Wesley Sulzberger has been a WorldTour rider from 2009 to 2013 but in 2014 he stepped down to Pro Continental level at Drapac to race with his brother Bernie.
By his own admission he didn’t have the greatest of seasons and it soon became clear that Drapac were not going to give him another contract. His agent Wayne Evans eventually found him a ride at the Continental team Navitas-Satalyst for 2015.
"We were looking at all the options out there," Sulzberger told Cyclingnews. "And when I told Wayne I was happy to race just within Australia he mentioned riding for Navitas-Satalyst. It's going to be a totally different approach for me being in a NRS team but I know I'll enjoy helping some of the younger guys."
Sulzberger didn’t have his best season, but he says it certainly wasn’t down to a lack of effort or trying.
"It was ok," he said of his overall season. "I didn't really have the results that I would have liked. The Tour of Turkey, I really wanted to do something thing there after I had a good start at nationals and Tour Down Under. That was a little bit disappointing but overall I gave it my best over the season and I came away feeling pretty good about the year."
"I was a little bit sick after I went to Philadelphia to race as I got a stomach bug and then had to miss the Tour of Korea. To be honest, there wasn't a lot of race days on the calendar for the program I chose. The team wanted me to do American races so there were big gaps in my program which probably didn't work that well for me either.”
But he did finally get to race with his brother Bernie and he says that was an experience he will savour.
"That was really cool. I'd raced on Bay Crits teams and things like that but never actually on the same team so that was special.”
Sulzberger finished eleventh overall in the NRS season despite only riding three events in 2014. This gives him the confidence that he can win the series overall in 2015 with his new team.
"From my understanding, it seems the NRS has really progressed a lot and there is really great depth as well,' Sulzberger said of his impressions of the NRS. "It's going in the right direction, it has a long way to go in regards to gaining sponsorship and sustainability, but I think it's really starting to get some momentum."
He will keep the same training regime as before as he wants to do well at the national championships and Jayco Herald Sun Tour.
"I'll still do what I do every year, training on the hard roads of Tassie with my brother and guys like Richie [Porte] and [Matt] Gossy. So I'll still be getting in the long base kilometres and trying to have a good crack at nationals.”
"Herald Sun Tour will be really important for the team so that's when I really want to make sure I am in top peaking form for that.”
As his new team is now Continental ranked, they can go to the 2.1 Asian races, meaning Sulzberger will target results abroad as well as in Australia.
"This year I did Tour of Taiwan and I was tenth overall so I think the team is looking at doing Tour of Philippines and Tour of Thailand which we were meant to do this year with Drapac but we didn't end up racing. I'd like to target one of the races that we do in Asia and go there to try to win it."
While many may see Sulzberger have taken an even further step back from his career as a WorldTour rider two seasons ago, he is happy with where he is.
"At this stage I am happy to see how it plays out. I am not unhappy at all that I'm racing in Australia in the NRS. Things have changed for me personally, my wife is due to have our first baby soon and after having lived in Europe for the past eight years, its really nice to be back home around family and friends at this exciting time in our life."
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