After scouring the globe in search of Young Guns, the OCM In Focus team decided to head for the Caribbean in search of sun, sand and cocktails. And also to interview the manager of Equipo Easy On (EEO), Eli. Caribbean cycling has undergone a revolution in the past few seasons and many seen him as the pioneer. With the team’s ethos in team selection – an emphasis on Caribbean riders – there are now more and more talented riders from the area performing well in Division 1. A successful manager back in his native Germany, many saw it strange that he chose to move over here. So the IF team were keen to get under the skin of this manager and find out why?
  
  You’re from Germany originally, so what made you move to Costa Rica to manage EEO?
  
  When I took over a team in the OCM circus, I used the liberty offered. Costa Rica is enormously beautiful and I have always had a very good time there. So I thought, why not manage your cycling team from there? And ze wezzer is also nicer zan in Germany. [laughs]
  
  Could you tell us more about the ethos of your team’s rider selection?
  
  Initially, there was none. In the early stages, riders were bought for all kinds of reasons. When I had the team somewhat established, there were only few Costa Ricans left. We tried to focus on Central America then, and scouted all the young riders from Costa Rica, but I could not find any talents. Not a single one. I mean, people actually do cycle here, but there was simply no-one around we considered worth training. Nowadays, we focus on some of the Caribbean islands.
  
  What made EEO choose to focus on the Caribbean riders?
  
  A couple of reasons. I think it was in season 9 or 10 when suddenly a number of riders from Barbados were for hire. As we found two promising talents amongst them, we hired 5 or 6 from there. Then we looked for new sponsors and were successful. Those sponsors wanted us focus solely on a few small nations and we do this now. I personally prefer to have as few nations as possible in my team - the team just works better. The roster looks nicer and we need fewer tapes with national anthems [grins]. A brief visit to Barbados convinced me fully, my English is much better than my Spanish.
  
  It must have been difficult to focus on riders from only five countries? How did you manage to get EEO in the top 5 in the world with this handicap?
  
  Frankly, it was Ethan Churchill from Wales who got us into the Top 10. So riders from other nations used to contribute and still do. But in general, there is plenty of talent around, you just have to be prepared to train slightly different riders

than the other teams. But you have to see that our team’s talent scout has bought another BMW recently and bought a villa in Hamburg, right at the Elbe.
  
  EEO’s new time-trialling sensation, Corvin Wyeth, is from USA. How did the signing of this rider fit in with the team’s focus on Caribbean riders?
  
  I think he is more of an all-rounder. It is amazing how much you can train him. He was one of the first new riders after young talents were allowed to join the OCM tour. We hired him and a similar rider, Gaspar Salas, from Mexico who is now with skils. When the focus was set up, we decided to keep one of those two super talents. Corwin is one 3/8th Puerto Rican anyway, although you can't see it. He has to live with the nickname “bloody Yank” in the team though [laughs].
  
  Cycling has really taken off in the Caribbean in the last few seasons. What do you think has contributed to this?
  
  I really do think that we have contributed to it a lot. If you look at the riders in the OCM circus you will see that we have most of the active trained Caribbean riders in our team. Burton Stolte (Ursus RT) and Athony Quinton (Torreira) are exceptions – though they are welcome to join the team. Nowadays, it actually seems that prices for Caribbean riders have increased as other managers try to sell to us. However, sponsors and foci might always change.
  
  Looking at your team, you have a wealth of young Caribbean talent. Which of these do you tip to be the stars of the future?
  
  It is always hard to tell. I think Gregory Levis is one of our most important riders for the future. I think he will be a hot candidate for "breakthrough rider" this season. Although I can see Nick of Team Atlantic making a point that he already had one result last season. We will have to settle that one over a beer, I guess. He has already shown himself in the time trial of the Germany Tour. Our new sprinting hope is Broderick Rimmer from the Bahamas.
  
  Your team recently performed badly in Italy? Riders from outside Europe traditionally struggle when coming over so how do you prepare your riders for this challenge?
  
  Italy was not my riders’ fault. I really think the strict OCM rules about signing up should be modified. You should be able to sign a new captain, or bring other equipment than you thought. Otherwise, my team is regularly in Germany as our name-giving co-sponsor is from there. So I feel we do not have problems in Europe. However, if you look at my team’s past results, we always do seem to do very well in Germany. And really bad in Mozambique, but this is only one race, thankfully.

[laughs]
  
  Ferdinand Coy was voted as the Best Breakthrough rider for Season 11 and was clearly delighted whilst receiving the award at the ceremony in Paris. What was the key to his outstanding performances last season?
  
  Ferdy is one of the fastest guys out there. He may not keep this speed up for long, but he can be enormously fast. I think that impressed the people who voted for him. Also his two wins were very late in the season and in Germany, so he could be sure people remembered him when they voted. Don’t get me wrong, he is a great rider and a great guy, but we also know that he needs a perfect day and a race that suits him. But anyway, we are proud of the award, very proud and the party after the OCM awards will be remembered by us and quite a few people in Paris [grins]
  
  Much was said in the press about Juancho Lorenzo’s acrimonious departure from the team last year. He stated homesickness as his reason for leaving. How, then, do you accommodate the European riders into your team, particularly the likes of Ethan Churchill and Corwin Wyeth?
  
  Yes, Lorenzo's "homesickness". Lorenzo is a good cyclist. You should note that his new team tried to sell him again.
  Ethan and Corwin are hard-working and down-to-earth guys, so that makes life much easier. Ethan was the first real rider that was trained by EEO. I was surprised to see that his only former team is still active. Ethan was our first rider who really was competitive in Division 1 so he will just stay with the team. In general Ethan and Corwin do very well and have accustomed to the Caribbean in all possible ways. Ethan is still a hero in Costa Rica and the biggest problem he faces here are groupies. Corwin is also very much at home in the Caribbean, but we have to take care that he is in Europe during spring break. Imagine how hard it must be for a 23 year old US American to be in rainy Flanders doing cobblestones at that time of the year ....
  
  How do you find it living in the Caribbean?
  
  [smiles broadly] Currently, I live on Bahamas. I am loving it. Perfect weather if you forget about the odd hurricane, an enormous beach in front of my house, a boat, cycling just like at home: flat roads and wind, just warmer – I come from the Northern tip of Germany. And then you have other benefits like no taxes, beautiful people and a relaxed pace of life. And you know the rumours in the press about my life-style here. If only a quarter of it is true, I am having a very good time... [grins]
  
  The IF team would like to thank Eli for his warm hospitability and answers. But not for those ‘special’ Caribbean cocktails he introduced us to.