Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
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2017 Tour de France | 2017 Giro d'Italia
An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox. - Lao Tzu
Latest completed racing:
- November 26: Flandriencross
- November 25: Zeven Cyclocross
- November 19: Bogense Cyclocross
- November 12: Gavere Cyclocross
- November 5: European Cyclocross Championships
- Oct 28 - Nov 5: Tour of Hainan
- November 1: Cyclocross Koppenberg
- October 29: Cyclocross Ruddervoorde
Klaas Lodewyck to join BMC Racing Team as sports director
BMC sent me this news release:
28 November, 2017, Santa Rosa, California (USA)
Former rider Klaas Lodewyck will step up as a Sports Director with BMC Racing Team in 2018 after two years with BMC Development Team, General Manager Jim Ochowicz today announced.
Lodewyck raced with BMC Racing Team from 2012 until mid 2015, when he was forced to retire due to cardiac arrhythmia, before making the move to a Sports Director role with BMC Development Team in 2016.
Ochowicz said Lodewyck was a natural choice when a position opened up in the Sports Director's group. "When an opening in our Sports Director team became available, Klaas Lodewyck was our first choice for a number of reasons. He had been doing some great work with BMC Development Team and had also joined us for some races in the past two years where he showed us his skills as a Sports Director. Of course, as a former rider with BMC Racing Team, he is very familiar with the way the team operates and our staff and riders, many of whom he raced with." Ochowicz explained.
"Klaas already has experience at many of the races in our calendar as a rider or a second director and in 2018, he will step up as first director at a number of events. We are very excited to have Klaas join us and we know he will be a great fit."
In 2017, Lodewyck joined BMC Racing Team as Sports Director for a handful of races including the Artic Race of Norway where Dylan Teuns claimed two stage wins and the overall victory.
Klaas Lodewyck in 2015
Lodewyck is grateful for the opportunity to stay within the BMC Racing Team family. "I am very happy to join BMC Racing Team as Sports Director as it is a dream come true after being forced to retire from racing. After becoming Sports Director with BMC Development Team my goal was to step up to a WorldTour team. I wanted to stay with the BMC Racing Team family because when I couldn't race anymore, Jim Ochowicz offered me the chance to be a Sports Director with the development team and this is an opportunity I am still very grateful for," Lodewyck said.
"I learned a lot in the past two years with the young riders, especially how to manage the riders, talk to the them and face and solve problems. This is something I had to learn because it is completely different as a rider. I think I did this well if you look at the results from the past two years."
"Having the opportunity to join BMC Racing Team is a reflection of my work in the past two years and I can't wait to start at our training camp in December and get the season underway in 2018."
Lodewyck joins the existing group of BMC Racing Team Sports Directors: Fabio Baldato (ITA), Valerio Piva (ITA), Maximilian Sciandri (ITA) and Jackson Stewart (USA).
Astana completes 2018 roster
Here's the team's press release:
Astana Team has concluded its transfer campaign for the upcoming season of 2018.
The team’s roster will consist of 30 riders, among them 6 newcomers: Magnus Cort (Denmark), Omar Fraile (Spain), Yevgeniy Gidich (Kazakhstan), Jan Hirt (Czech Republic), Hugo Houle (Canada) and Davide Villella (Italy).
Omar Fraile, shown winning stage 11 of the 2017 Giro, will be riding for Astana in 2018.
The full 2018 Astana Team roster:
Pello Bilbao (Spain), Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kazakhstan), Dario Cataldo (Italy), Sergei Chernetckii (Russia), Magnus Cort (Denmark), Laurens De Vreese (Belgium), Daniil Fominykh (Kazakhstan), Omar Fraile (Spain), Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark), Oscar Gatto (Italy), Yevgeniy Gidich (Kazakhstan), Andriy Grivko (Ukraine), Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kazakhstan), Jesper Hansen (Denmark), Jan Hirt (Czech Republic), Hugo Houle (Canada), Tanel Kangert (Estonia), Truls Korsaeth (Norway), Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kazakhstan), Miguel Ángel López (Colombia), Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan), Riccardo Minali (Italy), Moreno Moser (Italy), Luis Leon Sanchez (Spain), Nikita Stalnov (Kazakhstan), Ruslan Tleubayev (Kazakhstan), Michael Valgren (Denmark), Davide Villella (Italy), Artyom Zakharov (Kazakhstan) and Andrey Zeits (Kazakhstan).
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