Boulder, CO -- News of a new American cycling team has popped up in recent days, with former pro cyclist and team director Marc Allan rumored to be the GM/DS of the new team. Not much is known about the team, other than that it will be American based with and not apply to be a World Tour team this year.
This is yet another attempt on my part to start a story up. Anybody interested in giving me your rider can PM me. All I want is a realistic rider. No 20 y/o who's maxed out in every category and what not. Not really looking for a specific type of rider, just a few riders from every discipline. They can be up and comers, young established cyclists, guys in their prime, or even old vets looking for a good couple last years. I'm not picky. The sooner that I have riders, the more news will come out about Falcon, the sooner that the first race will happen as well.
Also, until I give the go-ahead, please don't post to the topic. Your rider needs to be pm'ed to me. And give a bio as well. Something creative will be given a dancing banana pm'ed back to you haha.
Riders signed so far
Russ Bennett
Roope Hammarling
Ryan Rodriguez
Joaquin Bakker
Carlos (Carlo) Diaz
Jack Bourne
Jason Daily
Rickey D'Neylo
Asher Shimon
Michael Goode
Will Albison
Daric Rodgers
Martin Lane
Trey Thompson
Ladin Tsarni
Ryan Powers
Gregory LaPierren
Marco Pantero
Ryan Hammond
Maertin Zilbert
Jake EverstonEdited by bennettWPS on 20-04-2013 00:47
Boulder, Colorado-- Marc Allan has responded to the rumors from earlier today.
"I can confirm that I have financial backing from a few big name sponsors, but none really want to be the main shirt sponsor. Falcon Sports LLC will be the sponsor on the jersey and the Falcon Cycling Project does have the green light. We don't have the necessary money to start in the UCI World Tour right off the bat, but a Pro-Con bid is very feasible with our budget. I will sign a few established cyclists, but I will also travel around the world to find the next great group of young cyclists."
Boulder, CO -- Marc Allan and the Falcon Cycling Project have signed their first 2 riders in Russ Bennett and Roope Hammeling.
Bennett, the NCAA Cyclist of the Year won 22 out of the possible 31 races he participated in this year, including the Collegiate RR, TT, Downhill, and cross country titles this year. He was expected to sign with Bontrager in the U23 ranks, but got in a serious altercation in his first race in Europe. The fight made Bontrager void the American college super star.
Roope Hammerling is part of the Hammerling cycling family that has really excelled in the British and Swedish racing calenders as of recently. He also will look to help Falcon in climbing situations as he is a proficient, explosive climber.
More news on Falcon Cycling will be made public when Marc Allan gets back on his next scouting trip.
Another signing has occurred for the Falcon CP team. Ryan Rodriguez has signed on. The Canadian has some stage racing experience and will look to be in the mix in stage races with a lot of TT miles.
"His skill in the race of truth was the key factor in trying to get him on board with the team." Allan said of the Mexican-Canadian cyclist from outside of Vancouver. "He seems to be a consistent option for stage races."
More news out of Boulder, Colorado today when Marc Allan announced yet another signing to the Falcon team. Joaquin Bakker, formerly of Saunier-Duval, Gerolsteiner, and Milram teams, will be a true time trial/sprint option for the team.
"He has proven that when he gets up to speed, he is a force in the mass peloton sprints. He also has a great time trial pedigree and not terribly bad on shorter hills."
The team has signed four riders in the past 24 hours and will look to sign around 17 more riders to finalize the roster for the 2010 season.
"We really want to get a wildcard in Australia, but requires signing a couple of Aussies to help secure a berth into the Santos TDU." Allan said about starting the season.
Allan will go on yet another scouting trip to find more riders for the Falcon Project.
Marc Allan has come back from his American scouting trip with 3 more riders signed on to the team. Jack Bourne, Jason Daily, and Carlos Diaz have signed on after careers in the US racing scene.
Bourne, 31, has been a tried and true domestique for lower level American teams with his best results coming in Asia as a team leader on a couple of Japanese teams.
"Bourne comes in to help the team out and a breakaway starter on some days. He had a couple results last year that proved he could race in Europe in week long races."
Jason Daily, 25, comes on board from the Genesys team from the Australian racing scene as a developing hill racer and part time climber.
"Watching tape on Daily concluded that he does have deep potential, but that he was in a support role. He'll have more chances to come up with results here on Falcon."
Carlos Diaz, 22, is another up-and-coming Colombian climber that has raced in Colombia and Peru. The tiny "Carlo D" as he was nicknamed on his Peruvian team last season has had some injuries that scared off many ProTour teams (2 concussions in a span of 4 months), but hasn't missed a step.
"After his gruesome fall in the Tour of Colombia last year, many teams thought his peak would be over. Many thought he had a death wish when the road went downhill, and he almost did die in the ToC last year (falling 60 meters down a rocky slope. I was surprised he only came out with a concussion and a broken forearm. He has toned the death-defying downhilling quite a bit and will be looking for mountain top finishes and less downhill opportunities."
Marc Allan has been hard at work, and this week he personally went to South Africa and convinced one of South Africa's best mountain biker in Rickey D'Neylo.
"Rickey has been one of the best mountain bikers in the world. He will be a neo-pro this year at the ripe age of 31, but he brings multitudes of stamina, experience, and a will to win at all costs. He's been on my radar for many years and will no doubt make a potential run at the classics this year."
Allan has also convinced one of the Middle East's top riders to join his team in Israeli Asher Shimon.
"Asher has, what I like to call, the Spirit of Israel. He is a relentless fighter who won't give up even when the race is over and come back the next day and attack again. He really has what it takes to ride most of the time in the break and could even get a couple of wins from the break like he has done for most of his junior career in races in Turkey, Greece, Italy, and even in Jordan."
Edited by bennettWPS on 18-04-2013 23:36
Falcon Cycling Project has signed 3 more Americans to the team. The signings of Michael Goode, Daric Rodgers, and Will Albison will now bring the total of riders to 12.
"Goode and Albison will come over from the Bissell cycling team. They have helped the team leaders there for the past 4 years and have proven to be great teammates. Rodgers, on the other hand has become more of a lead-out man the past 2 years in Australia, even taking some results for himself while representing the USA on the track in the 1 km sprint. We think he can develop into a lead-out in comparison to Renshaw."
Boulder, CO-- Falcon Cycling Project has signed more riders to the team. Martin Lane, Gregory LaPierren, Ryan Powers, Ladin Tsarni, and Trey Thompson have signed on to the Project.
"Lane and Thompson have provided some key mountain help in many of the American races and will play the same role on this team. LaPierren is a guy we saw in northern France and has the potential to a couple wins when the road gets bumpy. Powers has shown that he can sneak up and take sprint wins like he has in Oceania recently. Tsarni has key track experience and I have seen time-trial in Russian races before, and has rarely lost a time-trial."
The team is expected to only sign a couple more riders before making their official announcement.
The last 4 riders of the team have been signed, according to Falcon manager Marc Allan.
The signings include Ryan Hammond, Marco Pantero, Jake Everston, and Maertin Zilbert.
"Hammond has British track prowess that can translate in all aspects on the road. He's not great at one thing, but good in many aspects. Pantero is a Spanish climber who could form a deadly combination with Carlo in steep mountain situations. Everston has been a key attacker in Australian races and will look to work and attack in Europe."
"Perhaps the biggest shock for Falcon was signing Zilbert due to the fact he had already trained under Quick Step the past couple of seasons. He had fully intended to sign a contract with them but it fell through. Now we have ink to paper for Zilbert and hope helps us out in April."
The roster will be expected to be finalized in the next day. Allan has not stated that he will quit signing riders, but that he will only sign if he feels like it's worth extending the team one extra person.
-- News of a new American cycling team has popped up in recent days, with former pro cyclist and team director Marc Allan rumored to be the GM/DS of the new team. Not much is known about the team, other than that it will be American based with and not apply to be a World Tour team this year.
