Moreno debuts with Movistar in Tour de San Luis
Daniel Moreno will make his debut as a Movistar rider at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina later this month and will build up to the Ardennes Classics in the first portion of the season, probably going on to ride the Tour de France in July.
The 34-year-old has set out his early-season calendar to Spanish website Biciciclismo, and it kicks off on January 18 in Argentina, where he lives during the winter, at the race he has done for the past three years. He will then return to Europe to ride the Vuelta a Murcia and the Vuelta a Andalucía in February, Tirreno-Adriatico in March, and the GP Miguel Indurain and Vuelta al País Vasco in April.
Then comes the major objective of the first half of the season - Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in late April, races where he'll be riding for Alejandro Valverde, and against his former team leader at Katusha Joaquim Rodríguez.
Moreno, who rode under Eusebio Unzué when the team was known as Caisse d'Epargne in 2008 and 2009, won Flèche in 2013 and has finished in the top 10 at Liège in each of the past two editions.
Bora-Argon 18 set their sights on the WorldTour
Bora-Argon 18 have set out bold ambitions for the near future, stating their plans to step up to WorldTour level in 2017.
The German Pro Continental team, formerly known as NetApp, are keen to line up at the 2017 Tour de France, which starts in Germany, and although they’ve ridden the past two Tours as wildcards, they want to do so as members of cycling’s top tier.
“For five years now we have been working very hard for our big goal. We have ridden all three Grand Tours and we’ve also had some success. But now it is truly time to become a member of cycling’s ‘elite club’,” said team manager Ralph Denk in a statement.
“It would personally be my biggest success to be at the Grand Départ 2017 in Düsseldorf with Bora-Argon 18 as a WorldTour Team. And I have to say that I am very confident that we can achieve that, and then celebrate it together with German cycling”
The team also announced on Wednesday that they have extended their contract with German national road race champion Emanuel Buchmann through to the end of 2018. It comes as part of a “long-term strategy” that has seen the team invest in youth this transfer window, bringing in German Silio Herklotz and Austrian Gregor Mühlberger.
“As a rider beeing with Bora-Argon 18 feels a little bit like being in a family," said Buchmann Everyone trusts each other and supports each other, that is very important when you struggle with your shape or results. So for me this attitude is key as a young rider to be able to develop your performance step by step."
Cycling Academy team aboard Cannondale in 2016
The Israeli continental Cycling Academy Team announced today that Cannondale will be its equipment sponsor for this season. The team will race aboard the redesigned 2016 Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-MODs, and use the Slice RS for individual and team time-trial events.
Team manager Ran Margaliot helped steer Israel's first pro team to 14 victories in its inaugural season last year, and brought in several new riders for this season, including Canadian champion Guillaume Boivin, Namibian champion Daniel Craven, and former Mexican champion Luis Lemus. The team will start its season in February at the GP Costa degli Etruschi in Italy.
“It’s a great honor and fills us with tremendous pride to be a part of the Cannondale family,” Margaliot said. “We will make Cannondale proud and build on our successful first year with Cannondale’s elite road and time-trial bikes.”
Cannondale also supplies its eponymous WorldTour team in addition to Team 3M and the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld squad.
Boels Dolmans supported by Etixx
World Champion Lizzie Armitstead and her Boels Dolmans teammates will be fuelled by Etixx in 2016. The partnership between the European sports nutrition company and the team was announced today.
"When you strive for Olympic and world titles, every aspect of your performance matters. This certainly holds true for sports nutrition, which is why I am delighted to welcome Etixx as a partner in the Boels-Dolmans team," Armitstead said. "Being able to rely on your sports nutrition and having the experience of a renowned company behind you can really make a difference in our branch of sport."
Etixx supports several other women's teams in addition to being title sponsor of the WorldTour Etixx-Quickstep team, and nutrition partners with Orica-GreenEdge and the Tinkoff Team.
