2011 was a season that started so promisingly for Quiksilver-Kraft with Alan Davis winning the Down Under Classic, but then unfortunately petered out, yet still managed to return a total of 13 victories. Notable highlights included Staf Scheirlinckx’s daring escape to win the Dutch Food Valley Classic, Damian Martinez’s doubles at the Veulta Chihuahua and Veulta al Tachira, and Yasmani Martinez’s double win at the Tour of America.
Unfortunately these wins were not enough to convince Quiksilver or Kraft to renew their sponsorship of the team. And when this happened the Team Management wasted no time in approaching another Californian clothing manufacturer, Hollister, with a view to them sponsoring the team. Happily Hollister were more than happy to sign a multi-year deal to be the team’s title sponsor, allowing the team to continue its program for the coming season. Joining Hollister as sponsors are Hincapie Sportswear as clothing sponsor and Boardman Bikes as bike manufacturer.
After agreeing deals with the new sponsors here is the jersey for Hollister Pro Cycling for the upcoming season
At the end of the season it was decided that some riders’ contracts would definitely not be renewed, and some others would need to take reduced contracts to stay with the team for another season.
With that in mind these riders were released immediately:- Yon Bru Pascal Crescenzo D’Amore Andy Flickinger Hayden Godfrey Cyril Lemoine
After some protracted negotiations we were unable to come to an agreement with the following riders :- Yeison Delgado
The management went into the transfer season looking to find a genuine GC leader, a leader for the hilly races and some riders capable of winning stages. They were also looking for riders who would be decent helpers for some of the more mountainous stage races, something the management felt was lacking last season. As always the team was also looking to sign any top young talent that was available, as long as the price did not rise too high.
With that in mind the team was able to sign the following free-agents :- Regis Caminiti - €50,000 Robert Kiserlovski - €500,000 Yonathan Monsalve - €100,000 Richard Ochoa Quintero - €80,000 Jarlinson Pantano Gómez - €50,000 Pedro Pablo Pereyra - €50,000 Sylwester Szymd - €130,000
After placing some very competitive bids on some excellent other quality riders, the management felt that they would need to dip into the transfer market and buy some riders from other teams to enable the team to achieve its goals.
So the following riders were bought:- Alessandro Proni – Wage €55,000 Transfer Fee €475,000 Aleksandr Serebriakov – Wage €117,000 Transfer Fee €300,000
And finally the management felt that some of the more promising riders would benefit from being loaned out to teams in the ProTour to enhance their development.
These riders were:- Carlos Betancourt - €80,000 (wages paid by Hollister Pro Cycling) Giacomo Nizzolo – Free (wages paid by Hollister Pro Cycling)
When planning the race calendar for the upcoming season the team decided to concentrate primarily on the American and Asian tours, as it was felt that these tours would enable this developing team to compete for wins more often. The primary focus will be on the American calendar, with the majority of the rest of the races being on the Asian Tour and a couple of outings across the Atlantic to compete in some European races.
Here is a list of the races that Hollister Pro Cycling will be competing in this year:-
January Veulta al Tachira Down under Classic Tour Down Under
February Tour de San Luis Mumbai Cyclothon 1 Mumbai Cyclothon 2
March Tour de Langkawi Corsica International Cape Argus Cycle Tour Tour of Taiwan
April Veulta Castilla y Leon Tour of the Czech Republic Tour of the Battenkill Tour of Japan
May Tour of California (ProTour) Tour of Southland Bayern Rundfahrt Berlin ProRace
June Veulta a Guatemala Philadelphia International Tour de Beuace
July Air Force Cycling Classic
August Classica San Sebastian Urkiola Igoera Tour of Colorado Tour de Delhi
September Tour of America Grand Prix de Quebec Grand Prix de Montreal
October Circuit Franco-Belge Milano – Torino Duo Normand Herald Sun Tour Tour of Taihu Japan Cup
Edited by ltt on 31-07-2011 16:34
After examining the races on the team’s calendar, management decided to set the riders goals for races that were on the America Tour, which should also help to achieve the team’s main goal of winning the America Tour. The team also wanted to target the 2 American tours for good results, to best show off the sponsors, and also to return to 2 of the races that were won last season, the Down Under Classic and the Duo Normand. The final targeted race of the season is the Corsica International, a race that has dropped down from being in the ProTour last season.
Season Goals Top 5 Veulta a Tachira Top 5 Tour de San Luis Win Veulta a Guatemala
15 Stage wins in a season
Win America Tour Standings
Target Races Tour of America Tour of Colorado Down Under Classic Corsica International Duo Normand
Edited by ltt on 31-07-2011 16:33
After taking over a team lacking in overall quality 2 seasons ago, the management has made great efforts to sign potential race winners over the last 2 transfer seasons, and feel that great strides forward have been made in this endeavour. The team will be relying on Allan Davis and Aleksandr Serebriakov to pick up stage wins on the flat stages, often without any help due to likely lead out man Giacomo Nizzolo being loaned out for the season. Whilst they definitely have the finishing kick to win races, the team will be relying on good fortune to pick up as many results as possible with these 2.
For the more hilly races the team will definitely be led by Alessandro Proni. A major weakness of the team last year was a total lack of decent puncheurs, but this season, without having a major star for the hilly races, the team still has a decent core of racers for the hillier races. Again the results will be dependent on some good luck, but by getting a few of the solid puncheurs into the right breakaways, or even just being in the right races, should hopefully net a few wins.
For the tours the team will largely be relying on Robert Kiserlovski, but this season with a much stronger supporting cast, headlined by Sylwester Szymd and Richard Ochoa Quintero. Kiserlovski will undoubtedly be expected to target the main stage race goals of the season, with Yasmani Martinez being given the lead in some of the other tours. The team will also be looking for Zakkari Dempster to pick up some stage wins in the Time Trials, and as a Top 5 Time Trialer in the Continental Tour that should be something well within his reach.
As a very young team though, the main goal for this season must be the continued development of the numerous prospects in the team’s ranks. Yonathan Monsalve is obviously a star in the making and the team will be hoping that he gets enough development this year to make him an enticing target for loaning to a ProTour team next year. And with 3 other premier climbing talents in Paul Mach, Pedro Pablo Pereyra and Jarlinson Pantano Gomez, in the next few seasons the team should be able to field a very strong line up in the mountainous races. The team should also benefit next season in the hilly races by the development of Bjorn Selander and Carlos Betancourt, whilst the return of Giacomo Nizzolo for lead out duties will be greatly beneficial to the team. In a couple of seasons Freddy Cruz should be more than useful for Time Trials and flat stages, whilst Joe Hicks should develop into a competent rider for the small tours.
I'm looking for a competent main sprinter, and Aleksandr Serebriakov is the name on top of the wishing list. Is the Russian by any chance interested in moving closer to his home country by joining the Cisco team for 2013?
Newly promoted PCT team Metinvest-Emirates from Ukraine is said to be mapping the transfer market and looking for possible improvements in their hilly squad.
Two of the names mentioned were also the part of Hollister squad, namely experinced italian Alessandro Proni, who could even be one of the squad leaders and Ruslan Sambris, rider who is higly admired by Metinvest. Is there any possibility these riders will change their colours for 2013?
Just as Cisco Cycling, PrivatBank is also interested in getting Serebriakov to move. As he is one of our top targets we should be able to agree on a transferfee. So is there any chance that he'll move with his family to Ukraine?
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
