Felbermayr hardly race any cobbled classics, so Karl focused on improving his punch over hills hoping to develop into a well-rounded monument hunter. Some training as a stage-racers towards the end of the season ensured less embarasing showings once the peleton hits the mountains or Karl is faced with disc-wheeled bikes.
Dominant performances in minor races, good outings in Berlin and at the Tour of Austria led to the call-up to the Austrian National Team in Richmond. As the best cobbler of the Nation, Karl got a free role staying at the front of the peloton and avoiding the splits on the narrow roads. Absolutely no chance for a Top10-15, but a great experience to cap off a nice start into his carreer.
Landmarks
2nd
U23 ranking
10th
Continental ranking
20th
WC Richmond
8th
Garmin Velothon Berlin
1st
Tour de Normandie GC + Stage 3
1st
Int. Reiffeisen Grand Prix Judendorf
1st
Ljubljana - Zagreb
2nd
Ronde Van Vlaanderen U23 (zabel'd by Erik Baska)
1st
ZLM Roompot Tour U23 + Stage 1
1st
Paris – Tour U23
Outlook
In July it already looked like Felbermayr will miss out on promotion to the PCT level. Karl was linked to several PCT teams including vague rumors he could join Movistar. In the end Karl signed for the first team offering a contract. MTN-Qhubeka! Nippo – Vini Fantini offered an equal contract shortly before finalising the paperwork, but it was too late. MTN-Qhubeka promoted alongside Cofidis and therefore Karl will have to adapt to WT-level quickly to prove his worth to the team. He will most likely keep himself busy by reeling back brakeaways and protecting leaders. Sadly, MTN will have a hard time staying up with relegation a very possible scenario since important leaders like Ciolek left.
The cobbled classics are Karls only chance to shine with only EBH in front of him. Borut Bozic and Gregory Rast are solid helpers for those races. The rest of the squad will most likely go into hiding in early spring.
Season 4 (Cannondale - Garmin): No more U23 circuit, the wins should be harder to come by. Orrantia bulks down and has a decent season but still can't match the speed of the top tier PT sprinters. He finishes with 13 wins (11 stages and 2 GC). But that's not good enough. He jumps ship to find a team with an elite sprint train to get him where he wants to be.
Top 3 Notable Results
Tour de Pologne
CWT
1st Points
Tour de la Mayenne
2.1
1st
Tour des Fjords
2.1
1st
Season 5 (Etixx - Quick-step): If you can't beat them, join them. Etixx assembles one of the best sprint groups in the PT peloton lead by Orrantia. However, Salos does one better with the combination of Cavendish and crazy superstar sprinter regen Sgura (84SP). Too OP. A pretty bad season with just 3 wins as Orrantia targets all 3 GTs. Runs up against the Salos duo in the Giro. Gets stuck leading out teammate Demare (83SP) at TDF and doesn't have much left in the tank when the Vuelta rolls around. A season to forget. At least Orrantia learned from his mistake... He signs a 1-year deal with Salos (which gets replaced by Jarbiland) for next season.
So close... I can rephrase my Giro d'Italia with this one picture, got 3th in the GC behind Nibali and Pinot as well (although that wasn't this close). Maybe I'll write a write-up about my rider in a later stage but I thaught this was kinda funny
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/q65pRhq.png[/img-r]
Edited by Rabbiej on 24-06-2015 01:41
That's stage 20 btw? No intermediate sprints you can give a try in stage 21?
This is for the mountain jersey, and unfortunately there aren't any climbs in the last stage of the Giro. I believe there weren't intermediate sprints as well but that didn't really matter. It was a fun Giro though, only Nibali and Pinot were slightly better than my rider. Nibali was looking to win the GC but at this stage with the Colle delle Finestre he couldn't follow Pinot (as was I) and Pinot overtook him in this last mountain stage by winning back about 3:30 on Nibali.
For the mountain jersey I was 12 points behind Nibali before the stage, the escapees were caught before the Finestre so I was like go go go.. When we came to the sterrato only Pinot and Nibali were in my wheel but then it was Pinot-time. I went with my own pace as I wasn't able to follow him. To my surprise Nibali couldn't either so we passed the top of the Finestre in this order, in which I gained 7 points on Nibali. In the descent I let Nibali do the work as I didn't had anything to gain and rested in his wheel. This paid off on the last climb to Sestriere where I won like a minute on him and I finished 2nd. Nibali was struggling on this last climb but I knew that if he would finish 3th behind me he was still good for the mountain jersey with a margin of 2 points. Then I saw that Aru caught back up and was helping Nibali, and finishing in front of him (:-)). At first I was happy as I thaught I took the jersey, then I realized we got equal. I didn't counted Pinot as he was way back before the stage, only when the results where shown I saw that he was equal in points as well.
Well, lovely first grand tour. As a consolation prize I got the white jersey and a lot of 2nd and 3th place stage finishes. After this I did win the Tour of Suisse and now it's time for a deserved rest and up to the Vuelta d'Espana later this year.
Edit: This just happened in the Vuelta, why I did win this time I don't know..
[img-l]https://i.imgur.com/0USBqMN.png[/img-l]
Edited by Rabbiej on 24-06-2015 22:23
Season 1 - Leopard Development Team - € 2,500 until 2015
In his neo-pro season Estifanos managed just 1 win for Luxembourgian squad Leopard, although a string of podium results across the continental tour helped him to a relatively successful first year in the pro peloton.
The Eritrean's first major result was a top 10 at GP Marseillaise, with an 8th placed finish. The season's main target was the April and May period and above all the LBL U23, which Estifanos came in as favourite for. However, he could only finish second to an in-form Geoghan Hart. He went one better in his next race though, triumphing in the Berner Rundfahrt to claim his first career win.
A successful Fleche Ardenaise followed, before some impressive results at .1 level later on in the season with 7th overall at Ster ZLM Tour and a podium at Paris - Bourges which rounded out a good first year for Gebremeskel. He will now look to take a step up for season 2, targeting HC races in order to progress towards his career goal - taking all three Ardennes classics in one year.
Top 5 Results
1st
Berner Rundfahrt
1.2
2nd
LBL U23
1.U23
2nd
Fleche Ardenaise
1.2
3rd
Paris - Bourges
1.1
7th
Ster ZLM Tour
2.1
End of Season Stats
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PL
65
70
75
59
65
64
60
58
63
74
64
61
62
2016 Team...
Spoiler
Team Europcar - € 2,500/Month until 2016
Several teams approached Estifanos, but one team's approach couldn't be turned down. Europcar has a history of employing African cyclists with one of Estifanos' heroes Natnael Berhane and also Dan Craven riding for the French team in the past. He hopes this step up to PCT level for a year will aid his development, before looking towards the WT in the coming years.
While being a cobbler at heart, Karls main focus in his career so far was to develop a leathal punch over short hills. Proving his worth for the team so far, he will now focus on the cobbles again, hoping to convert his love into results.
MTNs management changed it's philosophie for the next season getting rid of half its African core-group to add some Australian flavour in Richie Porte, Michael Matthews and Michael Hepburn. Re-signing Louis Meintjes and adding Sebastian Henao adds a bright future for the mountains. Adrien Petit and Matteo Trentin reinforce a great group of leadouts, MTN just lacks a topend sprinter. Looking forward to the next season.
Season 1 2015 - Team Joker - 19 yo - 2,500 €/month
Struggling to find his own in the sprints, he manages to get a couple of wins. He feels he is starting to become the next Sagan with a number of 2nd places.
Results:
1st - Destination Thy - Concordia GP
1st stage 2 - Tour de I'Avenir
1st stage 2 - Giro della Regione Friuli
+ 6 2nd places
Superprestige: 476th (67 points)
Season 2 2016 - CCC Sprandi Polkowice - 20 yo - 2,500 €/month
Still struggling in the sprints in his new team and finishes the season with only one stage win.
Results:
1st GC & Points - Tour de la Mayenne
1st Stage 4 - Tour of Slovenia - Po Sloveniji
+ 3 2nd places
Superprestige: 203rd (253 points)
Results:
1st - Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne
1st - Milano - Sanremo
1st Stage 4 & 5 - Tour de France
1st Points - Tour de France
1st - Grand Prix d'Isbergues - Pas de Calais
+ 6 2nd places
Superprestige: 18th (1320 points)
Season 2 - Team Europcar (WT) - 7 wins - € 2,500 until 2016
After a season down at continental level, Estifanos signed for Europcar thinking of a move up to continental level. However a late promotion for the French team meant he'd be riding for a WT team in just his second season as a pro. That didn't affect him though, with an impressive 7 wins in total along with his first at WT level.
The season began modestly, with quiet races in Algarve and Ardeche, before taking his first win of the year at the Valence Drome Classic, attacking away on the final hill and holding off the bunch to take a solo win. March saw a break, before the young Eritrean returned to racing with another victory, this time at the hilly Paris - Camembert, where Estifanos took a reduced sprint to win his weight in cheese.
Top-10 finishes at Brabantse Pijl and Tour du Finistere were then followed by a strong performance at the 4 Jours de Dunkerque where he took the cobbled stage 4 from a breakaway and also won the mountains jersey as a result, his first of hopefully many of those. The Vuelta Castilla y Leon saw another stage win and 2nd overall, and then this part of the season was finished in Luxembourg, where a stage win on stage 5 sealed a strong 3rd in the GC.
There was one final peak in mid-September for Estifanos, with the Canadian classics being the last targets of the season. It was disappointment in Quebec, where a mid-stage attack was caught with just 3 kilometres remaining. However, Montreal saw the best result of Gebremeskel's career so far, with a great ride that saw him ride away from the whole field on the final hill to take a win by over 2 minutes!
A podium at Paris - Bourges finished off a great season for the Eritrean. Unfortunately Europcar were relegated back to PCT level, but his performances secured another year at WT level (see below). The focus next season will shift towards performing well at the very top level of cycling, against the world's best puncheurs.
Top 5 Results
1st
GP Montreal
1.WT
1st
Valence Drome Classic
1.1
1st
Paris - Camembert
1.1
2nd
Vuelta Castilla y Leon (1 Stage Win)
2.1
3rd
Skoda Tour de Luxembourg (1 Stage Win)
2.HC
End of Season Stats
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PL
67
72
76
60
69
66
64
61
64
79
64
63
65
2017 Team...
Spoiler
Team LottoNL - Jumbo - € 9,000/Month until 2017
Once again there were several options for a new WT team, but LottoNL seemed like an ideal option which could offer Estifanos leadership in all hilly races that he rides, a major factor in choosing a team. They have assured him of leadership in the Ardennes classics and also a spot at La Vuelta, so an exciting 3rd season should be on the cards.
After My Veranclassic season fell flat on its face due to injury, I decided to start over.....again deciding to be a 20 year old stage racer-I went with a Ukrainian license this time due to more opportunities in the Worlds.
My 2015 season was a great success as I was able to take 11 victories, 8th place overall in the Continental tour rankings, and 1st in the U23 rankings. Because of the great success I had over the course of the season I had a number of contract offers from WT and Pro Conti teams. Unfortunately, the team I had hoped to race with, Cofidis, did not offer me a contract so I went through the negotiation process and was down to 2 suitors, Nippo Vini Fantini, and Team Katusha. Unfortunately, NVF appeared to be losing their Pro Conti status so I inked a 1 year deal with Katusha worth 16,000 a month.
I am very excited to start the 2016 season at the Tour de San Luis with my new team while also wearing my Ukrainian National Champions Kit!!!
2015 Palmares
1-Ukrainian National RR Championships
2x 1st Stage Istarsko Proljece-Isterian Spring Trophy
1st Overall-1st Stage Istarsko Proljece-Isterian Spring Trophy
1st Stage 2 Gran Prix of Sochi
1st Stage 2 and Overall ZLM Roompot Tour
1st Stage 2 and Overall Course de la Paix U23
1st Miskolc GP
1st Prologue Tour de l'Avenir
2nd Overall Tour de l'Avenir
2nd Overall Grand Prix of Sochi
5th Cya 3
5th- GP Dyachenko
16th-Ronde van Vlaanderen u23
23-World ITT Championships
John went in to 2016 full of confidence from a year spent dominating the CT and U23 races. 11 wins in one season showed just how promising his talent was, earning him a deal with Bretagne at PCT level. He couldn't repeat his victory in Cya Cup 1, only managing 3rd there, then another 3rd in Cya Cup 3, but those races were mainly form building to him.
His first "official" race with Bretagne was the Etoile de Besseges, where he showed his attacking spirit, taking the polka dot jersey as a reward. After that it was on to the Tour of Oman, where he hoped to take yet another mountains jersey, alowing him to take part at WT races. However, a win on stage two after a late attack Jack O'Connor style and a surprisingly good ride up the Green mountain left him too high in the GC to go on the breakaway for those points. He realized winning the white jersey was the only way he could take part at Paris-Nice, so he attacked on the last hilly stage of the race. He mistimed his effort and cracked on the last climb, but he had distanced Kudus enough to win the white jersey and finish 10th in the GC.
That was followed by an anonymous Valence - Drome classic, after which he took on the biggest race of his career: Paris - Nice. His personal goals were either a stage win or a top 10 GC, but he had never faced such quality opposition before and thus was completely overwhelmed. He lost 10 minutes on the first hilly stage, leaving him without a hope for the GC and too many doubts for a stage win. However, that didn't stop him trying, so he infiltrated the morning break on the hilly queen stage. Allthough the peleton caught them pretty handily, John wouldn't go home empty handed. He had taken the mountain jersey, two points ahead of Thomas Voeckler.
That however was little consolation for him, as it was obvious he wasn nowhere near WT level yet. As a consequence he suffered an unusual drop of form, hovering around tenth place in Paris - Camembert, Circuit de la Sarthe and the Tour de Finistere. The team decided to let him ride the Tour de Bretagne, in an attempt to rebuild his confidence and salvage his season. But instead of doing that, it just made matters worse. After two days sitting in the pack, on the third day it happened. He wasn't paying attention for a split second while descending on a road made slippy by the rain, hit a small pothole, couldn't quite keep his bike under control, and hit the deck. Hard. He had broken his kneecap and would be out for around three months. So much for rebuilding.
After more than three months of intense rehabilitation work in the French alps, he at last made his comeback at the Tour de Pologne. The aim here was not to go for anything big, just build some form for the late season classics. Nonetheless he had a much better race than Paris-Nice, managing to finish 9th on the big hilly stage. After that came the Tour de l'Ain, where he impressed with a decent 9th place in the high mountains. He also got 8th on the hilly stage and 7th in GC. Following that came total domination at the Tour du Limousin, where he took a stage, the GC, the points jersey, the mountains jersey and the white jersey. THAT's how you build confidence.
This was followed by a decent 7th place in the teams home WT race, the GP Plouay, where he attacked late, was caught, but still managed to sprint to 7th. Then it was over to Canada, for the Tour of Alberta, followed by the Canadian WT weekend. He showed some form in Alberta, finishing 2nd on the hilly stage. He then made the trip to Quebec for a race that suited him perfectly. Tough hilly circuit with an uphill sprint. He duly delivered, taking 6th - his best WT result to date. However, that was all to change in Montreal. He kept quiet in the pack all day, but since the finish was flat, he had to attack. On the last climb of the day, he powered off, building a decent gap. After the chase got organized, it looked like he was left without a hope, but he managed to extend the gap in the descent, taking the biggest win of his career to date.
That was the highlight of his season, followed only by a few podiums in French .1 races. Of course, as disappointing as the first half of the season had been, he realized he was too big for the PCT now. So he went looking for a new team. He liked life in France, so when Ag2r made an offer, there wasn't much thinking involved. Liking to keep his options open, he signed a one year deal as co-leader in the hills beside Romain Bardet and Merhawi Kudus.
All Wins 2016:
o
KoM Jersey
Etoile de Besseges
2.1
o
Stage 2, White Jersey
Tour of Oman
2.HC
o
KoM Jersey
Paris – Nice
WT
o
Stage 1, GC, Points Jersey, KoM Jersey, White Jersey
Having shown his potential in Normandie, he was entrusted with a free element roll in the U23 Ronde Van Vlaanderen, where he won with a 10km solo attack. Then he came back to Belgium a few weeks later to win the U23 Liege - Bastonge - Liege, winning a three man sprint this time.
On a roll now he won the Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour and a week later just beat Silvio Herklotz in the Ronde l'Isard but also taking the Points and mountain classifications in the process, as well as a stage win.
Course de la Paix U23 saw him almost do a clean sweep, with every jersey and stage, bar stage one, where he came 7th on the flat. Then in the Tour des Pays de Savoie, again with 3 stages, the points and mountains.
Thibault went into the French national championships in good form, but wasn't up to the World Tour level, with 73rd in the ITT and 44th in the road race.
A month later he won the Trofeo Almar, before heading to his real season target, the Tour de l'Avenir, he had a weak time trial, but a second place in GC put him in prime position to win, then victories in stages 5 and 6 put him in the lead. Stage 7 was the toughest stage of l'Avenir, with 152km of climbing ahead, the French team set the pace, whittling the group down to just 8 riders, then near the top, 2nd place in GC, Effmikin started to struggle and was dropped, at the base of the final climb, Thibault knew he couldn't make it but the best placed rider in the group was 5 minutes down in GC, so he set his own pace and actually came out of the stage with a bigger lead on second then before. On the final stage he finished 8th, which somehow gave him enough points in both the points and mountains classifications to allow him to have all three jerseys yet again, although the mountains by just one point.
The Giro della Regione Fruille was almost lost, but by sneaking ahead for the intermediate sprint on the final stage, he won the race by just 2 seconds. He also took the points classification and a stage win.
Thibault's final two races where the Piccolo Lombardia and Paris - Tours Espoirs. He won the Piccolo Lombardia to take his 19th victory of the season before coming 12th in Paris - Tours.
At the beginning of January, there were many teams wanting to gain the signature of Thibualt, Ag2r, Bora, Bretagne, CULT, Etixx, Lampre, Katusha, Roompot, Tinkoff and Wanty all wanted to sign him. in the end he decided to sign for Ag2r La Mondiale for the chance to gain some experience in the World Tour, as well as the fact that he wanted to stay with a French team.
Victories:
Tour de Normandie - 2.2 - 1st Mountain
Ronde Van Vlaanderen U23 - 1.NCup - 1st
Liege - Bastogne - Liege U23 - 1.2U23 - 1st
Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour - 2.2 - 1st GC
Ronde de l'Isard - 2.2U23 - 1st GC, Points, Mountain, 1 Stage Win
Course de la Paix U23 - 2.NCup - 1st GC, Points, Mountain, 2 Stage Wins
Tour des pays de Savoie - 2.2U23 - 1st GC, Points, Mountain, 3 Stage wins
Trofeo Almar - 1.NCup - 1st
Tour de l'Avenir - 2.NCup - 1st GC, Points, Mountain, 2 Stage Wins
Giro della Region Friulo - 2.2U23 - 1st GC, Points, 1 Stage Win
Piccolo Lombardia - 1.2U23 - 1st
Victories: 19
End of Season Stats:
Fl
MO
HL
TT
PR
CB
SP
AC
DH
BD
ST
RS
RC
64
71
76
61
66
61
65
78
65
63
69
66
63
All on Hard - Extreme and I was trying to be as realistic as possible, anybody else think this mode is OP?
Season 6 (Jarbiland): Orrantia's breakout season... kindof. He gets a career high 21 victories (65 career total). Good for 2nd most in the world behind Velo d'Or and Giro Winner Nairo Quintana. The season got off to a slow start with the Jarbiland super sprint train getting to know each other preferences at first. But it didn't take long for them to figure it out.
Orrantia struckout in his attempt to get his first Monument victory and broke his hand on the cobbles at 4 Jours de Dunkerque forcing him to miss the whole month of June. Regrouping he took his frustrations to the TDF where he won back-to-back stages (his first TDF career win) and held onto the green jersey for the first two weeks. Only to let it slip away and finish 3rd behind Michael Matthews and Alexander Kristoff.
The back half of the season was victory after victory. Sure most of them were HC and 1.1 races but Orrantia doesn't care. A win is a win. The biggest victory coming at the GP Quest France-Plouay. His first PT Classic win.
After a rather successful experiment to join the super sprint train at Jarbiland, Orrantia decides to go back to his first PT team: Cannondale - Garmin on a 2-year, 85,000 euros a month contract. Back to his roots, winning on his own.
Short version: ok -> hm -> Wahey! -> ouch -> uh-oh -> sweet! -> nice, eh?
MTN set Karl Milde up for 90 race days and while 4 wins + 2 jerseys doesn't sound like a lot to celebrate it was still a very successful season apart from his loved cobbled classics.
So far, Karl made his name as a big diesel engine saving his energy until rolling away at the end of long, hard, slightly hilly races. A mini-Cancellara in the making. After nabbing a stage win in Australia and getting racedays in France his first focus was fixed on Milano-Sanremo. The peloton took it easy and a breakaway managed to stay away until the Poggio. Karl took no risk and accallerated to spread the peloton and help his captain Michael Matthews. He caught the breakaway at the top, while the peloton tried to protect its sprinters about 30 secs behind. In the end, Karl was JUST strong enough to claim his first monument while wearing the rainbow jersey. But now, everyone knew his name and Karl thought himself to be unbeatable. The cobbled classics were quite disappointing with a 15th place Gent – Wevelgem as the best result.
After a break he tried to change his style a bit going hard at the Tour de Suisse winning the KOM competition, building confidence for his long late season peak stretching from San Sebastian over ENECO until the canadian classics. The Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian was meant to be a race for Richie Porte, Sebastian Henao and Michael Matthews. Somehow all three of them lost contact on the last hill, while Karl managed to hang on and sprint to an unexpected third place. The ENECO tour proved more fun this year as MTN send a strong squad for the TTT finishing 2nd. Michael Matthews won the last stage with Karl finishing 2nd on the stage, 3rd overall and winning the points competition.
Karl finished the season with two 3rd and a 2nd place in Plouay and Canada proving once again his love for long, hard, slightly hilly races before playing watercarrier at the WC and the italian classics.
In July Etixx, FDJ, Lotto, Movistar, Orica, Pegasus and Cannondale offered a role as a leader on their teams. Cannondale had only Lars Boom as a better cobbler than Karl Milde under contract and a solid core of climber and hilly classic specialists which seemed like a good fit. Karl signed a contract for 2 years at 29.500€ per month. To his surprise, Cannondale was taken over by Dutch TomTom who asked him to go stage hunting in all three GTs while still focusing on the cobbled classics as helper for Lars Boom. With only Steven Kruijswijk and Martijn Keizer representing oranje, Lars' success will be vital for the team. Besides Lars and Karl, climber Fabio Aru, stage racer Lawson Craddock and puncheur Simon Gerrans will lead the team, while Andrea Guardini and former MTN teammate Kristian Sbaragli are the men for the sprints.
TomTom should be in no danger of relegation and Karl Milde can diversify his palmares riding his first GTs while he has no pressure during the cobbled part of the season.
Elch wrote:
To his surprise, Cannondale was taken over by Dutch TomTom ...
Sorry for breaking the story chain... but... this is possible in "Be a Pro"?
Teams may switch sponsors?
Can anyone confirm that?
Awesome.
Yes. In my Be a Pro Europcar became C. Clerc at the end of the first season, just when I had moved to them. I changed it back using an editor as I didn't like the new jerseys
I will use slightly modified trekbmc's template because I find it very nice and it would took ages for me to do it my own way since I don't exactly know how all of these tables work.
2015 Tour de l'Avenir - 2nd overall
2015 Tour de l'Avenir - stage win
2015 Polish Road Race Championship - 2nd
2015 Giro del Veneto - 8th
2015 Course de la Paix U23 - 4th overall
2015 ZLM Roompot Tour - 6th overall
Total victories: 1
2015 season history
It was a bit of a surprise when the strongest Polish road cycling team announced in early 2015 that they would add an unknown 19 years old rider to their roster. Andrzej Macikowski was not even known from any U-18 races, but CCC Sprandi Polkowice assured they had good reasonts to believe this young Polish climber's potential.
It was supposed to be a learning season for Andrzej without much pressure or specific goals. He rode Vuelta a Andalucia and Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca early in the season, but he was just not ready for racing at this level and spent whole races struggling at the back of the peloton.
It was seen as a kind of surprise when the team nominated him as a GC team leader for Settimana Coppi e Bartali. As expected, Andrzej didn't live up to a challenge and was already out of contention after stage 1, where the skinny Pole was unable to cope with high pace on flat and lost few minutes in GC as a result. One day later, he finished 25th on a hilly stage which was a first indication of his capabilities as a professional cyclist.
But it was yet another day later when world has seen a first real display of his great talent. He managed to place himself 8th on a queen stage of the race, among much more known and experienced rivals. CCC knew they probably had a real deal in their team.
Then Andrzej participated in his first U-23 race. The flat nature of ZLM Roompot Tour didn't match his strenghts but he managed to stay without any loses and rode a good time trial that put him eventually 6th overall in the GC.
Considering his impressive performances in mountains of Italy and on flat roads of Netherlands, it was decided Andrzej would target Tour de l'Avenir later in the season and that became his only and ultimate goal of 2015.
In the process, Polish climber rode to a 4th place overall in another U-23 race - Course de la Paix U23, which bolstered his hopes for a competitive showing in August.
Despite being only 19, Andrzej was decided to race against professionals in Polish Championship. It turned out to be a good decision. Firstly- he finished decent 6th in Time Trial Championship in the race, where all best Polish riders participated.
During Road Race Championship, Andrzej managed to get himself into an early breakaway with Przemyslaw Niemiec and Pawel Bernas. Two biggest teams in the race- CCC and Active Jet, satisfied with having their riders in the break, let it go and fight for the eventual win. CCC rider was unable to match much more experienced and famous rival in Niemiec during the hilly course of the race, but 2nd place was nonetheless, his most impressive result during his short career.
The flashes of talent from young Pole attracted some interest from teams like Cofidis, Europcar and Bora-Argon, but Andrzej decided to sign with CCC for one more year in early summer.
It was finally a time to prove himself under pressure during the goal of the season. 19 years old started Tour de l'Avenir well, finishing 2nd during the opening prologue and confirmed good form finishing 8th and 2nd respectively during the next 2 stages. The first real mountains appeared on stage 5. Andrzej felt great on that day and beat the opposition by healthy margin, becoming a new overall leader of the race. Stage 7 brought another mountains and a close battle with his closest GC rival- Laurens de Plus. Belgian rider proved tho be the strongest of the two this time, but Andrzej was still able to save almost a minute of his lead in GC over his closest rival. It was pretty obvious these two tall men would battle for overall win during the last stage. De Plus attacked Polish rider at the bottom of the final climb of the race. Andrzej tried to respond by riding his own, high pace, but he turned out not to be anywhere near as strong as his opponent and had to settle for 2nd overall. At least he won points competition. Despite being beaten by De Plus, this race has to be considered as a great success for 19 years old rider that came from nowhere just few months before. That bodes well for his further career.
Straight from Tour de l'Avenir, Andrzej headed to Italy to compete on hilly course of one day race Giro del Veneto. He was not supposed to have much freedom for this race, with CCC roster including some stronger names as Davide Rebellin. But Polish youngster proved to be the strongest rider of the team that day. Intelligent riding brought him 8th place- his by far the strongest performance overall against professional riders so far during his career.
Late season didn't bring many opportunities for Andrzej and he didn't do anything worth of any notice after August, apart from getting a surprising nomination to ride for Poland during the ITT World Championship. As expected, he was only able to beat a few of his opponents and finished close to the bottom of the time table. His thoughts were already in the 2016. It's still not certain what his goals in that year will be. He will probably take it race by race, hoping the team will finally let him race bigger races. He would also like to bag more noticeable results in Continental races in order to secure a good contract from 2017 onwards. His winter training goes well so he expects to hit 2016 as a much stronger rider than 2015.
2015 season highlights:
Tour de l'Avenir - 2nd overall
Tour de l'Avenir - stage win
Tour de l'Avenir - 1st points competition
Polish Road Race Championship - 2nd
Giro del Veneto - 8th
Course de la Paix U23 - 4th overall
ZLM Roompot Tour - 6th overall
Karl Milde (19)
2nd 
20th
8th
1st
1st
2nd
1st 
Tour de Pologne
Tour des Fjords
Giro d'Italia
Estifanos Gebremeskel
Leopard Development Team - € 2,500 until 2015
Berner Rundfahrt
Team Europcar - € 2,500/Month until 2016
3rd
Destination Thy - Concordia GP
Vuelta Castilla y Leon (1 Stage Win)
1st
