This team should bring cycling in Scandinavia to a whole new level. We want to establish a monopoly on national championships in Scandinavia, we want to become the worlds best cycling team - with all Scandinavian riders. And though we know it probably seems unlikely we would like to be the first professional cycling team with an Icelandic rider. - The chairman of the board at the team announcement
Founding the Team
Spoiler
New Years eve 2011/12 a secret place in the dark Swedish forests. A group of the most successful businessmen from Denmark, Norway and Sweden are gathered.
As the night progresses and plenty of Falcon-beers have disappeared from the fridge an idea springs to the mind of one of the Danes. We need a Cycling team exclusively for riders from Scandinavia - and we need it to be ready for racing in the 2012 season. As often before ideas seem extraordinary good at his time of night (we are now several hours in to 2012) and the philanthropists agree on funding the teams. Each of them start calling around in their networks and soon they have two sponsors and a group of cycling legends to take care of the training.
The Swedish beer brand Falcon is obviously chosen as main sponsor and Norheim have agreed to be secondary sponsor the first year. Everything seems ready to roll and at 9 o'clock in the morning the group decides to go to sleep.
When they wake up (not quite sober yet) around 2 in the afternoon, they realise that they forgot that a cycling team needs both a license and some guys to ride the bikes. Fortunately the procedures in the UCI can sometimes be flexible for the right persons...
With staff, sponsors and UCI-license as a Continental team it wasn't that hard to convince 20 of the best/most talented unemployed Swedes, Danes and Norwegians to join the adventure.
Now perhaps you are thinking
Doesn't Scandinavia include Finland and Iceland as well?
- and you are in fact correct. That is why the investors decided to convince Kjell Carlstr�m to come back from retirement.
As all big project large visions for the future is just as important as anything present. The chairman of the board released the following press announcement:
This team should bring cycling in Scandinavia to a whole new level. We want to establish a monopoly on national champinships in Scandinavia, we want to become the worlds best cycling team - with all Scandinavian riders. And though we know it probably seems unlikely we would like to be the first professional cycling team with an Icelandic rider
Santos Tour Down Under - Jussi Veikkanen Tour of Qatar - Edvald Boasson Hagen Tour of Oman - Chris Anker Sørensen Bornholm Rundt - Jakob Fuglsang Tirreno - Adriatico - Lasse Bøchman Paris - Nice - Jakob Fuglsang Tour de Romandie - Jakob Fuglsang Giro d'Italia - Jakob Fuglsang Jylland Rundt - Erik Meineche McDermott Tour de l'Ain - Chris Anker Sørensen Vuelta a España - Willy Ipsen Autumn Tour of Norway - Thor Hushovd
Stage Races, Stages
Tour of Qatar, Stage 5 - Edvald Boasson Hagen Tour of Oman, Stage 2, 5 & 6 - Edvald Boasson Hagen Tour of Oman, Stage 4 - Chris Anker Sørensen Vuelta a AndalucÃa, Stage 1 - Jakob Fuglsang Vuelta a AndalucÃa, Stage 4 - Thomas Löfkvist Paris - Nice, Stage 1 & 5 - Jakob Fuglsang Paris - Nice, Stage 7 - Edvald Boasson Hagen Vuelta Ciclista a Catalunya, Stage 1 - Lasse Bøchman Vuelta Ciclista a Catalunya, Stage 6 - Alexander Kristoff Tour de Romandie, Stage 6 - Jakob Fuglsang Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 - Team Time Trial Giro d'Italia, Stage 9, 15 & 17 - Jakob Fuglsang Jylland Rundt, Stage 1 - Tobias Ludvigsson Jylland Rundt, Stage 5 - Erik Meineche McDermott Tour de France, Stage 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, 19, 20 & 21 - Edvald Boasson Hagen Tour de l'Ain, stage 2 - Alexander Kristoff Tour de l'Ain, stage 4 - Chris Anker Sørensen Vuelta a España, stage 1 - TTT Vuelta a España, stage 3, 12 & 20 - Matti Breschel Vuelta a España, stage 4, 14 & 15 - Willy Ipsen Vuelta a España, stage 10 - Alex Rasmussen Autumn Tour of Norway, stage 1 & 3 - Edvald Boasson Hagen Autumn Tour of Norway, stage 2 - Thor Hushovd Autumn Tour of Norway, stage 4 - Matti Breschel Tour of Beijing, stage 1 & 2 - Edvald Boasson Hagen
Stage Races, Points Jersey
Tour of Oman - Edvald Boasson Hagen Vuelta a AndalucÃa - Jakob Fuglsang Paris - Nice - Edvald Boasson Hagen Tour de France - Edvald Boasson Hagen Tour de l'Ain - Chris Anker Sørensen
Santos Tour Down Under - Edvald Boasson Hagen Giro della Calabria - Jesper Hansen Tirreno - Adriatico - Thomas Löfkvist Giro d'Italia - Jakob Fuglsang Bayern Rundfahrt - Rasmus Quaade Jylland Rundt - Erik Meineche McDermott Tour of the Czech Republic - Willy Ipsen Eneco Tour - Lasse Bøchman
Santos Tour Down Under - Jens Erik Madsen Paris - Nice - Edvald Boasson Hagen Tirreno - Adriatico - Thomas Löfkvist Jylland Rundt - Erik Meineche McDermott Tour de Suisse - Edvald Boasson Hagen Tour de France - Edvald Boasson Hagen Tour of the Czech Republic - Willy Ipsen Eneco Tour - Edvald Boasson Hagen Tour of Beijing - Matti Breschel
Tour de San Luis - Jesper Hansen Giro della Calabria - Jesper Hansen Tour of Oman - Jeppe Lykke Hartvig Nielsen Tirreno - Adriatico - Jesper Hansen KBC Driedaagse de Panne – Koksijde - Erik Meineche McDermott Bayern Rundfahrt - Rasmus Quaade Jylland Rundt - Erik Meineche McDermott Tour de Suisse - Willy Ipsen Tour of the Czech Republic - Willy Ipsen Tour of Beijing - Brian Steen Matzen
Santos Tour Down Under - Thor Hushovd Tour de Romandie - Jakob Fuglsang Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg - Thomas Nybo Riis Post Danmark Rundt - Lasse Bøchman Tour of Britain - Jakob Fuglsang
Le Samyn - Thor Hushovd Gent - Wevelgem - Thor Hushovd Grand Prix Pino Cerami - Jens Erik Madsen Paris - Roubaix - Thor Hushovd Himmerland Rundt - Lars Ytting Bak Scandinavian Race in Uppsala - Rasmus Sterebo Rogaland GP - Magnus Cort Danish Championships - ITT - Lasse Bøchman Norwegian Championships - Havard Nybö Swedish Championships - Philip Lindau
Stage Races, GC
Paris - Nice - Thor Hushovd Bayern Rundfahrt - Christopher Juul-Jensen Tour of Britain - Thor Hushovd
Vuelta a Mallorca - Thor Hushovd Paris - Nice - Thor Hushovd Tour de France - Thor Hushovd Tour of Britain - Thor Hushovd
Young Rider Jerseys
Tour of Oman - Jesper Hansen Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Jesper Hansen Bayern Rundfahrt - Christopher Juul-Jensen Tour of Britain - Tobias Ludvigsson
Team Classification
Bayern Rundfahrt Ster ZLM Tour Tour of Britain
Victories in 2012, Falcon - Norheim:
Spoiler
One Day Races
GP di Lugano - Kjell Carlström Dwaars door Drenthe - Kasper Jebjerg Nokere Koerse - Kasper Jebjerg Rund um Köln - Jeppe Lykke Hartvig Nielsen Himmerland Rundt - Kasper Jebjerg Norsk Mesterskap - Geir Berg Svenska Mesterskap - Christofer Stevenson
Stage Races, GC
5 Jours de Dunkerque - Michael Færk Christensen Bayern Rundfahrt - Michael Færk Christensen Tour of Britain - Daniel Kreutzfeldt
Stage Races, Stages
5 Jours de Dunkerque, Stage 1 - Michael Færk Christensen 5 Jours de Dunkerque, Stage 2 - Michael Færk Christensen Bayern Rundfahrt, Stage 4 - Michael Færk Christensen Tour of Britain, Stage 5 - Kjell Carlström
The 20 riders and the staff has now gathered for the first time, but not without drama.
When on of the biggest profiles on the team, Kjell Carlström, realised the team managers had called the project Scandinavian he went completely mad. He was not going to be leader of a team, whose managers apparently believed his country wasn't important enough to mention in the project title.
Now the board was faced with a serious dilemma: Either they lost one of their main profiles or they had to admit that the team was founded in a drunken rush, and that perhaps things had went a bit to fast.
The manager being Danish though quickly led to a conclusion: It's fine to admit mistakes made while you were drunk. From this day on "Scandinavian Cycling Project" will be known as "Nordic Cycling Project"
Besides the fuzz made by Kjell Carlström the exact line-up is still unknown to the public. We know the team will have 20 riders. Rumours have it that There's 11 Danes, 4 Swedes, 4 Norwegians and 1 Finnish rider. The exact lineup is expected to be revealed tomorrow.
The team is a mix of very experienced riders and talented youngsters.
Throughout the season we should have the best chance for good results in the smaller one-day races – but that won’t stop us chasing results in the smaller stage races without too big mountains. All riders on the team will be given the chance to get a win for themselves - you will see Falcon - Norheim driving agressively every single day.
And now time to actually publish the line-up.
The most prominent riders on the team is without a doubt Kjell Carlström and Magnus Bäckstedt. Both riders, who had decided to retire, but were convinced to put their vast experience in to this project. Magnus Bäckstedt has won several races throughout his career. Mos prominently the Paris-Roubaix, 2 National RR championships and 1 National TT championship. After riding a couple of years on team Sky Kjell Carlström is probably the most popular rider on the team. The biggest victory on his palmares is probably a stagewin in Paris-Nice, but his three National Roadrace championships, the latest won in 2011 show that this is a rider capable of mush more given the chance - and he is not done winning yet...
In Jens-Erik Madsen the team has a former World Champion and olympic medallist from the track. The youngest rider on the team is also one of the biggest talents. Philip Lindau is only 20 years old Swede, but has already won his first national championship Kasper Jebjerg is the teams best sprinter. He hasn't got the most impressing palmares so far, but we expect good results from him this season and the following years.
The press conference ended with the following announcement from team manager Allan Grønborg:
We know that a lot of people think we're crazy putting a team together with the riders no one else want. But we think that most of our riders just need a chance on a well-organized team with good trainers. Of course we can't dominate the season, but we intend to show ourselves in the front from the start of the season. My rides are hungry to prove, that they are worthy of riding on top level.
Prerace
The team will debut in the Argentinian race Tour de San Luis. We have next to no expectations from the squad this week. It is the first raceday for all of our riders, and it is mainly to be used as preparations for the upcoming Tour of Qatar. The strong teams such as Astana and Katusha is expected to dominate the race, but we will do our best to get a small result along the way.
Stage 1 Stevenson attack early in the stage to take the only King of the Mountain sprint of this first stage and succeeds. Stevenson just got himself a new shirt! Soon after Havard Nybö goes in the breakaway. In spite of several attempts from Havard the Astana and Nippo pull it together. Schulze (NetApp) takes the stage with Jebjerg on 5th place.
Stage 2 Søren Nissen gets in the early breakaway with Norwegian V.S. Laengen (Type 1 – Sanofi) and three others. Nissen wins both intermediate KoM sprints. The breakaway gets caught with 10 km to go.
On the final climb Carlström tries to go for the win, but has to make do with a 4th on the stage. With the stage win Pavel Brutt (Katusha) gets both the overall lead and the mountain jersey.
Stage 3
A completely flat stage without any mountain sprints. The team was told to relax and take a quiet day at the office, but apparently Havard Nybö wanted to show the Norwegian presence in the race, going with the breakaway and ending on a great 3rd place on the stage 1:07 behind the winner ( Adrian Palomares, AndalucÃa) and 3 min ahead of the peloton. Unfortunately Christofer Stevenson crashed during the stage hurting his elbow and had to abandon the race.
Stage 4
18 km TT, first Falcon on the road, Morten Kruse Brink, gets best provisional time, untill team-mate Bäckstedt beats him with 9 secs. The Swede has the lead for a long time, but ends up losing by 9 secs to Jan Barta of Team NetApp, who now is 3rd overall.
Stage 5 Nissen in breakaway once again hoping to get points for the mountain jersey. Sadly he just simply wasn’t good enough getting a 9th on the stage and not a single point for the jersey, which is now out of reach for Falcon - Norheim
Stage 6
Another hilly stage. Today the hills were to big for any of my riders to hit the early breakaway. Carlström is our best rider as nr. 11.
Stage 7
Supposed to be flat, but really it’s up and down all day long. Michael Færk Christensen tries hard and manages to get in the big breakaway. The last 35 km the breakaway is exploding with attacks all over the road. It ends in a caotic bunchsprint, where Bäckstedt tries to lead Jebjerg to a win. Guarnirini (Astana) picks up the stage and Jebjerg ends the tour with another stage 5th.
The race ends up with total Eastern European dominance:
1 Pavel Brutt, Katusha
2 Jan Barta, Team NetApp
3 Andrey Kashechkin, Astana
4 Vladimir Gusev , Katusha
5 Yury Trofimov, Katusha
7 Kjell Carlström, Falcon - Norheim
Mountain jersey: Jan Barta, Team NetApp
Point Jersey: Jan Barta, Team NetApp
Young Riders: Egor Silin, Astana
Team: Katusha Team
At the end of each month team manager Allan will sum up the last month in professional cykling and give a few words regarding the month to come for Falcon - Norheim.
January had only one race and no victories for us, but we showed the cycling world that we are most definitely here with a couple of stage podiums and lots of aggressive riding. Each and every stage in Tour de San Luis had a Falcon in a breakaway...
Rider of the month: David Millar, Garmin – Sharp. A deserved title after Millars domination in January's only World Tour race, Tour Down Under, which gave him 2 stage wins and a victory in the overall classification.
CQ Rankings:
1. David Millar, Garmin – Sharp, 335 pts
2. Karsten Kroon, Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank, 191 pts
3. George Hincapie, BMC Racing Team, 190 pts 35. Kjell Carlström, Falcon – Norheim, 40 pts
In February Falcon – Norheim hope to do well in Tour of Qatar and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Besides these we will race G.P. Costa degli Etruschi and Vuelta a AndalucÃa
Last preparations for Tour of Qatar is made in Italy. The team will be the same as the team, that did so well in Tour de San Luis. Only change is Jens Erik Madsen who replaces the injured Stevenson. Jebjerg will save energy for the final sprint, all others will chase the breakaway. Astana, Katusha and Liquigas are all here with good sprinters, so it will be tough. Christina Watches – Onfone will be there with an all Scandinavian team as well.
The race is very chaotic at first with a lot of riders trying to get in a breakaway, while Liquigas worked hard to keep the peloton intact. Finally 70 km into the race a group is allowed to go. Once again Søren Nissen proves he has a real nag for escaping at the right moment, but once again camera-time is the only real gain for him.
This wasn’t the day for Falcon – Norheims first victory either as Roman Feillu picks up the win with Kasper Jebjerg coming in 9th
Results:
1. Roman Feillu, Vacansoleil - DCM
2. Marco Frapporti, Team Idea
3. Danilo Napolitano, Acqua & Sapone 9. Kasper Jebjerg, Falcon - Norheim
Good race in Argentina. I have 1 tip. Remember to push ctrl-u to get ride of the circles around the bottom of the riders. It looks a lot better when you do that.
Traditionally this is race belongs to the sprinters. Nevertheless Falcon want us to get a Top 10 in the GC. We cannot expect to gain any time in the final sprint on any of the stages, so we have put together the best possible team for the Team Time Trial on stage 2. Hopefully that will give us the edge we need to bag a top 10 from breakaways.
The peloton includes as competent sprinters as Petacchi, Kittel, Goss, Rojas, Davis and Guarnieri. We cannot expect to beat any of these guys in a bunch sprint, so we will try everything to avoid the unavoidable.
Stage 1
After several different combinations have been tried Søren Nissen manages to get away from the peloton with five other riders. Nissen breaks away from the group to win the second intermediate sprint of the day giving him 6 important seconds for the GC. His breakaway companions doesn’t feel like riding with him anymore so it ends up being Nissen against Lampre, Orica-GreenEdge and Argos-Shimano. An uneven fight. Matt Goss gets the win and Kasper Jebjerg is best Falcon at no 7. The bonus seconds give Søren Nissen a 5th place in the GC for now.
Stage 2 – TTT
When Falcon – Norheim is sent out on the route 8 teams are in goal with RusVelo at the provisional best time. The team worked well together and everyone gave all they had, but in the end we only got a disappointing 11th 24 seconds after Astana leaving Søren Nissen 17 seconds outside top 10. Time to chase those bonus seconds!
Stage 3 Nissen in breakaway. That seems to be more of a fact than news by now. Søren is out there giving all he’s got to gain some of those bonus seconds. Since he by no means can be called a sprinter he didn’t manage to get any seconds on the first intermediate sprint. Back in the peloton Lampre and Argos – Shimano is keeping Nissen & Co. on a leash. Before the next sprint Nissen tries to leave his companions behind, but two guys follow him and he has to make-do with just two seconds for all that hard work. The breakaway gets caught as planned and Jebjerg move to the front preparing himself for yet another hopeless sprint. 7th again and another stage for Goss. A huge crash leaves the peloton in pieces and a lot of riders lose time. Among those Søren Nissen. We now have 5 riders 23 seconds behind and the top-10 seems far away.
Will the team find a way to get a result or was the goal just too optimistic? (To be updated)
Nordic Cycling Project 
Grand Prix la Marseillaise - Alexander Kristoff 
Dwars door Vlaanderen - Matti Breschel 
Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec Thomas Nybo Riis 
World Championships, ITT - Edvald Boasson Hagen 
Il Lombardia - Edvald Boasson Hagen 
Santos Tour Down Under - Jussi Veikkanen 
Tour of Qatar - Edvald Boasson Hagen 
Tour of Oman - Chris Anker Sørensen 
Tour de Romandie - Jakob Fuglsang 
Vuelta a España - Willy Ipsen 
Tour of Beijing, stage 1 & 2 - Edvald Boasson Hagen 
Amgen Tour of California - Jeppe Lykke Hartvig Nielsen 
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
Tour de San Luis 
Schulze (NetApp) takes the stage with 
Pavel Brutt (Katusha) gets both the overall lead and the mountain jersey.
Jan Barta of Team NetApp, who now is 3rd overall.
Andrey Kashechkin, Astana
David Millar, Garmin – Sharp. A deserved title after Millars domination in January's only World Tour race, Tour Down Under, which gave him 2 stage wins and a victory in the overall classification.
Karsten Kroon, Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank, 191 pts
