Schlagwort-Archive: Team Katusha Alpecin

KATUSHA 2020

Teamnews,

http://radsport-forum.info/katusha-alpecin-2018-ausfahrt-mallorca-mit-freunden-und-sponsoren/#more-18810
Foto: Gerhard Plomitzer

After 10 years as the main sponsor and manager of a World Tour Cycling Team, KATUSHA and its cycling apparel brand KATUSHA Sports will continue its strong involvement in professional cycling by partnering with both a men’s and a women’s team.
KATUSHA and Israel Cycling Academy (ICA) have concluded an agreement for the next three cycling seasons. ICA will be managing the team which will include a majority of riders and staff currently under contract with Team KATUSHA ALPECIN. KATUSHA will remain a partner of the new team and as such will continue to provide high-end quality clothing to pro riders as it did for the last three years.
In addition, KATUSHA will shortly announce an exciting partnership with a professional women’s cycling team.
These 2020 partnerships afford KATUSHA Sports an opportunity to continue developing its range, using the pro teams as a focus for research and development. With the pro team as a research “lab” the goal of Katusha Sports will be to be able to offer the best in cutting edge technology, function and style for both the men’s and women’s market.
In the ten years that KATUSHA took part in the World Tour, the team achieved many great accomplishments. 26 National champions jerseys, four monuments (2012 and 2013 Il Lombardia by Joaquim Rodríguez, 2014 Milan–Sanremo and the 2015 Tour of Flanders by Alexander Kristoff) and 28 Grand Tour stages. Over the last two seasons the team suffered many disappointments in terms of results. This coincided with the reduced budget of the team and made it clear that significant changes need to be made in cycling to have a sustainable and successful business model. Igor Makarov, as a member of the UCI Management Committee, will continue working at the highest level of the sport to make sure that significant positive changes are made in the future.
Full details and announcement on the project coming soon.
KATUSHA MEDIA SERVICE
Laura Fletcher
laura@katusha-sports.com
+44 780 474 1467
Philippe Maertens
maertens@teamkatushaalpecin.com
+32 492 22 78 96

Team Katusha Alpecin News

Teamnews, Tour de France, Vorschau, Zeitfahren, ,

Roster and media opportunities ahead of Tour de France
Team KATUSHA ALPECIN is happy to announce its line-up for the 106th Tour de France.
Riders: Jens Debusschere (BEL), Alex Dowsett (GBR), José Gonçalves (POR), Marco Haller (AUT), Nils Politt (GER), Rick Zabel (GER), Mads Würtz Schmidt (DEN) & Ilnur Zakarin (RUS)
Team Directors: José Azevedo (POR), Dirk Demol (BEL) & Xavier Florencio (ESP)
Riders and management of the team will be available for the media on Wednesday July 3rd from 3:30 PM at the KATUSHA Pop Up Store & Café and Alpecin Pop Up Barber.
Location: BMW Brussels, Leuvensesteenweg 864, 1140 Brussels
Date : Wednesday, July 3 at 3:30 PM

Foto: Gerhard Plomitzer
Alex Dowsett earns gold medal for sixth time in British ITT
Taking the gold medal for a record-tying sixth time on Thursday in Norfolk, Team KATUSHA ALPECIN’s Alex Dowsett acknowledged that winning it this time is something special.
“There were a few years where getting this jersey came quite easy and I guess I took it for granted. I think I will enjoy wearing it this time more than the other times I’ve had them. Today was a fight.”
Dowsett, age 30, put up a top time of 49:25 (48.57 km/h) on the 27.4k flat course in Norfolk. Starting second from last just in front of teammate Harry Tanfield among a field of 35 riders, Dowsett wasn’t seeing early results in his time checks that gave him an over-abundance of confidence.
Dowsett: “I think I was down after one-third of the distance and this was a bit of a worry because I’d given a lot in this part of the course. Then at two-thirds it was touch and go, but then I brought it home well. We have some real fast guys in the U.K. and the caliber of riders coming through is huge, so I don’t know when the last time in the national stripes will be so I’m going to enjoy every moment of this.”
Joining Dowsett on the podium were John Archibald for the silver medal (+.06) and Steve Cummings with the bronze at +.27.
Dowsett had nothing but praise for his team equipment: “We’ve got fantastic equipment: the Oakley helmet, the Canyon bike, the Katusha Sports skinsuits – it’s all fully optimized to make us as quick as possible. It worked!”
Dowsett concluded: “Each year is a pleasure and I think even more so this time. It’s my sixth title but it feels like my first. It’s going to be very special riding in the stripes this year. I’m very happy.”

Gonçalves beats twin brother to become national time trial champion
José Gonçalves was highly motivated to go faster than the 2017 and 2018 Portuguese TT champion Domingos Gonçalves (Cara Rural – Seguros RGA). The KATUSHA ALPECIN rider kept his promise and was 21 seconds faster than his twin brother. António Carvalho (W52 / FC Porto) finished 3rd, 1’03” behind. For José Gonçalves it was his second national time trial title. He was also the best in 2012.
The 32,3 km course in Melgaço was challenging. “The course suited me very well, but I started a bit too fast and paid for it on the first climb. Fortunately, I managed to recover and go again at full speed. After my second-place last year behind my brother Domingos, I was really keen to beat him in Melgaço. This title is good motivation for me. I will be able to show my new jersey in the Tour de France next week. And why not trying to win the road championships as well? I’ve never won that race,” said José Gonçalves.

Team Katusha Alpecin hat sechs Finalkandidaten für den «Super Stagiaire 2019» ausgewählt!

Teamnews,

Eine Fachjury, zu der neben Teammanager Azevedo die beiden Profis Nils Politt und Rick Zabel, Performance Manager Erik Zabel sowie Teamchef Alexis Schoeb gehören, hat folgende Fahrer ausgewählt:
Richard Banusch, Aaron Grosser, Patrick Haller, Miguel Heidemann, Juri Hollmann und Joshua Huppertz.

Patrick Haller (Team Heizomat-Radnet) als auch Miguel Heidemann vom Radteam Herrmann sind bei den Auserwählten dabei und müssen sich nun weiteren Tests stellen.

Fotos: Gerhard Plomitzer – www.plomi.smugmug.com

TKA and Marcel Kittel have agreed to terminate their contractual relationship before its terms

Teamnews, ,


Foto: Gerhard Plomitzer – www.plomi.smugmug.com
Marcel Kittel: “On my request Team KATUSHA ALPECIN (TKA) and I have mutually decided to an early termination of my current contract.
It was for me a long decision process where I raised a lot of questions about how and where I want to go as a person and athlete and what is really important to me. I love cycling and my passion for this beautiful sport is never gone, but I also know what it requires from me and what I need to do to be successful. I believe that everyone has his strengths and weaknesses and that it is an ongoing process to deal with them within a team to be strong and successful. In the last two months I have had the feeling of being exhausted. At this moment, I am not able to train and race at the highest level. For this reason, I have decided to take a break and take time for myself, think about my goals and make a plan for my future.
At this point I´d like to thank the team for the last 1.5 years and their support. Especially I´d like to thank the team staff. From the bottom of my heart I can say that they are the best and hardest working people that I´ve ever seen. I´m sorry that I couldn´t fuel your passion with more wins and results. I´d like to thank the sponsors and partners as well that keep believing in the team with their support and knowledge.
I´ve taken this decision based on my experience that changes lead you to new paths and opportunities. Despite all the insecurities I´ve got confidence that I ultimately will find new chances and challenges. From now on I will put my happiness and joy above everything and seek ways to find this also in my future. I´m very excited about what is going to come. I would like to ride and race again in the future and I have to work out a plan to be able to reach this goal.
This is the biggest challenge of my career and I´m accepting it.”
José Azevedo, General Manager TKA: “It is with sadness that we have agreed with Marcel’s request to step away from the team and from racing. We understand the situation in which Marcel is and we fully support him in this difficult time. All the team members will continue supporting Marcel in the future and we hope that he will soon get back to racing as the champion he is.
On behalf of Team KATUSHA ALPECIN and all its sponsors and partners we wish Marcel all the best for the future.”
KATUSHA MEDIA SERVICE

Rick Zabel sears path to sprint win in Yorkshire

Etappenrennen, Teamnews, , ,


Foto: Gerhard Plomitzer – www.plomi.smugmug.com
Known more for his lead-out skills than chalking up a win for himself, Team KATUSHA ALPECIN’s Rick Zabel earned bragging rights with a strong sprint win in Friday’s stage 2 of the 5th Tour de Yorshire. Lighting out from the front and showing a clear set of wheels in the process, Zabel enjoyed his moment in the spotlight in Bedale.
Rick Zabel: “I’m so, so happy to win a race. I really couldn’t believe it. I just realized it when I went to the podium and I was standing here. Tears came to my eyes. As a bike rider you want to win, and my last win was four years ago. Normally I am a lead out guy and I don’t have too many chances for myself. It’s just a super nice day for me that I can see ways to win races at the professional level.” Second and third places with the same time of 3:09:16 (41.85km/h) went to Boy van Poppel (Roompot-Charles) and Chris Lawless of Team INEOS on the 132k stage from Barnsley to Bedale.
Zabel: „I don’t know how, but I came in a good position in the last 500m, then I saw the 300m sign and I know I can do a long sprint. I thought ‚OK, I must go for it. If someone comes over me at least I tried.‘ I was so afraid when I came in the last 50m because I’m not a guy who wins often and I thought today maybe I can win, and I was so afraid if someone comes over – it was such a relief when I crossed the line.”
Relief also came to team director Claudio Cozzi, praising the effort from Zabel: “We are very happy. Today we worked hard to arrive in a sprint, with Rick ultimately doing good work. He gave everything. He won the stage and now we are in second in GC.” The win puts Zabel 1-second behind race leader Jesper Asselman of Roompot-Charles.
Zabel: “Short stages are always full gas, and it was a headwind all day, but we still raced pretty hard. The last five kilometers were pure chaos, and I was close to crashing a few times. We just started here with five guys but we’re really motivated. There are some good sprinters here. I’m just so happy I can win a race. It’s also really important for the team because we haven’t won so much this year. To get a win here is really amazing.”
Success in a bike race doesn’t come alone and Zabel was quick to acknowledge the hard work put in by his teammates today: “Thanks to my teammates who kept me out of the wind all day. They really believed in me. A few times today Nathan Haas said, ‘Hey man, you can win today. I believe in you.’ If you don’t try, you never win. That’s what I thought about in the last 500 meters. I had good momentum – I just started 10-15 wheels back. With 100 meters to go, I thought ‘Man, keep going, you can finish on the podium.’ At 50m I was still hopeful and then I crossed the finish line first. Thank you so much to the team.”
The Tour de Yorkshire continues on Saturday with stage 3. At 132k, the stage begins in Bridlington and ends in Scarborough.
With part of today’s course set to be used in the world championships later this year in Harrogate, Zabel has hopes of being selected to represent his home country Germany: “I would be happy if I could give a hand for that.”
Media contact KATUSHA Sports Germany:
Falk Nier
PR Manager

KATUSHA und RennRad Magazin suchen den deutschen Super Stagiaire

Teamnews, ,

Gewinner aus Deutschland des Castings erhält einen „Praktikumsplatz“ im Team KATUSHA ALPECIN
Welcher junger Rennradfahrer träumt nicht davon, das Trikot eines WorldTour Profiradteams zu tragen? Im Teambus zu sitzen und auf der Startlinie eines großen Profirennens zu stehen? Und welcher Hobbysportler fragt sich nicht: wie wird man eigentlich Radprofi und wie trainieren die Profi-Athleten?
All diese Fragen werden in diesem Sommer beantwortet – denn KATUSHA und das deutscheRennRad Magazin suchen einen Fahrer, der all dies selbst erleben wird. Der Gewinner eines Castings wird offiziell Teil des WorldTour Teams KATUSHA ALPECIN. Er wird zusammen mit den Stars wie Nils Politt und Marcel Kittel trainieren und Rennen fahren wie zum Beispiel die Deutschland Tour 2019.
Beruf Radprofi in Deutschland
Der Weg zum Radprofi ist lang, hart und voller Entbehrungen. Und er wird in Deutschland immer schwieriger. Die Zahl der Etappen- und Straßenrennen sinkt in Deutschland kontinuierlich. „Doch junge Talente brauchen Rennen, um die Wettkampfhärte zu erlangen und um sich so positiv entwickeln zu können,“sagt RennRad Chefredakteur David Binnig. Und ergänzt: „Als KATUSHA mit der Idee auf uns zukam, war ich total begeistert. Wir geben einem Amateur- oder U23 Fahrer die Möglichkeit für ein WorldTour Profiteam zu fahren. Das hat es in einem direkten Casting dieser Art für Talente noch nie gegeben.“ Stagiaires sind eine Art „Profi-Praktikanten, die gemäß der UCI-Regularien einen Teamvertrag von 1. August bis 31. Dezember bekommen und als offizielle Teamfahrer bei Profi-Rennen starten dürfen.
Zwei Phasen Bewerbungsprozess
In Phase 1 bewerben sich die Kandidaten über die RennRad Webseite. Neben persönlichen Daten und klassischem Anschreiben „Warum ich?“ müssen weitere Fakten eingegeben werden. Dabei geht es nicht nur um die eigenen Rennergebnisse, sondern es zählen auch Trainingskilometer oder besondere Lesitungswerte wie zum Beispiel Strava-Bestzeiten und Zwift-Erfolge. Am Ende der ersten Phase werden sechs Fahrer ausgewählt, die ins „KATUSHA RennRad- Super Stagiaire-Team“ berufen werden.
In Phase 2 absolvieren die sechs Kandidaten vom Team KATUSHA ALPECIN durchgeführte Medizin- und Leistungstests, werden mit den neuesten Teilen der KATUSHA Kollektion ausgestattet und intensiv beobachtet. Am Ende der zweiten Phase wird ein Sieger gekürt: der „Super Stagiaire.
„Die Gesellschaft befindet sich im Wandel. Der Spitzensport ebenso. Mit diesem einzigartigen Nachwuchsförderprojekt wollen wir den Kandidaten die Chance geben, sich ihren Traum zu erfüllen. Ich bin schon sehr gespannt auf die Bewerber. Denn das zeitgemäße, sehr direkte Bewerbungsverfahren bietet auch sogenannten Quereinsteigern eine echte Chance,“sagt Alexis Schoeb, Präsident der KATUSHA Group.
Über KATUSHA
KATUSHA ist eine der führenden technischen Radbekleidungsmarken aus der Schweiz. KATUSHA Sports SA mit Sitz in Genf wurde 2015 gegründet. Hand in Hand mit den Profis des Teams KATUSHA ALPECIN ist KATUSHA bestrebt, die neueste Generation von Bekleidung und Accessoires zu entwerfen und zu liefern, die das tägliche Fahren 365 Tage im Jahr verbessert. Das gesammelte Wissen der Profis wird täglich mit den Produktentwicklern und Designern geteilt, wobei jede Erkenntnis, jedes fein abgestimmte Detail zu einer Produktinnovation wird, von dem alle Radfahrer profitieren.
Über das RennRad Magazin
Tests, Training, Ernährung, Radmarathons, Reisen, Reportagen – dafür steht das RennRad. Näher dran am Geschehen, Insider-Tipps und Hintergründe, Abenteuer und Labortests: Dies ist ein Magazin von Rennradfahrern für Rennradfahrer. Am Kiosk, im Web, per App oder in den Sozialen Medien – immer echt, immer nützlich, immer schneller. Im gleichen Verlag erscheint die „Radsport“, das offizielle Organ des Bund Deutscher Radfahrer (BDR).
Weitere Information sowie Online-Bewerbung unter:
www.radsport-rennrad.de/super-stagiaire
https://katusha-sports.com
Social Media: #plötzlichprofi

Paris-Roubaix. Nils Politt takes spectacular 2nd place in Roubaix

Eintagsrennen, Ergebnisse, Frühjahrskassiker, Teamnews, Weltcup und Klassiker, , ,


Foto: Gerhard Plomitzer

1 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 5:58:02
2 Nils Politt (Ger) Team Katusha-Alpecin
3 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:13
4 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First 0:00:40
5 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:42
6 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:47
7 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
8 Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
9 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence
10 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First
11 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
12 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
13 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
14 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:24
15 Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:01:25
16 Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:36

Nils Politt showed pure determination and solid resolve in his race of the 117th Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, taking second place on the boards of the velodrome in Roubaix with a time of 5:58:02 to match that of winner Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-Quick Step). In a straight up sprint to the finish line, Gilbert dove down to the inside of the track to take the win after almost six hours of racing in France. It was a spectacular result from Politt, 25, moving up from seventh place last year to stand on the 2019 podium in his second participation in the cycling monument.
Nils Politt: “So close, but even second in Roubaix at my age I still can’t believe it. I was feeling good from the first moment I woke up this morning. For the whole race the team did a great, great job and I think we’ve had such a good classics season. It’s unbelievable to me to get second in Roubaix.” Politt placed fifth in last week’s Tour of Flanders.
Team Director Dirk Demol, winner of 1988 Paris-Roubaix, expressed his excitement for Nils and Team KATUSHA ALPECIN after the race: “Second place in my favorite race! We were in the game the whole day. The team did a good race and a smart race. In the past weeks we’ve seen that Nils was growing toward his top form and this was the race for him we’ve been aiming for these past few months. He really didn’t make mistakes. He’s going to win some day. He has the capabilities. He is born for this type of race. The confidence he takes away from getting second in this race will have him coming back for more.”
It was a brilliant performance from Team KATUSHA ALPECIN with aggressive riding all day long. Alongside Deceuninck, KATUSHA ALPECIN were the strongest team during the race with Nils and teammate Marco Haller in the front group when the peloton splits happened after the first pavés. Haller pulled, as did Mads Würtz Schmidt while Politt took stock of his race surroundings and who was strongest in the field.
The 257k course from Compiègne to Roubaix featured 29 sectors and 54.5km of cobbles and was fast from the outset. Politt was attentive throughout, putting himself in an early breakaway group before the cobbles, and then later reading the intentions of the eventual winner with just over 60k still to go.
Politt: “I saw in the feed zone that Gilbert wanted to go, so I went with him. With Peter Sagan and his group coming back to us, I didn’t have to go so deep. At the end it was a little bit of bad luck for me that Gilbert’s teammate was coming back to us on the velodrome. Gilbert was willing to gamble a bit. But I still have some years and I hope I can one day win this race.” Rounding out the podium was Gilbert teammate Yves Lampaert at 13-seconds.
Teammate Marco Haller rode in service of Politt today, earning himself a fine 16th place finish, and expressed his great pride at the success of Nils: “The team just finished on the podium in a monument. I am so happy and proud to have been part of it. It was six hours of stress and fighting. It feels like a win, absolutely. We told Nils last night at dinner that this might be the last time he could fly under the radar, so we told him he’d better go out and take it. I think he did that. He rode such a perfect race. He’s a brilliant bike racer.”

KATUSHA MEDIA SERVICE
Philippe Maertens
maertens@teamkatushaalpecin.com
+32 492 22 78 96
Falk Nier
nier@teamkatushaalpecin.com
+32 492 22 78 98

Paris-Nice. 2nd place well deserved for Nils Politt

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Teamnews, Zeitfahren, ,

Team KATUSHA ALPECIN’s Nils Politt, 25, took a second-place finish in Thursday’s individual time trial in Barbentane, France, marking a breakthrough performance in the career of the young German rider.

Photo by Gerhard Plomitzer / www.plomi.smugmug.com
Nils Politt: “This was a pretty good time trial today and I’m really happy with my performance. It’s my first time to earn a podium placing in a big, big time trial and I see that my condition is good. I train every winter on my TT bike, but this time I went probably only five times, so maybe that’s the key.”
The course featured a climb halfway through before a slightly rolling final into the finish line. Asked which sections of the route caused the most concern, Politt said, “The last 5km were very hard. There was a tailwind and it was a little bit up and down, plus I was already going all in, so I was really suffering.”
Team director Dirk Demol assessed the day’s performance from Politt: “I’m very satisfied with this effort from Nils. Second place in a time trial at this level of racing proves again that he’s made a step up from last year. He was top 10 in the time trial in Algarve and since then he has put his focus on the TT for today. His main focus is still on the classics, of course, but the result today proves he’s moving in the right direction with his condition and I look forward to the next weeks with him.” Politt took seventh place last year in Paris-Roubaix.
Stage 5 of the 77th Paris-Nice was 25.5k in Barbentane and was won by Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) with a top time of 30:26 (50.274km/h). Politt’s time was seven-seconds off the pace and race leader Michal Kwiatkowski of Team Sky rounded out the daily podium another four seconds behind.
Kwiatkowski leads by 15 seconds to teammate Egan Bernal with three stages still to race. Friday’s stage 6 returns to the road at 176.5k from Peynier to Brignoles.
KATUSHA MEDIA SERVICE
Philippe Maertens
maertens@teamkatushaalpecin.com
+32 492 22 78 96

Marcel Kittel takes first victory of the season in Palma

Etappenrennen, Teamnews, , ,


With two training camps behind him on Mallorca, Marcel Kittel raced to victory in the Trofeo Palma on Sunday, securing his first win of the season and giving the German sprinter a much-needed boost of confidence.

Foto Gerhard Plomitzer – @plomiphotos
“I am very, very happy. This is more than just winning a stage here, it is also a little comeback after last year“, said Marcel Kittel. „In the last few days I could feel that my legs were good and I’m very happy that I could give this victory to my teammates as well as the confidence it gives to me at the start of the season. It’s very important. The team protected me so well. They all stayed with me during the difficult climb and I’m very happy.”
The series of four one-day races came to an end today with the Trofeo Palma, 159.6k from Playa de Palma to Palma. A challenging climb with 40k to go saw teamwork play into the tactics and set up Kittel for success. Erik Zabel, team performance manager, explained the strategy behinds today’s victory:
“During the training camp we did this climb and then Marcel came alone four days ago to do it again. I think it was important that he had the confidence that he could do it. Before dinner last night we had a short meeting and asked him how he felt. He was very optimistic, and this morning too. So we asked the climbers to stay close to him on the climb to protect him and bring him over the climb. The team worked so well together, and in the end, he did a great sprint.”
Joining Kittel on the podium for second and third places were Timothy Dupont of Wanty-Groupe Gobert 85 and Hugo Hofstetter of Cofidis, all on the same time of 3:45:23 (42.49 km/h).
Sports director Claudio Cozzi brimmed with pride from the day’s efforts: “We saw during training camp that Kittel was in good condition and that today’s shorter stage would be a good opportunity for him. It wasn’t simple because of the climb with 40k to go, so we dedicated the full team to him. Even the climbers stayed with him to help pass the climb and we came down in good position.”

Erik Zabel concluded: “I’ve been working closely with Marcel for 3 months now and I’ve liked everything I’ve seen so far. Since the first of December we have been training and focused on this new season, not looking back, and today was a nice moment to see the results of everyone’s efforts.”
KATUSHA MEDIA SERVICE
Philippe Maertens
maertens@teamkatushaalpecin.com
+32 492 22 78 96
Falk Nier
nier@teamkatushaalpecin.com
+32 492 22 78 98

Marco Haller wins the opener of the Australian Bay Crits

Kriterium und Rundstreckenrennen, , ,

01.01.2019
Marco Haller wins the opener of the Australian Bay Crits

Marco Haller started the season successfully. The 27-year-old Austrian rider won the first race of the Lexus of Blackburn Bay Crits on New Year’s Day in Geelong, Australia. Haller was the fastest rider after a sprint from a five-man squad. The German Raphael Freienstein was second, ahead of Miles Scotson (Groupama-FDJ).

„Everybody was pretty excited for the Bay Crits. Winning a race on January 1st is just a perfect start for the team and of course for myself,“ said Marco Haller.

Haller was joined by his teammates Alex Dowsett, Nathan Haas and two „national level“ riders. Tom Chapman from South Australia and Dylan McKenna of Victoria were the lucky winners of a competition launched by KATUSHA Sports in mid-December. The five-man special team raced in customized KATUSHA Sports kits in collaboration with Pushys.

„Nathan (Haas) already warned me that the Australian riders are pretty good in shape that time of the year where the Nationals and the Tour Down Under is just around the corner. It was a very tough race and it was unexpected that our five-man group made it to the finish. But the break was strong (Miles Scotson was sitting in there) and immediately we got some time to the bunch. In the end it was man against man and I’m happy I did it,“ added Haller.
For Marco, the victory is a boost after losing a large part of the season in 2018. In April he broke his kneecap in training in a collision with a car and was out for six month of racing.
The Bay Crits continues tomorrow in Geelong with another criterium on a 650m lap course.

KATUSHA ALPECIN choses BMW as official car partner

Teamnews,

Swiss WorldTour team KATUSHA ALPECIN will cooperate for the next three years with BMW. The official handing-over of the keys happened last Friday evening at the 2019 team presentation of KATUSHA ALPECIN in Koblenz, Germany. Leasing company Alphabet is providing the fleet of 14 BMWs, including 12 of the 518d Touring and 2 BMW X3 models.
General Manager José Azevedo: “We are happy in this partnership with BMW. It is nice to work with this prestigious and innovative brand, but there is more to this partnership. This car offers us safety and comfort and that is, of course, important in the often very hectic circumstances of a cycling race. Safety is our absolute number one priority, but comfort is a close second. Most notably our mechanics will appreciate the roomy space. Sometimes we sit more than seven to eight hours in the car. After the races we can take our riders back to the hotel in real comfort, as post-race recovery begins the minute the race is over.”
Eddy Haesendonck, President and CEO of BMW Group Belux, is also enthusiastic about the partnership. “The dynamics of KATUSHA ALPECIN cycling team match perfectly with the dynamic performances of our BMWs. Moreover, the BMW Touring and BMW X3 offer the necessary luxury and comfort that riders and support staff need and deserve.”
With their 4 brands – BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad – BMW Group is the number one producer of premium cars and motorbikes. In 2017, BMW Group sold 2,463,500 autos and 164,000 bikes worldwide.
During the cycling season, KATUSHA ALPECIN and BMW Group Belux will partner on events together, both in and out of races and look forward to the winning combination of solid racing results and a successful partnership in the years to come.
Image (from the left): Tom Van Assche (Corporate Sales Manager BMW Group Belux), Erwin Neuville (Business Manager Corporate Sales BMW Group Belux), José Azevedo (General Manager TKA), Ilnur Zakarin and Marcel Kittel
All used images need to be signed always with the mandatory photo credits: ©TKA/Kathrin Schafbauer
KATUSHA MEDIA SERVICE
Philippe Maertens
maertens@teamkatushaalpecin.com
+32 492 22 78 96