Former cyclocross U23 vice world champion Christoph Pfingsten is switching next season to the only German pro cycling team. The 26-year-old German is coming from the Dutch De Rijke team, in which he rode for the last four years, and will be reinforcing the classic contingent in his new team. The two young German sprinters Ralf Matzka (25) and Michael Schwarzmann (23) have extended their contracts with the team around its new main sponsor BORA. All three riders have a one-year contract.

  

"After he started to concentrate more on road racing, Christoph scored quite some results in smaller races, such as his win in the prologue to the Flèche du Sud this year. The key factor for us is primarily his versatility. With his skills and his power Christoph can race in both our classics program and in shorter stage races," says Team Manager Ralph Denk, commenting on the transfer.

"Michael and Ralf have contributed this season to the fact that we have improved well in sprints. Both played a role in leading-out the sprints for our captains. They also had the opportunity in some of the sprints to put their own speed to the test. With fourth place in the Münsterland Giro and eighth place in the Brussels Cycling Classic, Ralf has recently demonstrated this potential and we intend to build on it in future," says Denk, talking about the contract extensions.

So for the moment the team has completed its roster planning for the coming season. With eleven of twenty riders, the pros from the german speaking area form by far the largest contingent in the team in 2015. Ralph Denk: "Our plan for 2015 is to maintain this season's squad strength. With a squad of 20 riders, we have now achieved this. But the same thing applies as every year: The rider market will still be in flux for the next eight weeks and should any exciting options arise for us we are open to consider them."

 

Squad 2015 (Status Oktober 9th, 2014)
Shane Archbold (25, NZL), Jan Barta (29, CZE), Phil Bauhaus (20, GER), Cesare Benedetti (27, ITA), Sam Bennett (23, IRL), Emanuel Buchmann (21, GER), Zak Dempster (26, AUS), Bartosz Huzarski (33, POL), Patrick Konrad (22, AUT), Ralf Matzka (25, GER), Jose Mendes (29, POR), Dominik Nerz (25, GER), Christoph Pfingsten (26, GER), Cristiano Salerno (29, ITA), Andreas Schillinger (31, GER), Daniel Schorn (25, AUT), Michael Schwarzmann (23, GER), Björn Thurau (26, GER), Scott Thwaites (24, GBR), Paul Voss (28, GER)