News: Southam & Scully to Cannondale Drapac

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Former British pro and now a DS Tom Southam and Kiwi pro and crowd favourite Tom Scully are signed by Cannondale-Drapac

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News: Southam & Scully to Cannondale Drapac

The Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team continues to round out its roster for 2017 onward, and in doing so welcomes three new riders and three managers, all from the Drapac Professional Cycling team.

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Tom Scully’s lone win at Sheffield for Madison Genesis was a class ride

Riders Tom Scully (former Raleigh GAC & Madison Genesis rider), Brendan Canty, and Will Clarke will ride for the squad for 2017. Britain’s Tom Southam will serve as a director sportif; Jonathan Breekveldt will head up management at the team’s European headquarters, and Keith Flory will be the team’s performance director.

“Teams are deciding what they’re going to try and go for before the upcoming season at this time of year. We’re no different. We’ve added some bigger guys for the classics like Sep and Taylor,” said Jonathan Vaughters, team manager. “And now with the Drapac guys coming in, we’re going after both depth and development.

“Scully and Canty are greener riders we hope to bring along. Clarke has raced at the highest level before and has won some races with the Drapac team already. They should all fit into what we do nicely. The management coming over to the team will help us in myriad areas: on the road, in coaching and training, and in operations.”

Southam said Clarke was Drapac Professional Cycling Team’s most prolific winner behind Wouter Wippert, who also rides for Cannondale-Drapac. “Will’s a popular rider here in Australia, but I don’t think he’d really clicked the first time round in Europe,” Southam said.

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Scully, in yellow at the Tour Series for Raleigh GAC

“Guys don’t often get second chances, which I think can be a mistake, as you don’t make the same choices when you are 30 as you would when you’re 20. He’s been our most prolific winner – apart from Wippi – in the years he’s been with us, and I think that the maturity that he has developed physically and mentally will be able to be put to good use in the coming seasons.”

Meanwhile, a prolific winner in Britain when he raced here, Tom Scully from New Zealand also gets a chance at Cannondale-Drapac. The 26-year-old Kiwi will make a second appearance with a Vaughters-affiliated team. He rode as a stagiaire for Garmin-Sharp in 2012, and the Chipotle-First Solar Development Team in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

“I’m most looking forward to racing bikes alongside and against the best bike riders in the world, all around the world,” Scully said. “I’m also looking forward to learning what I can from staff and riders, as most of them will have been there and done it all before at the WorldTour level.”

“Personally, my goals will align 100 percent with whatever the team’s goals may be on any particular day,” he added. “It’s early days yet, but I would like to start things off with some strong performances at the New Zealand Nationals in January and build from there.”

Scully dreams of the monuments. “I like the epics — 2016 Roubaix for example, that was a real dogfight amongst the strong men of world cycling. That is what dreams are made of,” he said.

Southam, on Scully: “Tom was a guy that we’d been chasing to come to Drapac for a number of years. His results were excellent at U23 level and he had pedigree on the track. When he came to the team this year and I saw the way that he worked and how well he could apply himself to the roles that I gave him in races, I was really impressed. I like working with Kiwis a lot, they are no nonsense hard workers who aren’t there to mess around. He has the potential to develop in to a strong all round rider and play a number of key roles within the team on the road.”

Tom Southam
Incoming sport director, Tom Southam, is a former professional racer from the United Kingdom. The 35-year-old represented Great Britain at five world championships and rode for Amore e Vita, Barloworld and Rapha-Condor, among other teams.

“Tom has all the qualities to be a great leader. He has a natural knack for understanding people and this, together with his keen sense of intuition, mean that any group will be inspired and galvanized by his input,” said Cannondale-Drapac head sport director Charly Wegelius who raced with Tom.

“Not only does Tom understand strategy, but he has the skill to communicate the message in any situation, and this is key for a DS.”

Southam: “The two years that I spent with Drapac as head sports director were extremely insightful, as it was the first time that I had the responsibilities that I’ve had here, and I’m proud of what was achieved in a short space of time. I’ve obviously worked with the three Drapac guys closely over this year, as well as Wouter (Wippert) in 2015, and Hugh Carthy before he went to Caja Rural. As such I’m especially pleased to have the opportunity to work in a new environment that I believe can get the best out of these guys.”

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