In early June, Team Giant-Alpecin announced the introduction of a pioneering development program, starting in 2017, that will complement the existing men’s and women’s WorldTour programs. The team has the ambition to play long term a prominent role in the top of international pro cycling, and with this strategic choice in setting up this development program the team made the decision to educate their own top riders from a young age and grow them into the WorldTour program. The project is shaping up with the aim of becoming the best development institute in the world.

The team’s newly introduced main partner, Switzerland-based Sunweb, one of the leading tour operators in Europe, is committed to this initiative of the team to play a leading role in both the top of international cycling, as well as in cycling’s grassroots development. Sunweb is specifically targeting its most important growth market, Germany, and together with the team is aiming to become a catalyst for efforts to revitalize German cycling – from the bottom to the top – with a long-term vision.

WORLD’S NO. 1 AND 2 JUNIORS ON BOARD; WORLD-CLASS TALENTS JOIN

From an impressive pool of best-in-class young riders who are eager to be part of this innovative program, the team has selected a group of youngsters who will be the first generation of young talents to join the development team. This select group, as previously announced, includes the first- and second-place finishers in last year’s UCI junior world championships, Felix Gall (AUT) and Clément Betouigt-Suire (FRA), as well as Max Kanter (GER), Florian Stork (GER), Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED) and Jarno Mobach (NED).

The team now announces that the talented young Germans Leon Rohde and Martin Salmon will join the team as well. Rohde, 21, took fourth place in the German U23 time trial championships and finished in the top 10 overall at the Carpathian Couriers Race and (twice) at the Tour de Berlin. Salmon is recognized as very talented all-rounder. 2016 was the first year in the under-23 category for the 18-year-old, who was among the top riders in the world in the junior ranks.

Also joining the development program are 18-year-old Maxime Gressier, a very gifted French rider, and Nils Eekhoff, who together with Mobach and Nieuwenhuis belongs to the biggest talents of their age group in the Netherlands.

Former world champion Gall said: “This is a new step in my career, and I’m very excited to join Team Sunweb. I’m looking forward to this chance to work in a very professional setting. In the development team we’ll benefit from the knowledge and structure that have been built up around the WorldTour team, which was an important consideration for me.”

Rohde said: “I’m really happy to get the opportunity to ride with the team. For me it’s a chance to demonstrate that I’m able to ride at this level and show what I’m capable of. I’m very excited about the professional support and great equipment. The culture is also a good fit for me, and I felt very positive after the talks I had.”

Salmon shared his thoughts on signing the contract: “I am excited to join Team Sunweb. My first impressions show a very professional operation. We’ll have a strong team, and I’m looking forward to joining it and living in the area of the team base, where I can combine my cycling career with my study. The team has offered me a great opportunity to pursue those two goals.”

Maxime Gressier said: “I am very happy to join Team Sunweb, which is a great step in the beginning of my career and a great opportunity for me to be part of a prestigious team. I think there is a good fit because the ‘Keep Challenging’ philosophy aligns very well with my thoughts about living sports. The team directly accesses a lot of WorldTour knowledge and experience, which offers us the opportunity to progress and potentially grow toward turning pro. I like the step-by-step approach in coaching with a clear goal in mind.”

Nils Eekhoff said: “It’s fantastic to get the chance to ride for Team Sunweb. One important consideration was the professional staff and support, which will allow me to continue to develop, and since the team also has a pro team at the highest level, that could be the ideal path toward turning professional in the future. The team pays close attention to the personal development of its riders and the personal fit between team and rider.”

OFFERING A STREAMLINED ROAD TO THE WORLDTOUR, WITH GERMAN ROOTS

Instead of aiming to become the best-performing development team in terms of results, Team Sunweb aims to develop its very own champions of tomorrow from a young age and become the best possible team to develop talented riders and prepare them for a career in the WorldTour. The development program will be based in Germany, and will ride under a UCI Continental license.

The team’s CEO Iwan Spekenbrink (NED) said: “We are on course to create one of the world’s leading development institutes, because we believe this development program contributes to our ambition to stay long term one of the prominent teams in the top of international pro cycling. For that we obviously need talented athletes with the required physical capacities that Mother Nature gave them. We’re pleased to having signed world-class riders in the junior category, and only the best qualify for selection to the team. The development program will be firmly rooted in the German cycling structure, with a team base in Germany and the team is looking forward to a partnership with a German university. We’ll work with the riders with the clear objective of them becoming the best possible cyclists in a time frame of five years, and becoming as successful as possible in the WorldTour.

“We will adopt a broad approach and focus equally on the riders’ education, since not every talent will ultimately make it into the WorldTour. It all centers around the objective of development, first as a person, learning the rules of life and about clean sports, and ultimately as a professional athlete. But at the very minimum we want to offer something relevant to those young men and prepare them for the next chapter in their life, whether it’s on or off the bike.

“Our demanding ‘Keep Challenging’ approach enables developing talents to make the best possible progression. We’ll teach them early on that cycling is much more than just having strong legs, and they’ll need to be world champions at teamwork to be able to be in a position to win races. In addition to promoting teamwork, we’ll apply our expertise and scientific knowledge from the WorldTour program, where we constantly looking for the latest technologies and ways to improve our equipment, with the aim of saving energy on the bike.”

A product of the “Keep Challenging” philosophy, Simon Geschke (GER) has been with the team his entire professional career. The 30-year-old German came on board almost at the beginning of the team’s existence and earlier this season extended his contract for another two years. Like no one else, Geschke knows how the team operates and sees the importance of targeting youth to build the future of German cycling.

He said: “German cycling has had its difficult years, but step-by-step it’s moving in the right direction again. There are many people riding their bicycles in Germany, and many granfondos are organized, but at the professional level it will take more time for the sport to come back. The popularity of our races is growing again, though, and Düsseldorf organizing the start of the Tour de France next year is a good example of that. Germany has some world-class riders, especially top sprinters, with John [Degenkolb], Marcel [Kittel] and André [Greipel], and people like to see this generation competing again and doing well at the highest level. But to have those kinds of athletes in the future as well, we need to focus on today’s youth, and a more structured approach is needed.

“With the new development program, the team will provide a significant boost to the efforts to bring German cycling back to a high level again. Now we are taking responsibility for the young talents in Germany and giving them a chance to grow in a supportive and healthy environment with our philosophy. As a young rider it’s about getting opportunities and gaining experience and learning without pressure. I’ve been in the team from the beginning of my career as a pro rider. When I was 22 years old I got in contact with Skil-Shimano, back when it was a Pro Continental team. Since then, we’ve grown as riders and as a team, and in 2013 we entered the WorldTour. Not much later we started winning stages in the Grand Tours and became an established team at the highest level. This gradual approach was ideal for my development as a rider and for our development as a team.”

This gradual approach is facilitated by what the team calls its “full development pyramid,” which focuses on grassroots development all the way up to being part of the team’s WorldTour program, one of the leading pro teams in the world. The approach supports the growth of German cycling from its roots: inspiring young people to participate in the sport and, through the German Talent Days, offering the very best of the more advanced riders an opportunity to enter the team’s development program. A major objective then is to help these riders grow and take the next step toward a place in the team’s WorldTour program and to develop these athletes into top cyclists. Thus, the development program is designed with a structure to support a continuous and long-term flow of the most promising German riders entering the WorldTour.

Geschke continued: “From my own experience in the team, I can say that we have a clear plan to develop riders and work with them together to help them grow and improve their skills. That’s the main reason I’ve stayed in the team fur such a long time. I’ve learned so much, and now it’s time to give back to the younger riders. And learning within the team is not one-way only. If we discuss things like race tactics, all the riders, regardless of their results and their age, can give input and say what is important for them.”

RECRUITMENT, DEVELOPMENT, RACING

The development program will be an integral part of Team Sunweb and will access the same experienced staff, technologies and resources and follow the same “Keep Challenging” philosophy – consistently working together under the same umbrella.

Riders in the development program will have a challenging race program that is focused on development but also on gaining experience at the professional level. Movement scientist Adriaan Helmantel (NED) explained: “The riders will compete mainly in UCI .2 races, with a few UCI .1 races included, and they will also compete in the Nations Cup for their national federations. It’s important for young athletes to have a balanced load, with periods of racing alternated with specific periods of rest and training. The selections for the races will be adapted to the specific characteristics of the riders, with the main focus on developing them toward the WorldTour, so making them better riders instead of going for results every time.

“We conduct a range of tests, providing a rich blend of data, which we can compare to our database. We can analyze the data to see where the strengths of each rider lie and to determine how we can develop certain characteristics to make the most of their talents. On the mental side we will speak a lot with them and have a personal bond, going much further than just a sporting relationship.

“If you see our younger riders like Tom [Dumoulin], Warren [Barguil], Sam [Oomen] and Søren [Kragh Andersen], for example, they can grow gradually and develop without pressure. They had to train hard but they trained individually with our trainers, and now you can see the results. We’ve had many victories and good results with our younger riders, and this will remain our main focus. Our philosophy is to make each other better, to push the limits of performance, and our structure supports this.”

Coach Marc Reef (NED) elaborated on the recruitment of riders for the development program: “In general, we track riders by screening race results, and we use select races as indicators. If riders pop up on our radar, their power files will be analyzed by our scientific expert Teun [van Erp]. Once we see that the rider has potential from a sporting perspective, one of the most important facets then is the personal fit between the rider and the team and our philosophy. We get to know the person behind the rider through a number of talks to learn about his ambitions and see to what extent he is a team player and supports our way of working. And, of course, we make an assessment as to whether the riders are genuinely and deeply principled and are 100 percent willing to practice their sport in a clean way. On top of that, we use scouting tools such as our German Talent Days. Jarno [Mobach], who joined us in the German Eiffel area, is a good example of how that works. We noticed him there and we proceeded with the discussions, which resulted in a match and an agreement.”