Teams & Riders EOLO-Kometa

[Guszek]

The first race for the team in 2020 will be Challenge of Mallorca (30th Jan - 2nd Feb).

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Regarding Rodriguez's move to Ineos (Automatic translation)

“It is a source of pride for us that one of the most powerful structures in cycling today is one of our riders, because it comes to reward the great work that is being done in the youth category and, in addition, the importance of an initiative such as the Campus Selection that we organize annually. At the Foundation we have set ourselves the objective of training good cyclists and we continue to work. Personally, I would have liked to have been able to count on Carlos for more time in the Foundation’s teams, and that he would have faced some season with our U23 structure, but these are not decisions that are in our hands. For our part, it only remains to wish him the best for his career,” says Francisco Javier Contador, general manager of the sports structures of the Alberto Contador Foundation.


Sounds like the team has some doubts about this move as well

https://www.velonews.com/2019/11/ne...hing-young-riders-turning-pro-too-soon_502877

Contador brother raises alarm over talent poaching, young riders turning pro too soon
The manager of one of Spain's top development teams is worried that new rules will hurt smaller squads.

 

[Guszek]

The team has confirmed its participation in Volta a la Comunidad Valenciana.

 

[joorges]

January
Challenge de Mallorca

February
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
Vuelta a Murcia
Clásica de Almeria
Tour of Antalya

March
¿Croatian Races? --> ¿Umag?¿Porec?¿Istrian?
¿Coppi & Bartali (Italian riders-Fancellu)?

April
Giro di Sicilia
Klasika de Amorebieta
Vuelta a Castilla y Leon

May
Vuelta a Asturias
Vuelta a Madrid
Tour of Hungary

June
Giro U23
Nationals Championship U23 and Elite

July
Giro Valle d'Aosta
Clasica de Villafranca de Ordizia
Vuelta a Burgos

August
Circuito de Getxo
Tour of Danmark

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Moschetti is the most successful alumnus so far, right? Or am I forgetting someone?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Moschetti is the most successful alumnus so far, right? Or am I forgetting someone?

Mas was part of the junior and U23 squad in the past, but he did race on Quick Step's development team for one season before making the jump, so not sure he counts.
Moschetti was also the first one to step up directly from the project to WT.

 

[F_Cance]

Which Kometa rider(s) could get good results this year? Dina and Puppio i guess?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Which Kometa rider(s) could get good results this year? Dina and Puppio i guess?

Pretty much. Dina is the safest bet. Puppio should be able to get results in TTs. Fancellu is an obvious talent as well, but still very young. Ropero did really well on the U23 scene in Spain last year and he's pretty allround but I don't expect a big breakthrough. The team expects a lot from Sergio Garcia is what I read in an interview a couple days ago. I don't know enough about the new Italian signings to properly judge them.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Oh no, rookie mistake for Fancellu in Antalya. He finished in a 3-man group just behind stage winner Zoidl, but didn't really sprint. As a result he misses out on bonus seconds and more importantly, the overall lead which goes to Max Stedman who sprinted to 3rd on the stage...

 

[F_Cance]

Still really strong. Did not expect that in his first race.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Still really strong. Did not expect that in his first race.

Absolutely, it's impressive. I expected Dina to be their first finisher.

 

[Koronin]

Pretty much. Dina is the safest bet. Puppio should be able to get results in TTs. Fancellu is an obvious talent as well, but still very young. Ropero did really well on the U23 scene in Spain last year and he's pretty allround but I don't expect a big breakthrough. The team expects a lot from Sergio Garcia is what I read in an interview a couple days ago. I don't know enough about the new Italian signings to properly judge them.

Sergio said after Mallorca his goal there was just to finish the races. He also said that this year is for learning and improving. I'm excited to hear the team has high expectations from him, esp since he's down playing any expectations for this season. This is his first season as a pro.

 

[WKA311]

Apparently Fancellu has already signed with Trek-Segafredo. Basso thinks he is the greatest talent in the team and could be the new Nibali. Also says he could win the Baby Giro this year.

Dutch speakers (LaFlorecita) can probably exfiltrate more info from this article:

Ivan Basso: “Jumbo-Visma en Team Sunweb zijn voor Kometa-Xstra de perfecte voorbeelden”

Interview Eind januari werd in het Spaanse Oliva de Continental-ploeg Kometa-Xstra voorgesteld. De grote man achter de schermen is Fran Contador, maar het zijn de twee teammanagers die bij de meeste mensen de grootste aandacht genieten: Ivan Basso en Alberto Contador. WielerFlits besprak in een...

www.wielerflits.nl

Think it hasn't been discussed here before.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Apparently Fancellu has already signed with Trek-Segafredo. Basso thinks he is the greatest talent in the team and could be the new Nibali. Also says he could win the Baby Giro this year.

Dutch speakers (LaFlorecita) can probably exfiltrate more info from this article:

Ivan Basso: “Jumbo-Visma en Team Sunweb zijn voor Kometa-Xstra de perfecte voorbeelden”

Interview Eind januari werd in het Spaanse Oliva de Continental-ploeg Kometa-Xstra voorgesteld. De grote man achter de schermen is Fran Contador, maar het zijn de twee teammanagers die bij de meeste mensen de grootste aandacht genieten: Ivan Basso en Alberto Contador. WielerFlits besprak in een...

www.wielerflits.nl

Think it hasn't been discussed here before.

I read that article earlier this week but didn't think to post it here. If I remember I will put up a translation tomorrow. Quite some interesting comments in there.

 

[F_Cance]

Interesting read. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Ok - here is a translation of some interesting parts of the interview with Basso:

It's not a Spanish or Italian project, but an international one. That's how it should be viewed by outsiders as well, the reason that the team has a Spanish licence is because it makes most sense with the Spanish foundation behind the project. They share this vision with the CEO of their new sponsor - Xstra.

This spring Basso and Contador will launch their own bike brand, which they've developed during the last 1.5 year. During their careers they always spent a lot of time focusing on the details of their bikes and they wanted to create the best bike in the world. But the main reason for the new bike brand is that their riders will ride on the same bike from youth to pro level and they won't be forced to switch bikes when a sponsor contract finishes.

For this year the team was aiming for a ProTeam licence, but didn't succeed. It is now the goal for next year. Still, they are satisfied with their programme, which is very similar to a Spanish ProTeam's calendar. The only difference is that they can't get invites to the biggest races. Even though they don't necessarily want to get invites to the biggest races in the next couple of years, they still want to have that opportunity .

Some riders he discusses:
Antonio Puppio can be compared to Pippo Ganna, he has a big engine. Of course he isn't at that level yet, but is a similar rider.
Biggest talent is Fancellu. He could win the Giro U23 this year. Basso thinks he is the new Nibali. He doesn't want to put a lot of pressure on him, but Fancellu has something special.

This year, the team is no longer the development team for Trek-Segafredo. Basso explains their decision by saying that he and Alberto were both top athletes and that means that they strive to be the best. So they had the feeling they had to move on. When they discussed this with Trek-Segafredo manager Luca Guercilena, he understood and instantly agreed. He underlines that the door will always be open for them at Trek, but that now they want to develop their own project.

This season, 5 of their riders stepped up to pro level: Isaac Canton (Burgos), Stefano Oldani (Lotto), Juanpe Lopez and Michel Ries (Trek), and Carlos Rodriguez (to Ineos straight from junior team). Fancellu has a contract with Trek for next season. Basso notes it's a great thing to have so many move up to the pros, but also frustrating. They don't want to lose their 6 best riders again next year. Last year they were almost guaranteed a ProTeam licence, they were working together with the Hungarian governement. But when they decided to finance the Giro start instead, this changed. The team decided not to take any risks, because they didn't really have the finances for a ProTeam. Until April Basso has more than 10 meetings with potential sponsors. His deadline for finding more sponsor money is in May.

In the future they want to become a WorldTour team, and even the best in the world. But they aren't the only ones with those ambitions and they have to remain realistic. An idea is not enough, you have to have the means to reach your goal. Basso has a lot of respect for Jumbo-Visma and Sunweb and the way they developed themselves with the help of sponsors, without focusing too much on the competition like Ineos or Quickstep. Still, the team's plan isn't entirely the same. Their true goal is to step up to professional level with only their own riders. Not just riders from their current squads, but also former riders that could return to their team. That is the philosophy they want to integrate into the sport of cycling.




Also, there is this interview:
https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/ivan-basso-kevin-inkelaar-is-een-machine/
In which he discusses Carlos Rodriguez

Basso explains that he is a good climber, but at the same time not a pure climber. He stresses that it's important to follow his development because he's a very allround rider, but cannot be compared with Evenepoel. Rodriguez needs time, he could have spent 2 or 3 years in a smaller team, but decided to make the jump straight away with a really light race schedule. Basso says that he respects team Ineos because they know what they're doing, and thinks there won't be any issues for Carlos in the future

 

[RedheadDane]

It's not a Spanish or Italian project, but an international one. That's how it should be viewed by outsiders as well, the reason that the team has a Spanish licence is because it makes most sense with the Spanish foundation behind the project. They share this vision with the CEO of their new sponsor - Xstra.

And also, isn't it a UCI rule that a conti team's license is based on the majority of riders, and since there are more Spanish riders than riders from other countries…

 

[Guszek]

Provisional calendar after season restart:
Vuelta a Burgos
Circuito de Getxo
Tour de l'Ain
Tour de Hongrie

I wonder if is it possible they take part in Giro Bio as this race will be at the same time as Tour de Hongrie. Probably not...

 

[LaFlorecita]

Both Basso and Fran Contador posted the same summary of the last few seasons on their instagram stories and teasing something new. Both of them + Alberto followed Eolo on instagram which appears to be an Italian internet provider. Possibly a jump to a higher level with new sponsor? Pro Conti?

Edit: just found out that they apparently also sponsor some Italian races, amongst others Tirreno and Strade Bianche.

 

[Koronin]

Both Basso and Fran Contador posted the same summary of the last few seasons on their instagram stories and teasing something new. Both of them + Alberto followed Eolo on instagram which appears to be an Italian internet provider. Possibly a jump to a higher level with new sponsor? Pro Conti?

Edit: just found out that they apparently also sponsor some Italian races, amongst others Tirreno and Strade Bianche.

Taking the team Pro Conti would be the next step to trying to eventually get it to the WT level, which last I remember was the goal.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Looks like we could expect some form of announcement tomorrow.

 

[LaFlorecita]

It's confirmed in Gazzetta - next season the team will be Pro Continental with Eolo and Kometa as the main sponsors. Will be interesting to see which new riders they bring in.

 

[F_Cance]

Nice. Hope that they can sign some promising riders for the next season.

 

[Koronin]

Very nice. This is now 4 Pro Conti teams in Spain. Maybe some signs of Spanish cycling making a comeback?

 

[Red Rick]

I've heard a lot of good things about this young Alejandro Valverde fella, seems to have a lot of potential I wonder if they'll sign him.