Just like last season, my mid-season break comes in July and August, just before the National Championship, the Tour de France and also the all important transfer season. I am happy to come into the break free from injury, and be able to concentrate on the Second Half of the year. The First Half has been hectic, eventful, and I have ridden some of my best races to date in my career.

Last year, the Nationals brought some success to the Europcar team, but this year was a stark contrast. Yukiya Arashiro and Tommy Voeckler were unable to defend their titles, and only Maxime Monfort was able to add the Belgian TT Championship Title to my South African TT win in March, but that was all. Bryan Coquard was the team's hope in France, but he could only manage a 6th place finish in the sprint.

The results in the Nationals had put a downer on the team after the highs of the June results. However, after his emphatic victory in the Route du Sud, Pierre Rolland was clearly in good form.

The French Climber would lead the team, and showed that he was riding well this year. He took two Stages Wins; the first in Mende on Stage 8 and then on Alpe d'Huez on Stage 13, before going onto finish 4th on the General Classification. Chris Froome (Sky) reclaimed his Tour de France crown, with Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Bauke Mollema (Belkin) rounding off the podium.

High hopes in the Sprints fell to Coquard, however a serious crash on the Stage 9 ended his Tour, and he would find himself out for some time with a Broken Elbow.

Whilst Pierre was showing the team's present in the Tour de France, Mashama Nkumbula was showing the future of cycling in Austria. The South African took three stage wins in the Mountains, and comfortably won the Overall Classification in the process. The talented climber has progressed magnificently over the season, and I think he will be a dark horse when he rides the Vuelta a Espana at the end of the season.

My break off the bike gave me time to sit down and think of my future in the WorldTour. The 2015 season with Europcar had seen me grow both on and off the bike, and I was pleased to say that I had come out the other side a stronger character than what I was before it.

I knew that I needed someone to look after me management-wise off the bike, and just after the National Championships in March, I signed with Wasserman Media Group, the same agency that looks after Mark Cavendish. The Manx-man and I had met a few times in the Alps off the bike, as well at a few races, and he had pointed me in WMG's direction when 'the shit hit the fan' with the French media.

Knowing my situation with Europcar, WMG worked hard to set me up with a deal with a new team. Many names were bounced around, and after my exploits in the Giro d'Italia, I was turning out to be hot property. Garmin, BMC Racing and Tinkoff-Saxo had all been rumoured to be interested, and after the fall of Astana, I was also being linked with new team starting up in 2016, staring Maglia Rosa Vincenzo Nibali as the Marquee Signing.

Of all the meetings that were set up, one stood out with particular interest to me. It took place in Manchester, in a small hotel lobby in the Salford Quays area, between myself and the Key Management behind a Team making a return to Cycling for 2016. Simon Bayliff, my representative, was also there with me, and we came away thinking that the talks were very productive.

During the week following the numerous meetings with many different teams, WMG, Simon and I met up again to discuss what I wanted to do. Initially, I was torn between two or three teams, but every time I went over the proposals, I kept coming back to the same one - The new team making a return in 2016.

There was one stand-out winner, and with that, my decision was made. My future was secure, and I could end my season without the worry of whether I still had a career in the WorldTour.

the_hoyle wrote:
@mvh: Who says that Nibali is on this new team? The new team will be revealed in time

Here are the stats for Nkumbula - signed as Stagaire in 2014 on the game:


@sutty: I'm open to suggestions on the new team! Who are you thinking it is?

sutty68 wrote:
It would be nice to see Panasonic back in the Pro peleton

HuDCC wrote:


I'm too young for these teams

Looking ahead to the end of the season, a small group of us met up for a training ride around my home in Geneva. My break had gone well, I was rested, and it was time to put some key miles in my legs before the Canandian Classics and Il Lombardia.

Louis Meintjes, Natnael Berhane and Goredema Chisiza joined me on the ride, and before long, we got talking about next season. Runours had began to happen about where I will be riding, and obviously the guys wanted to know.

Were we about to see the return of Panasonic or even Mapei? Berhane had also read somewhere online that I had signed with Bianchi to create a new Super Team with Vincenzo Nibali. Sadly my lips were sealed, but I could at least say that all will be revealed at the end of the Vuelta and the Canadian Classics.

I turned the attention on them, and delved into their talks with other teams. Amazingly, all of them had signed for MTN-Qhubeka, who were going to be making a big push towards the WorldTour. Whilst it would be sad to be riding on different team next season, it was pleasing to know that they had secured their futures away from Europcar.