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[CT] World Cycling Centre 2017
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 25-08-2017 17:12
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World Cycling Centre 2017
The World Cycling Centre team returns for 2017 ready to build upon a solid neo-pro season. Recipient of a last minute MGUCI license award in 2016, team management now has time to properly lay foundations for the future of the WCC organisation. The team still relies heavily upon an anonymous philanthropist benefactor who continues to cover rider and staff wages.
For 2017, team management have attracted additional funding from Edward Jones Investments who will provide the remaining funds necessary to cover team operation, transfers and training. Pearl Izumi return as clothing and accesories partner, with Skoda coming on board to provide vehicular support.
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 25-08-2017 17:12
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Team History
2016: World Cycling Centre
[CT] 14th
Team [20 riders]:
 Robert Bush |  Emiliano Contreras |  Michael Rodriguez Galindo |  Brenton Jones | | Alex Ardila Cano |  Oliver Naesen | | Fabian Hernando Puerta Zapata | Frederik Backaert | | Juan Sebastian Molano [Stagiare] |  Abou Sanogo | | Diego Antonio Ochoa [Stagiare] |  Flavio De Luna |  Javier Moreno |  Salah Eddine Mraouni |  Clément Venturini |  Goodnews Clifford |  Alex Peters |  Thanawut Sanikwathi [Stagiare] |  Georgios Bouglas |  Muhammet Eyüp Karagobek | | Loaned out [3 riders]: | | | Isaac Bolivar |  Dominique Mayho | | Laurens Sweeck | |
Victory list:
| [C2HC] | Benelux Challenge | St 3 | Goodnews Clifford | | [C1] | KBC De Panne Tour | St 3 | Oliver Naesen | | [C2HC] | Tour of Scotland | St 2 | Michael Rodriguez Galindo | | [C2} | Tour de Slovenie | St 4 | Clement Venturini | | [C1] | Tour of America | St 21 | Clement Venturini | | [C2HC] | Post Denmark Rundt | KoM | Clement Venturini | | [C2HC] | La Tropicale Amissa Bongo | KoM | Salah Eddine Mraouni | | [NC] | Mexico | TT | Flavio De Luna | | [NC] | Nigeria | RR | Goodnews Clifford | | [NC] | Nigeria | TT | Goodnews Clifford | | [NC] | Argentina | RR | Emiliano Contreras | | [NC] | Ivory Coast | RR | Abou Sanogo | | [NC] | Bermuda | TT | Dominique Mayho |
Edited by Scorchio on 25-08-2017 17:49
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 25-08-2017 17:12
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Edited by Scorchio on 30-09-2017 20:55
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 25-08-2017 17:13
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[C2HC] Win Goal: Tour de Faso
[C2] Win Goal: Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne
[C2HC] Top 5 goal: Lillestrom GP
[C2HC] Gisborne GP: Top 5
Edited by Scorchio on 30-09-2017 20:49
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 25-08-2017 17:13
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World Cycling Centre 2017 team roster
Edited by Scorchio on 30-09-2017 20:51
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 25-08-2017 17:13
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reserve 5 - free to post below
Edited by Scorchio on 01-10-2017 16:55
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 28-08-2017 18:21
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As an obscure CT team, the World Cycling Centre organisation rarely receives much mainstream or even niche cycle-specific media coverage. Nevertheless we have tried to gather various news snippets, rumours and gossip relating to the team from various sources that have emerged over the '16-'17 winter period.
Rumours indicate that WCC may be planning to limit the number of development [unmaxed] riders from outside the Americas, with only 2 scholarships specific to each of the other main continents being available: Europe, Africa and Australasia.
Speaking to his local newspaper, 2016 team leader Robert Bush has indicated that he is hoping not to be the sole US rider on WCC in 2017, although he admits his Spanglish has improved significantly during the season.
With 23 riders under contract in 2016, Mundociclista.com has confidently predicted that a number of riders will have been released in the off-season given the 20 rider CT maximum.
In a separate article Mundociclista.com has also speculated that a slimmed down WCC will sacrifice some elements of development in 2017 in order to chase PCT promotion. Most of this speculation seems to relate to off-hand comments made by WCC team manager and license holder Scorchio during the 2016 season. https://pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread....st_1228824
Team management have expressed significant excitement that HC races in CT [C2HC] will now be mandatory for all the teams in the division.
"Full start-lists are always desireable. Additionally, this common shared race programme offers a wide variety of terrains that will surely reward teams with a more balanced rider make-up across all the key racing terrains as opposed to focus on only one or two race formats."
It is understood that all WCC rider renewal contracts have been successfully registered with the MGUCI, and goals for season 2017 agreed between team management and key sponsor representatives as team management switches focus towards the upcoming rider transfer window.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 21:04
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 04-09-2017 07:56
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Finishing 14th was a strong showing given your team's entry circumstances. Good to see that Galindo took a win along the way. Mixing development with some stronger riders is what has made Eritel so enjoyable for me - so will be interesting to see how you approach it!
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 04-09-2017 08:02
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World Champion
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Australasia
Oh come on you overbid me enough on international talents 
Seriously though some exciting news bites from a great team - was fun to follow you guys and compete against you last season and the project seems to be developing very well. Best of luck  I love that jersey as well, very nice design 
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT]  Xero Racing
5x  x5
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 04-09-2017 12:33
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@SN: Thanks for stopping by. Yeah, Rodriguez-Galindo had a really solid season being our top points scorer. Was interesting that he probably garnered at least as much if not more points from stage races with some mountains than from hilly classics or hill-dominated stage races. If he is on the books again next season would be more than happy with a similar return.
Wonder if I'll be able to bring any additional ex-Nutresa riders back under my wing during this off-season? Would be cool, but a bit at odds with development. Eritel are definitely a model of where we would like to take WCC in the next few years, as mentioned a good number of times now, PCT is definitely the best fit for development purposes in my book, so we will have to try and do something about competing for promotion to fully enable our long-term development goals.
@ Jandal7
Well it is a big region with many options to recruit a max of 2 developing riders from, so hopefully we won't end up clashing in transfers. During the season though be warned, all WCC riders are 'sharpening their elbows' in anticipation of the CT battles ahead out on the road!
Xero weren't too far off the promition due to disbandments places in '16 and have a really solid base to build on to kick on and fight for automatic promotion in '17. The 150-odd point gap between Xero and WCC at the end of '16 is quite a chasm to bridge (in CT terms, not in the PT world so much), but we are intent on putting up a good fight . Good luck for the season ahead.
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 05-09-2017 10:27
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National Champions Jersey launch
Together with our partners Peral Izumi working in conjuction with legendary designer the_hoyle (once more, many thanks for your work), the World Cycling Centre is proud to present a number of jerseys for you to keep an eye out for on the road this year.
First up we have Emiliano Contreras' Argentinian RR Champions mailliot. Emiliano capped an excellent development season progressing from a level 1 racing license to level 3 by capturing the national title. Some have been quick to point out the absence of the Sancor armada of riders at the NC races, but overcoming competition from a seasoned PT rider is nothing to be sniffed at. Contreras is developing very nicely into a strong sprint option with decent ability to cope with tough terrain. Without further ado, we present the jersey:
Next up we have Flavio De Luna's new Mexican TT title jersey. Flavio deliberately took it easy during the preceding day's RR to focus on his best title chance in the TT. This approach paid off with a well deserved victory. De Luna is a reasonably experienced rider who is just looking for that last opportunity to polish his skillset and build his endurance base, and hence has one eye on a potential PT loan for the 2017 season if the right arrangemnents can be made with a host team. If not, WCC will be happy to rely for a second season on this very dependable riders all-round suitability across a swathe of stage races providing a number of opportunities to show off his new national colours:
Finally today we again celebrate the achievements of a young neo-pro, this time Abou Sanogo the new national RR champion from the Ivory Coast. Abou had a relatively light race programme in 2016 as he completed his school studies, but still managed to secure a level 2 license for 2017, and will now be stepping up to a full-time race calendar. In time we believe that Abou will become a strong contender specialising in cobbled races, both flat and hilly. Having completed his exams in the summer, he adjusted to more regular racing with aplomb, and built on a solid endurace base built riding the Herald Sun Tour, Tour du Faso and Tour de l'Avenir n quick succession to secure his RR title.
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That concludes todays presentation. In each case we are delighted that the new jsereys will both complement and stand out from our predominantly yellow, black and white racing colours. Perhaps at a later date there will be a need for further NC jersey discussions!
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| Shonak |
Posted on 05-09-2017 10:40
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Tour de France Champion
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Very nice national jerseys there. I like the unique approach of the team, hope you will find some more diamonds in the rough.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 05-09-2017 11:46
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Cheers Shonak. Given you are one of the clutch of teams promoting to /relegating from PT this season (and congrats again), I expect you'll (all) be among the most active during the transfer period with the most likely high levels of churn in your rosters. You've got some interesting riders on your (pre-renewals) roster that might not be best suited to PT competition but fit right in on a plucky CT squad, hence I'm putting you on notice to expect some comms sometime Friday pm heading your way from WCC HQ!
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 06-09-2017 23:16
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WCC 2017 Renewals and transfer prospects overview
Of a 23-man roster, all 9 riders that negotiations were opened with re-signed for the 2017 season. We were confident that we would be able to reduce the wages of our two nominal leaders from last year given how much we were forced to overpay for their services arriving late to a much reduced Free Agency market. This number one goal has been well achieved. The other 7 riders are all unmaxed, and at various different levels of development. We had aspired to re-signing all of these riders to minimum wage contracts, but negotiations with representatives for Venturini and Mraouni took an extended period of time and required a slight loosening of purse strings. Both riders delivered good points scoring performances last year given their lack of experience, and looking to their future prospects we were keen to retain their services.
Renewals
| Last name | First | Nation | Age | XP | Wage | Change | Availabile? | | Bush | Robert | USA | 27 | Max | 119,500 | -80500 | No | | Rodriguez Galindo | Michael | COL | 28 | Max | 69,500 | -55500 | No | | Bolivar | Isaac | COL | 26 | 4.08 | 50,000 | 0 | Loan | | De Luna | Flavio | MEX | 27 | 4 | 50,000 | 0 | Loan | | Contreras | Emiliano | ARG | 23 | 3.1 | 50,000 | -30000 | Loan | | Venturini | Clément | FRA | 24 | 3.35 | 62,500 | +12500 | Loan | | Mraouni | Salah Eddine | MOR | 25 | 3.01 | 52,500 | +2500 | Loan | | Sanogo | Abou | CIV | 23 | 2.01 | 50,000 | -10000 | Loan | | Sanikwathi | Thanawut | THA | 24 | 2.03 | 50,000 | +40000 | Loan |
We are sad to have to let so many of our 2016 riders go, many of who we feel very close to. There is still the potential that one or more may well return with WCC in 2017 depending on progress during the upcoming transfer window. Whatever the case, many have developed an experience level to make them more attractive prospects to potential new employers.
Spoiler Good examples include young Bermudan Dominique Mayho who we funded for a season on loan at Valio to gain a level and ensure ease of further progress towards level 4. With a top 20 overall at the Tour de L'Avenir to his name, he has demonstrated his potential versus his peers. Providing an olive branch to escape from the professional scrap heap to an older rider, Georgios Bouglas hailing from Greece made good progress also gaining a level and been in prime position to easily gain a further level this season even in the CT. We took the opportunity to shape his development a little different to normal perceived wisdom, steering him away from solely focussing on his sprint and including some hillwork. Following this approach to conclusion he will offer a very interesting skillset not dis-similar to certian serial victors at CT level like Geschke and Bole. We also very reluctantly parted with home Colombian rider Fabian Hernando Puerta Zapata. Our major issue regarding Fabian was concern that there may well have been a lack of interest from PT teams in providing a prized loan position for his services as is really required to complete his cycling education. Maxed as a track-TT-ist, he will make a very handy lead-out/prologue rider also easily slotting into any TT line-up. However his lvl 4 stats straddle the line of what historically has interested PT teams so was very reluctantly released.
Looking to the future, roster and wage cap space has been cleared while maintaining a heavy development bias in the current roster. More developing riders will be persued during the transfer period, however the main focus will be on mining good value leaders and strong domestiques to support these leaders while offering additional opportunities to score results and vital ranking points in their own right. We will be extending our interests across all terrains and have developed a very robust framework within which to work with during the transfer frenzy. We expect our 2017 roster to once more have a minimum of 50% unmaxed riders. However in an ideal world a number of these riders will find positions on loan to optimise their 2017 development.
On that note, we do not want to part ways with any of our 9 re-signed riders in the transfer season. Loans for unmaxed riders are however highly desirable. We have some flexibility regarding wage-split and loan payments already pencilled into our 2017 planning and will release more detail at the appropriate juncture. A most important consideration when selecting which development riders to retain was identifying those that we would best be able to utilise on our own roster if not loaned out, so all have a short and long term future with WCC. Nonetheless, both level 4 riders are desparate for the opportunity to complete their cycling education. Given that Issac Bolivar (COB 75) is one of the top 2 or 3 level 4 cobbled riders outside of the PT, his prospects at this stage seem good. Similarly, although not the absolute top lvl 4 TTist outside the PT, Mexican Flavio De Luna is the most talented that can also cope with alternate terrains (72 Mtn, 70 Hill, 74 TT). With the release of the 3 GT routes for 2017, the presence of a TTT at the Vuelta surely enhanced his prospects of securing a PT loan position given his ability to contribute beyond 1 single stage of the race, even as just a reliable water carrier deeper into those harder stages.
Further updates and transfer discussions can be expected to follow here at team HQ and via MGUCI communication message board and Skype channels!
Edited by Scorchio on 07-09-2017 00:16
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 07-09-2017 21:26
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World Cycling Centre management have released their first sponsor goal to the media:
Top 10 in CT team standings
Underpinning this goal is a need to add significant point scoring strength and potential to the existing small roster. With that in mind, team management have developed a 'target roster' identifying appropriate rider characteristics and then matching with a short-list for each position with the best FA and transfer target matches. Team managment is aware that some initial targets may be a little ambitious, but have a variety of options in mind for each roster slot that can be worked through to hopefully appropriately fill each spot. Team staff have remained tightlipped regarding which specific riders appear in their bespoke target matrix. There is understanding that picking up 1 or 2 additional Colombian riders is a priority, while if the right opportunity presents in the very busy secondary US market it will be taken. Beyond that as it says on the tin, the World Cycling Centre's horizons stretch the breadth of the planet!
On the other hand, speaking to the cycling press in both Colombia and the US over the past few weeks, team manager Scorchio has been lamenting the difficulty of optimal operation under strict CT wage cap conditions.
"A core part of WCC's mission should really be to compete for a top talent every one or two years to develop alongside the overlooked youngsters that we will more generally target for development. There are lots of eye-catching talents available this season, and it hurts a little inside to see such a major star of the future as Miguel Angel Lopez emerging from our key home market and not be in a position to compete for his services without completely blowing our budget. This sort of thing only heightens our desire to compete for and achieve promotion to the PCT level in short order to be in a position to respond to such great opportunities in future".
In extreme circumstances if transfer progress hits a brick wall in the first 72 hours, an alternative matrix to the 'promotion push' entitled 'development focus' has also been prepared in case implementation becomes necessary.
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| Booker |
Posted on 07-09-2017 21:45
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Ruthless, but effective, job in renewals. Still yet to go through the first round of those myself, but the WCC general manager must have a strong stomach for firing young riders!
Good luck to you that 'promotion push' continues as the goal for the season.
On a side note, the_hoyle's done an amazing job with your jerseys across the national champions and the regular kit. Bet you're looking forward to seeing those out in the peloton 
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 07-09-2017 21:51
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It will be an active season for you in deed, but much needed in order to make a promotion push based on last years roster. I do think it's the right thing to do for future talent development though.
There should be columbians on the market, who have a proven pedigree on CT-level 
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 08-09-2017 11:26
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@Booker: Yeah, very pleased with the_hoyle's creations .
Although it was difficult to let riders go, last season they had pretty much all sat unnoticed for the first week of transfers, so were probably relieved even at just one-year options with WCC; some are in a much better position now to attract new employers .
@Atlantius: The push for promotion is ready! Not all Colombian riders are created equal. Some are specifically best suited to the calendar in PT, PCT or CT. Time will tell which most attract our attention.
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 08-09-2017 18:35
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Very much looking forward to seeing you a lot in CT this season
Enjoy that Argentine jersey while it lasts. SanCor boys will be back at the nationals next time |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 08-09-2017 21:43
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@Ian: With the tighter race program I'm sure we will be tripping over each other at multiple race HQ's throughout the season.
Regarding the Argy-Bargy NC, I'm sure your lads regretted the entry mix-ups, and will make sure that their paperwork is in proper order this year!
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