Advancing German Cycling from the Roots Through the German Talent Days Program
Team Giant-Alpecin and German Federation Explore New Methods of Scouting Tomorrow’s Champions
The Team Giant-Alpecin men’s program and Team Liv-Plantur women’s program will hold their second annual Talent Days in the German Eifel area on May 26, 27 and 28. From this year onward, the German Cycling Federation (Bund Deutscher Radfahrer, BDR) will join the team in scouting tomorrow’s champions, with the goal of fundamentally advancing German cycling by stimulating the development of its roots: young riders.
Team Giant-Alpecin has an international orientation, which is reflected by its international group of riders and staff. However, the team is specifically emphasizing the continued recruitment of talented up-and-coming German riders, as it aims to strongly contribute to the development of German cycling.
Together with the BDR, Team Giant-Alpecin has chosen to focus on grassroots development as the most effective way to build a solid foundation for the future of German cycling. The two organizations believe that offering young riders the opportunity to participate in the Talent Days program could encourage them to pursue cycling more seriously.
BDR-Sports director Patrick Moster (GER): “We are looking forward to the co-operation with Team Giant-Alpecin and are confident that the Talent Days will support and further advance our youth development.”
The German Talent Days employs a different way of finding new talented young riders, both boys and girls, ages 17 to 20. Many staff members, including coaches, trainers, embedded scientists and others will be involved in the process, contributing know-how from the WorldTour team to help those who are identified as possessing the key qualities to potentially develop into a good rider.
“The young riders spend three days with the team’s experts and will be screened both physically and mentally on these days. On top of that, we will offer them valuable insight into the world of pro cycling and the life of a pro cyclist. For that reason, one of our pro riders will join the Talent Days program as well,” explained talent coach Dirk Reuling (NED).
CEO Iwan Spekenbrink (NED) said: “We want to contribute to the overall development of cycling in Germany. In our vision, the way of doing this properly is by starting at the roots by boosting youth cycling and giving young riders the prospect of potentially joining a professional WorldTour team in the future. There are many young talents out there. By inviting them to the Talent Days we are encouraging and challenging them to continue cycling and keep developing their talents to maybe one day become pro cyclists. This is why we have developed this concept, aimed at giving more young riders the opportunity to use our facilities and to get the chance to progress. We have partnered with the BDR on this project, as they have a good overview of all the talents in Germany and possess experience in developing young riders, and we hope that in the near future the other German pro teams will join this initiative too, so that we can combine forces and together ensure that Germany will become and remain an influential player in the world of cycling.”
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