By Chris Gottwald, Team OAM Now Elite Men’s Cycling Team Captian
Ed Note: After a successful 2014 season, the Team OAM Now Elite Men’s Cycling Team is busy, in the off season, training for an incredible 2015! We asked Team Captain Chris Gottwald to give us an overview of the team and tell us a bit about what we can look forward to.
Returning Members
Christopher Gottwald
Daniel Yankus
Alex Vanias
Peter Ehmann
Cory Stange
New Teammates
Colin Snyder
For sure in 2014 our greatest accomplishment was winning the Michigan Point Series with a team that included three new riders (Cory Stange, Pete Ehman and Ryan Erxleben). We rode well all season as a team and that allowed us to capitalize on team work when we lacked all around fire power.
Colin Snyder, our newest addition brings some veteran experience and all around ability. He has the amazing ability to be a threat in any event (road, mountain and cyclocross) which gives us, as a team, tremendous potential. In his first year with us, Cory won the season overall with his amazing finishing speed, but admits his weakness in the past has been brute strength. Coming in to 2015, he will be coached by world class coach Mark Olson which certainly ensures even stronger all around abilities from him.
We all are on TEAM OAM Now because we want to be. As a team, we work on our individual (rider) strengths and put them together to get the best results possible when we race as a team. Even when we don’t win, we still turn our selves inside out to get the strongest rider of the day to the best finish possible.
Overall, for 2015, we will focus on winning the Michigan Point Series again, along with a greater focus on the individual races. American style road racing is criterium heavy and we will attempt to shift our focus to that style. Alex Vanias (Former Bissell Pro Rider) and Chris Gottwald (Current World Record holder) have world class aerobic capacity and plan to deliver at every opportunity. We can certainly count on Dan Yankus, Pete Ehman and Colin Snyder to turn in amazing performances as well.
We rode tremendously well together in 2014 and, with a year behind us, we have learned even more about our individual strengths and weaknesses. We will capitalize on that for sure. Individually, in 2015, Cory Stange will focus on the point series and winning as often as possible on the crit scene. Alex Vanias will focus on road and multi-sport, and Chris Gottwald will focus on a 1 hour Time Trial record late in the season.
We’ve set a few ambitious goals this season, but based on our past performance, I’m expecting us to deliver.
