The team came to Italy to accomplish our second goal of the season; finishing inside the top10 of this C2HC race. But a top10 wasn't enough to keep alive our chances to promote this season, so at least a podium was requested to Valls to get from here.

And our climber more or less delivered it. Valls was able to finish 3rd in GC, but his race was far from being what we could expect from him, especially after winning Vuelta al Tachira a month ago. He started with a decent TT, followed by a third place in the first mountain stage. Things started to go worse in the fourth stage, where, despite gaining a place in GC, his performance was terrible, and in the final stage was somehow able to save the podium because of the big gap on stage 2 to most of the other GC contenders.



In a good note, the performance of Hideto Nakane in S2, where he destroyed the favourite's group at the very start of the final climb, making the pre-race favourite, Ryan Eastman to lose a lot of time in that stage.

At the end, only Valls was able to score anything from this race, so the 77 points he got here (plus 5 points from the Teams classification) are not enough for our expectations for this race. Also, important to remember that his result has made us to accomplish our second goal of the season. The bad news were that after Penasa's win, neither the team or Valls were leading the Team/Invidivual rankings anymore

1	Pierre Paolo Penasa	Kulczyk - DMTEX	19h07'54
2	Denys Karnulin	The Balkan Cycling Project	+ 5'52
3	Rafael Valls	Repsol - Honda	+ 7'09
4	Ryan Eastman	Azteca-NBCSN	+ 8'01
5	Jonathan Salinas	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	+ 10'08
32	Damiano Cunego	Repsol - Honda	+ 19'57
36	Rafael Serrano	Repsol - Honda	+ 21'21
50	Hideto Nakane	Repsol - Honda	+ 27'20
111	Robert Power	Repsol - Honda	+ 53'40
119	Jaime Roson	Repsol - Honda	+ 58'05
123	Cristian Rodríguez	Repsol - Honda	+ 1h01'49
128	Aidan Van Niekerk	Repsol - Honda	+ 1h04'22

Another month of racing, which saw the team racing two stage races, including our very first outing to a C1 race in Romandie, and also the first test in a TT for our only time-trialist, Morgan Kneisky

We came to the race with a "clear" goal. To have Kneisky finishing at least inside the top10 of the race. But the Frenchman did an horrible TT, rulling him out of any chance to score any points in the race.
After 3 stages, the team was completely invisible in the race, like if we hadn't been there, but our luck changed in S4.

Stefano Agostini joined the early break, and there proved to be the strongest in that group. The bunch could never catch the break, while Agostini was able to hold on the rest of the breakaway to win the stage with a gap around 1 minute. That gap made Stefano to jump to the fourth place in the GC ahead of the final stage


But the final stage, despite being flat, came with some surprise. A crash in the sprint provoked a split in the bunch, and while Stefano made the split, race leader Robert didn't, so Stefano was able to gain one place in the final GC, making it into the final podium of the race.

Obviously this makes this race a complete success, as yes, with a great day in the TT, Kneisky could have been around the podium, but finishing in the podium and taking a stage win in a C2HC race, is a big success if it comes outside mountains

1	Richard Laningo Laizer	Andorra Cycling Project	18h58'34
2	Welle Jallays	Proximus Continental Team	+ 3
3	Stefano Agostini	Repsol - Honda	+ 6
4	Rohan Dennis	cycleYorkshire	+ 14
5	Ryan Mullen	Kulczyk - DMTEX	+ 16
46	Morgan Kneisky	Repsol - Honda	+ 2'45
70	Philippe Gilbert	Repsol - Honda	+ 3'47
72	Riccardo Stacchiotti	Repsol - Honda	+ 4'00
76	Marco Marcato	Repsol - Honda	+ 4'21
93	Nidush Nirantha Fernando	Repsol - Honda	+ 5'40
134	Maximilian Beyer	Repsol - Honda	+ 10'06
169	Alejandro Valverde	Repsol - Honda	+ 17'25

Romandie marked our very first C1 race, so we really didn't know what to expect before the race. After seeing the startlist, we thought we could be happy if Cunego could finish inside top15.

And that's exactly what Damiano achieved. The MG legend was able to finish 15th in GC, after losing one spot in the epilogue. Also, Prado joined the breakaway two times, in S3 and S4, while him and Roson were able to score minor points through the U25 standings

1	Romain Sicard	Orange Pro Cycling	18h27'51
2	Michal Kwiatkowski	Netia - Vónin	+ 4
3	Warren Barguil	Team Ticos Air Costa Rica	+ 36
4	Janez Brajkovic	Isostar - Adriatic	+ 1'37
5	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Euskaltel	+ 2'03
15	Damiano Cunego	Repsol - Honda	+ 8'26
41	Rafael Serrano	Repsol - Honda	+ 18'34
61	Hideto Nakane	Repsol - Honda	+ 27'40
62	Jaime Roson	Repsol - Honda	+ 28'04
83	Ignacio Jesus Prado	Repsol - Honda	+ 38'50
90	Robert Power	Repsol - Honda	+ 41'50
108	Aidan Van Niekerk	Repsol - Honda	+ 53'52
112	Cristian Rodríguez	Repsol - Honda	+ 55'04

Aquarius97 wrote:
When i talk about promotion chances, i always talk about a top5 finish in the standings, not about "disbands-promotion". And for that i don't think i have a chance unless Valls dominates every single mountain race in his calendar (including C1 races ) and also some random results like the one from Agostini in B-R

Fourth month of the season, and this one is a very RD reduced one for us, with only 9 RD, shared between a hilly classic in San Marino, and a mountain stage race in Malaysia, where Valls hopes to be back on his Tachira's form. We don't have a sponsor goal there,
but winning the GC is a must if we want to keep our promotion hopes

As in all hilly races, Gilbert and Cunego will lead the team in San Marino. We assume that the best puncheur of the division will be there, so the goal is a top10 result with either Philippe or Damiano, and have minor points with the other and also Agostini, who should come in form after his great result in Germany. The rest of the team is completed by the usual young riders, like Fernando, Roson, Rodriguez, Van Niekerk and Power

Rafa Valls is back in racing for our first ever race in Asian soil. After winning in Tachira, and finishing third in Trentino, this is the first time this season he's on a race without having to satisfy a major sponsor goal, and while both times so far he did what the team had as a goal, we hope he feels less pressured here, so he can perform at his best and bring us another GC win.

The route certainly suits him, with a very short prologue and just one mayor mountain finish. There's another stage were differences can be made, but it's more unlikely that in the "queen stage" in S5. So really what he needs to win this race is to have a decent day in that stage and hope that he doesn't lose time anywhere else.

Aside GC, we really hope to do it great in KoM standings. Stages 3 and 5 will be key for that secondary classification, and while he missed out on Tachira by a few points, we think that in a race with barely any climbs, except for the final ones in those stages, a KoM win would be strange.

Serrano and Nakane will be as always, his most loyal domestiques in the mountains. It would be also nice if both manage to finish inside top25 GC, because scoring some minor points and also for a fight for Teams classification.

Not looking to the mountains any longer, Kneisky is our dark-horse for the prologue and a powerful domestique in the multiple flat stages. Also, Stacchiotti is here to compete for the spr.. sorry, i can't say that

To complete the team, three young riders like Prado, Roson and Rodriguez, who all should be decent domestiques for Valls, and depending on how the race goes, they might even get a chance to shine for themselves, like Prado did in Romandie (2 breakaway appearences) and Tachira (wearing KoM a few days)

... and after presenting the route it's time to move on with the race favourites. Two riders have dominated so far the mountains in the CT level, Rafael Valls and Pierre Paolo Penasa. We'll start first with the winner in Tachira back in January.

A first-timer in this race, but the Spanish climber won't let this stop him in his fight for the GC win here. His team, Repsol - Honda really hopes of a big win here, as they want to keep their promotion hopes alive. He has the same core of riders that supported him in his Tachira win, so there's no doubt about the strenght of his team to control the race in the mountains. Despite being still a few days away from the start of the race, the team is already here in Malaysia, so we had the chance to talk with Valls

Journalist: Hi Rafael, thanks for meeting us. There's still more than a week before the race starts. Is there any reason that all the team is here so early?

Rafa Valls: Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, the team's last race was 2 weeks ago in San Marino, and for most of the team here, except for me, their last race was a month ago in Romandie. This meant that we could be here earlier, and make an easier transition to this time zone. Also, as the team has a secondary HQ in Tokyo, most of us were already there almost a month ago. And secondly, the staff thinks that it can be profitable to make like a training camp where the race is going to be, to make a perfect recognition of the terrain

Journalist: Bookmakers sees this race like a "mano a mano" between Penasa and you. Do you agree?

Rafa Valls: Well, it's true that two of the best climbers of the division won't be here, with Eastman riding an alternative calendar in HC races, and Suaza's team not even in the race. Theoretically, Penasa should be the main rival for the win, but you can never count out Xero's climbing trio, or riders that have shown great climbing skills this season like Cataldo, Bardet or Karnulin

Journalist: It's well known that any promotion hopes that your team has relies in you performing at your best level all season. So far you've won in Tachira and finished third in Trentino. How would you rate your season so far?

Rafa Valls: I would rate my season so far with a 9/10. By winning in Tachira i was able to accomplish team's biggest goal of the season, which was to win that race. Also i was able to achieve another goal in Trentino, although this one was only a top10 goal. But in Trentino i was never at my best level, and performing in C2HC races is key, as those give a lot more points than C2 races. I still got a podium, so it wasn't a bad race, but it was less than what i should have achieved

Journalist: To end this, i have a question with a very obvious answer, but will you - or the team - be satisfied with anything less than a win here? And why not?

Rafa Valls Obviously no (laughs). But it will also depend on how the race goes. I mean, i may only lose the race because Penasa out-sprints me in the two mountain stages, and not because anyone was stronger than me. We wouldn't be satisfied because of the points scored, but yes about my performance. And it's a no because we really need this points for the promotion battle, as we aren't likely to score lots of points in May

but you can never count out Xero's climbing trio

jandal7 wrote:

Valls mentioned us as contenders, now we might finally do really well

Valls has every right to look forward to Langkawi, definitely should be 1st or 2nd, but I think he'll take the win. I think Prado could get some breaks as you say and if the race is anything like last year he could take a very nice little result home too.

Amazing news coming from Malaysia! Rafael Valls has won Tour de Langkawi after dominating the whole race! He has won both mountain stages, Points jersey and KoM jersey. It was impossible to have done better than this. In the process, he has become the first rider this season to win 2 GC's, in ALL MG.

The race started with a 4-km prologue, where the goal was to put some distance to the main rival, and eventual third in GC, Penasa. Two seconds was the gain in the prologue, which seemed like not enough to take the lead in S3, given Penasa's better sprinting abilities.


The first stage win came in the first mountain stage, where Rafa was surprisingly able to beat Penasa in a "mano-a-mano" for the win. This gave Rafa the lead in both GC and KoM, which he would go onto lead until the end of the race.

After a breakaway win in a flat stage, the race was going to Genting Highlands to decide the winner of the 2017 Tour de Langkawi. The gap to Penasa was only 10 seconds, and there other 12 riders inside the minute. With 3 km left in the climb, Valls followed a move by Tvetcov - who would eventually finish 4th in GC - and attacked himself inside the final km to take his second stage win of the race, increasing his lead to Krasnoperov to over one minute. After this stage he would be also in the lead of Points classification, another one that he wouldn't lose in the entire race.


Nothing happened in the last two flat stages of the race, and Rafa was able to step into the podium as Tour de Langkawi's winner. With his 3 wins in this week, he is currently third in the 2017 most wins standings across all divisions, only one win shy off the lead, which is shared by Swift and Bewley. Also, thanks to winning both KoM and Points, he has become the rider with most wins in those secondary classification so far in the season, tied with Amador, with 3 jerseys

1	Rafael Valls	Repsol - Honda	21h45'46
2	Mikayil Krasnoperov	Team Reddit	+ 1'01
3	Pierre Paolo Penasa	Kulczyk - DMTEX	+ 1'18
4	Serghei Tvetcov	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
5	Alessandro De Marchi	Telia-Brussels Airlines	s.t.
16	Rafael Serrano	Repsol - Honda	+ 2'53
39	Hideto Nakane	Repsol - Honda	+ 8'09
60	Ignacio Jesus Prado	Repsol - Honda	+ 13'28
77	Jaime Roson	Repsol - Honda	+ 19'58
90	Morgan Kneisky	Repsol - Honda	+ 30'24
94	Cristian Rodríguez	Repsol - Honda	+ 30'45
131	Riccardo Stacchiotti	Repsol - Honda	+ 41'35

The team has scored 132 points in the race, which 126 points come from Valls' performance. Serrano gives the team 5 points thanks to finishing 16th in GC, while Prado gives us one point due his 8th place in the U25 classification.

Also, when the April Rankings update comes soon, the team will be placed 3rd in the rankings, only behind WCC and Kulczyk, and having a 120-point gap to the first non-secure promotion spot. And thanks to the big amount of points scored in the race, Rafa will return to the lead of the Individual Rankings, becoming also the first rider in CT to go over 300 points in this season

While the team sits in the Third place in the CT Rankings in the yet-to-come April update, several races await us in May. And yes, despite having 11 RD this month, we'll struggle to score consistently this month, as neither of the race really suits our team strenghts - A.K.A. Mountains. So any result we get this month will be very welcomed, as we need every point we can get to fight for promotion.

At least Valls is back racing in June...

The first race of the month is this time-trial event in Namibia, where Morgan Kneisky leads the squad. The randomness of TTs makes really hard to predict anything about the race, but a top10 given Kneisky's quality should be a possible result.

The team is completed with Stefano Agostini, who basically had a couple of spare RD and a loanie, Maximilian Beyer

First edition of this Serbian race. A hilly classic where Philippe Gilbert will have to step up his game from the last two hilly classic, to something similar at what he did in the season opener in Cuba. Neither Cunego or Agostini will be in the start, as the team manager believed that the finish line was placed in flat roads, but it has turned out that this wasn't the case, with a 1-km climb being the finale.

This means that we have brought our full sprinter line... sorry i can't say that . Well, Marco Marcato could be actually a dangerous rider if he can have a good day, with his good sprinting abilities added to his decent climbing abilities. Also Morgan Kneisky and Riccardo Stacchiotti will be present

The rest of the team is completed by Nidush Nirantha Fernando, Alejandro Valverde, Cristian Rodriguez and Robert Power

Second and last race of the season for us in Spanish roads. But this doesn't mean that we'll get a good result here.

Our GC hopes goes by Damiano Cunego. His season so far has been horrible, only scoring some points in Romandie, and yet to finish in the top30 of a hilly race. Our other option is Philippe Gilbert, who has scored consistently so far this season, but the route doesn't suit him too much, as he would like more flat roads before the climbs to use his strenght in that terrain.

Stefano Agostini and Morgan Kneisky will be their key domestique, the first in the hilly stages, and the second in the flat ones.

We don't really believe on it, but stage 2 is suited to a rider like Marco Marcato, although there will be better riders than him for that finish, and even it might end in a mass sprint, without any kind of selections. The rest of the team is completed by Ignacio Jesus Prado, Jaime Roson and Riccardo Stacchiotti

The team has been forced to race in Burkina Faso against their will, in this 3-day stage race with cobbles. Almost all of the riders that will fly to Burkina Faso have asked us if we could skip the race, but it seems like we could face a harsh penalty by the MGUCI if we skipped a compulsory C2HC race.

Marco Marcato leads the squad here and will try to bring home a point. We have no hopes for this race, maybe just try to get in a breakaway. The rest of the team here are Kneisky, Fernando, Rodriguez, Prado, Van Niekerk, Beyer and Power