BMC Racing signs American Rosskopf, two others for 2015

American Joey Rosskopf and two others — newly crowned under-23 world time trial champion Campbell Flakemore of Australia and Italian Manuel Senni — have inked contracts with BMC Racing.

The 25-year-old Rosskopf arrives at BMC after a strong season that included a duel with Cadel Evans in the queen stage at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. After putting himself in the breakaway of stage 6, Rosskopf stayed at the front of the bike race and passed Evans in the final kilometer before finishing second to the Australian.

Rosskopf, who rode for Hincapie Sportswear Development this season, also won silver medals in both the road race and the time trial at the Pan-American Championships in May. In April, Rosskopf won a stage and the overall title at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

“There will certainly be more pressure to perform next year,” Rosskopf said in a press release. “I am excited about the chance to get better and prove myself. I want to take advantage of all the support the BMC Racing Team offers to better myself as a rider. I also want to be there where they need me most. So I hope to play a productive role on the team.”

Said BMC President/General Manager Jim Ochowicz: “He really suits our strategy of allowing new riders to come on board and achieve goals similar to the ones we have.”

The 22-year-old Flakemore, who competed for Avanti Racing Team this year, won the U23 time trial race at the UCI Road Worlds in Ponferrada, Spain. He is the fourth Australian in the past six years to win the event.

“I knew it would be close,” Flakemore said of his TT win, which was decided by .48 seconds over Ireland’s Ryan Mullen. “I would have been satisfied with the podium after being fourth last year, but winning it was pretty cool.”

On competing with his new BMC teammates next season, Flakemore said, “I think I can learn a lot from those guys. My priority for next year is to get experience and learn how it all works in a WorldTour team. I want to learn as much as possible.”

As for Senni, the 22-year-old is a strong climber and has finished on several podiums this season.

“Manuel has demonstrated some unique climbing abilities and over the next few years, we hope to further develop him in that aspect,” Ochowicz said.

Said Senni, who rode for Team Colpack this year: “It is one of the best teams in the world, so it is a very big opportunity for me. I want to thank Jim Ochowicz and the BMC Racing Team managers who believe in me. I hope to repay them with my performance. The first year I will have to adapt to the professional level, of course. But I hope to achieve what the sport directors tell me and I hope I can get some results.”