This transfer season has seen a massive overhaul of our squad for the upcoming season, with only 5 riders from last season's campaign staying with the team. Our main focus has been upon building a strong and sustainable team, built around strong leaders and talented youngsters in order to both be competitive now and also in the future. In addition to that aim, we have tried to create a nice balance of nationalities within the team, with the addition of a focus on Great Britain to our existing ones in Sri Lanka and France.
We feel that it is fair to say that we have achieved both our aims. Firstly, we have managed to bring in some very strong leaders for the PCT in Ian Bibby and Jonathan Bellis, to complement our existing leadership trio of Thibaut Pinot, Cyril Gautier and Adrien Petit. They are supported by a group of very exciting talents, including Adam Yates, Hugh Carthy and Suranga Ranaweera for the Mountains, Sameera Chatarunga for the Cobbles and Madushanka Perera and Chris Opie for the Sprints.
In addition to this, the signings we have made have created a very nice nationality focus. As well as the riders listed above, we've brought in talented all rounders Tony Gallopin and Christophe Laporte from France, and a long list of exciting Sri Lankan unmaxed riders in Sanju Dimantha Sembukutti, Naveen Ruchira, Amith Udaya Kumara, Madushanka Perera and the Silva brothers - Sujith and Nihal. The Sri Lankan talents will give us a very strong base of domestiques a little way down the line, as well as pleasing the sponsors with their addition to the newly trained Asela Sisira, Nidush Nirantha Fernando and Tushantha Rajapakshage. We also brought in another Sri Lankan in Sachin Dulanjana on loan from Compal-Merida - with an eye to a permanent move in the future.
The end result of our rebuild is that the team is perhaps weaker than it could have been now, but we feel that is a sacrifice worth making for the future. The average age of our team as it stands is 25.00, or 24.81 when including our loaned out riders, setting us up very nicely for the future. In addition, of the 22 riders attached to our team in any shape or form only 7 are maxed out, and only one is aged 30 or over so the future is very bright. We know we will struggle to achieve our goals this season and that promotion will likely be unattainable, but we don't have any reason to fear relegation - and the image below showing our team in 3 years time gives us plenty of reason for optimism.
While the season has not yet begun, one of our riders was spotted out in our new kit and wearing our new equipment by Aegon-Lavazza manager roturn in an unofficial race. We think we'll be looking good this season, what do you think?
Ill be watching out for Bibby and Yates with interest! Youve got quite a difference between leaders and not overly useful (yet) talents, so interesting to see if that has a negative effect on you, or peloton if your team is expected to chase!
SportingNonsense wrote:
Ill be watching out for Bibby and Yates with interest! Youve got quite a difference between leaders and not overly useful (yet) talents, so interesting to see if that has a negative effect on you, or peloton if your team is expected to chase!
I do expect that to be a bit of an issue at times, but I've tried to use Gallopin and Yates as much as I can for there to be a strong domestique with my leaders at all times. Shouldn't be too great an issue though, as except from a few races I won't have one of the top favourites - my leaders are all really riders who you would expect to be between 5th and 10th.
Ayubowan! team management are pleased to reveal the race schedules for their main riders for the upcoming season. Below are the race schedules for Thibaut Pinot, Ian Bibby, Cyril Gautier, Jonathan Bellis and Adrien Petit. We will also be revealing our calendar on the previous page (in the post containing our goals), which will contain some other - mainly cobbled - races in which none of the aforementioned riders are taking part.
Thibaut Pinot
Vuelta al Tachira Tour of Eritrea Volta a Catalunya Kandy Cycling Classic Tour of Vancouver Kenya Mountain Classic Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt
Ian Bibby
Tour de San Luis Volta a Catalunya Bayern Rundfahrt Tour of Romandie Tour of Japan Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt Tour of Ukraine
Cyril Gautier
Tour Down Under Gisborne GP Ringerike GP Scandinavia Open Road Race Tour of Beijing Clasica San Sebastian Grands Prix Cyclistes Tour of Britain Nantou Classic Milano - Torino Paris-Tours Giro dell'Emilia Japan Cup
Jonathan Bellis
Berner Rundfahrt Tour de San Luis Strade Bianche Ringerike GP Philadelphia International Championship Interlagos Grand Prix Scandinavia Open Road Race Clasica San Sebastian Grands Prix Cyclistes Tour of Britain Nantou Classic Milano - Torino Giro dell'Emilia Japan Cup
Adrien Petit
Down Under Classic Tour Down Under Vuelta al Tachira Tour of Eritrea Bayern Rundfahrt Philadelphia International Championship Dutch Food Valley Classic 5 Jours de Dunkerque Berlin ProRace Rheden GP Paris-Tours Course de Solidarnosc
It may only be reaching the end of January, but shocking news has broken about the future of Sri Lankan PCT team Ayubowan!. Currently the team is funded by a consortium of Sri Lankan companies (with some state support) and by French distillery Pernod Ricard. However, reports in both France and Sri Lanka suggest that Pernod Ricard are planning to pull their sponsorship from the team at the end of this season leaving it with an uncertain future.
While there is no official word from either the team or Pernod Ricard on the reason behind the split, sources indicate that it is due to a feeling on the part of the French sponsors that Ayubowan! is not worthy of their time and money. The same sources claim that the two came near to splitting following the relegation of Ayubowan! last season, with Pernod Ricard feeling that the performances of the team were "quite pathetic". This season hasn't started well for the team, which may have also contributed to the split, but there are suggestions that this was destined to happen regardless - with many feeling Pernod Ricard only stayed on this season so as to avoid a breach of contract.
This of course leaves Ayubowan! and the team management in a difficult position. Many media outlets in Sri Lanka have suggested that the team drop its foreign sponsorship completely and is instead funded solely by Sri Lankan companies. However, such an event is unlikely due to the difficulties in raising the required funding to be competitive at any level above the CT. Others have suggested that the team may find another international sponsor - likely to be European - in order to provide additional funding alongside the Sri Lankan sponsors, but that will be a time consuming hunt, with sponsors unlikely to be attracted to a team in seemingly perpetual decline. Worst of all, if no sponsorship can be found then the team may simply cease to exist at the end of this season.
8th on Stage 1, Adrien Petit
6th on Stage 5, Cyril Gautier
8th on GC, Cyril Gautier
Vuelta al Tachira
3rd on Stage 1, Adrien Petit
2nd on Stage 2, Adrien Petit
5th on Stage 3, Adrien Petit
8th on Stage 3, Tony Gallopin
6th on Stage 4, Thibaut Pinot
7th on Stage 5, Adrien Petit
8th on Stage 10, Tony Gallopin
15th on GC, Asela Sisira
23rd on GC, Thibaut Pinot
26th on GC, Tony Gallopin
6th in Points, Adrien Petit
4th on Stage 1, Adrien Petit
6th on Stage 3, Thibaut Pinot
4th on Stage 4, Adam Yates
6th on Stage 4, Thibaut Pinot
4th on Stage 6, Thibaut Pinot
3rd on GC, Thibaut Pinot
11th on GC, Adam Yates
27th on GC, Tony Gallopin
28th on GC, Asela Sisira
1st in Youth, Adam Yates
8th in Youth, Hugh Carthy
1st in Teams, Ayubowan!
Tour de San Luis
3rd on Stage 3, Jonathan Bellis
4th on Stage 4, Jonathan Bellis
2nd on Stage 6, Jonathan Bellis
6th on Stage 6, Ian Bibby
Points Lead on Stage 7, Jonathan Bellis
7th on Stage 8, Sameera Chatarunga
5th on GC, Jonathan Bellis
15th on GC, Ian Bibby
4th in Points, Jonathan Bellis
Volta a Catalunya
3rd on Stage 1, Ian Bibby
8th on Stage 2, Ian Bibby
KoM Lead on Stage 3, Thibaut Pinot
2nd on Stage 3, Ian Bibby
3rd on Stage 3, Adam Yates
Points Lead on Stages 4, 5, 6, Ian Bibby
4th on Stage 4, Ian Bibby
8th on Stage 4, Tony Gallopin
1st on Stage 5, Ian Bibby
1st on Stage 6, Thibaut Pinot
6th on Stage 6, Ian Bibby
2nd on GC, Ian Bibby
13th on GC, Adam Yates
20th on GC, Tony Gallopin
1st in Points, Ian Bibby
5th in KoM, Thibaut Pinot
3rd in Youth, Adam Yates
8th in Youth, Hugh Carthy
1st in Teams, Ayubowan!
2nd on Stage 1, Adrien Petit
3rd on Stage 2, Ian Bibby
8th on Stage 3, Adrien Petit
6th on Stage 4, Ian Bibby
7th on Stage 5, Adrien Petit
2nd on GC, Ian Bibby
12th on GC, Tony Gallopin
17th on GC, Adam Yates
5th in Points, Adrien Petit
2nd in Youth, Adam Yates
3rd in Teams, Ayubowan!
Last season ended with the Giro di Lombardia, where Cyril Gautier was our best rider with a 16th place finish. It capped off a disappointing and frustrating debut PT season for the team which saw us head straight back to the PCT. However, it also galvanised the team, and at the end of year meeting we decided on an unofficial goal for the upcoming season - doing at least as well as we did in Lombardia for as long as possible for this season.
Of course we didn't expect it to amount to much, as striving for a top 16 finish in every race is a challenge for even the best teams - especially due to the HC band system. However, we surprised even ourselves with the level of success we had with our unofficial target. 4 months of the season passed before we failed to finish in the top 16 of a race, 17 races and 72/140 total race days to be precise. The streak unsurprisingly ended on the cobbles, but even then it was due to bad luck on the final stage otherwise it may have carried on. As you can see in the table below, it's been a team effort - and we hope we can start another streak from here, to put us into promotion contention!
2nd on Stage 2, Adrien Petit
8th on Stage 5, Adrien Petit
25th on GC, Christophe Laporte
35th on GC, Adrien Petit
8th in Points, Adrien Petit
4th in KoM, Nihal Silva
6th in Youth, Christophe Laporte
Tour of Japan
2nd on Stage 1, Ian Bibby
2nd on Stage 3, Ian Bibby
7th on Stage 3, Tony Gallopin
Points Lead on Stages 4, 5 and 6, Ian Bibby
4th on Stage 5, Ian Bibby
5th on GC, Ian Bibby
1st in Points, Ian Bibby
6th in KoM, Naveen Ruchira
Kenya Mountain Classic
8th, Adam Yates
21st, Thibaut Pinot
Scandinavia Open Road Race
9th, Cyril Gautier
18th, Jonathan Bellis
Berlin ProRace
4th, Adrien Petit
Edited by jph27 on 06-11-2016 19:38
It may only be the middle of May, but already it's time for a midseason break for us here at Ayubowan. As we won't be participating in any races until the middle of July now, we thought it would be a good time to look back at the season so far and wonder about what the future might hold. So far we've raced 89 out of 140 total race days, across 22 races, with an average overall finishing position in each race of 9th - and a total of 26 overall top 15 finishes (13 of them overall top 10 finishes). Therefore we have a lot of reasons to be happy with the season so far, putting a rider in the top 25 of every race, and the top 16 of all but one.
In this review we'll focus on the performances of our leaders, but credit also has to be given to some of our talents and domestiques who have provided some impressive performances this season. Tony Gallopin has consistently racked up results on every terrain and been a useful domestique - whether in the mountains of Eritrea, the hills of Bavaria or even on flat stages in Tachira he's been an incredible asset. Over the winter Asela Sisira went away and worked on his climbing, and it's paid off so far with his top 15 finishes in Tachira and his home race in Kandy. And Chris Opie has contributed far more than expected, with two stage top 5 finishes in Romandie in what was just meant to be a development year for him.
Many of our talents have also scored ranking points that we didn't expect, with Hugh Carthy, Sameera Chatarunga, Nihal Silva, Christophe Laporte and Naveen Ruchira all helping our promotion push. But the most impressive of our group of young riders has definitely been Adam Yates. 11th in Eritrea, 13th in Catalunya and Gisborne, 17th in Bayern, 20th in Romandie and 8th in Kenya is a pretty remarkable return compared to what we hoped for prior to the season - and he's only going to get better!
The impressive performances of Adam Yates have helped to distract from the inconsistency that has dogged Thibaut Pinot throughout this season. After a disappointing performance in Tachira following a crash, he bounced back with an outstanding 3rd place in Eritrea, before rescuing his race in Catalunya with a win on the final stage. His performances in Kandy and Kenya left a lot to be desired, but 6th in Vancouver was a solid result considering the circumstances. It does however seem unlikely he'll remain with the time next season on the back of those trials and tribulations, but a lot can change between now and then.
While Thibaut Pinot has struggled, Ian Bibby has flourished. A disappointing 15th place for him in San Luis as he opened his season had team management worried, but then Catalunya rolled around. There he finished in the top 8 of every stage, including victory in the Stage 5 TT, on his way to 2nd on GC and the points jersey. He'd take another 2nd place on GC in the Bayern Rundfahrt, before finishing 8th in a strong field in Romandie. Then came the Tour of Japan, where he managed to take home three stage top 5 finishes, plus 5th on GC and the points jersey. Should we promote, it'll largely be down to his performances.
Our puncheur duo of Cyril Gautier and Jonathan Bellis haven't raced a huge amount this season, with their best yet to come. Gautier has been a little disappointing at times, taking 8th in the Tour Down Under, 15th in the Ringerike GP and 9th in the Scandinavia Open Road Race, but his 2nd place in the Gisborne GP shows what we hope we'll see from him in his remaining races. Meanwhile Bellis started the season brightly, with 2nd in the Berner Rundfahrt against the sprinters, and a good 5th place finish in San Luis with some decent stage results thrown in. But since then he's struggled, 11th in our top 5 goal at the Strade Bianche, 12th at Ringerike, 9th in Philadelphia and then 18th at the Interlagos GP and the Scandinavia Open Road Race. We're quietly confident of some improvement later in the season though, especially seeing as many of their rivals have raced a lot more already.
The final rider who needs to be highlighed here is Adrien Petit. After the sale of Romain Vanderbiest he was thrust into the role of lead sprinter, and he's flourished. Three stage top 5 finishes in Tachira started his season off the right way, and in every stage race he's competed in he's added more impressive results, such as his 2nd place finishes in stages in Bayern and Dunkerque. Add in a strong 4th place in the Berlin ProRace in our final race before the break, and he looks to have proved that he's more than just a leadout man.
Overall then, it's been a good start to the season for us. While there is definitely room for improvement, we're quietly confident that we should be in the middle of the promotion picture when the next rankings update is released. Other managers have been heard speaking of our team in hushed tones, with one saying that we were "more likely to promote than drop out of the top 10", which is good to hear - and we're only going to get stronger as our talents improve! Sponsorship news for next season will be released over the summer, with some changes afoot (Pernod Ricard leaving as mentioned before) so remember to check back here from time to time. I hope you enjoyed this review, and feel free to add your comments on our season so far/our future prospects!
It was revealed in January that Ayubowan! faced somewhat of a crisis, with the impending withdrawal from sponsorship of Pernod Ricard at the end of the 2016 season. At the time, results were poor and it looked like it could be the end of the road for the team. But now, as we sit here at the start of June with the team 3rd in the PCT rankings and looking like a good bet for promotion, we're delighted to announce that the long term future of the team has been secured.
Firstly though, we have to announce that another one of our sponsors from this season is leaving us. Lanka Bell have come to a mutual agreement with team management to terminate their sponsorship at the end of this season - however as you will see, that is a move that could prove quite beneficial. On the other hand, Aitken Spence, Hatton National Bank and SriLankan Airlines have committed to the project for the foreseeable future, and we look forward to continuing to work with them.
In fact, it is thanks to the influence of SriLankan Airlines that we have been able to secure another sponsor for the 2017 season and hopefully beyond. When we spoke to their management about an increase of funding to compensate the loss of Pernod Ricard, they said that while they couldn't do so, they would ask their friends at Cinnamon Air, who were more than happy to come onboard.
Further to that, the management at SriLankan Airlines gave us another tip that helped us out with finding sponsorship. During one of our meetings at Bandaranaike International Airport, one member of their team remarked to us that they'd heard rumours about a Sri Lankan retailer with a store at the airport looking to expand globally. And from there we should leave out the boring technical detail, and instead simply welcome ODEL to the team as our official clothing partners from next season!
However, neither of the aforementioned sponsors could quite promise to fill the gap left by Pernod Ricard - and that was before even factoring in the potential that we could need to finance a PT team next season. We spoke to many major Sri Lankan companies, but the only one willing to put a firm offer on the table was Dialog Axiata. It wasn't a simple deal to sign, due to them being in direct competition with a current sponsor in Lanka Bell, but we managed to reach an agreement that satisfied all parties eventually. And so, we can confirm now we will be racing next season!
Vuelta al Tachira
Tour of Eritrea
Volta a Catalunya
Kandy Cycling Classic
Tour of Vancouver
Kenya Mountain Classic
Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt
Tour de San Luis
Bayern Rundfahrt
Tour of Romandie
Tour of Japan
Tour of Ukraine
Tour Down Under
Gisborne GP
Ringerike GP
Scandinavia Open Road Race
Tour of Beijing
Tour of Britain
Nantou Classic
Milano - Torino
Paris-Tours
Philadelphia International Championship
Interlagos Grand Prix
Dutch Food Valley Classic
Course de Solidarnosc
