BORA – hansgrohe have presented their new roster for the 2018 season in Schiltach, Germany today, and also unveiled their new jersey.
Below are quotes from various team members including Peter Sagan, Sam Bennett and Rafal Majka in addition to Team Manager Ralph Denk.
Peter Sagan, the triple UCI World Champion, was in good mood, talking first about his new role as a father: “Becoming a father is a natural and important part of a man’s life and there is no doubt that the birth of Marlon was one of the happiest moments in my life. Both, Kate and him are doing great and I’m sure I will cherish every moment I spend with them.”
Sam Bennett – “The wins at the end of the season gave me a lot of confidence. Entering the off season like this, also means a big boost in motivation to do all the hard work during the winter. So, for sure my goal is also to have a strong start to the next season.”
Rafal Majka – “It was the first time I tried to go for the GC in the Tour de France this year. Obviously, it didn’t work out as planned for us. The Tour showed why it’s the hardest race in the world to be won. But I want to try again next season, I never surrendered in my career, cycling is always about getting up on your feet again. So I want to prepare as good as possible for the Tour again and then we’ll see. About Innsbruck, we have to see how the season goes. My main focus is the Tour de France as I said. But the profile of the course there should suit me, and I already showed in Rio, that I can do also well in one day races, so why not giving it a go.”
Ralph Denk, Team Manager – “It was a tough season with lots of ups and downs. The crash in Flanders, the punctures in Roubaix, then the Tour – a lot of times we had to fight back. But taking over 30 wins in our first WorldTour season, and being one of just three teams that could win at least one stage in every Grand Tour, makes me proud. I think we achieved a lot.
“Now it’s more about the details. Last year was a big step up for us and it’s almost impossible to make everything right from the beginning. During the winter, we will work on a lot of performance projects, aerodynamics, training, nutrition. I feel we can do better than we did this season and everybody in the team is focused on improvements. Therefore, our goals for 2018 are quite ambitious: We want to win one of the Monuments, take a top five result in one of the Grand Tours, take the green jersey in the Tour and secure a top five spot in the WorldTour team ranking at the end of the season.”
Peter Kennaugh – “My decision to change team was not only based on the aspect to get more freedom. After spending several years at Team Sky, I felt it was time to change scenery, work with new people, finding new inspiration. But for sure it is also great being able to target races like the Dauphiné, were I am normally in good shape. Besides that, Paris-Nice, or the Ardennes are races I want to perform well in.”
Leopold König – “I had a season every athlete is afraid of. But what can you do, that’s sport. I never stopped fighting, or believing that I will come back to my best level, and in the end of the year it already started to pay off. I was back racing in Turkey and China and had no problems at all. We changed a lot of my training off the bike and I think everything is fine now. For next season, I am quite optimistic that I can fight again with the best GC riders.”
Daniel Oss – “Well, it’s a new challenge for me, and after being with BMC for 5 years it was time for something new. When you change teams it’s also a new approach on how you prepare a season, and a change also means new motivation. Regarding racing I think my role won’t change a lot. In the past I worked for Greg, now I will help Peter in the Classics.”
Marcus Burghardt – “I think everybody could see at this year’s Grand Depart in Düsseldorf that cycling is really popular again in Germany. Some years ago, the situation was maybe different, but now it is really fun again to ride in front of German crowds. The German national Championships in Chemnitz was for sure also one of that great moments. Also seeing all the people and their passion for cycling here today, makes me feel we are almost back where we have been already in the 90ies with the popularity of cycling in Germany.”
