redordead wrote:
April was tough, but May was pretty darn good

Looking forward to the next update

Alexander Krieger has been performing decently so far this year, although he has been mostly constrained to riding for the green jersey in support of either Lunke or Cort Nielsen. That is over for the most part, and now he has an opportunity to build of his multitude of podium performances with a victory.

How many opportunities Krieger gets in the bunched sprint depends on how difficult the closing climbs of the latter stages prove, but he should get at least one go at it. From there the torch passes over to Hoelgaard; the Norwegian is on strong form coming into this. The management will certainly be hoping that he can replicate the strong Autumn of 2019.

Very nearly a home race for us, and one of the final opportunities for Maes on his favoured terrain before further declines come. The Belgian is already obviously suffering from his age, but has still managed to psot some decent results.

Magnus Cort Nielsen finished nearly a minute down on Thibaut Pinot here last year, but all of the other competitors ahead of the Dane are no longer riding in the Continental Tour. An opportunity then, to score some points on the final large ascent of the season.

A difficult race at a higher level, but nothing that our dynamic puncheur duo cannot handle. There isn't any pressure on them to make the top step of the podium in Italy, but we would be disappointed if they didn't bring back at least some points.

Cort Nielsen came into 2020 facing competition for General Classification captaincy from Lunke. He had performed decently across the previous season, with stand out performances coming in Eritrea and Tachira. He would return to both locations again this season, with the sponsors hoping that he could match or improve upon his previous results; that or Lunke would step up. Facing an expanded race calendar, and with a number of shorter races to tackle, the Dane had plenty of opportunities to step up.


And step up he did! Despire never truly challenging Pinot for top CT climber, and at times even struggly to ascert himself in the second tier, Cort Nielsen was able to put together enough good days to lead the team's promotion campaign. A significant drop in form in the final days at Tachira and mediocre showings in Eritrea meant that last year's triumphs were not repeated. Instead glory came with a stage win and GC victory in the newly introduced Tour of Chile. Combined with an otherwise solid, albeit unremarkable, season the young Danish climber surpassed his points tally from the year prior.

Sindre Skjostad Lunke was a new signing for the 2020 season; having spent the year prior riding as a domestique in the Pro Tour. His signing significantly expanded the team's involvement in Norway, as Lunke would line up aongside countryman Hoelgaard as one of the team's leaders. Despite having managed some strong performances for Aker - MOT, Lunke was somewhat lacking in pedigree, and doubts were cast over the viability of Tryg - Ritter's dual leadership strategy. In order to justify the loss of two talented young Danes Lunke needed to provide an impressive output.


Unfortunately, doubts remain about Lunke's signing even at the end of the season. Some might even query if his old employers might be interested in reversing the trade; but such rumours are quite unfounded. Although he did end up playing second fiddle to Cort Nielsen, the Norwegian's efforts were a vital part of the squad's successful second campaign. Where Cort Nielsen dropped off, Lunke showed himself more than capable of stepping up to the task.

Daniel Hoelgaard had shown himself to be a very capable puncheur at this level across two seasons of leadership, one with Team Costa Rica and the other with Tryg. Having rounded 2019 off with a handful of victories, there were hopes he could retain his form for long enough to be nexus of a promotion push.


Hoelgaard did not live up to the performances of the year prior. That is not to say that his season was a total write off, but with only a single overall victory and one stage the excitement at his continued involvement in the programme had been slightly muted. It must be acknowledged that Kelderman's dominance signicantly altered the classics landscape, but Hoelgaard was struggling to challenge for Top 10s, let alone compete with Kelderman. Disappointing, but probably a more realistic reflection of his capabilities than last year.

Krieger arrived at Tryg after a solid year at the Continental level, which unfortunately had not been enough to secure him a contract prior to the transfer window. There was some slight competition for the sprinter, but given the surplus of similar riders other prospecters quickly looked elsewhere when we confirmed our interest. After a disappointing year with Yamamoto (who had been signed as a leadout by a competitor) there wasn't much that Krieger had to do to be an improvement.


And what an improvement he was! It took him the entire year to get into form, with multiple second places. There was a moment where we thought he had won a stage, but unfortunately the adjudicators felt the photo evidence suggested otherwise. Then, in the closing moments of the season, with an inspired Thibaut Pinot looking like he might drag Project: Africa ahead of us in the standings, Krieger pulled out an incredible performance in Poland. Two stage wins, the overall victory, and the points jersey was more than enough points to take us to safety. He may not have been amazing throughout the rest of the year, but with that single performance the German turned himself into a hero.

Smirnovs joined us to supplement our hills prowess, whilst also offering an option for when Maes struggled in the classics.

Smirnovs did in part live up to the billing, but was severely hamstrung by the need to protect Hoelgaard. Our co-leader experiment failed in the hills as much as it did in the mountains.

Future stage hunter Zimmermann was able to continue his development at home through some black magic scheduling. Nothing big was expected just yet, with two years left at the u25 level, but there was hope of some progress.


His first real opportunity at leadership was a disappointment, as the German fell well short in the Tour de l'Avenir. Management had been under no illusions regarding his GC ambitions, hampered by a lacking ability against the clock, but had hoped for a greater showing in the two mountain stages. This early disappointment was somewhat mitigated by a nice showing in U23 Road Race, where Zimmermann was part of the group contending for victory at the line.

Another year of development at home for future TT star Norsgaard.


Saving our promotion push at the last gasp, with an incredible ride down under to third overall at the Herald Sun Tour capped off a season filled with some decent timetrialling but otherwise poor riding.