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[PCT] Team Kenya Airways 2015
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 29-07-2015 23:01
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 Tour of South Africa
Ben Nasser on the attack on stage 6
After winning this race last year hopes were high entering the race with both Ben Nasser and Impey on the startline as we looked for two good results on our home continent.
The first three days of the race were disappointing as our leaders finished in the peloton and on the only flat stage, despite being the among the strongest sprinters present Impey didn't participate. However, a solid TTT where we finished 4th was a sign our fortunes were turning.
On stage 5, Rossetto got in the breakaway and managed to finish 2nd which was a good result. What made it even better was that Ben Nasser was the best of the favourites in 3rd, a finish which moved him into 2nd overall. He made a move on the final stage (above) to try and win the race once again, but he was unsuccessful and eventually had to settle for second.
It was a good finish which maintains our good record at this race with podiums in consecutive years. It didn't go perfectly with Impey performing well below expectations but we are happy one of our leaders fired and brought in some points after a poor last few races.
Results
| Stage 1 |  Hassen Ben Nasser | 7th | | Stage 2 | Daryl Impey | 12th | | Stage 3 | Hassen Ben Nasser | 17th | | Stage 4 |  Team Kenya Airways | 4th | | Stage 5 |  Stéphane Rossetto | 2nd | | Stage 5 | Hassen Ben Nasser | 3rd | | Stage 6 | Hassen Ben Nasser | 11th | | Teams | Team Kenya Airways | 1st |
GC
| 1 |  Maxime Monfort | Gazelle | 23h57'50 | | 2 | Hassen Ben Nasser | Team Kenya Airways | + 35 | | 3 |  Domenik Klemme | Grupo Nutresa | + 1'08 | | ..... | | 20 | Daryl Impey | Team Kenya Airways | + 4'56 |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 15-08-2015 19:49
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 Tour d'Azerbaijan
Kudus in the white jersey on Stage 3
Our only C2 adventure of the year was a real success for the team, as Merhawi Kudus made it a worthwhile trip to Azerbaijan. The young Eritrean attacked away on stage 2 and finished with the front group in 3rd, moving him onto the GC podium.
His high GC position looked threatened on stage 3, when attacks saw many of Kudus' rivals up the road, but he managed to ride his way back into contention on the final climb to claim 10th on the day and hold onto a top 5 overall and his white jersey.
Results
| Young Riders |  Merhawi Kudus | 1st |
GC
| 1 |  VÃctor Hugo Orozco | Alpina - Avianca | 10h51'07 | | 2 |  Chris Anker Sørensen | DeLaval - Kiitokori | + 25 | | 3 |  Cleberson Weber | Alpina - Avianca | + 33 | | ..... | | 5 | Merhawi Kudus | Team Kenya Airways | + 56 |
 Tour de Romandie
Kwiatkowski sprinting in the white jersey on stage 5
We then travelled to Switzerland for the Tour de Romandie where we sent Kwiatkowski in the hope he would continue his good form this year. It was another polish rider who took the early race lead for us though, with Maciej Bodnar claiming the opening prologue.
By the time the hills and mountains came though Kwiatkowski was back fighting at the front, and a 7th place on the decisive mountainous stage 5 meant he added another GC podium to his growing palmares with us, finishing 3rd overall. He also took the white jersey once again, something he has done in every stage race he has raced this year.
Results
| Stage 1 |  Maciej Bodnar | 1st | | Young Riders | Michal Kwiatkowski | 1st |
GC
| 1 |  Luis Leon Sanchez Gil | Evonik - ELKO | 16h23'14 | | 2 |  Tanel Kangert | Gazelle | + 29 | | 3 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. |
 Dutch Food Valley Classic
 / 30th Apr
Us on the front of the peloton
We sent our leader Impey to Holland of the two flat classics ending the month, but unfortunately it happened to be the one where the breakaway survived. We tried to haul the attackers back in but in the end it wasn't enough and Impey had to settle for 5th place despite being the third fastest sprinter in the finish.
Result
| 1 |  Sean Downey | Pendleton's | 4h20'28 | | 2 | Sven Vandousselaere | Team BPost | s.t. | | 3 |  Mark Cavendish | Eddie Stobart Procycling | s.t. | | ..... | | 5 | Daryl Impey | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. |
Interlagos GP
/ 30th Apr
Hoffman sprinting to victory for Project
We couldn't bring strong squads to both races so we had to settle for a team looking from experience from the race. As expected, we didn't get any result or points. Fellow African team Project: Africa managed to take victory though with a great sprint from South African Nolan Hoffman.
Result
| 1 | Nolan Hoffman | Project: Africa | 3h48'24 | | 2 | Tosh Van der Sande | Eritel - Sonatrach | s.t. | | 3 |  Heinrich Haussler | Karcher-Adira | s.t. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 18-08-2015 14:53
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 Tour of Japan
Kwiatkowski celebrating victory on stage 3!
After lots of racing so far this season the Tour of Japan signalled an end to Michal Kwiatkowski's busy schedule for now, with a 3 month break after this race for the Polish rider. There was no signs of a loss in form though, with him finishing second overall in another impressive performance.
Stage 1 began the race well for the team with Bookwalter in the top 5 in the opening prologue. A quiet flat stage followed before the first of two hilly stages. Kwiatkowski managed to breakaway in the last few kilometres as part of a trio and was the strongest in the sprint, claiming the stage and the GC lead!
However both riders in the group were better climbers than him and during the MTT Dario Cataldo managed to utilise this by beating him by a big margin and overtaking the GC lead.
On the final hilly stage Kwiatkowski made an effort to attack and win the race but he couldn't get a big enough gap and had to settle for second overall. Still, this race was yet another big scorer for him and the team, with the points jersey and yet another young riders competition won. We'll need our other leaders to step up now to try and fill Kwiatkowski's shoes.
Results
| Stage 1 |  Brent Bookwalter | 5th | | Stage 3 | Michal Kwiatkowski | 1st | | Points | Michal Kwiatkowski | 1st | | Young Riders | Michal Kwiatkowski | 1st |
GC
| 1 |  Dario Cataldo | Team Vontobel | 15h11'17 | | 2 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Kenya Airways | + 22 | | 3 |  George Bennett | Project: Africa | + 3'11 |
 Volcan de Agua Classic
 / 8th May
Samwel climbing in his Kenyan champion's jersey
A trip to Guatemala for the brutal Volcan de Agua Classic was not the best for the team, with leader Mwangi Samwel continuing his unremarkable season, finishing down in 13th. It is still a points scoring finish from him though, at least an improvement on his dire performance at our home race the Kenyan Mountain Classic in March.
Result
| 1 |  Janez Brajkovic | ONCE-Eroski | 5h41'22 | | 2 |  José Rujano | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | + 31 | | 3 | Emanuele Sella | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. | | ..... | | 13 | Mwangi Samwel | Team Kenya Airways | + 4'48 |
 Scandinavian Open Road Race
 / 12th May
Ben Nasser is beaten by Reimer on the line for the final podium position
The next in the series of hilly classics on the PCT calendar this season was in Sweden, with Ben Nasser leading us. It was mainly a quiet race until the final climb, where a group of favourites attacked away including Ben Nasser ahead of the sprint. In the end it came down to a group of 6 riders for the win, and the Tunisian finished a respectable 4th to bring a decent amounts of points from this race.
Result
| 1 | Jay McCarthy | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | 4h23'46 | | 2 | Robin van der Hugenhaben | Team TomTom | s.t. | | 3 | Martin Reimer | Swedbank-PEAB | + 12 | | 4 | Hassen Ben Nasser | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. |
Berlin ProRace
/ 16th May
Konte holding off the peloton, with Impey sprinting behind
We came to Berlin optimistic for another strong result in the flat classics with leader Impey finishing 3rd out of the sprinters in the Netherlands last month. However, like that race the sprinters were once again beaten by an attacker, with Vink taking the win from the break.
Thankfully for us, Konte was also in the break for us, and despite being caught just before the line the Ivorian managed to finish in a brilliant 5th place which we never expected. Even better, Impey was second in the sprint and therefore picked up a 3rd place here, making it a hugely successful race for the team.
Result
| 1 | Michael Vink | Risa - Ergon | 4h55'44 | | 2 | Jonas Ahlstrand | Swedbank-PEAB | + 25 | | 3 | Daryl Impey | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. | | 4 |  Raúl Granjel Cabrera | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | s.t. | | 5 |  Bassirou Konte | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. |
In other news, the Tour of the Czech Republic has been delayed as a result of a problem with the race's profile, and will therefore be reviewed in the near future instead of this month.
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 19-08-2015 21:35
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 18-08-2015 15:14
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Some great results recently 
.: Manager of :.
.: My Awards :.
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 18-08-2015 16:30
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Thanks. Our only consistent scorer in Kwiatkowski stops racing now though for a few months so we'll have to hope the likes of Impey and Ben Nasser step up and keep the points coming in to keep the promotion push going. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 20-08-2015 15:01
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While I'm waiting for the expansion pack update I thought I'd do a few mid-season updates here on our leader's performances and what races they have left this season.
Michal Kwiatkowski
No doubt the best rider so far this season for us has been new addition Michal Kwiatkowski, who has taken almost no time to adapt to life in Kenya with 2 victories and 6 other jerseys already won this season.
The highlight of his season so far was definitely the Tour of Eritrea, where he took the overall classification on the final day. However, there have been great performances everywhere he has been, with podiums in Japan, Romandie and Gisborne, with another top 10 coming in Catalunya. Adding 4 white jerseys and 2 points competitions, we are hugely pleased with his performances so far.
| Race | Position | Other Results | | Tour of Eritrea | 1st | 1st Points + Young Riders | | Volta a Catalunya | 6th | 1st Young Riders | | Gisborne GP | 3rd | - | | Tour de Romandie | 3rd | 1st Young Riders | | Tour of Japan | 2nd | 1st Stage 3 + Points + Young Riders |
Still To Come...
Unfortunately for us Michal has already raced the majority of his races this year, although he still has 3 races left on his calendar. Starting in August at the Volta a Portugal, he then finishes off his season with two races in October, first racing Milano - Torino before the Tour of Beijing.
 Volta a Portugal | August | | Milano - Torino | October |  Tour of Beijing | October |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 20-08-2015 15:24
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Portugal should be a nice terrain for Kwiatek! Don't know the exact amount of TT kms, but I doubt there's too many TT-beasts, who could be a GC threat anyway.
Dunno, if LLS will be racing, but this would be a nice clash between at least two riders of the season! And Gazelle? Kangert? They would even be a threat with Koren, I guess 
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 20-08-2015 15:41
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tsmoha wrote:
Portugal should be a nice terrain for Kwiatek! Don't know the exact amount of TT kms, but I doubt there's too many TT-beasts, who could be a GC threat anyway.
Dunno, if LLS will be racing, but this would be a nice clash between at least two riders of the season! And Gazelle? Kangert? They would even be a threat with Koren, I guess
Well it's Prio's win goal so Machado might be there as well, although it would be a huge risk with just the one mountain stage.
I think there's 35 TT kilometres, so LLS there would definitely make for an interesting GC battle. Judging on current form though I'd rather he didn't turn up, likewise Kangert and Koren |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 20-08-2015 15:59
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Daryl Impey
Another new arrival, Daryl Impey arrived for a big fee in the off season and many people expected him to be a very strong scorer for us. Much of the spotlight up to this point has been stolen by Kwiatkowski but the South African has done well, picking up 2 victories in well under half of his total racedays.
The dominant win at the Barcelona Classic in February was the major highlight, after Daryl had won a stage at the TDU on the way to 7th overall. A disappointing performance at his home race in South Africa was the only real poor performance, with two HC flat classic podiums against strong opposition showing his class in the sprints.
| Race | Position | Other Results | | Tour Down Under | 7th | 1st Stage 1 + Points | | Barcelona Classic | 1st | - | | Strade Bianche | 27th | - | | Tour of South Africa | 20th | - | | Dutch Food Valley Classic | 3rd | - | | Berlin ProRace | 3rd | - |
Still To Come...
As said above, Daryl still has plenty of races to go this season, and his performances will be a big factor in whether we can continue to push for promotion this year considering he has at least one race in every month until the end of the season. We're especially looking forward to races such as Denmark, Plouay, and Paris - Tours where we think he could be capable of victory.
 Tour of Norway | June | | Post Danmark Rundt | July |  Melaka Governor's Cup | August | | Tour of Britain | September |  Grands Prix Cyclistes | September | | GP Plouay | September | | Paris - Tours | October |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 22-08-2015 21:17
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Hassen Ben Nasser
After being by far our top rider last year, Hassen Ben Nasser has now become one of a few stars here but that hasn't stopped him from performing, with top-5 performances in 4 of his 5 races so far.
A 3rd place at Strade Bianche was unfortunately not enough to complete our goal there. A poor showing at the Seskin Classic in Ireland wasn't ideal either, but the Tunisian has bounced back since with a strong 2nd place finish at the Tour of South Africa, despite not being able to defend his titles. Consecutive 4th places in Sweden and the Czech Republic brought in valuable points as well. Overall a good few races, where his consistency has been very solid.
| Race | Position | Other Results | | Strade Bianche | 3rd | - | | Seskin Classic | 15th | - | | Tour of South Africa | 2nd | 3rd Stage 5 | | Scandinavian Open Road Race | 4th | - |  Tour of the Czech Republic | 4th | 2nd Stage 1 |
Still To Come...
Hassen still has plenty of racedays left on the calendar, racing for us every month up to the end of the season. 4 classics make up his schedule including goal races Manx International and Clasica San Sebastian. The other two races are stage races where we hope he can continue to get top-5's like so far this season.
| Nelspruit Classic | June | | Tour of Norway | June | | Manx International | July | | Clasica San Sebastian | August | | Tour of Britain | September | | Grands Prix Cyclistes | September | | Milano - Torino | October |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 27-08-2015 22:51
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Tour of the Czech Republic
Ben Nasser sprinting with Sanchez on stage 2
To round off May the team went to the Czech Republic for one of the most hilly races on the calendar. With all 5 days on hilly terrain, the race was certainly suited to Hassen Ben Nasser, so the Tunisian would lead us and try to get a top-5 overall.
It was a quiet start to the race on stage 1 for us as the break took the win but things really picked up on stage 2, where Ben Nasser was in contention and was edged into second place in the sprint by eventual race winner Sanchez.
From that point onwards, apart from a couple of breakaway appearances from Konte and Rossetto we weren't able to replicate a finish like that, and although Ben Nasser lost time on all remaining stages to some of his GC rivals he was able to hold onto a respectable 4th place overall in what was a strong field.
Results
| Stage 2 | Hassen Ben Nasser | 2nd |
GC
| 1 | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil | Evonik - ELKO | 23h10'49 | | 2 | Maxime Monfort | Gazelle | + 55 | | 3 | Jay McCarthy | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | + 1'29 | | 4 | Hassen Ben Nasser | Team Kenya Airways | + 2'46 |
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| knockout |
Posted on 28-08-2015 17:07
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FroomeDog99 wrote:
tsmoha wrote:
Portugal should be a nice terrain for Kwiatek! Don't know the exact amount of TT kms, but I doubt there's too many TT-beasts, who could be a GC threat anyway.
Dunno, if LLS will be racing, but this would be a nice clash between at least two riders of the season! And Gazelle? Kangert? They would even be a threat with Koren, I guess
Well it's Prio's win goal so Machado might be there as well, although it would be a huge risk with just the one mountain stage.
I think there's 35 TT kilometres, so LLS there would definitely make for an interesting GC battle. Judging on current form though I'd rather he didn't turn up, likewise Kangert and Koren
I have good news for you: I'm pretty sure that I did not send LLS but only Siskevicius and Geschke. I was not prepared to spend so many race days on a single race when he only has so few.
Instead he will face Ben Nasser in some extra classics.
Great idea with these mid season recaps. I might steals it for my two stars as well 
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 28-08-2015 17:25
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That's definitely good news. With so many race days, it was a gamble for us as well. I just hope it pays off with a good amount of points. Geschke and Siskevicus should be a nice duo for all of the hilly stages, and with just the one mountain stage you could get a surprise result.
Feel free to do some recaps as well, more HQ updates are always welcome. I look forward to reading them if you get the time! |
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| knockout |
Posted on 28-08-2015 18:36
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I thought so as well when doing season planning but after what I've seen during the season I'm not convinced anymore.
Kwiatek is definitely a top contender for Portugal no matter who starts as well. Looking forward to see how he ( and my duo ) will do.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 06-09-2015 11:18
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Nelspruit Classic
/ 20th June
Kelderman celebrates victory in South Africa
Our first race of June was one of our most important this season, as we have a top-5 goal here. The team showed this by doing absolutely nothing, with our best finisher being Bassirou Konte in 41st. Next race please.
Result
| 1 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Puma - SAP | 5h06'11 | | 2 | Jay McCarthy | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. | | 3 | Domenik Klemme | Grupo Nutresa | + 15 |
Tour of Norway
All 8 riders chasing after falling behind on stage 4
With Ben Nasser and Impey both starting for us in Norway for a stage race with a mix of hilly and flat stages, our hopes were high of a good result from one or even both of them. However, out leaders had their races ruined by successful breaks on both hilly stages, and crosswinds on the final stage, meaning we got absolutely nothing from the race, yet another failure for the team. The less said the better once again.
GC
| 1 | Alessandro Proni | Akzonobel - Statoil | 17h36'57 | | 2 | William Chiarello | Karcher-Adira | + 9 | | 3 | Nathan Haas | Risa - Ergon | + 13 |
 Monterrey TTT
 / 29th June
The team riding on the way to a podium finish
Our final race of the month was probably the race with our lowest expectations, with an average TTT squad heading for Mexico for the Monterrey TTT. With a few hills on the course, we decided to send a few hilly riders as well to improve the team in those sections, and that tactic seemed to work, with the team unexpectedly getting 3rd! A good way to finish a horrible month for the team.
Result
| 1 | RBC Pro Cycling | 1h18'07 | | 2 | Aegon - Lavazza | + 9 | | 3 | Team Kenya Airways | + 10 |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 10-09-2015 19:48
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| Team | Total | RD | PpRD | Proj | | 1 |  Gazelle | 2332 | 91 | 25.63 | 3588 | | 2 |  Team Kenya Airways | 1844 | 77 | 23.95 | 3353 | | 3 |  Aegon - Lavazza | 2481 | 104 | 23.86 | 3340 | | 4 |  Evonik - ELKO | 1941 | 84 | 23.11 | 3235 | | 5 |  Team Bpost | 2212 | 99 | 22.34 | 3128 | | 6 |  Team Puma - SAP | 2099 | 98 | 21.42 | 2999 | | 7 |  Karcher-Adira | 1847 | 95 | 19.44 | 2722 | | 8 |  Prio - Porto | 1388 | 72 | 19.28 | 2699 |
After June and now into the second half of the season, the rankings are starting to have some meaning now, with teams having raced the majority of their allocation. We thought we'd give you a quick update on how the team is doing.
Currently, we're doing really well, with the PPRD rankings putting us in 2nd place! Our surprise promotion challenge has stayed on track despite some poor form recently, and if we can keep up our current rate of scoring promotion is possible. For now though we need to remain concentrated on making sure we have no more poor performances like in June and March which saw us score in the bottom 5 teams in the division.
| Rider | Team | Total | | 1 | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil | Evonik - ELKO | 838 | | 2 | Alberto Contador |  Bonsucro | 771 | | 3 | Martijn Keizer | Aegon - Lavazza | 763 | | 4 | Danny Summerhill |  Azteca - NBCSN | 756 | | 5 | Tom Boonen | Evonik - ELKO | 697 | | 6 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Team Kenya Airways | 645 | | 7 | José Rujano |  Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | 619 | | 8 | Emanuele Sella |  Siam Cement - Lenovo | 610 |
In the individual standings our best rider is unsurprisingly Kwiatkowski who sits in 6th after doing great in every race he's done. We also have Impey and Ben Nasser in 24th and 25th at the moment, we hope these two can move into the top 20 by the end of the year with them racing frequently.
In other news, expect some sponsor news to come over the next month or so, along with a jersey which is currently being designed. All we can reveal that the team's name will change for the first time in a while... |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 25-09-2015 18:52
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Isle of Man TT
/ 5th July
Reus took the win in the Isle of Man
Our first race of June was the Isle of Man ITT, where we sent Brent Bookwalter in the hope of a decent result against the best time-triallists in the division. It was a disappointing race for the team though, with a 10th place finish all he could manage. The surprise winner was Kai Reus of RBC Pro Cycling.
Result
| 1 | Kai Reus | RBC Pro Cycling | 1h27'09 | | 2 | Kristjan Koren | Gazelle | + 14 | | 3 | Martijn Keizer | Aegon - Lavazza | + 55 | | ..... | | 10 | Brent Bookwalter | Team Kenya Airways | + 2'05 |
Manx International
/ 7th July
We helped to set the pace early on, only for Ben Nasser to fail our goal
Our second race on the Isle of Man in 3 days was a goal for the team, with a top 5 a must for leader Ben Nasser. However, the race was a disaster as with the rest of our goals this year so far, with the Tunisian having an anonymous race and finishing down in a lowly 18th. Another disappointing race for us.
Result
| 1 | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil | Evonik - ELKO | 4h31'52 | | 2 | Rui Costa | Prio - Porto | + 31 | | 3 | Travis Meyer | Risa - Ergon | s.t. | | ..... | | 18 | Hassen Ben Nasser | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 26-09-2015 21:03
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Tour of the Battenkill
 / 15th July
Summerhill took victory on a horrible rainy day in the USA
The next race for the team in June was a trip to the USA for the cobbled Tour of the Battenkill. With the cobbles being by far our weakest terrain, we only had Marcato here with any chance of points, with the rest of the squad mainly here for experience.
On a horrible day for the peloton with heavy rain making for a tough race, Marcato managed to hold onto the peloton to sprint to a respectable 16th place. The winner was one of the riders of the season in Summerhill who attacked up the road to claim an impressive win for Azteca on home soil.
Result
| 1 | Danny Summerhill | Azteca-NBCSN | 4h57'22 | | 2 | Jérôme Baugnies | AMEX-Navigon | + 1'13 | | 3 | Pieter Vanspeybrouck | Team BPost | + 1'32 | | ..... | | 16 | Marco Marcato | Team Kenya Airways | + 4'23 |
 Tour of Bulgaria
It was a disappointing TTT for us, with only a 9th placed finish for the team
We then headed to Bulgaria for a four-day mountainous race where Kenyan champion Mwangi Samwel would take on the division's strongest climbers. His best finish of the race came on stage 1, where he finished 12th heading into the TTT, which we were confident of success in.
However, we could only achieve 9th place in the TTT, leaving Samwel an uphill battle to claim a decent GC. Apart from Bookwalter managing a 9th place from the break on stage 3 though, it was disappointment as the Kenyan failed to make an impact on the final two stages to finish in a lowly 20th.
That meant it was another disappointment for Samwel, who has made even less of an impact this year than last, which we thought would be impossible. We'll need him to get his act together for the 8-day Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt next month.
Result
| 1 | Florentino Marquez | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | 12h55'50 | | 2 | Beñat Intxausti | RBC Pro Cycling | + 3 | | 3 | Martijn Keizer | Aegon - Lavazza | + 39 | | ..... | | 20 | Mwangi Samwel | Team Kenya Airways | + 3'29 |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 27-09-2015 11:18
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Post Danmark Rundt
Impey was the best sprinter in Denmark, taking 2 stages
Our final race of July was a trip to Denmark, with the 5 day Post Danmark Rundt mixing 4 flat stages with a TT which would probably decide the GC. Leading the team was Impey for the sprints and Bookwalter to try and get a good GC in the final TT.
Stage 1 and 2 were promising without being brilliant, with Impey picking up a 4th and a 3rd place to show he was on form. However, our race really kicked into life on stage 3, where on an uphill finish Impey out-sprinted all his rivals to take the stage and the race lead.
Not satisfied with just that win, on stage 4 Impey blew away all of his rivals once again, gapping the peloton with his sprint to claim yet another victory! Despite bonus seconds helping to give him over a minute's advantage over the time-triallists, he would lose his position on the final stage due to the length of the TT.
That meant it was time for Bookwalter to step up, and he did just that with an impressive second place which put him into second overall. That rounded off a great race for the team, with a top 5 on every stage, 2 stage wins and 2nd overall. As a result we take away a great points haul to put us back in the fight for promotion.
Results
| Stage 1 | Daryl Impey | 4th | | Stage 2 | Daryl Impey | 3rd | | Stage 3 | Daryl Impey | 1st | | Stage 4 | Daryl Impey | 1st | | Stage 5 | Brent Bookwalter | 2nd | | Points | Daryl Impey | 1st | | Teams | Team Kenya Airways | 2nd |
GC
| 1 | Jacob Fiedler | Karcher-Adira | 14h39'23 | | 2 | Brent Bookwalter | Team Kenya Airways | + 15 | | 3 | Ian Stannard | cycleYorkshire s/b ASDA - Savers | + 18 |
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Sponsor News - Kenya Airways to be joined by Co-Sponsor
Today we are happy to announce that Kenya Airways will stay with us with us for the 4th successive year, after being pleased with our progress as we stage an unexpected early push for promotion to cycling's top tier. They are also happy with how we continue to develop young African riders, with several riders set to return next year as potential leaders after developing with the team.
For the first time since our year in the CT however, they will not be our only title sponsor with another African sponsor with significant financial power in negotiations to become a co-sponsor. This shows or ambition to further expand and become the best African team in the sport, and reach the PT as soon as possible. |
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 27-09-2015 22:15
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3904
Joined: 29-01-2013
PCM$: 300.00
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Denmark was a truly amazing race for you, that could really kickstart a late promotion push for you. Really intrigued to see who the new sponsor will be - Dimension Data apparently are interested in African cycling...
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