Maciej Paterski (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) wins the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya
Maciej Paterski was the best Polish finisher(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Polish CCC Sprandi Polkowice team has yet to secure a Professional Continental licence for 2016 but has confirmed its 27-rider roster for the 2016 season, confident it will have a place in the peloton.
The team rode the Giro d’Italia this year after obtaining a wildcard invitation from RCS Sport and won 17 races during the 2015 season. Maciej Paterski won the opening stage of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and took the overall classification in the Tour of Croatia, while the team as a whole also won the team time trial in the Settimana Coppi e Bartali, defeating Team Sky and many of the leading Italian teams.
Davide Rebellin gave the team its final win of the season at the Coppa Agostoni in Italy and the Italian will again be part of the squad in 2016 despite turning 44 in August. The team also has numerous young riders as it works to develop the best Polish talent. 10 riders will be under the age of 25 and six will be under 23 riders. CCC Sprandi has also signed 19 year-old Alan Banaszek, who won the European road race title in the junior ranks. The average age of the team will be 27, despite Rebellin’s age.
Grega Bole, Marek Rutkiewicz, Christian Delle Stelle and Stefan Schumacher have left the team.
“We are very satisfied with reinforcements that we have made. We have added great climber, Victor de la Parte, fast finisher Simone Ponzi and also talented riders with high potential such as Felix Großschartner, Alan Banaszek and Marcin Mrożek. We believe that they will adapt to the team and that together we will make 2016 season better than the previous one," said directeur sportif Piotr Wadecki said in an announcement from the team.
“Davide Rebellin and Maciej Paterski will both stay on our team. The former is still in great shape and has a lot of passion for cycling, despite being 44 years old. The latter has recorded his best season in 2015 and we are very happy that he wants to keep improving with us.”
We also continue our young riders development program. We have 10 guys, who in 2016 will be 25 years old or under. 6 of them will still be in the under 23 category. They will have a chance to learn from very experienced cyclists, such as Rebellin, Sylwester Szmyd or Tomasz Kiendyś.”
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CCC Sprandi Polkowice for the 2016 season: Alan Banaszek (19 years old in 2016), Piotr Brożyna (21), Josef Cerny (23), Victor De la Parte (30), Felix Großschartner (22), Jan Hirt (25), Adrian Honkisz (28), Jakub Kaczmarek (23), Tomasz Kiendyś (39), Adrian Kurek (28), Eryk Latoń (23), Kamil Małecki (20), Jarosław Marycz (29), Bartłomiej Matysiak (32), Nikolay Mihaylov (28), Marcin Mrożek (26), Łukasz Owsian (26), Michał Paluta (21), Maciej Paterski (30), Leszek Pluciński (26), Simone Ponzi (29), Davide Rebellin (45), Branislau Samoilau (31), Grzegorz Stępniak (27), Patryk Stosz (22), Sylwester Szmyd (38) and Mateusz Taciak (32).
