MONTERREY TTT

Mexico | C1 | Classic | Team time trial | June 30



Chris Barton
Odd Christian Eiking
Chad Haga
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg
Yasmani Martinez
Xavier Quevedo
Laureano Rosas
Shaquille Sinclair

Official preview
Official result

Monterrey Team Time Trial. We missed this event last year but the three years before, as CT team without any real TT focus, we did reasonably well. With our increasing presence in time trials and signings such as Janse van Rensburg and Rosas, we feel like we have a decent shot here. No Úran though, so our TTT squad is not at full strength.

We opened like a rocket. Our 22'06 was the leading time at the first split for a while, before being beaten by three top teams.



Our second sector was amongst the worse though. We only fielded five time trialists, so the other three riders were used in the beginning and couldn't follow the pace anymore. We did recover in the final part for a final time of 1 hour 9 minutes and 55 seconds. Tenth place is a good result given the compromises we had to make.

(3/5)
Exactly were we belong.

JUNE RANKINGS UPDATE

We're still in the top ten despite the appearance that the performances have gone down a bit. Either the other teams are falling down as well or we' just pick up small points everywhere. We do have a bit more RD used than those around us, but we'll be very happy if we keep this position till the end.

JULY PREVIEW

Celtic Chrono

Great Britain | C1 | Classic | Time trial | July 5 - 6



Chris Barton
Chad Haga
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg

Kenya Mountain Classic

Kenya | HC | Classic | Mountain | July 20



Chris Barton
Tareq Esmaeli
Chad Haga
Farzad Khodayari
Yasmani Martinez
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Cayetano Sarmiento
Rigoberto Úran

Tour of Beijing

China | HC | 4 stages | Hill / Flat | July 26 - 29



Odd Christian Eiking
Tareq Esmaeli
Farzad Khodayari
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Xavier Quevedo
Bjorn Selander

CELTIC CHRONO

Great Britain | C1 | Classic | Time trial | July 5 - 6



Chris Barton
Chad Haga
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg

Official preview
Official result

Celtic Chrono is a two-legged time trial event, the first taking place in Northern Ireland and the second on the Isle of Man. Each team is allowed to send three contestants, in our case our three best time trialists bar Úran who has other obligations: Janse van Rensburg, Haga and Barton. The final standings are an aggregation over the two legs.

The first and flatter of the two time trials turned out to be a disappointment for Janse van Rensburg, who only finished 28th. Haga on the other hand did really well to finish 12th. Barton finished in the lower half in 43rd.

The second and hillier time trial should normally have been even better for Haga but the opposition also turned up a notch. Janse van Rensburg did much better though, to a point where the two were only seperated by six seconds on aggregate. Haga was classified as 17th, Van Rensburg as 18th, with Barton losing a place to 44th.

(2/5)
Two decent classifications.

KENYA MOUNTAIN CLASSIC

Kenya | HC | Classic | Mountain | July 20



Chris Barton
Tareq Esmaeli
Chad Haga
Farzad Khodayari
Yasmani Martinez
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Cayetano Sarmiento
Rigoberto Úran

Official preview
Official result

The race with the most descriptive name as it immediately names the country, profile and type of race. So we won't use up space to further describe the race. Úran as obvious leader, and one of the favourites. With Pluchkin not present the race is wide open.

After doing some chasing work together with the other top teams, it was time for the final climb. There, a group of eight riders came together to battle for the win: Berhane, Denifl, Henao, Keizer, Meintjes, Nazaret, Velits and of course Úran



That group was reduced to five as Berhane, Keizer and Meintjes were dropped. Out of those five Úran unfortunately had to worst sprint so he finished fifth. Martinez finished a decent sixteenth.

(3/5)
Fifth is worse than fourth but better than sixth.

TOUR OF BEIJING

China | HC | 4 stages | Hill / Flat | July 26 - 29



Odd Christian Eiking
Tareq Esmaeli
Farzad Khodayari
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Xavier Quevedo
Bjorn Selander

Official preview
Official reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Beijing, China hosts the final event in the month of July. Given the profiles you might think it's a mountain race, but then you missed one very important message: ALL stages favour the HILL Stat! Not a Mountain race!

So we brought Quevedo and Selander, because ALL stages favour the HILL Stat! In short, the competition was too strong and they finished 21st and 29th in the GC respectively. The only moment of camera time was when Selander attacked with Rovny on the final stage. Unfortunately their attempt didn't last long and caused the American to lose some more time, otherwise he'd be around 25th.



Manarelli was brought here for a sprinters stage. The Brazilian has a terrible hill stat and even though that shouldn't be a problem for a flat stage, remember: ALL stages favour the HILL Stat! We feel a little ripped off, if we'd known this before we got on the plane we would've brought someone else.

(2/5)
Not a Mountain race!

AUGUST PREVIEW

Macskako Kerekparverseny

Hungary | C1 | Classic | Cobbles | August 4



Niels Albert
Kenny De Haes
Odd Christian Eiking
Andzs Flaksis
Bert-Jan Lindeman
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Ruben Zepuntke

Clasica San Sebastian

Spain | HC | Classic | Hll | August 7



Niels Albert
Kenny De Haes
Odd Christian Eiking
Tareq Esmaeli
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Xavier Quevedo
Bjorn Selander

Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt

Austria | HC | 7 stages | Mountain / Time trial / Flat | August 7 - 13



Chris Barton
Chad Haga
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg
Farzad Khodayari
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Yasmani Martinez
Laureano Rosas
Rigoberto Úran

Volta a Portugal

Portugal | PTHC | 11 stages | Hill / Mountain | August 11 - 21



Odd Christian Eiking
Tareq Esmaeli
Jay Major
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Xavier Quevedo
Cayetano Sarmiento
Bjorn Selander
Shaquille Sinclair

Baltic Chain Tour

Estonia / Latvia / Lithuania | C1 | 5 stages | Flat / Time trial / Cobble | August 17 - 21



Edwin Avila
Kenny De Haes
Damion Drapac
Andzs Flaksis
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg
Bert-Jan Lindeman
Leandro Marcos
Ruben Zepuntke

INT. OSTERREICH RUNDFAHRT

Austria | HC | 7 stages | Mountain / Time trial / Flat | August 7 - 13



Chris Barton
Chad Haga
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg
Farzad Khodayari
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Yasmani Martinez
Laureano Rosas
Rigoberto Úran

Official preview
Official reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Our apologies for the absence of news from our team lately. Our PR-Minion felt he was underpaid and did some side work for a local news station. He started reporting races while ignoring our performances. When he was to the HQ for the first time in two months, we immediately put him behind his desks, without bananas, and can only leave when everything is back up to speed.

So, Int. Osterreicht Rundfahrt. We have a top five goal here, which Úran should easily accomplish. The Colombian was off to a great start, as he one the first stage, beating Pluchkin no less.



The next day he lost nearly two minutes to the Moldovan alien and the dream of winning was over. Nevertheless he finished second or third a lot, hence taking second place in the GC with ease and achieving our goal. Also he finished second in the points classification and fourth in the mountains classification. Manarelli was brought for the sprint but chose not to participate.

(4/5)
The fifth banana will come the day we beat Pluchkin

BALTIC CHAIN TOUR

Estonia / Latvia / Lithuania | C1 | 5 stages | Flat / Time trial / Cobble | August 17 - 21



Edwin Avila
Kenny De Haes
Damion Drapac
Andzs Flaksis
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg
Bert-Jan Lindeman
Leandro Marcos
Ruben Zepuntke

Official preview
Official reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

A cobbled prologue and four sprinter stages. And if you don't love me now, you'll never love me again. Welcome to the Baltic Chain Tour. Drapac is team leader for the sprints, Janse van Rensburg for the prologue and Zepuntke for the cobbled section on the prologue.

The prologue turned out to favor Zepuntke more than Janse van Rensburg. The German finished eight and led the youth classification, whereas the South African only finished 17th. Other good results were De Haes in 13th and Flaksis in 18th. Unfortunately Zepuntke would lose white due to a split on the third stage.



Drapac finished sixth on the second stage, a decent result. Then on the next stage, the one with the splits, he was on the good side and amazed us all by winning! Yes, this is the one race per year where Drapac turns into superman. Due to the bonus seconds on offer, he would finish third in the GC! Wow!

(5/5)
You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)

VOLTA A PORTUGAL

Portugal | PTHC | 11 stages | Hill / Mountain | August 11 - 21



Odd Christian Eiking
Tareq Esmaeli
Jay Major
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Xavier Quevedo
Cayetano Sarmiento
Bjorn Selander
Shaquille Sinclair

Official preview
Official reports: 1 | [url=hhttps://pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=53063]2[/url] | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

Our PR-Minion was also the lead commentator for the local television. He tried to be as neutral as possible, but obviously he wasn't. Or, we think he wasn't, because there was only one moment where he could say something positive about us.

With six hilly stages, we hoped Quevedo would show himself on at least one. He did, on the fourth stage he attacked at 30k. This move would last a while but was brought back inside the final ten kilometers. Otherwise, he posted some top-25 stage finishes, which isn't bad but also not very useful.



The mountain stage turned the GC on his, resulting in the highest finish of 32nd by Quevedo. What else can I remember, oh, Eiking was in the breakaway once. Good times.

(1/5)
Big Brother is watching you!

MACSKAKO KEREKPARVERSENY

Hungary | C1 | Classic | Cobbles | August 4



Niels Albert
Kenny De Haes
Odd Christian Eiking
Andzs Flaksis
Bert-Jan Lindeman
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Ruben Zepuntke

Official preview
Official result

The Hungarian language has always been a mystery to me. I won't even attempt to pronounce it out of fear Orban will come after me. Anyway, it's a cobblestone race, hence we bring the full cobble squad + unlucky Eiking. The hills on the route don't really suit Zepuntke that much, so we'll take a top ten.

The German missed the initial attacks but had the strength to ride towards the front group. Then he managed to stay in the chasing group, whereas others couldn't follow the pace.



Surprisingly he had the strongest uphill sprint from his group to finish fourth and less than a minute behind the winner. Marcos did well in the background to finish 17th.

(4/5)
Surpassing expectations.

AUGUST RANKINGS UPDATE

This ranking is already outdated, but it gives a decent overview of current affairs. We're still hanging in it at top, circulating just below the promotion spots. At the moment of publication we were seventh, even though some teams will likely have overtaken us after the Tour of America. Nevertheless we're far away from the relegation zone, which is good. As for the individual rankings, Úran remains by far our best-scoring rider, and is even top-five overall.

SEPTEMBER PREVIEW

Rheden GP

Netherlands | PTHC | Classic | Cobble | September 27



Niels Albert
Kenny De Haes
Odd Christian Eiking
Andzs Flaksis
Bert-Jan Lindeman
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Ruben Zepuntke

Milano - Torino

Italy | C1 | Classic | Hill | September 29



Odd Christian Eiking
Tareq Esmaeli
Chad Haga
Farzad Khodayari
Leandro Marcos
Xavier Quevedo
Cayetano Sarmiento
Bjorn Selander

RHEDEN GP

Netherlands | PTHC | Classic | Cobble | September 27



Niels Albert
Kenny De Haes
Odd Christian Eiking
Andzs Flaksis
Bert-Jan Lindeman
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Ruben Zepuntke

Official preview
Official result

The final cobble race on the calendar: Rheden GP. Or, it should be cobble, when we saw them it was nothing more than a few rocks on the road. Nothing major which will bring the cobblestone specialists to the front.

Only one rider in the break. De Haes was tasked with chasing, opposed to his usual position within the break. Despite a small attack by Vanmarcke, everything was back together in the final kilometers.



Zepuntke sprinted to ninth, which is definitely not a bad result. We just wish the race was more selective so he could have an even better result.

(3/5)
Please build a real cobblestone road.

OCTOBER PREVIEW

Tour du Maroc

Morocco | PTHC | 9 stages | Mountain / Flat | October 1 - 9



Edwin Avila
Damion Drapac
Farzad Khodayari
Yasmani Martinez
Laureano Rosas
Cayetano Sarmiento
Nico Schinker
Shaquille Sinclair

Giro dell'Emelia

Italy | HC | Classic | Hll | October 3



Kenny De Haes
Odd Christian Eiking
Tareq Esmaeli
Chad Haga
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Xavier Quevedo
Bjorn Selander

Barbados Cycling Festival

Barbados | HC | 4 stages | Flat | October 12 - 15



Edwin Avila
Damion Drapac
Bert-Jan Lindeman
Jay Major
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Nico Schinker
Shaquille Sinclair

Japan Cup

Japan | HC | Classic | Hill | October 18



Odd Christian Eiking
Tareq Esmaeli
Chad Haga
Farzad Khodayari
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Xavier Quevedo
Bjorn Selander

GIRO DELL'EMELIA

Italy | HC | Classic | Hll | October 3



Kenny De Haes
Odd Christian Eiking
Tareq Esmaeli
Chad Haga
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Xavier Quevedo
Bjorn Selander

Official preview
Official result

Emilia, Emelia, potato, potatoe. A puncheurs classic in Italy, let that just be our worst discipline. We'll take a top 20 by Quevedo

Quevedo was dropped. Yes, dropped. Normally he just remains in the peloton without attacking and sprints to a semi-decent result. But now he was actually dropped from the peloton. He went on to finish 112th, twelve minutes down on the winner. I have never seen such a crap performance even when Betancourt was still on the team. Why are we incapable of signing decent puncheurs?



One positive thing though: Selander finished 25th. Once again the American comes to the rescue.

(1/5)
Tomato, tomatoe.

ETOILE DE BESSEGES

France | C1 | 3 stages | Hill | February 25 - 27



Niels Albert
Kenny De Haes
Andzs Flaksis
Leandro Marcos
Xavier Quevedo
Nico Schinker
Bjorn Selander
Ruben Zepuntke

Official preview
Official reports: 1 | 2 | 3

The Star of Besseges, southern France. Three hilly stages, so we hope Quevedo will become the new star of the team.

The first two stages took place in February. Despite some smaller attacks, the bunch was very large, resulting in our riders not losing any time other than bonus seconds.

Then we had to wait seven long months for the final stage. A weird arrangement, resulting in all riders being fresh again. Quevedo and Selander finished in the front group again, resulting in 19th and 24th place overall.

(3/5)
But the bananas are already rotten

BARBADOS CYCLING FESTIVAL

Barbados | HC | 4 stages | Flat | October 12 - 15



Edwin Avila
Damion Drapac
Bert-Jan Lindeman
Jay Major
Leandro Marcos
Clenne Morvan Moulingui
Nico Schinker
Shaquille Sinclair

Official preview
Official reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

The Carribean island of Barbados hosts an annual cycling festival, which is rated as HC. We send a strong sprinters squad headed by Drapac to challenge for the four stage wins and the overall. Unfortunately, many other teams brought their aces as well, so the win might be tough. A top ten will do.

To cut to the chase, Drapac finished in 93rd, 103rd, 58th and 110th. You do not end up in these positions when sprinting. This is a deliberate act of not sprinting, one which we'll seriously discuss in our internal debrief of the race.

Is there nothing positive to mention? Well, there is one thing. Marcos went into the break on stage four and sprinter to some bonification seconds. With every rider finishing in the same time each stage because it was completely flat, that meant he finished 21st in the GC compared to Drapac's 89th.

(1/5)
And the banana goes to Marcos.

SEPTEMBER RANKINGS UPDATE

We dropped quite a bit in the rankings, from seventh to twelfth. This was to be expected since we didn't participate in the Tour of America, the biggest event since the last update. Teams which were below us and did participate obviously jumped us. This means we're out of the promotion race unless miracles happen and multiple PT managers are kidnapped. No, we wouldn't do such a thing. Would we?