The RusVelo men's and women's team in Mallorca(Image credit: RusVelo)
Alexey Markov at the RusVelo unveiling(Image credit: RusVelo)
The RusVelo jersey(Image credit: RusVelo)
RusVelo has been officially launched in Mallorca with both men's and women's professional teams taking centre stage, days out from their first race of the season Le Tour de Langkawi which begins on Friday.
The team's general manager Heiko Salzwedel, said his years of experience honed in Australia, Britain and all over Europe, including his native Germany gives him great hope that the project is on the cusp of great things.
"I come from a solid background always at the top of professional sport and I am sure that my experience in RusVelo will grow further," he said. "We have before us an important season, with the Olympic track events, road and time trials. They will be our priorities around which we have built a series of intermediate targets and competitive tests which we will use in the lead up."
The team recently endured a punishing training camp in Australia under the guidance of Henk Vogels, who Salzwedel worked with at the Australian Institute of Sport.
"We worked very well together right from the start of the first training camp," Salzwedel explained. "These will continue to be one of our strengths throughout our entire season. We will fix the locations where the team will be based to try to always work together and then finalise the individual goals with the team. "
Salzwedel is particularly confident in the promise of his female athletes who will work under sports director, Jochen Dornbusch, with success already found on the track a full season of racing has been planned.
Experienced German Hanka Kupfernagel, a five-time cyclo-cross world champion, is a key member of the team will focus on the road for the remainder of the season with the aim of peaking for the two biggest events on the calendar.
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"Now I'll start the preparation for the Olympic time trial in London, which will be my big goal of the season," the 37-year-old said having prematurely ended her cyclo-cross season. "Then I hope do well at the world time trial in the Netherlands, another goal that I feel is within my reach."
The women's team is set to make its racing debut on the road at Het Volk in Belgium on February 25. Then it will be intense and close a series of events, from World Cup debut in the Ronde van Drenthe on March 10, before arriving at the Trofeo Binda in Italy.
