Team Lotto Belisol begins its 2013 Training
The 2013 season means a lot to the first year Professional side, Team Lotto Belisol after UCI grant its request to ride at the top level of the sport.
The team fought with the Danish side, Team Saxo-Tinkoff for the UCI World Tour status for the 2013 season as it was believed that either one of the two sides will be granted the licence but UCI surprised the whole world not by granting the licence to both
but also by refusing Team Katusha’s request.
However, Team Katusha’s refusal and the fact that it was the second top team at the UCI World Tour team’s rankings does not makes much difference to Team Lotto’s celebrations and its preparations for the new season.
The team gathered at the Mallorca Island for a hard ten-day training camp, which had nothing to do with any other recreational activities like Climbing, abseiling or kite-flying like its previous gathering in New Zealand earlier.
Team Sports Director Herman Frison stated that all the cyclists on the team will have to complete a few weeks of training before moving to Mediterranean where the training will only get harder.
"Following a long season, all the riders and staff are glad to have a few weeks to find some peace, but this remains what they prefer doing,” said Frison to lottobelisol.be.
“Team camps is one of the only times that almost everyone is together, because mid-January swarms everyone and some people I only see again in September," he concluded.
"Unlike before, the riders have a proper foundation if they come here. As a sports manager you would immediately notice if someone has done all their homework. The season starts a lot earlier, with racing in Argentina, Australia and Gabon".
The team had an outstanding 2012 season with as many as 27 victories in its bag and truly earned the right to ride at the top level of the sport.
However, the team has been granted the licence for only one year and its extension depends on UCI approval which will consider several factors, but the most important one will be the amount of World Tour victories in the teams’ 2013 winning bag.
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