SEG Racing has announced its full roster for 2015 with 16 riders recruited for the squad’s inaugural season. The U23 team, created by Eelco & Martijn Berkhout, the agents for riders including Dan Martin, Sep Vanmarcke and Bauke Mollema, will focus on developing young riders before filtering them through into the professional ranks.
''We develop for all the professional teams out there, I think you can describe us as the continental team which supports professional cycling, instead of the other way around,” said SEG Racing Performance Director, Michiel Elijzen.
Elijzen, 32, stepped away from his management role at Team Belkin in order to concentrate on SEG’s project, which includes riders from Great Britain, Holland, Australia and China.
''We want to become the best in development, that for sure. But this is just the first year and we need to focus on building a solid development institution for the coming years. The team is based in Eindhoven, at the Cycling Performance Center,” Elijzen added.
“That’s where the riders are monitored, tested and where we also build our own blood passport. Creating a blood passport on development level was one of the key elements of the project. It’s part of our contribution to the development of new future starts for cycling who are educated in a clean and safe environment. We offer the teams a chance to sign a talent with a full profile so teams can be sure of their investment.”
The team’s first roster includes junior World Champion Jonas Bokeloh (Germany) as well as promising Danish rider Magnus Bak Klaris who won the junior version of Paris-Roubaix and was fifth in last year’s World Championship road race in Spain.
“Together with the Australian Institute of Sport we focus on the development of Robert-Jon McCarthy and from Team GB talented climber Alex Peters will join the team. We have been really keen on scouting a young talented Chinese rider for the first year and we are happy to have the 20 years old Zhi Hui Jiang on board next year.''
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The team will hold their first training camp later this month in Loutraki, Greece. The team will have his focus on the Nation Cup Races, U23 calendar, Dutch Top competition and the UCI Europe Tour.
Full Roster 2015: Alex Peters (GBR), Robert-Jon McCarthy (AUS), Magnus Bak Klaris (DEN), Jonas Bokeloh (GER), Jenthe Biermans (BEL), Rob Leemans (BEL), Yoeri Havik (NED), Jasper Bovenhuis (NED), Steven Lammertink (NED), Ricardo van Dongen (NED), Koen Bouwman (NED), Davy Gunst (NED), Julius van den Bergh (NED), Fabio Jakobsen (NED), Sea Keong Loh (MAL), Zhi Hui Jiang (CHN)
