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[PCT] Eritel - Sonatrach 2016
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 09-05-2015 00:00
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Tour de France Champion
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Eddie Stobart may also be interested in one of your riders too. |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 09-05-2015 07:13
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World Champion
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Metinvest could be highly interested in british national TT champion, who we see as an ideal man to strengten out TTT squad, expect to hear from us during transfers.
Good luck with Morton situation.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 19-05-2015 01:30
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Team Manager
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Three new Eritrean signings
This season we have increased the amount of local Eritrean riders under contract to 10, helped by three new signings. 9 will ride for us, while Elias Afewerki will ride on loan at the Oz Cycling Project.
Most importantly came the signing of national champion Metkel Kiflay from Project:Africa. The South African based squad were in need of some funds for their signing of Dan Craven, and we leapt at the chance to bring Metkel home. A time trialist by speciality, Kiflay impressed his team last year by his regular breakaway appearances. The Tour du Faso stood out where having finished 4th in the Stage 1 prologue, he would go on to feature in the breakaway on 4 stages.
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Tesfom Okbamariam was also at the Tour du Faso but with no license to attack as he was busy working for the Quickstep team whom he was a stagiare for. They gave him a first taste of cobbles, finishing 53rd at Wanze - Arenburg, and he went on to finish 2nd behind Kiflay at last year's national championships. He is said to have triumphed over Tesfay Abraha (formerly of In-n-Out Racing p/b Auchan) in private team trials in order to secure himself a permanent deal.
Our final Eritrean signing is the Meron Teshome, who will be one of the stagiares for the year. The focus of his season being the Tour de l'Avenir. He rode the Under 23 World Championships last year, and while teammate Mektel Eyob infiltrated the breakaway and finished a fine 10th, Teshome finished down in 175th out of 183.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 20-05-2015 01:01
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Team Manager
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Sprinters sign up
Last year was a succesful year in our sprint department as Moroccan Ismael Ayoune and Irishman Sam Bennett teamed up well, with Bennett taking wins at the Vuelta al Tachira and 5 Jours de Dunkerque. Bennett has moved on home to Bank of Ireland, but that does not mean we have neglected the sprinting department.
The major new signing this year is Juan van Heerden. The South African joins us after a challenging three ProTour years at Wikipedia, Simply Red Bull and Aker - MOT with only 2 wins to his name, and not even a podium last year. The Grand Tour stage win eluded him as well, though he did come very close. Now it is time to hark back to the glory days of his two years at AON Global / Pendleton's Twicer. Finishing 6th and 8th in the continental standings, with 9 stage wins, a Paris-Bruxelles triumph and many high GC positions - including finishing just 1 second behind Ben Swift at the 2010 Circuit Franco-Belge. He now returns to that level, and will still be one of the fastest men out there.
One of three wins at the 2010 Tour du Faso
If you sign one Van Heerden, you might as well sign the other! Christoff van Heerden joins us after a frustrating season at Project:Africa. He's had his moments in the past, and will also have fond memories of 2011 from when he win the King of the Mountains jersey at the Tour of Ireland. Christoff will be riding alongside Juan at a number of races this year.
Christoff takes 3rd for Rothaus on Stage 1 of the 2013 Tour de Slovenie
Our final sprinter signing was somewhat of a surprise, as it was not an African! Van Heerden does not have a great acceleration so countering that is the signing of Tosh Van der Sande, who does! The Belgian has a best individual result of 3rd overall at a breakaway filled 2012 Deutschland Tour but most impressed more recently at the 2014 Vuelta a Colombia with some superb leadouts for Peter Kennaugh. When Orange-KLM could not find the space in their budget to hold on to him, we leapt at the opportunity to snap him up.
Tosh sets up an easy win for Peter Kennaugh at the 2014 Vuelta a Colombia
Edited by SportingNonsense on 20-05-2015 01:01
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 25-05-2015 10:29
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Team Manager
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Team Revealed
Our full squad can now be revealed, headed up by a freshly-trained Natnael Berhane. He is ready to stake his claim as Africa's best climber and to regularly challenge the division's best climbers. Ian Bibby is likely to remain our highest points scorer though, with his all-round ability being key. With Daniel Teklehaimanot, we have a rider who can ably support both in their missions, while Youcef Reguigui will also be a regular presence.
Alex Dowsett remains one of the top puncheurs in the division, but has yet to really deliver on that. Eritrean duo Tesfar Teklit and Meron Amanuel return from PT to support him across the season.
As already revealed, Juan Van Heerden and Tosh Van der Sande have been brought in to provide a strong sprinting team. Ismael Ayoune will regularly support them as a 3rd leadout man.
Team legend Azzeddine Lagab will face up to the difficult 2nd season as he looks to continue punching above his weight on the divison's cobbles. Team regular Essaid Abelouache and newcomer Tesfom Okbamarium will be their support. Okbamarium is one of our XP hunters this season, along with Jani Tewelde, Janvier Hadi, Faycal Hamza and Mektel Eyob.
Our time trial squad may have lost Andrew Tennant this year, but the new signings of Abdelmalek Madani and Eritrean champion Metkel Kiplay will help Richard Cleaver and newly-maxed Erick Rowsell in any TTT we race this season.
Finally, 4 stagiares were signed from 4 different African nations. The main runout for Nasser Ragaey, Joseph Gichora, Meron Teshome and Emanuel Rudahunga will be the Tour de l'Avenir.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 02-06-2015 18:46
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Team Manager
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3 most anticipated races of the season
Looking ahead to the start of the season, there are 3 races which we are particularly looking forward to.
 Tour of Eritrea
Our home race, and one which we will be sending a fully Eritrean squad to - all 8 riders. We did this for the inaugural edition of the race in 2013 to no success at all. Last year was already an improvement as a mixed-African squad helped Natnael Berhane to 4th overall, and now we return with more hopes than ever before. Teklehaimanot, Teklit and Amanuel all return to the race after a year in the PT, while we also bring national champion Mektel Kiflay.
Squad: Berhane, Teklehaimanot, Teklit, Amanuel, Kiflay, Okbamariam, Tewelde, Eyob
 Tour of Romandie
Our biggest goal race of the season, with the target of winning here. It's mix of hills, time trials and not the hardest of mountain stages in the world makes it ideal for Ian Bibby. But in a selection gamble that could work, but could go horribly wrong, Natnael Berhane will also be here. We hope he will support Bibby, given his weaker TT, but who knows!
Squad: Bibby, Berhane, Teklehaimanot, Lagab, Amanuel, Rowsell, Reguigui, Lahsaini
 Tour of America
The Tour of America now enters it's 5th edition and we have avoided it every single time. Not this year, as we pack a very strong squad to the race! Natnael Berhane will lead the team in a bid to podium the race. There are time trials, including a TTT, so hopefully Abdelmalek Madani - 5th in the African championships - will help out there. We also bring our sprinting team to the race, with both Juan Van Heerden and Tosh Van der Sande! Needless to say, we would be very disappointed to not win at least one stage of this Grand Tour.
Squad: Berhane, Van Heerden, Van der Sande, Lagab, Teklit, Madani, Rowsell, Reguigui
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 02-06-2015 18:47
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World Champion
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*sees Berhane*
Well, there goes my plan. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 26-11-2024 08:33
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 02-06-2015 18:53
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Tour de France Champion
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Great squad!
Are you the only one to have 2 squads or are there others as well?  |
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 02-06-2015 18:54
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Berhane to America. And JvH and Van der Sande? 
Oh well. 
Edit: I might just be able to beat you on one terrain - TT with Reinardt JvR! But that's about it really. 
Edited by aidanvn13 on 02-06-2015 19:32
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| The Rider |
Posted on 02-06-2015 19:06
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Grand Tour Specialist
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The ToA hype! I imagine more than 12 teams are turning up this season, which is pretty ironic.
That is one strong squad going there, probably a podium shout for the GC above everything else. All in all a well rounded squad from Eritel ... makes me think Bonsucro might go 0-42 for stage wins there. |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 04-06-2016 12:44
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Team Manager
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The Eritel-Sonatrach HQ springs to life with news of a forthcoming sale on the horizon, featuring two long serving members of the team.
 Ian Bibby
Now this is certainly big news, as Bibby was the team's top ranking points scorer in 2013 and 2014. He signed for the team in 2012, being loaned out to Wiggle in the ProTour where - amongst other things - he won a stage of the Tour de France. Back in PCT land he was a model of consistency with 16th in the 2013 individual standings and 11th in 2014. This was particularly evident in the Tour of Japan where he has finished 2nd, 3rd and 5th overall in recent years - with 2 Points jersey wins. His biggest race though was Bayern Rundfahrt, where he finally secured a GC victory in 2014, backed up by a 2nd place finish this season.
Alex Dowsett
Also a major departure will be Alex Dowsett, 7 years after signing with the team for the 2009 season (two of which were spent on loan to PT). A key points scorer in the hills throughout that time, if not always the model of perfect consistency. The highlight of course being the way he started the 2013 season, with overall victory at the Tour Down Under.
 Tosh van der Sande
A last minute signing last season, Van der Sande proved an excellent accomplice to Juan van Heerden in the sprints. When their leadout partnership work it was a dream to see, with van der Sande often proving stronger than the man he was there to work for. He came close to a big win, finishing 2nd in the Interlagos Grand Prix. He has shown that he could be very worthy as a lead sprinter in a team, or as part of a train.
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 04-06-2016 12:57
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Grand Tour Champion
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Any africans becoming available? Especially a particular Gabonese climber and current National TT Champion? 
Interest registered for some of the above as well though
.: Manager of :.
.: My Awards :.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 04-06-2016 13:19
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Team Manager
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I'd never sell a rider before having at least 1 season of him on maxed stats, particularly after developing them for a few years. So don't get your hopes up in that regard
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 04-06-2016 13:38
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Directeur Sportif
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thought stuff like this wouldn´t be allowed to be postet at the moment? I mean goals, racing plans and transfer plans?
interesting riders on the market though, sadly it will be hard to get a shot on them for a CT team...
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| matt17br |
Posted on 04-06-2016 13:40
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Directeur Sportif
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You can definitely show which riders are available.
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 04-06-2016 14:33
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Team Leader
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Interesting riders available for sale...Will definitely look to see if my budget allows a go at purchasing one of them once the Transfer season starts
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| jph27 |
Posted on 04-06-2016 19:08
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Team Leader
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Bibby you say? Let me bring my skip full of money to your garden |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 22-06-2016 00:46
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Team Manager
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Following a transfer season where Bibby disappeared on a skip, Dowsett got sent on French speaking lessons, and Van der Sande discovered the internet, Eritel - Sonatrach is left with a squad for 2016 which is 100% African!
As you can see from the map below, we have a wide coverage across the continent, with 17 nations represented across the 34 riders associated with the team.
(Key: Blue = Eritel, Yellow = Loaned out, Orange = Loaned in, Green = Stagiare)
Leadership
Natnael Berhane
 Daryl Impey
Juan Van Heerden
Daniel Teklehaimanot
 Dan Craven
Tesfar Teklit
Berhane is the Eritrean figurehead of the team and the reigning Tour of America champion. Impey is a proven PCT race winner and will link up with Van Heerden in the sprinting department. Craven also comes in to support Teklehaimanot in the climb/time trial department, while also being our joint best puncheur with Teklit.
Sprinters
Elias Afewerki
 Issiaka Cisse
 Ismail Ayoune
Sprints will be an important battle ground this season, and we welcome back Afewerki and Cisse to act as key lead out men, having maxed out following seasons at Oz Cycling and Becherovka respectively. Ayoune has proved his leadout capabilities in the past also.
Cobbles
Mekseb Debesay
 Azzeddine Lagab
 Salfo Bikienga
 Komi Dossouvi
Not only are Debesay and Lagab are top cobblers, but there all-round capabilities will be put to good use elsewhere too. We do not pretend to be amongst the best cobbled teams in the division, but Lagab has upset the odds considerably in the past. Bikienga will get to lead his home Tour du Faso race, and Dossouvi is the first professional from Togo!
Support
Youcef Reguigui
 Souheil Khederi
 Charles Anguilet
Meron Amanuel
Mouhssine Lahsaini
Abdelmalek Madani
 Herizo Adriamihajanarivo
Meron Amanuel is the only road race national champion to ride for Eritel this season, but he is the most important one: Eritrean! He leads the hills support, as Reguigui does in the mountains. Both Khederi and Anguilet return with strong all-round climbing abilities having joined Afewerki in spending 2015 down under. Veteran Lahsaini is still involved, while Madani is our top time triallist, and Adriamihajanarivo will seek as many breakaways as possible.
Young Guns
 Matala Seboka
Amanuel Gebrezgabihier
 Salem Kemboi
 Samuel Ssabagwanya
 Similo Nyoni
With much of our talent based having maxed out, it was time for a new intake of talent. Mountains, hills, time trials and sprints are covered here, although the sprinter Kemboi is only on loan from Kenya Airways. Gebrezgabihier is a great Eritrean talent, while Seboka has spent the last 12 years riding up and down mountain passes at home, and could spent the next 12 doing it much further afield.
Stagiares
Emmanuel Killy
 Yoan Pirogue
Kalati Moshoeshoe
Three more talents will join us, perhaps only for the Tour de l'Avenir. Pirogue signs on from Mauritius, in a year when ProTour racing heads to the island for the South African Airways Tour d'Afrique.
Loaned Away
Jani Tewelde
Tesfom Okbamariam
 Janvier Hadi
Metkel Kiflay
Faycal Hamza
Mektel Eyob
A year of development beckons for 6 of our riders, including Rwandan champion Hadi. Red Bull, Aegon, Orange and Bougyues Telecom have all taken a rider, while Kenya Airways took 2. An exciting season awaits for them all.
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 22-06-2016 09:55
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World Champion
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Incredible. I am glad you went 100% african with still staying a PCT worthy team, chapeau!
34 riders though, that is almost for two teams.
But i know many guys are loaned out, so in fact it is not that much...
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 22-06-2016 09:59
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
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Very impressive, love the map! Best of luck in the upcoming season with this African squad!
Greetings from over the ocean! |
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