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Three years ago, I took on the junior cycling team that I’d grown up with to say thank you and to try to give a chance to other kids coming through. We rebranded it the Peter Sagan Academy to give it a bit of weight, and I invested some money in it. With my name on the academy, it was easier for them to bring in some other sponsors, too. The national federation was still expecting parents to pay for their kids to race or drive their kids across Europe themselves. These days, thanks to crucial sponsorship from Robert Spinazzè, CEO of the Spinazzè Group (they make the concrete poles and structures used to protect orchards and vineyards), we’re able to run a program to take boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 18 to the same races that the German, Italian, and Polish national structures are targeting. Robert is passionate about the sport, and his involvement is essential as we continue our quest for future champions. Sportful, the clothing manufacturer, has joined us to supply all the clothing for the academy and the team, and without their support, our ambitions would be impeded. We’ve added an Under-23 layer now, too, so that we can continue their development further and keep the teams together. The ultimate aim is to have many more Slovakian riders in the professional peloton and maybe one day a ProTour team based in Slovakia. We are now supporting 85 riders at the academy, and I believe it will stand on its own soon when the top teams start benefiting from the talent it is beginning to supply. There is no pressing need for the big cycling teams to invest in youth in the same way that football clubs across Europe do. Those are short-lived commercial enterprises with short-term goals. A grassroots program like this could make a real difference. Any number of factors can take promising kids away from the game: the need to earn money or study for better-paying careers, or other sports with better investment creaming off the talent.