Three great races in May for us, but no time to take the foot off the gas now, as June will be busy and equally as important. No more cobbles anymore, but climbing, time trialing and sprinting. Let's see what races Los Pollos Hermanos will attend.

A mountain time trial, two tough mountain stages and no hilly stages. This all seems to be in favour of our beloved Marquez, who has to try and make the sponsors happy with a top-10. The last stage is a team time trial however, which will cost us a lot of time, as we have seen recently in Trentino. Manarelli can try and win some points in the sprints.

Interesting race, where a time trialist should be able to win the GC. Sterbini should be amongst the better time trialists in the CT, thus it should be nice if he could manage to finish inside the top-5 in the GC. He'll have to survive the hilly stage though, which is easier said than done with his climbing and punching skills. Just as in Canada, Manarelli is our hope for the sprints.

La Tropicale Amissa Bongo (C2)

Last time we were in Africa, we won the GC, but we don't expect to do so in Gabon. It's a race for sprinters, and Guillén will have the opportunity to sprint five times. He was second in stage two in Ras Tailteann, can he finish on the highest spot once more? We really hope so, and not just for the points, just to see him be victorious for probably the final time in his career. We don't expect much from the GC, but it would be nice to see someone in the top-10.

Clasique Pico Basile (C2)

The first and last one day race of the month for us, as we head to Equatorial Guinea for the third edition of the Clasique Pico Basile. Last year, a Spaniard won it, and we wouldn't mind if our Spaniard Marquez does so as well. It's more mountain heavy than hilly rated, so a top-5 should be doable and also the goal.

Sporza; Hello Nemolito, in the last months you have only been in your home country when there was a race here. Normally you are never home anymore, but now, at the same time your team is racing on the other side of the world, here you are. Does it have something to do with Baugnies, can you tell us if you intend on keeping him next season?
Nemolito: I can tell you I am not here for Baugnies, but I can't tell you whether he will be part of the team next year. He has performed well, but we all know he's not getting any younger. We still have to decide whether he would fit in the team next year.

S: Then why are you here exactly? Good news or bad news?
N: Neither, I think. Let's say it's neutral news. After speaking with our sponsor, Los Pollos Hermanos, we came to the conclusion that adding a sponsor on the European continent would be a good move. It would not only allow the team to get extra funds, it also gives me an excuse to be at home more. I will be honest, I do miss my friends and family. As I'm Belgian, and my favourite terrain are the cobbles, it seemed logical to find a Belgian sponsor.

S: So just to be sure, Los Pollos will still be the main sponsor? Are we allowed to know any possible future sponsors then?
N: Yeah definitely. Los Pollos Hermanos was, is, and always will be our number one sponsor, and we will never stop trying to find and produce Latin American talents. But, and I don't mean no harm to our young cobbler Ulloa, I do believe having those extra Belgian funds will give us the opportunity to scout and sign Belgian youngsters that have some particular skills. I have had different introductory meetings already, but I can't give any brand names of course. We might stay in the food business, or maybe even find an agreement with a good Belgian beer brand. On the other hand, we could also sign a contract with a totally different kind of sponsor, or maybe we won't reach an agreement with anyone. Time will tell. Now, if you will excuse me, stage two in Vancouver is about to get exciting and we are hoping for Guillén to score us our first MGUCI points there, so I got to go!

After scoring heavily in our previous C2HC stage race in and around Faso, expectations were a little lower in Vancouver. Nevertheless, there was some pressure, as the sponsor demanded a top-10 finish in the GC. The start was disappointing, with Marquez only fourteenth in the opening mountain time trial, and Guillén not really impressing in the sprints with only 1 top-10 finish. In stage four, the first mountain stage, Petrovski was in the right break. They didn't make it to the finish though. Marquez tried to get away from the other favourites, but failed. Nevertheless, even though he didn't get away both in this stage and the penultimate stage, he still managed to climb up to sixth before the final stage, the feared team time trial. Guillén meanwhile sprinted to fourth in the fifth stage. Even though the team did better than expected in the team time trial, mainly because of a strong Sterbini, Marquez still dropped two places. Eighth in the GC is not an optimal result in the promotion battle, but it is enough to make the sponsors happy. You know the saying: "One sponsor goal a day keeps the financial troubles away".



The boys giving it their all in the finishing team time trial

Post Danmark Rundt (C2HC)

Three flat stages, one hilly stage and one long time trial. As we don't have a puncheur, all our hopes were in the hands of time trialist Sterbini. After the two first stages, where Manarelli was unable to sprint to a good place, came the feared third hilly stage. Long story short, Sterbini managed to stay in the peloton and only lost time to a couple of weaker time trialists, which was positive. Petrovski was sneaky enough to finish seventh on the stage and deliver us an extre MGUCI point. Third time was the charm for Manarelli, who finished to a decent third place in the final sprint on the penultimate stage.

Then came the time trial, which was accompanied by high hopes for our Italian leader. Our hopes seemed to have been too high, however, as Luca only managed to finish ninth on the day and seventh in the GC. Not the worst result of all time, but as this was one of the only races individual CT time trialists could really score in, our "return" is not high enough to keep up some teams who are trying to take over the fifth place in the CT rankings.

Of course, before the season started, I couldn't have dreamed of promoting, so it's all okay. We're already looking out for more talents on Latin American soil to build our team around in the coming years, and rumours have it a deal has officially been struck with a Belgian co-sponsor as well! More on that later...

Manarelli sprinting to third on stage 4

Sterbini on his way to finish ninth in the time trial

La Tropicale Amissa Bongo (C2)

Five day C2 sprinter race, which was an excellent opportunity for Guillén to show he still got it, an excellent opportunity for Quispe to maybe score some KoM-points and an excellent opportunity for some of our youngsters to score their first MGUCI points from the break. It sounds nice, but unfortunately it didn't work out as we hoped to. Guillén's best result in the five stages was a fourth place, which saw him finish eighth in the GC. Not the best, not the worst. Quispe was put on domestique duties, and so was the rest of the team mostly. Osorio did a wonderful job being agressive in the fourth stage though, as the race went on and he collected seconds everywhere his family and I were dreaming of the white jersey. Young Alejandro couldn't stick with the peloton in the end though, so it was all for nought. Even though he still has no MGUCI points, we loved to see him attacking and fighting for what he's worth.

You can't fail if you don't try, Osorio did both. Here he won an intermediate sprint, biggest accomplishment of his career so far.

Guillén sprinting to fourth in the last stage, Reinhardt from Centovalli - Fiat won both the stage and the GC.

Clasique Pico Basile (C2)

In Gabon we saw five sprints, but in Equatorial Guinea we saw five mountains (not exactly, but it sounds nice). Marquez was our one and only rider with hopes for scoring points, which he did by finishing fourth. Good ride by our Spaniard, couldn't have asked for more. Quispe raced here as well, but finished outside the time limit together with Bru. No problem though, we still love them (well not Bru, but Quispe is alright).

Marquez coming in fourth, olé

Quite a busy month for us, where we will be active in six races. Large updates might scare off future sponsors, so this is the first of two previews for July.

Tour de San Luis (C2)

We have absolutely zero chance of someone finishing high in the GC here. Our best and only puncheur is Bru, so yeah Sterbini will be there for the 20 km time trial, and he does have some redeeming to do after a disappointing time trial in Denmark last month. Guillén might have another chane to win a stage in his last year as a professional cyclist, you never know if he can find his legs of last year one last time. Would be nice to see some guys in the break, but the quality of the riders should be too low for stage hunting or KoM's, unless Quicibal really chooses the right stage(s).

Tour de Langkawi (C2HC)

This is a profile that should suit Marquez. No annoying hills, but just some good old-fashioned Malaysian mountains. Sterbini here for the prologue, but the length (or should I say the shorth?) of it will probably provide some random results. Expect a lot of sprinters, as there are quite a lot of flat stages. We bring both Manarelli and Guillén, but would be surprised if they really succeeded in scoring any decent points.

Sakartvelo Trophy (C2)

At the same time of the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, the Sakartvelo Trophy will take place in Georgia (the country, not the state). Seboka will be our designated leader, so we can't really expect anything from this race. Petrovski will be in Georgia as well, and he might surprise us with a decent result. We will also bring Quispe there for laughs, he can't climb but he can tell a good joke. Now then, I guess you are all eager to hear one of Alain's jokes. I will tell you the joke of his father going to the US for the first time, although he spoke no English.

One of the first things he did was go into a department store. He found his way to the menswear department where a young lady offered to help him. “Quiero calcetines, (I want socks)" said his father. “I don't speak Spanish, but we have some very nice suits over here," said the salesgirl. “No, no quiero trajes. Quiero calcetines,(No I don't want suits, I want socks.)" said the man. “Well, these shirts are on sale this week," declared the salesgirl. “No, no quiero camisas. Quiero calcetines, (No I don't want shirts, I want socks.)" repeated the man. “I still don't know what you're trying to say. We have some fine pants on this rack," offered the salesgirl. "No, no quiero pantalones. Quiero calcetines,(No I don't want pants, I want socks)" insisted the man. As they passed the underwear counter, the man spotted a display of socks and happily grabbed a pair. Holding them up he proclaimed, "Eso sí que es (Now that's it)!" “Then why didn't you just spell it in the first place?!?" yelled the salesgirl.

No more Quispe jokes this time, but the second part of the July preview, hope you enjoy the read

Home race! Also a top-5 sponsor goal. Marquez obviously our leader, with Petrovski his most important domestique in the mountains. Won't be easy to get that top-5 as we expect a strong line-up for this short stage race. Forgot to select a sprinter, shit happens.

Vilnius GP (C2HC)

Team time trial equals Los Pollos being sad. We have no business at all in Lithuania, Quispe and Bru will be there to see who can finish last after being dropped together in the first 10 km.

USA Pro Cycling Challenge (C2)

Aka the return of the king! Baugnies will be back after a long break, and you never know if he can pull off a stunt somewhere. Guillén is the man for the sprints, while Sterbini will hopefully score some GC and daily points with the epilogue.

Tour de San Luis (C2)

Ladies and gentleman, it has been done. Marco Guillén took home his (probably) last win of his career. He had been trying for months, but a second place in Ras Tailteann in Ireland earlier in the season was the only time he really came close. He tried in San Luis, Argentina as well, but failed on his first attempt. You know what they say however: save the best for last.

In the eighth and last stage of the Tour de San Luis, our Guatemalan flat beast Romeo Quicibal played an important part in reeling the breakaway back in. Then, youngster Robinson Steven Ruiz was the last rider in Guillén's lead-out, while our favourite Costa Rican then won the sprint battle against Centovalli's Scully. Big party for Los Pollos Hermanos, after our South American domestiques helped our South American sprinter to an amazing victory on home soil/ Viva Los Pollos!

We left the race with only few points, but that was to be expected, as we have no rider who could do well in such a stage race. Fulgencio Bru pleasantly surprised us in stage four, when he joined the breakaway and finished second. Luca Sterbini managed to finish third and fourth in the two time trials, which is an okay result.

Siiiiiiiiiii

Cheeky Bru scoring his first points of the season

Sterbini on his beloved time trial bike