Rohan Dennis set to sign new cycling contract with BMC Racing

ROHAN Dennis is poised to sign a contract extension with BMC Racing Team which is committed to helping him reach his long-term objective of becoming a Grand Tour contender.

**CORRECTING CAPTION OF IMAGE ID: 20160121001220652199** Australian rider Rohan Dennis (left) of team BMC, followed by overall leader Jay McCarthy (right) of team Tinkoff, crosses the finish line of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. (AAP Image/Dan Peled) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

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ROHAN Dennis is poised to sign a contract extension with BMC Racing Team which is committed to helping him reach his long-term objective of becoming a Grand Tour contender.

The team’s general manager Jim Ochowicz said Friday that an agreement was likely to be reached “sooner than later” but right now the focus was on trying to win back-to-back Tour Down Under titles which will be decided on Old Willunga Hill Saturday.

Hot on the heels of confirming that BMC Switzerland would continue as the team’s title sponsor beyond this season and American Tejay van Garderen had re-signed for 2017, Dennis is set to follow suit.

He wants to start the transformation from time trial specialist and one-week stage racer to Grand Tour rider after the Rio Olympics in August and both he and the team agree the best place to do that is with BMC.

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“We’re looking with a much bigger canvas than any one particular race,” Ochowicz told News Corp.

“With Rohan it’s more about the future as much as it is about the present.

“We’re still working on goal setting and we’re going down the road with him and him with us.

“Currently we’re right in the midst of the Santos Tour Down Under (but) when you take into consideration the starting point 18 months ago with us, it’s been a great run for him and a great set of results for our team.

“We can look back and say ‘wow we did some great things together’ but we still have a lot more to accomplish.”

Dennis, 25, joined BMC in August, 2014, and since then has won a stage of the Tour de France, back-to-back team time trial world championships, last year’s Tour Down Under and USA Pro Cycling Challenge and earlier this month won his first national time trial title.

Dennis relaxes in the team's van at the start of Stage 3.

“Kicking off the 2016 season with the Australian time trial championship and with him in (third) place at this race (TDU) and looking forward to the rest of the season, we’re pretty excited,” Ochowicz said.

“His first test to be a team leader was last year in the Tour of Colorado where he won the race and he had to do all the normal things that a team leader has to do.

“Similar to what Cadel had to do at the Tour de France, you go through these steps as the leader of a group and manage the team on the road while you’re racing, so that’s exciting for a rider like Rohan to do.

“Being here at this race, he’s had a couple of times where he’s been able to take leadership of the team and done a great job, and we expect to see more of that this season beyond this race.

“We have already announced that we’ve extended our sponsorship with the team beyond this year so having done that, that’s the first step, and the second step is to discuss with the athletes what their plans are.”

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Originally published as Rohan Dennis set to sign new cycling contract with BMC Racing