The final rider within the team closes the circle, and gives us the final touch in terms of being able to participate at some level in all races.
Stéphane Tempier
4.100
32yo
€5.000
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Co
Sp
Ac
Fi
DH
Pr
68
74
71
64
69
72
72
59
66
73
68
74
67
At first glance, Stéphane Tempier might not look all that impressive, but going through his skillset a bit more thoughrough will unveil a very talented climber, with a strong and aggressive heart. While Tempier will not be among the top climbers of the division, he should be among the more endurant climbers.
While evaulating Tempier we noticed that he is an equally strong descender, which in our races are very important. He is relatively fast in a smaller group, and most important, he like to attack. Because of those qualities, we believe that Tempier will be perfect for the races below
January start out with us having 10 racedays. All of them in the same race, however, as we enter:
January 22-31st
Vuelta al Tachira
[C2]
10 Stages
It is the race of the entire calender which suits us the least, and to have atleast some hope of moving into relevant attacks, we signed Stéphane Tempier late in the process. The aggressive climber doesn't quite have the strength to play along with the contenders, but his eager to move early on might be somewhat interesting to us.
In the early parts of the race we hope to play a more significant role as 3 pan-cake flat stages should suit Ismäel Kip very well, and with leadout from Tleubayev, Simon and Mygind we actually do believe that he can content atleast one stage podium. Due to the hardness of the race we don't expect many sprinters to line up, as they aren't too likely to finish the race.
Stage 5 and 10 could possibly be stages for Julien Simon, or even Rasmus Mygind, while we will be just closing our eyes and hoping for the best on stages 4 aswell as 6-9.
It has been a while, since we closed the month of January, but let's have a look back:
January 22-31st
Vuelta al Tachira
[C2]
10 Stages
One of just a few C2 races in our calender, and thus one of the lower point scoring opportunities, so you might think. Let's look at the starting lineup, and their key stats.
January lineups
Last name
First name
Role
Key Stats
Stat #1
Stat #2
Kip
Ismäel
Sprinter
SPR / ACC
80
82
Tempier
Stéphane
Leader
MO / DH
74
74
Simon
Julien
Puncheur
HI / SPR
75
71
Mygind
Rasmus
Domestique
HI / FL
73
73
Tleubayev
Ruslan
Domestique
SPR / ACC
77
77
Miltiadis
Andreas
Domestique
MO / HI
68
68
Kiriakidis
Ioannidis
Domestique
HI / DH
67
73
Rodriguez
Jose Luis
Domestique
HI / ACC
66
72
It didn't take long before we started seeing point scoring potential, because already on the first stage, Ruslan Tleubayev placed our sprint captain, Ismäel Kip in the first position, and he never let go, taking a huge win for us, as an amateur team, also proving that he should indeed have landed a professionel contract!
The following stages remained with us in focus. First Kip took 2nd on stage 2, but remaining in the lead - but then...
Another win, and this time by a huge margin! In the leaders jersey, also leading the points competition our team was in total domination. The train worked like a charm with Mygind doing the hard work, Julien Simon leading the way for our leadout-man Ruslan Tleubayev, proving to be among the top sprinters in the pack himself.
From then on the race began to harden, and our role seemed to be over, but then on stage 5, Ismäel Kip was there once more. This time winning the sprint in the green points jersey.
A perfect way to demonstrate our succes in this race, winning stages in 3 different jerseys. Our regular, the leaders jersey, and the points jersey. The perfect coup for us!
Unfortunately one rider, was more dominating in this race, than Ismäel Kip. Thibaut Pinot cleared the plate with an astonishing amount of stagewins, hence leaving Kip with 2nd in the points competition. Something we had fancied to win, with quite some margin after the 3rd stagewin in 5 stage.
Looking back on this race, we can only consider it being a huge succes for us!
Points scored: 71 (Ismäel Kip, 71)Edited by SotD on 20-11-2018 20:15
No races for us in February, hence we move along to the month of March instead:
March 2-5th
KBC De Panne Tour
[C1]
4 Stages
March 28-31st
Jalejah SKL
[C1]
4 Stages
No more C2 races, and we debut in KBC De Panne Tour for our first ever C1 race. A race with quite some cobbles, which aren't our fortay. However, some flat is in the race too, so hopes were that we could somehow bring Kip in a favorable position.
On paper, Jelajah SKL was a much better match, with it's flat stages and some prologue/timetrials.
March lineups
Last name
First name
Role
Key Stats
Stat #1
Stat #2
Kip
Ismäel
Sprinter
SPR / ACC
80
82
Tempier
Stéphane
Leader
MO / DH
74
74
Simon
Julien
Puncheur
HI / SPR
75
71
Mygind
Rasmus
Domestique
HI / FL
73
73
Tleubayev
Ruslan
Domestique
SPR / ACC
77
77
Miltiadis
Andreas
Domestique
MO / HI
68
68
Kiriakidis
Ioannidis
Domestique
HI / DH
67
73
Rodriguez
Jose Luis
Domestique
HI / ACC
66
72
We immidiately threw Stéphane Tempier in the breakaway on stage 1 in KBC De Panne Tour, although with it's many cobbles he didn't stand much of a chance.
After having been in front (sort of) for much of the stage, he rolled in a little short of 20 minutes after the stage winner. Still we were happy to atleast take part in the breakaway.
After another cobbled stage 2, we finally saw something we liked. A pancake flat stage 3. 112km, also fancied by Kip, so we had some sort of expectations, despite clearly not being a stage favorite, like we had been in Vuelta a Tachira. We threw Jose Luis Rodriguez in the break to give us an excuse to not work in the front.
Unfortunately, the pace in the front of the pack was just too much for Kip to follow, so he stood no chance to even fight for positions. The stage went for the powerhouses, and without disrespecting Kip, he's not one of those.
The final stage 4, was a short TT on 11-12km. We didn't have any expectations for the stage as only Mygind could possibly do something there. And he did actually perform quite decently to clock 16th, but we went away from the race being hardly noticed. We were happy to try to show the colors, but were also dissapointed that the flat stage didn't go our way.
-----
In Jelajah things needed to improve. Rasmus Mygind yet again proved to have a decent TT/Prologue at this level, landing 20th on the first stage. Also Ismäel Kip did reasonably well, to have a shot at doing something from the flat stage. But while we had hoped for a slow finish, it was instead Rasmus Mygind who proved to be the strongest for us, to finish 18th on the stage. A stage which clearly had some gaps, but unfortunately for Mygind, nothing was noted.
Stage 3 was a semi-hilly stage, something which should favour Mygind for a shot at a top 20-30 stage result.
We threw Stéphane Tempier in the early break to see what could be gained. Tempier fought well to claim as many KOM points as he could during the stage, here seen winning on the KOM top finishes:
The competition in the break was too great, unfortunately, so he had to settle for 3rd. Still a decent output on a difficult parcours. In the pack, Julien Simon showed some strength to finish in 22nd in a group of 70 riders. Unfortunately he threw several minutes on the easy stage 2, otherwise he would have been in for a decent shot at a GC top 15!
Rasmus Mygind had a bad stage, losing more than 4 minutes to fall well outside any point scoring opportunities in the GC.
Rasmus Mygind again had a decent final stage to set 22nd fastest time in the Epilogue. Too bad really to see him lose out on stage 3!
But 3rd in the KOM for Stéphane Tempier was a nice little bonus, in a month where we didn't score points.
Points scored: 6 (Stéphane Tempier, 6)
Grand Total: 77 pointsEdited by SotD on 20-11-2018 20:14
Not the best of month in March, although we tried our best, and almost got away with a decent GC in Jelajah, if not for bad days for Simon and Mygind. April was a month with some potential, as races were difficult to plan in terms of actual events.
April 1st
Nakhon Ratchasima Trophy
[C1]
1 Stage
April 20-23rd
Tour of Cyprus
[C1]
4 Stages
April 28-30th
Corsica International
[C1]
3 Stages
First off, Nakhon Ratchasima Trophy, a flat 180km race. Not really the best possible race for Kip, as it would almost certainly be ridden hard, and with a massive amount of competition. On a good day he could possibly sneak into the top 15.
The Tour of Cyprus has been feared by many with it's crazy setup of flat, cobbles and mountains. Yes. Mountains and cobbles! Not exactly a route for us, but who knows what will happen?
The final race is the Corsice International. A race that starts out with us having a decent shot. A flat stage, then an epilogue. Perfectly suited for Ismäel Kip, and then finishing off with a mountain stage. Not for us, but could keep some of the worst competitors for the sprint away!
April lineups
Last name
First name
Role
Key Stats
Stat #1
Stat #2
Kip
Ismäel
Sprinter
SPR / ACC
80
82
Tempier
Stéphane
Leader
MO / DH
74
74
Simon
Julien
Puncheur
HI / SPR
75
71
Mygind
Rasmus
Domestique
HI / FL
73
73
Tleubayev
Ruslan
Domestique
SPR / ACC
77
77
Miltiadis
Andreas
Domestique
MO / HI
68
68
Kiriakidis
Ioannidis
Domestique
HI / DH
67
73
Rodriguez
Jose Luis
Domestique
HI / ACC
66
72
The Nakhon Ratchasima Trophy-race went much like anticipated. A fierce tempo during the final sections, made for an impossible task for Ismäel Kip, and he finished well down in the rankings.
-----
The Tour of Cyprus had a very good parcours for us on the first stage. A very flat stage, with a little lump fairly early on to settle things in the breakaway. The starting lineup in terms of sprinters was a bit too much to ask for Kip to solve, but nevertheless he positioned himself well in the final with some help from Julien Simon, and took the wheel of Luke Rowe and Thorsen.
It was the correct wheel to pick, but unfortunately, Cam Meyer had the wheel of Kip, and proved to be a bit too fast in the end. Still a nice 2nd place in a very difficult pack of riders, against riders such as Guerao, Appollonio, Rowe and Boivin, not to mention Cameron Meyer.
Stage 2 was the dreaded cobbled stage, and it was all about survival for our riders.
On stage 3 - a mountain stage, we had to try something, so we sent Kiriakidis into the break.
Not because we expected much to come from it, but just to get our shirt seen. The stage seemed rather calm, so with 47km to go Stéphane Tempier decided to give it a go with 4 others.
We were thrilled to see him succeed and get a gap with the others. Unfortunately, it proved very difficult to find the rhytm, so instead of catching up, he strolled slow behind others. Yet 14th on the stage was a very strong result for us.
The final stage was a hilly stage, fairly easy, but not really a good stage for our riders. So we thought that we needed to go with the best we had. Thus Stéphane Tempier (20th in the GC) went from the gunshot to take affairs. He quickly got away with another 6 riders.
With 43km to go, Tempier and Omarsson moved to the front, and things were starting to look really solid. Unfortunately this wasn't a stage the punchy riders were willing to throw away so with just 38km to go, the first attackers from the peloton already reached Tempier.
When the big guns started their show, there was nothing more in the tank. At the line, Tempier clocked 5'13" in 27th spot. Still a very strong effort. Mygind helped him with the last push, while Julien Simon tried to get the best possible stageresults, cracking in the proces to finish 18th.
In hindsight we would have liked to see Simon help Tempier cut off a minute of the time, to finish 16th in the GC, but 21st was a very good GC result for us in a race like this, and Tempier also claimed 3rd in the KOM, while Ismäel Kip got 8th in the points competition.
-----
The final race of the month, Corsica International had a great looking first stage. 72km, flat and with Kip likely being the biggest pre-race favorite!
Yet again we decided to bring our young rider, Jose Luis Rodriguez to the front to help our work burden.
He did well to claim 4 points for the KOM jersey effectively putting him in 2nd after the stage.
The front of the peloton was chasing hard and with some GC contenders putting in quite the labour. Unfortunately, stages ridden like that means that Kip is no there.
So, if Kip is not there, who's that guy in 4th position? Ruslan Tleubayev! Picking up where Kip should have been, furiously fighting his own chance.
In the end it was almost enough, but 2nd from Tleubayev is a huge performance! The 31 year old Kazakh delivered his best ever (We think) result! And with it also 2nd in the GC and points.
Despite being a rider that has gone completely under the radar, it was known for us, that his capabilities against the clock in an epilogue (stage 2) was not that bad. So secrectly we were crossing our fingers that he would somehow manage to take the GC lead.
But when we saw the early gaps between relatively equal riders, we didn't fancy his chances much. Rasmus Mygind put in a decent provisional 6th to set the stage.
But still not quite fast enough for Tleubayev. Fabio Duarte smashed the time of former leader, Sergent, making it evident, that we had no chance to take the GC, unless Tleubayev somehow found a new level.
And so he did!... Almost catching the riders on the short parcours, setting a huge result getting 5th on the stage! Effectively beating Tosh van der Sande (race leader) by 47 seconds! Losing just 7 seconds to stage winner Duarte, and this was the picture all had been waiting for:
Exchanging the loaned points jersey with the first ever leaders jersey for Tleubayev. Also in the points jersey by the way!
The final stage would be all about surviving the race for Ruslan Tleubayev. The mountain stage didn't quite suit any of our riders, so we rolled in with a good feeling after the massive performance by Tleubayev, almost leveling (in terms of feel good) the results of Kip in the opening race.
In the end Duarte landed a good stageresult on the final stage, so he and Tleubayev had to share the points jersey - but we are well and truly happy with the team performance in april!
Points scored: 69 (Ruslan Tleubayev 44, Ismäel Kip 15, Stéphane Tempier, 7, Jose Luis Rodriguez 3)
redordead wrote:
The results you achieve with your amateur team can put some of us CT teams to shame
Great work
Thanks a lot - We have done pretty well with what we've got for sure. Hopefully we can have a "wildcard" again next season to try once more. It was great fun assembling the team, stealing scraps and leftovers which to some extend was pretty good. Also it is a good way of introducing a different way of thinking about riders and setups for new managers I'd imagine, aswell as presenting lesser known riders and talents to the game.
At the current rate we are looking to score similarly or better than the worst placed CT team of last season. That is a bit of a milestone for us to achieve
As we didn't race during the month of May, let's skip to June:
June 1-6th
Tour of Japan
[C1]
6 Stages
June 18-23rd
Tour of South Africa
[C1]
6 Stages
Two difficult C1 races where stageresults would be all we could hope for. During Tour of Japan we had our eyes set on stage 1 and 2. A very short prologue (3,2km) and a flat-ish stage. Then some hills, mountains and finally a flat stage again. Tour of South Africa is a hilly stagerace. Nothing for us basically, but a bit of hopes for the lottery battle.
June lineups
Last name
First name
Role
Key Stats
Stat #1
Stat #2
Kip
Ismäel
Sprinter
SPR / ACC
80
82
Tempier
Stéphane
Leader
MO / DH
74
74
Simon
Julien
Puncheur
HI / SPR
75
71
Mygind
Rasmus
Domestique
HI / FL
73
73
Tleubayev
Ruslan
Domestique
SPR / ACC
77
77
Miltiadis
Andreas
Domestique
MO / HI
68
68
Kiriakidis
Ioannidis
Domestique
HI / DH
67
73
Rodriguez
Jose Luis
Domestique
HI / ACC
66
72
Rasmus Mygind started the race out well for us, getting his best result of the season, landing 7th in the opening prologue, but it was the combination of stage 1 and 2 from Kip that was interesting...
Unfortunately the stage was too difficult for Kip, who was dropped by the peloton. We decided to give our team to him - also for the chance of breakaways.
We had to skip to stage 6, the final stage, to see a bit of Festina-action. Ismael Kip was lead-out by Ruslan Tleubayev, and as often seen that can do the job.
Unfortunately a photofinish saw Kip finish 3rd behind van der Sande and van Poppel, while Tleubayev also finished well to take 8th.
-----
In South Africa Julien Simon got the chance to let lose, and on stage 2 he was up there fighting for the win after some aggressive riding towards the final.
He wasn't quite strong enough to keep the pace, and had to settle for 19th, however inside an elite group of just 29 riders in total.
Doing another decent stageresult on stage 3, gave him a decent boost towards the overall top 30, but the TTT of stage 4 effectively put an end to that. Unfortunately there was no footage of us actually competing - but despite of trends saying we should end in the very deep end, we actually managed to finish 17th ahead of 6 teams aswell as a number of dropouts.
It was stage 5 that cracked Simon for real, however - losing a massive 11 minutes and a drop to 43rd in the GC. A decent finish on stage 6 didn't do more for us, and 44th in the GC was a reality.
-----
The month wasn't especially encouraging, but we could've come away with absolutely nothing.
We jump immidiately into more GC racing in the month of July, while everyone else is focussed on bigger races elsewhere:
July 1-8th
Tour de San Luis
[C2]
8 Stages
July 27-30th
USA Pro Cycling Challenge
[C2]
4 Stages
Being back to the C2 level, we had hopes of possibly getting our hopes back up after a couple of quite months.
Much like in Japan, the Tour de San Luis started out with a short prologue continued with a flat stage, before other terrain kicked in. A lot of hills - and too tough hills for us only to finish with yet another flat stage. Ismaël Kip again our go-to-guy.
In the USA Pro Cycling Challenge we saw flat, flat, flat and en epilogue! On paper, the perfect race for us. Unfortunately also for quite a lot of other riders, hence we had to pick up our A-Game to deliver.
-----
The Tour de San Luis looked very promising from the gun, as Ruslan Tleubayev took best time early on.
Also Rasmus Mygind gave a good show, but as the faster riders started to roll in, both Mygind and Tleubayev had to fall back. Not Ismaël Kip though!
A huge result getting 4th ahead of riders like Vandewalle, Bouet and more. The result also saw us landing 2nd in the team GC for the stage.
Kip was also on the favorites list as an outsider for stage 2, but in order to let him relax a bit we sent young Rodriguez into the breakaway. In the end the breakaway which formed later on ended up taking the win, with Kip finishing 8th on the stage (5th in the actual sprint).
Stage 3 was a difficult hilly stage, and Julien Simon rode cleverly to 12th place in the midst of a lot of gap-work. Having also done a decent prologue he jumped to 14th in the GC.
On stage 4 we put Kiriakidis into the breakaway.
Same Kiriakidis put in a good show at the timetrial of stage 5 to give an intermediate time for Julien Simon. The latter gave it everything he had.
Kiriakidis ended up in a very strong 12th on the stage, where also another young rider Jose Luis Rodriguez managed to get 25th. Julien Simon was 28th and moved to 10th in the GC!
When Julien Simon managed to finish 15th on the extremely difficult stage 6, we started dreaming of him doing a good overall show.
And when Rasmus Mygind lead the way on stage 7, we were extremely pleased with the race.
Rasmus Mygind ended the stage in 5th with Julien Simon ending in 9th, moving him right back up into 11th in the GC!
Stage 8 did nothing and so we could applaud Julien Simon for landing our best GC result of the season!
-----
NB: Race was ridden as the last race...
The USA Pro Cycling Challenge was on paper a very good chance for us to shine, with Ismaël Kip being the lead figure, and it started out well with Kip getting a 5th place on stage 1, where a lot of riders lost valuable time.
In the end he was not fast enough to keep up. But 5th on stage 2 aswell gave him a great launching-pad for a GC top 10!
And once we thought it couldn't become any better, Kip took 4th on the final flat stage, to launch him into 3rd in the GC with only the epilogue to go!
The epilogue would prior to the race see Kip as an underdog - but not favorite. In the end 31st on the stage was below expectations, but enough to secure 3rd in the GC.
Our best GC of the season comes with the final race too, which is a perfect way to show our ambition.
-----
Despite not landing any major stageresults this was a very good month, getting to show a number of riders including our two youngsters! Also Julien Simon landed the best GC result for our team with his 11th place in Tour de San Luis.
The final month, and the final race for us. Just one!
August 17-21st
Baltic Chain Tour
[C1]
5 Stages
Ending the season in style, getting to ride a very attractive C1 race. Not the best for our chances for succes - however very profilic!
It starts out with a dreaded short - cobbled - prologue, before having 4 pancake-flat stages! On paper a good race for Kip and Tleubayev, but likely way too difficult looking at the level of competition.
-----
Ismaël Kip started the race well, to limit his losses on the difficult parcours.
In the end 14 seconds lost to him and Andreas Miltiadis was a good start to the race, as bonus seconds could lead to a good GC.
We, did, however realize that sprinting against the likes of Degenkolb, Lo Cicero, Cavendish etc. would never go our way - so we put José Luis Rodriguez in the break.
The break proved very interesting and it wasn't until the very end that they were caught. Rodriguez ended the stage in 10th, as the best of the breakaway riders.
However stage 3 was not to our likings... A massive split in the blistering rain made Kip suffer a timeloss of almost 3 minutes effectively putting him out of contention for a good GC result.
Instead we changed our gameplan, and on stage 4 we sent Julien Simon on a break. Initially 3 riders broke lose, but Simon chased them down, and joined.
With 10km to go it seemed very open, with the break having 1'25" to the chasing peloton. A good day could give a stagewin...
... Julien Simon put in a final charge, to break lose of him compagnions. And - OH MY LORD! HE did it!
Julien Simon solo over the line, in the final race of the season! We can live with another picture!
What a way to end the season!
-----
Despite not landing any major stageresults this was a very good month, getting to show a number of riders including our two youngsters! Also Julien Simon landed the best GC result for our team with his 11th place in Tour de San Luis.
Points scored: 20 (Julien Simon, 20)
Grand Total: 233 pointsEdited by SotD on 18-07-2019 12:07
Overall, I gotta admit that this amateur team of yours has been a pretty good addition to the races they raced this year! Most definitely gave some good air time to certain riders and proved that some rider types are worth taking risks on!
Edited by whitejersey on 06-07-2019 22:16
whitejersey wrote:
Overall, I gotta admit that this amateur team of yours has been a pretty good addition to the races they raced this year! Most definitely gave some good air time to certain riders and proved that some rider types are worth taken risks on!
Thanks - Indeed it sometimes pay off to look at some odd opportunities in the schedule and see what combinations of stats could pay off...
And just for the fun of it - All of my riders, except for Kiriakidis, scored points. Kiriakidis was 7th U25 going into the final stage of Vuelta al Tachira, which would have given him 1 point - I would have really liked that! Unfortunately he decided to drop back to Kip for no good reason...
When we started the Amateur-Team, we spent a lot of time looking into the possible races, and which riders could combine into a decent setup. Not so much for an allround setup, but more with the aspiration of having 1-2 leader(s), and a bunch of riders to complement them. And those helpers should then have the strength to go into breakaways in order to make us versatile, while still competetive in our core aspects.
We noticed a small gap in the region of sprinters with a good prologue stat, where we could focus our team, and thus started to find riders suitable to take advantage of this.
The riders
In order to get the best possible setup, we decided to sign the following riders, whom we will present in the best possible way.
Ismaël Kip
80 Sprint
75 Prologue
74,90 OVL
Ismaël Kip winning stage 3 of Vuelta al Tachira while leading the race
Team leader, Ismaël Kip was brought with the intent of getting a sprinters stagewin, along with some decent results from prologue.
The dutch sprinter excelled in the first, and the last race of the season for us, Vuelta al Tachira and USA Pro Cycling Challenge. In the Vuelta al Tachira, Ismaël Kip managed to land nothing less than 3 stagewins. Throughout the race he also wore the leaders jersey on 4 stages aswell as the points jersey for 9 stages!
He ended up being 2nd in the points GC aswell.
In the final race of the season, the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, he was in top 5 on all three sprint stages, and through his strong prologue he managed to land 3rd in the final GC, aswell as 3rd in the points competition.
Throughout the season he also showed strong riding in the Tour de San Luis and the Tour of Cyprus.
Points scored: 140 Rating: For any CT team, it seems to be quite the mistake not to gamble on a rider such as Ismaël Kip. It is evident, that he will never become the best sprinter, but if races are chosen wisely there is a huge amount of points on offer, and he does these prologue/sprint stage races absurdly well. Ismaël Kip works well even in difficult races, as he usually recovers well enough to be competitive. I would even go the distance and say PCT teams could pick up a riders such as Kip!
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Rasmus Mygind
76 Prologue
73 Hill
72,47 OVL
Rasmus Mygind winning the group sprint for 5th on stage 7 in Tour de San Luis
Through the danish timetriallist, Rasmus Mygind we noticed a very interesting stat-combination with hills, prologues and a decent timetrial too. Also being pretty strong in the flat, he perfectly suited the ambition of creating a good setup around Kip, and with riders capable of doing other results aswell!
In the Tour de San Luis, Rasmus Mygind showed himself well landing 5th on a stage, aswell as 28th in the GC. In the USA Pro Cycling Challenge he also was decent, but his final epilogue wasn't as good as it has often been, which landed him 35th.
Throughout the season he showed himself well in both prologues and regular timetrials, and also proved himself as a very capable helper.
Points scored: 3 Rating: For a team who wants to win hilly races with a TT/prologue, we value Rasmus Mygind as a very competent domestique. Could he be picked up cheap, any team should consider him.
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Ruslan Tleubayev
77 Sprint
74 Prologue
73,83 OVL
Ruslan Tleubayev leading the Tour of Corsica after two great stages
Much like Ismaël Kip, Ruslan Tleubayev is a sprinter with a strong prologue, but where Kip is very weak in the fight for positions, and in any other terrain than flat, Tleubayev is much stronger and more versatile. His role as a leadout was really visable during the Vuelta al Tachira where he positioned Ismaël Kip perfect on several occassions.
Tleubayev showed his own talent as a potent sprinter in the Corsica International where he managed to get 2nd on the opening stage only to take 4th in the next epilogue leading him to take the GC and points lead. After the race he was awarded as the best rider in the points GC.
Points scored: 45 Rating: Ruslan Tleubayev is among the strong leadout sprinters available, and if you look twice you get a good backup stat from his prologue too, which makes him valuable for any CT team with a solid sprinter.
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Julien Simon
75 Hill
71 Sprint
73,48 OVL
Julien Simon after winning stage 4 of the Baltic Chain Tour
The french veteran has shown his legacy throughout his career, and we were stunned when we had the chance of signing him. He was the perfect 3rd tier in our lead-out, aswell as having a very strong hilly setup to chase breakaways.
He showed strong performances throughout the season, starting in Vuelta al Tachira where he had a couple of breakaway attempts.
Getting 11th in the GC of Tour de San Luis immidiately moved to his top result of the season, but shortly after he won the difficult stage 4 of the Baltic Chain Tour to add to an already decent season!
Points scored: 29 Rating: Julien Simon is one of those riders that really should have been signed by any CT team! He can finish races himself from his strong sprint, but is also capable of being a great domestique. Add to that, his TT and PRL isn't too shabby! Julien Simon, however is on the decline, and will be looking to retire soon and isn't all that interesting next season.
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Stéphane Tempier
74 Mountain
74 Downhill
72,85 OVL
Tempier from one of his breakaways, here landing 3rd KOM of Cyprus Tour
Stéphane Tempier was brought in as a bit of an odd-man-out type of rider, in order to give our mountainous races a bit of a touch. He was selected due to his aggressive nature and his capabilities to survive a little bit of everything.
Throughout the season he attacked numerous times, landing 3rd in the KOM GC's of not only Cyprus Tour, but also Jelajah SKL. In the Cyprus Tour he also managed 21st in the GC, which could have easily been 5-10 spots higher had he not chased the early KOM break.
He also showed the team colors through races such as Vuelta al Tachira and KBC De Panne Tour.
Points scored: 13 Rating: Much like Julien Simon, Stéphane Tempier is one of those riders who have the best behind him. He showed great attacking strength throughout the seasons, and had he been helping a good leader, he would have been gold from the combination of up and downhill qualities.
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Andreas Miltiadis
68 Hill
68 Cobble
68,60 OVL
Miltiadis in the break during his home-race, Cyprus Tour stage 3
Young, Andreas Miltiadis was brought in as a supplement rider who could do a little bit of it all. A decent climber, a decent cobbler and a decent puncheur, aswell as relatively good in the timetrials.
Through most of his season he was a domestique for us, but he also managed to cling into a few breakaways. Seeing him in the front of his home race Cyprus Tour during stage 3, must be the season highlight, even if it amounted to nothing in the end!
Points scored: 0 Rating: What is to come is the really interesting thing here, because it could go several ways for this young cypriot. 75MO, 73HI and 73TT is a possible route. Another could be 74MO, 76HI, 76ACC or even 75COB, 73HI. A CT or PCT team should pick up a talent this versatile and with stat combinations that will provide a very solid 50K (or slightly above) domestique for many seasons!
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Ioannidis Kiriakidis
69 Prologue
67 Hill
68,22 OVL
Kiriakidis going really fast during the Tour de San Luis TT on stage 5
Throughout the entire season Kiriakidis was very aggressive on the flatter stages, participating in a record amount of breakaways for us.
The season highlight must easily have been seeing him on the attack during the Cyprus Tour. Or so we thought, because during the Tour de San Luis he found a whole new level.
First with aggressive riding on numerous stages, and then setting the best time in the timetrial of stage 5 - Which led him to finish 12th on the day!
On the Vuelta al Tachira, Kiriakidis was 7th in the U25 competition, going into the final day, where he unfortunately had to drop back to assist Ismaël Kip.
Points scored: 0 Rating: Much like Miltiadis this is a rider for the future. Kiriakidis is a strong timetriallist who could go to 76TT while also being a decent climber with 72MO aswell as 72HI. Should be the perfect GC domestique for teams with ambitions in the TTT's.
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Jose Luis Rodriguez
66 Prologue
66 Hill
67,29 OVL
Rodriguez in the break during Corsica International, barely missing the KOM jersey
The chilenean talent, Rodriguez was brought in to help leading the chase, but was also very interesting in the breakaways due to his relatively fast finish. In the Tour de San Luis TT he showed remarkable strenght getting 25th, but it was during the Baltic Chain Tour stage 2 he got his bes individual result landing 10th on the stage.
During the Corsica International he managed 7th in the KOM competiton overall, after having been 2nd for a period.
Points scored: 3 Rating: Jose Luis Rodriguez is another decent talent. And from an interesting nation aswell - Chile! Rodriguez could also be developped in a number of ways, the most intriguing probably being him getting to 75SPR, 79ACC and 73PRL. A very decent leadout rider! Alternatively he could go to 74HI and 79ACC.
Vuelta al Tachira
Tour of Cyprus
Tour of Japan
Tour de San Luis
Kip
Mygind
Tleubayev
Kiriakidis
Rodriguez
KBC De Panne Tour
Jalejah SKL
Nakhon Ratchasima Trophy
Tour of South Africa
USA Pro Cycling Challenge
Baltic Chain Tour
