Contador-backed Polartec-Kometa team about more than wins

The mission for the new Polartec-Kometa Continental team, backed by the Alberto Contador Foundation and managed by Ivan Basso, goes beyond simply trying to put notches in the win column.

Contador, Basso and Polartec CEO Gary Smith said recently at a training camp in Arizona that developing well-prepared professional riders and helping them grow as people are the main goals next year during the inaugural season.

The Alberto Contador Foundation initially entered competitive cycling in 2013 with the junior team and then added a U23 team and the Éboli Cycling School in Pinto the next year.

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Specialized sponsored the U23 team in the first two years before RH+ and Polartec signed on as title sponsors in 2016. Polartec took over as the lone title sponsor of the U23 team this year and signed up with Kometa as title sponsors of the Continental team for three years, starting in 2018.

"I think last year was a very good year for us," Contador said when asked to assess his foundation’s teams over the past two years. "I am very happy for sure, and now we have riders who can maybe win more races, but the object of the team is not to win 30 races a year. It is to make good professionals. For us it’s important to pass on a good work ethic for when they pass on to professional."

Basso agreed.

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