jandal7 wrote:
Sorry to say I haven't followed this story as I'd hoped but will certainly re-read ahead of the newseason. It seems this has not in fact been using PCM and instead adapted large segments of trekbmc's dream journal? Congrats on the truly insane season, and really looking forward to seeing Gaudu join Martin

Shonak wrote:
Giro winner carapaz to FDJ is such an odd move, almost like those PCM12 nonsense transfers of superstars to ct teams. But i guess madiot has to fill the hole caused by pinot ajd gaudu's departure

After winning the World Tour rankings on the strength of consistency and highlights mostly in "minor" WT races, Cofidis goes into the new season aiming to score a couple more prestigeous wins. The team leadership is revamped, with Laporte and Viviani joined by a cast of strong riders, most notably David Gaudu and Marc Soler, to achieve this. Last year, the team exceeded all expectations - consequently, this year, the expectations are much higher.

A few words with regards to the schedule outlined below: Originally, Soler should have gone for the Giro-Vuelta-Double, with Gaudu in sole leadership for the Tour. Then the route was revealed and it contained more than 100kms of time trialing - not Gaudus forté. So Soler takes on the lead role to achieve our sponsor's goal: a podium. Gaudu will work as sort of a super-domestique / stage hunter hybrid.

With Soler targeting the Tour and Vuelta, and Gaudu going for the Ardennes (which prevented him from simply switching the GT schedule with Soler), Pierre Latour fell into the leading role for the Giro. He'll later join Soler as a domestique in Spain. Jens Keukeleire's goals are pretty self-evident and mostly in the spring, Viviani's and Laporte's schedule remain pretty similar to last season as they're both going into a contract year.

Age	24
Contract until	2023
Rider Type	Climber / Puncheur
Goals	Paris - Nice & Ardennes
	Tour de France
	Il Lombardia

Age	27
Contract until	2023
Rider Type	Stage Racer
Goals	Volta a Cataluña
	Tour de France
	La Vuelta

Age	31
Contract until	2021
Rider Type	Sprinter
Goals	Tirreno - Adriatico
	Giro d'Italia
	La Vuelta

Age	28
Contract until	2021
Rider Type	Sprinter
Goals	Milano - San Remo
	Tour de France
	Cyclassics Hamburg & BinckBank Tour

Age	32
Contract until	2022
Rider Type	Northern Classics
Goals	Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
	Paris - Roubaix
	BinckBank Tour & Canada

Age	27
Contract until	2023
Rider Type	Stage Racer
Goals	Tirreno - Adriatico
	Giro d'Italia
	La Vuelta

Haas had a shot at the road title when he got a small gap alongside Simon Clarke in the final kilometers, but the rest of the favorites caught them and Michael Matthews was clearly the fastest rider.

We start the new year like we've ended the last: with a win. The first two days were bad in terms of sprint finishes, but successful in terms of breakaways as Anthony Perez won the KoM jersey and Massimiliano Utro collected the bonus seconds that eventually gave him the white jersey and fifth overall. Laporte also won an intermediate sprint, which would come in handy later ...

Laporte delivered on day three, winning the stage and taking more bonus seconds. After the break took day four just barely ahead of the peloton, it was time for the Willunga Hill. This year's finish came after a downhill though, which meant that sprinters like Laporte and Ackermann could come back to the first group without losing time - not Sam Bennett though, who had the ochre jersey up to that point.

On the final stage, Laporte's third place was enough to tie Alaphilippe and Van der Poel with one win and one third place each, but the three bonus seconds from stage two gave him the overall win. With two secondary jerseys - what a debut for rookie Massimiliano Utro - and the team classification, it was a spectacular start for us.

In contrast to last year, we also went to the Tropicale Amissa Bongo and Adrien Petit made his first impact as a Cofidis rider on the final stage. A nice moment for sure.

VoetsT wrote:
Is there a better start possible? I don't think so Laporte showed that last year wasn't coincidence, he will be a major factor in all kind of races.

rogvi97 wrote:
Great start to the season Keep the wins coming!

Shonak wrote:
Laporte hitting the ground running, well raced beating alaphilippe and vdp with the bonus seconds. Good signs for a strong early season.

Gaudu to be the Froome to Soler's Wiggins?

purepasd wrote:
Excited for the new season, may the new captains bring great victories. What are the sponsor objectives?

Croatia14 wrote:
Where is Trekbmc when you need him for once?

In an interesting, CX-esque finish, it was a bit difficult to coordinate sprint trains. We still came through to have two guys in the Top 5, so we're leaving happy.

An interesting week of racing with a very up and down sprint performance in the Emirates. We really only had the sprint train working as it should have twice: On stage one and stage five, where Viviani finished second and first, respectively. Of course, we still have Simone Consonni, who can always win a stage on his own when Viviani loses his wheel, as he did on the final stage. So good to know that that works as well as it did last year.

David Gaudu came in sixth on the only mountain stage, his first major outing in our jersey. It was an okay result, but he finished within a larger group. Unfortunately, he was part of a crash that took our whole sprint train down on stage 2. While he didn't lose any time, Gaudu finished as one of the final riders in the pack, which was detrimental for his aggregate position and lost him a few overall places against riders with the same time. So he finished just outside the Top 10, which is a bit of a disappointment. His next chance to improve will be at Paris - Nice.

Pierre Latour made his first mark as a Cofidis rider winning both time trials of the Étoile de Bessèges and, consequently, the whole race. Élie Gesbert was very good as well and secured the overall victory at the Tour du Var. Marco Mathis also has one of his good TT moments.