The Cycling News Podcast

Analysing the 2019 transfer market with teams and agents

08.08.2019 - By cyclingnews.comPlay

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In this week's episode of the Cyclingnews podcast - brought to you in association with Sportful, Pinarello and Floyd's of Leadville - we analyse the transfer market and we have three special guests, with Matt White from Mitchelton-Scott joined by rider agents Martijn Berkhout from SEG and Joao Correira from Corso.

First up, we have some exciting news for our readers. Our lovely friends at Sportful have come up with a 20% discount on all products at sportful.com. All you have to do is head to their website and use the code: cyclingnews20. This deal is in place throughout all of August.

Sticking with Sportful. We have two signed Bahrain-Merida jerseys from Vincenzo Nibali to give away. All you have to do to win is go to our iTunes page and give us a review. We'll pick the two lucky winners later this month. Finally, on jerseys, our signed jersey from EF Education First is going to David Churchill who subscribed to us from our Podbean Platform. David, if you're listening, drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll post out that signed jersey and shorts as soon as we can.

But let's jump right in. The Tour is over and August 1 means one thing – the start of the transfer window. We're going to start with our interview with Matt White from Mitchelton-Scott. They've seen Matteo Trentin leave for pastures new but White has assembled one of the best teams in the WorldTour circuit. In this interview, we talk about working to a budget, making sure you sign riders who fit your team's culture and the balance between short term wins and long term development.

Our next guest is Martijn Berkhout from SEG. They're one of the biggest agencies in the world and work with the likes of Dan Martin and Wout Poels, both of whom are out of contract at the end of the season. Berkhout talks about 'creating options' for his athletes and how the transfer market has changed in recent years. The Dutchman also pinpoints the main influences and elements that have shaped the market.

Our final interviewee in this week's podcast Joao Correira. You may remember him from his Cervelo TestTeam days but now he runs the Corso agency alongside Ken Somner. They work with Laurens ten Dam but also a huge raft of young talent – from Tao Geoghegan Hart to Mads Pedersen and Michael Valgren. Correira also works with promising non-European riders and he talks about how he balances their hopes and dream with the reality of WorldTour cycling and the shifts in the market as more and more young athletes turn pro at a young age.

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