Written by DeltaSLB at 13:09 26/6-2024
Interview by journalist António Moreira for Cycling News
Gurudo, how do you describe DeltaSLB history?
- Well, we are a team that started focus on climbing then switched to sprinting but never reached a decent division with that. It was a period of learning basically… After that Arménio Belém was discovered and sent to our local academy, and we risked it all for him, we decided to switch again and create a cobbles team around a rider that at that point we didn’t even know if he was gone be a superstar. Nowadays, Arménio is and has been the center of the team for like 10 seasons. We are also building an hills and punchy squad.
Whats next after Arménio Belém retires?
- As I said we are building a Hilly squad, and we hope to achieve the same results we get from the cobbles races. If we achieved that success with both parts of the team, I think we can maybe dream of going to division 2 one day.
Without Arménio we will have to adapt, hopefully fast, I think we have riders to get results in those races without him still, for example, Gaspar Cortês… Is a young talent with an impressive sprint compared to Arménio, of course he lacks a bit of technique riding the cobbles, but I am pretty sure he will get some nice results for the team. It’s nice to find a talent like him in a moment like this…
Tell me more about the prospects for the hilly races and why did you bet on this type of riders.
- I mean it was a bit like when we started the cobbles squad, we had a local talent, Kenney Mertens, that its not in the team anymore… We thought, “ok we need to get results from other type of races and this young guy is our best chance”. Financially it was hard, so we decided to let him go, but yeah basically all started with him.
When Kenney left, we already had Jeremy Orange in the team, and we decided to go for him and use the rest of the money to build the squad. You don’t win races with only a good rider. Now I would say we don’t have a main leader in the hilly races like Arménio is, but we have a good team all around that as I said before we want to continue develop.
How do you intend to solidify DeltaSLB as a team in OCM?
- In terms of results and races I think I have already said where we will continue to focus. Strong team, strong riders and I am pretty sure the results will happen. We think also its time to invest in quality equipment, and maybe that’s an important step to solidify the team.
At the end o the day OCM is really difficult to predict, you never know when a superstar will come to you… Or maybe to your rivals, and you must adapt and fight with the riders you have. It’s hard.
We don’t target specific races, we dream of a division 2 spot, and we work for it of course. But we are happy with the progress of the team, and we like the place we are at right now.
Day 65, Season 69
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Comments
Dont be too negative, @Peter Marcelo. Gurudo only needs world wide famous super glue to stay in D2.
Good luck getting to division 2! Though I warn you - getting there is one thing, staying for more than a few days is quite another!
I hope you reach that division two spot.This was a very nice interview btw
Thank you Hugo and Dustin!!
At the moment I'm going for both, but pointing more to hill sprint with Jeremy Orange. The only problem is he has 0 FR...
When there's a race that suits the climber Vicent Sedlak we go for it.
nice interview
what shall be your focus, hill sprint, hill climb or both?
also keep in mind that there are several successfull breakaway's
on the other hand, most teams go for sprint or climb
good luck
Nice read, neat interview!
I'm sure you will reach Division 2 ^-^
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