Good racing from the boys. Shows we have a strong cobble squad to pull back the break and drop competitors. Zepuntke fifth in the end is a decent result (although more would've been on the cards), and with five people in the points I'm going to call this a great team effort.
Thanks tsmoha for the report and congrats Kulczyk!
Stunning stuff by Jerome! That’s what we got him in for, really pleased to see that the race didn’t end in a breakaway victory this year, AI has been very good in the cobbled classics so far this year.
Couldn’t have asked for a better result than this, but we were expecting a podium (if not a win) at the very least here. Hope he can repeat this victory later in the year at our win goal in Roma Maxima. Still though, in a very competitive season, we’ll be savouring all the results we get, and a victory at the Viana is a big one!
Special mention to Sykkel_Freak and Delvaux, they’ve been performing really well over the past few days in C1 races with Guarnieri (somewhat expected) and Van der Har, really making a charge to catch up to Valio/GCN. It’s shaping up to be an interesting CT division at the top, as well. Congrats to them - gotta show some love to our friends who’re taking care of Vichot, and big Piotr Brozyna!
Wow, van der Haar! Must have had a really good day, though the profile surely played into his hands with his abilities downhill (and uphill). 4th here is really much better than expected!
Breen though, is not delivering at the level we want to be in the PCT. Really hope he can improve when he gets to use his 77 flat rating on flat cobblestone sectors in later races.
Thanks for the nice and detailed report, tsmoha!
Booker wrote:
Special mention to Sykkel_Freak and Delvaux, they’ve been performing really well over the past few days in C1 races with Guarnieri (somewhat expected) and Van der Har, really making a charge to catch up to Valio/GCN. It’s shaping up to be an interesting CT division at the top, as well. Congrats to them - gotta show some love to our friends who’re taking care of Vichot, and big Piotr Brozyna!
Thank you! Results like this are precisely what we need to challenge for the top places, so this was really important for sure. Congrats on Baugnies' very impressive win!
Trash, trash, trash. No explanation, just disappointment. This is what I get I suppose. Other teams get top leaders and dominate. I finally get a top leader and he's stunningly terrible.
Sinkeldam did his job this time, but VSB just not where he's supposed to be. There's really no good reason why he should be beaten by some of these guys. He can't be on terrible daily form every single freaking race. Bull.
7th is not gonna cut it, and I don't consider Sinkeldam's 12th any consolation because he's supposed to get that regardless. Nolf should have been able to get a top 15 or 20 too really. The race suited us perfectly, another team blew it up for us, and we still get nothing. Wake me up in CT.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Brilliant racing with not only a great result by my boy Eddy Theuns who finally gets to use his superior sprint skills, but also a nice finish for Stefan Sexy Stats Kung who is shaping up to be a very nice signing, as well as a break appearence by the equally awesome Rafael Silva.
Overall, I can't not be more than satisfied about this and it also comforts me that the lack of support is not hurting Theuns too much so far - and it actually looks like Kung might be more than enough of a domestique for these kinds of races.
Congrats to Booker, Baugnies sure did his thing here! And thanks tsmoha for delivering every single time.
Must have had a really good day, though the profile surely played into his hands with his abilities downhill (and uphill). 4th here is really much better than expected! 
