While we're still racing in Tachira, we figuerd we could look ahead to February already. Here are the three races we will be riding in next month

// Benelux Challenge



Nick Kinney
Bjorn Selander
Jakob Rathe
Mike Friedman
John Murphy
Maxime Le Montagner
Mark Griffith
Shaquille Sinclair

This races contains cobbles, which mean Rathe will be here. Kinney and Selander will target the hills, wheras Griffith is looking for a top 10 in the prologue.

Geraardsbergen-Bosberg



Nick Kinney
Bjorn Selander
Jakob Rathe
Tareq Esmaeli
Mike Friedman
John Murphy
Maxime Le Montagner
Shaquille Sinclair

A race no one but Rathe is looking forward to. Poor Sinclair, making his new Jamaican jersey all dirty. Even covered in dirt he'll be the Hottest thing on Wheels.

GP Sallanches



Nick Kinney
Bjorn Selander
Timothy Duggan
Mauro Santambrogio
Sebastian Salas
Jakob Rathe
Tareq Esmaeli
Maxime Le Montagner

The only race in February not containing any cobbles. The amazing trio of Kinney, Selander and Duggan is aiming at a decent result here.

Profiles



Startlist



Good

Kinney was brought here as leader. He started with a decent prologue, followed by a great third place in the second stage, moving him up to 7th in the GC. Despite a little setback on stage 4, he recovered well and went on to finish 7th in the GC.



Mixed

Stage 4 contained cobbles, feared by the most of us. However, we kept the pace high all day long, which resulte in some good classifications. Rathe and Le Montagner finished 7th and 9th respectively, with the latter even grabbing the youth jersey. Kinney finished 14th but despite all our hard work, he lost time to some other favourites. Therefore this stage had mixed feelings.



Bad

Maxime Le Montanger led the youth classification after stage with a comfortable lead. This couldn't go wrong, right? Well, it did. He crashed on stage 5 and lost both his jersey and his good GC classification. And it cost us a lot of valuable points.



Results

Stage	Winner (Team)	Best Minion (Place, time)
1	Manuele Boaro (Generali)	Mark Griffith (20th, + 12)
2	Aidis Kruopis (Indosat)	Nick Kinney (3rd, s.t.)
3	Kazushige Kuboki (Actavis)	Nick Kinney (7th, s.t.)
4	Louis Verhelst (Lierse)	Jakob Rathe (7th, + 37)
5	Marc De Maar (Carlsberg)	Nick Kinney (9th, + 40)
6	Christiaan Kriek (Strava)	Nick Kinney (18th, s.t.)

GC

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Marc De Maar	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	22h58'48
2	Rudy Molard	Generali - Kronenbourg 1664	+ 31
3	Elia Favilli	Strava	+ 43
4	Aidis Kruopis	Indosat - ANZ	+ 49
5	Jukka Vastaranta	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 52
7	Nick Kinney	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 1'35
21	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 7'05
25	Maxime Le Montagner	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 10'05
41	Bjorn Selander	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 14'54
116	John Murphy	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 30'42
123	Shaquille Sinclair	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 33'09
134	Mike Friedman	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 38'42
149	Mark Griffith	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 49'14

Profiles



Startlist



Good

We showed ourselves. Selander found himself in the break on stages 1, 2 and 5. On stage 5, he even managed to ride towards third place! Kinney went into the break on stage 8, with no success. Stage 9 was for Montenegro, who was still in the lead with 5 kilometers to go and went on to finish in 11th. Lastly, it was our leader Martinez, 17th in the GC at that time, to attack on stage 10. He went on to finish third in stage and moved up towards 6th in the GC. Lots of points here.



Mixed

The question that haunted us throughout the race was: was it wise for us to race here? We knew beforehand the startlist would be strong, and sending Martinez was going to be a huge gamble. We and SanCor were the only teams from CT to dare and race here. Before the final stage we would've said it was a mistake. Martinez disappointed us with a not so good GC position, and the only points so far came of Selander's 'lucky' third place. The final stage turned things around, we scores a lot of points from that stage alone. We might've better spend our racedays on the Tour of the Middle East or something, but we're lucky this race brought us decent points.

Bad

Well, there is something we might've done better. We send all three of our hilly leaders here, but only Selander scores points. Kinney was disappointing, Duggan hasn't been seen at all. 10 waisted racedays for those two chaps.

Results

Stage	Winner (Team)	Best Minion (Place, time)
1	Nacer Bouhanni (Euskaltel)	Mike Friedman (14th, s.t.)
2	Alexander Krieger (Aegon)	Yasmani Martinez (28th, s.t.)
3	Óscar Avelino (Prio)	Yasmani Martinez (24th, s.t.)
4	Carlos Barredo (SanCor)	Yasmani Martinez (29th, + 1'18)
5	Blaz Bogataj (ONCE)	Bjorn Selander (3rd, s.t.)
6	Eduard Beltran (Nutresa)	Yasmani Martinez (16th, + 2'19)
7	Juan Murillo (Azteca)	Yasmani Martinez (20th, + 3'33)
8	José Rujano (Mobil)	Nick Kinney (32nd, + 1'22)
9	Emanuele Sella (Siam Cement)	Fabio Montenegro (11th, + 1'57)
10	Bart De Clercq (Bpost)	Yasmani Martinez (3rd, s.t.)

GC

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Emanuele Sella	Siam Cement - Lenovo	31h32'19
2	José Rujano	Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo	+ 2'38
3	Florentino Marquez	Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling	+ 5'08
4	Magno Nazaret	Buff - Polska	+ 7'04
5	Daan Olivier	Aegon - Lavazza	+ 8'03
6	Yasmani Martinez	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 8'10
48	Sebastian Salas	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 25'34
53	Fabio Montenegro	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 29'23
59	Timothy Duggan	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 37'44
63	Bjorn Selander	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 42'33
68	Nick Kinney	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 49'35
77	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 1h01'26
113	Mike Friedman	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 1h49'19

Profile



Startlist



Good

Shaquille Sinclair is still the hottest thing on wheels. These girls can't beat him



Mixed

Rathe attacked mid-stage, and managed to hang on to the group of favourites. Unfortunately he was eventually dropped, but held on to 12th place.



Bad

Kinney came here as our co-leader with Rathe, but we haven't seen him since the start. The cobbles were too tough on him, and the rest of our team. The Minions will destroy every cobblestone on the planet, so this won't happen again.

Results

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Sebastian Langeveld	Strava	5h07'49
2	Marc De Maar	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	+ 28
3	Dmitri Kozontchuk	Compal-Merida	+ 2'00
4	Stijn Joseph	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team	+ 2'35
5	Niki Østergaard	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	+ 3'59
12	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 5'11
50	Maxime Le Montagner	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 13'08
51	Tareq Esmaeli	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
62	Nick Kinney	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 14'40
69	John Murphy	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 16'09
81	Bjorn Selander	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 17'30
144	Mike Friedman	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 19'51
154	Shaquille Sinclair	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 22'50

Profile



Startlist



Good

We didn't buy Santambrogio for these kinds of hilly classics, be he proves to be a great allround rider by taking a suprise 9th place, ahead of Kinney, of whom we thought the course would be too mountanious!

Mixed

Frenchman Le Montagner has the perfect name for this race, until we realized he is actually more of a sprinter. Some Minion didn't do his homework...



Bad

Selander was dropped pretty quickly, making his efforts uselss.

Results

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Jukka Vastaranta	DeLaval - Kiitokori	5h00'20
2	Andrey Zeits	Netia - Norske Skog	+ 19
3	Winner Anacona	DeLaval - Kiitokori	s.t.
4	Phillip Gaimon	In-n-Out Cycling Team Powered By Carrefour	s.t.
5	Zsolt Der	Netia - Norske Skog	+ 30
9	Mauro Santambrogio	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
10	Nick Kinney	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
36	Bjorn Selander	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 4'03
48	Timothy Duggan	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 4'32
61	Sebastian Salas	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 7'50
68	Tareq Esmaeli	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
85	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 8'29
107	Maxime Le Montagner	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 11'49

Two stage races on our menu in March. One race in Argentina and th eother one in Italy. Both include mountain stages and time trials, Martinez will ride both.

Tour de San Luis



Yasmani Martinez
Nick Kinney
Chad Haga
Taylor Tolleson
Fabio Montenegro
Timothy Duggan
Mark Griffith
Shaquille Sinclair

A time trial and a mountatin finish down south in Argentina. Martinez is one of the biggest favourites here. Kinney will have his eye set on the hilly stages. Tolleson will attempt the sprints.

Giro del Trentino



Yasmani Martinez
Chad Haga
Fabio Montenegro
Mauro Santambrogio
Sebastian Salas
Alex Howes
Tareq Esmaeli
Mark Griffith

Later that month, we will be participating in the Giro del Trentino. A team time trial and 3 mountain stages. Martinez will lead, with Haga, Montenegro and Salas as support. Santambrogio will ride his home race.

Profiles



Startlist



Good

We expected the most from Martinez, but inthe end it was Griffith who took our best stage result. He rode a kinda disappointing time trial in the Tour of Benelux, but he revanched himself here by finishing 6th! Martinez had finished 6th on the hilly stag the day before as well!



Mixed

Yasmani Martinez. He was arguably the best rider on paper. He was third in the GC with the TT still to come, but he didn't ride a good TT, staying in 3rd place. He dropped to 4th place after stage 6, and kept that place until the end. We wanted the win and nothing less. 4th is not bad, but we wished for more.



Bad

Why did we bring Kinney here? He didn't show himself in the hilly stages, but instead places a full retard attack in the final kilometers in the final stages that was doomed to fail. He still has to learn hisspot in the team.



Results

Stage	Winner (Team)	Best Minion (Place, time)
1	Alois Kankovský (BelarusBank)	Yasmani Martinez (21th, s.t.)
2	Aidis Kruopis (Indosat)	Taylor Tolleson (11th, s.t.)
3	Oskar Omarsson (Verkefnid)	Yasmani Martinez (6th, + 1'40)
4	Thomas Bontenackels (Akzonobel)	Mark Griffith (6th, + 28)
5	Julián Rodas (SanCor)	Yasmani Martinez (20th, + 3'09)
6	Mauricio Soler (Alpina)	Yasmani Martinez (8th, + 1'27)
7	Christian Mager (In-n-Out)	Taylor Tolleson (11th, s.t.)

GC

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Mauricio Soler	Alpina - Avianca	22h42'05
2	Wilson Marentes	Actavis - DKSH	+ 35
3	Gabor Kasa	Severstal-Mercator	+ 1'06
4	Yasmani Martinez	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 1'30
5	Joey Rosskopf	In-n-Out Cycling Team Powered By Carrefour	+ 1'36
12	Chad Haga	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 2'39
24	Timothy Duggan	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 3'24
25	Fabio Montenegro	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 3'27
49	Nick Kinney	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 8'57
74	Taylor Tolleson	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 14'27
108	Shaquille Sinclair	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 22'11
129	Mark Griffith	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 37'51

Profiles



Startlist



Good

Despite his know hatred for mountains, Mark Griffith finished the race. Kudos.

Mixed

Esmaeli (in his Qatari-NC) and Santambrogio both went into the break at some point. Both failed, but at least we showed our colours.



Bad

Something was wrong with Martinez. First, he was dropped in the team time trial. He couldn't impress in the mountain stages, with an 14th place being his highest. His 9th place in the GC was not what we had hoped for.

Results

Stage	Winner (Team)	Best Minion (Place, time)
1 (TTT)	Akzonobel - Statoil	8th, + 15
2	Mikel Nieve (Indosat)	Yasmani Martinez (18th, + 3'34)
3	Michael Matthews (Compal)	Yasmani Martinez (26th, s.t.)
4	Jakub Novak (In-n-Out)	Yasmani Martinez (14th, + 1'33)
5	Pierre Rolland (Generali)	Yasmani Martinez (14th, + 5'36)

GC

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Winner Anacona	DeLaval - Kiitokori	19h10'53
2	Jakub Novak	In-n-Out Cycling Team Powered By Carrefour	+ 1'07
3	Mikel Nieve	Indosat - ANZ	+ 2'17
4	Mauricio Soler	Alpina - Avianca	+ 4'40
5	Andreas Landa	Verkefnid Iceland	+ 4'42
9	Yasmani Martinez	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 5'32
27	Fabio Montenegro	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 9'50
51	Sebastian Salas	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 18'25
63	Tareq Esmaeli	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 23'19
75	Alex Howes	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 26'04
82	Chad Haga	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 28'43
113	Mauro Santambrogio	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 52'33
168	Mark Griffith	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 1h35'39

The fourth month of the year already, and still no victory for us so far. Is there a possibility we can score our first succes in April?

Zimnyanya GP



Taylor Tolleson
Mauro Santambrogio
Jakob Rathe
Tareq Esmaeli
Mike Friedman
John Murphy
Maxime Le Montagner
Shaquille Sinclair

A flat classic in Belarus. Tolleson will lead us, but we don't expect a victory here. We hope a late attack by him or Santambrogio can cause some havoc, else a top-20 will do for us.

Philadelphia International Championship



Taylor Tolleson
Mauro Santambrogio
Jakob Rathe
Tareq Esmaeli
Mike Friedman
John Murphy
Maxime Le Montagner
Shaquille Sinclair

The exact same squad will race in Philadelphia 2 weeks later. The profile is quite similar but we expect an even stronger startlist here. The break might be our best option, and that's why we brought our 2 national champions to show off their jerseys: Esmaeli and Sinclair.

Profile



Startlist



Good

With a strong sprinters field, we didn't expect a major result here. Santambrogio was our best finisher in 13th. Tolleson was 18th, Murphy 20th, Friedman 21st and Sinclair 27th. That's some valuable points in a race which isn't really made for us.

Mixed

Esmaeli showed the brown and white of his Qatari NC in the break, making a "collectors item" according to the reporters. He was the first to be caught again though.



Bad

For reasons unknown we decided to set up a sprint train with 5 kilometers to go. A mere kilometer later and it was off the front and in the busy midfield, meaning we couldn't bring our sprinter(s) to the leading batch of sprinters.



Results

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Aleksandr Serebriakov	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	3h51'34
2	Claudio Corioni	Strava	s.t.
3	Maximiliano Richeze	SanCor Cycling Team	s.t.
4	Anthony Lavoine	Fablok - Dunlop	s.t.
5	Luka Mezgec	OTP Bank - Slovnaft	s.t.
13	Mauro Santambrogio	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
18	Taylor Tolleson	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
20	John Murphy	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
21	Mike Friedman	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
27	Shaquille Sinclair	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
59	Maxime Le Montagner	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
99	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
103	Tareq Esmaeli	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.

Profile



Startlist



Good

In this prestigious C1-race with a lot of points available, Santambrogio took a suprising yet brilliant 11th place. 12 points in the pocket!

Mixed

We couldn't get one of our riders in the break, and therefore no free TV-time. They were caught, so it wouldn't have mattered racewise anyway.

Bad

No camera could catch a glimpse of Shaq's beautiness.

Results

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Arnaud Demare	Team Puma - SAP	4h08'49
2	Juan Van Heerden	Eritel - Sonatrach	+ 19
3	Gatis Smukulis	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
4	Michael Mørkøv	Netia - Norske Skog	s.t.
5	Raúl Granjel Cabrera	Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo	s.t.
11	Mauro Santambrogio	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 37
27	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
41	Taylor Tolleson	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
58	Tareq Esmaeli	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
88	Mike Friedman	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 1'13
106	John Murphy	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 1'52
115	Maxime Le Montagner	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
128	Shaquille Sinclair	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.

The fifth month already! The season is going pretty fast, but still without a top spot for us. There's definately a chance this month though. May the bananas be with us!

Rund um den Eschborn-Frankfurt



Taylor Tolleson
Mauro Santambrogio
Jakob Rathe
Tareq Esmaeli
Mike Friedman
John Murphy
Maxime Le Montagner
Shaquille Sinclair

Not here though. We expect Tolleson to lead us on paper, but Santambrogio will propably be our best finisher, like every flat classic this season so far.

Tour of Scotland



Yasmani Martinez
Nick Kinney
Taylor Tolleson
Bjorn Selander
Sebastian Salas
Alex Howes
John Murphy
Maxime Le Montagner

The inaugural six-day Tour of Scotland cointains a mountain stage, which means Martinez is here to win it, or the GC. Kinney and Selander will contend the hilly stage, and Tolleson will be lucky witha top 10 in a flat stage.

Profile



Startlist



Good

14th place for Santambrogio is the best thing that happened during this race. Conclusion: it wasn't an awesome race.



Mixed

There were no Minions watching the race, but they enjoyed a nice, relaxing holiday at the beach instead. They'll be back in cold Scotland though.



Bad

Esmaeli was the one who caught the break. We set up a train. The train failed. Déja vu?



Results

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Vyacheslav Kuznetsov	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	4h50'57
2	Grega Bole	Severstal-Mercator	s.t.
3	Valentin Iglinski	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
4	Anthony Lavoine	Fablok - Dunlop	s.t.
5	Mickaël Delage	In-n-Out Cycling Team Powered By Carrefour	s.t.
14	Mauro Santambrogio	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
19	John Murphy	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
27	Taylor Tolleson	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
30	Tareq Esmaeli	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
43	Mike Friedman	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
110	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 4'14
161	Maxime Le Montagner	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.
164	Shaquille Sinclair	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	s.t.

Profiles



Startlist



Good

The Minions movie was a box office hit.

Mixed

The bright light in Scotland came from our new acquisition Nick Kinney, finishing 7th on the hilly stage. Unfortunately he wasn't strong enough to play a role in the GC.



Bad

Some Minion-hooligans couldn't control themselves and threw bananas on the road, causing Martinez, Selander and a few others. The MBI (Minion Bureau of Investigation) is starting an investigation, with the main suspects being Steve and Phil, who were both fired from our team last season.



Results

Stage	Winner (Team)	Best Minion (Place, time)
1	Aleksandr Serebriakov (Novatek)	John Murphy (11th, s.t.)
2	Aleksandr Serebriakov (Novatek)	Yasmani Martinez (28th, s.t.)
3	Christoph Pfingsten (Strava)	Nick Kinney (7th, + 1'40)
4	Anthony Lavoine (Fablok)	Bjorn Selander (42nd, s.t.)
5	Matej Jurco (OTP Bank)	Nick Kinney (24th, + 32)
6	Nabil Baz (Sodexo)	Yasmani Martinez (31st, + 5'32)

GC

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Nabil Baz	Sodexo ProCycling	20h54'12
2	Tyler Brandt	Gatorade - SIS	+ 1'08
3	Yoann Bagot	Verkefnid Iceland	+ 1'09
4	Richard Ochoa Quintero	BelarusBank Pro Cycling	+ 1'17
5	Phillip Gaimon	In-n-Out Cycling Team Powered By Carrefour	+ 3'06
28	Sebastian Salas	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 6'53
42	Bjorn Selander	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 9'05
65	Nick Kinney	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 14'26
77	Alex Howes	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 14'42
79	Yasmani Martinez	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 15'01
98	Taylor Tolleson	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 17'23
138	Maxime Le Montagner	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 25'42
155	John Murphy	Chiquita - Universal p/b Minions	+ 36'29

The world has reached the month of June and the Minions want a victory soon. That rhymes, yay!

GP Herning



Bjorn Selander
Mauro Santambrogio
Jakob Rathe
Tareq Esmaeli
Mike Friedman
John Murphy
Maxime Le Montagner
Shaquille Sinclair

Cobblestones, not good.

Circulo de Juarez



Taylor Tolleson
Timothy Duggan
Mauro Santambrogio
Alex Howes
Tareq Esmaeli
John Murphy
Maxime Le Montagner
Shaquille Sinclair

Our first goal race of the season, the points jersey. We hope on Santambrogio doing the impossible, because we know Tolleson won't do anything.

Tour of Iceland



Nick Kinney
Chad Haga
Bjorn Selander
Sebastian Salas
Jakob Rathe
Tareq Esmaeli
Mike Friedman
Mark Griffith

Kinney, Selander for the hills, Haga, Griffith for the time trial. We have a shot at a victory here, maybe.

Monterrey TTT



Yasmani Martinez
Nick Kinney
Chad Haga
Timothy Duggan
Mauro Santambrogio
Alex Howes
John Murphy
Mark Griffith

Our best possible time trial squad. Yes, the competition will be strong, but top 10? Possible.