Tony Martin heads Algarve roster, Songezo Jim to Kuwait-Cartucho.es, Bahrain-Merida adds DS Machner
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Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-Quickstep)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Songezo Jim (Dimension Data)(Image credit: Dimension Data)
German time trial champion Tony Martin (Etixx-Quickstep)
Logo for the new Bahrain Merida team(Image credit: Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team)
Three-time Cyclo-cross World Champion Zdenek Stybar might have shifted his focus to the road with Quick-Step Floors, but he still dabbles in the dirt each season. Last season he raced a single event in Essen. This year, Stybar will compete in the last two Belgian races of 2016, the C1 DVV Trophy in Loenhout and the C2 Versluys Cyclo-cross in Bredene on December 29 and 30.
"I'm very happy to be back in cyclo-cross after one year. It will be great to get the taste of racing there and have the old feelings come back," Stybar said. "Of course, after switching my priority to road in the past years, I can't promise that I'll be a factor in the fight for victory, especially as there's a strong field there, with many riders which are fully focused on cyclo-cross. I just want to enjoy these races and do my best."
After the races, Zdenek will travel to Calpe, where he will continue his build-up for next season with the Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team.
Tony Martin heads Algarve roster
Tony Martin will debut his time trial rainbow jersey with Katusha-Alpecin at the Volta ao Algarve on February 15-19.
According to the race organisers, Martin was on the team's official roster along with Portuguese riders Tiago Machado and José Gonçalves, Simon Spilak, Baptiste Planckaert, Maurits Lammertink, Sven Erik Bystrøm, and Mads Würtz Schmidt.
Other provisional starters include Gazprom-RusVelo's new recruit Sergey Lagutin, Alexey Tsatevich, Nikolay Trusov, Kirill Sveshnikov, Sergey Nikolaev, Evgeniy Shalunov, Ildar Arslanov and Artem Nych.
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The US team Rally Cycling will be the only foreign Continental team in Algarve, and is scheduled to bring Brandon McNulty, Robert Britton, Matteo Dal-Cin, Adam de Vos, Evan Huffman, Colin Joyce, Sepp Kuss and Danny Pate.
Songezo Jim to Kuwait-Cartucho.es
After not being renewed with Dimension Data, South African Songezo Jim has found a home with the Kuwait-Cartucho.es team.
Jim joins other new signings Davide Rebellin, Stephan Schumacher, Salah Eddine Mraouni, Axel Costa, Fernando Grijalba, Jose Manuel Gutierrez "Gallu" and Andreas Keusser in the Continental squad.
Moscher signs as DS with Bahrain-Merida
The Bahrain-Merida team announced it has hired former Austrian champion Harald Morscher as a directeur sportif.
Morscher is a former manager of Katusha's development team and worked with the Tour of Austria.
"After quite a long time of staying in the office I am back in the race," Morscher said in a press release. "To be part of the year of birth of the Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team is a big honour for me and I will contribute to this unique project everything that is in my power. I would also like to take this opportunity and express my gratitude to the Team for trusting me with this important role."
