Congrats on the win! Somewhat deserved for Polanc after a bit poor season for him so far. I've always wondered what it would take for the Isostar boys to score a 10/10 on the satisfaction rate (haven't seen it before at least), obviously an aggressive Polanc win was the answer.
Amazing post for Lincoln! Just a stunning ride by Polanc and beautiful post at the end - a Slovenian talent taking the biggest win yet for a Slovenian team is something special, as is leading the PCT rankings over halfway into your second season! All the best in the promotion battle from here - I agree you won't stay top2 probably but you can't say you're out of the picture now Amazing season so far, your friends at Xero support you every step of the way.
Good to know whilst Aquarius and Abhishek had their little rivalry over your satisfaction scale I was the one to report the race that gave you a 10
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
@tastasol: Thank you very much! Wisniowski is one of the most amazing riders in the game though, and I'm sure he'll take over the crown as best cobbled rider in the division soon again. But this monster of an attacking performance had to ensure the 10 for us.
@AbhishekLFC: I always was It was indeed awesome. There is no doubt that Polanc offers some amazing upside, and we believed in that from the beginning on when we signed him unmaxed...
@jandal7: Thank you very much jands! That was a big one for us, and we'll try to continue with that to keep us in the mix for as long as possible. You know we're on your side in terms of support as well. Guess like somebody sneaked into the rivalry to create a major upset don't mind to spread more of them 10s though
Congrats croatia! The roster you've built, and the faith you've put in the development process throughout, makes the positivity and the results even sweeter.
Well deserved and long may the Slovenian machine continue
@Tamijo: Thank you very much. It tells the true relations between expectance and performance. And damn, that hug was well deserved for the team.
@Shonak: don't go too far mate, your footsteps are big
@Booker: Thank you very much, awesome to hear that from a guy that took such insane path in his first year and does so well. This is the way we want to be, and equally the way we are.
We had an easy goal for this race: Make it as hard as possible over the hills, and then force a sprint. Getting into the break for that would've been nice, but that wasn't meant to be.
Instead the race was ridden very calmly. Though the break was caught very late, there was no profiting of possible selections, as all the sprinters seemed non-affected by the race.
We neither were able to create a train for Kump, nor position any of our minor sprinters close to the front. Our leader himself did not position properly, hence he could not turn his nice speed into a result. Instead he could only finish 16th, just at the tail of the first riders.
1
Bryan Coquard
Festina - Dexia
4h06'25
2
Matthew Goss
Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ
s.t.
3
Mark Cavendish
Kraftwerk Man Machine
s.t.
4
Joeri Stallaert
Spotify - Haglöfs
s.t.
5
Arnaud Demare
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
6
Fabio Silvestre
Berg Cycles
s.t.
7
Ivano Lo Cicero
Valio - DeLaval
s.t.
8
Oscar Guerao
SPAR - Shimano - SCG
s.t.
9
Andrea Guardini
Fablok - Bank BGZ
s.t.
10
Maxime Vantomme
Netia - Vónin
s.t.
16
Marko Kump
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
47
Roy Jans
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
51
Ramunas Navardauskas
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
Of course Navardauskas topped it all by being the first outside the point ranks.
Goal: Top 10, Top 30, 3*Top 50 --> failed
Points scored: 18 (Kump 16, Jans 2)
Manager's satisfaction rate: 1.5/10
Positive Surprise:Jans - We scored minot points in a sprinters classic? Wow.
Negative Surprise:Hill action - If we never manager to position our riders at the front in those races, why not use them to make the race as hard as possible over the hills?
Edited by Croatia14 on 26-01-2018 02:12
After our incredible finish to the month we found ourselves sitting in an incredible second place halfway through the season. That means we could just enjoy every single race of the second half and count the days how long we manage to keep ourselves in the Top 10. Maybe even until the end?
Team Rankings May 2017
Team
Total
RD
PpRD
Proj
1
1
Newton Foundation
1829
68
26.90
3766
2
6
Isostar - Adriatic
1792
74
24.22
3391
3
7
Grieg - Eftel
1728
63
27.43
3840
4
2
Berg Cycles
1676
73
22.96
3214
5
3
Team UBS
1573
68
23.13
3238
6
5
Fablok - Bank BGZ
1454
76
19.13
2678
7
4
Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ
1435
88
16.31
2283
8
9
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
1374
85
16.16
2262
9
11
Eritel - Sonatrach
1369
72
19.01
2661
10
12
Orange Pro Cycling
1261
72
17.51
2451
11
8
Generali - EDF
1230
82
15.00
2100
12
16
SPAR - Shimano - SCG
1173
65
18.05
2527
13
10
Podium Ambition
1172
73
16.05
2247
14
19
Meiji - JR East
1119
61
18.34
2568
15
17
Ferrero - Samruk
1090
69
15.80
2212
16
13
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
1070
58
18.45
2583
17
18
Netia - Vónin
1066
75
14.21
1989
18
22
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
1062
77
13.79
1931
19
14
Euskaltel
1003
78
12.86
1800
20
15
Kraftwerk Man Machine
991
60
16.52
2313
21
21
Minions
937
77
12.17
1704
22
23
Valio - DeLaval
923
80
11.54
1616
23
20
MOL - OMV Petrom
822
54
15.22
2131
24
25
Team Ticos Air Costa Rica
574
63
9.11
1275
25
24
Haute Route - Mavic
563
67
8.40
1176
26
26
Compal-Merida
460
75
6.13
858
A lot of our success is based on our Slovenian Cinderella Story with regional leaders. We are proud to claim ourselves the owner of the likes of Kump, Mohoric and further Slovenians, that keep us high in the ranking.
Now let's see where and how our riders can pick up points for the team in June. It has plenty of opportunities, but of course the big target of June is the Tour of Slovenia, our long awaited home race!
Lincoln GP
5.6.
HC
hilly cobbles
Polanc
Top 5
Jan Polanc
Leader
Martin Laas
Domestique
Ahmed Belgasem
Domestique
Jernej Svab
Domestique
Roy Jans
Domestique
Matej Mugerli
Domestique
Jerome Giaux
Domestique
Daniel Jaramillo
Domestique
A hilly cobbled race that is tailor made for Polanc. Without Kump he has double the pressure, but also all the freedom he could imagine to ride for himself. As always we have our strong hilly cobbled squad to support him on his hunt for a Top 5.
Goal: Top 5, Top 15, 2*Top 30
Lac Megantic Classic
8.6.
PTHC
bumpy
Kump
Top10
Marko Kump
Leader
Ramunas Navardauskas
Train
Luis Mansilla
Train
Daniel Jaramillo
Domestique
Roy Jans
Train
Matej Mugerli
Domestique
Jerome Giaux
Train
Martin Laas
Domestique
A bumpy race, that could either be one for the attackers or for the sprinters. Kump leads us here, and if the scenario turns out to be on our side, then we might have a great race. If it turns out to be a clean bunch sprint, things will be more difficult. We have a good supporting cast for either possible directions.
Goal: Top 10, Top 30, 3*Top 50
Post Denmark Rundt
9.-13.6.
HC
hills, flat & TT
Brändle
Top5
Matthias Brändle
Leader
Xavier Quevedo
Free Role
Ramunas Navardauskas
Co-Leader
Daniel Jaramillo
Domestique
Jerome Giaux
Sprinter
Jaka Bostner
Domestique
Roy Jans
Free Rider
Martin Laas
Domestique
The deadliest double header of the season. Both perfect races for all Brändle, Navardauskas and Bazhkou are here. We sent our strongest ones to Denmark, as it should be slightly more selective for punchy chrono guys. Our Austrian Champion will try to continue his form from Norway.
Part 2 of the double header. And the win goal, the ultimate race. We thought hard about who to captain us here. Brändle would've been the most obvious choice, but we went for something different. We wanted a Slovenian leader, so Janez Brajkovic is the one we ride for. With Bazhkou we have a GC back-up plan, Mohoric is the one for a potential stage win on the hilly summits. We want to show our best side on the untypical stage race for Slovenia. For Slovenia.
Sponsor Goal: Win
Goal: Top 3, Top 10, Top 25, Stage Win
Monterrey TTT
30.6.
C1
bumpy TTT
Brändle
Top 5
Janez Brajkovic
Top 5
Jan Polanc
Top 5
Stanislau Bazhkou
Top 5
Matej Mugerli
Top 8
Matthias Brändle
Top 5
Ahmed Belgasem
Top 8
Ramunas Navardauskas
Top 5
Pavel Potocki
Top 8
The month is closed out by a Team Time Trial. In Monterrey we have our strongest team possible on the line, aiming for a Top 5. On paper we should be the 5th strongest team, so it should be more than possible. With some luck and power on the ascents even a podium might be possible in the TTT experiment.
The deadliest double header of the season. Both perfect races for all Brändle, Navardauskas and Bazhkou are here. We sent our strongest ones to Denmark, as it should be slightly more selective for punchy chrono guys. Our Austrian Champion will try to continue his form from Norway.
Stage 1: It was all about avoiding unnecessary time losses. We couldn't join the break, but kept our captains save at the front. No significant sprint from Giaux.
1
Peter Kennaugh
Orange Pro Cycling
3h42'14
2
Nacer Bouhanni
Euskaltel
s.t.
3
Ricki Nelson
Podium Ambition
s.t.
29
Ramunas Navardauskas
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
Stage 2: Same settings as for stage 1. No breakaway appearance, but a different story with a bigger split in the wind. We kept save though, to place all riders in the front. Decent from our power department, even though we couldn't achieve any stage glory.
1
Erik Mohs
Fablok - Bank BGZ
4h05'33
2
Peter Kennaugh
Orange Pro Cycling
s.t.
3
Ricki Nelson
Podium Ambition
s.t.
16
Ramunas Navardauskas
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
Stage 3: The decicive hilly stage, where we need the gaps to appear. While we didn't go in the break yet again, we instead attacked the race from the front for our leaders duo.
For the final hill the team was in a great position, having several riders upfront:
Several of our riders finished in the very reduced bunch of riders behind the Top 3: Laas, Quevedo, Navardauskas & Jans
Only Brändle, our team captain, received a gap from the front group for no visible reason.
But the happiness of having 4 riders in the front group overwhelms the unnecessary time loss - partly caused by Brändle, partly by the inconsistent jury. That may hurt us later, as our best positioned riders are not too well known as the best time trialists
Stage 4: Another flat stage, where we had the ambitions to keep our riders save. And indeed our GC riders didn't face major issues, while half of the peloton lost contact (less front riders though). The break won, we stayed safe.
1
Jakub Mareczko
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
2h30'36
2
Philip Lavery
Generali - EDF
s.t.
3
Sören Kragh Andersen
Grieg - Eftel
s.t.
28
Ramunas Navardauskas
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 1'04
Stage 5: The decicive TTT. So far we gained 3 points from the race, now it was time to stretch out for the GC. Brändle was our major GC hope, and had an okay time trial.
He faded though towards the end, finishing 0.41 behind the fastest time of Ford. The Australian won the day later.
Jans (GC's 10th, + 0.12) finishes the stage + 4.25 as 139th Quevedo (9th) is better, but still far away with + 3.49
Our best hope for a great result in the GC after the hilly stage was Lithuanian champion Ramunas Navardauskas.
Let us just quote reporting legend tsmoha here again for describing our TT form this season.
But now for the more promising GC podium contenders: Navardauskas (GC's 5th, + 0.12) as a possible threat for Ignatiev and Steensen? Well, he surely comes with some solid timetrial skills and would surely expect a Top-5 in the GC at least.
Today ain't his best day however and he's putting up some disastrous split times, actually: + 0.57 at the first and already + 1.45 at the second split!
Definitely not what he might have hoped for: + 2.24 at the finish to finish just outside the Top-50 on the stage. A horrible result for a rather promising rider. Disappointing stuff. Still a high GC result thanks to the great position he had prior to the stage.
Important is the last sentence though. A high GC result. He sustained in 7th. A nice trade for another disappointed hunt for stage glory:
1
Michael Ford
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
36'54
2
Emilien Viennet
Orange Pro Cycling
+ 9
3
Jose Goncalves
Team UBS
+ 18
12
Matthias Brändle
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 41
But instead we managed to hang on to a great depth result in the final rankings, which ensured us some nice points in Denmark. A double Top 10 and 5 riders in the Top 20 is always a nice sight, especially given the difficult of the double header comparing it to Slovenia!
And even if the last stage destroyed our team classification hopes: The number of GC points make up for the underwhelming showing (though with a good ITT it could've been quite some more). This is enough to keep us high in the lottery for a Top 10 spot.
Goal: Top 5, Top 10, Top 30, Stage Top 3 --> achieved
Positive Surprise:Domestique work - The firework we blew up on stage 3 was absolutely awesome. The full team did a great job on using the toughness on stages to our favor. Also the flat department kept us safe very well.
Negative Surprise:TT form - Either this or Brändles hill execution. At the end the ITT costed us more points. With a hill prone squad we gambled right, but we also paid the price in the ITT. While Brändle finished reasonable, this time it was Navardauskas who had a very bad day. Exactly in the wrong situation.
Part 2 of the double header. And the win goal, the ultimate race. We thought hard about who to captain us here. Brändle would've been the most obvious choice, but we went for something different. We wanted a Slovenian leader, so Janez Brajkovic is the one we ride for. With Bazhkou we have a GC back-up plan, Mohoric is the one for a potential stage win on the hilly summits. We want to show our best side on the untypical stage race for Slovenia. For Slovenia.
Stage 1: The first stage was al about keeping our riders save. We both failed to position ourselves in the break or contest the sprint with Mansilla, but we kept ourselves save from any issues.
1
Anthony Lavoine
Fablok - Bank BGZ
4h13'40
2
Moreno Moser
Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ
s.t.
3
Mohamed Harrif Salleh
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
34
Matej Mohoric
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
Stage 2: The toughest of profiles already waited for us on stage 2. With our team we wanted to make the race as hard as possible to eliminate strong time triallists and go for a stage win for Mohoric.
Again we didn't send a guy up the road, but instead tried to focus on bringing our GC riders in the best possible position. Which worked pretty bad. We had to go on the last kilometer from far back. There however our riders did a great job of streaming forward.
While at the end the race was far away of being selective enough for us, we could also not find a great stage result here, which was a bigger disappointment. At least we found a deep result in the positions close to the front and the lead in the U25 classification for Mohoric.
1
Pedro Miguel Paulinho
Berg Cycles
4h35'45
2
Rui Costa
Berg Cycles
s.t.
3
Robin van der Hugenhaben
In-n-Out p/b Carrefour
s.t.
4
Carlos Betancourt
Minions
s.t.
5
Marcio Portela
Berg Cycles
s.t.
6
Janez Brajkovic
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
9
Luis Miguel Mansilla
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
12
Matej Mohoric
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
16
Stanislau Bazhkou
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
Stage 3: A CT dominated C1 stage? Possible with the race clash, as the big PCT TT guns were in Denmark. We had Bazhkou & Brajkovic, which both aimed up high for their GC fight.
Our Belorussian captain could find a brave ride on the road, flashing the awesome National Champions jersey by Fenix Design in our fashion.
Also Mugerli, Mansilla, Mohoric and Polanc with okay rides, while sadly Brajkovic disappointed after looking good on the hill stage. All of them with great media coverage courtesy of Abhishek_LFC.
At the end of the day Bazhkou finished 4th for us! Brajkovic with a disappointing 21st though. Hence a current 4th place in the GC, with 4 more in the Top 20. Also, Polanc took over white!
1
Kai Reus
In-n-Out p/b Carrefour
48'44
2
Roman Kreuziger
In-n-Out p/b Carrefour
+ 41
3
Timothy Roe
Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling
+ 56
4
Stanislau Bazhkou
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 1'01
Stage 4: Another flat stage, another boring day for us? Not on home soil! While being aware of crosswinds, we took some big turns to get into the break: And big Svab could get into there.
Showing our colour all day we pushed forward in the break to have a chance. And we got it being quite some meters away on the lost kilometers. Under the Flamme Rouge Svab took action, to grab the heart with both hands and ride out for an attack.
Only Semple went with him, so the two of them stayed clear. Now it was all or nothing in the sprint. Jernej took it from the front, trying to stretch himself all the way to the line. And he did so nicely!
What a big win for Jernej Svab, our whole Slovenian Squad and even the country itself, having a home winner.
1
Jernej Svab
Isostar - Adriatic
4h38'45
2
Adam Semple
cycleYorkshire
s.t.
3
Daniel Eaton
Newton Foundation
+ 17
Stage 5: The last stage was a tricky one again, with a hill sprint expected on the final kilometer. Well, more of a drag race, and gaps were not necessary expected. We tried our best anyway, to pressure the worse puncheurs under the chrono guys as much as possible. We were still on the chase close to the final hill, from where we took over to pace into it.
While it was too late to catch the break with it, we did some damage however. Brajkovic (5th) and Bazhkou (7th) finished at the front, but we could drop some of the opponence and create gaps.
1
Rudy Molard
Generali - EDF
3h48'33
2
William Ford
cycleYorkshire
+ 7
3
Erdenebayar Daspuntsag
Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling
+ 12
5
Janez Brajkovic
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
7
Stanislau Bazhkou
Isostar - Adriatic
s.t.
While our minor positions suffered under that behaviour, the captains did an amazing job to sneak further places ahead. Kai Reus stayed save in first overall, but our Belorussian could move up to second! Also Brajkovic could sneak into the top 10, making it a glorious race for us.
1
Kai Reus
In-n-Out p/b Carrefour
18h05'56
2
Stanislau Bazhkou
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 1'01
3
Nicolas Roche
Fablok - Bank BGZ
+ 1'16
4
Rui Costa
Berg Cycles
+ 1'23
5
Roman Kreuziger
In-n-Out p/b Carrefour
+ 1'25
6
Riccardo Zoidl
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 1'32
7
Jack Bauer
Berg Cycles
+ 1'33
8
Timothy Roe
Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling
+ 1'40
9
Janez Brajkovic
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 1'44
10
Marcin Bialoblocki
Fablok - Bank BGZ
+ 2'01
12
Luis Miguel Mansilla
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 2'16
14
Matej Mugerli
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 2'18
17
Jan Polanc
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 2'43
22
Matej Mohoric
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 3'11
Finishing with 3 riders in the points classification Top 10, we could achieve some minor points with Svab & Bazhkou there as well.
1
Kai Reus
In-n-Out p/b Carrefour
35
6
Jernej Svab
Isostar - Adriatic
25
8
Stanislau Bazhkou
Isostar - Adriatic
23
9
Janez Brajkovic
Isostar - Adriatic
22
We could also celebrate a double victory in the U25 classification with Polanc & Mohoric.
1
Jan Polanc
Isostar - Adriatic
18h08'39
2
Matej Mohoric
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 28
3
Wataru Mutsumine
Meiji - JR East
+ 44
We also finished 3rd in the team classification, scoring further minor points.
1
In-n-Out p/b Carrefour
54h20'40
2
Fablok - Bank BGZ
+ 1'50
3
Isostar - Adriatic
+ 1'52
What an up and down awesome race on home soil, where we almost achieved the big win!
Sponsor Goal: Win --> failed
Goal: Top 3, Top 10, Top 25, Stage Win --> achieved
Positive Surprise:Stan the Man - Incredible GC performance. Just when he was needed, he absolutely delivered. Coming close to winning here was brilliant, a great team performance and awesome execution. Honorable mentions to the awesome ride of Jernej as well.
Negative Surprise:First hill stage - Not much to complain about. The team, especially Mohoric, could've been more agressive on stage 2, seeking to scrap more hill riders. It is fair to doubt that we would've dropped Reus there, but we could've had pursued the chance of either a better stage result or an even deeper GC run there.
While you couldn't achieve your win goal, i'm sure the race exceeded expectations with that surprise podium from Bazkhou, the breakaway win, the U25 domination and the insane depth. No one can be unhappy with a race like that
@Aquarius97: we worked for building that depth from the beginning of our CT times, that is why we are so proud of it. Obviously we are very happy, especially as the U25 classifications mean so much to us because it proves that we are on the right track with our team.
@AbhishekLFC: Yes it is. And what an important race for us it was!
Absolutely phenomenal run of form for the Lime Green Machine.
I know this is a strange feeling for you, gunning for promotion. But don't worry, you'll soon be back in your comfort zone worried about relegation in the PT next season!
Amazing job of planning this season, and hopefully we'll be able to pick up some scraps who won't quite cut it at PT level
@SotD: Huge indeed. Fixed it, thanks, seems like something went wrong with this while wrinting the monthly preview
@Booker: The Lime Green Machine always is hoping for the best but expecting the worst - but I started to like the spot we're in right now. Maybe we are allowed to stay a little longer
@Vien: You are crazy to have done that bid. I wouldn't want to wait for my money for so long
. All the best going ahead!
don't mind to spread more of them 10s though 
Lac Megantic Classic 
Lincoln GP 
Post Denmark Rundt 
Monterrey TTT 
