A friend and (maybe) me may have a chance to go be a stagaire for a conti team for a couple of months. Don't know if he'll take it up.

Any experiences/thoughts?

Not me, but a couple of friends have. It was 'not good.' They worked like dogs in awful accommodation for crap money. Almost no money in fact. This was a few years ago though, so maybe it's a bit more professional now. Also very heavily team/base dependent. Belgium is supposed to be especially evil. If the base is Spain or Italy, less so.

If he is seriously good (as in: head and shoulders better than people he races against), and wants to go pro then it has to be done. If he isn't then it could be the wrong thing to do. If he doesn't want to go pro, then it's definitely the wrong thing to do...

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My EPS: http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=72682