"In my opinion, the problem isn't with the under-23 teams," says Brent Copeland when we bring him to the Italian front at the end of the interview, "but rather with the professional teams. The continental teams remain valuable for developing the under-23s, however." the professional teams have to compete with the WorldTour teams and with the I have to team up and they are not sure of the calendar. Like Aigcp We're working on this too, so that teams like Reverberi's have a little more certainty, even if it's not easy with this calendar..."
We have called the team manager of the Team Jayco-AlUla to take stock of the double I have to team up of the Australian team: the men's (in the opening photo Coltyn Present) and the women's. Having sensed the great work behind it, we're intrigued. understand whether having a development team is actually a necessity for a WorldTour team. Among men the operation was completed with the absorption of the Hagens-Berman, the team of Axel Merckx, which in the past was also professional and launched into professionalism, among others, Dunbar, Geoghegan Hart, Almeida, Philipsen, the Oliveira twins, Morgado, Herzog, Riccitello and Christen. Among the other transfer market moves, in addition to the riders, there was the hiring of Christian Schrot, the coach who took Finn to the junior world championship and built the successes of Team Auto Eder, the U19 youth team of the former Bora-Hansgrohe.
Why this strong investment on I have to team up?
We've been working with Axel's team for a couple of years now. I'm not saying it's a necessity or an obligation, but the only way to fully understand the growth of riders before they move to the professional levelAnd this doesn't just concern performance or competitive level, but also character, culture, and knowing where they come from. These are all fundamental points for us. The collaboration with Merckx was working very well, the problem was we couldn't have our riders run with them or the young people run with us because it wasn't our teamThat's why this year we've gone one step further, putting them under our umbrella, so to speak.
So that we can have a continuous exchange of riders?
Exact. The most ready young people will be able to come with us to test themselves and in the same way we can send one of ours to them, for example De Marchi, to bring him some experience from the professional worldIt's an extra commitment, it's an extra team, but in my opinion it's worth it, because it's now important to know the guys well before they move to the WorldTour.
Why do you think Axel Merckx has this great ability to launch riders?
He works a lot on the individual before the rider, is the philosophy that he explained to me and Gerry Adams from the first meeting (the team owner, ed.) He knows that at most 50 percent of his riders will turn pro; that's the reality. And he doesn't want the other half who stop to have learned nothing, even on a personal level. So he works hard on the individual, their culture, their character. He doesn't just chase results and performances and this made us very happy, because it is a very important philosophy for us too.
But at the same time you hired a coach like Schrot, who is very good at managing the performance of young players.
People like him are needed for transmit experiences to children in the right way, to follow them wellIf you don't have the right resources, the work won't get done well, and then there's no point in creating a devo team.
Il I have to team up Will it also take advantage of the experience of the WorldTour Performance group?
Of course, he'll have access to all the first-team experience. We started doing that last year. Technology and innovation, the engineering part that follows Pinotti, the part of nutrition that is followed by Laura Martinelli, the medical part of Carlo GuardascioneAll of this is also made available to the development team. It's important that young players learn the right way, without overdoing it because we don't want to spoil them too much. They have to learn from a young age what it will be like when they become professionals., that's why we're giving him a hand with all the resources of the WorldTour team.
Same thing with the women's devo team?
Exactly. We have the same structure in Holland for girls, where we also have an Italian girl: Matilde VitilloWe use the same scheme, which is that the WorldTour teams support the development teams.
Given that costs will have increased, do you have new sponsors for the two development teams?
No, for men We have incorporated Axel's sponsorship. Last year it was already called Hagens Berman-Jayco and we continue with this support. Obviously It costs us a little more, but the budget remains the same. We've shifted some of it differently to give them more support, but the numbers remain the same. Unfortunately we don't have a super budget that allows us to do otherwise., but we still manage to work very well.
Who is in charge of the scouting work for the I have to team up?
Until last year, Axel was responsible for it, and he was also in contact with the various agents. However, it wasn't a very well-organized structure, and I have to be self-critical, because we didn't follow it as we should have. This year, however, everything changes, another structureWe have put together a working group which includes Axel, our data analyst, the two coaches of our team, the coaches of Merckx's team. A working group of six people, who will go scouting, staying in touch with the sporting directors of the various teams and with their agents. We've created a protocol to find the rider we're interested in.
We start with the test numbers, but are we also looking for something else?
Exactly. Maybe we're recommended an under-23 or a junior by his agent or the sporting director of the team he's playing for. Let's look at the numbers, because numbers matterBut then the second step is getting to know the person, where they come from, their background, their personal life. We ask ourselves if they'll be a good fit for our team overall.
A 360-degree assessment?
There are many other factors that need to be looked at carefully before a young rider moves to Axel's team and then eventually to the WorldTourThe working group was also created for this reason, to have the people who physically go to the races get to know the riders. I believe this is the right way to work. Last year we took De Pretto from Zalf, for example, after he had done his internship with us in 2023…
Now you would take him to the I have to team up?
Exactly. We had evaluated it, we needed a team to gain experience and we entrusted it to OintmentStarting next year, he would join Axel's team before moving up to the World Tour. It would be risky to move him directly to the first team; Axel's work helps us understand the rider and invest in him with more certainty.
