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One of the closing races of the 2019 season, Hoelgaard returns to Yekaterinburg for another attempt, although this time with Smirnovs in tow. The same course as the year before, and another Tryg - Ritter rider in the breakaway. With last year's loanee Hannes Bergstrom Frisk returning to Finland, it was instead 2019 draft pick Torus Sleen who went on the attack.


Torjus Sleen

Initially consisting of four riders the break was whittled down as the peleton approached, with Sleen a part of the final pair caught with just fifteen kilometres remaining. Tryg's leaders are dangerously positioned and are caught on the wrong side of a split in the peloton. With a lot of ground to make up and not much time to do it the pair are forced to waste energy fighting towards the front of the pack. Coming from a long way back Smirnovs grinds his way up the final climb to salvage a 6th place on the line; had he been better positioned more might have well been possible. For his part, Daniel Hoelgaard could only muster a miserable 35th, evidently having dreadful legs on the day.


Andris Smirnovs

Management Grade: C+



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The longest C2 stage race of the season is always a litmus test for the Continental Tour's GC riders. Last year it proved a moderate success for Magnus Cort Nielsen, as he scored 6th place and a stage win with the support of Wolfgang Burmann. Burmann returns to the race, now riding in different colours. Instead Sindre Skjostad Lunke joins Cort Nielsen as a co-leader, while Bjorn Tore Hoem steps in as a super domestique. In what would turn out to be Tryg's only appearance out in front of the peloton, Kron entered the first day's breakaway.


Andreas Kron

Without a sprinter in attendance, the first three days were otherwise quiet for the team before things heated up in the hills of stage four. It was on the lesser climbs that Cort Nielsen had scored a stage victory in last year's race, and he was on the hunt for a repeat appearance. Unlike in Russia the team were well positioned and as the finish approached the Dane surged forwards. If he had timed it just a few seconds earlier he might even have won, but as it was he had to settle for second behind Thibaut Pinot. Lunke followed with a decent, if unimpressive 13th.


Magnus Cort Nielsen

The first true mountains appeared on the sixth day, which would end up being something of a bust. Instead the TT climb the following morning would really set the stage for the GC fight. Lunke, respledent in the Tryg - Ritter colours, jumped into the hot seat with a time of 54'39. Cort Nielsen's legs are suffering after attacking the previous slopes, and he finishes nearly a minute down on Lunke. The Norwegian's time is enough for 5th on the stage, and in the GC, while his counterpart slides down to 7th.


Sindre Skjostad Lunke

It is another attack by Valens Ndayisenga that exploded the peloton on the final ascent of Stage 8. The Eritrean's acceleration forced Bjorn Tore Hoem to the front, as nobody else is willing to chase him down. Cort Nielsen was really suffering, the pace set by his superdomestique enough to drop him. Lunke, on the other hand, was able to stick with the chasing group to the top of the climb, but was distanced by a select group on the descent. He ended up in 10th, losing nearly a minute to Ndayisenga; Cort Nielsen lost more than two. In the final mountain stage, Lunke would need to hold off Marquez and Warbasse if he wanted to secure a Top 5 in the GC.


Magnus Cort Nielsen

Cort Nielsen finally found his legs on the same day that Lunke's gave out. The long final climb was always going to be the decisive one in the final mountain stage, and it proved as Keinath attacked with Pinot on his wheel. All seemed well, with Lunke marking Warbasse and Marquez dropped from their group. Then, inside the final kilometre, Lunke cracked. He lost Warbasse's wheel, and Cort Nielsen dropped back to pace him. The pair were powerless to react as Marquez drilled past them, and ended up losing three minutes to the leaders. This dropped Lunke out of the Top 5, but was still enough for Cort Nielsen to improve to 8th. With the breakaway taking the final stage, there was no opportunity for Cort Nielsen to repeat the heroics of last year, instead things finished as they were.


Sindre Skjostad Lunke & Magnus Cort Nielsen

Sindre Skjostad Lunke would be the highest placed rider in the General Classification for Tryg - Ritter Sport, although he was just two places higher than Magnus Cort Nielsen, with the pair managing 6th and 8th respectively. Also impressing was Bjorn Tore Hoem, who put in a string of strong performances to secure 15th. Cort Nielsen also managed 2nd and 4th in Stages 5 & 6, but that wasn't enough for him to reach the points scoring positions in the fight for the green jersey. Georg Zimmerman also performed well, managing 4th in the Youth Classification, behind what is likely to be the dominant trio of Ranaweera, Eg, and Fabbro. The solid performances of these four was enough for them to secure the Team Classification, for which Ries is also credited, despite being 42 minutes down. Not quite the success that the team might've hoped for at the top end, but good scoring in terms of depth.


A victory, of sorts.

Management Grade: B



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In the sunshine of Australia it was new signing Alexander Krieger who would lead the team. The German was listed as one of the lesser favourites should the race come down to a sprint finish, with flandriennes rider Nikolas Maes tipped as an outsider for a breakaway victory. That had been the situation last year, when the Belgian took of inside the final kilometres, only to be pipped at the line by his fellow escapee. The pairs support mostly consisted of young talents, meaning they would be on their own in the closing moments.


Alexander Krieger

This year's race would go the same way as the last one, with a bold attack in the finishing stages scoring a breakaway victory. Unfortunately this time it didn't come from Maes. With their leadout trains disrupted the sprinters sat up and watched each other as Katrasnik rode away. When they finally launched it was far to late to contest for anything bar the second step on the podium. Unfortunately the chaos was not to Krieger's liking, and he muddled his way only to an 8th place while Maes did enough to pick up a smidgen of points.

Management Grade: C



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A disasterous race for Nikolas Maes last year; one which highlighted his weakness in hilly classics. Management has returned with a new plan this year, and no Maes this time round. Instead it is the puncheur duo of Andris Smirnovs and Daniel Hoelgaard who will be attacking the climb to Santa Luzia. The former decided that joining an early breakaway was his best chance at victory while the latter hung back within the peloton.


Andris Smirnovs

As the race began to disintegrate into a multitude of disparate groups Hoelgaard appeared to have been caught out, falling behind the favourites relatively early on. For his part, Smirnovs stuck with the breakaway until it had been whittled down to just four riders on the penultimate lap of the circuit, only to see Meurisse ride away from him on the climb. With any chance at victory slipping away the Latvian was swept up by the favourites group, only to be promptly dropped by them on the final climb. No other chasers were strong enough to overtake him however, and he was only pipped at the line for 10th by a fellow escapee. Hoelgaard had recovered, and ridden well to manage 17th himself.


Andris Smirnovs

Management Grade: B+



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Having skipped the outing in Portugal, Tryg's flandrienne leader Maes instead debuted the 2020 cobbles campaign in his home nation of Belgium. While not quite as bad as the climbs of Viana do Castelo, the road to Wevelgem still contained numerous bumps, relegating Maes to the position of outsider. No riders in the early breakaway today, and as things began to heat up Maes was caught out at the back. A rider ahead stumbled at the base of the Kemmelberg forcing Maes to take evasion action that left him out the back of the favourites group.


Nikolas Maes

In a remarkable display of perseverance and strength the aging Belgian fought his way back to the group within the final thirty kilometres. His efforts didn't end there however, and as the attacks began at the front of the select group he managed to bridge across to the leaders. Unfortunately that was one move too many, and he paid a heavy price for his attempted comeback. He was dropped by the favourites, picked up by the chasing group, and then promptly dropped by them as well, sliding back to a disappointing 20th after an overambitious recovery ride.


Maes bridges to the favourites.

Management Grade: D+



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Hong Kong provided an interesting series of parcours, with an ardennes-esque opener followed by a lengthy TT before the race came to a close at the summit of a semi-mountain: the Tai Mo Shan Waterfall. The team's climbers would come out in full force - Cort Nielsen, Lunke, Hoem, and Hoelgaard - with the latter looking to bounce back after being upstaged by Smirnovs in the opening performances of the season. Hoelgaard was primarily there to contend for the opening stage, while it was hoped that Cort Nielsen or Lunke, who are both capable of good performances on the TT bike, would challenge for the GC. To open off the race, two of the youngsters flood to the front: Ries and Honore. The former was part of the initial attack, while the latter spent much of the morning trying to bridge across but was eventually brought back into the peloton. Ries would forge away from his breakaway companions, but early struggles meant he couldn't gather enough points to wear the polkadots; he was caught with about 50 kilometres remaining.


Michel Ries

There was a moment of panic as Cort Nielsen struggled at the rear of the peloton, but the Dane would quickly recover and force his way to the front of the pack on the penultimate climb. The first move came from Slagter, without any Tryg jerseys attached as they believed the pack capable of closing down the attack. This proved to be a fatal mistake, as disagreement amongst the chasers allowed the gap to widen rapidly. The group eventually lost nearly three minutes to eventual victor Preidler, with Cort Nielsen rolling over the line in 8th.


Tryg, not assisting the chase

It was Sindre Skjostad Lunke who produced the best time in ITT on the second day, enough to see him 14th in the GC; two places and 12 seconds ahead of Cort Nielsen. The other bright performance came from Mathias Norsgaard, the young TT specialist not quite able to match Lunke, being three seconds slower at the final mark, but still a promising showing for his future. Having limited losses on this day, the stage was set for an attack on the Top 10 in Stage 3; if either Cort Nielsen or Lunke could stick with the favourites they needed just 30 seconds to overtake 10th.


Sindre Skjostad Lunke

Nobody from Tryg jumped onto the initial attacks of the final day, which meant that Ries wouldn't have another attempt at securing the polkadot jersey. Instead it was mostly a quiet ride, with the favourite's teams focused on keeping a dangerous escapee group in check. The Tryg riders were effectively granted a day of rest - barring the pace necessary to reel the breakaway back in at the base of the final climb. Even halfway up that climb there were no Tryg jerseys showing at the front, and concerns mounted that an opportunity for decent points in a C1 race were slipping away. Neither of the Tryg climbers would finish in the Top 20, both in fact dropping into the third group on the road with Hoelgaard managing to stick with the second. This had no consequences for Lunke, but dropped Cort Nielsen to 18th in the GC.


Magnus Cort Nielsen

Management Grade: C



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Last year a Victory Goal, this year the sponsors won't even be present in Herning due to the relegation of Post Danmark Rundt to the MGUCI Continental Tour. Again it was Maes who would be the focal point of the squad, as he worked towards recouping some of his impressive performances from last year. Right from the start it was a large group that escapes, the lack of any Tryg representation forced the domestiques to the front. The lack of depth in the cobbles squad is very quickly exposed as the peleton struggled to manage the gap, with Kalf the final domestique to drop of the front with nearly a two minute gap with 50 kilometres to go.


Steven Kalf

Indecision among the favourites continued for several kilometres until finally Valio took over the chasing duties before attempting to launch Chatarunga across the gap. Maes, with others, chased the move down, which had the added bonus of bringing the leading group within touching distance. Unfortunately for Maes and the entire Tryg team this was when disaster struck, as a puncture forced Maes out of the fight for the lead, especially as he was stuck without any support.


Nikolas Maes

Everything seemed lost for Maes, as he was alone inside the final twenty kilometres, but an astonishing recovery ride saw himself drag himself back into the chasing group at the ten kilometre mark. Nolf was the sole leader by that point, with just a single cobbled sector to go. Individual riders began to make attacks, before the main move occured coming out of the final cobbles. Maes was there, and he tried to follow, but the drain of bringing himself back after his puncture cost him at the pivotal moment. Despite a valiant effort from the Belgian he cracked, and could only manage 20th.


Maes cracks

Management Grade: D



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Despite the attendance of both Andris Smirnovs and Daniel Hoelgaard nothing came of this race. Literally nothing. There was no Tryg presence in the early attacks, and Smirnovs was even dropped relatively early on. The breakaway would eventually win the race, with Hoelgaard only managing to hold on to the coattails of the chasing pack. There are no images of Tryg riders from this event.

Management Grade: F



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An opportunity for Alexander Krieger to stretch his legs with three straight days of sprints. The opening day ended in significant disappointment for Krieger. Despite an attempt by Magnus Bak Klaris, nobody managed to make their way into the day's breakaway. Then, although he possessed a strong position for the sprint, Krieger launched too early, and floundered to 23rd. The second day started much stronger with Klaris making his way into the breakaway.


Magnus Bak Klaris

Krieger did a much better job than the prior day. Finding his way onto the rear end of one of the sprint trains, he stuck to the wheel of those ahead of him under the flamme rouge, before swinging out and forcing his way up the middle. For a moment it seemed as though he had timed it perfectly, passing first through the second rank and then through the front rank. Unfortunately Kragh Andersen followed the German through, and proved that he deserved his title as favourite. Coming from further back was Guillen, which forced Krieger into a 3rd-placing on the stage.


Alexander Krieger

The final day sees a bizarre sprint, with two Trans Cycling riders launching from before the final kilometre. The rest of the sprinters keep their heads, launching the own sprints from a more reasonable distance and easily overcoming the exhausted Trans riders. Krieger possibly mistimed his own sprint, as despite a 4th place finish it appeared that he had more momentum in the last few moments than his competitors. Nonetheless a decent finish.


The final sprint

Management Grade: A-



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After an abysmal performance in Sri Lanka, it could only be hoped that Tryg's puncheur duo of Hoelgaard and Smirnovs would perform better back on European soil. Not that that would be a difficult ask, as even a Top 30 finish from the two outside favourites would be an improvement from their last outing. A relatively strong breakaway of the day puts in a good performance, only caught on the parcour's final climb. Unfortunately, neither of the Tryg leaders were in position when the opening attack was launched by Moscon, meaning the pair were heavily caught out.


Hoelgaard and Smirnovs miss out on the main attack

That would prove it for Smirnovs, while Hoelgaard would join the second chasing group alongside other outside favourites. They managed to drag back the lead chasing group, headed by Kelderman, and were just 15 seconds of the leading pair on the approach to the finish. Unfortunately Hoelgaard ran out of legs in those closing moments, and would drop off the back of the chasing group to roll over the line in 9th. Smirnovs paced himself, and secured a Top 15 finish in the second chasing pack.


Daniel Hoelgaard

Management Grade: C



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The first of four races for our aging Belgian, and an opportunity to pick up some valuable points in a HC race. He certainly isn't a favourite, but it was in these races that Maes went big last year. Joining in the fun was one Daniel Hoelgaard, hoping to make good use of the climbs he attacked early on. Unfortunately both ended up having a torrid day, with Maes only managing a 55th placing, and Zimmermann the last rider in under the time limit.


Maes falling behind

Management Grade: F



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At this point it was becoming clear that 2020 was not going to be a good season for Maes, failure followed failure without a single moment of reprieve. A trip to Italy promised to be no different, as a long ascent halfway through would doubtless leave Maes exhausted before he even hit the paves. Thankfully he survived, and found himself well established in the chasing group once Summerhill had launched off the front. Even as the group began to crumble Maes kept himself near the front, managing to arrive in a select group of six as Summerhill finished as victor. Although he wasn't able to outsprint any of his groupmates, Maes still scored a very solid 7th place - the highlight of his season so far.


Maes finally scores some points!

Management Grade: A



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A depleted Tryg squad arrived in North America last season, with Hoelgaard performing admirably against a decent peleton of ProConti and Continental climbers. This year a full strength side was in attendence, with the Danish-Norwegian duo aiming to score big. Unfortunately for them the field was more powerful, and they could only finish in the outside scoring positions.

Management Grade: C



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Another race against the best of both the ProConti and Continental Tour, although this time Maes disappoints. Not much to report from here, as the Belgian is unable to follow the final moves and finishes outside the Top 20.

Management Grade: D



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A strong squad in attendance at this african stage race, unfortunately on the other side of the continent to Ritter Sport's sustainable development programme. Nobody in the red & brown likely to be considered an outright favourite but with Lunke & Cort Nielsen tackling the mountains, Hoelgaard on the lighter climbs, and Krieger for the bunched sprints, the team should be able to score some points somewhere. The first stage was relatively flat, and after an easy catch of the breakaway it fell to a bunch sprint to determine who would wear the yellow jersey overnight. Rodenberg gave his best effort at leading out Krieger, but as the other trains accelerated past the Danish neo-pro Hoelgaard appeared out of nowhere. A strong surge by the puncheur was just barely not enough to bring Krieger to the rear wheel of the leaders, but as they faded it looked for a moment like he might secure victory! Unfortunately, Coutinho pipped him right at the line; still a good beginning though.


Alexander Krieger

Another day, another flat stage, and another bunched sprint. This time it was a criterium which had left Krieger without any real support in the closing moments. Fortunately the German managed to find a suitable wheel as the final kilometre rapidly approached. Not nearly as fortunately, he was forced into the wind early and rapidly lost ground to a very strong Centovalli-Fiat leadout. Thankfully, a strong finish is enough to drag him up to 4th, although it momentarily appeared he might be able to secure another second.


Krieger, in green, bursts towards the front

No doubt Lunke and Cort-Nielsen were very happy waking up on the morning of the third day. After pacing in the pack they were finally unleashed on the queen stage in Eritrea. A strong effort from the Tryg domestiques was not enough to bring the breakaway back prior to the opening of the ascent, and Bjorn Tore Hoem quickly found that his legs were not where he wanted them as he was dropped by the chasing group. Without their domestiques nobody was willing to expend the effort to bridge the final minute to the breakaway until near the very end of the lengthy climb, where Centovalli-Fiat capitulated and rapidly brought back the breakaway. Keinath would eventually win the stage with an attack in the final moments, Cort Nielsen was poorly positioned and as such completely unable to respond. For his part, Lunke cracked very early on, going on to lose more than four minutes - knocking him out of GC contention.


Magnus Cort Nielsen caught out of position

Another day with Tryg driving at the front of the peloton, this time working back a large group in the foothills of yesterday's mountain. Aiming to make up some ground in the GC, the team sacrificed Hoelgaard to close the gap. With multiple strong puncheurs present it would eventually require an attack from the peleton to overtake the escapees. This time Cort Nielsen had positioned himself correctly, and as Atapuma surged forwards he caught a wheel. It seemed that Lunke's fitness just wasn't there in Africa, a really disappointing showing from him. A split in the descent gave Cort Nielsen a gap to the yellow jersey, an a real opportunity at the stage victory. Unfortunately he finds himself in the wind early as can only manage 5th, which is only enough to push him up to 6th in the GC.


Magnus Cort Nielsen

A return to the flat, and an opportunity to rest before a doubtless hectic final stage. Unfortunately Krieger doesn't achieve much, and doesn't really appear at the front so a rapid transition to the final day of racing is in order. Very few long climbs in Stage Six, but plenty of shorter ones. Towards the end of the stage we started to see Tryg jerseys near the front of the pack, a suggestion of things to come perhaps? Nope. Instead the only real race became for the bonus seconds as the breakaway was caught just outside the final kilometre. Cort Nielsen found himself near the front of the group but gets stuck behind Pinot and can't come around him to take any bonus seconds. Instead it is Hoelgaard who surged up the middle, flew past the GC contenders, and scored a stunning final day stage victory!


Daniel Hoelgaard

Management Grade: B+



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The month began with a wildcard opportunity in the upper echelons of ProContinental racing, and with the Spring Classics season in ascension it only makes sense that the month ends with another such attempt. As he continues his decline from his heyday, Maes recieves another blow in not even being recognised in the media previews of the event. A mixture of attacks and pacing and bridging in the chaos of classics race saw Maes still holding on to the lead group with 25 kilometres to go, but this rapidly changed. A momentary drop back into a third group was corrected by the work of the infamous Summerhill, which saw Maes in the main chasing group inside the final 10 kilometres. Within a handful of kilometres he was again part of a dropped group that brought itself back, although this yo-yoing couldn't be good for the legs. Indeed it wasn't, as Maes finally broke in the final kilometre, but was still able to hold out just enough to secure the final position in the Top 10.


Nikolas Maes

Management Grade: A-




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