Managed the top 5 in Strade and somehow did very well in Eritrea also


Our young cobbler animated the race quite well, so it was as awesome as it could've been

The first two stages were quiet for Cedevita as they focused on the mountainous stage 3, doing work in chasing the breakaway. With that they could set up an attack for team leader Jose Alarcon, who launched his first attack early on the long final climb. Along with other attempts an elite group of 9 riders were left. Alarcon attacked again with 6 km to go, dropping a few more rivals in the process. In the end Alarcon managed to hold on for a 3rd place stage finish.




Stage 4 was meant to be a dangerous stage for Alarcon. It was a hard ridden stage with a strong breakaway and attacks on the final climb. But the Venezuelen even attacked himself on the final descent and led a group of 4 riders towards the finish. Doing the bulk of the work while trying to gain time he ended up finishing 4th from the 4 riders. Staying 3rd in GC. The final stage didn't prove as challenging as expected with Alarcon handling the shorter hills well. He finished 7th on the stage and confirmed his GC podium. A very satisfying debut.

Goal	Outcome	Rider	Result
Top 5 GC	Success	Jose Alarcon	3rd
Top 3 Stage	Success	Jose Alarcon	3rd (Stage 3)

Race score: 8/10

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Goal	Outcome	Rider
Breakaway appearance	Success	Ivan Siric

Race score: N/A

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Come on, Siric deserved that 10/10 Always neat to see a young guy throwing hat in the ring in such a race. And cool to see a big signing like Alarcon pay off at the first opportunity.

Hehe, I've made a point to not give a score in races where I expect to get close to zero points. I was very happy to see Siric get so much TV time in a race like that. Maybe one day he can fight for some real points in Roubaix

Alarcon ended up being a guy I settled on after being outpriced on pretty much every rider I liked I'm sure his flaws will show up in other parts of the season. He handled the hills very well in Eritrea and had a good race, but he really needed to do well with some of the big guns not there.

Gorazd Stangelj: This is a race to give the young riders more experience. A breakaway appearance would be nice, but there is no pressure on the lads here. Mestric will try to score his first points of the year if he can finish in the top 50.


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Martin Hvastija: This is an important race on Lahcen's calendar and one he did well in last year. Poljanec, Groselj and Siric are on hand to guide him the final kilometers before the sprint.


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Saber is going to be a tough opponent for Silvestre, especially since he should have a few seconds in hand after the prologue. Hope Silvestre prevails, but other than that, good luck

Silvestre looks well in control of things from where I'm seating

Well, now it's Silvestre's turn to not sprint, so I guess we'll see

Gorazd Stangelj: This is the first of our sponsor goal races. As expected Eddy Beltran is our leader here and we hope he can fight for the top spots. He should be well supported with this group.


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Goal	Outcome	Rider	Result
Top 50	Failure	Matija Mestric	66th
Breakaway appearance	Success	Jefferson Cepeda Hernandez

Race score: N/A

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This was Lahcen Saber's most successful race of last season. So Cedevita traveled to Estonia with a positive mindset, following some recent good results. The unique 3 km long cobbled prologue was a chance for Saber to gain time on the other sprinter favourites. And did he capitalize! Saber won the prologue in dominant fashion. As dominant as a 3 km time-trial can be won. Strong performances from Matic Groselj, Ivan Siric and Miha Poljanec also gave Cedevita the lead in the team classification.




If stage 1 was a feast, then stages 2, 3 and 4 were all famine. Saber failed to place in the top 10 in all those stages. With no bonus seconds he plummeted down to 10th in GC. He has one last chance in stage 5. Cedevita showed their intent during the stage. Chasing the breakaway and providing Saber with a leadout until the last kilometer. Finally in a position to sprint the Moroccan placed 2nd on the stage and the bonus seconds lifted him up to 2nd place in the GC as well.  A last minute result that completely altered the complexion of the race. Groselj and Siric maintained minor GC and U25 positions. Cedevita won its first ever team classification. An all round great performance.

Goal	Outcome	Rider	Result
Top 5 GC	Success	Lahcen Saber	2nd

Race score: 10/10

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Great performance by Saber and the team! Congratulations on your first team classification win!

It really was, even Saber can do it once in a while Thanks

Gorazd Stangelj: We have some bad memories of this race from last year. It's not an ideal race for Eddy, but we believe we can achieve a better result this time around.


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Martin Hvastija: We had to split our team between here and Lisbon, so Lahcen's support isn't as strong as possible. Still we hope it's enough to keep his good run of results going.


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Gorazd Stangelj: With Martin Hvastija and Lahcen Saber in the Netherlands, we are here in Lisbon with a team focused on aggressive riding. We will try to make full use of the bumpy profile to get in the correct attacking moves.


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Cedevita came into the race with high expectations and a very achievable sponsor goal. Yet things didn't look great after the opening prologue, from which team leader Beltran lost 55'' on a short 7.7 km time trial. That didn't deter him though, as the Colombian went right back to work on stage 2. He was by far the strongest on the final steep climb to the finish to win the stage and jump up to 3rd in the GC. The next two stages were meant for the sprinters. Beltran was the only one and the most important on the team to dodge a time loss on stage 3.




Stage 5 ended up going to the breakaway which suited Cedevita down to the ground. Still Beltran managed to finish 8th on the stage which moved him into 2nd place in the points classification. The key stage ended up being stage 6. Beltran was able to stay well positioned in crucial moments. He followed one attack and then launched his own in the final kilometer. In a tight finish to the line the Colombian managed to beat Kwiatkowski and Carthy for his 2nd stage win. The trio separated themselves from the rest as Beltran took over the GC lead.




Starting the final stage in the leaders jersey and only 4'' ahead of Kwiatkowski, it was not easy for Cedevita to control the race on a very hilly profile. Beltran didn't find himself in a great position heading into the finish. He had Pogacar with him, but due to that positioning he couldn't make the best use of his teammate and finished 5th on stage. The youngster had a great day and even managed 3rd. Kwiatkowski won the stage though and the GC with it. Still Beltran came away from this race with 2nd place, two stage wins and the point classification, what a haul!

Pogacar added to the success with 19th and winning the young rider classification. Havard Blikra and David Gaudu added some depth points as well. Without a doubt this was Cedevita's best race of the season!

Goal	Outcome	Rider	Result
Top 5 GC	Success	Eduard Alexander Beltran	2nd
Stage win(s)	Success	Eduard Alexander Beltran	1st (Stage 2, Stage 6)

Race score: 10/10

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Another 10/10 race, lovely! Beltran doing really great so far, whereas it's also superb to see Pogi winning another U25. Congratulations