AKA definitely has got all it takes to potentially dominate the division. Obviously he's the fastest sprinter (only 81-sprinter in CT), has high RES and very high FL. So it all depends on how important ACC will be - and if his train works.
Honestly, I don't know how my sprinters (lower SP, higher ACC) will do against him, I don't know the game well enough. But I think he should do well in CT.
I don't think there are many CT teams with that depth in the squad. Back-up stats in the green everywhere you look. PCT class still shining through, if you ask me. Be gentle
cunego59 wrote:
Looking at the DB, AKA could honestly perform similar to Holloway last year. If any sprinter can perform consistently in CT, it's going to be him. Hopefully Selig can get the best of him a few times anyway
No pressure on him then.
I was puzzled why he didn't do better last season (as I am sure bbl was) since i am a big believer in high FL, high Res sprinters. I agree with Fabianski, not sure how his lower ACC will factor. But with a great all around team but he doesn't need to be Holloway to get the job done.
A new day dawns for Carlsberg as their plane lands in Copenhagen following a journey to the African country of Eritrea. Empty champagne and Carlsberg bottles line the floor. The mood is joyous, as the passengers have not yet sunk into what will definitely be a brutal hangover. For the first time in a very long time, they are winners.
The team sent their A squad to the Tour of Eritrea for what was their official win goal this season. Larry Warbasse would lead, supported by youngsters Matteo Fabbro and Niklas Eg. After looking at the startlist, it seemed improbable that a GC win could take place. Without a time trial, Warbasse looked outclassed by other climbers, most notably Thibault Pinot. Nevertheless, the squad remained confident and poised.
Stage 3 offered the chance to make a difference in the mountains, and Warbasse was alert and ready. Though he didn't have the legs to match stage winner Keinath, he was able to gain 13 seconds on the rest of the peloton, and pick up a third place time bonus that would prove vital.
The following day was the a lighter stage that looked to go more towards the puncheurs, but the GC men were not going to lose an opportunity to strike. Several riders attacked on the final downhill, aiming to take advantage of Keinath's biggest weakness.
Once again, Warbasse was not the strongest, but was alert and followed the right wheels. After some solid work from Eg and Fabbro, he was in a good position to react to the decisive attack. Sprinting is not his strong suit, so he only finished 6th out of the 7 man leading group that emerged, but it was enough to find himself in the yellow jersey, if only by a single second. It would now be all hands on deck to keep him there in the final stage.
For a second, those efforts seemed lost on the final day. Warbasse was out of position going into the final climb, and clearly did not have the same legs as previous stages. With his lead so miniscule, any time loss to his most direct opponents, whether by space or bonuses, would cause him to yield the jersey.
But Warbasse persevered, and got some luck. He was able to give just enough to stay in the lead group on the final day. Then, he looked at the results. Ndayisenga was 4th and Chamarro was 2nd. Both needed to finish just one place higher to unseat Warbasse through time bonuses, but could not do it. They finished in 2nd and 3rd, both 1 second behind the America. GC victory had improbably been achieved through consistency, attentiveness, and teamwork.
All around, it was an extremely successful race for Carlsberg. Warbasse got them yellow, and Matteo Fabbro's work (16th in GC) also got them the white jersey - a competition which Eg finished 2nd and Gregaard 4th in. The youth movement clearly looks good for them right now. They also were able to scoop up another couple of points by finishing third in the team classifications.
The overall victory and the celebrations that followed did help overshadow one aspect of the team that continues to fail. On paper, Asbjorn Kragh Andersen is the best sprinter in the professional peloton, yet he simply has not performed like it so far this season. He seems just as likely to let gaps go and not sprint as he is compete at a top level. He finished 2nd on stage 2, but did not score much on the other sprint stage. Worse still, his dedicated leadout, Christian Bertilsson, has been of absolutely no help to him this season. The situation seems unlikely to improve. Today, it can be forgotten, but Carlsberg are counting on AKA for their promotion fight after sinking a lot of money into training him this season, and continued failure will not bode well for them.
Yet, happiness must prevail. Carlsberg are now 2/2 in their goals this season after Warbasse also succeeded in Tachira. This is already a massive improvement on their previous two seasons in PCT, and it is also their first win goal completed ever. After the tenuous sponsor situation that followed relegation, this is great news for the team's budget going forward. Of course, management hopes they will be using that budget to field a PCT team next offseason.
For now, they will enjoy the rare taste of victory. Then, it's back to work.
Congrats on that great win! Achieving the win goal is amazing, and checking it that early in the season surely must feel good
AKA remains a mystery, though... Honestly, I don't see why my sprint train worked (or at least built up) in Eritrea, and Bertilsson didn't do anything for you... Yet, your roster has enough depth to secure promotion even with an inconsistent AKA. Things are finally looking bright for you again
redordead wrote:
The signing of Warbasse has been very good for you. I think you're looking in good shape to jump back to PCT
Warbasse overperformed last year and seems to be doing so this year too. I haven't been able to figure out the statistical reason, but I'll certainly take it. If we promote, he will be a big reason why.
Fabianski wrote:
Congrats on that great win! Achieving the win goal is amazing, and checking it that early in the season surely must feel good
AKA remains a mystery, though... Honestly, I don't see why my sprint train worked (or at least built up) in Eritrea, and Bertilsson didn't do anything for you... Yet, your roster has enough depth to secure promotion even with an inconsistent AKA. Things are finally looking bright for you again
Thank you! Yeah, achieving a win goal at all feels really special, but doing so early in the year sets a nice tone going forward.
Unfortunately with AKA and Bertilsson, that's just PCM 18 randomness. I just hope I can promote without him. Then he can just be a B tier freelancer in PCT, and I'll know never to focus on sprints again.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Success is something that most people at Carlsberg, especially in management, are not used to. Besides a limited run of moderate success in their first 2016 promotion campaign, Carlsberg's team history has mostly consisted of pain. At it's best, its a narrative of survival, at it's worst, it's a narrative of pure failure and disappointment.
There were no guarantees that this season would be different, especially given the performance of supposed sprinter Asbjorn Kragh Andersen, who has ranged from underwhelming to abominable this season despite being ranked as the definitive number 1 sprinter by the MGUCI's official scouting department pre-season.
The season obviously had some great moments early on. The Warbasse win in Eritrea to take the team's first win goal is an obvious bright spot. Tachira and Dunkerque top 5's ensured they have been 3/3 in goals so far this year, a phenomenal result for future development. But still, the points scoring was not quite where it was projected to be though the spring. While the team remained in promotion spots, it appeared that this season would be a bitter battle to earn that promotion and save all the talents who were loaned out this year.
But as the summer heat has bared down on the peloton, a remarkable shift has happened, led by team leader Larry Warbasse. By winning Eritrea, he had already exceeded expectations this year. Without many stage races with an ITT in CT, his job was simply to remain in contention against the pure climbers. But Warbasse continued to impress. He took 2nd in Giro del Trentino behind only Thibault Pinot, and placed a respectable 8th in Vancouver in which he was tied with higher places on time.
But Warbasse wasn't satisfied with these results. The taste of winning was too much. So, with young Niklas Eg as his only real lieutenant, Warbasse went to Malaysia for the Tour de Langkawi on a mission: win. It didn't seem likely, up against the best climbers in the division, but again, the American delivered.
After absolutely tremendous work by Eg to thin down the peloton and pull his leader away, Warbasse attacked to take a solo victory as the end of stage 3's summit, putting himself in the GC lead. He would never look back, notching another impressive C2HC win in his belt by the end of the race.
Warbasse's form and flair were great for the rankings, but they also were absolutely huge in inspiring his teammates. Not wanting to be outdone and carrying the load of a leadership role thanks to a race clash, Matteo Fabbro set out the next day and embarked on a heroic solo ride in Sakartvelo Trophy.
With still 35 km to go in the classic and a lot of climbing in his legs, Fabbro kicked off the favorite's attacks and never looked back. He pushed to extend his gap every time it close, and showed massive courage to fight through a precarious descent for every second, while teams with numbers chased behind.
In the end, it was just enough, as Fabbro held on for the win by the slimmest of margins, adding to what was the most phenomenal week ever in Carlsberg history.
But team's climbers weren't the only one's heating up as the weather warmed. After a disappointing journey to South Africa, Christopher Juul-Jensen has been on fire recently. Yes, he is still winless this year, but his consistent top results have still been immensely important in the promotion fight.
After taking 3rd in San Luis and 5th in the C1 Benelux Challenge - where young Patrick Olesen displayed a surprisingly strong effort for 6th - Juul-Jensen lit up Rio Vista Chinesa, attacking twice before losing to winner Seibeb by inches on the line. Only being paid $99k after last year's disappointment in PCT, JJ has made this year his redemption tour, and lately, he's rarely disappointed.
On the cobbles, Carlsberg have had even more success. Ramon Sinkeldam's spring classics campaign was riddled with punctures and missed splits that limited his potential for success. He got a rare chance to redeem himself this summer in the C1 Macskako Kerekparverseny.
Up against the top PCT cobblers and without any team support, Sinkeldam showed the importance of his versatility by conquering both the cobbles and hills. After a well timed attack put him in a select group, he powered the others off his wheel in the sprint to take a signature victory!
Carlsberg's recent success almost doesn't feel real. 3rd in the standings at last check, Carlsberg have no dreams of catching Carrefour for the CT title - that ship has sailed. Nevertheless, they may end up in a position where promotion is fairly secure by autumn. That result, which would would mean 4/5 goals completed, would be a huge relief for management, riders, and sponsors, as it would ensure the team would be able to keep their loaned out talents after renewals.
The all the more shocking part of this is that, by and large, they have been able to power on without the help of Kragh Andersen. After the team spent well over 1 million euros to train him last winter, he has been pretty much entirely anonymous this year outside of an early season stage win in Ireland. Sometimes he doesn't sprint, sometimes he does but can't finish in front. He has done nothing to justify the training price tag or his high OVL rating, as he sat behind more than 5 other sprinters in the last individual rankings. Christian Bertilssson, hired precisely to lead him out, has done so exactly zero times this season.
But, while AKA's disappointments have definitely been frustrating, they have luckily not defined the team's season due to Carlsberg's versatility. All their other leaders, Warbasse especially, have picked up the slack and done what they needed to do for their team. This has made what could have been catastrophic for Carlsberg seem like an afterthought.
We spoke to team manager baseballlover312 about his summer:
"There's no doubting how happy we are, and how excited we are for the future. I want to thank Carlsberg and Danske Bank for sticking with us through this rebuild, and Schlumberger for coming in to provide us the resources to succeed.
What Larry has done for this team has been undeniable. When him and Matteo transferred in for frankly obscene fees two winters ago, we definitely heard some giggles and snickers from other managers. But there has been absolutely no doubt that given our situation at the time, that price was well worth it for us long term. Larry is just one of a kind. He always pulls above his weight, and he has developed such an amazing connection with Niklas. His positivity has definitely rubbed off on his teammates. I was talking with Christopher recently, and he was explaining how he's excited about racing again like he was as a neo-pro. That kind of morale switch has been huge for us after last year.
I don't want to say too much about Asbjorn. He has struggled with positioning this season, and the sprint competition has just been too open for him to find his lane. It sucks. He knows it and I know it. I'm not sure when he'll find his legs again, if at all, and we'll look into that when the time comes. But I don't want anyone questioning how hard AKA works. He's swallowed his pride and done huge work on the front for Larry and others the last couple of months, without any complaint from his ego. He wants to be at his best, and he wants to help us win. That's the guy he's been since he signed with us in 2014, even if we all want more from him in the sprints."
As the season winds down, we will of course continue to bring you coverage of Carlsberg's promotion push and the outlook for next year. Thanks for sticking with us.
The 2020 season is over, and while final rankings have yet to be published, it looks like they will be promoting to PCT. This is not only good for sponsors and results, but it also means they should be able to keep all the talents that they finagled into their wage cap after demoting last season. More good news - a lot of these guys have progressed. There aren't any super young guys in the mix now, a lot of riders nearing or reaching their peak. Ages are listed for the 2021 season.
Alex Aranburu
Climber - 4 > Max - Age 26 - Pot. 6
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2020
69
75
75
63
69
78
72
57
68
69
60
66
63
2021
69
77
77
63
70
79
74
57
68
71
62
67
63
Going into his age 26 season, Aranburu has all the tools in place to succeed at the highest level. He excels going uphill, it doesn't matter the lengths or gradients. He has an incredibly huge engine capable to setting a high tempo over very long stretches. Finally, his kick isn't too shabby. There was some thought put into the idea of training him more as a pure puncheur and emphasizing his finish, but the team feels his versatility in classics and stage races will make him more valuable going forward.
Mathias Krigbaum
Fighter - 4 > Max - Age 26 - Pot. 3
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2020
76
67
69
73
73
74
71
62
65
64
70
69
72
2021
76
69
70
74
74
75
73
62
65
64
70
69
73
Krigbaum has been the in the Carlsberg organization for 4 seasons, and there is no talent manager baseballlover312 is more excited to see at his top level than Mathias. He's not going to be a race winner. His skillset doesn't accent anything that will give him an edge. But he projects to be a perfect domestique. While he originally projected to be a pure flat beast, the team decided emphasizing his versatility was the better plan to give him staying power at the highest level. Still, his engine can't be ignored. He has great leadout train and breakaway potential, and has become a very serviceable climber. He also will be an integral part of the TTT team.
Patrick Olesen
Climber - 4 > Max - Age 27 - Pot. 4
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2020
68
73
73
62
72
72
73
63
63
71
59
66
61
2021
68
75
75
62
72
73
74
63
63
73
61
66
61
At the ripe old age of 27, Olesen will finally reach his full potential. He had a couple of surprisingly good results this year, and is clearly coming into his own. It makes the shuffling around and stagiare contracts in his early twenties all the more worth it. He's developed into a good climber/puncheur hybrid. Nothing special or race winning, but a crucial domestique to have who can be slotted in anywhere around the calendar.
Kasper Asgreen
Puncheur - 4 > Max - Age 26 - Pot. 4
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2020
67
64
75
68
70
68
66
55
64
72
73
66
68
2021
67
66
77
68
70
69
67
55
64
74
75
66
68
Scouts aren't quite as high on Asgreen anymore as they were when he first came onto the scene from U23. That might be based on his skillset. He's a very prototypical puncheur, which has gone out of vogue in recent years. Likes short hills, loves to attack, and has a good burst of speed. He's not especially well rounded or great in terms of intangibles. Nevertheless, he still should be a useful domestique going forward after honing his talents in the PT last year at the soon to be defunct Volvo outfit.
Lennard Kämna
Stage Racer - 3 > 4 - Age 25 - Pot. 5
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2020
69
72
68
74
72
70
71
62
63
66
70
69
74
2021
70
75
70
76
74
72
73
62
63
67
71
70
76
If there's one guy in the Carlsberg prspect pool who actually has star potential, it's undoubtedly Lennard Kamna. After taking a break from cycling a few years ago, he has come back with force, and is already a very interesting stage racer. His time trial will always be his best skill, and perhaps if he had focused on it 100%, he could have been one of the best in the discipline. But his potential in the mountains was too hard for he or his team to ignore. While he sometimes goes into the red too much on steeper gradients, he is remarkably well rounded. He'll be in need of a PT loan this coming season, and he should easily get one. He will already be a great TTT option and could even score minor GC points in TT heavy stage races.
Jonas Gregaard
Climber - 3 > 4 - Age 25 - Pot. 5
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2020
70
73
67
65
75
72
72
61
63
67
54
72
65
2021
71
76
70
66
76
73
74
61
63
69
57
73
66
In some ways, it's been a slower development that expected for Jonas Gregaard, but things are taking shape now. He has always been a diesel climber who loves altitude in the high mountains, and that is still the case. However, he has spent the last couple of season trying to maximize his kick on short climbs as well, so he is not so reliant on trying to find his rhythm and set his own pace throughout long stages. That means he's had less time to work on his descending and other skills, but it's worth the sacrifice. He will also need a PT loan this season, and will be a strong mountain goat for any GC rider.
Arturs Belevics
Time Trialist - 3 > 4 - Age 25 - Pot. 5
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2020
72
59
62
73
70
68
69
62
63
66
72
63
73
2021
74
60
63
76
72
70
71
62
63
66
74
64
76
Yes, that's two time Latvian National Time Trial Champion, Arturs Belevics. And soon to be 12 time champion. Belevics is a pure time trialist. He likes time trialing. He lives in the wind tunnel. And he's improving at it. He also needs a PT loan this year, and he should be a good fit for a lot of PT teams. He would be a great TTT fit (obviously), and also has value as a flat beast, working for sprinters.
Erik Nordsaeter Resell
Cobbles - 3 > 4 - Age 25 - Pot. 4
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2020
72
56
67
65
70
69
68
72
61
70
72
68
65
2021
74
56
69
65
72
70
69
74
61
70
75
69
65
Resell is the type of rider Carlsberg has always liked given their traditional classics focus. He's a northern classics specialist, but he's done quite a bit to help strengthen himself on the hills, since the cobbles are usually his biggest strength. He also really loves to attack, and can be a worthy domestique on flat days. He's in line for a PT loan as well in order to maximize his skillset.
With the roster and cap expansion that PCT life provides, all of these guys should be staying with Carlsberg next season, unless new circumstances arise. That may not be the case for the team's 4 stagiares, none of whom have significantly progressed this season, but that is a topic for another day. The team has seen a lot of young talents finally reach their potential (with the help of various loaner teams!), which is always gratifying. Most of these riders will be role players going forward, with Kamna and Aranburu as the future leaders.
Mr. Pickles
Sporting News
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Love the talents your team has coming in as promotion hits BBall. Also funny to see how in some of the earlier posts you had already counted your team out of title contention, although it didn't work out I was so incredibly impressed with the back-end performances of your team to close the gap.
Out of all the promoting teams it seems like you have by FAR the best infrastructure to stay up and become a PCT mainstay. Definitely excited to see what comes to Carlsberg this upcoming year, and definitely rooting for you as our MG paths since we both entered in 2014 have been so extremely similar.
Wow, Aranburu and Kämna are nice talents. Don't you agree that Aranburu fits my regional focus a bit better though? A shame that Asgreen's skillset is not so perfect for pcm18+, but still a great name to have for a Danish team I think.
Looks like you are going to bring a great squad to PCT. I'm sure some of the PT managers will be licking their chops to take some of those talents on loan
I hope both of us can find a way to avoid relegation, but I echo Maxime, you have a great foundation on which to build on
maxime86 wrote:
Love the talents your team has coming in as promotion hits BBall. Also funny to see how in some of the earlier posts you had already counted your team out of title contention, although it didn't work out I was so incredibly impressed with the back-end performances of your team to close the gap.
Out of all the promoting teams it seems like you have by FAR the best infrastructure to stay up and become a PCT mainstay. Definitely excited to see what comes to Carlsberg this upcoming year, and definitely rooting for you as our MG paths since we both entered in 2014 have been so extremely similar.
Yeah, our back half was really surprisingly strong. I thought you would run away with it early with Philips in second, but we hung in there till the end. It was definitely a fun battle, congrats! Indeed, our paths have been really similar, and I see our teams linked in a lot of ways from that.
I hope you're right about infrastructure. I tried to trim a lot of fat when relegating and had a very lucky offseason last year. It will be about making the key moves I need early, as depth and well roundedness alone don't make for PCT survival, as I've learned.
Nemolito wrote:
Wow, Aranburu and Kämna are nice talents. Don't you agree that Aranburu fits my regional focus a bit better though? A shame that Asgreen's skillset is not so perfect for pcm18+, but still a great name to have for a Danish team I think.
As long as Asgreen doesn't get randomly greedy in renewals, he's still a decent minimum wage domestique I think. Just not quite the right guy for this engine.
Certainly it is our intention to keep all these talents, especially one as talented as Aranburu. But, he doesn't fit our regional focus and was not signed from Carlsberg out of U23. So do with that what you will.
AbhishekLFC wrote:
Some great talents to take to PCT. You look well set up for the promotion!
Thanks! Hoping to make it stick in PCT this time.
redordead wrote:
Looks like you are going to bring a great squad to PCT. I'm sure some of the PT managers will be licking their chops to take some of those talents on loan
I hope both of us can find a way to avoid relegation, but I echo Maxime, you have a great foundation on which to build on
I sure hope so. The easier PT loans get done, the easier the whole transfer season ends up.
Thank you, I hope we can both survive as well.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
A really nice pool of solid riders in the making! Aranburu should be able to score decent in the PCT in the upcoming season, I'd say. And as Abhishek points out, perfect timing and a good core to build a solid PCT team on.
And who knows about Resell, there might be transfer interest in him not only for a loan spell
ember wrote:
A really nice pool of solid riders in the making! Aranburu should be able to score decent in the PCT in the upcoming season, I'd say. And as Abhishek points out, perfect timing and a good core to build a solid PCT team on.
And who knows about Resell, there might be transfer interest in him not only for a loan spell
Yeah, Aranburu has turned into a really cool rider. Just hoping the OVL formulas keep his wage reasonable in renewals this year. I considered going with hill or climberv2 to avoid that, but in the end I couldn't sacrifice the potential or a great rider for such a short term move.
Using my leader money on him and Kamna in a panic 2 years ago might have cost me my PCT spot, but I think I'm happier with where we're going long term now. Unlike last time, I really think we're two solid PCT leaders away from being able to stabilize there long term now. Just a matter of making those moves, which has never been easy for me.
I know Resell is very popular with management and his fellow riders, but he's certainly not an indispensable piece going forward.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Aranburu is looking very nice! I feel like that resistance will be very useful for a hybrid style rider. Also don't mind me looking jealously at Kämna.
It wasn't all easy, but in the end, Carlsberg have done what they needed to and more this season. Their 2120 points on the year allowed to finish 2nd in the CT, just 18 points behind Carrefour - ESPN for the title. While they just barely failed to top the rankings, they slot into the top 5 as automatic promoters, and easily take the step up considering that 9 teams eventually made it.
In addition, their top 5 means that in an insane turn of events, Carlsberg achieved 5/5 goals this year, having never before achieved more than 2 in the same season. They finished top 5 in Dunkerque, top 5 in Tachira, won Eritrea, finished top 5 in Course de Solidarnosc, and top 5 in the end of the year rankings. Especially given that they did not shy away from difficult goals this season, that performance should do wonders for their budget as they take the step up to PCT. The sponsors will be thrilled.
Both their promotion and goal achievements will be huge factors as the team tries to plan for long term sustainability. Last offseason, management was able to preserve their core of leaders as well as almost all of their young talents through tactical wage negotiations, loans, and sales. However, with all those young riders due for raises, another year in CT would have required blowing up the project that they have been working towards, as they would have no room in wage or loan cap. Now, they have space to maneuver thanks to the PCT budget and roster expansions. Plus, the added sponsor money means they will be able to add key pieces with fewer tradeoffs than ever before.
So, who is there to thank for this terrific turn of Carlsberg's fortune? At the top of that list is undoubtedly Lawrence Warbasse. Scoring over 500 points by himself, Warbasse proved that his performance in PCT last year was not a fluke. Only behind Pinot and Ranaweera of stage racers, Warbasse pulled out GC wins in both the Tour of Eritrea, their win goal, and the Tour de Langkawi, along with various other top 5's and 10's, where he consistently scored. His leadership on and off the bike this year cannot be understated either. Clearly, he was the team's MVP.
This year was a redemption arc for Christopher Juul-Jensen. Within the last couple of years, he went from hero to zero very quickly. While he failed to get a win on the year - just 10 podiums and 4 more top 5's - his extreme consistency and patented aggression saw him sneak into the top 10 of the individual rankings. A far cry from being in the gruppetto for several target races last year. And all that for a five figure wage. He might have been the best value in the tour this season.
Sprints have been increasingly wild across all tours the last couple of years, but for most of the year, Asbjorn Kragh Andersen seemed to be the weak link the Carlsberg machine. On paper, he was projected as the second best rider in CT, and by far the best sprinter. That's not how it went. His leadout never took place, and he seemed to completely take the day off far too often. Going into the final two months of the season, he lied outside the top 30 overall as the 9th best sprinter. But a very strong end of the season, in which he won the Philadelphia International and took a stage in Course de Solidarnosc, saw him leap up the rankings considerably, from 36th to 12th. 12th was still not perfect, but with the over performance of a guy like Warbasse, AKA's recuperation was definitely enough.
Other riders were very important as well. Ramon Sinkeldam was more inconsistent than expected, but he still finished 27th. His win in the C1 Macskako Kerekparverseny will go down as an all time great performance, and he achieved his team goal in Dunkerque as well.
Then there were the young guns, Matteo Fabbro and Niklas Eg, who had very different seasons. Fabbro tended to disappear when he shared the road with Warbasse, but had a big win in Sakartvelo Trophy, and performed alright in a few hilly classics to end up 36th overall with almost 200 points. Eg, on the other hand, was a successful domestique who worked very well for Warbasse, but never really broke out, and scored only 89 points. Both riders benefited from being only 25, and took some youth jerseys along the way.
For the most part, the role players did their job, with a few exceptions. Quaade was a bit underwhelming in TT's, and Bertilsson was almost a complete ghost, not leading AKA out a single time this year. De Vreese had some great days and some terrible days, with a tendency to attack at exactly the wrong time. But there were also moments like Jonas Gregaard's huge win in Colombo Classic from the break, and Patrick Olesen emerged as a reliable domestique for uphills of any kind, even taking 6th on GC in Benelux Challenge.
So, it was a successful year. The team now has the personnel and space to grow further. Obviously, most of these guys will not be leaders in PCT. JJ has proven he can't, Warbasse can't be the main GC guy obviously, and Sinkeldam would be a minor contender at best - remember, he was the third best cobbles guy on Carlsberg's previous PCT teams. Only AKA might remain lead sprinter, depending on how much the team wants to focus on that area. But with their young guys, they have a solid core that may be able to finally establish themselves in PCT long term with the addition of a couple of real leaders - or at least, that's the goal.
On the sponsor side, for once, there is no drama. Both Carlsberg and Danske Bank were thrilled with how the team turned it around this year, and will stay on. Schlumberger will continue to be a major player as well, and the team will continue to be co-registered in Curacao. They were happy to see Gyasi Sulvaran be a major contributor, if not big scorer, in his first season, and are invested long term in the development of Curacao cycling.
Here is what we believe the team looks like before renewals. There are some changes developing in how our scouts calculate OVL that may make those numbers obsolete soon, and wages will of course change. But this is what Carlsberg will be looking at as they looked to sign guys for next season. It should be interesting.
Mr. Pickles
Sporting News
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Alex Aranburu 
Mathias Krigbaum 
Lennard Kämna 
Arturs Belevics 
Erik Nordsaeter Resell 
A shame that Asgreen's skillset is not so perfect for pcm18+, but still a great name to have for a Danish team I think.
