Team Joker pro cycling is proud to present our new strategy for the 2015 season. We are a newly promoted team to the Pro-Continental division this year, and our squads consist of young talented riders from the Nordic countries, supported by a few pairs of more experienced feet on pedals.
Our objectives for this season are to consolidate Team Joker as a Pro-Continental team with good economy, ready to take the next step to World Tour after the 2016 season. To achieve this we will
- focus on our sponsor's objectives and
- limit spending to ensure economic ability to pursue opportunities towards the end of the 2015 season and 2016.
We aim to grow by developing our young riders to a high international level. To achieve this we will have
- good trainers
- training camps
- adequate matching at the right level of difficulty for our talents
You will read more about us in the cycling press this year, of course - look forward to the presentation of our riders, coming up soon!)
(If I can play team manager I can play the press officer as well This story will have some similarities with the real Team joker but the rest will be pure makebelieve...like I think I can do better )
Edit: fixed typo
Edited by t-72 on 15-11-2014 11:14
The competition schedule is quite tight and unordered for a Pro-Conti team and in order to have a competitive team in 2 races simultaneously we have increased the size of our squad from last year. It now consists of 16 riders that initially will be split in an A-team and B-team with different focus and objectives.
The Joker A-team: we go for victories!
Performance-wise, our team's best abilities are geared towards one-day races and single stages in stage races which are somewhat hilly but could also be flat. Our best racers are able to set a decent sprint even after quite undulating courses. Ability to not only hang on, but also finish it off, is our key to winning races.
The Captain Kristoffer Skjerping is the team's captain and in most important, hilly and undulating stages we will be racing for victories for him. His strength, ability to hang on in hilly stages but also able to finish it off in a sprint or in a late attack, is typical for Team Joker.
The specialist sprinters Jo Kogstad Ringheim is our specialist flat-stage sprinter and will be counted on for getting to the finish line first when pace is too high for Skjerping. Last year, the two had almost the same number of wins.
In the second half of the season, Kogstad Ringheim can be supplemented by our young talent Tor Ørjan Fevang, that we hope will develop into a world class finisher. He will start of the season in races with lighter competition, as the sprinter on the B-team.
To deliver the punches Vegard Robinson Bugge already showed potential in some of the harder races last year and will be developed towards more hills and punchy finishes this year. He is also a valuable member of the sprint train on any type of terrain, so in any given race the DS will have to select if Bugge should attack in the finish or take part in forming the train to deliver our sprinters in the best take-off position for the final dash to the line. On undulating stages Bugge will be the leadout man.
Our young Road Captain
On flat stages, a road captain that can maintain a high pace for a prolonged period of time and position the train in front with 4-6km left to go, is essential. Last year, Reidar Borgersen did an excellent job at this, but this year, as Borgersen has left the team, Truls Engen Korsæth will aim to take up where Reidar left off. Truls is also the best time trialist on our A-team, but is not expected to perform than top 10 in ITT's yet (although victories are on the list for long-term ambitions). The introduction of such a young cyclist as our road captain is a brave move by Joker and shows that we give opportunities to our young talented riders which they won't easily get elsewhere.
The fighter squad
In bike racing, the winners need support and Lasse Bøchmann, Edwin Wilson and Martin Olsen are our men in the early part of the races, providing protection, catering and both breakaway and breakaway haul-in services.
Races for the A-team
Team Joker's most important races this year is the Norwegian races in May. Our sponsor is a local Norway based retailer with some expansion plans in the nordic countries, and we will make sure as many as possible know the Joker name come end May.
Important races
February: GP of Dubai, GP Murcia
May: Ringerike classic, Tour of Norway, Fjords Cycling Road
August: Tour of Denmark
October: Paris-Tours
These key races are nicely spaced about a month or more from each other and the inbetween months March, April, June, July and September should offer good opportunities for training for the A-team, along with some minor races.
In our next press release, you will read more about the so-called B-team and our efforts to develop into a stage-race winning team.
The Joker B-team: developing new strengths for Joker
As a long-term goal, we aim to develop a team able to win the general classification of stage races. However, so far we have to admit that our crew is unlikely to perform at that level yet. Key riders for our future Grand Tour team are therefore assigned to a B-team, they are on a development schedule and not expected to achieve victories.
Their objectives will be top 10 placings within their discipline, but most important for us is that on the B-team they will have more chances to develop into winners through a more flexible role-set in races, and more opportunities to ride for their own successes.
Riders by specialization: Time-trial: Matthias Brändle, Amund Grøndal Jansen Sprint: Tor Ørjan Fevang Climbers: Oskar Svendsen, Max La Cour,
Per Andreas Ous Puncher: Odd Christian Eiking Northern Classics: Odd Kalsæg
The B-team will not have a fixed captain role like the A-team does, it will rotate according to the challenges at hand. The team is more geared towards stage races than the A-team, although it may still be lacking the GC candidate we are aiming for in the future. Our economy is somewhat limited and we may have to fix the missing GC rider problem by improving.
Key races for the B-team
The main events for the B-team this year will be:
February: Gp de Bessèges, GP Sud Ardèche (we count it in Februrary :-) )
April: Giro del Trentino (Svendsen, Brändle)
July: Österreich Rundfart. (Brändle, Svendsen, La Court)
September: Tour of Britain (Brändle, Eiking)
These key races are nicely spaced about a month or more from each other and the inbetween months March, May, June and August should offer good opportunities for training for the B-team
This story will have some similarities with the real Team joker but the rest will be pure makebelieve...like I think I can do better 
