Brad Morgan
9 November 2007
South African-sponsored Team Barloworld, one of the biggest good news stories of the 2007 Tour de France, has completed its line-up for the 2008 season, adding 10 new riders to its 19-man squad as it seeks to continue improving by giving talented young cyclists a chance to make their mark.
Team manager Claudio Corti said: "Cycling needs to find new faces and new talented riders and that's our strategy at Team Barloworld."
The best example of this strategy bearing fruit came in the Tour de France, where climber Mauricio Soler made a name for himself by winning the ninth stage with a stunning and courageous ride before going on to claim the polka dot jersey as the King of the Mountains.
New lease on life
The 2007 season also brought out the best in South African Robbie Hunter, the team leader, who enjoyed a new lease on life as Barloworld's sprinter. He raced to victory in the eleventh stage of the Tour de
France and finished second in the points competition.
In 2008, both Soler and Hunter will enjoy better support than ever before in the climbing and sprinting disciplines.
Austrian national champion Christian Pfannberger is expected to help Soler, along with two other new signings, Moises Duenas Navado and Francesco Bellotti.
On the sprinting front, 2003 Tour de France green jersey winner Baden Cooke will boost the fast men, as will former Italian national champion Enrico Gasparotto.
Two strong rouleur
Two strong rouleur (powerful cyclists on flat courses) have been added too, with Stephen Cummings signing from Discovery Channel and Patrick Calgani from Team Liquigas. Both should prove to be valuable set-up men for the sprinters.
Alberto Volpi, along with Valerio Tebaldi, one of the directeurs sportif of Team Barloworld, likes the team's new signings and expects them to improve the overall quality of the squad. He reckoned Cooke brings an excellent list of achievements with him and, apart from being a top sprinter, is also an experienced classics rider.
Gasparotto, said Volpi, is a similar type of cyclist to the Australia, but he is somewhat younger; Cooke is 29, while the Italian is 25.
Climbers
Volpi described Duenas as "an excellent and aggressive climber" on Team Barloworld's website and termed Bellotti a good and reliable climber.
Cummings, who has won a gold medal for Great Britain in the pursuit at the 2005 Track World Championships, while, along with Calcagni, give Barloworld considerable sprinting prowess when they provide support to Cooke, Hunter, and Gasparotto.
Two of the new signings come from Africa, namely Kenya's top cyclist Chris Froome and Daryl Impey from South Africa. Volpi is eager to see what they are capable of doing.
Froome resides in South Africa and is just 22 years of age. Riding for the UCI Mixed Team, he claimed a stage win in this year's Giro delle Regioni, won a stage in the Tour of Japan, and captured a silver medal in time trial at the 'B' World Championships.
Impey is a slightly older 22-year-old. He raced to victory in the prologue of the Giro del Capo earlier this year to add to a stage win in the race in 2004.
'Huge potential'
At the announcement of the team for 2008, team manager Claudio Corti said Africa has so far proven to be a good hunting ground for new talent. "African cycling has huge potential," he commented, "and this has been shown in recent years, thanks to Team Barloworld riders Robert Hunter and the promising John-Lee Augustyn."
The remaining newcomer to the SA-sponsored team is Marco Corti, the son of the team manager, who was the Italian professional road race champion in 1985 and 1986. The younger Corti is just 21-years-old and turns professional after a good amateur career during which he respresented Italy in the World Championships.
Two exciting young cyclists have left the team, but that is to be expected in an outfit that is developing top talent; Alex Efimkin has joined Belgium's Team Quick Step, while Kanstantsin Siutsou, fifth in the young riders' classification in the Tour de France, has joined Germany's T-Mobile.
Still in red and white
Volpi said he was disappointed to lose two riders that Barloworld helped develop, but it is something that the team is used to.
At the same time, he noted that a lot of good performers for the team in 2007 have stayed in the red and white colours, including Hugo Sabido, Paulo Longo Borghini, Gianpaulo Cheula, Diego Caccia, and Rafael Cardenas.
"We're convinced that by including talented young riders in our already successful team, we can continue to achieve even more excellent results in 2008," added team manager Claudio Corti.
New sponsorship
deal
Barloworld's excellent performances in 2007 have resulted in the team signing a new sponsorship deal with Bianchi to supply bicycles for the new season. The Italian company has over a century of racing experience and is a prestigious name in the cycling world.
Bianchi Chief Executive Officer Bob Ippolito, in a press release announcing the deal, said: "Bianchi is proud to join the successful Barloworld team managed by Claudio Corti. Barloworld has a long-term strategy to build a successful team based upon a close relationship with its technical sponsor, and we look forward to many years of cooperation."
Former world champion Felice Gimondi lauded the deal, saying: "This is a fantastic opportunity for Bianchi to join together with one of the most successful, young international teams."
Clearly, Barloworld is a team that bears watching in 2008, and if its results are anything like those achieved in 2007, its name will be splashed across cycling's headlines in the new season.
Team Barloworld squad
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