Going into the month of July it's about time we turn our fortunes around, hopefully, please, I beg you.
Profile:
Oh look, another hilly classic.
Team:
Ahmed Albourdainy Carlos Betancourt Nick Kinney Jay Major Leandro Marcos Diego Milan Salah Eddine Mraouni Bjorn Selander
Familair names which won't disappoint again I'm sure! Betancourt will finally get into rythm and score a lot of points! The other riders are: Albourdainy, Kinney, Major, Marcos, Milan, Mraouni and Selander.
It's never a good thing, when Drapac is the second best scorer on a PCT team.. actually, I like it. But I guess you know who I am pointing at here. Tough season for the Minions.
tsmoha wrote:
It's never a good thing, when Drapac is the second best scorer on a PCT team.. actually, I like it. But I guess you know who I am pointing at here. Tough season for the Minions.
Over half of Drapac's points were scored in one C1 sprinters classic. Overall the team has been poor this season. Only way I see us staying up is Úran winning Deutschland Tour of Vuelta à Colombia.
A name which describes the race perfectly makes my job a lot easier.
Profile:
And not a word was lied.
Team:
Chris Barton Goodnews Clifford Chad Haga Jay Major Yasmani Martinez Salah Eddine Mraouni Jarlinson Pantano Gómez Cayetano Sarmiento
Rather than talking about who is here, we're talking about who isn't here: our top points scorer. Unfortunately his racedays were limited and he couldn't ride every mountain race on the schedule. Instead, we come here with Pantano Gómez, Martinez, Sarmiento, Haga and Barton as climberd. Clifford and Mraouni ride on their home continent, and Major is being developped as we speak.
Morocco to Kenya is a long flight, but maybe his family was watching in front of the TV, because Mraouni got himself in the morning break.
His effort didn't last long, since he was caught with his cowmate before the top of the first climb. Towards the end we saw another one of riders appearing on our screens, Haga had crashed and would finish far down the order.
Pantano Gómez finished fifteenth, which is about where we expected him to finish. We had hoped for a top ten but with eleven points we close in a little bit.
Classification:
Pos.
Rider
Team
Time
1
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya
Ferrero - Samruk
4h45'35
2
Fabio Duarte
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
+ 58
3
Florentino Marquez
Berg Cycles
s.t.
4
Merhawi Kudus
Eritel - Sonatrach
s.t.
5
Stefan Denifl
SPAR - Shimano - SCG
s.t.
15
Jarlinson Pantano Gómez
Minions
+ 2'05
62
Chris Barton
Minions
+ 5'53
73
Cayetano Sarmiento
Minions
+ 7'24
90
Goodnews Clifford
Minions
+ 9'19
115
Salah Eddine Mraouni
Minions
+ 13'25
120
Chad Haga
Minions
+ 14'29
128
Yasmani Martinez
Minions
s.t.
166
Jay Major
Minions
+ 44'12
Rider rankings:
Pos.
Rider
Points
1
Rigoberto Úran
337
2
Damion Drapac
149
3
Carlos Betancourt
67
4
Kenny De Haes
64
5
Jarlinson Pantano Gómez
55
5
Yasmani Martinez
55
7
Niels Albert
53
7
Bjorn Selander
53
9
Chad Haga
37
10
Nick Kinney
25
11
Salah Eddine Mraouni
15
12
Edwin Avila
14
12
Jay Major
14
14
Ethan Weiss
12
15
Leandro Marcos
11
16
Oliver Naesen
7
16
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
7
18
Diego Milan
4
19
Goodnews Clifford
3
19
Chris Barton
3
Rating:
(3/5)
Scoring points without Úran seems to be possible.
Carlos Betancourt Goodnews Clifford Damion Drapac Tareq Esmaeli Nick Kinney Jay Major Diego Milan Bjorn Selander
Betancourt and his hilly followers Kinney, Milan and Selander have disappointed us many times in the past but let's cheer them on. Two flat stages for Drapac, and support from Clifford, Esmaeli and Major.
Featured in the breakaway this race: Clifford on stage two and Esmaeli on stage three.
The second stage was the flattest of them all, and Drapac was in a great position. Unfortunately he came to early and finished outside the top ten. Stage five was too hilly for him as he was dropped.
Betancourt lost 95 seconds to the winner on stage one to take tenth place. But on stage three, out of nowhere, he attacked!
He would finish fourth in the first group, and moved up to fifth in the GC. Unfortunately stage four was mediocre, and dropped to seventh, where he would finish the race. Some decent points but unfortunately MOL scored more and by our calculations, they have overtaken us in the rankings.
I will get lynched if I said this race is in Spain, I will get lynched if I said this race is in Basque Country. So I'll just say this race is held somewhere.
Profile:
Most important feature on the profile is the Jaizkibel climb.
Team:
Ahmed Albourdainy Carlos Betancourt Tareq Esmaeli Nick Kinney Jay Major Leandro Marcos Diego Milan Bjorn Selander
The all familiar puncheur squad comes to our disappointment again! Led by fatso Betancourt, spreading his negative energy over decent lads like Selander, Kinney and Milan. Also riding for their bananas are Albourdainy, Esmaeli, Major and Marcos.
Let's not try and cheer things up, this race was a total f*cking disaster. Kinney our best rider in 39th. No points for the rankings. We need a good race to climb in the rankings. That's what our fortune teller said.
I will get lynched if I said this race is in Spain, I will get lynched if I said this race is in Basque Country. So I'll just say this race is held somewhere.
I'll help you with this It's held in Basque Country, Spain.
I will get lynched if I said this race is in Spain, I will get lynched if I said this race is in Basque Country. So I'll just say this race is held somewhere.
I'll help you with this It's held in Basque Country, Spain.
The race was awful for you anyway
That's the most political correct answer. Maybe should've mentioned the name Donostia somewhere for full safety.
The first of two consecutive PTHC events. Oh, and we have a top five goal here.
Profile:
Flat, hilly and mountain stages. Unfortunately no time trial.
Team:
Chad Haga Carlos Alexandre Manarelli Yasmani Martinez Salah Eddine Mraouni Jarlinson Pantano Gómez Cayetano Sarmiento Shaquille Sinclair Rigoberto Úran
He spend his summer break preparing for the most important race of the season: this is the moment where we need Úran to shine. After his fellow Colombian was not good (sic) we need him to gain points on our rivals. Pantano Gómez, Sarmiento, Martinez and Haga support him on the mountains. Manarelli has a free role, Mraouni and Sinclair will get water bottle training.
He hasn't been that amazing this season, but Manarelli found an extra gear this race. He finished tenth on stage one, but then he pushed his way to an amazing second place on the second stage!
Then it's time for Úran. He had to limit his time loss on the first hilly stage compared to his rivals who are slightly better in this area. He did great and even finished sixth on the stage, only losing 35 seconds to the winner.
The fourth stage was the first of the two mountain stages this race. Haga, Pantano Gómez and Sarmiento were of great help to Úran in bringing back attacks from rivals. In the end the four strongest riders of the day finished next to each other with Úran in third. It would become him vs Herklotz vs Lecuisinier vs Wellens for the rest of the race.
Back to Manarelli on the flat stage five, and he once again did great. He was in contention for a stage podium but just came short, nevertheless fourth is another good result.
Stage six was another hilly and Lecuisinier used this opportunity to gain 30 seconds. Before stage seven, the queen stage, Wellens was still leading but only by seven seconds over Lecuisinier, with Úran in third at 49 seconds and Herklotz close behind.
It was clear early on that Wellens and Herklotz weren't in top shape. First Haga and Martinez set a fast pace which caused some troubles for them, and when Úran took over they were done and dusted. Lecuisinier could barely follow his wheel.
It wasn't long before Lecuisinier cracked though. Now it was just a matter of gaining enough time on him. Nazaret was winning the stage and Úran still had Olivier in his wheel to take the remaining bonus seconds.
Úran finished second and Olivier did what he was supposed to do, then it was up to the clock. 30 seconds.
And exactly 30 seconds later a rider crossed the line, but it wasn't Lecuisinier. Which means the new leader of the Deutschland Tour with one stage to go is Rigoberto Úran!
The last stage was set to be a formality, but the wind had other ideas. Luckily we had Sinclair to guide Úran to safety and his jersey was never really in danger. Unfortunately Manarelli lost touch with the front group but we couldn't be to angry. We have just won a PTHC stage race!
Classification:
Pos.
Rider
Team
Time
1
Rigoberto Úran
Minions
33h29'38
2
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Festina - Dexia
+ 23
3
Tim Wellens
Spotify - Haglöfs
+ 1'19
4
Silvio Herklotz
Team Puma - SAP
+ 1'46
5
Daan Olivier
Aegon - Lavazza
+ 1'57
27
Yasmani Martinez
Minions
+ 10'54
36
Jarlinson Pantano Gómez
Minions
+ 15'46
38
Chad Haga
Minions
+ 16'47
95
Cayetano Sarmiento
Minions
+ 39'41
105
Salah Eddine Mraouni
Minions
+ 46'54
165
Shaquille Sinclair
Minions
+ 1h38'56
173
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Minions
+ 1h46'46
Rider rankings:
Pos.
Rider
Points
1
Rigoberto Úran
582
2
Damion Drapac
149
3
Carlos Betancourt
142
4
Yasmani Martinez
69
5
Kenny De Haes
64
5
Bjorn Selander
64
7
Jarlinson Pantano Gómez
63
8
Niels Albert
53
9
Chad Haga
45
10
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
37
11
Nick Kinney
31
12
Salah Eddine Mraouni
15
13
Edwin Avila
14
13
Jay Major
14
15
Ethan Weiss
12
16
Leandro Marcos
11
17
Diego Milan
10
18
Oliver Naesen
7
19
Goodnews Clifford
3
19
Chris Barton
3
21
Cayetano Sarmiento
2
22
Tareq Esmaeli
1
Rating:
(10/5)
This rating isn't even possible but we don't care, we're too drunk from the party anyway!
This race is not hosted by the manager of Podium Ambition, it's just the local name for the Isle of Man.
Profile:
Following the twisty mountain roads used by the Isle of Man TT.
Team:
Ahmed Albourdainy Carlos Betancourt Goodnews Clifford Tareq Esmaeli Nick Kinney Jay Major Diego Milan Bjorn Selander
It's a hilly classic, so you know who to expect: Betancourt, Kinney, Milan, Selander. Adding to the squad are Albourdainy, Clifford, Esmaeli and Major.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania are the Baltic countries, but for some reason this race doesn't take place in Latvia but it does in the other two. And in Finland, Sweden and Russia. Putin approves!
Profile:
An unconvential cobbled prologue followed by four flat stages.
Team:
Niels Albert Edwin Avila Kenny De Haes Fabrice Jeandesbosz Carlos Alexandre Manarelli Leandro Marcos Oliver Naesen Ethan Weiss
Since it's a tripleheader with two other races, this squad has been devaluated a bit. Given the cobbled prologue we take our five cobbles here: Albert, De Haes, Jeandesbosz, Marcos and Naesen. Manarelli will go as lead sprinter with Avila as lead out. Completing the squad is Weiss who was left out of the Volta a Portugal squad at the last minute.
Even though the opening stage depended more on time trial than cobble skills, Marcos outperformed and finished fourth! Fourth!
Manarelli was feeling a bit ill, so he wasn't played out. Instead Naesen went into the break on stage two, to no avail, and Marcos tried to sprint for boni seconds, to no avail.
Stage three it was another Belgian's turn: De Haes. He has already won two stages from the breakaway this season. The peloton was too late to catch the break, and De Haes had the strongest sprint of them all. Stage win number three!
Naesen tried again on stage four but his group was caught again. De Haes tried to sprint but also couldn't gain time, dropping from second to fifth in the GC.
On the final stage, Naesen again in the break, but third time's not charm for him. De Haes dropped a further place in the GC, but that could've been a lot more had it not been for crashes and GC leader Nelson dropping from the peloton. Marcos finished fourteenth.
Another PTHC event, and after winning the last one we want to win again.
Profile:
Our longest event on the calendar at eleven racedays, with a bit of everything.
Team:
Chris Barton Damion Drapac Chad Haga Yasmani Martinez Salah Eddine Mraouni Jarlinson Pantano Gómez Cayetano Sarmiento Shaquille Sinclair
Our supreme leader had no room in his schedule to ride this race, so Pantano Gómez gets a chance to lead. Martinez and Sarmiento support him in the mountains. With two time trials on the menu Barton and Haga are also present. There are few sprinting opportunities but we bring Drapac nevertheless. Mraouni and Sinclair mathmatically needed to ride this ride for development.
The race started with 2 kilometer and 100 meters. Barton finished fifth, only two seconds away from the big favourite Gesink.
On the second stage, the entire team lost ten minutes. It became clear that we wouldn't be challenging for a top GC placement, so instead we switched focus to stage and KoM results.
The first rider in the breakaway was Haga on the fourth stage, immediately taking points for the KoM classification. After the stage he was in fourth place. He went into the break again on the next stage but couldn't improve, even losing a two places since others overtook him.
Moving to stage nine, where Drapac was involved in a crash and had to abandon. He hadn't been able to show himself in the previous flatter stages, but with the final stage being as flat as a pancake we had some hope left in our hearts. That hope was now shattered.
But on the same stage, we had Sarmiento in the breakaway. He stepped up to overtake Haga in the KoM classification, moving to fourth.
On the final climb, the peloton was nowhere near catching the break, so the stage win was on the cards for him. He attacked with 14 kilometers to go and the others never saw his wheel again. He won by nearly a minute and showed our colours on the podium.
The second-a-last stage was a time trial. Where it was Barton in the prologue, today it was Haga with an amazing ride. When he crossed the line he was the fastest at the time at 42 minutes and 34 seconds. Rider after rider failed to beat his time, but then the final rider to start did manage to beat him: Gesink. Nevertheless, second place is an amazing result in such a field!
Pantano Gómez would finish the race in 79th, nearly an hour down. Haga beat him by sixteen places and ten minutes. Not the GC results we wanted but individual effort made up for it.
Classification:
Pos.
Rider
Team
Time
1
Robert Gesink
eBuddy
39h40'21
2
Silvio Herklotz
Team Puma - SAP
+ 2'41
3
Nico Keinath
Vesuvio - Accumalux
+ 4'51
4
Adam Yates
Ayubowan!
+ 5'23
5
Ki Ho Choi
Compal-Merida
+ 7'52
63
Chad Haga
Minions
+ 46'34
68
Yasmani Martinez
Minions
+ 48'22
79
Jarlinson Pantano Gómez
Minions
+ 56'56
110
Cayetano Sarmiento
Minions
+ 1h29'56
121
Salah Eddine Mraouni
Minions
+ 1h37'04
138
Chris Barton
Minions
+ 1h50'32
167
Shaquille Sinclair
Minions
+ 3h03'43
DNF
Damion Drapac
Minions
DNF
Rider rankings:
Pos.
Rider
Points
1
Rigoberto Úran
582
2
Carlos Betancourt
149
2
Damion Drapac
149
4
Kenny De Haes
131
5
Yasmani Martinez
71
6
Chad Haga
67
7
Jarlinson Pantano Gómez
65
8
Bjorn Selander
64
9
Niels Albert
53
10
Cayetano Sarmiento
42
11
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
37
12
Nick Kinney
31
13
Leandro Marcos
27
14
Salah Eddine Mraouni
15
15
Edwin Avila
14
15
Jay Major
14
17
Ethan Weiss
12
18
Diego Milan
10
19
Chris Barton
8
20
Oliver Naesen
7
21
Goodnews Clifford
3
22
Tareq Esmaeli
1
Rating:
(4/5)
Some very good stage results, but lacking that big GC score.