Majerus extends with Boels Dolmans, Eskamendi signs for Lares-Waowdeals, CharterMason-Giant adds young talent for 2016
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Bruno Pires smiles for the camera(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Christine Majerus (Boels Dolmans)(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)
The final overall podium of Dylan Sunderland (AMR Renault Racing Team), Brad Evans (Pat's Veg Cycling) and Benjamin Hill (Charter Mason Giant Racing Team)(Image credit: Con Chronis / Cycling Australia)
Roth-Skoda enlist WorldTour experience in Bruno Pires
As they prepare to make the step up from Continental level to the Pro Conti ranks, the Roth-Skoda team have brought on board a rider with WorldTour experience, signing Bruno Pires on a one-year deal.
The 34-year-old Portuguese rider has spent the past four seasons at Tinkoff-Saxo riding alongside the likes of Alberto Contador and Peter Sagan and also spent a season at Leopard-Trek in 2011, after starting his career with Portuguese Continental teams.
"I have decided on Roth-Skoda because it is a project with a future and that motivates me a lot," Pires told radsport-news.com, explaining how he now would like to pass on the experience he has gained over the course of his career for the good of the team.
"If you're on a team with great riders like Alberto Contador, Peter Sagan or Rafal Majka, you learn how these guys work and motivate their teammates. But I've also learned a great deal from the domestiques like Matteo Tossato, Michael Rogers and Benjamin Noval. And I think now it's time to make my own contribution in Roth-Skoda."
The signing of Pires follows the acquisition of other riders with experience of cycling's top tier - Martin Kohler, who used to ride for BMC, and Matthias Krizek, formerly of Cannondale.
Boels Dolmans extends with Christine Majerus
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Christine Majerus will ride for Boels Dolmans again in 2016 having extended her contract with the team for a third season. The 28-year-old explained she is happy to remain with the team which allows her to pursue personal ambitions while helping teammates achieve their own success.
"I'm really glad to be on this team. Thanks to the team I have been able to develop into a rider who can look back on her best season so far," Majerus said in a statement from the team. "The decision to renew the contract was an easy one. The fact that I can sometimes also go for my own success, makes it easier to play the role of assistant at other times, also because - as a team - we have achieved some great results. I would like to maintain this role in 2016. I think that not feeling the pressure on my shoulders every single race will work out. And the Boels-Dolmans team is the perfect spot for me to fulfil my role as both assistant and finisher."
Majerus' biggest success of the season was winning a stage at the Women's Tour of Britain along with her seventh national Luxembourg road race title and fourth time trial win while she also posted top-five results throughout the season.
"Christine is a rider who can handle the role of assistant really well, she is a hard worker, who certainly played a key role in our team achievements a number of times the past season. A welcome advantage is that she can also play the role of finisher the moment she needs to," said tmanager Danny Stam. "She demonstrated those capabilities during the Energiewacht Tour and the Tour of Britain, her greatest successes. There are not many such riders in the pack, which is why we are very glad to have been able to keep her in the team another season."
Lares-Waowdeals adds Dorleta Eskamendi to its roster
New women's team Lares-Waowdeals have continued to sign riders for its debut season in 2016, adding Spanish rider Dorleta Eskamendi. The 23-year-old has ridden for Bizkaia-Durango since the 2012 season. Eskamendi started her season off by finishing 12th at the Cholet Pays de Loire Dames with third place in the mountains classification of Tour de Feminin her best result of the season.
Lares-Waowdeals have also signed Kelly Markus, Eileen Roe, Monique van de Ree, Gabriele Jankute, Alexandra Nessmar, Pia De Quint, Karen Verhestraeten, Lotte van Hoek, Shana Van Glabeke, Sarah Inghelbrecht, Sarah Rijkes, Tara Gins and Jesse Vandenbulcke.
Charter-Mason Giant add two Australian talents to 2016 roster
Australian Continental team Charter-Mason Giant have continued to build their 2016 roster with the additions of Harry Sweeny and Dylan Sunderland. Sunderland, the nephew of former professional Scott, had a breakout season in the National Road Series (NRS) with AMR-Renault winning a stage and finishing on the final Tour of Tasmania.
"I am very excited to be given the opportunity to race with the squad in 2016. The team focus on young rider development will be one of the keys to achieving my cycling goals," 19-year-old Sunderland said, adding is he looking to make an immediate impact with team.
"My first goal is to have a strong showing at the under 23 Australian Road Championships in January with a podium finish the ultimate aim. After that I will be looking to post consistent performances throughout the NRS season whether in support of other team members or attaining podium positions for the team."
Despite his young age of just 17, Harry Sweeny is looking to race a full season with the team with the aim of performing well at the Doha World Championships as he explained.
"I am super excited to have signed with my first NRS team after my first season as a cyclist," Sweeny said. " I have been following the progress of many of the team’s riders from this past season and in my view the team is nothing short of impressive. Next year should be a very exciting season for me with under 19 qualification events and hopefully some big NRS results."
"Next year I would really like to get on the podium in some NRS tours and my big international goal to is qualify for the World Championships in Doha, UAE. After a disappointing World's this year [Sweeny was 47th in the juniors TT, ed.] I am aiming for a strong TT-oriented performance."
The Melbourne-based team confirmed earlier in the week that Mike Cuming will join the team in 2016 from JLT-Condor.
