In 2015 rider agents Eelco Berkhout and Martijn Berkhout broke out from being just rider agents and set up their own U23 development squad under the name of the SEG Racing Academy. In just twelve months they’ve seen several of their talent pool move up to the WorldTour ranks. The team are taking that momentum with them into 2016 with several new signings and a race calendar that will take in a number of U23 events. In this interview Martijn Berkhout talks to Cyclingnews about this season, why the team was set up, and how they hope to improve the sport.
Cyclingnews: The 2015 season was the team’s debut year in completion. How would you assess the campaign?
Martijn Berkhout: We want to be the number one development program in the world so we aim high. Not only on the performance side but also in the set-up of the team. We are happy with our achievements in this first season from a development perspective but we have seen a lot of things we want to improve and do better. Next to the development of the riders we are proud of the organization itself. We were able to bring a group of people together with a lot of specific qualities. We invest a lot in our staff and that pays off.
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It was the first year for the Academy and all the people involved. Eelco and me started with this idea during the 2012/2013 winter, when professional cycling was reaching it’s absolutely low. We felt that we had to make our own contribution to the new era in cycling. And now in 2015 we play our part on the development side with our Academy Program in which we make sure talents can develop in a clean and safe environment.
CN: You have started to see riders move up from your team to the WorldTour. How pleasing was this for you and how many riders do you think can follow in 2016?
MB: The team is built on two key factors: Talent development and product development, which means we need to develop talent for the next level. Not only riders but also coaches, trainers and staff. That’s the goal. We develop for the whole professional cycling market. Of course it’s a big compliment for our performance staff that Team Sky’s first signing, Alex Peters, for 2016 came from the SEG Racing Academy. It say’s something about our position in the market and the work which is done day-by-day at the academy. Alex had maybe ten options but there was no doubt Team Sky was the right one. But it’s a example of our set-up, we develop talent and create options for our riders and for teams. U23 European Champion time trail Steven Lammertink signed a deal with Lotto-Jumbo during the summer and we had two other riders up the road as stagaires with WorldTour Teams. Koen Bouwman with Lotto-Jumbo and Jasper Bovenhuis with Cannondale-Garmin. From who Koen Bouwman earned a deal with Lotto-Jumbo for next year.
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