Our guide to the biggest team camps from the off-season
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Israel Cycling Academy hike together on a bonding trip to Jerusalem(Image credit: Velo Images)
Full team photo(Image credit: www.ypmedias.com)
The 2018 Movistar jersey(Image credit: Movistar Team)
Alberto Contador chats with Polartec CEO Gary Smith before the opening-day ride in Arizona.(Image credit: Pat Malach)
Tony Martin on stage at the Katusha-Alpecin presentation(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Keep abreast of all the latest information related to professional cycling team training camps as WorldTour and Pro-Continental squads prepare for the 2018 road season.
Keep on clicking back for the latest feature articles, news, interviews, tech, video and photographs related to teams' pre-season activities as we update this page over the next few months.
AG2R La Mondiale
The AG2R La Mondiale team gathered in Vaujany in the French Alps in November for its first off-season camp ahead of the winter. The action-packed camp was full of fencing, rock climbing and running. The team said goodbye to Christophe Riblon who is retiring, and hello to new recruits including Tony Gallopin.
Movistar held a short fall training camp in Mallorca from November 16-19. Team members, sponsors, and the 30 cyclists who signed up for the first cyclosportive Training Camp held at the Rafa Nadal Academy, convened for the ride in sunny skies and covered three routes on offer. Over 300km was covered along with discussions between the WorldTour riders and guests, and wine tasting.
The riders and staff of the 2018 UAE Team Emirates met in Lugano in early November for its first meeting ahead of the upcoming season. The riders and staff accomplished an excursion up Mount Tamaro. Along with the team bonding activities, rider and management sat down to plan out the upcoming race season ahead.
Israel Cycling Academy put down their base training with a two-day hike, midnight martial arts and plenty of team bonding in Israel. The Pro Continental outfit recently signed former BMC rider Ben Hermans to join a growing roster that includes sprinter Kristian Sbaragli, WorldTour veteran Ruben Plaza, Norwegians Sondre Holst Enger and August Jensen, Nathan Earle, and first-ever Turkish professional Ahmet Orken.
New Continental team Polartec-Kometa travelled to Arizona for its fall training camp in the warm climate of Arizona. The team is run by recently retired Alberto Contador and directed by Ivan Basso and is the feeder program for Trek-Segafredo. The camp wrapped up with a ride to the top of Mt. Lemmon on November 19.
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Nippo Vini Fantini kicked off its 2018 campaign with a fall training camp at the La Chiave dei Trabocchi hotel in San Vito Chietino, Italy, from November 20-24. The five-day camp was meant to introduce the new schedule and set season goals.
The new-look Katusha-Alpecin team assembled in Mallorca, Spain for its 2018 team presentation and launch ahead of its first training camp for the new season. The full 26-rider team was in attendance, with the new riders receiving special allowance to wear the new kit for the presentation. They will, however, return to wearing their 2017 team kit until January 1.
Bahrain-Merida have started preparations for the 2018 season with a team camp on the Croatian island of Hvar in the Adriatic Sea. Along with plenty of riding time, the training camp is an important two-week period for the riders to dial in their positions on their road and time trial bikes, try on new kit, and acquaint themselves with new teammates and tactics. With the full Bahrain-Merida team in attendance for the camp, the race programmes for the year are likely to be finalised.
For it's major training camp of the off-season, dubbed '#2018kickoff', the entire BMC squad has come together in Denia, Spain. During the team camp, BMC revealed its new kit for the 2018 season, disc equipped race bikes, preliminary race programmes, while riders and staff acquainted themselves with new teammates and sponsor equipment,
