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Xero Racing | PCT'18
AbhishekLFC
East Java was decent in terms of the GC but March continues to be sluggish. Having said that, Strade was always going to be tough with the involvement of PT teams.
 
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jandal7
@Abhishek - Indeed a slow start to March, and not much going on on paper to finish it either Frown
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] i.imgur.com/c85NSl6.png Xero Racing

i.imgur.com/PdCbs9I.png
i.imgur.com/RPIlJYr.png
5x i.imgur.com/wM6Wok5.png x5
i.imgur.com/olRsxdu.png
2x pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2021/funniest21.png x2
2x i.imgur.com/TUidkLG.png x2
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

Jelajah SKL
28-31st of March | Top 10 Race Goal | C1


pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/profiles/c1_jelajahskl.jpg

Startlist
StanislauBazhkouLeaderAnthonyRouxPuncheur
ToshVan der SandeSprinterMarvainKossohorouDomestique
DylanKennettDomestiqueTomDavisonDomestique
CallumScotsonDomestiqueJamalidinNovardiantoFree Role

"A funny little tour up next, with a prologue, a sprint stage with little hills, a hilly stage with slightly bigger hills, and an epilogue. We've brought three leaders here, and hopefully they can all give it a real shot."

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/Races/C1/Jelajah/mg18_jelajah_02_PCM0045.jpg

Roux got into the stage 2 breakaway in case he could take a gap with him onto the final hill and surprise the peloton. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/Races/C1/Jelajah/mg18_jelajah_02_PCM0089.jpg

Tosh came off the hill in a group of 4 (Navardauskas, Van Asbroeck and Ignatiev) chasing down the attacker Kwiatkowski. He worked hard to shut the gap and eventually went first in the sprint - at Xero we go for the win rather than waiting to come second!

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/Races/C1/Jelajah/mg18_jelajah_02_PCM0101.jpg

In a long and brutal sprint we caught the Pole but, not for the first time this season, was beaten by Van Asbroeck! Very close to a stunning stage win. Despite a poor prologue this was still enough to lift Tosh into the Top 10, but we'd need a good performance in the hills to hold on. We also moved into second in the teams competition.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/Races/C1/Jelajah/mg18_jelajah_03_PCM0183.jpg

As some puncheurs took a time gap on Stage 3 we lost our spot in the teams ranking but we still had Tosh in 8th and Stan in 15th on GC now, so both had outside shots at the top 10 after a solid Stage 3.

However both had weak epilogues by their standards, and so we ended up with Stan only in 15th, with Tosh slipping to outside the top 25, with MTK also in the top 30 after a solid race.

1Mohamed Shawal Anuar AzizIndosat Ooredoo - ANZ8h02'44
2Pello BilbaoSPAR - Shimano - SCGs.t.
3Cesare Di MaggioENI-MOL+ 6
15Stanislau BazhkouXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 1'18
25Marvain Tognama KossouhorouXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 1'34
28Tosh Van der SandeXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 1'38
70Jamalidin NovardiantoXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 3'46
93Tom DavisonXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 6'13
99Anthony RouxXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 6'19
136Dylan KennettXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 10'18
153Callum ScotsonXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 12'02

Not a nothing race with us with 3 riders collecting GC points plus the stage podium from Tosh, but disappointing really due to Stan's uncharacteristically weak TT performances.

GP Herning
31st of March | Top 10 Race Goal | HC


pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/profiles/c1_jelajahskl.jpg

Startlist
MeksebDebesayCo-LeaderLukeRoweCo-Leader
CarlNgamoki-CDomestiqueGregoryDanielDomestique
JordanSchleckDomestiqueNilsSchomberDomestique
HamishSchreursFree Role

"Another flat cobbles race and a super tough one! But it actually sometimes ends in a smaller group sprint, perfect for Rowe! As usual a top 10 and a breakaway is the goal, and as usual for both that's easier said than done."


pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/Races/HC/herning/MG18_herning_006.jpg

Debesay was dropped early on an off day and in fact finished outside the points, 6 minutes down with Schreurs.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/Races/HC/herning/MG18_herning_021.jpg

Rowe was no shining light either, finishing in 18th after a hard race. Not one to remember for our team.

1Geraint ThomasPodium Ambition4h25'37
2Guillaume Van KeirsbulckNordstrom - BioWares.t.
3Robert BushWorld Cycling Centers.t.
18Luke RoweXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 1'17
54Mekseb DebesayXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 6'48
57Hamish SchreursXero Racing p/b Octagons.t.
93Carl Ngamoki-CameronXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 17'49
DNFGregory DanielXero Racing p/b Octagonboo freaking hoo gregory maybe I'd have something to say if you didn't DNF every race i'm so accustommed to it that my eyes skip right over the gregory daniel xero racing dnf because it's always there is that comment enough
DNFJordan SchleckXero Racing p/b Octagonlol
DNFNils SchomberXero Racing p/b OctagonSad

Edited by jandal7 on 02-04-2019 06:24
 
AbhishekLFC
Gregory is unhappy you commented about the other two non-finishers!
 
jandal7
Better?
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] i.imgur.com/c85NSl6.png Xero Racing

i.imgur.com/PdCbs9I.png
i.imgur.com/RPIlJYr.png
5x i.imgur.com/wM6Wok5.png x5
i.imgur.com/olRsxdu.png
2x pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2021/funniest21.png x2
2x i.imgur.com/TUidkLG.png x2
 
AbhishekLFC
Gregory does not appreciate the sarcasm. Not everyone can be Per!
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

March Review
Not a lot to cheer for in March with, outside of one stunning victory, results varying from underachievement to completely shitting the bed.
Screenshot of the Month

Not a lot of great choice this month which is a shame, so I'll plump for

i.imgur.com/C2kH0N1.jpg

Areruya in the breakaway fight in East Java - Credit to tsmoha
Rider of the Month

Well there's only one choice for us this month, taking an 80km solo stage win that will live long in our memory here at Xero...

i.imgur.com/mpEhkag.jpg

Celebrating after eighty solo kilometres of the toughest climbing around - Vuelta a Colombia

Abofazl Gilanipoor
Total RoTM Wins | 1
RoTM Wins This Season | 1
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

April Review
Sadly your old pal Mr. HQ man has not been around to keep up with the racing, so we'll need to pump through these real quick, so let's forget all the shitty classics we came 18th in and just focus on the lights, be them high or low.

Urgh, to think we used to run an award-nominated HQ, and now look where we are.
Tour of Vancouver
1-7th of April | Top 5 Race Goal | HC
Velits here as leader in a stage race, so who knows what could happen? Throw a TTT into the mix and we guess chaos will reign for Xero this week.

However it was off to a solid start with Velits fourth in the prologue, and staying safe over the next two sprint stages. Meintjes with a brutal attack on stage 2, finishing the sprint before Velits to change GC spots, but we got him good on Stage 3 to reclaim 4th.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/Races/HC/vancouver/MG18_vancouver_4_024.jpg

Meanwhile Davison joined the break on Stage 2, before Kossohorou tried it on Stage 3, finally getting into it on Stage 4, the first mountain stage of the race. However it would not be a positive stage for us, with Velits ceding four minutes and any hope of a top 5, let alone a podium tilt. Even the top 10 seemed a faraway prospect. To raise our spirits, or more likely to get away from our misery and test his legs before the Tour of Ukraine, Stan got into the next two breakaways.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/Races/HC/vancouver/MG18_vancouver_6_003.jpg

If you were expecting Velits to give up, you haven't been watching the PCT this year. Together with the also struggling Meintjes, he lit up the final summit finish on Stage 6, attacking with 11km still to go and cutting up the main field. They rode together well and, although he couldn't follow Pluchkin when he came past as Meintjes could, he held on for fourth and a boost back into the top 10 of GC, 9th in the end. We rode solidly in the TTT to secure this final result.
Tour of Ukraine
13-15th of April | Top 10 Race Goal | HC
Finally, the intriguing debut of power puncheur and hilly stage race specialist, Stanislau "The Manislau" Bazhkou, the Belarussian Bazhkooka, et cetera. He began it with a solid 44th in the prologue, with enough time on the puncheurs to cede a few seconds on a hopefully not so selective second stage.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/Races/HC/ukraine/MG18_ukraine_2_021.jpg

However it was a fairly selective day, but to everybody's astonishment Bazhkou relished it, not responding to the flashy attacks of McCarthy and Lutsenko but grinding away from the flailing peloton and finish a quite stunning fifth on the stage among the greatest puncheurs in the division! A truly special ride for an unfancied rider, and set-up enough for a GC podium tilt the next day.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/Races/HC/ukraine/MG18_ukraine_3_013.jpg

Which he only went and accomplished! Another huge overperformance saw our man come in 11th, holding off the best in the world Coppel by a single second and leapfrogging two puncheurs to climb onto the podium. What a result, welcome to the team Stanislau Bazhkou!
Tour of Cyprus
20-24th of April | 2 Stage Podium + Top 10 Race Goal | C1
A race where we brought an exciting triple threat: Rowe for sprints and cobbles, Debesay for the cobbles and GC, and Bennett for the mountains, hills, and GC if Debesay faltered on Stage 2. No expectations other than crazy racing!

i.imgur.com/9XJeYih.jpg

We began with a solid fourth place on the sprint stage from Rowe, his best result of the season so far. However it is saying something, but this is the least memorable day for us!

i.imgur.com/1V4QORn.jpg

We knew a strong breakaway may surprise the GC teams focused on survival on stage 2 and Debesay was a driving force in all iterations of the breakaway, earning a spot to fight for the stage win as a strong group of subtop cobblers held off the dissolving peloton. Behind Rowe and Jams tried to keep Bennett in touch and did an admirable job before he was dropped with 34km to go!

i.imgur.com/DRi2hg2.jpg

Debesay's group held off the strongest cobblers who attacked across to try and get a stage win and some GC time, and put three and a half minutes into thebest placed climbers. Although he did a lot of work as the most likely GC contender in the group, Mekseb also did well to take a fantastic second place on the stage behind the sprinter-cobbler Lindeman, capping off a fantastic performance where he turned the GC top 5 race unexpectedly into his favour!

i.imgur.com/N7lLfAJ.jpg

With Bennett out of the GC picture he volunteered himself immediately that night to stay with Debesay on the mountain stage rather than going for the stage win, which he doubtlessly could have fought for as a GC non-threat. He first set a false tempo on the front of the peloton and then stayed with the Eritrean to guide him up to the finish at Mount Olympus. A fantastic performance from the duo (and Tom Davison) who limited Mekseb's losses to stay in the top 5 of GC, just two seconds away from the podium! In fact with much worse puncheurs ahead of him we had a plan to be second after the hilly stage 4.

i.imgur.com/apjtqhY.jpg

We worked hard on Stage 4 and eventually shelled everybody above Debesay on GC except for the yellow jersey of Roglic. Although perhaps we could have came second on GC if Bennett had stayed with the group, he was allowed to fight for the stage win and his own place on GC, where he stood a chance at breaking into the top 10 despite his time losses over the last two days! In the end he was fourth and moved to 12th on GC, whilst Debesay sprinted home in the peloton in ninth, but couldn't quite make up the extra two seconds to overthrow Van Keirsbulck (aided by his fantastic Nordstrom climbing team) in second on GC. However this strong result had an unexpected upisde:

i.imgur.com/MBcQL3F.jpg

The green jersey! A fine way to cap off a fantastic race for us, which also saw us bring home 2nd, 4th, 4th and 9th stage positions and 3rd and 12th on GC. Woohoo!
Corsica International
28-30th of April | Stage Win + Top 3 Race Goal | C1
Hoping for a great result for a well-suited race to Velits, with Bennett here in support after his great Tour of Cyprus. But first, we wanted to get our hands on yellow with Tosh!

i.imgur.com/2VMg2Id.jpg

Which we did! A great sprint win from our man, delivered to the last kilometre well with a makeshift leadout of Bennett and Kennett, finally working together to deliver pure rhyming awesomeness. A great stage win and a chance to wear the yellow jersey in the following day's time trial.

Tosh lost the lead the next day's time trial as expected, but far more worrying was the awful performance of Velits, who would need a huge ride the next day to get onto the podium.

i.imgur.com/boaaeG0.jpg

Sadly, although it wasn't a collapse, sixth on the final stage was subpar, especially combined with his awful ITT, and he could only manage, yet again, ninth on GC. Luckily for us it was backed up by a rather great performance from Gilanipoor in 12th, and a perhaps subpar one from Bennett in 19th, which was also enough for third in the teams' classification.
Veenendaal - Veenendaal
29th of April | Top 10 Race Goal | HC
i.imgur.com/W0F4bU6.jpg

A tough race as we hoped for in the Netherlands, as Rowe used to his advantage when he beat normally faster sprinters to fifth in the pack sprint for sixth in the race, behind late attacker Hermans. A great showing for us.
Screenshot of the Month

i.imgur.com/wVnOC2k.jpg

Debesay in the sprint - Credit to tsmoha
Rider of the Month

Two third places on GC, both so strong and unexpected, but in the end it went to

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/Races/HC/ukraine/MG18_ukraine_3_013.jpg

Time trialling to third on GC - Tour of Ukraine

Stanislau Bazhkou
Total RoTM Wins | 1
RoTM Wins This Season | 1
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/7m6GQBY.png

Where is the Money?

Despite a fine first year in the PCT where they outstripped their relegation battlers tag to finish safely mid-table, rumours coming out of Xero Racing HQ this week suggest a lack of funding for next year. With many sponsors with unrenewed and expiring contracts, the team's continued failure to invest in South African cycling, and the New Zealand sponsors waiting impatiently on some return on their investment into the sport's future in the country, there seems to be nobody yet stepping up to fund the ambitious plans of the team, who are looking to secure a brighter core of young talents whilst also promoting within two years to match their project goals.

Currently New Zealand sponsor Xero are still contracted another year and an agreement to stay on as title sponsor for that last season is waiting to be inked, but fellow title sponsor Octagon haven't renewed yet, and neither have the third major sponsor Kiwibank. This is the biggest issue facing management at the moment, but the fact that two of the three minor sponsors (Econet and Telkom Indonesia) are yet to renew either will only add to the headache at Xero. This is extra hard on the team, who have failed four of their MGUCI season goals and were looking for extra sponsors to support their tilt towards the PT in the next few years.

Although the future is still very bright on the cycling front, the monetary stress will no doubt be starting to gnaw at the team management company, Lionheart Racing, who have so far curtly insisted the team will carry on in it's current form, with or without the current sponsors.
 
AbhishekLFC
Congrats on a great turnaround after a difficult transfer window. I hope the sponsors realize that they're a part of a great setup and come back for the coming season. I'm sure you'll take the team forward even if changes are made in the off-season. Look forward to another season in the peloton with you Smile
 
sammyt93
As much as I want to see the sponsor issue solved I do really like the name Lionheart Racing.

Will be interesting to see what direction your team goes next year.
 
jandal7
Abhishek - Thanks a lot, really pleased with how we went. And the same to you too, good luck and can't wait for another year racing with you guys!

sammy - Yeah we've got a few options on the table, one of which could be a conglomeration of sponsors with no title under the Lionheart name Smile But it's all up in the air. Same goes for next year - I have a clear plan in mind for the direction of the short term but there's a number of ways to do it and other directions to consider.

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] i.imgur.com/c85NSl6.png Xero Racing

i.imgur.com/PdCbs9I.png
i.imgur.com/RPIlJYr.png
5x i.imgur.com/wM6Wok5.png x5
i.imgur.com/olRsxdu.png
2x pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2021/funniest21.png x2
2x i.imgur.com/TUidkLG.png x2
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

May Review
After a positive April got us back on course, May threatened to be another slow month. With three interesting but unsure hybrid stage races the main attraction, with Rowe, Bennett and Bazhkou in action. Surprisingly, they all went at least okay!

In the unmentioned races this month, Roux came 30th in a PT field in the Scandinavia Open Road Race, and we completely blew it in the Berlin ProRace, with Rowe in 22nd our best finisher.
Cheshire Cycling Tour
1-5th of May | Top 10 + Stage Win Race Goal | HC
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/profiles/hc_cheshire.jpg

A cobbled stage race with three tasty sprints for Luke to sink his teeth into and hopefully gain some bonifications for the GC fight, where we have hopes of a top 10 and a top 15 from him and Debesay. However those chances took a minor blow on the up and down first stage, where they came in 13th and 18th respectively. However, the only way was most certainly up... if we forget a subpar sprint the next day outside the stage win fight.

i.imgur.com/j0kaOpH.jpg

The third day started well as Jams got involved in the KoM fight as our young baroudeur continues to find his feet at this level.

i.imgur.com/Ua59uyW.jpg

But it only got better as our man Rowe edged out his brother Matt to his first win for Xero, and what a time to do it! A fantastically taken stage win showing his sprinting power, moving to second in the points classification and 11th on GC.

i.imgur.com/AnTVpEL.jpg

The next day saw another great sprint from Luke, coming from behind in the sprint to nearly take a second successive win, just being held off on the line by Vantomme. With Saber having won on stage 2, it was a threepeat for the conglomerate in the North West.

i.imgur.com/YjczZN2.jpg

However our fortunes would only get better on the cobbled stage five, with our leaders navigating a tough day very well, with Rowe in 8th moving up to the same on GC, and Debesay not far behind springboarding to 13th - with the stage win and the points classification (taken on the last day at the sad expense of our friend Saber) as well as minor KoM scoring by Jams, making for an excellent points haul for us in England!

1Jérome BaugniesKulczyk - DMTEX21h17'25
2Kenneth VanbilsenLierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam+ 18
3Adam BlytheIberia - Team Degenkolb+ 40
8Luke RoweXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 3'46
13Mekseb DebesayXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 6'08
61Carl Ngamoki-CameronXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 21'25
67Hamish SchreursXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 25'07
74Jamalidin NovardiantoXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 27'27
114Dylan KennettXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 50'37
DNFNils SchomberXero Racing p/b Octagoncome on
DNFJoseph AreruyaXero Racing p/b Octagonsorry
Tour of Eritrea
19-24th of May | Top 5 + Stage Win Race Goal | C1
i.imgur.com/VIvBq9P.jpg

Another stage race with hills big and small as Bennett aimed high at the top 5, whilst between him, Roux and van der Sande we wanted to leave this African race with a stage win to garner some local support - hard with Kudus on the startlist. Tosh started fairly dissapointingly, 7th on stage one.

i.imgur.com/0q0wqIt.jpg

A tough stage 2 saw a 13-man group contest the sprint, Tosh got into it and looked poised to take the sprint after a hard race, but ran out of road coming around from deep and had to settle for third.

Bennett had a dissapointing stage on the decisive stage 3, coming in 11th and losing any shot at the podium. However we knew the hills to come meant that dissapointment wasn't guaranteed to continue. He'd move to ninth after finishing in the front group the next day, where Roux joined the break in search of a stage win - not the best route in the end as he would have been amongst it in the pack, but a daring one.

i.imgur.com/9YcZyis.jpg

Stage 5's flat stage brought crosswinds, as the pack turned on itself it barely caught the breakaway containing our neo-pro Areruya. He would finish a credible 11th, whilst Tosh focused on guiding Bennett through the crosswinds, a worthy tactic as he gained time to go 7th on GC!


On Stage 6 Venter joined the break looking to improve his GC, whilst Bennett rode well to gain a lot of time, we thought he'd make the top 5 when the group ahead gained a little too much time, and Kiserlovski slipped ahead of him on GC! However the bump to 6th still made for a decent race for us considering the calibre of those ahead - though with no really above average performances (other than the crosswinds gains), it shows that the potential was there for more. Sadly Gilanipoor lost time today placing him outside the top 30 on GC, so we got minimal depth points.

1Merhawi KudusRepsol - Netflix24h16'44
2Michal KwiatkowskiNetia - Vonin+ 4
3Yonathan MonsalveAyubowan!+ 44
6George BennettXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 3'28
29Jaco VenterXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 15'55
31Abolfazl GilanipoorXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 17'15
55Anthony RouxXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 29'15
65Tosh Van der SandeXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 32'34
72Joseph AreruyaXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 34'38
73Tom DavisonXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 34'54
74Stanislau BazhkouXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 35'22
Tour of Norway
27-35th of May | Top 10 Race Goal | PTHC
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/profiles/pthc_norway.jpg

A PTHC outing for Stan but we were confident we'd find ourselves in the 5-10 spot on a well suited route - some more hills would have been helpful though. Roux was here for a free role on all four role stages, but it's a world class puncheur field so breaks were the goal.

Bazhkou put in a solid ride to come in 21th in the time trial stage - now we were hoping for a hard but not crazy stage the next day.

i.imgur.com/sSzZdhA.jpg

Areruya continued his newfound knack of finding breakaways by joining the one on the hilly Stage 4, and ending the day third in the KoM classification!

i.imgur.com/ua8Tigu.jpg

Our riders rode amazingly well as Bazhkou and Debesay came in the main group behind solo winner Hagen, and it looked like one of our best results of the season was on the cards with possibilities of a PTHC podium and top 10 when we were unfortunately told the gap was not counted just behind them as it looked it would, but another 20 or so riders back. Our euphoria was cut short, but 9th and 17th on GC could be worse. However due to their great form, it's a shame the stage was not more selective - or the race jury less selective with their fricking eyesight.

i.imgur.com/vPZIlTa.jpg

On the final flat day (with a few hills), Roux went into the break and it was looking like he would be in the stage win fight before a flying Edvald Boasson Hagen flew through the breakaway on his way to his GC victory. Roux held on for third on the stage a very solid result. Sadly Debesay lost one GC spot. A race that went okay, especially with Debesay, Areruya and Roux picking up minor GC, KoM and stage points in addition to Stan's top 10, but could have been better.

1Edvald Boasson HagenAir France - KLM16h47'13
2Jerome CoppelCarrefour - ESPN+ 1'19
3Andreas VangstadAker - MOT+ 1'40
9Stanislau BazhkouXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 2'26
18Mekseb DebesayXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 3'51
47Tom DavisonXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 6'35
54Joseph AreruyaXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 7'26
58Marvain Tognama KossouhorouXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 7'42
87Anthony RouxXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 13'10
142Hamish SchreursXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 20'42
149Dylan KennettXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 22'10
Screenshot of the Month

i.imgur.com/j0kaOpH.jpg

Jams first on the climb - Credit to tsmoha
Rider of the Month

We continue our trend of no repeat winners of this award so far, as, despite a horror showing in Berlin, it's our Welshman in Cheshire who takes the title

i.imgur.com/Ua59uyW.jpg

Triumph over your older brother, how sweet - Cheshire Cycling Tour

Luke Rowe
Total RoTM Wins | 1
RoTM Wins This Season | 1
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

South Africa Special
Team management was on edge. This was our one trip to South Africa all season and what did we have? Nothing, nothing. A minor puncheur looking for the top 15 and a weak TTT squad. It was time to convince Octagon to renew and/or appeal to new South African sponsors, and we had six days to win over some local fans. Nervous times for the management, but how would the race team react to the pressure?

i.imgur.com/8qsJApH.jpg

Beasty bastard Roux, home boy Venter, African joker Kossohorou, Eritel fan favourite Debesay, Stan the Man, Tommy Davison and our loanees were the men to do it. A surprisingly solid TTT squad, but it was all on Roux, failing that Venter, to do the goods on the road stages.

i.imgur.com/PmJHAG6.jpg

A good start on stage one with Roux 5th in the sprint after a hilly stage, with MTK in 10th as well showing his CAF colours. Our riders keen to get involved and a nice sign of things to come.

i.imgur.com/DSyKXOx.jpg

As a late attack was caught on the downhill run in to the line on stage 2, Roux found himself in the wheel of a good sprinter in Navardauskas, and spotted an opportunity for a long sprint given the downhill sprint.

i.imgur.com/VOsLaOt.jpg

He took the lead as the Lithuanian faded, and was left with plenty of energy, having read the final kilometre better than his rivals!

i.imgur.com/3NTLBf1.jpg

YYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS! What a win from our Frenchman, his first of the season and showing he can do it in this division at the best time. The crowd cheering him showing a growing affinity for us, and we didn't even realise

i.imgur.com/zTRjY95.jpg

that we had the yellow jersey! Maximum exposure in our home country and a huge surprise in such a race, but what a day, what a performance from Anthony Roux in one of our most important races of the season, business-wise.

i.imgur.com/06l3cA0.jpg

On stage three nobody had a sprinter and so we were left chasing the breakaway by ourselves to protect Roux's yellow jersey, an arduous task and one we couldn't fully commit to with the wider GC picture in mind.

i.imgur.com/zxqv2jj.jpg

Roux tried to defend the jersey himself but by 8 seconds Nic Hamilton from the breakaway group slipped into the GC lead. However, Roux was still second going into the team time trial.

i.imgur.com/ONHBH4q.jpg

A very very solid TTT where we placed sixth to keep Roux in the top 10 of the general classification. With his form, we really believed he could keep it now! Stage five would be the test, though.

No pictures of Roux on stage five, and with good reason. He stayed cool in the main peloton and within himself until the attacks went, where he worked to limit his losses in the best of the rest group, sliding to 10th on GC, a very respectable performance.

i.imgur.com/qNpBlYB.jpg

Stage 6 saw a plan executed we had planned before the start of the race: on an undulating stage, Debesay (who had been resting most of the race except the TTT), joined the breakaway which still had a healthy minute with 12km to go when he attacked, going solo and now racing to the line, trying to get there before the peloton could catch him.

Behind, Roux was following all attacks from the peloton - on a good day, but with Debesay in it for the win he didn't dare attack.

i.imgur.com/quLJFVR.jpg

Debesay was within sight of the peloton, but as we hoped was advantaged by the disorganisation of the GC favourites. The gap was shutting fast.

i.imgur.com/xymKASb.jpg

But not fast enough! Debesay with enough of a gap to sit up and enjoy the adulation of the fans - if we thought they had cheered us hard when Roux was in yellow we hadn't seen anything yet as one of Africa's best won in South Africa in beautiful solo style. His first in Xero colours and what a way to do it!

i.imgur.com/MIijeMP.jpg

Roux very nearly made it our first ever 1-2 but couldn't quite, but another stage podium was very very good and capped a very special day for us.

i.imgur.com/8fFhKSu.jpg

And once again, at the time of the podium ceremony we were surprised with an unexpected jersey as Roux reclaimed the green jersey on the final day by a single point over GC winner Ulissi, another great result. Two stage wins, a spell in yellow, the points jersey, 10th on GC and thousands of fans won over. Not a bad week's work - and one that could save our future in the African market. One of our most important races ever? Only time will tell.

1Diego UlissiGenerali - EDF22h43'07
2Laurent PichonNordstrom - BioWare+ 14
3Maurice SchreursNovatek-Panarmenian.net+ 36
10Anthony RouxXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 2'06
41Mekseb DebesayXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 12'44
51Jaco VenterXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 15'22
65Marvain Tognama KossouhorouXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 18'48
67Stanislau BazhkouXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 18'49
86Tom DavisonXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 25'02
129Gregory DanielXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 45'08
157Callum ScotsonXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 1h05'21
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

June Review
We were now really getting into the swing of things as our hybrid riders were riding amazingly - and it was to be another outing each for Bennett and Bazhkou in Japan and Denmark respectively. We had a home tour, which went amazingly and was summarised in the post above, as well as a tough flat classic in the Netherlands and two cobbled classics.

i.imgur.com/GmAntSX.jpg

In the unmentioned races this month, Japan went awfully due to, if I can break character a moment here, PCM shitting the bed, with Roux's surprising GC performance and a sprint win for an otherwise under-par Tosh (above) the only highlights. A PTHC cobbled classic was a step too far as our leaders finished together anonymously in the 20s, whilst the GP Kigali saw Debesay underfire in 23rd, Rowe fire regualrly in 13th and Ngamoki-Cameron overfire in 18th from the breakaway.
Post Danmark Rundt
10-14th of June | Top 5 Race Goal | HC
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2018/profiles/hc_danmark.jpg

A race for Stan which looked right up his alley, though perhaps the hilly stage might not be tough enough to distance the top time triallists. MTK and Jams both made a breakaway in the first three days, whilst Tosh struggled to break the top 10 in a harsh sprint field.

i.imgur.com/E8w3Y8X.jpg

Roux had a license to go for the stage on Stage 3 and missed the final move but won the sprint from a chasing group for fourth, a solid but not spectacular result.

i.imgur.com/Qao5aWy.jpg

Bazhkou was one of the first in the peloton, finishing 9th but it was a rather large group and so he'd need a very very good time trial to crack the podium.

The next day Kossohorou would join the breakaway again, and Tosh would fail to fire.. again.

i.imgur.com/4EAD5Zq.jpg

A solid ride from Bazhkou on the final stage's time trial moved him up to sixth on GC in an extremely tight final standings. It was a race that could really have seen him challenge for victory with a tougher hill stage, but it wasn't to be and we can't fault our man for yet another strong performance in this kind of stage race. A strong performance for Isostar alumni in this race as Stan's former teammate Brändle took the win.

1Matthias BrändleSPAR - Shimano - SCG14h51'33
2Marlen ZmorkaTeam Reddit+ 3
3Mikhail IgnatievFablok - Bank BGZ+ 12
6Stanislau BazhkouXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 1'15
67Tosh Van der SandeXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 6'25
78Tom DavisonXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 6'55
91Jamalidin NovardiantoXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 7'52
100Dylan KennettXero Racing p/b Octagons.t.
130Anthony RouxXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 11'30
140Marvain Tognama KossouhorouXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 12'20
152Joseph AreruyaXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 14'00
Ronde van Het IJsselmeer
26th of June | Top 5 Race Goal | C1
i.imgur.com/B1cj79b.jpg

An extremely exposed route on an extremely windy Dutch day was going to make for an extremely hard classic, which we were all too happy about. Tosh and Luke were both here and with their qualities we were quietly confident of a top 5 and trying to get the win.

i.imgur.com/trmq8f1.jpg

When it all started going down in the wind we made an unusual move as it was one of our sprinters, Van der Sande, that took to the front and forced a final selection of 15 with twelve kilometres still to go in the crosswinds. It was a very good position for us with Luke Rowe tucked away in the group.

i.imgur.com/c4Nbhbw.jpg

A surprise as one of the top favourites for a sprint, Dan Holloway, attacked, and only one man had the strength of mind and of legs to chase him - our very own Luke Rowe set off in pursuit of the American with six kilometres to go!

i.imgur.com/QZzBr8f.jpg

They would both get away from the group but Luke agaonisingly couldn't shut the gap to make it a final sprint, both sprinters proving they're more than that on the flat with amazing performances, neither giving an inch but Luke stayed exposed in the wind several seconds behind due to not getting into the slipstream at all!

i.imgur.com/JYxJrl5.jpg

It would be a second for Rowe in the end, never quite managing to shut the gap to a fantastic Holloway, but what a result all the same! A very very strong ride in awful windy conditions from our "sprinter"!

i.imgur.com/uko3xBN.jpg

And to cap it off, our amazing second sprinter who opened the gap that forced the final selection Tosh van der Sande hung around to take a top 10 finish, bringing us big points and an even bigger feeling of joy - what a race from both of our sprinters!

1Dan HollowayNovatek-Panarmenian.net4h56'59
2Luke RoweXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 20
3John DegenkolbIberia - Team Degenkolb+ 1'49
9Tosh Van der SandeXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 1'49
26Mekseb DebesayXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 3'29
63Jamalidin NovardiantoXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 3'56
70Carl Ngamoki-CameronXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 4'15
82Callum ScotsonXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 4'25
95Marvain Tognama KossouhorouXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 4'36
113Nils SchomberXero Racing p/b Octagon+ 5'53

Rider of the Month

Our most winningest rider of this award adds another to his tally with a strong GC in Japan backing up a stunning South African week...

i.imgur.com/YH6ZyGw.jpg

Sprinting to stage glory and a day in yellow - Tour of South Africa

Anthony Roux
Total RoTM Wins | 5
RoTM Wins This Season | 1
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/3cdOPYT.png

Sponsor Presentation 2019

Survival was secured early but left a little later was the financial future of Lionheart Racing. However we are now pleased to announce that Xero have taken the option for a further year as title sponsor and we will now be racing under the name Xero Racing. Our former co-sponsor Octagon have renewed with a new contract with us as a minor sponsor, and will continue to work on our marketing, HQ and all our team and talent representation.

Meanwhile we step up our association with Qhubeka as they take a more prominent role on our jersey, and our third major sponsor Kiwibank decide not to renew their contract due to not getting enough out of the team in terms of Kiwi exposure, with our failures to find any new talents from the region for two years and the non-signings of both Jesse Sergent and Tom David last season. In compensation we have two new secondary sponsors to fill the gap in the team's funding.

The Primary Sponsors


i.imgur.com/E0QQBCf.png

About: The overnight success that is Xero is now a international company still based in little ol' NZ. They develop online accounting software for small businesses (like our own?)
Contract Until: 2019
Focus Nations: New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain (minor), United States (very minor)

Xero stepped in at the last minute in 2016, but have been a great asset to the team and are now nearly synonymous with us. They continue as lone title sponsor for another year but have publicly noted their dissapointment in our lack of impact on the young blood of New Zealand cycling - and in a renewal year that's a worry. We effectively have two more young rider recruitment classes to convince them otherwise.

i.imgur.com/1OtbARy.png
About: Qhubeka is a non-for-profit, the South African programme of World Bicycle Relief, distributing bikes to help connect people to schools, clinics and jobs.
Contract Until: 2020 *new
Focus Nations: South Africa

A charity which helps use bicycles to support communities in poverty, as well as as a tool to help people of any age move forward in life. Not a sponsor by any means, quite the opposite. We ride for Qhubeka to increase awareness and taking part in fundraising, both of them increasing their funds and reach. We have renewed with them for another two seasons.

The Secondary Sponsors


i.imgur.com/NPKGy3t.jpg

About: My Food Bag is another hotshot emerging modern Kiwi company, an online food delivery service philosophising in “Eating food from the ground, sea or the sky. A sure-fire way to enjoy food the way nature intended, with less preservative, salts and a host of other artificial things. With recipes being focused on bringing natural ingredients forwards as the heroes”. We will help spread the word as they hope to develop this message with local (not always possible for us) and free-range produce.
Contract Until: 2020 *new contract
Focus Nations: New Zealand, Australia

We've loved the nutrition tips provided by the Kiwi upstart, and we're happy to keep going with this partnership for the next two years!

i.imgur.com/qAutTEV.png

About: Octagon is the sports and entertainment marketing division of the Interpublic Group (IPG). The IPG is one of the "big four" advertising companies and so being sponsored by the South African arm of the sports arm of the IPG is a smaller deal but with big background.
Contract Until: 2020 *new contract
Focus Nations: South Africa, The World (minor)

Octagon help us get our name on the backs of buses, billboards, wherever, in our target countries. Good for publicity, finances and fans. They have stepped down from their title sponsor role but maintain a solid presence within the team as our marketers and talent representatives.

i.imgur.com/bmAs3QI.jpg

About: Castle Lager is South Africa's favourite beer and is now available in over 40 countries worldwide.
Contact Until: 2020 *new sponsor
Focus Nations: South Africa, The World (minor)

Castle Lager continues their long association with South African sport as they signa new two-year deal with us, and will take on a role as one of our new minor sponsors, filling the gap of Octagon and Kiwibank.

i.imgur.com/jJ6r9sp.png

About: Visit Rwanda is a premier tourism company operating in, you guessed it, Rwanda.
Contact Until: 2020 *new sponsor
Focus Nation: Rwanda

The tourism company want to use our young talent Joseph Areruya, very visible in breakaways this year, as a vessel through which to advertise the cycling-mad country to the world. They give us an interest in new regions of Africa and are delighted to sign a two-year deal.

The Minor Sponsors

i.imgur.com/AnNouXY.png

About: Econet are an innovative company based out of Southern Africa but operate in the rest of Africa South America, Europe, East Asia and Australasia. Their core area is telecommunications and specifically broadband and fiber networks. They are also involved in other ventures in other sectors entirely
Contract Until: 2019 *new contract
Focus Nations: Zimbabwe, South Africa, Africa (minor)*, Australasia (minor) East Asia (very minor)*, South America (very minor)*, Europe (very minor)*
*The choice of flags here means nothing

Econet are a truly innovative company which we are glad to be sponsored by. As a more worldwide company they don't demand any focus nationalities but will hopefully expand our influence even more in Southern Africa.

i.imgur.com/xvrW5ck.png

About: Telkom Indonesia is a majority state owned telecommunications company, the largest in Indonesia.
Contract Until: 2020 *new contract
Focus Nations: Indonesia

Jamalidin Novardianto is a cult hero now and nowhere is this more clear, other than the manager's room, than in his home country of Indonesia. Not investing too much money, this state-owned telecommunications firm wanted in and will sponsor the team, just so they know we're tight and all, as long as Jams rides for us. So until he retires, then.
 
Booker
I respect the pragmatism (cynicism) of Telkom Indonesia.

Despite raking in billions, their capital expenditure processes mean that they can only afford to sponsor a PCT team until they don't see any more value coming from Jams.

Those are the kinds of sponsors we like.
 
jandal7
Booker wrote:
I respect the pragmatism (cynicism) of Telkom Indonesia.

Despite raking in billions, their capital expenditure processes mean that they can only afford to sponsor a PCT team until they don't see any more value coming from Jams.

Those are the kinds of sponsors we like.

Well with no Jams we have no value to the Indonesian market, it's very smart indeed Grin And yes, it's a very small chunk of their coffers Pfft
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/FI5bGrV.png

End-of-Year 2018 Talent Report

We are pleased to announce the development of our talent programme in 2018. It has been a rather successful year of growth for our young guns as we look to continue developing home-grown riders and giving them major places in the team, which we our now only one or two years away from doing with our older talents. Next year we hope to add some bright stars of the future to the mix as we secure our young core of riders for the team's foreseeable future.

Mekseb Debesay
27 | 4.68XP | 365,000
FLAMONHILTTSTARESRECCOBSPRACCFTRDHPRLXP
74677372747869756978727474468
756774727579707769787374744100

Our Eritrean's slow burn development comes to a final end after years of being confined by the shackles of carrying Eritrel, as he finally becomes to cobbled leader he was born to be. He's no real cobbler just yet who can glide over the rough pavé but his bike handling and all-around skillset will hopefully make up for it. He has worked hard in Northern France and Flanders on his skills over rough cobbles and cobbled bergs, and the results will show next year.

Jamalidin Novardianto
24 | 3.73XP | 50,000
FLAMONHILTTSTARESRECCOBSPRACCFTRDHPRLXP
73616868697572696976746872373
75616868707773697178746874442
...
766168687078746973797468754100

Due to the MGUCI repeatedly confirming their stance against the Xero manager's experimental all-around baroudeur training, Jamalidin Novardianto is now a flatbeast and boy is he pulling it off. A big step up this year for the Indonesian as he nears his full potential. Watch out, sprint teams. There's a finisseur in town.

Jordan Schleck
22 | 3.54XP | 50,000
FLAMONHILTTSTARESRECCOBSPRACCFTRDHPRLXP
62716952686775535270565760354
63757253696977535272595861499
...
647774537070795352746359614100

Everybody knows Jordan Schleck can ride up mountains for days and days on end. The problem has always been everything else. Well that's still the problem but he's better at mountains now.

Hamish Schreurs
24 | 3.06XP | 50,000
FLAMONHILTTSTARESRECCOBSPRACCFTRDHPRLXP
69546652717368736969646261306
71546752737470757171646361449
...
725467527575717772716463614100

Who needs Bewley or David, we have our own Kiwi cobbler and he's another one to have made great strides in his development as he approaches his future of being a very very good cobbled superdomestique, and already next year will be a great helper for Debesay (or perhaps a PT leader) who can also score well in his own right.

Nils Schomber
24 | 2.95XP | 50,000
FLAMONHILTTSTARESRECCOBSPRACCFTRDHPRLXP
69545768627064506969626475295
70545770637265506969636477399
...
735358746676685069696564814100

Slowly, but surely, it's becoming worth it. Our prologueist extraordinaire in the making is gradually progressing in the world of cycling, and soon those DNFs will turn into, well, more DNFs - but after he's already worn the yellow jersey. He gets a lot of hate but we have faith.

Dylan Kennett
23 | 2.87XP | 50,000
FLAMONHILTTSTARESRECCOBSPRACCFTRDHPRLXP
71586469727268627372676874287
72586469727369627574676875399
...
755865697376716279786768784100

Though he's done a fine job for Tosh this year in our makeshift leadout trains, our Paris-Tours Espoirs winner has taken a step forward in becoming a proper leadout for Luke - he's not the full package yet, that'll be 2020 and then after that he's a fully grown power sprinter in his own right. Exciting years ahead!

Daniel Afoa
23 | 1.55 XP | 50,000
FLAMONHILTTSTARESRECCOBSPRACCFTRDHPRLXP
64636762656865576467687060155
64646962666967576468687060299
676776637372695767757573614100

Sadly hamstrung by our budgetary concerns in transfers not being able to pay for Equinor's full training package, our Samoan puncheur is still not quite at a racing level yet but he's still a solid water carrier as he returns to us from the CT. We want to keep developing a Pacific Island cyclist or two each year and so hopefully he fits into our budget again next year.

Joseph Areruya
22 | 1.00XP | 260,000
FLAMONHILTTSTARESRECCOBSPRACCFTRDHPRLXP
71707164737472536869675964100
71747464747675536872705964330
...
72797965767879536876756065

Our Rwandan superstar in the making has had a great first year scoring quite a few points already and will only look to increase his personal goals in his sophomore year, with a lot of progression he's a very solid domestique and attacker and growing in maturity and confidence every race. We look forward to seeing him helping out GB and learning the ropes of the HI/MO races, and chasing KOM points in what is probably his last year as "just" a domestique.
 
Croatia14
Jams and the regionals look so good. Your two Africans could well become stars. It looks so bright at Xero. Until you look at random Afoa and Schomber Pfft
pcmdaily.com/files/Awards2019/moty.png
 
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