One of our more successful races last season so a return to Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands was very likely.
Profiles:
Some flat stages, some puncheur stages,a prologue and a cobbles stage. Something for everyone but the climbers.
Team:
Kenny De Haes Nick Kinney Jay Major Carlos Alexandre Manarelli Leandro Marcos Darren Matthews Jakob Rathe Ethan Weiss
Kinney waas quite successful here last year and looks to repeat his performance. The sprints will be handled by Manarelli. The cobbles quartet of De Haes, Marcos, Matthews and Rathe will look forward to stage 4. Weiss makes his debut and Major completes the squad.
Stage 1:
The prologue wasn't that important to us. Kinney was our highest finisher in 29th, sixteen seconds behind winner Bille.
Stage 2:
A day of many crashes, including De Haes hitting the road twice. The stage ended in a mass sprint with Manarelli in fourth and Kinney in eleventh.
Stage 3:
De Haes shows some great recovery by going into the break. However he couldn't follow Clifford when he made the decisive move to take the stage win.
Stage 4:
The cobbled stage. De Haes, Kinney and Marcos survived the first split in the peloton. When the group further broke down Marcos was ahead and finished tenth in the stage, moving up to fifth in the GC. Kinney lost some time but moves to tenth now.
Stage 5:
Weiss first day in action as he went into the break but couldn't round it off. Kinney attacked throughout the day and finished sixth, moving up one place in the GC. Marcos also kept his place in the GC and third in the youth classification.
Stage 6:
A flat affair to finish things off, so no major changes in the overall classification. A good sprint by Manarelli was only beaten by Dockx today, so we couldn't wrap up our first win of the season.
Classification:
Pos.
Rider
Team
Time
1
Gregory Hugentobler
Sauber Petronas Racing
23h24'12
2
Marek Konwa
Schuh powered by Wiggle
+ 3
3
Gaëtan Bille
La Poste p/b Mavic
+ 1'05
4
Lars Van der Haar
TVM - Beslist.nl
+ 1'11
5
Leandro Marcos
Chiquita - Universal
+ 1'35
9
Nick Kinney
Chiquita - Universal
+ 2'45
48
Ethan Weiss
Chiquita - Universal
+ 14'56
50
Darren Matthews
Chiquita - Universal
+ 15'10
53
Kenny De Haes
Chiquita - Universal
+ 16'14
62
Jakob Rathe
Chiquita - Universal
+ 17'59
64
Jay Major
Chiquita - Universal
+ 18'33
107
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Chiquita - Universal
+ 31'15
Rider rankings:
Pos.
Rider
Points
1
Leandro Marcos
50
2
Nick Kinney
30
3
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
15
4
Darren Matthews
13
5
Damion Drapac
11
6
Kenny De Haes
9
7
Ethan Weiss
4
8
Diego Milan
2
Rating:
The only thing missing here was a top step on the podium.
We're only thirteen racedays into the season. Normally it would take much longer to achieve our first victory, which only happen in the second part of the season. Not this year though!
The first three stages of the Tour of the Middle East were tailor made for a Weiss breakaway victory, but it was Cayetano Sarmiento who shocked us and the world to win the third stage after an attack on the final hill. This race is a success already!
Cobbles and Minions were never happily together, until they went into couples therapy in the off-season. As a result we brought in some specialists and it has paid off already.
Belgian Kenny De Haes takes the victory in his home cobblestones race Geraardsbergen-Bosberg, our first one day victory ever. A full report will come at a later date!
Cobblestones, meh. Well, not anymore, since we chose this cateogry as one our major points for improvement.
Profile:
The cobbles of the Muur van Geraardsbergen followed by the steep Bosberg. A combination of cobbles and hills ability is necessary to win.
Team:
Kenny De Haes Jhonnatan De Leon Nick Kinney Gracjan Lejman Leandro Marcos Darren Matthews Diego Milan Jakob Rathe
The four cobblers are here: De Haes in his home race, Marcos is good on both hills and cobbles, for Matthews the hills might be too tough and Rathe will help them out. The three puncheurs (Kinney, Lejman, Milan) are here as well but will use this as warm-up for the San Marino Hill Classic. Oh, and De Leon.
Race:
Milan got into the break by accident after a split in the peloton. With 40 kilometers to go they got caught again.
The award for most unluckiest Minion of the day goes to Marcos, who was held up by a crash, and after a lot of effort to get back, crashed himself. The team brought him back before the finale where...he attacked!
This move resulted in a select group of twelve including De Haes, Matthews and himself. After multiple attempts, including one from the Belgian, the sprint would be contested between this select group. With 500 metres to go De Haes went to the front and no one could overtake him, taking the victory in his home race. Marcos and Matthews would finish tenth and eleventh.
Classification:
Pos.
Rider
Team
Time
1
Kenny De Haes
Chiquita - Universal
5h02'52
2
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Podium Ambition
s.t.
3
Geraint Thomas
Podium Ambition
s.t.
4
Georgios Karatzios
Elta - Hellenic Post
s.t.
5
Filippo Pozzato
Ferrero - Samruk
s.t.
10
Darren Matthews
Chiquita - Universal
+ 55
11
Leandro Marcos
Chiquita - Universal
s.t.
40
Diego Milan
Chiquita - Universal
+ 7'02
45
Nick Kinney
Chiquita - Universal
+ 7'31
69
Jakob Rathe
Chiquita - Universal
+ 9'36
98
Jhonnatan De Leon
Chiquita - Universal
+ 16'48
130
Gracjan Lejman
Chiquita - Universal
+ 22'52
Rider rankings:
Pos.
Rider
Points
1
Kenny De Haes
81
2
Leandro Marcos
61
3
Nick Kinney
30
4
Darren Matthews
27
5
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
15
6
Damion Drapac
11
7
Ethan Weiss
4
8
Diego Milan
2
Rating:
We're happy we didn't proceed with Operation Destory All Cobblestones On The Planet
Sarmiento already won a stage in the Tour of the Middle East, but the race has gotten even more successful for us!
Another new signing, Chris Barton, rode the time trial of his life to win the eleventh stage. This is our third win of the season, equalling our tally from last season. And half of our victories come from time trials, after Haga won two of them in previous years.
As the race name suggests it's a hilly classic in the country of San Marino. New on the calender so we don't know what to expect.
Profile:
A fair bit of climbing and even an uphill finish, puncheurs with decent climbing ability are in their habitat here.
Team:
Kenny De Haes Jhonnatan De Leon Nick Kinney Gracjan Lejman Leandro Marcos Darren Matthews Diego Milan Jakob Rathe
Exactly the same squad as Geraardsbergen-Bosberg for convenience and since the rest is currently racing in the Middle East. Milan is best climber out of the puncheurs, and should be leader. Kinney and Lejman should do decent here. The cobbles quartet and De Leon for the bottles and breakaway.
Race:
After a while a four men breakway got clear and amongst them was our Guatemalan pride De Leon. The gap got bigger and bigger and eventually it became clear the break would make it to the end. Unfortunately Possoni, Haavardsholm outsmarted him, as did favourite Klemme from the peleton. Still, fourth place is a great result for a young chap like him.
Behind, Milan won the sprint of the remaining peloton for sixth. Lejman and Kinney finished 21st and 22nd to snatch some ranking points.
Classification:
Pos.
Rider
Team
Time
1
Moris Possoni
Team Ticos Air Costa Rica
4h55'50
2
Ole Haavardsholm
KAYAK-Clas Ohlson
+ 1'04
3
Domenik Klemme
Kraftwerk Man Machine
+ 1'28
4
Jhonnatan De Leon
Chiquita - Universal
s.t.
5
Enrico Barbin
Ferrero - Samruk
+ 1'43
6
Diego Milan
Chiquita - Universal
+ 1'55
21
Gracjan Lejman
Chiquita - Universal
s.t.
22
Nick Kinney
Chiquita - Universal
s.t.
61
Jakob Rathe
Chiquita - Universal
+ 3'14
67
Leandro Marcos
Chiquita - Universal
s.t.
97
Kenny De Haes
Chiquita - Universal
+ 9'37
119
Darren Matthews
Chiquita - Universal
+ 11'26
Rider rankings:
Pos.
Rider
Points
1
Kenny De Haes
81
2
Leandro Marcos
61
3
Jhonnatan De Leon
37
4
Nick Kinney
32
5
Diego Milan
31
6
Darren Matthews
27
7
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
15
8
Damion Drapac
11
9
Ethan Weiss
4
10
Gracjan Lejman
3
Rating:
I feel like we're giving out four bananas quite easily.
Not the United States but the United Arab Emirates will host our biggest event of the season. 12 stages, 12 chanches for a stage win and of course overall ambitions with a top 5 goal.
Profiles:
First three hilly stages and a mountain stage followed by three sprint stages. Then it's another 3 mountain stages, a time trial and a flat stage to finish.
Team:
Edwin Avila Chris Barton Damion Drapac Tareq Esmaeli Jay Major Yasmani Martinez Cayetano Sarmiento Ethan Weiss
We only have one viable option for our sponsor goal, and that's Martinez. Barton and Sarmiento are his dearest support with the former also targeting the time trial and the latter making his debut for us. Drapac is here for stages 4-6 and maybe the last one if he survives the mountains, supported by another debutant Avila. Weiss targets the three hilly stages for a breakaway victory, and Major can use the race for development. Esmaeli is here for his close to home race, and 70% of his total racedays.
Stage 1:
No Minion in the break, and no noteworthy result or loss.
Stage 2:
An early break with presumably Weiss couldn't get clear because it contained race leader Geschke. The race again resulted in a reduced bunch sprint with Martinez in fourth and Esmaeli in fifth.
Stage 3:
Again no Weiss, so Sarmiento went midstage to gain some points for the mountains classification, but ends up staying away from the peleton all together to take our first stage win of the season! Martinez got to sixth place.
Stage 4:
The mountain stage and unexplicably Weiss attacked on the stage least suited to his abilities. Martinez stayed with the best, losing only a minute to winner Garby to cross the line in seventh, moving up to fifth in the GC. Esmaeli is also in the top twenty.
Another sprinters stage and the Australian was well positioned once more. This time it was Rowe who remained ahead of him. Two second places in a row.
Stage 7:
A totally disorientated sprint with Nizzolo overtaking his teammate Orlov in the final metres. Drapac only got to sixth, with Avila in tenth.
Stage 8:
Back to the mountain goats. Barton went into the break and was one of the last to get caught. Martinez attacked the favourites and did well to finish sixth, moving up a place in the GC and with his time trial, a great prospect at podium.
Stage 9:
Esmaeli went into the break which didn't result in anything and even made him tumble further down the GC. Sarmiento tried and failed. Unfortunately Martinez followed suit when he got dropped from the favourites group. He would cross the line in tenth but dropped to ninth in the GC, losing all hope on a podium. Drapac and Major didn't finish.
Stage 10:
This time Esmaeli and Sarmiento went into the break together to no avail, being caught before the final climb. Martinez was again dropped but did not lose more places.
Stage 11:
The time trial. Barton got off to great start taking the fastest time at both splits. In the end he would beat Tennant's time be 37 seconds, enough to take victory.
Martinez also rode a great time trial, finishing sixth but not gaining any places in the GC. What could've happened if he didn't lose time in the previous stages.
Stage 12:
What was supposed to be an uneventful stage with Drapac not in the race anymore, turned into a nightmare with echelons. Martinez was in one of the groups behind. Luckily they could rejoin the peloton, salvaging his ninth position in the GC. Still, 6 and a half minutes behind winner De La Cruz.
Classification:
Pos.
Rider
Team
Time
1
David De la Cruz
Team Ticos Air Costa Rica
46h38'18
2
Marc Christian Garby
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
+ 1'19
3
Igor Antón
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 3'41
4
Sergei Pomoshnikov
MOL - OMW Petrom
+ 4'10
5
Martin Hacecký
Kraftwerk Man Machine
+ 4'19
9
Yasmani Martinez
Chiquita - Universal
+ 6'37
21
Cayetano Sarmiento
Chiquita - Universal
+ 26'46
29
Chris Barton
Chiquita - Universal
+ 35'07
38
Tareq Esmaeli
Chiquita - Universal
+ 46'54
67
Ethan Weiss
Chiquita - Universal
+ 1h45'15
73
Edwin Avila
Chiquita - Universal
+ 1h54'58
Damion Drapac
Chiquita - Universal
DNF
Jay Major
Chiquita - Universal
DNF
Rider rankings:
Pos.
Rider
Points
1
Kenny De Haes
81
2
Leandro Marcos
61
3
Jhonnatan De Leon
37
4
Nick Kinney
32
5
Diego Milan
31
6
Darren Matthews
27
7
Damion Drapac
25
8
Yasmani Martinez
22
9
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
15
10
Cayetano Sarmiento
15
11
Chris Barton
11
12
Ethan Weiss
4
13
Gracjan Lejman
3
14
Tareq Esmaeli
2
Rating:
Martinez took away a banana for not achieving the goal
Today, we received news from minor sponsor Gameloft that they wish to withdraw their sponsorship commitment at the end of the 2016 season. The French gaming company has been with us from the start of this adventure as developers of the official Minion Rush game. Also they provided financial assistance and got a prominent place on our jersey.
The team will be able to continue without Gameloft. Their money contribution was next to nothing and now we don't have to hear their constant complaining about the French riders in our team. Actually, this might be a great move for the team! We only need a new game developer but we're sure other companies are lined up to take over the role.
We only needed one more victory for this to be our most succesful season ever. We're only in early March, but we've done it.
Yasmani Martinez won stage 5 of the Tour of Southland up Coronet Peak, taking the GC lead in the process. With 2 flat stages and a time trial left, he should normally be able to hang on to the jersey.
Another big C2 event, four stages shorter than Middle East but with an extra time trial and only one mountain stage.
Profiles:
Only one mountain stage to Coronet Peak, and a uphill finish earlier. What remains are four flat stages and two short time trials.
Team:
Edwin Avila Damion Drapac Mark Griffith Jay Major Yasmani Martinez Darren Matthews Diego Milan Cayetano Sarmiento
Coming from the Middle East, we expect more from Martinez. Also, we want a sprint victory by Drapac. First race of the season for Griffith, who will aim the time trial.
Stage 1:
The short prologue for specialist Matthews, only five seconds off but still in second place and leading the youth classification. Griffith fifth in his very first racedau.
Stage 2:
Disorganized sprint caught Drapac and Avila off guard, ninth and eleventh for them.
Stage 3:
Martinez amongst the front lads but again ninth outside the points. No timegaps so still only 19 seconds behind the leader. Matthews still leading youth.
Stage 4:
By the looks of this picture Avila won, but turns out three sprinters rode so fast they were fourty seconds up the road.
Stage 5:
When Sella attacked at Coronet Peak, Martinez was the only one who could follow. He even displaced him further up the climb, going solo towards Mat Senan who remained from the breakaway. He joined and rode away again, taking the stage victory and also the GC lead.
Stage 6:
Break survived, we were more busy protecting Martinez from banana peels on the road.
Stage 7:
Griffith (pictured) rode a monster of a TT, only allowing Tennant to go faster. Martinez even increasing the gap to most of his rivals, looking secured for victory now.
Stage 8:
I can't remember because I got too drunk after celebrating Martinez's victory.
Since this season flat races actually matter, we might as well ride a few of them.
Profile:
Not pancake flat but should still be a bunch sprint.
Team:
Edwin Avila Kenny De Haes Jhonnatan De Leon Damion Drapac Nervin Jiatz Jay Major Leandro Marcos Jakob Rathe
We ride for Drapac today. His leadout is Avila, with De Haes, Rathe and Major in the train. The rest may carry bottles or something else.
Race:
We elected not to send someone into the morning break, instead helping with the chase.
The hard work paid off. with Avila positioned on the back of the Podium Ambition train. Unfortunately he had lost Drapac in the process, so he had to do it.
However, when things got up to speed he lost touch and dropped way down the order, outside a points scoring position even. Marcos finished 23rd to take away one point.
One Bulgarian and a sort-of Bulgarian team in the CT, reason enough to host a stage race here. New on the C2HC calender, but looks similair to Trentino last year which didn't do us that well.
Profiles:
Let's call it a mountanious race with three mountain stages with uphill finishes. Also a team time trial on the second day and a short flat stage on the fourth.
Team:
Chris Barton Jhonnatan De Leon Mark Griffith Nervin Jiatz Jay Major Carlos Alexandre Manarelli Yasmani Martinez Jakob Rathe
The Tour of Southland winner Martinez will be here as well ut with lower expectations due to the team time trial. Barton and Griffith are decent time trialers but aren't enough to form a competent team time trial outfit. Manarelli for the only flat stage if he survives the previous three, esle a waste of race days.
Stage 1:
First uphill finish. Martinez in fourth only losing six seconds on Anton and Tvetcov.
Stage 2:
The fearsome team effort. One of the first teams en route and our time wasn't too great. 13th place, 1 minute and 19 seconds behind Kraftwerk, bye bye GC.
Stage 3:
Martinez was already down to sixteenth in the GC and lost more time to his rivals, but improving to twelfth in the GC due to the dropped TT specialists.
Stage 4:
The flat stage for Manarelli. He was positioned well but finished second in the sprint behind Krieger. Unfortunately there was a seven-man break ahead which took away the points on offer.
Stage 5:
De Leon in the break, going for sixth place in the youth classification for a handful of points. Martinez recovered from his awful performance and climbed to seventh in the GC.
After Gameloft's withdrawal last month, we have to part company with another minor sponsor. Now Illumination Entertainment has decided to quit cycling at the end of the season. They were the makers of both Despicable Me movies, the Minions spin-off and the upcoming Despicable Me 3, which was released by their parent company and major sponsor Universal.
Illumination Entertainment is a French company but unlike the baguettes from Gameloft they didn't demand French riders. Instead they wish to leave because their parent company, Universal Studios, already contributes to the team as a major sponsor. This way they actually sponsor the team twice, which is a bit unnecessary according to the board of directors. They could better spend their money on creating more movies, also those who don't contain Minions. Those movies are not funny and will definitely be boycotted when they will premiere.
Of course we respect the decision made by the executives of Illumination Entertainment and fully understand their reasoning behind the withdrawal. Unfortunately, this means the team can no longer be associated (falsely) with the Illuminati. This also means Chiquita and Universal are now the only two sponsors left. It's getting tight whether or not we have enough funds for next season.
Edwin Avila Kenny De Haes Jhonnatan De Leon Damion Drapac Nervin Jiatz Jay Major Leandro Marcos Jakob Rathe
Look closely and you'll see it's the same team that rode in Hungary, however we expect a better result by the likes of Avila and Drapac this time.
Race:
Skip towards the last 10 kilometers because the break was caught and everyone was heading towards a mass sprint. Podium Ambition had assembled a strong train for Nelson and paced so hard that a split caught most riders off guard. The first five places were away, where Sauber's Awang could beat Nelson. Drapac was best of the rest in sixth, which only made us wonder what could've happened had he been a bit better positioned.
Our first race on American soil this season, and our first step into C1. Can we step up and show we're capable of getting results at a higher level?
Profile:
Flat rated but the terrain shouldn't be underestimated
Team:
Edwin Avila Kenny De Haes Jhonnatan De Leon Damion Drapac Nervin Jiatz Jay Major Leandro Marcos Jakob Rathe
Same squad as Betonexpreszz GP and Busan GP. Spoiler alert: the same squad will go to Barcelona as well.
Race:
Our only two moments in front of the cameras was when Jiatz attempted to get into the break (failed) and when Marcos attacked with 22 kilometers to go (failed)
Leader Drapac was dropped on the hills, so the Cuban took the honors of participating in the sprint. He took away two points with 22nd place.
Shocking news coming out of the Guatemala Headquarters today. Major sponsor and team founder Universal Studios will not renew its contract with the team, leaving Chiquita as the sole funder at the moment. Universal has been co-sponsor ever since the team was still in its infancies. This comes as an absolute surprise and we don't know what to say or do honestly.
When asked for arguments for this sudden decision, the spokesman answered: "The team and us have grown apart. They had their HQ in our backyard (Universal Studios, California), they had a strong American focus. And now they've thrown it all away by going to a stupid banana republic just for tax evasion purposes. This shows it was Chiquita who controls everything all along and not us. We will no longer tolerate this injustice and leave Chiquita on its own. They can do perfectly without us as proven by the last couple of months, ever since the move to their home turf."
The Minions will also continue within the team despite their formal employers leaving the team. Their contract with the movie company that from now on shall not be named doesn't state they're exclusive property to the film company, which means the Minions are free to participate in other ventures including our cycling team.
wow, I was worried about the Minnions, but after reading the whole thing it doesn't look as bad as I firstly thought...good replacements will come I feel
Kenny De Haes
Nick Kinney
Jay Major
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Leandro Marcos
Darren Matthews
Damion Drapac
Diego Milan
Jhonnatan De Leon
Gracjan Lejman
Edwin Avila
Tareq Esmaeli
