Written by WelchAllyn at 10:42 21/8-2020
Last time we checked on WelchAllyn they were still celebrating their first big win at Budapest Meeting Point. Now one season later, we sit down with their manager and some prominent members of this cycling team to talk about their experiences, goals for next season and other juicy tidbits.
'We just arrived from the Sahara Desert,' Donald 'Donny' Ruiters tells us, 'disaster struck in the second stage when we arrived in the vicinity of Timbuktu, my wheel got bend and I sadly lost a lot of time. I knew at that moment a chance for a place on the podium had passed.' Freddy 'de Vettige' continues, 'The top teams were present during that race, I'm talking about Ludolfina, Gbr and UK Postal. We had a slight chance to beat them, but the road got us first. In the end we did get a sixth place in the final ranking. A good start to open our season, but sadly not the result we had worked for all season long.'
'The rest of season 53 was a mixed bag, Donald did great in the early parts of the season, but his legs did run out of steam towards the middle, where we mostly got top 10 places in a lot of cobblestone races. We hope to do better this season in that aspect.'
'A lot did change the past few months and weeks, a lot of our crew shifted around to new roles and a few retirements announced themselves.' Hallur 'the Viking' Sigtýrsson, together with Gerald Baker took a joint leave and now serve as trainers for the WelchAllyn family. 'Replacements are still in training, with a notable man from the Canary Islands, Pepillo Balboa, who will try to win us some victories on the hills and mountains the coming years.
Pepillo himself added, 'I'm still inexperienced and in training, but with the help of people like Francis Nilis and Xander Vercouteren I really hope I can bring victory to our team.' Freddy added they were looking to branch out to the Vlaanderen Physics center to aid Pepillo in his endeavours.
'We're trying to build an all European team, with a special focus on local Flemish talent and small nation players, as these nations themselves most of the time lack the means and expertise to build a team themselves.' In the past we had Hallur from the Faroe Islands, but we also attracted people from Monaco, Andorra and now also the Canary Islands. We'll be keeping on the outlook for more of these promising riders in the future.'
With the advent of a hill climbing team WelchAllyn hopes to branch out of their role of a sole cobble-sprint team and thus is aiming for new challenges in cups and tours.
'At the moment we're looking at the lower divisions for a certain cup, we're prospecting a lot in the Czech Republic to see how our chances will be in their cup. We might partake in the Edmonton Tour also, if we're able to keep a steady pace the coming weeks, but it isn't our main focus at this point.'
'We also want to upgrade a lot of our equipment and staff at this point,' Bernard Wolfs says, 'our old equipment brought us to where we are today, but we have to keep improving. These days, with our sponsorships, we will be able to get ourselves state of the art bikes and we hope to expand our staff tremendously.' Wolfs, the captain who headed the first team and gave the team their first wins added, 'It's probably my last season, I'm looking where I'm still able to aid the team, but I know my days as a captain are past me. I'm really thinking of being with my family and starting a shop, but for now, I'm still enjoying the ride.'
Surprised by this news Freddy 'de Vettige' asked us to conclude the interview, but he promised WelchAllyn would provide more information the coming weeks. For now, we wish them all luck for season 54.
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Comments
Thank you! Donald has been my goose with the golden eggs, but indeed, I'm always on the lookout for a high maxing cobbler. I had hoped Benedict Biesen would have been that person, but his potential proved to be lacking in the end.
Donald can bring you to the next level.
Success with your cb team, and hope you get once a talent with incr/vg cb and at least good flat and tq.
Dustdevil Donny & Pepillo the Parrot
Dustdevil Donny & Pepillo the Parrot
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