Team captain Steffen Thum is upgrading his squad: the two South Americans Dan Noyola and Ricky Morales as well as the German Nils Riecker will wear the Racingteam jersey in the future.
The Mountainbike Racingteam is becoming more international: With Dan Noyola (Mexico) and Ricky Morales (Puerto Rico), Steffen Thum has signed two South Americans who will both compete in the UCI World Cup. “We want to get Dan there so that he can compete for the podium. And Ricky can win World Cup races,” says the team captain. The third newcomer is a German: Nils Riecker. Steffen Thum primarily wants to advance his team in terms of sport. However, the team boss is careful that everything else fits. Dan Noyola is one who is way ahead of his teammates when it comes to public relations. The Mexican has almost 300,000 subscribers on Instagram. “Dan is very present, he knows how to deal with the media. This is of great relevance for our team, and the others can learn from it,” says Thum, making it clear: "But Dan isn't our model." Instead, the 29-year-old should be among the front racers in the World Cup. "Dan hasn't had much professional sport experience so far, but we want to make him strong enough over the next two years to be able to compete for the podium." Noyola will compete in both cross- country and sprints.
Ricky Morales is already one step further. According to Thum, the 27-year-old is capable of winning sprint World Cup races. "Ricky has brutal power," says Thum. "Ricky is able to ride 1000 meters super-fast." This makes him different in type to his teammate Simon Gegenheimer. The reigning world champion benefits from his speed. Thum says Morales "needs to learn tactically from Simon". If this succeeds, the two would complement each other perfectly. But the rider from South America can do more than sprint. The 27-year- old is also scheduled for stage races. Thum: "I can imagine that he rides the Transalp at my side.“
The third newcomer comes from Germany. More precisely: from Koblenz. "Nils Riecker is technically strong, but he still has to improve his physical condition," says the team boss about the 27-year-old. Riecker should be used mainly in cross-country, but also in sprints. And: At the "Costa Blanca Bike Race" in Spain he already made his first appearance for the Mountainbike Racingteam - alongside Marion Fromberger and Simon Gegenheimer. "Nils is also a training partner of Simon in the future, so as world champion he had a lot of say in the signing." The team boss not only praises the rider Riecker, but also the person: "Nils is a real role model, and his type is an excellent fit for us." Things are going differently for the newcomers: While Nils Riecker travels to the training camp in Finale Ligure in Italy together with his new teammates Gegenheimer, Fromberger and Rob Vanden Haesevelde, Dan Noyola and Ricky Morales start at the “Pan-American Games”, the ones there Continental Championships. "For all riders, these are intensive units in preparation for the new UCI World Cup season," says Steffen Thum.
