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.

Stage 5:

First of the flat stages. Drapac followed the Ticos Air train, which was a good decision. However he couldn't get around their sprinter Guillén, so second place it is.



Stage 6:

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.

As reason they gave the lack of French cyclists in the team. In our first season they were content with Sébastien Chavanel, who was signed as sprinter but we can't recall him doing anything. Last season we brought in Jeandesbosz as best cobbler ever before trading him for another Frenchman, Le Montagner on loan from Generali. He'll head to Vivacom for the upcoming season. This year we haven't been able to sign a Frenchman due to other interests and preferences, which caused Gameloft to hand in its contract and leave the team.

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.

Classification:

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Yasmani Martinez	Chiquita - Universal	19h21'49
2	Igor Antón	Isostar - Adriatic	+ 1'05
3	Emanuele Sella	Elta - Hellenic Post	+ 1'29
4	Serghei Tvetcov	cycleYorkshire s/b ASDA-Savers	+ 3'11
5	Borislav Ivanov	Podium Ambition	+ 3'58
26	Diego Milan	Chiquita - Universal	+ 7'07
31	Darren Matthews	Chiquita - Universal	+ 8'42
33	Edwin Avila	Chiquita - Universal	+ 8'56
87	Damion Drapac	Chiquita - Universal	+ 18'48
97	Jay Major	Chiquita - Universal	+ 22'23
112	Cayetano Sarmiento	Chiquita - Universal	+ 26'17
119	Mark Griffith	Chiquita - Universal	+ 30'39

Rider rankings:

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Yasmani Martinez	111
2	Kenny De Haes	81
3	Leandro Marcos	61
4	Darren Matthews	46
5	Jhonnatan De Leon	37
6	Nick Kinney	32
7	Diego Milan	31
8	Damion Drapac	25
9	Carlos Alexandre Manarelli	15
10	Cayetano Sarmiento	15
11	Chris Barton	11
12	Mark Griffth	8
13	Ethan Weiss	4
14	Gracjan Lejman	3
15	Edwin Avila	2
16	Tareq Esmaeli	2

Rating:



Now that's what I call success

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.

Classification:

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Andreas Stauff	Kraftwerk Man Machine	4h41'44
2	Caleb Ewan	Podium Ambition	s.t.
3	Simon Clarke	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
4	Roman Maikin	Kraftwerk Man Machine	s.t.
5	Takero Terasaki	Kraftwerk Man Machine	s.t.
23	Leandro Marcos	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
30	Edwin Avila	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
38	Damion Drapac	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
46	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
72	Kenny De Haes	Chiquita - Universal	+ 2'58
73	Jhonnatan De Leon	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
77	Nervin Jiatz	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
98	Jay Major	Chiquita - Universal	+ 4'28

Rider rankings:

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Yasmani Martinez	111
2	Kenny De Haes	81
3	Leandro Marcos	62
4	Darren Matthews	46
5	Jhonnatan De Leon	37
6	Nick Kinney	32
7	Diego Milan	31
8	Damion Drapac	25
9	Carlos Alexandre Manarelli	15
10	Cayetano Sarmiento	15
11	Chris Barton	11
12	Mark Griffth	8
13	Ethan Weiss	4
14	Gracjan Lejman	3
15	Edwin Avila	2
16	Tareq Esmaeli	2

Rating:



Only one point, only one banana

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.



Classification:

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Serghei Tvetcov	cycleYorkshire s/b ASDA-Savers	14h54'30
2	Jonathan Salinas	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	+ 40
3	Martin Hacecký	Kraftwerk Man Machine	+ 55
4	Igor Antón	Isostar - Adriatic	+ 1'31
5	Marc Christian Garby	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	+ 1'54
7	Yasmani Martinez	Chiquita - Universal	+ 2'30
40	Chris Barton	Chiquita - Universal	+ 8'04
51	Jhonnatan De Leon	Chiquita - Universal	+ 10'58
76	Nervin Jiatz	Chiquita - Universal	+ 20'38
109	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal	+ 34'20
142	Mark Griffith	Chiquita - Universal	+ 53'06
148	Jay Major	Chiquita - Universal	+ 54'21
149	Carlos Alexandre Manarelli	Chiquita - Universal	+ 54'41

Rider rankings:

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Yasmani Martinez	153
2	Kenny De Haes	81
3	Leandro Marcos	62
4	Darren Matthews	46
5	Jhonnatan De Leon	38
6	Nick Kinney	32
7	Diego Milan	31
8	Damion Drapac	25
9	Carlos Alexandre Manarelli	15
10	Cayetano Sarmiento	15
11	Chris Barton	11
12	Mark Griffth	8
13	Ethan Weiss	4
14	Gracjan Lejman	3
15	Edwin Avila	2
16	Tareq Esmaeli	2

Rating:



Not bad, not very good, rather anonymous

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.

A trip across the pacific to South Korea.

Profile:



Flat. No other words to describe it.

Team:

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.



Classification:

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Mohamed Harrif Salleh	Sauber Petronas Racing	4h27'50
2	Ricki Nelson	Podium Ambition	s.t.
3	Andreas Stauff	Kraftwerk Man Machine	s.t.
4	Ismaël Kip	TVM - Beslist.nl	s.t.
5	Geoffrey Soupe	Podium Ambition	s.t.
6	Damion Drapac	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
31	Kenny De Haes	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
37	Leandro Marcos	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
87	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
101	Edwin Avila	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
118	Jhonnatan De Leon	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
120	Jay Major	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
124	Nervin Jiatz	Chiquita - Universal	+ 3'17

Rider rankings:

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Yasmani Martinez	153
2	Kenny De Haes	81
3	Leandro Marcos	62
4	Damion Drapac	54
5	Darren Matthews	46
6	Jhonnatan De Leon	38
7	Nick Kinney	32
8	Diego Milan	31
9	Carlos Alexandre Manarelli	15
10	Cayetano Sarmiento	15
11	Chris Barton	11
12	Mark Griffth	8
13	Ethan Weiss	4
14	Gracjan Lejman	3
15	Edwin Avila	2
16	Tareq Esmaeli	2

Rating:



29 points in the pocket.

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.

Classification:

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Martin Reimer	Spotify - Haglöfs	3h54'07
2	Heinrich Haussler	Karcher-Adira	+ 11
3	Óscar Guerao	Coldeportes	s.t.
4	Tom Van Asbroeck	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
5	Daryl Impey	Eritel - Sonatrach	s.t.
22	Leandro Marcos	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
33	Kenny De Haes	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
65	Jay Major	Chiquita - Universal	+ 2'05
111	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal	+ 2'46
115	Damion Drapac	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
134	Edwin Avila	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
160	Nervin Jiatz	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
169	Jhonnatan De Leon	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.

Rider rankings:

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Yasmani Martinez	153
2	Kenny De Haes	81
3	Leandro Marcos	64
4	Damion Drapac	54
5	Darren Matthews	46
6	Jhonnatan De Leon	38
7	Nick Kinney	32
8	Diego Milan	31
9	Carlos Alexandre Manarelli	15
10	Cayetano Sarmiento	15
11	Chris Barton	11
12	Mark Griffth	8
13	Ethan Weiss	4
14	Gracjan Lejman	3
15	Edwin Avila	2
16	Tareq Esmaeli	2

Rating:



A step above our league

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.

The last of the sprinters quartet. Will our fortunes change now?

Profile:



Again categorized as a sprinters stage but the Montjuïc hill shouldn't be underestimated.

Team:

Edwin Avila
Kenny De Haes
Jhonnatan De Leon
Damion Drapac
Nervin Jiatz
Jay Major
Leandro Marcos
Jakob Rathe

Can Drapac do something now or is the hill too tough again? For the latter case, De Leon and Marcos could step up.

Race:

The hill was too tough. Drapac was decently positioned but didn't have the power to sprint. No points gained from this race.

Classification:

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time
1	Andreas Stauff	Kraftwerk Man Machine	4h27'10
2	Roman Maikin	Kraftwerk Man Machine	s.t.
3	Simon Clarke	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
4	Julian Alaphilippe	Podium Ambition	s.t.
5	Matthew Brammeier	cycleYorkshire s/b ASDA-Savers	s.t.
34	Damion Drapac	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
48	Jakob Rathe	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
84	Edwin Avila	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
123	Leandro Marcos	Chiquita - Universal	+ 3'26
125	Kenny De Haes	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
127	Jhonnatan De Leon	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.
151	Jay Major	Chiquita - Universal	+ 6'43
152	Nervin Jiatz	Chiquita - Universal	s.t.

Rider rankings:

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Yasmani Martinez	153
2	Kenny De Haes	81
3	Leandro Marcos	64
4	Damion Drapac	54
5	Darren Matthews	46
6	Jhonnatan De Leon	38
7	Nick Kinney	32
8	Diego Milan	31
9	Carlos Alexandre Manarelli	15
10	Cayetano Sarmiento	15
11	Chris Barton	11
12	Mark Griffth	8
13	Ethan Weiss	4
14	Gracjan Lejman	3
15	Edwin Avila	2
16	Tareq Esmaeli	2

Rating:



Different terrain now please