Not the GC you hoped for, but definitely the review I hoped for At least it's good to have the first win in the bag. Just like with Los Pollos last year, it's a Latin American rider winning on Latin American soil The fact that our jerseys are also similar (at least to spot them on the pictures) proves that Los Zorros and Los Pollos have a nice connection. Just don't eat us
Nemolito wrote:
Not the GC you hoped for, but definitely the review I hoped for At least it's good to have the first win in the bag. Just like with Los Pollos last year, it's a Latin American rider winning on Latin American soil The fact that our jerseys are also similar (at least to spot them on the pictures) proves that Los Zorros and Los Pollos have a nice connection. Just don't eat us
I was hoping for at least top 3, top 5 finish, although secretly wishing for the win, but nothing I can do about it now. But the first victory of the season feels good indeed. For now, you better keep Los Pollos away though, Los Zorros are still hungry.
I am not that surprised Amador hasn't quite worked out early on, but I do have similarly flawed rider in Alarcon so that doesn't bode too well for me
I'm more disappointed by Chaves, he should do a lot better!
We're greatly underperforming right now and if we keep doing it I am in for a long and painful season.
I hope Alarcon does better than Amador for you in the early races. And I hope I didn't jinx him, he was after all on my long transfer list of the off-season.
Our home race, our first main goal of the season. Clasico San José is run for the first time in the MG circuit, so there are no ghosts of past winners haunting the race. Accordingly to the legends, the same cannot be said about Hospital San Juan de Dios (where we hope none of the riders taking part in the race ends up). Hospital San Juan de Dios is the first hospital built in the history of Costa Rica and its inauguration dates to 1845. It is said that its corridors are haunted by a nun carrying in her hands a water vessel and offering it to the suffering. The legend states that she is the tormented soul of a nun cursed to roam the hospital’s hallways in its spectral form because in life she denied the last request of a dying patient for a glass of water. It is said that those who drink from her vessel are miraculously cured or, based on other sources, none accepts the water offering from fear and she is doomed to haunt the hospital forever. Not one, but several ghosts of nuns are said to haunt Sanatorio Durán, another old Costa Rican hospital, where tuberculosis patients were treated. Based on these legends, in 2010 a movie was made, “El Sanatorio” (The Sanatorium), directed by Miguel Gómez, filmed as a pseudo-documentary. The movie won La Calavera Dorada (The Golden Skull) at Festival Mórbido de Cine Fantástico y de Terror México in 2010.
To shake the jitters and chills of ghost hunting one may need a bit of alcohol boost. Carper Chepe, a local tourism company, offers a walking tour of San José craft beer. This is a wonderful chance of walking around the Costa Rican capital and sampling the local beer while learning about the beer history and craft revolution in Costa Rica. The tour also includes a lesson on how to pair beers with the right dish and plenty of fun anecdotes. One could sample here, or on their own, Costa Rican craft beers such as Iztaru, Maldita Vita (9,8%), Tumba Calzones, Coyote Stout or one of the beers produced by Volcano Brewing Co. (a shout out for the company for obvious reasons ). If one ends with a hangover after that the stalls at Borbón Market has plenty of folk medicine and herbs that could be used to cure such an ailment. Or if the visitor is feeling hungry, in the same market or in San José Central Market one can find fruits, vegetables, smoothies, coffee and local delicacies.
Clasico San José makes its first entry in the MG circuit, but there are other excellent cycling races in Costa Rica, including two of our team manager’s favorites. Vuelta a Costa Rica is held annually since 1965 and it brings plenty of exciting and spectacular racing across this beautiful country. As a matter of fact, we, at Volcanica – Fox, advocate for it joining Clasico San José on the MG calendar, because it will certainly offer great encouragement to the local riders and wider exposure for the Central American cycling. Ruta de los Conquistadores is a MTB stage race run across breathtaking landscapes. It is one of the toughest and most beautiful of such races in the world and although it will definitely not make any appearance on the MG circuit DarkWolf dreams of trying his legs in it someday.
The course was packed with our supporters and our riders were warmly welcomed and constantly encouraged across the race. With winning Clasico San José as our goal the team tried to control the race early on and began to chase the breakaway from around the halfway point. The strategy led to some tired legs and our riders started to drop from the front, but it also helped Esteban Chaves stay in the leading group. He finished 7th in the end, but with the recent experience of Gisborne GP fresh in mind, where we were far behind the winning group, Chaves’ fight for the win until the very end can only be seen as an improvement. Immediately after crossing the line our riders were glued to the TV to watch Vuelta al Táchira for its final stage. Everyone watched with bated breaths and crossed fingers the outcome of that race, but we all know how that turned out so we’ll not dwell on it for far too long.
Volcanica – Fox tackles the first cobble race of the season, but since our team is not built for such terrain the management sees this as an opportunity for the riders to gather experience and create a stronger bond within the squad. This first race is also an opportunity to pay our own tribute to the fallen soldiers of World War I. Riding under the Menin Gate, the most famous Flanders Fields memorial dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Ypres Salient and whose graves are unknown, the Tyne Cot, the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, for any war, and Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing, to commemorate the Christmas truce of 1914, will be our form of commemorating the lives lost in the Great War and also a remembrance that war brings only suffering. We certainly would like to see less fighting in the world and more attitudes and actions such as those of the famous Christmas truce.
Seeing as we are here to do plenty of other things than winning the race we can also enjoy one of the UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritages of humanity, the Belgian beer. Trappist, abbey, pale, strong or amber beers, the selection is wide, but we could start with the Gulden Draak, brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge and named after the golden dragon at the top of the belfry in Ghent. It is a dark, high alcohol beer, but we promise to not descend in abuse. It is true the present course of Gent-Wevelgem starts in Deinze and not Ghent, but sampling the Gulden Draak beer is another tribute from our part, to the history of this race.
Speaking of its history, Gent-Wevelgem dates back to 1934 and its only interruptions were during World War II. Belgium riders thrived on home soil winning the race in overwhelming numbers and the winners’ list includes prestigious names such as Bernard Hinault, Mario Cipollini or Eddy Merckx. Since 2012 a Gent-Wevelgem women’s race is also run each year. In the MG circuit Tom Boonen dominated Gent-Wevelgem winning it 3 times and the last winner is Viktor Manakov of Crabbe-CC Chevigny.
Our team joined the breakaway early on, the only objective we actually had coming into the race. Our valiant rider resisted at the front until approximately 70 km to the finish line. He ended a bit tired, but satisfied with the efforts made on the day. There are no other noteworthy news to bring home, except one event unfolding after the curtain was drawn over this year’s edition of Gent-Wevelgem, one of our riders (we’ll not reveal his identity) was unable, for a while, to provide a urine sample for the anti-doping control. Perhaps a little too dehydrated after the race, it took 8 Gulden Draak beers and 3 Volcanica coffees for him to finally comply with this regulation. The only consequence of this event was a big head the next day that barely fit through the bus’s door when the team departed the hotel.
Very familiar update for me. I drink Gulden Draak from time to time and visited the places you wrote about. One of my last bike rides brought me to Tyne Cot as well, which is definitely a must see if you are ever in Flanders and care about history Not the most wow-result on the cobbles, but that is to be expected for Los Zorros, and I'm sure you'll get some better results on terrain that suit you more soon.
I do love history and I would love to visit Flanders and maybe ride a bike there. As a matter of fact I was close to visiting Bruges this autumn, but with this awful pandemic it did not happen in the end. Maybe in the next couple of years. I sampled some very nice abbey beers from Belgium and I liked a few of them quite a bit. Maybe when I visit I can try Gulden Draak as well.
Well, the cobbles went as expected, but I am disappointed by the races which suit my riders. There are very few rewards there. I am less optimistic about the rest of the season, but it's out of my hands now.
We travelled from Belgium to Denmark for another cobble race with the same low expectations. However, if in Flanders our tribute was payed to the fallen soldiers of World War I here we are visiting the Refugees’ Cemetery at Grove, a reminder of the Second World War. Located outside Herning, west of Karup airfield, the cemetery is the burial site of 1119 German refugees and 175 soldiers and is maintained by the German state.
While here one can lose itself in the Herning library, an activity our team manager is very fond of, especially when the time permits it. The library contains extensive collections of books and newspapers from around the world and in many languages. If in search of a refreshment we can sample at Bryggeriet some local beers such as Weissbeer, May Bock or Denmark’s first Hemp Beer. We can also admire some of the street art around Herning including the wonderful piece inspired by the famous Alice in Wonderland made by the artists Vera Bugatti (Italy) and Carlos Alberto Hernandez (Mexico).
GP Herning is not an old race as others more prestigious ones, it only started in 1992 and along the way it faced multiple economic problems. But during its history it has gained the nickname of “A spring day at the heath”, a hint to Jørgen Leth’s film A Sunday in Hell. In the MG circuit the race was dominated by Geraint Thomas, who won it 4 times, 1 victory for British Airways – Cyclingnews and 3 consecutive one for Podium Ambition.
We take 1 Matteo Jorgenson, 1 Cristofer Robin Jurado and 1 Henry Antonio Rojas and add them to the breakaway. Then, we spice the mix with a pinch of dreaming, fistfuls of relentless pedaling, effort, sweat and grit. We grind everything well and for as long as possible. The result is flavorless, but it does provide a nourishment of experience, the beautiful scenery and something to ponder in terms of how to tackle such terrain in the future.
“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.” Salvador Dalí
We’ll follow the advice of this illustrious Catalan artist and not even attempt a run for the tiniest slice of perfection in our presentation of this amazing part of the world. Such a task will be futile, there are too many wonders to enjoy in Catalonia to squeeze them all in our limited space. Instead we will talk about a couple of our favorite things in Catalonia over a glass of Ratafia, a traditional liqueur which is over 1000 years old and is made from soft walnuts mixed with aromatic plants, and a bowl of El Xató, a powerful salad made of endives, cod, tuna, anchovies, arbequina olives and rosemary and which is fought over who should take credit for it by Vilanova i la Geltrú, Sitges, Vilafranca del Panedès, El Vendrell and Calafell. Speaking of Sitges, it is in this coastal town that the Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantástic de Catalunya takes place each year, usually in early October, one of the world’s most prestigious and long running international festivals dedicated to fantasy and horror movies.
“Barcelona is a very old city in which you can feel the weight of history; it is haunted by history. You cannot walk around it without perceiving it.” Carlos Ruiz Zafón
We can walk the streets of Barcelona with the help of Carlos Ruiz Zafón, the Catalan writer who sadly passed away on 19 June 2020. He leaves behind the wonderful Cemetery of Forgotten Books series of novels, books that venture around the old Barcelona city and feature an amazing fictional location, that of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Our team manager cannot recommend these novels enough, he could not put them down, even on a second reading, and ended up immersed in their pages long into the night. Another such journey can also be made through Marc Pastor’s Barcelona Shadows, one more trip into the past of this city and to the black legend of Enriqueta Martí, called “The Vampire of Barcelona” or “The Vampire of the Raval”.
One of the yearly sport events that bring us joy is Volta a Catalunya, the fourth oldest cycling race still running in the world. Each year, our manager is glued to the TV screen taking in the scenery of the region, the towns through which the peloton passes and the spectacle of the cycling race. The record of victories is held by Mariano Cañardo, who won it 7 times between 1920 and 1940. In the MG circuit Volta a Catalunya runs since 2007, with the exception of 2017, and we are here to take part in one of our favorite races for the first time, with hopes of being active and achieving good results to honor it in our own way.
We made our presence felt from the first stage, our team tried to control the race with Jesus Herrada setting the pace as the finishing line approached and with Esteban Chaves attempting a daring attack with 5km to go. Our actions didn’t produce a victory, but Carlos Barbero finished 6th and Esteban Chaves 10th this inaugural stage. The second stage went uneventful, with the sprinters disputing the stage win, but the 3rd stage is where we expected for our team to suffer. A TTT stage for which we did not spend enough time practicing during the training sessions. It was a stage in which we tried to limit the time difference as much as possible and after pulling hard on the course Volcanica – Fox finished on the 7th place at 1’47” behind the winning team.
The first mountain stage was the first chance for the team to pull back some time in a search for the best GC position at the end of the race. Gregory Brenes was very active, going into the attack and trying to lend a helping hand to our leader, Andrei Amador. While at some point Amador seemed to lose touch with the leading trio he managed to find some resources of energy and joined them in the race to the finishing line ending the day on the 3rd position and jumping to the 4th place in the GC. The moment of glory came in the 5th stage, it is on this day that Esteban Chaves went again on the attack, first with 18 km to go, an attack that did not succeed in the fullest, and then with 800 meters to the finishing line, the last proving decisive and bringing our rider the stage win.
The team entered the last stage with the aim of gaining some places in the GC or at least maintain the position there. Our riders worked hard behind the breakaway of the day, Kevin Rivera pulling for his teammates and beginning to churn the peloton. Andrei Amador went ahead and stayed with the favorites on the stage and although in the end he did not gain any positions in the GC he finished again the stage in the top 5 and Volta a Catalunya on the 4th place. With a stage win, Amador in the top 5 of the GC, but also Gregory Brenes on the 15th overall, Esteban Chaves on 19th and Volcanica – Fox 3rd in the Teams Classification the management feels this race was a success. We are glad we honored one of our favorite races in the world with good results.
Once again a 'relatable' read, having studied Spanish (culture/literature) in university A pleasant read as always as well of course, also because of the great Chaves win and decent performance by Amador. The TTT really hurt him obviously, as without it he probably would have won/finished second.
I love Spanish culture/literature and I'm a big fan of Spanish cycling. Yes, I knew the TTT will hurt us, but I believe the race went well for us considering that TT stage.
We are back in the beautiful New Zealand, this time for a stage race, Tour of Southland. We’re on the South Island, in Southland, where the Fiordland National Park is a feature not to be missed on such a trip. It is a famous park in popular culture, Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound became areas south of Rivendell, the Anduin River and the Dead Marshes in the Lord of the Rings films. Also, parts of the Alien: Covenant movie were filmed here. To take the movies connection further we go with a coincidence, the Milford Track, from Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound, was opened in 1889 by the explorers Quintin McKinnon and Donald Sutherland, the latter being the Scottish-born New Zealand explorer and not the American actor.
We remain in the region and highlight one of the most spectacular places to be enjoyed here, the Te Ana-au Caves, where the glowworms offer an unforgettable spectacle in the part of the caverns closer to the shore of Lake Te Anau. Moving to the region’s main center, Invercargill, we can sample some of the local craft beers, brewed by The Factory Invercargill. Indian Lager, Milk Stout, NZ Pilsner or Wicked Wheat, there is plenty on offer and we can also help ourselves to a thick lamb sandwich, in “Southland portions” (which are big, as we understand it) to go with our beer selection.
Tour of Southland has a rich history, its first edition was held in 1956 when the Southland cycling officials started this event to mark the Invercargill city centenary. From 2005 until 2009 the race has been part of the UCI Oceania Tour. In the MG Circuit Tour of Southland was raced for the first time in 2012 and this is its 8th edition.
Volcanica – Fox started the race well, Gabriel Marin finished the first stage on the 5th position. The second stage came with a more demanding finish and our team hoped for a good result from our leader, Esteban Chaves. Henry Antonio Rojas and Carlos Barbero joined the break of the day, with Barbero winning the intermediate sprint of the stage. However, the team ended the day in disappointment, Esteban Chaves was first over the line, but from the second group of riders, ending the stage on the 28th place.
The third stage was mainly uneventful for the team with exception of Carlos Barbero joining the breakaway again and being very active in the intermediate sprints and the KOM competition. Our hopes for a good GC position laid on the 4th stage and yet again the team came away disappointed. Esteban Chaves once more did not find his best legs and finished the stage more than 1 minute behind the stage winner.
With our hopes of fighting for the best GC position in tatters we were left with the opportunity to be active on the final stage. Roman Villalobos made that happen when he won both categorized climbs of the day from the breakaway and Gabriel Marin came away with another good result on the stage, ending the final sprint on the 7th place. The team under-performed at Tour of Southland, the management’s hopes for this race went unfulfilled. Still, we can take a few positives from here and build of them for a better future, Volcanica – Fox was very active in the breakaways, Roman Villalobos finishing 2nd on the KOM classification as a result of that and Gabriel Marin ended the tour with 2 top 10 results on the sprint stages.
Once again our team finds itself facing a cobbled race and once again the management’s expectations for results on such terrain are slim and closer to none. Again the host of the race is Belgium and this time we are visiting Geraardsbergen, one of the oldest cities in the country. The town is home to the annual Karkelingen and Tonnekensbrand festivals, centuries old traditions that nowadays include a historical parade, Kringle Throw and a fire feast. It is also in Geraardsbergen where we can find the Manneken Pis statue that is older than the more famous one in Brussels.
We can enjoy here the Mattentaart, a type of sweet pastry made with matten paste or cheese curd. And we can follow our food tasting with some local beers such as Sjorring, Spartacus or Muurken. But we are here to tackle the cobbles and the Bosberg hill, made famous, among other such things, by Edwig Van Hooydonck and his decisive and fierce attacks on his way to winning Tour of Flanders in 1989 and 1991.
Henry Antonio Rojas was the first to cross the finishing line. However, this event will not remain in any recordings of the race since Rojas was just attacking on the first of the eleven circuits of the race. Rojas established himself in the breakaway and was joined by Cristofer Robin Jurado. Our two riders put a valiant effort on display and while Jurado was dropped from the breakaway with 58 km to go Rojas resisted at the front until the penultimate climb of the Bosberg hill. Still, all this hard riding was rewarded with a top 20 finish as the young Nicaraguan cyclist finished the race 19th. Another of our young riders went better though, Matteo Jorgenson finished the race on the 15th place and these two results brought satisfaction around the team since we are definitely not built for such terrain.
Due to technical difficulties we are unable to present the final positions of all our riders who were at the start.
2021 is a year of transition for Barbados, the country will become a republic and its 55th anniversary of its independence will mark the replacement of the hereditary monarch with an elected president. This long inhabited island saw the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th century, but it is unclear which nation arrived first in Barbados. Nonetheless, the Spanish slave raiding is thought to be responsible for reduction of the native population. It took several centuries since then but Barbados is ready to hold its destiny in its own hands.
There are a lot of things to enjoy and discover in Barbados and among such things there is the traditional cuisine. A mixture of African, Indian, Irish, Creole and British influences the traditional cuisine proposes national dishes such as cou-cou and flying fish with spicy gravy or pudding and souse, a dish of pickled pork with spiced sweet potatoes. On the side one can enjoy a glass of rum from Mount Gay Rum, which claims to be the world’s oldest remaining rum company, or a 10 Saints beer, which is aged for 90 days in Mount Gay ‘Special Reserve’ Rum casks.
Barbados Cycling Festival is a sprinters’ battle, all its 4 stages are on flat terrain and with this in mind Volcanica – Fox is led by the Canadian Guillaume Boivin here. Our sprinter didn’t disappoint, he was up for a flying start even from stage 1, where he managed to position himself very well and finished 2nd on the day.
Guillaume Boivin’s effort in the first stage took its toll, he was not a protagonist in the next two stages, finishing 6th and 13th. However, those results didn’t hurt his hopes for a good GC place too much, the Canadian sat 5th in the general classification before the final stage. And as it was proved the best was yet to come, the last stage brought great joy around the team. Guillaume Boivin finished the stage on the 3rd place, but that was enough for him to claim the victory in the race, surpassing the second rider by just 1 second. It is true, 1 second, a blink of an eye, but that didn’t take away anything from this victory. Even more so since this is the first victory of our newly founded team and one that came in a HC race nonetheless, the only one Volcanica – Fox attends this season. This trophy has a special place in our cabinet.
As chance will have it while travelling to Vancouver for our next race the team manager carries in his bag the latest novel of the Canadian writer Steven Erikson, “The God Is Not Willing”. And although distance doesn’t make a visit in search of an autograph easily achieved the admiration remains firmly in place. Steven Erikson and his fellow Canadian, Ian Cameron Esslemont, envisioned a series of novels and novellas in a sprawling, vast and astonishing fantasy world. Their universe might not translate to a TV show the way “A Game of Thrones” did, but that’s not because it would not be at the same level, if not better, if done correctly but because the way the stories unfold are not as straightforward as the usual style of writing. Nonetheless, our team manager is delighted to visit and revisit this massive universe as often as possible.
A chance to meet one of his favorite writers might not be on the cards for the team manager, but a visit to the Japadog is. Starting as a food stand and growing to include carts, trailers and a restaurant, Japadog, which aims of “Making the world happy and alive through hotdogs”, was featured with delight by the late Anthony Bourdain. So, if we are here for the Tour of Vancouver why not jump at the opportunity of gorging ourselves with some Spicy Cheese Terimayo, Kurogoma Kimuchi, Salmon Dog or Shrimpy Chili.
With the bellies full and settled, but not too much as not to interfere with riding the bikes, the team started the race with a short, mountainous TT. There were no major results here, but the team tackled this first stage as a warm-up and our riders settled in a rhythm without losing too much time in its search for the General Classification. With all that done on the second day came the concentrated effort of achieving results. A flat stage finished at sprint was settle by our local man, Guillaume Boivin, who started his push for victory early and was fully rewarded for it.
The next stage, also flat, was used to freshen up and recover for the first mountain stage that was coming the next day. Again, the entire preparation and strategy was rewarded in the best way possible. This time, our stalwart captain, Andrei Amador displayed his talent, he attacked with 9 km to the top and started to steadily distance himself from the other competitors. His good legs on the day helped distance everyone else on Andrei Amador’s way to victory and taking of the yellow jersey with 52” advantage to the second place.
Once more the team took advantage of a flat stage to recover and on the 6th stage, the second mountainous one, went on working towards keeping the yellow jersey and drawing closer to the final victory. Gregory Brenes did a tremendous job on the day in keeping our team captain protected and his entire effort payed dividends as Andrei Amador finished the stage second and added 4” to his overall lead. On the last stage, a TTT that our team doesn’t enjoy too much, the riders put together a valiant display and achieved successfully its goal, that of winning the Tour of Vancouver. The entire team is very proud to have added its 3rd trophy to its cabinet.
At least it's good to have the first win in the bag. Just like with Los Pollos last year, it's a Latin American rider winning on Latin American soil 
The fact that our jerseys are also similar (at least to spot them on the pictures) proves that Los Zorros and Los Pollos have a nice connection. Just don't eat us 
GENT-WEVELGEM 
GP HERNING 
VOLTA A CATALUNYA 
TOUR OF SOUTHLAND 
stefan_jacobs_crop1400x560_tcm13-7325.JPG)
BARBADOS CYCLING FESTIVAL 
BADALING INTERNATIONAL 
CIRCULO DE JUAREZ 
COPPA PLACCI 
TOUR OF CALIFORNIA 
GP IZOLA 
LINCOLN GP 
TOUR OF CHILE 
TOUR DU FASO 
FRANKFURT - ESCHBORN 
TOUR OF VANCOUVER 
