Before the Volta ao Algarve, we will have interviews from our key protagonists as they portray the start to the season they have had and what the future holds.
Tobias Ludvigsson:
My season start was in France and since then I have been to every race-day attending all the races our team has participated in so far. I had nice results in the recent Etoile de Besseges attaining a 3rd place in the final prologue and finishing 7th, where my team-mate won the stage. My big early season goal is the Volta ao Algarve, the race next on the calendar where I will be looking for a top 5.
Rein Taaramae:
For me, I am building my form for the middle part of the season, so these race days will help me. I surprisingly won the Etoile de Besseges prologue, but lost the race by under a second. I was disappointed, but I know it is a good result for me as I did not have optimum form.
Aidis Kroupis:
Top 5's were prevalent for me so far in the season but I really need that breakout win. I faced some solid sprinters and finished consistently in all the sprints in Besseges. I have some confidence heading into future races.
Jempy Drucker:
The season for me has hardly kicked off, as I await my favoured races in the cobble classics. Unfortunately, our team will not participate in many cobblestone races, but I will do my best whenever required.
Louis Meintjes:
I have had a similar season with Jempy and have not raced yet. The mountains are my terrain and will patiently await for them. I hope to be able to get some good wins for the team and look to the future.
That completes the interviews and gives you inside knowledge on what our protagonists will strive for.
Edited by Raziz on 03-01-2017 22:26
The team have trekked to western europe to Portugal to attend the Volta ao Algarve, a 5 day stage-race including 3 flat stages, 1 hilly stage and a time-trial.
Ludvigsson is our all in leader for this one with a possible sprint option of Porsev.
Stage 1
Race Preview:
A hilly stage which finishes on flat terrain. Looks like the sort of stage breakaway could win.
Race
It starts with a swift beginning, as one of our riders get dropped off the gun, J.Monsalve, but he is back in the peloton soon enough. The break has been absorbed and the sprint is off.
Finale:
Perfect leadout from Katusha as Kristoff takes home the gold. Porsev doing not so well in 13th place.
Stage 2
Race Preview:
A flat stage with a few bumps along the way especially at the start.
Parcours:
Race:
The break has settled in, we have M.Mat Amin out in front with A.Bettiol and J.Baugnies. The break is as usual, caught 10km out.The sprint is called into action.
Ludvigsson outsprints our sprinter! Another messy sprint and again won by Kristoff easily.It was slightly hilly so the team thought to give Tobias a go and performed well.
Stage 3
Race Preview:
The time-trial, 34.8km long and suited to TT specialist being fairly flat, but a small rise through the middle. Ludvigsson will be looking to impress in this one.
Parcours:
Race:
There are no real contenders as the competitors roll off early. After a few hours it is T.Ludvigsson's turn to show the world what he has got. Coming down the start ramp and hitting the time check, YES!! he smashes the intermediate time by 34 seconds. Can he hold on? Riding down to stop the watch and he continues his great ride, finishing 26 seconds in front of Haimar Zubeldia. Tejay comes close being 20 seconds back and into 2nd. Kiryienka sets a poor time only managing 6th. Quintana rolls in 8th provisionally, a respectable time for the Colombian. Several other TT specialist finish including R.Dennis and Jan Barta, but none can match the strength of the Swede.
Just like that Tobias Ludvigsson is in the yellow jersey hoping to keep it on the next tough stage to Malhao.
Stage 4
Race Preview:
Is hilly throughout and finishes with a final hill at tough percentages.
Parcours;
Race:
The stage starts with a bit of tenseness in the peloton, but soon enough the break goes. This isn't any break, Talansky and Herrada are in the break and as we have the yellow jersey, our team must chase. 3 riders are already dead as the break are still 2 minutes in front. After 100km or so, half of our team are done for the day and the other team's finally co-operate. With 10km to go, the situation on the road is pretty crazy. The break is still 2km up the front with plenty of semi-GC contenders. The breakaway takes the stage as Ludvigsson loses his GC lead. We were always dreaming big, but it could have gone better. Huzarski takes the win as we end up in 11th. Unfortunately, after all this we are 6th in the GC 21 seconds down on 1st while Porte takes the race lead. Huzarski takes the stage win.
So a disappointing day for the lads, who all toiled hard, but eventually was not enough. Ludvigsson though is guaranteed to finish in the top 10. The final stage though could throw some surprises.
Stage 5
Race Preview:
The final stage of the Volta ao Algarve sees another hilly profile, but a flat ending. A late attack could even take the stage,
Parcours:
Race:
The break has gone away with 10 riders, no one too dangerous. The hills hurt a few of the riders, but Ludvigsson is well kept up at the front and sprints for the line. Kristoff once again takes the victory, but Ludvigsson takes 3rd and bonus seconds. These bonus seconds move him up a place into 5th!!! A top 5, is a very good result for Tobias (a lot better than top 10). If it wasn't for the breakaway Tobias could have finished even higher.
We rock up to our hometown looking to be the victor. Petronas, based in Malaysia have set us goals to get a top 3, but I think we can do much better. Stages include 8 flat and 2 mountain. Because of this, we will most likely simulate the flat ones as we have no real sprinter and will just waste my time.
Meintjes will be our leader with Buts and Monsalve as domestiques. We won't have detailed reports for the sprint stages even if we do race it.
Stage 1:
Stage Winner:L.Duque, A.Manan in 3rd
Stage 2
Stage Winner:M.Averin
Stage 3:
Race Preview
A very mountainous stage towards the end with about a 40km climb in there. This stage and stage 5 will sort out the GC for this race.
Parcours:
Race:
Only a 2-man breakaway up at the front. The climbing commences, and I have only just realized there are only 60 riders in this race. The big key men in the GC have attacked . There are 8 riders up at the front with 3 from our team with still 35km to go.
Meintjes goes, no more waiting, he has attacked from the group and is 10 seconds in front of a group of 6 which also include our team-mate J.Monsalve. The group come back together with now 8 riders as Meintjes and Pellizotti don't co-operate. An early sprint launched by Meintjes, but gets countered by Pellizotti and Duarte, the former taking the stage.
Unfortunately, no time gap was given, but we did take bonus seconds. Not quite the stage we were hoping for, but stage 5 is the queen stage.
Stage 4
Stage Winner: A.Fonseca
Stage 5
Race Preview:
The 2nd and final mountain stage of this year's Tour de Langkawi and the most decisive of the two. This mountain simply goes up.
Parcours:
Race:
The break have no one threatening, so the first portion of the day is just sit and wait for the climb. With the break in check, the riders start their voyage up the steep climb at almost 20km long. With 4km left L.Meintjes is riding hard at the front, in a group of 3 riders with Pellizotti and Duarte. Monsalve makes it into the second group so far. Pellizotti DROPS! Only the race leader left. In the last, Duarte outsprints Meintjes to take the win. A valiant effort from Louis who takes an admirable 2nd in the GC.
Meintjes didn't have enough punch in his legs in the final, but it is a great result for the team.
Race Preview:
A hilly/mountain one day classic in Spain. Could split up on the first mountain or end up in a mass uphill sprint.
Race:
The day starts slowly, but soon picks up speed as A.Amador goes onto the attack up the big penultimate climb.
He soon bridges up to the breakaway on the descent as the main peloton has split. A main group of 25 has emerged, we have 4 of them in the group. As the breakaway is caught just as we start the final pitch to the line as Taaramae is positioned right up near the front.
Valverde though, attacks away to take the win, while Taaramae finishes just outside the podium in 4th.
Team Talk: Another one of those hilly stages, but this time, there is flat road in the finale. Should be a sprint with a decent sized group, but you never quite know with the indecision and chaos of these smaller races. As mentioned it's imperative for Petronas to get a good result to please the sponsor's once again. Our key sprinter is Drucker if he survives, but we also possess V.Buts and M.Senan who can both climb and sprint at an adequate level, but will it be enough against quality opposition.
Race:
A gentle start to the day assumes as there is only a 2 man break. The third to last climb of the day sees the pace being considerably upped. The sprinters are unlikely to survive the searing pace set at the front by AG2R and Bardiani. A barrage of attacks follows with no real success. As we crest the final proper climb, the lead pack is only 33 men strong with 4 riders up the road only having 20 seconds. Petronas have 3 in the main group of 33 as we change plans to ride for V.Buts
The group have split again and now there are 8 up in front after the final small hill. Buts is caught riding in no man's land 30 seconds in front of the break, but 15 seconds in front of the peloton. Finale:
Buts' initial indecision may have cost him, as he just can't quite make the front group. D.Moreno does win the stage with a final kick being unmatched by none.
AG2R as well fill the spots of 5th through to 8th.
Another solid result for the squad with Buts who completes an excellent race for him. Unfortunate, that he couldn't quite make the front which may have hindered him slightly. Meanwhile, the team make the long trip to Eastern Asia, Taiwan for the Tour of Taiwan. See you then.
Edited by Raziz on 05-01-2017 10:44
Taiwan, an usual place to be racing, but we will be calling it home for the next 5 days as we venture on our journey to the top.
Team: L.Meintjes J.Monsalve S.Baek Park A.Porsev T.Skujins S.Tvetchov J.Monsalve A.Manan
Team Talk: This time a sprinter will ride, Porsev, but again we are mainly looking at the GC, with L.Meintjes. Help will be provided again by Monsalve who could finish top 10 himself and also Tvetchov. 1 hill stage,3 hills and 1 mountain, let's get into it. Favourites: L.L.Sanchez
R.Fernandez
A.Vichot
S.Firsanov
L.Meintjes
S.Pardilla
Stage 1:
Race Preview: A pan flat day, ideal for the quick men, this will also be their only chance this week.
Parcours:
Race:
The break are unable to get away before the 1st sprint intermediate won by G.Soupe, immediately after, the break are settled with 5 riders. With 20km to go it looks like it will be a regulation sprint from the pack and they are caught with 10km to go.
Finale:
A surprise winner emerges as Robert Forster takes the win. Porsev launched far too late and only managed 2nd which isn't too bad in hindsight. Luis Leon Sanchez even ended up gaining some bonus seconds in 3rd.
Race Preview:
A flat stage until the final, being a challenging hill at around 5km. The GC will surely have some minor time gaps after this one.
Parcours:
Race:
Another stage, another breakaway, 4 this time, but the teams all know the finale will throw up some surprises. The climb though, is not exactly as hard as we thought, but will be longer than expected. L.L.S goes, but no response from anyone.
Finale:
Spoiler
Sanchez simply was a class above today. Meintjes in the end finished 3rd gaining some bonus seconds. It was not the perfect stage for him, but he will persevere in the upcoming races with more hills coming up.
Race Preview:
Who knew there were cobbles in Taiwan? This one features a cobbled climb at the finale. Another important stage for the GC.
Parcours:
Race:
A fairly gentle start to the day as we all await for the cobbled climb. Attacks happen as they hit the penultimate climb and a lot of them. The break will easily have it as we start the cobble climb and they are 2 minutes in front. A second group has also emerged with the attackers from the last climb in it. No-one super threatening in the GC in either groups, but they jersey may still be handed over.
Finale:
Spoiler
Marcin Bialoblocki takes the win, but the real battle is in the pack. L.L Sanchez and 3 other riders from Petronas have escaped and may have earned a time gap.
WOW. After final confirmation of the results, the jersey is handed over to Bialoblocki.Bialoblocki 13 seconds overall in front of Sanchez. Regarding the gap, the 4 riders attained a 16 second gap from the main group, bar sanchez who got 3 more seconds. Meintjes is additionally pushed down to 7th, with breakaway riders in between. Quite a chaotic finish.
Race Preview:
This one, a more hillier stage for the riders to confront with even a category 1 climb in the mix.
Parcours:
Spoiler
Race:
Hopefully we can put some pressure on L.L.Sanchez especially on the major climb. We applied plenty of pressure on the category 1 climb, but still there are 77 in the main group. WOW! Shocking developments...Skujins attacked on a small little rise and completely split the group. Sanchez has completely missed the front group. We have 4 in the front group and already have a minute on Sanchez, time to put on some serious hurt.
Spoiler
Sanchez must attack away from the group! He has decided to go and just like that super-humanly, he bridges the gap in no time. Unbelievable! Now, Meintjes puts in a dig! FDJ and him are dragging themselves away from the rest. Finale:
Spoiler
Sanchez gave it his ALL. He attacked several times to catch up and finally did, but he ended up cracking on the finale. Meintjes just loses the sprint to Jeanneson, but will take valuable bonus seconds with Sanchez finishing around 50 seconds behind. Will it be enough? Monsalve also finished in 6th.
What a stage! All action. Sanchez showed how much power he has; recovering in some style, but Meintjes takes the jersey! Only 9 seconds as Monsalve also moves up to 7th. Additionally we take the Team Classifications by 4 seconds for now.
I will leave you all on a cliff-hanger for the last and final deciding stage in this year's Tour of Taiwan (a mountain stage).
Edited by Raziz on 06-01-2017 22:47
Soooooo, I have an apology to all of you reading this right now. While I was taking the rubbish out for the bins at home, I had my PCM on, only at the first stages of the race, so I thought I could easily make it back in time, unfortunately I had forgotten to charge my computer which ran out soon enough and so it pretty much simulated the stage without me. The results were appalling like every simulated race (although this was in 3D) and pretty much ruined our GC. Meintjes finished 17 and a half minutes back of the front while Sanchez took the victory. It hurts even more as Meintjes was the clear favourite to win the GC being the better climber (Sanchez 72 MON as opposed to Meintjes 74 MON). The latter ending the general classification finishing in only 17th place. The riders will have to concede with disappointment, due to my poor managing skills. Petronas though, are sure to keep fighting. Despite this setback, hope is still a striving factor within the team and we will march on. The results have been very good till now and so we nearly deserved one of these unfortunate moments. Another objective is next up at the Coppi e Bartali.
