German Pro Continental team Bora-Argon 18 are aiming to become a World Tour team next year in time for the Grand Départ of the Tour de France taking place in Dusseldorf.
“We’ve been working for five years to meet this great goal,” said team manager Ralph Denk in a press release. “We have been in some great races and in some we were successful.”
“But now it’s time that we really become part of the ‘elite club’ of cycling. It would be my greatest personal success to be at the start of the Grand Départ in Düsseldorf with Bora-Argon 18 as a World Tour team.”
“And I must say that I am very confident that we can achieve that, and then we can celebrate it together with German cycling.”
Details of new World Tour licences will be released later this year. If successful, Bora-Argon 18 will join another German team Giant-Alpecin in the World Tour ranks.
The team have also announced that 23 year-old Emanuel Buchmann will renew his contract until 2018 with neo pros Silvio Herklotz and Gregor Mühlberger also joining the team.
“The team feels like family. Everyone trusts and supports each other, which is important for a young rider struggling with his form or results,” said Buchmann.
