| About the Marco Polo Cycling Team |
|
The Marco Polo Cycling Team is the first professional cycling team from Ethiopia. The team is an international team with the best Ethiopian riders integrated between experienced western riders. Management is from Europe, but the sportive target is the development of cycling talent from non-traditional cycling countries, with the focus on Ethiopia. Therefore the program of the team is mainly in Europe, where Ethiopian riders can gain a lot of experience in the Pro and Pro-Am races Experienced western riders include Dutch Léon van Bon (two Tour de France stage victories; medals at World's and Olympics), Matthé Pronk (big wins in Belgium and European Champion, world record holder on the track) and Belgium Jan Kuyckx (2nd at World Tour classic Paris-Tours). The Marco Polo Cycling Team is an unconventional and international team, in a traditional and Europe-oriented cycling scene. The team is named after Marco Polo, who brought the best of Asia and China to the outside world. Which is what the team is aiming to do in cycling - untill 2011 with China and Asian, from 2012 with Ethiopia. The team did cooperate with reputed companies like Trek bicycles (the bike brand that Lance Armstrong won 7 Tour de Frances on), Discovery Channel, AMD, Cervélo, Herbalife and GE Energy. In 2011 the first Ethiopian riders made their way into the Marco Polo Cycling Team. Estifanos Gebresilassie and Solomon Shiferaw convinced the team of the enormous athletic potential of Ethiopian cycling. This led to a further cooperation with the Ethiopian Cycling Federation and a registration of the team in Ethiopia in 2012. Intentions of team and ECF are to cooperate with eachother, at least until the Olympic Games of 2016. Other impressive performances included podium finishes in Pro races by Marc Ryan; and a 6th place in the World Championships Time Trial U23 by Jason Christie. The team has raced all over the world and won many stage races, stages and classifications in international tours, over the past years. For example: overall winner of the Tour du Maroc, Qinghai-Tibet (Qingzhang Plateau race), Tour du Faso (2 times), Tour de Beijing, Tour de Sri Lanka, Tour d’Indonesia, Tour de Korea, Tour de Siam and Tour of Thailand. Several national Champions and the Champions of Asia as well as Oceania were part of the team. Marco Polo Cycling and the Chinese Cycling Association cooperated for 7 years, based on an agreement that aims for preparation of the best Chinese riders towards the Beijing Olympics 2008 - with the highlights of qualifying China for the Olympic road race by Fuyu Li. Hopefully we can do the same with Ethiopia!
Remarkable rider on the team: - Matthé Pronk, big wins in Belgium, several times Dutch Champion, European Champion and world record holder on the track - Jan Kuyckx, 2nd at World Tour classic Paris-Tours For more information: www.marcopolocyclingteam.com History:
The Marco Polo Cycling Club was founded in 2000 and named after the famous traveller, Marco Polo. The mission and goals of the club were, and still are, to provide talented cyclists from non-traditional cycling countries -often not the richest countries in the world- an opportunity to develop into world-class professionals.
Here you find two background stories on the first years and the recent time of the Marco Polo Cycling Team: Best results in the past from Marco Polo Cycling Team:Marco Polo Cycling TeamOverall winner "Tour du Maroc" Overall winner "Qinghai-Tibet" (China) Overall winner "Pahang Cycle Challenge" (Malaysia) Overall winner "Tour du Faso" (Burkina Faso, Africa) 2 times Overall winner "Tour de Beijing" (China) Overall winner "Tour de Korea" Overall winner "Tour de Sri Lanka" Overall winner "Dji Sam Soe Tour d'Indonesia" Overall winner "Tour of Siam" (Thailand) Overall winner "Tour de Thailand" 1st Team GC - Tour of Siam (Thailand) 2nd GC Tour of Qinghai Lake (China) 2nd GC Tour of Japan 3rd individual GC Tour of Siam (Thailand) 3rd GC Tour de Hokkaido (Japan) 3rd GC Tour de Korea 3rd GC Tour of East Java (Indonesia) 5th GC Tour of Qatar Marco Polo Cycling Team riders:
Leon van Bon (The Netherlands, former Olympics and World Championships medalist, winner of two Tour de France stages)
Daniel Abraham (Eritrea)
Solomon Bitew Shiferaw (Ethiopia) Team program:
March:
April
May
June
July
Oktober |