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'], 'filter': { 'nextExceptions': 'img, blockquote, div', 'nextContainsExceptions': 'img, blockquote'} }'>Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux isn’t the catchiest of names for a cycling team, but get used to saying it, because the squad is set to step up to the WorldTour in 2021.
After taking control of CCC Team’s WorldTour license this fall, the Belgian outfit is set to progress from rare appearances at grand tours and home-turf skirmishes in the classics to being a full-time fixture at the top of pro cycling for 2021.
But who is Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, and what can we expect from them in the new year?
The backstory
It may be a new name on the WorldTour, but the Wanty-Gobert franchise has been around since 2009.
The team started out as Continental-level Willems Verandas before spinning through various name and sponsor changes, finally settling on its longer-term identity of Wanty-Groupe Gobert in 2014. Two years later, Enrico Gasparotto (remember him!?) scored the team’s biggest win to date, outsprinting Michael Valgren to win the Amstel Gold Race.
Just as CCC Team was owned by Continuum Sports or EF Pro Cycling by Slipstream, Wanty-Gobert is a part of Want You Cycling, which also manages the Tormans cyclocross team.
After 10 years of seeing its team racing in the second tier of pro cycling, the Want You entity bought the WorldTour license from Continuum Sports this year, calling time on Jim Ochowicz’s long sponsor search as he sought to save his team from evaporation.
The buyout marked the realization of a long ambition, said team manager Jean-François Bourlart.
“With the co-founders of Want You Cycling, we built our project step-by-step with the ambition to one day move to the WorldTour,” said the Belgian veteran. “The moment had to be right, the structure had to be ready, and our partners eager to follow us. We are therefore very proud today to take over the project from Jim Ochowicz and Gavin Chilcott and present to the UCI the continuation of Continuum Sports in the WorldTour. “
Shortly after the purchase of the WorldTour license, grocery store chain Intermarché stepped in to add financial heft and its name to the title of the team for 2021 through 2023
The riders
Like many European teams, Wanty-Gobert has built its roster from home talent. In the early days, it was as Belgian as you can get, though has now spread its wings to pack a more Euro-centric squad for 2021, with “just” 10 Belgians in a 27-man squad.
Rather than buying up the dozens of riders on the 2020 CCC Team roster when it acquired the license to race at the top, Wanty stayed true to its current crop of racers, signing just three names from the ashes of its now-defunct predecessor.
Alongside the addition of Jan Hirt, Georg Zimmerman, and Jonas Koch from CCC Team, Wanty-Gobert has also recently bolstered its lineup with South African GC guy Louis Meintjes and former Giro and Vuelta stage winner, the Estonian Rein Taaramäe.
Meintjes, twice in the top-10 at the Tour de France, will likely lead the charge at grand tours for Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, and stands as the squad’s one valid option for three-week success. Hirt will support Meintjes in the stage races with his solid GC and climbing chops.
Away from the mountains, the team is brimming with wily classics and breakaway riders, and while none of them are star names, they’re all capable of being in the mix.
The staffers
Wanty-Gobert may pack a largely unknown roster, but it will have a fleet of some of the most experienced staffers calling the shots in 2021.
Jim Ochowicz has been kept aboard after being bought out from ownership, and will bring decades of experience from managing 7-Eleven, BMC Racing, and CCC Team. The American will be joining the squad’s existing head honcho Bourlart, who has sat at the top of Wanty for over a decade.
Valerio Piva follows Ochowicz in joining from CCC Team and boasts a decade of experience as a WorldTour director, while Aike Visbeek joins as performance manager having formerly worked with Sunweb and helped guide Tom Dumoulin to Giro d’Italia glory.
The bikes
Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux will be riding Cube bikes in 2021, having been aboard the German-made machines since 2015. It will be the first time the brand has been a part of the WorldTour.
What to expect?
More of the same.
As a Belgian squad backed by a chain of 78 Belgian stores, classics will likely be the focus, and is arguably where the team has its strengths, with the likes of Aimé de Gendt and Danny van Poppel capable of elbowing their way into the top-10 at major one-day races.
Similarly, while Meintjes provides a GC option, the squad is unlikely to pivot too heavily from the stage-hunting strategy it employed in its three Tours de France to date. Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux jerseys will likely be filling screens in the long lonely breakaways of 2021 as it fights to put its new sponsors in the spotlight and make a name for itself in its debut season.
Meintjes has stated his ambition to return to his former grand tour best in 2021, so expect to see the team ditching the breakaways in one of the three grand tours as it mounts an all-in classification with the South African stalwart.
in Business · 08-01-2021 01:00:00 · 0 CommentsIntermarché Lagos works daily to keep up with the changing habits of citizens and recognises the urgent need to find more environmentally responsible alternatives, while also being committed to a strong environmental action plan as a company.
The “future” has been awatchword globally of late and Intermarché Lagos understands the importance of the concept of looking ahead. The company prides itself on understanding the need to adapt to the changing times and lifestyle trends of customers while also recognising the importance of this environmental sustainability “call to action”.
With a commercial area of 2,500m2, Intermarché Lagos offers a huge space filled with varied products and ecological alternatives. In practically every area of the supermarket you will find a vegetarian or vegan alternative, fair trade products and predominantly the local or regional version of products.
An example of this is the Biological Market of fruit and vegetables whose volume is 80 percent supplied by “Quinta das Seis Marias”, located in Sargaçal, in Lagos, a family business run by Mrs. Fátima Torres. Delicious vegetables and fruits, free of pesticides, synthetic chemical fertilisers and genetically modified organisms are harvested and placed almost immediately on the shelves of the supermarket. This organic market is certified by Certiplanet, which guarantees that the sale of these products is safe and transparent. Regarding this, management says that “we are aware that people’s habits are changing and that their preference is based more now on the products that best preserves their health. Then, alongside this commitment, we insist that this production be local, a reflection of who is from our land. ”
In sections such as thewine cellar, the butcher, the bakery or the charcuterie there are also biological options, and in most cases you will still find the vegan version of Portuguese and / or foreign origin.
Intermarché Lagos is very proud of its specialist products which feature everything from Companhia Portugueza do Chá; to the 100 percent natural orange juice made with the sweet oranges of Silves; to the Viva Bem zone, which brings together more than 1,000 different healthy food products.
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The pizzas and sushi foundin the supermarket in Lagos are two of the most acclaimed products made in store. By producing these foods directly in store “it allows us not only to make local and traditional recipes from other countries but also to have the food made live, on the spot and fully customisable according to the client’s request and the client can watch the whole process in full”, said the management team.
Customers are also able to create their own nut butters choosing from almond, peanut and hazelnut and cocoa butter – all products being 100 percent natural and including healthy fats.
But it is not only in the food aisles that special care has been taken to tailor products, environmentally friendly cleaning and hygiene products can also be found in the supermarket. According to the commercial director “Here, practically everything has its most natural and environmentally friendly alternative version”.
Alongside innovation in terms of products and ranges, the need arose to present an alternative in terms of packaging, especially in traditional sections. It was in this sense that at the beginning of December, Intermarché Lagos was a pioneer in yet another measure of sustainability within the group of ‘Os Mosqueteiros’. The project aims to reduce single-use plastics, and the customer can bring their containers to collect products or meals from certain sections of the store. This option is exclusive to the ready-to-eat, bakery, charcuterie, butcher and fishmonger sections. Naturally, this opportunity means that the containers must meet certain specifications: they must have the logo that indicates that the container is suitable for contact with food; they must be clean, dry, odourless and in good condition and must not have any type of labelling (list of ingredients, expiration dates). They must also close properly. After checking these requirements, the employee subtracts the weight of the customer’s packaging and weighs only the product in the box.
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“All of these more conscious and environmentally friendly options send a positive and transparent message regarding the way companies work and it is very important to us when it comes to selling the product to the customer. This authenticity is decisive for us also because we have every interest in showing products that reflect the future”, says the management, stressing that “some of these changes in terms of services are even suggested and driven by our customers and this feedback is essential for us”.
One of the most successful and recentlyexplored services in the supermarket is the “Too Good To Go” mobile application that has helped Intermarché Lagos cope with food waste. Through the Magic Boxes, which are reserved through the application, the customer takes home food that was not sold during the day but is in perfect condition for consumption. As it is not possible to predict the daily surplus of the supermarket, the content of the Magic Boxes is always surprising and a customer only pays € 3.99, when the original price of each box would be €12.
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Outside the food field, energy efficiencyhas also been a target of great concern, and concern on the part of the owners. In 2017, 882 photovoltaic solar panels had already been installed on the roof of the hypermarket and this year it was the turn of the supermarket in Aljezur, which had 332 installed. This action reinforces the stores’ commitment to environmental sustainability and the efficiency and use of renewable energy sources. The benefits are lower electricity bills and reduced carbon emissions and Intermarché Lagos even has a charging station for electric cars that feeds directly from this system.
Still within this theme, the stores that are part of this group (Lagos, Alvor and Aljezur) are available on the Waste App to promote the waste collection points they have available, so that the customer knows that they can recycle waste from lightbulbs, bottle caps, ink cartridges, deliveringclothes to needy families, among others. Also at Intersaúde, Intermarché de Lagos’ health and well-being space, it is possible to find a Valormed collection point, which receives end-of-life medicine boxes for responsible recycling.
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For 2021, the management of the three stores has a broad and well-defined vision about the projects and news that it wants to implement. They ensure that many new and challenging things lie ahead and maintain the desire to remain at the forefront when it comes to innovation and the diversity of the offer to the customer. They also add the reflection - “We find interesting, funny and nostalgic the idea that the future is, more than ever, a way of going back to what our parents and grandparents did. It is not difficult to think of sustainability in this way, it is just to step back and adapt to modern times. Our quality of life, over the years, will require us to make these transitions. More than changing, we want to evolve with those who visit us. ”