Russian Pro-Continental team Gazprom-Rusvelo have announced one final signing for the new year, adding 2012 U23 world time trial champion Anton Vorobyev to its roster. The 26-year-old spent the last four seasons with Katusha and expressed his delight in securing the one-year deal with Gazprom-Rusvelo to further his career.
"I want to thank team's management for trust in me. Even though the transfer campaign for Gazprom – RusVelo was over, we managed to sign an agreement. Team’s growing and getting better and I’ll do my best to maintain the high pace of team’s improvement," said Vorobyev who won two stages of the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe-Pays de la Loire this season.
A talented rider against the clock, team general manager Renat Khamidulin is expecting Vorobyev to raise the quality of the team from 2017 and is looking forward to working together as he explained.
"At this moment Anton is one of the best TT specialist in Russia. He has a lot of potential and we will do everything to develop his strengths. We have ambitious goals for the next season and his experience will help us to reach them," he said of the 2014 Russian time trial champion.
Along with announcing the final addition to its roster, Gazprom-Rusvelo also revealed its new X-Bionic made kit for the 2017 season during its team presentation in the Italian city of Desenzano del Garda.
"We've spent a great season and reached almost everything that we planned before. Last season helped us to understand the main direction for further improvement. Having such a sponsor like Gazprom and our technical partners we have everything today to keep going towards our goals. Everyday hard work is the only path to become better, we think not only about short term goals, but also about new olympic cycle," Khamidulin added.
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The 2017 Gazprom-Rusvelo team (Gazprom-Rusvelo)
Colnago C60's for Team UAE Dubai
With confirmation of a WorldTour license for the former Lampre-Merida team and planned TJ Sport team, which will be known as Team UAE Abu Dhabi, Colnago have released the first images of the team bikes. The Italian company returns to the WorldTour in 2017 with Team UAE Abu Dhabi, and as reported by Cyclingnews, helping secure a sponsor.
According to Colnago, its C60 model will be the preferred bike for the team in 2017 with a predominately red and black colourway. It appears an UAE flag decal will also feature on the seat post while sponsor decals of Campagnolo and Vittoria feature on the rear chain and seat stays.
The team will release its full roster, new kit and further technical details and sponsors at its official presentation next month in Abu Dhabi.
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Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise unveil new yellow, blue and white jersey for 2017
Belgian Pro-Continental team Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise have released an updated kit for the 2017 season to reflect its new name and sponsors. The change of team name from Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise is reflected on the front of the jersey with new Sports Vlaanderen logo featuring more predominately across the chest. The logo has also been given more space on the shoulders and ensure a great addition of yellow than previous yearrs
There is no change Baloise logo on the front and side panels of the jersey which ensure a blue balance against the yellow and white. The logo also feature on the sleeves, collar and as a smaller logo, on the front of the jersey. The Eddy Merckx, who supply the team with bicycles, and Callant logos are also displayed on the front of the jersey which continues to be made by Vermac.
IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness finalise 2017 team
Australian Continental team IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness have finalised its 17-rider roster for the new year which on paper is arguably the strongest ever seen in the National Road Series (NRS). Having previously announced its climber roster, the IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness team have confirmed Scott Sunderland for 2017 along with fellow sprinter Jesse Kerrison as previously reported by Cyclingnews. The team have also confirmed it will be racing onboard Cervelo bikes from next season.
"Both Jesse and Scott are world class. These two paired up with guys like Neil Van Der Ploeg and Anthony Giacoppo will be hard to beat," team co-owner Andrew Christie-Johnston said. "People think that having two pure sprinters like Jesse and Scott can be a bad thing but when you look at our calendar and realise that most of the time we are running two concurrent programs it's easy to see they will both have plenty of opportunity."
Melbourne to Warrnambool winner and Grafton to Inverell runner-up Nathan Elliot adds further depth to the team and will join former African Wildlife Safari teammates Pat Lane and Sean Lake on the squad, along with fellow new signing Jeremy Cameron. Alistair Christie-Johnston is the final 2017 signing for the team
2017 IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness roster: Cameron Bayly, Scott Bowden, Jeremy Cameron, Alistair Christie-Johnston, Joe Cooper, Sam Crome, Nathan Elliot, Anthony Giacoppo, Chris Harper, Robbie Hucker, Jesse Kerrison, Sean Lake, Pat Lane, Jason Lea, Tim Roe, Scott Sunderland and Neil Van Der Ploeg.
