Jens Heppner happy with Team NetApp's remarkable performance at the domination of Settimana Internazionale
Team NetApp made its debut back in 2010, and rode at the professional level of the sport in 2011.
The team struggled during the first professional year but has finally found the much required victory at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali.
The team rode brilliantly during the five-stage race and Jan Barta helped his side with its first overall victory at the event.
He also grabbed the fifth stage of the race and played a vital role in the team’s victory during the stage 2b of the race.
The general classification’s leader Barta noted, "I thought I could do something in GC".
"Then we passed the leader's jersey from one to another in the team, so that nearly everyone wore it. A super feeling. All the success in this race is based on our teamwork".
Team Director Jens Heppner briefed that he is happy with the team’s performance and has named the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali as “NetApp festival”.
He told Cyclingnews, "I knew that the team could accomplish something and with some luck could bring in some very good results, but I had never come close to believing in a NetApp festival!"
The team had a successful 2010 season with Daniel Schorn helping the German side with three stage victories in the season.
He succeeded during the third stage of the Tour de Normandie and also claimed the second and the sixth stages of the Tour de Slovaquie 2010.
Alex Meenhorst helped the team with the second stage win at the Tour Alsace, while Andreas Schillinger finished first during the Praha-Karlovy Vary-Praha.
The team has also been invited at the Giro d’ Italia through the wild card invitation and is looking ahead to take its performance to the next level at the race.
Heppner believes that the team’s peak performance at the Italian Grand Tour is the main reason behind the team’s improved performance.
The side has yet to announce its final squad for the mega event and all the cyclists in the German squad are interested to ride the event.
Giro d’ Italia is scheduled from May 5-27, and Team NetApp is hopeful to fill its bag with some stage victories during the Italian Grand Tour.
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