Slovenian sprinter Aldo Ino Ilesic has inked a two-year deal with the Astellas Pro Cycling Team that will see him racing in the US through the end of 2017. After spending this season bouncing between Austrian Continental Team Vorarlberg and US-based elite team Alto Velo – Seasucker, he is looking forward to settling into his new home and continuing to bring his winning sprint to domestic criterium racing.
“Yes, a new team for me, again!,” Ilesic told Cyclingnews. “After the season I was sure that other teams would knock on my door. One of those teams was also Astellas. After more than a month of negotiating I finally pulled the trigger and signed a two-year contract."
Ilesic has become a prominent sprinter on the US domestic circuit over the past seven years. He left Continental team Perutnina Ptuj at the end of 2007 to join Team Type 1 (2009-2012) and UnitedHealthcare (2013 and 2014). Without a contract from UnitedHealthcare for 2015, Ilesic went back over to Europe where he raced for half the season for Team Vorarlberg. He had strong performances at Trofej Umag - Umag Trophy (1.2) and GP Izola (1.2), and was also second in the opening stage of the Tour de Taiwan.
ADVERTISEMENT
He ended that portion of his season at the Flèche du Sud (2.2) in May, a race he did not finish, and concluded that European-style road racing was no longer his forte.
“I have a pretty interesting season behind me, leaving UHC after two years and joining the Austrian Continental team Vorarlberg,” Ilesic said. “But five months into season I realized that the classical road races are not my sport anymore.”
Ilesic has built a career in sprinting in the US and wanted to return to make his mark on the domestic criterium racing scene. He joined Alto Velo-Seasucker, a team that gave him the opportunity to get to most out of the major criteriums from June through the end of September.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/1SfX0ZK
No comments:
Post a Comment