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[Career] MTN - Qhubeka | African Pride
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| Kiserlovski01 |
Posted on 29-05-2016 23:05
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Am I being blind or did Europcar not score any World Tour points before the Giro? and Giant Alpecin are going really well for a PCT team, this might be the AI not signing guys based on which division they are likely to be in but on which division they are currently be in taking an effect on their squad strengths though.
Yes, that seems to have been the case. Europcar will drop right back to PCT most likely, and I'm afraid we'll do the same, too.
Hopefully the team will up their game in the second part of the season. Just curious, what difficulty are you playing on?
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 29-05-2016 23:37
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Kiserlovski01 wrote:
Am I being blind or did Europcar not score any World Tour points before the Giro? and Giant Alpecin are going really well for a PCT team, this might be the AI not signing guys based on which division they are likely to be in but on which division they are currently be in taking an effect on their squad strengths though.
Yes, that seems to have been the case. Europcar will drop right back to PCT most likely, and I'm afraid we'll do the same, too.
Hopefully the team will up their game in the second part of the season. Just curious, what difficulty are you playing on?
Things are definitely looking better now (next post).
I had been playing on hard. But the transition to WT was tough and I've been switching back and forth a bit, now, since their development is slower than I expected (Olujimi only up like 3 MO points in season and a half, Sekibo barely 3 or 4 sprint) |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 29-05-2016 23:37
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Biggest Hero in the Giro!
Talent always finds its way to the surface. In the Giro d'Italia 2016, young South-African Farai Olujimi turned into the fan-favorite in no time. Three weeks was all he needed to conquer the hearts off all cycling fans.
After a troublesome start, Olujimi picked himself up and got himself in the breakaway of the day in stage 14. Two whole weeks had passed and that's when Olujimi starts to really kick in. His recovery is quite amazing.
Leaving behind his companions on the only climb of the day, Olujimi started his campaign of going for the Mountain Jersey. After his time loss early in the Giro, the Mountain Jersey was now what he coveted. 31 Points awaited him at the top.
The peloton gave the breakaway quite some time and Olujimi stood his own in the downhill. Pirazzi was the last one to give him trouble, but he cracked on the final 10 km flat.
Oluijmi crossed the finish line in disbelief. His first professional victory. Talk about making an entry!
| 1 | Farai Olujimi | MTN-Qhubeka | +00:00 | | 2 | Stefano Pirazzi | Lampre-Merida | +01:32 | | 3 | Wilco Kelderman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | +02:56 | | 4 | Enrico Barbin | Bardiani CSF | +02:56 | | 5 | Rigoberto Uran | Movistar Team | +02:56 | | 6 | Mikel Landa | Astana Pro Team | +02:56 | | 7 | Nairo Quintana | Movistar Team | +02:56 | | 8 | Vincenzo Nibali | Astana Pro Team | +02:56 | | 9 | Damiano Caruso | Astana Pro Team | +02:56 | | 10 | Simon Spilak | BMC Racing Team | +02:56 |
Oddly enough, Olujimi finished one but last on the mountain time trial two days later. He didn't break a sweat. This must've been deliberate, or had he been celebrating too much the night before? Part of a greater plan?
| 1 | Farai Olujimi | MTN-Qhubeka | +00:00 | | 2 | Leopold König | Team Sky | +00:34 | | 3 | Domenico Pozzovivo | Etixx - Quick-step | +00:34 | | 4 | Mikel Landa | Astana Pro Team | +00:34 | | 5 | Vincenzo Nibali | Astana Pro Team | +00:34 | | 6 | Thibaut Pinot | FDJ | +00:34 | | 7 | Wilco Kelderman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | +00:34 | | 8 | Jakob Fuglsang | Tinkoff-Saxo | +00:34 | | 9 | Rafal Majka | Tinkoff-Saxo | +00:34 | | 10 | Ilnur Zakarin | Team Katusha | +00:34 |
And so it was! Olujimi was in an 8-men breakaway once again. Taking more mountain points and coming closer to that jersey, but to everyone's surprise the main group miscalculated and came half a minute too late. Olujimi celebrated his second Giro stage win. What a debut Giro for the young South-African.
At this moment, everyone wanted to interview Olujimi, wanted to see him, touch him. He had now conquered the hearts of many a cycling fan.
And, still... The Giro was not over.
Two days later. Who is part of the BOTD? It's Farai Olujimi. He still needs at least 60 mountain points to contest for the Mountain Jersey. Today there are many points to be earned. 32 for a cat 1, 40 for HC and 16 at the finish line.
With enough confidence, you can do anything. Olujimi went over the first 2 cols first, fending off attacks from De Gendt, who had his eyes set on the jersey, too.
The gap to the peloton kept growing. And so it seemed another breakaway victory was in the making.
Olujimi left De Gendt behind to take the Cima Coppi, and another 40 Mountain Points!
And it seemed as if all MTN's bad luck had been piling up and now it was being turned around in threefold. A third major victory in barely 6 days for Farai Olujimi. This looks like the start of an incredible career!
| 1 | Farai Olujimi | MTN-Qhubeka | +00:00 | | 2 | Thomas De Gendt | Lotto Soudal | +02:31 | | 3 | Giampaolo Caruso | Team Katusha | +04:50 | | 4 | Thibaut Pinot | FDJ | +06:36 | | 5 | Adam Yates | Orica-GreenEDGE | +06:36 | | 6 | Wilco Kelderman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | +06:36 | | 7 | Nairo Quintana | Movistar Team | +06:36 | | 8 | Vincenzo Nibali | Astana Pro Team | +07:05 | | 9 | Rafal Majka | Tinkoff-Saxo | +07:05 | | 10 | Simon Spilak | BMC Racing Team | +07:05 |
Olujimi was now in 8th in the General Classification, thanks to his lead in these breaks.
On stage 20, however, Olujimi finally showed he, too, is just human.
The final time trial in Verona, ending the Giro, was a major thriller. Pinot was down 7 seconds on Nibali, could he still win this Giro? Olujimi was in 11th, but with König not too far off. Fuglsang, at 10th, seemed out of reach.
General Classification
| 1 | Vincenzo Nibali | Astana Pro Team | +00:00 | | 2 | Thibaut Pinot | FDJ | +00:19 | | 3 | Nairo Quintana | Movistar Team | +02:15 | | 4 | Adam Yates | Orica-GreenEDGE | +02:44 | | 5 | Rigoberto Uran | Movistar Team | +05:00 | | 6 | Rafal Majka | Tinkoff-Saxo | +05:55 | | 7 | Simon Spilak | BMC Racing Team | +06:00 | | 8 | Wilco Kelderman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | +08:16 | | 9 | Mikel Landa | Astana Pro Team | +09:59 | | 10 | Jakob Fuglsang | Tinkoff-Saxo | +12:32 | | 11 | Farai Olujimi | MTN-Qhubeka | +14:40 | | 12 | Leopold König | Team Sky | +14:47 | | 13 | Ilnur Zakarin | Team Katusha | +14:55 | | 14 | Merhawi Kudus | MTN-Qhubeka | +18:54 | | 15 | Damiano Caruso | Astana Pro Team | +20:07 | | 16 | Louis Meintjes | MTN-Qhubeka | +20:35 | | 17 | Yury Trofimov | Team Katusha | +20:51 | | 18 | Darwin Atapuma | MTN-Qhubeka | +22:17 | | 19 | Davide Formolo | Team Cannondale - Garmin | +22:30 | | 20 | Jan Polanc | Lampre-Merida | +26:32 |
On the final podium, Olujimi got the loudest applaus of them all, except for national hero Nibali, of course. 3 stage wins and the Mountain Jersey. This 22 year old has just launched himself into an incredible story.
Mountain Points
| 1 | Farai Olujimi | MTN-Qhubeka | 215 | | 2 | Thomas De Gendt | Lotto Soudal | 167 | | 3 | Thibaut Pinot | FDJ | 156 | | 4 | Mikel Landa | Astana Pro Team | 114 | | 5 | Wilco Kelderman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | 98 |
Further North, our other young friend was racing in the Tour of Belgium. In the first stage, he managed a nice top 10, contesting in the sprint.
However, motivated by Olujimi's performances, Sekibo got himself into the perfect position in stage 2, finishing it off with a perfect sprint. His first of the season!
| 1 | Mandla Sekibo | MTN-Qhubeka | +00:00 | | 2 | Gianni Meersman | Etixx - Quick-step | +00:00 | | 3 | Daniel Oss | BMC Racing Team | +00:00 | | 4 | Bryan Coquard | Team Giant-Alpecin | +00:00 | | 5 | Theo Bos | MTN-Qhubeka | +00:00 | | 6 | Edward Theuns | Lotto Soudal | +00:00 | | 7 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Sky | +00:00 | | 8 | Baptiste Planckaert | Etixx - Quick-step | +00:00 | | 9 | Lars Boom | Etixx - Quick-step | +00:00 | | 10 | Taylor Phinney | BMC Racing Team | +00:00 |
It looks like we've managed to turn the table, is this the beginning of something great?
Edited by Ian Butler on 29-05-2016 23:43
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 29-05-2016 23:42
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Giro d'Italia - Stage by Stage
| Stage | Winner | Leader | Points Leader | Mountain Points Leader | | 1 | Bob Jungels | Bob Jungels | Bob Jungels | Bob Jungels | | 2 | Danny Van Poppel | Bob Jungels | Danny Van Poppel | Francesco Gavazzi | | 3 | Danny Van Poppel | Bob Jungels | Danny Van Poppel | Francesco Gavazzi | | 4 | Luis León Sánchez | Luis León Sánchez | Danny Van Poppel | Francesco Gavazzi | | 5 | Danny Van Poppel | Luis León Sánchez | Danny Van Poppel | Ramunas Navardauskas | | 6 | Simon Spilak | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Kristian Sbaragli | | 7 | Sonny Colbrelli | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Miguel Angel Rubiano | | 8 | Nairo Quintana | Nairo Quintana | Danny Van Poppel | Miguel Angel Rubiano | | 9 | Thomas De Gendt | Nairo Quintana | Danny Van Poppel | Miguel Angel Rubiano | | 10 | Danny Van Poppel | Nairo Quintana | Danny Van Poppel | Miguel Angel Rubiano | | 11 | Thibaut Pinot | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Edoardo Zardini | | 12 | Elia Viviani | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Edoardo Zardini | | 13 | Sonny Colbrelli | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Miguel Angel Rubiano | | 14 | Farai Olujimi | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Miguel Angel Rubiano | | 15 | Thibaut Pinot | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Bob Jungels | | 16 | Mikel Landa | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Thibaut Pinot | | 17 | Farai Olujimi | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Thibaut Pinot | | 18 | Andrea Fedi | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Thibaut Pinot | | 19 | Farai Olujimi | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Farai Olujimi | | 20 | Thibaut Pinot | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Farai Olujimi | | 21 | Wilco Kelderman | Vincenzo Nibali | Danny Van Poppel | Farai Olujimi |
Nibali taking the win without a stage victory. Pinot was impressive, getting back to a 7 second deficit on stage 20, but couldn't take back time on Nibali in the final time trial. |
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| Shonak |
Posted on 29-05-2016 23:47
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
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Two stage wins and Maglia Azzura, the boy was going shopping big in Italy. 
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| katulen |
Posted on 30-05-2016 09:28
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Free Agent
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Wow amazing results for Farai Olujimi.
Now that you wont leak any stats, can you at least tell me(us) if he is better than Meintjes?  |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 30-05-2016 18:02
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Shonak wrote:
Two stage wins and Maglia Azzura, the boy was going shopping big in Italy.
Three, even! Yes, there was a huge sale and Olujimi had his credit card at hand
katulen wrote:
Wow amazing results for Farai Olujimi.
Now that you wont leak any stats, can you at least tell me(us) if he is better than Meintjes?
No, not yet anyway. Meintjes is at around 79 MO, while Olujimi is still at 74. Though Olujimi's REC is around 75, and that's better than Meintjes. The rest I'd have to check, don't know by heart. |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 30-05-2016 18:44
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Yes, we are an African team. In the long run, we want to have as many Africans to our team as possible. But let's not forget we're a World Tour team (well at least another few months, relegation seems to be coming closer and closer). So that's why we have riders like Boasson Hagen, Pauwels, Cummings...
And so we come to the new contract season. There's 85% chance we'll go back to PCT, but even so, with a good contract season, we might get back to WT on the long run. Especialy with our young talents.
And we're adding to that! Sébastian Henao, younger brother of, has signed a 1-year contract with us. The 22-year old climber will definitely be a great asset to our climbing squad, especially since Atapuma also prolonged his contract.
We also signed 2 new South-African riders from our U23 team, one promising time trialist and another promising young rider with multiple qualities.
Even more great news, as we've managed to sign Daryl Impey!
Finally, the South African National Championships*. Impey is TT Champion, while Meintjes took the Road Jersey on a hilly profile. He'll wear it with pride.
* random assigned with Career Explorer |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 30-05-2016 19:04
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Good news as Mandla Sekibo managed to get 2 stage wins in the Tour of Qinghai Lake. Stages 6 and 7 were hily-ish sprint-ish stages and Sekibo came out on top twice. This was enough to secure the Points Jersey for this Tour, too. A successful campaign in China.
Points Classification
| 1 | Mandla Sekibo | MTN-Qhubeka | 99 | | 2 | Miguel Angel Rubiano | Colombia | 93 | | 3 | Nicola Ruffoni | Colombia | 84 | | 4 | Nicolas Marini | NIPPO - Vini Fantini | 83 | | 5 | Elia Favilli | Southeast | 75 |
The final part of the season is now coming. Can we still fend off relegation? It seems far-fetched. But we'll try our best.
Also we give you the sad news that Serge Pauwels will be leaving us. We couldn't compete with Etixx- Quickstep for his signature. We'll miss him and wish him the best of luck. |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 30-05-2016 19:19
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Have now updated post 2 with their palmares and I'll update it regularly!
Classics
| KBK | MSR | G-W | WC | | 2015 | 79th | 125th | | 42th | | 2016 | | 7th | 63th | |
Important Races
| P-N | T-A | Dauphiné | | 2015 | 119th | | 92th | | 2016 | | 74th | |
Grand Tours
| Giro d'Italia | Tour de France | Vuelta a España | | 2015 | | 102th | | | 2016 | | | |
Grand Tours
| Giro d'Italia | Tour de France | Vuelta a España | | 2015 | | 40th | | | 2016 | 11th (3) + KoM | | |
Important Races
| P-N | T-A | Dauphiné | Catalunya | Romandie | | 2015 | 79th | | 28th | | | | 2016 | | 36th | | 38th | 41th |
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| Luxemburger |
Posted on 31-05-2016 09:29
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Olujimi definitely had a great time in Italy! |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 31-05-2016 11:34
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Team Leader
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Liking this "non" story Great writing Ian as always!!! I like these two riders as well!! Looking forward to more and more of this fantastic "non" story!!
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 31-05-2016 14:36
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Yes. He seems to like Italy. what's more, Italy seems to like him 
Jakstar22 wrote:
Liking this "non" story Great writing Ian as always!!! I like these two riders as well!! Looking forward to more and more of this fantastic "non" story!!
Thanks a lot, Jak! Glad you're enjoying this!
It's getting quite scary, but we're at 95% certain of going back to PCT. But that's no reason to panic. We'll bounce back from it next season, I'm sure. Especially with our young riders developing so well. But to save us this season, we'd need a miracle.
Well, at least we're doing better than Europcar...
Anyway, our Tour was clouded in obscurety. We couldn't do anything there, really unfortunate. We did watch Van Garderen take the two long time trials and keep his lead over Quintana and Froome to win the Tour, very surprisingly!
GC:
| 1 | Tejay Van Garderen | BMC Racing Team | 84h59'07 | | 2 | Chris Froome | Team Sky | + 47 | | 3 | Nairo Quintana | Movistar Team | + 1'08 | | 4 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Sky | + 2'11 | | 5 | Alberto Contador | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 4'39 | | 6 | Bauke Mollema | Trek Factory Racing | + 5'29 | | 7 | Rui Costa | Lampre-Merida | + 5'51 | | 8 | Richie Porte | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 7'30 | | 9 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | + 7'38 | | 10 | Geraint Thomas | Team Sky | + 8'22 | | 11 | Thibaut Pinot | FDJ | + 9'04 | | 12 | Fabio Aru | Astana Pro Team | + 10'54 | | 13 | Vincenzo Nibali | Astana Pro Team | + 11'11 | | 14 | Rohan Dennis | BMC Racing Team | + 13'34 | | 15 | Steven Kruijswijk | IAM Cycling | + 14'54 | | 16 | Tim Wellens | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 17 | Ilnur Zakarin | Team Katusha | + 17'03 | | 18 | Jean-Christophe Péraud | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 17'52 | | 19 | Peter Sagan | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 18'37 | | 20 | Roman Kreuziger | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 18'42 | | 21 | Alexis Vuillermoz | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 19'20 | | 22 | Bradley Wiggins | Team Sky | + 19'45 | | 23 | Yury Trofimov | Team Katusha | + 19'49 | | 24 | Pierre Rolland | Etixx - Quick-step | + 19'54 | | 25 | Julian Alaphilippe | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 20'23 |
Spoiler | 26 | Andrey Amador | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 20'50 | | 27 | Davide Formolo | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 21'25 | | 28 | Serge Pauwels | MTN-Qhubeka | + 21'33 | | 29 | Alexandre Geniez | FDJ | + 22'26 | | 30 | Ryder Hesjedal | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 22'36 | | 31 | Dario Cataldo | Astana Pro Team | + 22'50 | | 32 | Esteban Cháves | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 23'04 | | 33 | Daniel Martin | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 23'31 | | 34 | Ion Izagirre | Movistar Team | + 24'13 | | 35 | Jesus Herrada | Movistar Team | + 24'22 | | 36 | Robert Gesink | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 24'51 | | 37 | Wout Poels | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 26'04 | | 38 | Nicolas Roche | Movistar Team | + 26'20 | | 39 | Riccardo Zoidl | IAM Cycling | + 26'45 | | 40 | Jan Bakelants | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 27'07 | | 41 | Tiesj Benoot | Lotto Soudal | + 27'20 | | 42 | Robert Kiserlovski | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 27'30 | | 43 | Lawson Craddock | Trek Factory Racing | + 27'52 | | 44 | Diego Rosa | Astana Pro Team | + 27'58 | | 45 | Tony Gallopin | Lotto Soudal | + 28'39 | | 46 | Jakob Fuglsang | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 47 | Louis Smeets | Lotto Soudal | + 28'59 | | 48 | Tiago Machado | Team Katusha | + 29'05 | | 49 | Natnael Berhane | MTN-Qhubeka | + 29'12 | | 50 | Simon Yates | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 29'27 | | 51 | Pieter Serry | Etixx - Quick-step | + 29'40 | | 52 | Stefan Denifl | IAM Cycling | + 29'54 | | 53 | Igor Anton | Movistar Team | + 30'20 | | 54 | Joaquim Rodriguez | Team Katusha | + 30'24 | | 55 | Clément Chevrier | Team Europcar | + 30'38 | | 56 | Jonathan Castroviejo | Movistar Team | + 31'28 | | 57 | Michele Scarponi | Astana Pro Team | + 32'15 | | 58 | Thomas De Gendt | Lotto Soudal | + 32'20 | | 59 | Carlos Alberto Betancur | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 32'22 | | 60 | Maxime Monfort | Lotto Soudal | + 32'33 | | 61 | Rafael Valls | Lampre-Merida | + 33'00 | | 62 | Warren Barguil | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 34'09 | | 63 | Tony Martin | Etixx - Quick-step | + 36'10 | | 64 | Luis León Sánchez | Astana Pro Team | + 36'32 | | 65 | Janier Acevedo | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 36'34 | | 66 | Zdenek Stybar | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 36'36 | | 67 | Julian Arredondo | Trek Factory Racing | + 37'16 | | 68 | Alessandro De Marchi | IAM Cycling | + 37'36 | | 69 | Manuele Boaro | Astana Pro Team | + 38'37 | | 70 | Steve Morabito | FDJ | + 38'40 | | 71 | Matthew Busche | Trek Factory Racing | + 38'44 | | 72 | Sergey Chernetckii | Team Katusha | + 39'00 | | 73 | Philip Deignan | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | + 39'09 | | 74 | Lars Petter Nordhaug | Team Sky | + 39'48 | | 75 | Peter Velits | BMC Racing Team | + 40'35 | | 76 | Cyril Gautier | Team Europcar | + 41'30 | | 77 | Simon Geschke | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 41'47 | | 78 | Michael Matthews | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 41'58 | | 79 | Jérôme Coppel | IAM Cycling | + 42'38 | | 80 | Stéphane Rossetto | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | + 42'44 | | 81 | Vasil Kiryienka | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 42'58 | | 82 | Romain Hardy | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | + 43'40 | | 83 | Jonathan Hivert | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | + 43'59 | | 84 | Nicolas Edet | Team Europcar | + 45'36 | | 85 | Robinson Chalapud | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | + 45'42 | | 86 | Simon Clarke | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 45'51 | | 87 | Moreno Moser | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 48'59 | | 88 | Giovanni Visconti | Movistar Team | + 49'43 | | 89 | Yoann Bagot | FDJ | + 50'45 | | 90 | Giampaolo Caruso | Team Katusha | + 51'18 | | 91 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | + 51'27 | | 92 | Ben Swift | Team Sky | + 52'36 | | 93 | Diego Ulissi | Lampre-Merida | + 52'56 | | 94 | Tsgabu Grmay | Lampre-Merida | + 54'34 | | 95 | Thomas Damuseau | Roubaix Lille Métropole | + 55'02 | | 96 | Cayetano Jose Sarmiento | IAM Cycling | + 55'29 | | 97 | Greg Van Avermaet | BMC Racing Team | + 55'48 | | 98 | Youcef Reguigui | MTN-Qhubeka | + 56'23 | | 99 | Simon Gerrans | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 57'51 | | 100 | Stephen Cummings | MTN-Qhubeka | + 57'58 | | 101 | Laurent Didier | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | + 58'00 | | 102 | Jürgen Roelandts | Lotto Soudal | + 59'33 | | 103 | Luka Mezgec | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 59'38 | | 104 | Thierry Hupond | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 59'52 | | 105 | Ramunas Navardauskas | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 1h01'32 | | 106 | Lieuwe Westra | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 1h03'01 | | 107 | Arthur Vichot | FDJ | + 1h03'08 | | 108 | Marc Goos | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | + 1h03'40 | | 109 | Jesper Hansen | Roubaix Lille Métropole | + 1h05'34 | | 110 | Lars Boom | Etixx - Quick-step | + 1h09'49 | | 111 | Edward Theuns | Lotto Soudal | + 1h10'12 | | 112 | John Degenkolb | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 1h10'19 | | 113 | Sondre Holst Enger | IAM Cycling | + 1h20'17 | | 114 | Bert-Jan Lindeman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 1h21'26 | | 115 | Julien Antomarchi | Roubaix Lille Métropole | + 1h23'22 | | 116 | Florian Vachon | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h27'31 | | 117 | Giacomo Nizzolo | Trek Factory Racing | + 1h32'00 | | 118 | Jens Keukeleire | Etixx - Quick-step | + 1h34'09 | | 119 | Marcus Burghardt | Astana Pro Team | + 1h35'23 | | 120 | Sylvain Chavanel | MTN-Qhubeka | + 1h38'58 | | 121 | Philippe Gilbert | BMC Racing Team | + 1h39'02 | | 122 | Adriano Malori | Movistar Team | + 1h43'47 | | 123 | Yannick Martinez | Team Europcar | + 1h48'29 | | 124 | Alexandre Pichot | Lampre-Merida | + 1h51'37 | | 125 | Magnus Cort Nielsen | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 1h53'51 | | 126 | Kristof Vandewalle | Trek Factory Racing | + 1h56'53 | | 127 | Pim Ligthart | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 1h58'12 | | 128 | Alexander Kristoff | Team Katusha | + 2h05'38 | | 129 | Alexis Gougeard | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 2h07'14 | | 130 | Lilian Calmejane | Roubaix Lille Métropole | + 2h07'22 | | 131 | Bryan Coquard | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 2h09'53 | | 132 | Nick Van Der Lijke | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 2h11'57 | | 133 | Alexei Tsatevich | Team Katusha | + 2h12'13 | | 134 | Anthony Delaplace | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | + 2h12'54 | | 135 | Niki Terpstra | Etixx - Quick-step | + 2h18'47 | | 136 | Tony Hurel | Team Europcar | + 2h19'01 | | 137 | Arnaud Démare | FDJ | + 2h19'21 | | 138 | Taylor Phinney | BMC Racing Team | + 2h20'09 | | 139 | Jérémy Roy | FDJ | + 2h20'10 | | 140 | Anthony Roux | FDJ | + 2h20'19 | | 141 | Daniel Oss | BMC Racing Team | + 2h21'01 | | 142 | Clément Venturini | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | + 2h22'03 | | 143 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 2h23'57 | | 144 | Ian Stannard | Team Sky | + 2h24'30 | | 145 | Florian Sénéchal | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | + 2h24'46 | | 146 | Jempy Drucker | BMC Racing Team | + 2h25'45 | | 147 | Sébastien Turgot | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 2h26'03 | | 148 | Daniele Bennati | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 2h26'08 | | 149 | Marcel Kittel | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 2h26'25 | | 150 | Michael Albasini | BMC Racing Team | + 2h26'27 | | 151 | Moreno Hofland | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 2h26'46 | | 152 | Mark Cavendish | Etixx - Quick-step | + 2h27'24 | | 153 | Luke Rowe | Team Sky | + 2h27'53 | | 154 | Thomas Boudat | Team Europcar | + 2h28'18 | | 155 | Robert Wagner | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 2h28'28 | | 156 | Manuel Cardoso | Trek Factory Racing | + 2h28'38 | | 157 | Sebastian Langeveld | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 2h29'12 | | 158 | Alexander Porsev | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 2h29'51 | | 159 | Tom Boonen | Etixx - Quick-step | + 2h30'21 | | 160 | Kenneth Vanbilsen | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | + 2h30'26 | | 161 | Armindo Fonseca | IAM Cycling | + 2h31'43 | | 162 | Adrien Petit | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | + 2h32'01 | | 163 | Nacer Bouhanni | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | + 2h32'14 | | 164 | Adam Blythe | Roubaix Lille Métropole | + 2h32'39 | | 165 | Ruben Zepunkte | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 2h32'40 | | 166 | André Greipel | Lotto Soudal | + 2h32'47 | | 167 | Marco Haller | Team Katusha | + 2h33'46 | | 168 | Daniel McLay | Roubaix Lille Métropole | + 2h34'09 | | 169 | Vincent Jérôme | Team Europcar | + 2h34'11 | | 170 | Heinrich Haussler | MTN-Qhubeka | + 2h34'14 | | 171 | Tyler Farrar | MTN-Qhubeka | + 2h34'28 | | 172 | Elia Viviani | Team Sky | + 2h34'52 | | 173 | Greg Henderson | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | + 2h35'00 | | 174 | Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz | Roubaix Lille Métropole | + 2h36'10 | | 175 | Roger Kluge | IAM Cycling | + 2h36'23 | | 176 | Romain Feillu | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | + 2h36'42 | | 177 | Theo Bos | MTN-Qhubeka | + 2h37'11 | | 178 | Andrea Guardini | Astana Pro Team | + 2h37'31 | | 179 | Romain Cardis | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | + 2h38'21 | | 180 | Shane Archbold | Roubaix Lille Métropole | + 2h39'11 | | 181 | Luka Pibernik | Lampre-Merida | + 2h39'30 | | 182 | Erwann Corbel | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | + 2h41'18 | | 183 | Angelo Tulik | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 184 | Rudy Barbier | Roubaix Lille Métropole | + 2h41'38 | | 185 | Danilo Napolitano | Lampre-Merida | + 2h43'51 |
Points
| 1 | Alexander Kristoff | Team Katusha | 504 | | 2 | Arnaud Démare | FDJ | 443 | | 3 | Mark Cavendish | Etixx - Quick-step | 377 | | 4 | John Degenkolb | Team Giant-Alpecin | 299 | | 5 | Michael Matthews | Orica-GreenEDGE | 278 |
Mountain Points
| 1 | Jesper Hansen | Roubaix Lille Métropole | 82 | | 2 | Nicolas Edet | Team Europcar | 79 | | 3 | Peter Sagan | Tinkoff-Saxo | 76 | | 4 | Wout Poels | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | 66 | | 5 | Julian Alaphilippe | Ag2r La Mondiale | 64 |
Best Young Rider: Tim Wellens
Best Team: Team Sky |
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 31-05-2016 14:39
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8056
Joined: 22-06-2009
PCM$: 650.00
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YEAH TEJAY!!!  USA USA USA! 
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 03-06-2016 11:41
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Yeah he did the impossible 2 amazing time trials and hanging on in the mountains was enough for him!
I've slowed down a bit, now, because of a late - rather unexpected exam coming up next week.
I'm doing some simulation every now and then, riding a stage when I have 15 minutes.
Tour of Poland was rather successful for Olujimi, ending in a 7th spot or so. I'll get back to the results and post them when I've also finished USA Pro Challenge.
Olujimi not slowing down after his amazing Giro! |
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 03-06-2016 20:25
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
PCM$: 599.00
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Fantastic season so far, despite not getting anything in Le Tour
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 06-06-2016 13:15
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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It's a season with ups and downs! thanks for following. Found a little time again so next update coming |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 06-06-2016 13:27
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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We have been in a lost position for a few months now. We never really got into a good rhythm this season and it has left a mark.
But the Giro certainly stirred things up. Olujimi's three stage wins and the KoM jersey motivated the entire team to train harder and do even better.
The Tour was another disappointment. But there's more to life than the Tour. Our squad showed its mental strength by coming back from all the bad luck we've had this season. This is what's been happening lately:
Eneco Tour: After getting in the right break, Sylvain Chavanel was right up there in the GC. In the hills and on the cobbles, they didn't quite break him and he finished 3rd in the General Classification in the end. A great result for an aging Chavanel!
General Classification:
| 1 | Ramunas Navardauskas | Team Cannondale - Garmin | +00:00 | | 2 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Sky | +00:55 | | 3 | Sylvain Chavanel | MTN-Qhubeka | +00:59 | | 4 | Greg Van Avermaet | BMC Racing Team | +01:24 | | 5 | Daniel Oss | BMC Racing Team | +01:35 | | 6 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck | Team Cannondale - Garmin | +01:36 | | 7 | Nacer Bouhanni | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | +01:39 | | 8 | Geraint Thomas | Team Sky | +01:42 | | 9 | Yves Lampaert | Etixx - Quick-step | +01:55 | | 10 | Florian Sénéchal | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | +02:04 |
USA Pro Challenge: Olujimi's final big goal of the season. He did quite well, but Kudus did even better. The young talent rode away on the big mountain stage and took the lead in the GC. In the 6th stage, he lost his lead, but kept a second position. Olujimi was our second rider in the top 10 here!
General Classification:
| 1 | Lawson Craddock | Trek Factory Racing | +00:00 | | 2 | Merhawi Kudus | MTN-Qhubeka | +00:04 | | 3 | Simon Spilak | BMC Racing Team | +00:26 | | 4 | Andrew Talansky | Team Cannondale - Garmin | +00:33 | | 5 | Matthias Brandle | IAM Cycling | +00:33 | | 6 | Edoardo Zardini | Bardiani CSF | +01:01 | | 7 | Yury Trofimov | Team Katusha | +01:03 | | 8 | Farai Olujimi | MTN-Qhubeka | +01:05 | | 9 | Igor Anton | Movistar Team | +01:07 | | 10 | Michael Albasini | BMC Racing Team | +01:13 |
But our greatest performance is yet to come...
Vuelta a España: Atapuma is showing us why we brought him in the team. On stage 3, he forced a break, finished the stage 2nd and got himself in the leader's jersey! He's been wearing it for 4 stages already. We think he can go a long way. Maybe there's an amazing achievement in the making for our very own Atapuma!
GC before stage 8:
| 1 | Darwin Atapuma | MTN-Qhubeka | +00:00 | | 2 | Peter Stetina | BMC Racing Team | +00:09 | | 3 | Lars Petter Nordhaug | Team Sky | +00:25 | | 4 | Tejay Van Garderen | BMC Racing Team | +00:30 | | 5 | Mikel Nieve | Team Sky | +00:39 | | 6 | Bart De Clercq | Lotto Soudal | +00:39 | | 7 | Tim Wellens | Lotto Soudal | +00:45 | | 8 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | +00:45 | | 9 | Daniel Martin | Team Cannondale - Garmin | +00:47 | | 10 | Diego Rosa | Astana Pro Team | +00:56 |
And those performances have brought us closer to Lampre. In the CQ Ranking, we're 400 points shy of avoiding relegation. It's still a considerable gap but we've been way further down the ladder. This gives us hope, and another 2 months to catch Lampre and stay in the World Tour. Can it be done?
We'll need everyone to up their game and pick up points where they can.
Atapuma will need to keep performing like he's been in the Vuelta. If so, he can bring in plenty of points.
Sekibo, but also our other sprinters, still have Plouay coming up. It seems suited to the punchy sprinter that is Sekibo. Can he finally make that last step forward and play with the very best?
All the others will still have opportunities as well. Can we use them and stave off relegation?
CQ Ranking at August 29th
| 1 | Team Sky | 7661 | | 2 | Movistar Team | 7342 | | 3 | Tinkoff-Saxo | 6662 | | 4 | Orica-GreenEDGE | 6062 | | 5 | Astana Pro Team | 5459 | | 6 | BMC Racing Team | 5180 | | 7 | Etixx - Quick-step | 4974 | | 8 | FDJ | 4677 | | 9 | Ag2r La Mondiale | 4663 | | 10 | Lotto Soudal | 4524 | | 11 | Team Giant-Alpecin (PCT) | 4473 | | 12 | Trek Factory Racing | 4434 | | 13 | Team Katusha | 4417 | | 14 | Team Cannondale - Garmin | 4083 | | 15 | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | 3153 | | 16 | IAM Cycling (PCT) | 2635 | | 17 | Lampre-Merida | 2586 | | 18 | MTN-Qhubeka | 2162 | | 19 | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits (PCT) | 2099 | | 20 | Bardiani CSF (PCT) | 1643 |
Remarkable: Team Europcar is still without a single UCI (WT) point this late in the season. Can they still score a point in the WT before sinking back harshly to PCT? At least we still have a fighting chance.
Go MTN-Qhubeka! |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 06-06-2016 14:07
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Battle for Relegation Part II
Plouay was an amazing experience. We scored 2nd, 4th and 5th place. Sekibo was a nice 4th! Chavanel was 2nd and just stayed ahead of the sprinting peloton. (Well, a broken peloton)
But then things went downhill again. Atapuma lost 6 minutes in the Vuelta after a time trial, dropping back to 21th place. With only one mountain stage left, he did his best to get back but finished 18th, same as in the Giro. He deserved more from this Vuelta, wearing the leader's jersey 6 days.
Vuelta GC:
| 1 | Tejay Van Garderen | BMC Racing Team | +00:00 | | 2 | Beñat Intxausti | Team Sky | +03:05 | | 3 | Tim Wellens | Lotto Soudal | +03:42 | | 4 | Geraint Thomas | Team Sky | +03:43 | | 5 | Leopold König | Team Sky | +04:01 | | 6 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | +05:03 | | 7 | Tiesj Benoot | Lotto Soudal | +05:15 | | 8 | Daniel Martin | Team Cannondale - Garmin | +05:32 | | 9 | Bart De Clercq | Lotto Soudal | +05:47 | | 10 | Jean-Christophe Péraud | Ag2r La Mondiale | +06:03 | | 11 | Mikel Nieve | Team Sky | +06:18 | | 12 | Romain Bardet | Ag2r La Mondiale | +06:33 | | 13 | Joaquim Rodriguez | Team Katusha | +06:39 | | 14 | Nicolas Roche | Movistar Team | +09:13 | | 15 | Julian Alaphilippe | Ag2r La Mondiale | +09:42 | | 16 | Davide Formolo | Team Cannondale - Garmin | +09:59 | | 17 | Alexis Vuillermoz | Ag2r La Mondiale | +10:11 | | 18 | Darwin Atapuma | MTN-Qhubeka | +10:27 | | 19 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Team Sky | +11:01 | | 20 | Alexandre Geniez | FDJ | +11:05 |
Van Garderen made history by taking the Vuelta as well. His big help? Another major time trial in this one. Belgium scored surprisingly well with 3 riders in the top 10 of a Grand Tour. This has been ages ago.
And then, our team fell apart. No noticable results after that. It seemed everyone felt beaten down. Sekibo was so out of form he wasn't even picked for the World Championships.
And so it is done. MTN-Qhubeka will relegate back to the PCT...
| 1 | Tom Dumoulin | Team Sky | +00:00 | | 2 | Tony Martin | Etixx - Quick-step | +00:44 | | 3 | Bradley Wiggins | Team Sky | +00:55 | | 4 | Lawson Craddock | Trek Factory Racing | +01:01 | | 5 | Adriano Malori | Movistar Team | +01:30 | | 6 | Mathias Krigbaum | Whirlpool - Author | +01:34 | | 7 | Luke Durbridge | Orica-GreenEDGE | +01:48 | | 8 | Taylor Phinney | BMC Racing Team | +01:54 | | 9 | Rohan Dennis | BMC Racing Team | +01:59 | | 10 | Jack Bobridge | Ag2r La Mondiale | +02:12 | | 11 | Geraint Thomas | Team Sky | +02:24 | | 12 | Tobias Ludvigsson | Team Giant-Alpecin | +02:25 | | 13 | Eirik Riis | Etixx - Quick-step | +02:40 | | 14 | Hans Ole Tjønna | Trek Factory Racing | +02:52 | | 15 | Stefan Küng | BMC Racing Team | +02:59 |
| 1 | Arnaud Démare | FDJ | +00:00 | | 2 | Mark Cavendish | Etixx - Quick-step | +00:04 | | 3 | Nacer Bouhanni | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | +00:06 | | 4 | Peter Sagan | Tinkoff-Saxo | +00:10 | | 5 | Marcel Kittel | Team Giant-Alpecin | +00:10 | | 6 | Edward Theuns | Lotto Soudal | +00:10 | | 7 | Elia Viviani | Team Sky | +00:10 | | 8 | Jens Debusschere | Lotto Soudal | +00:10 | | 9 | Ben Swift | Team Sky | +00:10 | | 10 | John Degenkolb | Team Giant-Alpecin | +00:10 | | 11 | André Greipel | Lotto Soudal | +00:10 | | 12 | Giacomo Nizzolo | Trek Factory Racing | +00:10 | | 13 | Sonny Colbrelli | Bardiani CSF | +00:10 | | 14 | Caleb Ewan | Orica-GreenEDGE | +00:10 | | 15 | Magnus Cort Nielsen | Orica-GreenEDGE | +00:10 |
Probably a small season review coming up later and then it's on to season 3 for our young talents. MTN back at PCT is a blow, but opens up opportunties, too. Let's make the best of it. |
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| DiCyc |
Posted on 06-06-2016 14:23
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Sprinter
Posts: 1636
Joined: 09-03-2015
PCM$: 200.00
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But hopefully MTN will come back on a high! |
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