NetApp announce 14-man roster for 2010

Team NetApp today announced a 14-man roster for their 2010 debut in the professional peloton. Huub Duyn will join the team from ProTour team Garmin-Slipstream and, alongside former T-Mobile professional Eric Baumann, was named as a leader of the new German UCI Continental squad at a press conference in Raubling, Germany.

Dutchman Duyn, 25, and Germany's Baumann, 29, will lead a team drawn from nine different nations. With an average age of 22 years, the team's first year programme will be designed to assist the development of young riders recruited to the squad. Sports Director Jens Heppner said the team will target one-day and shorter stage races from their base in Hamburg.

"Developing this very young team into a new generation of racing professionals will be an exciting task. The squad we have put together is of a very high quality for a Continental team," said Heppner. "With a view to participating in single-day races and smaller tours in north-western Europe, we have selected both cyclists with ProTour experience and less experienced riders who have demonstrated the potential to reach the top. Every rider will be given the opportunity to prove their abilities."

The team was launched last month in Switzerland, with an ambitious goal to attain ProTour status within three years. Although they will enter their first season two tiers below cycling's top flight teams, NetAppTeam Manager Ralph Denk today said that they expect to do more than simply make up numbers in 2010.

"I am very proud to present a young, international team, with whom we will begin our first season," said Denk. "Since announcing the creation of our new team, numerous young cyclists have applied for a place in the squad. Reaching a decision was not easy. In the end, we selected a mixture young, talented and experienced racing cyclists. We don't just want to ride along with the other teams; we want to make a difference."
 

Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter for the very latest coverage of events taking place in the cycling world - twitter.com/cyclingnewsfeed