Lack of funds is making your magazine wobble, but in the possible we are trying to continue with quality articles. Christmas is approaching and the OCM is feeling warmer. The Tour die-hards have already forgot about cycling and only those who really love this sport are around the campfire. It is not time to compile the best moments yet because Germany Tour has not even started, so what I am trying to do here is reviewing the globalised cycling world. Sure, the Netherlands, Belgium or Spain are still the top countries, but minor forces are appearing.
  
  Ethiopia is a minor force, Libya is minor force, Israel is a minor force, Mauritius is a minor force, but damn, there are so many minor forces…! This article is a sort of mix between the “young guns” and the “OCM in focus”-regular articles, it is about those riders coming from non-cyclist countries that have appeared from nowhere in the last times.
  
  Felizardo Gorantes. 25 years old. Philippines has experienced an explosion of cycling love with numerous teams appearing in the last two seasons. However, their riders are notably weak for the top level. The exception to this is Gorantes, riding for Spanish team TKT of Zyte Division, where he is a valuable helper in the hills for Joselito Rangel (11 times national rider, current number two of Spain).
  
  Sylvester Bai. 24 years old. When we interviewed him few days ago, he was flying to Argentina. When I am writing this, he has just won the race mastering riders as Ebersold (14 races with USA), Massicot (4 races with England) or Pánfilo (6 races with Spain), and propelled his team to division four.

This Papua New Guinea rider is called to do great things for his team, ANZ Bank.
  
  Kilive Gataurua (24 years old) and Laisiasa Civoniceva (25 years old). Both are teammates coming from Fiji, but both can/may enjoy a good time for personal bets. Gataurua may be Espartanos ciclistas’ leader in the mountains soon; while Civoniceva, who races for Goddard Scothern and Otto Hagman in Telstra, had a great time in Race of the Minutemen where he helped Scothern to get three stage wins. In spite of his role, he finished 7th in a greatly contested youth classification.
  
  Worku Dawit. 25 years old. Ethiopian national champion is one of the few we interviewed for this article that is riding for a team of his nationality. I would have never said that he is a sprinter, but he is, and not a bad one. He is very thin, but pure rage while on the bike. That nervousness, however, is something to improve. Since the team signed the Dane Gregersen, he is taking less chances to captain the team, but he is still the rider that put the team in the fifth division.
  
  Anton Levin. 25 years old. From Israel’s West Bank Racing to one of the breakthrough teams of season 17 Karelracing (now in division 3), Levin has grown as a time trialer you must fear at any level. Surely already one of the top 10 time trialers of the OCM (but one of the less famous), he has a shiny career to follow.
  
  Ivan Alterman. 24 years old. Yet another Israeli talent, this time one riding for Red

Star (number 6 of the ranks). It is impressive that he has been allowed to be the captain for some races, considering that Kondrotas rides here and that Alterman is, as him, a hilly sprinter. This man could perfectly win Nederlandse Tour if he was in another team. Maybe Kondrotas will feel a bit uncomfortable after Alterman visits the TT center…
  
  Abdulkarim Mariemi. 23 years old. Even if his team climbed the ranks fast, his trainings were even faster and he got used to high levels really soon. Mariemi is the top Libyan rider at his short age, and faces a bright future over the cobbles. He rides for the controversial Lots o Huggin Bear, run by ichti. How many money did they pay to such a manager to sign for a Libyan starting team? Anyways, he is doing a great work there, and his only-Libyans restriction is not putting the team in big troubles.
  
  It is also notable the work of Tall vs Small, the second team of the country (featuring only one Libyan rider). We want the new flag for them!
  
  Dylan Mamet. 24 years old. Notable Mauritius teams existed a while ago (tax haven?), but good riders are just appearing in the last couple of seasons. Mamet, who signed for Team Serfin97 of Zyte Division, found a place to captain this big team because other riders are not pure sprinters as he is (Villaroel is a cobbler, Irimia a hiller sprinter, Schneider a mix of everything).
  
  How do you train in small islands? in the desert? without paved roads? with the monsoon? That, my friends, is love for cycling.
  
  Written by pundit Holger Czukay to OCM Magazine