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[PT] Aker - MOT 2015
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| SotD |
Posted on 22-05-2015 15:16
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World Champion
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Personally I would have preferred Guldhammer a bit better because of his age, but you have yourself some very Nice leaders there. Luckily my 2nd best GC rider is still better than both 
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| ember |
Posted on 22-05-2015 22:44
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Team Leader
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@Avin: I'm really happy with the depth indeed. I just hope they're given the chance to attack and join the breakaways in Grand Tours and other stage races. And yeah, I'm really forward to have Nesset, Galta and Hoem maxed out, that should give me some stronger cards to play considering breakaways 
@SotD: The original plan was indeed to train Guldhammer from 80 to 82, but all this talk about the importance of the resistance stat made me decide in favour of Martin considering the 82 mountain stat.
@tastasol: Yeah, I started to get worried as the price for Kristoff just went higher and higher, as I was prepared to let all other targets go to get him, but luckily it went rather well from the point where Kristoff was secured. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 18:55
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| ember |
Posted on 25-05-2015 15:31
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Our Only National Champion
Edvald Boasson Hagen won the Norwegian Championship last season, and will obviously wear the jersey showing just that from the start of this season. It's the jersey maker Sykkel_Freak who has created it, and we're happy with it as there should be no doubts Hagen is the Norwegian champion when wearing it.
I'm very happy with it, and it's a relief I will start this season in it. When I won the Norwegian championship back in 2012, I wasn't able to wear the jersey before the spring classics, and it will be nice to take it to China and Badaling International. I've great memories from the last time I was the Norwegian champion, and it give me even more motivation. Hopefully I'll be able to challenge for the wins in the Ardennes, just like I did in 2013.
Sykkel_Freak wasn't completely satisfied with the jersey he made as Campagnolo is missing from it, but we've talked to them, and they've accepted that their logo won't show. We can only give a big thank you to Sykkel_Freak for giving himself time to make another jersey for us.
A small detail that made Boasson Hagen thrilled is the picture you can see both on the front and on the back of the jersey, if you take an extra look.
Edvald Boasson Hagen's epic solo win in Amstel Gold Race back in 2013.
To see my victory salute from Amstel Gold Race back in 2013 on the jersey made me smile. That was the win I needed for my confidence, and after that win, the season just went from strength to strength for me. Hopefully I get back to winning ways this year, and I guess I only have on victory salute in my repertoire, though, I really hope I'll be strong enough to win more than once!
Aker - MOT
ember
Edited by ember on 25-05-2015 15:33
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 25-05-2015 15:36
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Classics Specialist
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Congrats, stunning national jersey shirt! |
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| ember |
Posted on 08-06-2015 10:44
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Writing History In Qatar After Disappointing Start
Admittedly Badaling International was a very poor season opener for us. Edvald Boasson Hagen avoided mechanicals and crashes, but he couldn't do better than 15th after racing passively the whole race.
Luckily Daniel Hoelgaard tried his luck in the sprint, and the young Norwegian went on to be our best rider in China, ending 11th. Not enough to make it a good start for the team.
That was disappointing indeed. We hade one of the biggest favourites pre-race, and we at least hoped Boasson Hagen would be in the mix for a good result, but he was surprisingly passive and only followed one attack where most captains were involved. Other than that, all our riders were stuck in the bunch, which isn't how we want it. That will be made clear when they come home from Asia and start to prepare for the hilly classics coming in May.
Results
| 1 | Yuri Trofimov | Tinkoff Bank - Tinkoff Insurance | 5h47'06 | | 2 | Jan Bakelants | Bouygues Telecom | + 25 | | 3 | Tejay Van Garderen | Movistar - US Postal | + 1'02 | | 11 | Daniel Hoelgaard | Aker - MOT | + 1'58 | | 15 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 29 | Rasmus Guldhammer | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 49 | Vegard Robinson Bugge | Aker - MOT | + 3'44 | | 52 | Lorents Ola Aasvold | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 75 | Sven Erik Bystrom | Aker - MOT | + 5'31 | | 84 | Kristian Dyrnes | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 130 | Lars Petter Nordhaug | Aker - MOT | s.t. |
The team manager says it was disappointing to only see this one try from EBH.
But that's enough about our disappointing start, now we look to Qatar with great excitement. Never before have we fielded a team of only Norwegians in a proper race. The eight riders making our team are:
 Alexander Kristoff | 81 SP | 75 FL | 73 PRL | Captain | | Daniel Hoelgaard | 68 SP | 72 FL | 65 PRL | Free role | | Vegard Breen | 71 SP | 75 FL | 68 PRL | Free role | | Sondre Holst Enger | 79 SP | 71 FL | 75 PRL | Free role | | Sven Erik Bystrøm | 67 SP | 71 FL | 60 PRL | Domestique | | Jo Kogstad Ringheim | 71 SP | 70 FL | 66 PRL | Domestique | | Adrian Gjølberg | 69 SP | 76 FL | 64 PRL | Domestique | | Vegard Robinson Bugge | 63 SP | 69 FL | 67 PRL | Domestique |
Those with free roles got the green light to try to go into breakaways on stage 1 and take it from there, hopefully they'll be able to pick up some bonus seconds, which will help both them and us in the fight for a top 15 in the GC. Other than that, Alexander Kristoff is the obvious captain the team will work for. Though, it's a great field lining up in Qatar, and thus our expectations are nowhere near those for Badaling. We hope he can grab a couple of top 10 on the stages and fight for a top 15 in the GC.
It feels great to lead a team of only Norwegians. Communications won't be a problem, and all riders will have a valuable role in the race. I think I can get some great help from Gjølberg and Breen thinking of the final 15 kilometers, while the others will be useful for attacks early on the stages, as they've got the tools to succeed in breakaways.
Aker - MOT |
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| ember |
Posted on 29-06-2015 23:13
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The One Who Waits For Something Good Never Waits Too Long
Admitedly our start to the season was far below par, and we arrived Tirreno-Adriatico low on confidence. Though, it was Daniel Martin's debut, and what a debut it turned out to be.
The Irish climber got through the first flat stages before he proved himself on the hilly stage 4, attacking the GC favourites and gapping all of them. Simon Spilak eventually fought his way back to our captain and gapped him, but it was a great start.
Martin and Pozzovivo gapping the favourites. Martin went on to win the stage.
Then stage 5 was an amazing show from the 29 years old climber. Not rated as one of the favourites, he attacked together with Domenic Pozzovivo (Oz Cycling Project) early on Prato di Tivo. He went on to gap Pozzovivo on the final kilometers and keep the other favourites more than a minute behind. An epic ride which also saw him take the GC lead.
I had one of my best days ever on the road. I could just push more and more, and eventhough it hurt, I was able to not slow that much and gap Pozzovivo. I must admit it's out of this world to see guys like Spilak and Schleck behind me on such a stage, but I believed in my chances after seeing it was possible to create problems for many of them on the hilly stage 4 as well.
The final mountain stage was all about defending the race lead, and Martin and the team managed that perfectly. A breakaway walked away with the bonus seconds, and Martin was able to ride his own pace and finish together with Spilak and Andy Schleck (Vesuvio-Accumalux).
On the final flat stage, Martin was never threatened, and he secured our first ever stage race win in the Pro Tour.
But there was more to come. The same day Martin showed his intentions in Italy on the fourth stage, Paris-Nice started, with this year's edition being for the puncheurs.
We brought Edvald Boasson Hagen, and our Norwegian star delivered in what turned out to be a fight between him and Yuri Trofimov (Tinkoff Bank-Tinkoff Insurance).
Our captain made the decisive move on the penultimate stage, arguably the Queen stage of the race, finishing on the well-known Mende climb. That was where Boasson Hagen proved his class.
He hit the front at the bottom of the climb and never looked back. Trofimov was forced to let go with 1500 meters left, and the Norwegian crossed the line solo with a 12 seconds gap to Trofimov. Those 12 seconds in addition to the bonus seconds proved crucial in the battle for yellow, as Boasson Hagen led with 7 seconds before the final stage.
Boasson Hagen back to winning ways on stage 7 in Paris-Nice.
It was a nervous team lining up in Nice for the final stage, but we got through it despite some nervous moments, and Boasson Hagen could celebrate after crossing the finish line, as the winner of Paris-Nice.
I've had more than a year where my performances haven't really been like I wanted them to be. That makes it even more special to finally win a stage race and prove I haven't lost it, eventhough I've heard some journalists and experts talking as if I'm over the top.
To follow it up with a podium in Milan-San Remo feels good, and it makes me fancy my sprint in other classics as well if they come down to a group sprint. In San Remo I saw that I've got the speed to challenge for the win also there.
Because there was no time for rest, as our Norwegian captain went straight to Milan-San Remo to lead our team in this year's first monument after Paris-Nice.
Diego Ulissi (Bacardi Limited) looked like the winner after a strong move on the Poggio, but he was caught with less than a kilometer left by a strong sprinting Sam Bewley (Becherovka-Petrof).
Boasson Hagen was right up there in the mix for the top placings, and the national champion sprinted home for a podium place, ending third, which is a result we're very happy with, especially as Kristoff also was up there in 12th place in the sprint. That bodes well for the classics to come!
All in all a very happy second half of February for us, Guldhammer's 15th place in Classique du Grand-Duché also deserves to be mentioned, as he was our captain in a race that didn't really suit his abilities.
Results Tirreno-Adriatico
| 1 | Daniel Martin | Aker - MOT | 31h19'30 | | 2 | Simon Spilak | Festina-Canal+ | + 1'38 | | 3 | Romain Sicard | Orange - KLM Cycling | + 3'01 | | 4 | Domenico Pozzovivo | Oz Cycling Project | + 4'04 | | 5 | Andy Schleck | Vesuvio - Accumalux | + 4'31 | | 6 | Timofey Kritskiy | Tinkoff Bank - Tinkoff Insurance | + 4'49 | | 36 | Vegard Stake Laengen | Aker - MOT | + 19'16 | | 44 | Daniel Hoelgaard | Aker - MOT | + 25'18 | | 73 | Fredrik Strand Galta | Aker - MOT | + 40'07 | | 116 | Vegard Breen | Aker - MOT | + 1h07'58 | | DNF | Sigurd Nesset | Aker - MOT |
Results Paris-Nice
| 1 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Aker - MOT | 29h37'26 | | 2 | Yuri Trofimov | Tinkoff Bank - Tinkoff Insurance | + 7 | | 3 | Toms Skujins | Red Bull - Huawei | + 2'12 | | 4 | Diego Ulissi | Bacardi Limited | + 2'31 | | 5 | Rein Taaramäe | Bouygues Telecom | + 2'57 | | 35 | Vegard Robinson Bugge | Aker - MOT | + 12'11 | | 42 | Kristian Dyrnes | Aker - MOT | + 14'44 | | 47 | Lorents Ola Aasvold | Aker - MOT | + 15'44 | | 65 | Lars Petter Nordhaug | Aker - MOT | + 22'42 | | 94 | Sondre Holst Enger | Aker - MOT | + 34'57 | | 138 | Anders Lund | Aker - MOT | + 54'14 |
Results Milan-San Remo
| 1 | Sam Bewley | Becherovka - Petrof | 7h36'38 | | 2 | Mikhail Ignatiev | Metinvest-Dacia | s.t. | | 3 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 4 | Diego Ulissi | Bacardi Limited | s.t. | | 5 | Dan Holloway | Red Bull - Huawei | s.t. | | 12 | Alexander Kristoff | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 24 | Vegard Robinson Bugge | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 47 | Vegard Breen | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 92 | Sven Erik Bystrom | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 113 | Kristian Dyrnes | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 116 | Daniel Hoelgaard | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 142 | Jo Kogstad Ringheim | Aker - MOT | s.t. |
Results Classique du Grand-Duché
| 1 | Simone Ponzi | Good Energy | 5h40'59 | | 2 | Tejay Van Garderen | Movistar - US Postal | s.t. | | 3 | Ben Gastauer | Vesuvio - Accumalux | s.t. | | 15 | Rasmus Guldhammer | Aker - MOT | + 2'03 | | 72 | Adrian Gjølberg | Aker - MOT | + 2'40 | | 81 | Sven Erik Bystrom | Aker - MOT | + 5'27 | | 82 | Sondre Sørtveit | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 88 | Bjørn Tore Hoem | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 101 | Jo Kogstad Ringheim | Aker - MOT | + 6'37 |
Aker - MOT
ember
Edited by ember on 29-06-2015 23:26
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| knockout |
Posted on 30-06-2015 13:10
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Grand Tour Champion
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What a convinving triple header for you. Martin with a surprising GC victory in Tirreno and the fight between EBH and Trofimov was really thrilling to watch as a neutral with again the better end for Aker.
And there are of course a lot of things that are worse than a podium in San Remo so it was a great MG week for your team!
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| ember |
Posted on 30-06-2015 19:14
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Team Leader
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Very true on Milan-San Remo! It's also our best ever placing there, going one better than in 2013, which made it a great race result wise for us.
Yeah, the battle between Trofimov and Boasson Hagen was thrilling, especially as I feel those fights went against Boasson Hagen most of the times last season, which only made it even better to see him get the better of the great Russian this time |
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| Selwink |
Posted on 01-07-2015 10:08
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I don't think you can complain about these latest races. If Edvald has better Ardennes than last year and Martin keeps up his form I think you might well end up very high in the rankings.
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| ember |
Posted on 01-07-2015 11:32
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Definitely no complaints from here on the second half of February, I was just saying that our start to the season had been less than we hoped for, before Tirreno-Adriatico
Looking a lot forward to see Boasson Hagen in the Ardennes, deifnitely expect him to do better than last year, but podium places are always going to be difficult with the great competition. But at least that's what I hope for considering our goals.
Speaking of Martin, Tirreno-Adriatico's hilly stage really was promising, I think (those mountain stages must have been +5 days ). Also hilly stages in other stage races have seen serious gaps, and if it continues that way, I think he might have a season better than what you would expect from a 82 climber. Though, obviously his season is already a big success with the GC in Tirreno-Adriatico!
Edited by ember on 01-07-2015 11:32
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| ember |
Posted on 11-08-2015 17:23
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Team Leader
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Huge Disappointment in the Ardennes
The most important week of the season for Aker - MOT went down as a disaster for them. The team hoped for three good races from their captain Edvald Boasson Hagen and his domestiques in Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but all they were left with was 7th, 19th and 5th place.
And with the team's goal of winning both classics in Belgium, it goes without saying the sponsors and everyone involved with the team were furious with Boasson Hagen and what they saw as a lack of will to give it a proper go and lay it all on the line for the win.
Admittedly we're only in May, but sources tell me the Norwegian Pro Tour team is now looking to get rid of Boasson Hagen after this season. Not only due to his lack of results in this year's Ardennes week, but it has now been more than a year since he actually was in contention for a win in the one day classics, which is the biggest objective of the team.
GAPPED: Edvald Boasson Hagen being dropped in Amstel Gold Race.
No doubts Boasson Hagen has improved as a stage racer in the two last years, and eventhough the team understands they can't expect another 2013 thinking of the classics, I've learnt that they are now tired of seeing him constantly perform below his supposed level in the biggest one day races.
Team manager ember didn't give a clear answer on the delicate matter, this is what he told bikepro.net:
Obviously we're not happy with the Ardennes and how Boasson Hagen has performed in general in the hilly one day classics the last 12 months. But your claims come as a surprise to me, and it's way too early to talk about 2016 and what the team will look like next year. Thus I won't make a comment suggesting one thing or the other thinking of Boasson Hagen's future.
Boasson Hagen himself just hang up the phone questioned on his future.
Another reason for the team to be disappointed in Boasson Hagen's lack of results in the Ardennes is that it was a golden opportunity for them to prove they're challenging for a podium in the overall standings this season, as the team sat 4th overall going into the Ardennes after a superb Giro d'Italia from Rasmus Guldhammer.
The Ardennes could on paper even have seen the team challenged the top spot, but they ended up loosing points to their closest rivals in the standings. Team manager ember admits it was a good chance missed, but he was also pointing out that they've also overperformed in a couple of races this season.
We've also had some great and unexpected results with Rasmus going 5th overall in the Giro being one of those, just like Dan's win in Tirreno-Adriatico. We can't avoid disappointing results in all races though, and I just hope the bad performance in the Ardennes was due to bad days and not showing Boasson Hagen's real level, which I really doubt it did, as he won Paris-Nice a couple of months before.
Per Mandagsfjord,
bikepro.net |
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| tastasol |
Posted on 11-08-2015 17:35
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Classics Specialist
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Mandagsfjord with some juicy stuff there. Clearly a very poor week for you and EBH. If he wants to come back to winning ways in the classics, he could always join a Norwegian PCT-team or something like that...
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 11-08-2015 17:39
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World Champion
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I'll have Hagen. You can have Gesink.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 11-08-2015 17:43
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Directeur Sportif
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 11-08-2015 17:49
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World Champion
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| Heine |
Posted on 11-08-2015 18:50
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Poor Ardenne after a great Paris-Nice / Tirreno-Adriatico
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| SotD |
Posted on 11-08-2015 18:54
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World Champion
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Ohh. Boasson Hagen possibly leaving? My absolute favorite rider IRL. I have to give that a go, if that is actually true...
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| ember |
Posted on 31-10-2015 10:38
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Team Leader
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Rider Development For 2016
Admittedly we failed as a Norwegian team back in 2012 when we joined the world of cycling, only having two Norwegians in our team, Anders Lund and Lars Petter Nordhaug.
We wre aware of that before we started though, as the amount of Norwegians available on the transfer market were limited. That was why we tried to sign as many as possible a season later when many talents appeared. Finally, after three years of development, they'll reach their current maximum potential before the 2016 season. And who knows, some of them might develop further in the future.
We've also got to express our thankfulness to those managers and teams that have been willing to sell Norwegian riders to us, but also to those who have been part of some of the riders development, having them on loan.
Now, when the future of our clear Norwegian captain according to Per Mandagsfjord is far from certain, we don't fear what is to come seeing how our young riders develop.
Kristian Dyrnes | XP: 4.93 --> 4.100
| 68 | 70 | 76 | 61 | 72 | 72 | 68 | 54 | 65 | 75 | 76 | 73 | 66 | | 68 | 72 | 78 | 61 | 73 | 73 | 70 | 54 | 65 | 77 | 78 | 74 | 66 |
Sven Erik Bystrøm | XP: 4.55 --> 4.100
| 71 | 67 | 76 | 60 | 73 | 71 | 66 | 56 | 67 | 74 | 76 | 72 | 60 | | 72 | 68 | 79 | 61 | 75 | 72 | 67 | 56 | 68 | 76 | 78 | 73 | 61 |
Jo Kogstad Ringheim | XP: 4.4 --> 4.100
| 70 | 68 | 67 | 66 | 73 | 70 | 72 | 76 | 71 | 75 | 66 | 67 | 66 | | 72 | 68 | 67 | 66 | 75 | 71 | 73 | 78 | 73 | 75 | 66 | 67 | 66 |
Fredrik Strand Galta | XP: 3.99 --> 4.99
| 67 | 76 | 70 | 69 | 74 | 75 | 72 | 52 | 63 | 60 | 65 | 69 | 67 | | 68 | 79 | 72 | 71 | 76 | 77 | 75 | 52 | 63 | 61 | 66 | 70 | 69 |
Bjørn Tore Hoem | XP: 4.01 --> 4.100
| 66 | 75 | 71 | 65 | 72 | 68 | 72 | 53 | 58 | 62 | 61 | 72 | 65 | | 67 | 77 | 72 | 67 | 74 | 69 | 74 | 53 | 58 | 62 | 61 | 72 | 67 |
Sigurd Nesset | XP: 4.62 --> 4.100
| 68 | 76 | 72 | 67 | 75 | 75 | 72 | 54 | 64 | 69 | 60 | 68 | 67 | | 69 | 78 | 73 | 69 | 77 | 76 | 74 | 54 | 64 | 69 | 60 | 68 | 69 |
Daniel Hoelgaard | XP: 4.04 --> 4.100
| 72 | 72 | 75 | 65 | 71 | 71 | 70 | 62 | 68 | 72 | 71 | 68 | 65 | | 72 | 74 | 77 | 65 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 62 | 68 | 74 | 73 | 69 | 65 |
Sondre Holst Enger | XP: 4.99 --> 4.100
| 71 | 62 | 68 | 71 | 70 | 71 | 76 | 58 | 79 | 76 | 62 | 68 | 75 | | 73 | 62 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 77 | 58 | 81 | 78 | 62 | 68 | 77 |
Vegard Breen | XP: 4.44 --> 4.100
| 75 | 61 | 70 | 68 | 70 | 71 | 70 | 75 | 71 | 72 | 74 | 66 | 68 | | 77 | 61 | 70 | 68 | 72 | 72 | 71 | 77 | 73 | 72 | 74 | 66 | 68 |
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| SotD |
Posted on 31-10-2015 11:10
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Those are some superb talents IMO. I really hope you are going to develop them further by training. Your team is one of my all time favorite!
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| roturn |
Posted on 31-10-2015 11:16
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Team Manager
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Bystrom, Galta, Enger. Surely 3 brilliant guys for the future. First might need some training, 2nd another development year and third should be PT ready immediately.
Well done as all others add a impressive depth behind those. Good luck with renewals though. |
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