovas will be fighting for a place somewhere in between 5th and 20th, Kononenko will hopefully continue being strong as a domestique, he also could fight for minor points here.
@aidan: Thanks. It would either be something related to Chernobyl or an airline company, which imo would be quite boring... And it's not that hard to keep a team right now, we're based in Lviv, far away from any kind of trouble.
Edited by fjhoekie on 23-09-2014 09:11
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
Pretty much the strongest team possible for mountainous races. We do not expect any great results, as the top climbers will be all over this race, but a top 10 could be possible.
Greipel may not be the fastest sprinter, but the presence of Vaitkus may help him towards a stage win, and a high GC. Vaitkus could also attack late in a stage, possibly winning the GC that way.
Tour of Bulgaria
line-up
Artem Topchanyuk
Leader
Maciej Ulanowski
Sprinter
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Domestique
Eduard Vorganov
Domestique
Sergey Nikolaev
Domestique
Robert Vrecer
Domestique
Shaquille Sinclair
Domestique
Team split in two halves. Nikolaev and Shaq will try to help Ulanowski to win a stage, whereas Topchanyuk will try to beat at least Panyatov in his home race. Supported by Vrecer, Kononenko and Vorganov he should have a decent chance.
I’m not sure what to think of this race really. The mountain stage may not provide huge gaps, so that explains why Konovalovas is here. I could see him hang on and secure a good GC on the final stage. Greipel will be here to win both sprints.
It’s a shame this race misses a time trial, otherwise Konovalovas would have a better chance to get a good GC. Greipel and Vaitkus will again be hunting on the flat stages here.
Tour d’Andorra
line-up
Vladimir Efimkin
Leader
Artem Topchanyuk
Leader
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Domestique
Robert Vrecer
Domestique
Muradjan Khalmuratov
Domestique
Filipe Cardoso
Domestique
Oleksandr Golovash
Domestique
Kyriakos Skettos
Domestique
Mountains, mountains and more mountains… Boring… Hoping our team will show itself in this climbers race in which Skettos and Golovash have 0 chance to even survive stage 1.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
A sprinters’ classic in which the Belarussian team will probably field Cavendish. Greipel’s task is to beat him, simple as that.
USA Pro Cycling Challenge
line-up
Vladimir Efimkin
Leader
Maciej Ulanowski
Sprinter
Eduard Vorganov
Domestique
Oleksandr Polivoda
Domestique
Sergey Nikolaev
Domestique
Martin Puusepp
Domestique
Andris Smirnovs
Domestique
Shaquille Sinclair
Domestique
The Russians will take over the States! Or at least I hope Efimkin does… Maciej could do well on stage 5 with decent helpers like Nikolaev and Polivoda.
Tour of Southland
line-up
Ignas Konovalovas
Leader
Kobe Vanoverschelde
Sprinter
Artem Topchanyuk
Domestique
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Domestique
Robert Vrecer
Domestique
Muradjan Khalmuratov
Domestique
Alex Wohler
Domestique
Can Kobe do what Roman Maksimov (picture above) did last year? He turned around his season in this very race, but he had more support than Vanoverschelde does have. This year it’s all on Konovalovas for the GC, Kono and Kono will hopefully show themselves!
ALL OR NOTHING! We bring all of our strong riders here to show something! Both Greipel and Konovalovas could very well win the GC depending on who wins bonus seconds along the way.
Urkiola Igoera – Subida Urkiola
line-up
Vladimir Efimkin
Leader
Artem Topchanyuk
Leader
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Domestique
Robert Vrecer
Domestique
Muradjan Khalmuratov
Domestique
Andris Smirnovs
Domestique
Shaquille Sinclair
Domestique
Kyriakos Skettos
Domestique
The usual two leaders show up in Spain to achieve something in this tough race. Efimkin finished 11th in 2012, now a top 10 could be within range.
Taldykorgan GP
line-up
Martin Puusepp
Leader
Eduard Vorganov
Domestique
Filipe Cardoso
Domestique
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Domestique
Alex Wohler
Domestique
Oleksandr Golovash
Domestique
Andris Smirnovs
Domestique
We hate races like this, and without Ignas things really don’t look too great. If the race isn’t too selective Cardoso may have a chance to do well tho.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
Various media report that a number of riders, mainly Ukrainian, like the forming of the Children of Chernobyl Foundation p/b Nemiroff team. We are of course very proud of this fact, and we've gathered some quotes we have found in the local newspapers and on the internet.
Artem Topchanyuk: 'It's great Nemiroff is looking for attention for something which is still a huge problem today.'
Jaroslav Popovych: 'I was only 6 years old when it happened, but it still scares me every day.'
Aleksandr Bazjanov: 'My birthday suddenly became irrelevant.'
Yauheni Hutarovich: 'I still hear my mom asking if this was the end of the world.'
Shaquille Sinclair: 'Giving the kids who grow up there an amazing holiday is the least you can do.'
Oleksandr Prevar: 'I cannot wait to wear that jersey!'
Dan Holloway: 'Believe it or not, but I've done some charity work for the foundation in the past.'
The team would like to say that this has nothing to do with eventual transfer targets.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
André Greipel
Vladimir Efimkin
Ignas Konovalovas
Artem Topchanyuk
Kobe Vanoverschelde
Maciej Ulanowski
Martin Puusepp
Bruno Lima
Muradjan Khalmuratov
Robert Vrecer
Arturs Ansons
Marios Athanasiades
Polychronis Tzortzakis
Shaquille Sinclair
Alex Wohler
