Aqua Blue Sport; Ireland’s first Professional Continental cycling team, has today revealed a further seven riders set to join its ranks for the 2017 season.

Amongst them, and fresh from the 2016 season, are former Swiss World Tour team IAM Cycling teammates Stefan Denifl and Leigh Howard. They will be joined by Dutchmen Michel Kreder (29) and Peter Koning (25), New Zealander Aaron Gate (25), Australian Calvin Watson (23) – one of the youngest riders on the team, and Dane Lasse Norman Hansen (24).

Having turned professional ten years ago and placing 4th in the mountains classification of the 2016 Giro d’Italia, Austrian Denifl (29) will bring experience of Grand Tour high mountain battles to the team. The seasoned pro said he was looking forward to sharing the benefit of his World Tour experience with the younger riders on the team.

“We have to grow and fight as a team and success will come with that,” he said.

“Personally I am looking forward to a good preparation for 2017 and a year where I will be at my best. I am highly motivated to achieve my goals and the team’s goals, on and off the bike.”

The chance to be involved in Aqua Blue Sport from inception was something which also held great appeal.

Denifl commented, “From first contact onwards, the people behind this team have shown great motivation, professionalism and a new vision for a cycling team.”

“I feel that Aqua Blue Sport believes in me as a rider and as a person, and this is the environment that I want for my future development.”

Australian sprinter Leigh Howard (26) brings an impressive list of palmarés to the Aqua Blue Sport rider roster, strengthening the squad’s ability to contest sprint finishes. But as with many of his new teammates, Howard insists that success for him in 2017 won’t necessarily be measured by his tally of race wins, but by the achievements of the team as a whole.

“I want to win races of course, but cycling is a team sport so success comes from a team point of view,” he said.

“For Aqua Blue Sport success won’t just mean podium places – we’re a new name so we’ll need to prove ourselves, and prove that we deserve to be up there as a pro team.”

With fond memories of racing in Ireland, Howard is also enthused by the prospect of donning the jersey of the first Irish UCI Pro Continental team.

“I love the idea of being part of an Irish team – I raced in the Tour of Ireland in 2009 and absolutely loved every minute of it, apart from the rain. To be a part of the first pro conti team to come out of Ireland is really exciting, even though I’m not Irish!” he said.

The seven new riders will join team leader Lars Petter Nordhaug and Irish trio Martyn Irvine, Matt Brammeier and Conor Dunne who were announced last week.

Stefen Denifl, 29 from Innsbruck, Austria joins Aqua Blue Sport from Swiss World Tour team IAM Cycling. A member of the team since 2013, has competed in two editions of the Giro d’Italia including in 2016 where he placed 4th in the mountains classification. Denifl began his career as a mountain biker before turning his attention to the tarmac in 2004. His decade in the pro ranks has seen him notch several notable results, including first place in the mountains classification in the 2015 Tour du Suisse, also coming 10th in that year’s Tour of Austria. The latter is a race in which he has consistently performed strongly, with seventh- (2010) and eighth-place finishes (2009) among his palmarès. Another favourite race of Denifl’s is the Tour of Bavaria, with two consecutive seventh-place finishes in 2009 and 2010.

Leigh Howard, 26 from Australia is a sprinter initially earning his spurs on the track, however a career on the road beckoned, with Howard notching multiple stage wins on the 2009 Tour of Japan as a scholarship rider with the Australian Institute of Sport. Joining the World Tour ranks in 2010 with Team HTC-Columbia, the Geelong powerhouse made an immediate impression, winning a stage of the Tour of Oman in his first outing with the team. His achievements since then have been equally impressive, with wins in one-day races including the Kampioenschap Van Vlaanderen (2010); Trofeo Alcúdia-Can Picafort-Playa de Muro (2013); Trofeo Migjorn (2013) and Clasica de Almeria (2016). Not just a one-day specialist, Howard has also performed on multi-stage tours including the Tour of Oman (a firm favourite with three podium finishes on the 2014 edition); Tour of Britain (including a stage win in 2012) and Tour des Fjords, where he tapped a strong vein of form to win the first stage in August 2016.

Michel Kreder, 29 from Holland joins Aqua Blue Sport from Pro Continental team Roompot–Oranje Peloton where he was one of four Kreders on the rider roster. Having debuted with the Rabobank Continental Team in 2008, Kreder also plied his trade at World Tour level from 2010 to 2013 with Team Garmin Sharp and its various iterations before moving to Pro Continental with Wanty-Groupe Gobert in 2014. An all-rounder who has enjoyed most notable success in one-day races, Kreder has stage wins in the Four Days of Dunkirk (2012), Tour of Denmark (2012), Circuit Cycliste Sarthe – Pays de la Loire (2011) and Tour Alsace (2009) under his belt, as well as two stage wins and second place overall in the 2012 Tour Méditerranéen Cycliste Professionnel, which he describes as his career highlight to date.

Peter Koning, 25 from Holland is a national time trial champion that carved out something of a name for himself as among the select group of riders capable of winning from a breakaway. A professional since 2012 and at Pro Continental level since 2015 with DRAPAC Pro Cycling, Koning has spent much of his career in the service of his teammates and is happy to be known as a team player, but sees his new role with Aqua Blue Sport as offering great potential to add to his palmarès.

Aaron Gate, 25 and born in New Zealand, Gate has competed with the An Post-Chain Reaction team since 2013. He earned his spurs on the road, but it’s on the track where he has recorded his most notable successes to date. A member of the New Zealand squad that took team pursuit bronze at the 2012 London Games, Gate won omnium gold in the 2013 Track World Championships and just missed out on a team pursuit podium place at the Rio Olympics as Denmark (featuring Gate’s now-teammate Lasse Norman Hansen) took the bronze. Away from the velodrome, Gate has notched notable results in recent editions of the An Post Rás, taking the overall green jersey in both 2016 (where he also won a stage) and 2015 (where he was first across the line in stages 2 and 5). 2017 marks his first full year as a professional rider.

Calvin Watson, at just 23 is one of the younger riders on the Aqua Blue Sport roster for 2017. Despite his tender years he’s packed a lot of action into his cycling career thus far, including first place in the 2013 Jayco Herald Sun Tour in his native Australia, which led to him inking his first pro contract with Trek Factory Racing. Having forged something of a reputation as a Classics rider, Watson has also shown he can mix it on a Grand Tour level with participation in the 2015 Giro d’Italia. Watson joins Aqua Blue Sport from the An Post – Chain Reaction team with whom he rode in 2016, alongside new teammate Aaron Gate.

Lasse Norman Hansen, 24 from Denmark can draw upon a wealth of experience both on the road and the track. A gold medallist in the men’s Omnium in the 2012 Olympics – and a stage winner in the An Post Rás in the same year – Hansen turned professional in 2014 with Garmin-Sharp. Additional career highlights have included podium places at the 2013 and 2014 Track World Championships as well as two bronze medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Away from the velodrome, Hansen took a stage win in the 2015 Tour of Alberta, coming 6th in General Classification, and in 2016 notched third place in the Danish national road championships.

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