Races: Tour of Tasmania Tour of Qatar Franceville Classique
Squads:
For the first month of the year we get to see every rider type in action except for the puncheurs and TTT setup.
Tour of Tasmania
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
William Chiarello
71
79
75
73
73
74
77
53
63
72
73
69
71
31
Bryan Coquard
73
59
67
65
71
74
84
56
84
83
60
65
79
30
Panagiotis Vlatos
72
52
66
81
73
71
67
68
67
66
68
52
81
32
Miltiadis Giannoutsos
68
78
72
72
76
78
75
57
64
68
75
67
77
25
Ioannis Spanopoulos
69
77
75
72
73
72
70
54
60
64
66
62
73
29
Nikolaos Ioannidis
67
75
73
77
76
74
73
57
58
70
72
67
76
29
Ioannidis Kiriakidis
68
74
73
76
72
73
74
62
63
71
70
73
76
25
Georgios Bouglas
72
64
70
58
72
67
76
53
78
78
62
67
58
32
Without an actual leader for the race it will be difficult to get a top result. Last season Bryan Coquard won the opening flat stage, and thus gave us a good result, but Lecuisinier obviously isn't riding for us anymore to add up big GC points, so it will be up to Chiarello, Giannoutsos, Spanopoulos, Ioannidis and Kiriakidis to show their worth in such a short versatile race. We don't have any big expectations, but it would be nice to see a rider inside the top 20 atleast.
Expected points: 100-150pts
Tour of Qatar
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Bryan Coquard
73
59
67
65
71
74
84
56
84
83
60
65
79
30
Stylianos Farantakis
74
59
65
72
75
72
79
66
80
80
61
63
79
27
Panagiotis Vlatos
72
52
66
81
73
71
67
68
67
66
68
52
81
32
Nikolaos Ioannidis
67
75
73
77
76
74
73
57
58
70
72
67
76
29
Ioannidis Kiriakidis
68
74
73
76
72
73
74
62
63
71
70
73
76
25
Georgios Stavrakakis
74
61
68
73
72
69
65
75
64
68
70
62
75
24
Georgios Bouglas
72
64
70
58
72
67
76
53
78
78
62
67
58
32
Michail Kortsidakis
77
63
69
54
75
75
73
76
68
72
76
70
73
28
Having last seasons winner, Bryan Coquard attending the race with a significantly better leadout and better TT riders for depth scoring, Tour of Qatar is one of those races in which we have to perform in order to have a shot at survival. Bouglas is here with pure leadout duties, but besides that we go from 73-81 PRL stats with 3 riders at the very top (Vlatos, Coquard and Farantakis). We hope to see all three being close to the front before the final stage and with some luck could all fight for a GC top 25 with Coquard being a pre-race favorite.
Expected points: 250-400pts
Franceville Clas.
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Georgios Karatzios
77
58
71
59
75
71
67
77
63
65
70
61
59
32
Stylianos Farantakis
74
59
65
72
75
72
79
66
80
80
61
63
79
27
Michail Kortsidakis
77
63
69
54
75
75
73
76
68
72
76
70
73
28
Georgios Stavrakakis
74
61
68
73
72
69
65
75
64
68
70
62
75
24
Anastasios Koumpetsos
72
66
70
56
73
71
73
58
74
73
72
71
56
26
Aimiliano Vila
70
69
75
64
70
72
73
54
67
72
74
69
64
25
Andreas Miltiadis
68
75
75
67
70
71
66
68
61
75
67
68
67
26
Victor Lafay
66
73
75
63
72
71
71
62
63
72
76
67
61
26
Given the nature of the race we obviously have to play into our strengths, and as we don't have a natural top 10 rider we have decided to bring Stylianos Farantakis as a wild card rider in case the race is ridden relatively slow. The race doesn't particularly have a good history of sprinters making the selection, but last time there was a relatively large group fighting for 4th, and John Degenkolb survived the 2nd best group in 2020. We don't expect a top 10, but have a solid depth with Karatzios, Kortsidakis and Stavrakakis and with some luck one of those could break into a decent scoring position.
Expected points: 20-40pts
Overall expectations:
January is on paper a decent month for us, as it gives a good amount of racing for our sprinters. Whether the TT depth comes into play is very difficult to say as the division has increased the level of competition in that regard. We still expect to score enough to have a good gap to the relegation line after January.
Awesome leadout man for Coquard in Qatar with Farantakis, hopefully it works the wonders it should on paper. And would love to see that Greek cobbles trio get something out of Franceville
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
It's one of very few times this season that Coquard get's to have that strong leadout, normally he'll have the luxury of Bouglas and Kortsidakis only - So indeed fingers crossed it will work out.
It's nice to have 3 cobblers who isn't completely useless, and then Farantakis for the outside shot that nothing happens and he has a +5 day
I must say I kinda enjoy these races where I have limited foreign leadership quite a lot.
Races: Tour of Tasmania Tour of Qatar Franceville Classique
Tour of Tasmania:
We came to Tasmania without a rider targeting the top GC, still we approached the race with a solid depth and with Bryan Coquard chasing the first stage. He managed to secure 2nd, and thus getting a decent outing from the race.
It was however Chiarello that took the biggest points after doing a really solid ride on the difficult stage 2, and crowning the race with an OK'ish final TT to secure him 13th overall. Kiriakidis also had a good race to take 2nd in the U25 competition while Spanopoulos and Ioannidis also contributed well to the points total.
We came to the race expecting somewhere between 100-150 points, but we exceeded that!
Actual points: 182pts
Tour of Qatar:
Having won the race last season we obviously came with big expectations. We had a stronger team, but from the get go it was all about Coquard. He started out well enough, but on stage 2 Farantakis and Bouglas joined the fun to take 2nd and 3rd on the stage, catapulting Farantakis into a very solid point scoring opportunity.
Unfortunately the final 2 stages weren't quite as good, and didn't contribute to Coquards chances of a repeat from last season, and when he failed the epilogue miserably he had to settle for 4th. Still the race turned out really strong as Farantakis, Kiriakidis and Vlatos all fought for minor GC positions and a very strong Team GC.
We expected in the region of 250-400 points, but ended up shattering the expectations.
Actual points: 485pts
Franceville Classique:
Without a proper cobbled leader we can never expect to achieve great things, yet in a PTHC race we could atleast hope for some mediocre results. We didn't get that one tiny bit. Not a single rider managed to get into the top 50, which was dissapointing.
We excpeted 20-40 points, which would normally be achieveable - but unfortunately not!
Actual points: 0pts
Overall expectations:
We expected 370-590pts from this months races. A realistic output would be somewhere in the middle ground of 480pts or so. But beating the expected level twice in the high-expected races saw us achieve a superstrong start to the season, even if Franceville was something of a dissapointment.
Races: Volta a Portugal Copenhagen-Malmo TTT Tirreno - Adriatico Paris - Nice Classique du Grand-Duché Milano San Remo
Squads:
The month of february is a huge month in terms of races. A massive 6 races will be attended, and the depth of the PT squads will be tested to the max with the tripple-header of Tirreno, Paris and Grand-Duché. It is normally not a good situation for us, but we'll have to see what happens.
Volta a Portugal
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Clement Koretzky
73
71
81
63
77
70
71
63
71
79
73
70
61
32
Michail Mavrikakis
70
79
72
71
74
73
69
54
61
67
63
64
71
28
Ioannis Spanopoulos
69
77
75
72
73
72
70
54
60
64
66
62
73
29
Charal. Kastrantas
73
73
75
62
70
71
65
64
62
73
75
78
62
31
Aimiliano Vila
70
69
75
64
70
72
73
54
67
72
74
69
64
25
Anastasios Koumpetsos
72
66
70
56
73
71
73
58
74
73
72
71
56
26
Andreas Miltiadis
68
75
75
67
70
71
66
68
61
75
67
68
67
26
Victor Lafay
66
73
75
63
72
71
71
62
63
72
76
67
61
26
As we don't really posses a bit threat to the GC, we have opted for a fairly well-rounded attacking style squad for the Volta a Portugal race. Koretzky comes here with a lot of freedom to attack stage results, and with riders such as Miltiadis, Lafay, Vila and Kastrantas he should have a good list of riders that can position him well. For the more mountainous climbs we hope to see our greek duo of Mavrikakis and Spanopoulos working well together, whether that will be from a breakaway or simply following to the best of their capacity is yet to be decided. We don't expect a GC top 10, but top 15 would be very nice. Mavrikakis might just have what it takes if he doesn't lose too much in the hilly stages.
Expected points: 100-150pts
Cph.-Malmo TTT
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Panagiotis Vlatos
72
52
66
81
73
71
67
68
67
66
68
52
81
32
Nikolaos Ioannidis
67
75
73
77
76
74
73
57
58
70
72
67
76
29
Ioannidis Kiriakidis
68
74
73
76
72
73
74
62
63
71
70
73
76
25
Georgios Stavrakakis
74
61
68
73
72
69
65
75
64
68
70
62
75
24
Joshua Kelly
72
66
72
72
68
72
59
60
70
71
72
62
74
26
Jean Bosco Nsengimana
65
72
71
72
71
70
72
53
66
72
74
66
74
30
Alexandros Agrotis
70
70
68
70
72
69
71
63
65
67
70
69
71
24
Lorenzo Delco
71
71
72
69
74
73
74
66
63
71
66
76
70
27
With a fairly well-rounded (but not super strong) TTT setup we aim to fight for the top 10. Whether the gap between the lower tier riders and Vlatos are too big is yet to be seen - it could be the case. This disciplin is definately one where we are still learning, and with the added focus on TTT setups this off season top 10 could even be a difficult task.
Expected points: 35-60pts
Tirreno - Adriatico
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Ioannis Spanopoulos
69
77
75
72
73
72
70
54
60
64
66
62
73
29
Nikolaos Ioannidis
67
75
73
77
76
74
73
57
58
70
72
67
76
29
Ioannidis Kiriakidis
68
74
73
76
72
73
74
62
63
71
70
73
76
25
Stylianos Farantakis
74
59
65
72
75
72
79
66
80
80
61
63
79
27
Panagiotis Vlatos
72
52
66
81
73
71
67
68
67
66
68
52
81
32
Georgios Stavrakakis
74
61
68
73
72
69
65
75
64
68
70
62
75
24
Jean Bosco Nsengimana
65
72
71
72
71
70
72
53
66
72
74
66
74
30
Joshua Kelly
72
66
72
72
68
72
59
60
70
71
72
62
74
26
In a tripple-header context it is always a gamble where you decide to go all in. With both a TTT and a final ITT it was obvious that Koretzky had to look elsewhere though, and thus the Tirreno will be a fairly well-rounded, but not top heavy race for us. Farantakis offer a decent value in a TTT, and with two potential flat stages we felt like it was a good idea to bring a sprinter. Similarly out GC prospects are Spanopoulos, Kiriakidis and Ioannidis who are also decent against the clock, and might survive the hills somewhat. That being said, we don't have a realistic top 15 target for this race, so we hope to attack the stages aggresively.
Expected points: 80-130pts
Paris - Nice
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Bryan Coquard
73
59
67
65
71
74
84
56
84
83
60
65
79
30
William Chiarello
71
79
75
73
73
74
77
53
63
72
73
69
71
31
Miltiadis Giannoutsos
68
78
72
72
76
78
75
57
64
68
75
67
77
25
Andreas Miltiadis
68
75
75
67
70
71
66
68
61
75
67
68
67
26
Georgios Bouglas
72
64
70
58
72
67
76
53
78
78
62
67
58
32
Michail Kortsidakis
77
63
69
54
75
75
73
76
68
72
76
70
73
28
Georgios Karatzios
77
58
71
59
75
71
67
77
63
65
70
61
59
32
Anastasios Koumpetsos
72
66
70
56
73
71
73
58
74
73
72
71
56
26
Unlike the Tirreno we come with what we have in the Paris-Nice. We know it isn't much, but with Coquard we always have a decent pre-stage favorit for stages 1, 2, 3 and 5. With limited altitude it's always a gamble to bring Chiarello and Giannoutsos, but we hope they have a strong race and that they can both fight for a top 20. Chiarello may even be an outside bet for a top 10 while Giannoutsos are hopefully in the fortunate situation, that a lot of his worst competitors for U25 have opted for the Tirreno. That might be wrong, but we'll see.
Expected points: 125-175pts
Clas. Grand-Duché
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Clement Koretzky
73
71
81
63
77
70
71
63
71
79
73
70
61
32
Michail Mavrikakis
70
79
72
71
74
73
69
54
61
67
63
64
71
28
Charal. Kastrantas
73
73
75
62
70
71
65
64
62
73
75
78
62
31
Aimiliano Vila
70
69
75
64
70
72
73
54
67
72
74
69
64
25
Alexandros Agrotis
70
70
68
70
72
69
71
63
65
67
70
69
71
24
Emmanuel Morin
70
64
76
63
74
72
67
63
69
75
66
67
65
27
Victor Lafay
66
73
75
63
72
71
71
62
63
72
76
67
61
26
Lorenzo Delco
71
71
72
69
74
73
74
66
63
71
66
76
70
27
Koretzky will lead the way, and is having a decent team around him. He has some very solid results from this race in the past, and we hope he can add to that. The level of competition tends to vary a lot, and we can do nothing but cross our fingers that it's atleast a good mixture this time around. The depth riders aren't expected to deliver anything except for minimum points, but sometimes you get that one lucky guy in the front of the situation. Are you listening Kastrantas?
Expected points: 80-130pts
Milano San Remo
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Bryan Coquard
73
59
67
65
71
74
84
56
84
83
60
65
79
30
Clement Koretzky
73
71
81
63
77
70
71
63
71
79
73
70
61
32
Georgios Bouglas
72
64
70
58
72
67
76
53
78
78
62
67
58
32
Michail Kortsidakis
77
63
69
54
75
75
73
76
68
72
76
70
73
28
Georgios Karatzios
77
58
71
59
75
71
67
77
63
65
70
61
59
32
Aimiliano Vila
70
69
75
64
70
72
73
54
67
72
74
69
64
25
Jean B. Nsengimana
65
72
71
72
71
70
72
53
66
72
74
66
74
30
Joshua Kelly
72
66
72
72
68
72
59
60
70
71
72
62
74
26
The first monument of the season is also a very unpredictable one. It varies a lot whether it's top puncheurs, top sprinters, top roulleurs or simply a random mixture that fights for the top results. Because of that we have tried to cover all possible scenarios. We do expect a top 10, like always, and we do have the team to cover it - but it could just aswell go in another direction
Expected points: 100-150pts
Overall expectations:
On paper, February isn't a great month for us - but we do cover enough races, and have enough quality to believe we should be scoring a bit more than minimum everywhere. How much more is a big questionsmark, but we expect the month to be mediocre at best, but will hopefully still see us a fair bit about the relegationmark.
Great January for you, punching above expectations! February as you say could be a dry month without huge huge races for you but every race I see guys who can mix it up in a good way and think it should still be a very very solid haul for you
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
jandal7 wrote:
Great January for you, punching above expectations! February as you say could be a dry month without huge huge races for you but every race I see guys who can mix it up in a good way and think it should still be a very very solid haul for you
Indeed. It was a very nice month - and a good boost of morale as I was very uneasy going into the season. I'm still not certain we'll survive of course, but the points already reeled in, can't be taken away and to be 13% home after 7,5% of the season is a good feeling. Even 13% after 6% of the season in terms of RD's.
For every month we are a fair bit ahead of the final outcome, I'm a little bit more at ease. And like you say, february might not be all that bad even if we don't really have a top riders for either race.
Indeed, a good start for you. Coquard surely didn't perform according to expectations in Qatar - he should at least have been much closer to defend the GC crown - but especially Farantakis made up for that. Franceville indeed was disappointing, but I guess that just happens ^^
Let's see how the AI treats Koretzky in Portugal; with all those hilly stages, he could get some nice stage results - maybe even from a breakaway, given that he clearly shouldn't be considered to be an overall favorite.
Pretty weak lineup for Tirreno - but very understandable, as you explained Koretzky's lack of TT strength. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see if Chiarello can continue to do well against stronger competition in P-N; he really was a very consistent rider for Evonik.
Grand-Duché and MSR could be big races or huge disappointments, let's hope for the former Good luck for this busy February!
Fabianski wrote:
Indeed, a good start for you. Coquard surely didn't perform according to expectations in Qatar - he should at least have been much closer to defend the GC crown - but especially Farantakis made up for that. Franceville indeed was disappointing, but I guess that just happens ^^
Let's see how the AI treats Koretzky in Portugal; with all those hilly stages, he could get some nice stage results - maybe even from a breakaway, given that he clearly shouldn't be considered to be an overall favorite.
Pretty weak lineup for Tirreno - but very understandable, as you explained Koretzky's lack of TT strength. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see if Chiarello can continue to do well against stronger competition in P-N; he really was a very consistent rider for Evonik.
Grand-Duché and MSR could be big races or huge disappointments, let's hope for the former Good luck for this busy February!
Thanks a lot mate
Franceville isn't a disaster by any means, but it does give a bit of a worry, that none of my cobblers seemed to perform a little bit - but I guess they were tired after being aggressive - so can't really be unhappy. Coquard should have done better in Qatar indeed - but that always seem to be a bit of a gamble, and Coquard often ends up in the right area regardless
Koretzky is very interesting indeed. I hope we can just send bullets in all directions i Portugal, as we don't really have a leader - but I suspect there will be too much control with all those decent GC riders. But a finish between the favorites shouldn't rule out Koretzky either in most stages.
Tirreno is all about hoping for nothing to happen, and then get a bit out of the TT's. I hope that there isn't a lot of super strong TT'ers, but rather some TT'ers that can't climb and some decent TT puncheurs. But we'll see. Maybe I have read the route horribly and should have brought Koretzky or even Chiarello - P-N hopefully is a good race. It's probably the one race where I expect the most.
Before the start of the season we presented the heroes and gods of greek cycling, and to control the lines we created a schedule easy to work with. The month of february has been kind to greek cycling, and we can now present two new "promotions" in the overall ranking of greek cycling!
Charalampas Kastrantas
With his 5th place in Classique du Grand-Duché - a career highlight - Kastrantas moves into the category of greek cycling GODS, adding 97 points to his 1.433 points, thus crossing the magical 1.500 points barrier to become the 3rd greek cycling god. Already in this category we find Panagiotis Vlatos, who are fighting to become the first ever greek Titan, and former superstar sprinter Georgios Tzortzakis.
A big congratulations to Kastrantas on this milestone!
Stylianos Farantakis
Farantakis started the season in style in Tour of Qatar, which saw him claw very close to his new rank - but it was the stagewin and GC lead in Tirreno-Adriatico stage 2, that saw him kick the doors in. Farantakis is now the 5th best ever greek rider and is considered to be a HERO, where he joins forces with Georgios Karatzios. Both have a long climb to become a god, but Farantakis have the age with him, only recently being a maxed rider.
Also a huge congratulations to Farantakis to move into the top 3 tier category! That is a massive achievement.
Nikolaos Ioannidis is now the leading warrior of the team with 450 points. It seems somewhat realistic that he will make his way into the hero category aswell. Also Michail Mavrikakis is within a realistic shot, while the remaining riders in the team will have to deliver great results this season to make the upgrade.
I have played around with some graphics for the future, and felt like presenting it for you guys.
In the past I have made "playing cards" for my riders, but this time I thought it would be somewhat fun and interesting to toy around with the banner for visualisation.
I have only created the greek core of the team, and I'm not sure I'm quite there yet. F.e. I think the text bit below the name probably need to be slightly bigger, aswell as the key stats to the right, but without overpowering the name which I think should be the eyecatcher.
Instead of progression in XP level/points I have created a linear development in the top right corner which shows at what phase of their career the respective riders are in. I'm still considering whether the XP should be there or not.
For trained riders I have put dumbells as a logo next to the stat that has been trained (either now or in the past). And the key stat for the riders preferred terrain has been highlighted aswell...
Let me know what you think - and suggestions are very welcome so I can hopefully have it streamlined for next season - or maybe towards the Grand Tours
It's possible to click the image to get a better read, but it is the idea that it should be visable without doing so aswell.
With only one race left for us in the month of February (Milano - San Remo), let's begin looking forward to see what's lurking behind the gates of March.
Races: Strada Appia Antica Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha Ronde van Nederland Macskako Kerekparverseny Ronde van Vlaanderen E3 Prijs
Squads:
While January was a great fit, February a decent one - March really is neither. With 4 cobbled one day races out of 6 races this month, we are looking at a month of likely very limited succes. Only two races stand out, Praha and Nederland as somewhat respectable fits - but as we know our cobbled strength (or lack here of), March is easily looking to be our weakest month this far.
Let's break it up a bit though, so you can also be presented to our new graphical presentation scheme.
Strada Appia Antica
The Italian cobbled race has been part of the Pro Tour for quite some time. In fact this year is the 10 year anniversary at Pro Tour level. That doesn't mean that we have good experiences with the race. As a matter of fact the team (as Festina) has only managed to break into the top 10 on one single occasion. That was in the first season at Pro Tour back in 2013, where Geert Steurs took home an 8th place.
With a very poor track record and a team that isn't really suited for a demonic hard race with a lot of altitude, length and two maraton cobbled sectors in the finale we will just hope for a somewhat respectable finish. Our best chance for a decent result is likely to attack the race and hope for the hills to make a selection that the best riders can't bridge until it's too late. Riders like Kortsidakis and Miltiadis might be our best bets. Nothing is expected however except for some riders finishing the race.
Expected points: 30-60pts
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
While the Strada isn't of our likings, this czech race has been much kinder to us in the past. Phinney has won the race 6 times in a row, so the first spot isn't available, but the secondary resuts are. Vlatos was 2nd here back in 2018 levelling Coppels 2nd place from the year before. Vlatos was also a top 10 figure last season, but missed out in both 2019 and 2020. So it is a race that can go in different directions for us.
With Vlatos as our main GC threat, we can't hope for anything but a slow and fixed stage 2 and 4. Also having Coquard here we will definately fight to keep it that way aswell. This has sometimes helped Vlatos position himself towards the front - but ever so often he simply doesn't have the strength to keep up when the stages are slightly bumpy. We tried to fit Farantakis here as he is a solid TT sprinter, but 4 days as a domestique just wasn't possible when also riding Qatar. Instead Bouglas, Kortsidakis and Karatzios will be there to aid Coquard, while Kiriakidis and Ioannidis have a shot on their own to cover if Vlatos drops. With solid stage favorites for all 4 stages and an outside chance for a decent GC result, we have to expect a somewhat decent outing.
Expected points: 125-175pts
Ronde van Nederland
The difficult dutch sprinters classic tends to go towards the more endurant and punchy sprinters, rather than the best pure sprinters - still Coquard has a track record of 12th last season and 10th in 2019. Koretzky finished 8th last season and 10th in 2020. So while we are by no means favorites for this race - our duo threat could mean business.
On paper we come to support Coquard as there's two good stages for him, and then the possibility to survive on the final stage, if things doesn't go too crazy. Coquard showed in Paris-Nice that his climbing form is good, when he survived the difficult stage 7. The composition of the stage was different, but maybe a good benchmark can do the trick. Clement Koretzky is fast aswell, but not fast enough to win the stages. So he will instead attempt to take part in the train for Coquard on stage 1 and 2 - maybe getting his own chances on stage 1. And then on the final stage he will be let lose to attempt to improve his GC position even if that might compromise the chances of Coquard ever so slightly. For once Coquard has Farantakis here to lead him out, which worked decent in Qatar and if Farantakis can sneak into the top 10 once or twice he too has a shot at fighting for a decent GC. Other than that it's the more punchy riders like Lafay, Vila and Morin who are here to aid Koretzky while Koumpetsos is a decent hybrid, and Kortsidakis will be the locomotive on the flat. We expect a top 10 and some good stage results here, but similar sprinters are better in the hills and might take advantage of that.
Expected points: 125-175pts
Macskako Kerekparverseny
The glory days are quickly over, and we move back into the land of the cobbles. This time the Hungarian Macskako Kerekparverseny - Seriosuly though - That name?... Well, regardless of tripping over the name, we are likely to trip over the cobbles aswell. The race is more classical cobbled, and in all seriousness that does kinda make sense for our riders.
Last season Karatzios had a stellar cobbled race win, and if we should isolate one race in which he could do somewhat decent, this is probably it. It finishes on some very difficult and relatively steep cobbles which takes out his horrendous sprint. But let's be honest - he probably won't be anywhere near the front to make use of that. Kortsidakis and Stavrakakis is yet again the best option for some succes beside Karatzios. A bit of depth and a top 25 is probably what we can take away here.
Expected points: 30-60pts
Ronde van Vlaanderen
A new race - a new nothing. This time though it's a historical race, the mythical Ronde van Vlaanderen which have been part of the Man-Game universe since the very beginning.
Just like other cobbled races it's Karatzios that leads the way, Kortsidakis and Stavrakakis that try to do something and well - that's about it.
Expected points: 30-60pts
E3 Prijs
Well, at this point you can call the race what you want - I think you get the point. Another cobbled race, is another race without expectations. Maybe I should consider signing a top cobbler next season until Kortsidakis is ready to lead the way.
0 pointer? Nah, we expect atleast 6 riders to survive, maybe 1 can do a little bit.
Expected points: 30-60pts
Overall expectations:
A realistic scenario is that we will score somewhere around 400 points, despite riding 6 races. We really need to make the most of the two GC races otherwise things can begin looking very dire, very fast. Luckily we have two good months behind us, so we can't sink into a position that's impossible to get back from - but can we survive this month and still sit somewhere safe in the middle of the PT rankings we are very very satisfied.
Races: Volta a Portugal Copenhagen-Malmo TTT Tirreno - Adriatico Paris - Nice Classique du Grand-Duché Milano San Remo
Volta a Portugal:
Going for a long GC race in Portugal we decided to bring some of the firepower we have in terms of GC with Mavrikakis and Spanopoulos. There was no Chiarello here which would have been rather obvious. Unfortunately for him we had other races where we expected more from him. Instead we decided to bring Koretzky in an attempt to take advantage of the numerous punchy looking stages. Mavrikakis fared well in the hills keeping him relatively close to the front, while Koretzky unfortunately had to settle for minor points taking 4th in the hilly stage 4. Kastrantas also landed a couple of points from a succesful breakaway on stage 6, but it was Spanopoulos who managed to create the best result getting 3rd on the 7th stage TT, moving him well up the GC.
On the final stage of the race, Mavrikakis joined the large break, and was the strongest. He was alone with 12km to go, but unfortunately the gap was too small. He did however manage to stay inside the front group, while Spanopoulos was in the next. They would go on to pick up respectable GC positions in 16th and 19th respectively.
We came to the race expecting between 100-150 points, but we only barely made the minimum. A little bit more luck and we would have come close to the high end of the spectrum!
Actual Points: 106pts
Copenhagen-Malmo TTT:
It was a beautiful sunny day from Copenhagen to Malmo, when the annual TTT event was held in the early parts of Februay. Well done Scandinavia! We came with an outside bet to secure a top 10, but the bookies had us at 12-13th.
It was pretty obvious that we were not going to fight for a top 5, but the battle for top 10 was tight. In the end we missed the goal by a single second. Still, it's a learning game for us, and this is definately a discipline in which we can expect drastic improvement over the years.
We expected between 35-60 points, and just like in Portugal we were inside the expectations. Not much more.
Actual Points: 45pts
Tirreno - Adriatico:
The Tirreno - Adriatico was among the tripple-header, and just like every other team we had to find our way through without making too much nonsense of one of the races. The hilly TT GC race didn't look appealing to Koretzky so we decided to go for Spanopoulos, Ioannidis and Kiriakidis. Due to an early TTT we also decided to send Farantakis, Vlatos and the best domestiques for a TT setup possible. That surely paid off. From an 11th place in CPH-Malmo we jumped to 6th here, missing the 2nd place by a mere second.
The result ensured that Farantakis could charge into the leaders jersey, however, when he absolutely detroyed all competition on stage 2, and thus landing his only 2nd ever stagewin. From there on it went downhill though. 5th on stage 3 was enough for Farantakis to keep both the lead and the sprinters jersey, and Ioannidis did brilliant to finish 13th on the hilly stage 4, where also Kiriakidis did amazing to finish 21st.
For a while it looked like a super race for us, but unfortunately the team had a collapse on stage 5 to completely destroy all dreams of a good GC result. Not only did Ioannidis and Kiriakidis drop 8 minutes, Spanopoulos did too. So it didn't help much when Kiriakidis performed a beastly 3rd place on the final TT. The damage was done. Still we managed to beat our expected pointstally of 80-130 points!
Actual Points: 145pts
Paris - Nice:
While Tirreno-Adriatico was a bit up and down, Paris-Nice was up most of the way. It started on a low though when Coquard messed up another prologue to finish 25th. But it was close enough to the front for him to come charging away with the lead after a great stagewin on stage 2 - And 3!
Bouglas yet again showed that on the right days he is a dream, and he took home 6th on stage 2 - at one point even looking like making 2nd. He also made the top 10 on stage 3. While it didn't go just as great on the remaining part, Coquard still managed to take 2nd place on stage 5, and even more impressive a 3rd place on the very difficult stage 7.
Chiarello unfortunately had a bad race, dropping remarkably large amount of time on stage 4 and 6, so it didn't matter that he actually did OK on the final TT. Still 16th does give a bit of points, and with Coquards point jersey the tally was way above expectations. We expected between 125 and 175 points. We got almost 300!
Actual Points: 292pts
Classique du Grand-Duché:
The luxembourgian hilly classic often has been a good one for Clement Koretzky and this time was no different. He fought well, and attacked the front. Under the 1km mark he was the only one to follow Miguel Angel Lopez. But the attack was too hard for him.
But it didn't matter much. Kastrantas had served Koretzky well to be in a good situation, and he rode cleverly towards the line when people attacked and cracked besides him. Kastrantas managed 5th and while Koretzky did suffer, he didn't explode and landed 7th. Good in it's own right.
We came to the race expecting something like 80-130 points, but once more we broke the barrier scoring a massive 200 points.
Actual Points: 208pts
Milano San Remo:
With a solid team we came with the ambition to take a top 10. Much like always the race had different moments, where different rider types had their shine, but Coquard is usually a good man for the late charge. This time was no different!
A brilliant 4th place finish in the charge towards the line was very good. Even if he didn't quite catch the powerhouses rolling away to the line.
We came expecting a top 10 and a pointscore of 100-150, but again did better!
Actual Points: 182pts
Overall expectations:
With no races in the path of underperformance we quite clearly are inside the acceptable level. We expected to finish between 520-800 points, but ended up shattering the expectations by an even bigger margin than in January! What a way to go!
I know a manager who was afraid of relegation before the start of the year... guess who?
In all seriousness, your sprinters have been doing an amazing job so far, and I wouldn't be surprised if Coquard was on track for a new personal record - at least PpRD-wise, given the RD reduction. Farantakis has been quite farantastic as well so far, guess it's just a matter of time for him to reach god level as well
As always, I really enjoy following your HQ, and it would have been so sad to lose you - glad you're still here, and even doing so well
Fabianski wrote:
I know a manager who was afraid of relegation before the start of the year... guess who?
In all seriousness, your sprinters have been doing an amazing job so far, and I wouldn't be surprised if Coquard was on track for a new personal record - at least PpRD-wise, given the RD reduction. Farantakis has been quite farantastic as well so far, guess it's just a matter of time for him to reach god level as well
As always, I really enjoy following your HQ, and it would have been so sad to lose you - glad you're still here, and even doing so well
Thanks a lot mate - I really appreciate that!
Indeed I was afraid of relegation, but I did make an expectation where we made it between 10-15 if I'm not mistaken. I still think that's the most realistic scenario. We will probably score an average of 40 points in the cobbled races - unfortunately we have quite a few this season due to band selection. This month is a tough one for us, where we can quickly look very bad. Neither Praha nor Nederlands is really great for us. They could be good, but they could just as easily be write-offs.
Coquard did amazing so far. 620 points if I'm not mistaken after just 2 months (4 races). He has another 7 races this season. March will be decisive in regards to beating his record PPrD as he is riding both GC races. The remaining one day races are all looking pretty good for him, but you know. He could win or he could get 10th. Those races are a bit random tbh.
Farantakis is at 212 points right now, just about half of what I expect from him. He's mainly riding his own chances where Coquard is elsewhere so I suspect he will be a top 5 candidate more often than not - but not in oneday races. I think it's realistic for him to score 4-500 points, if he can win a couple of stages.
Now we need to get March over with, and then it's more allround results that is needed.
redordead wrote:
Is there ever a month when you don't exceed the expected points total?
Most of them are inside the margin of expectation - which is what should happen. I think there's an equal amount (very limited) of over and underachievements if we look back
But I'm surely happy it's so far above expectations. Maybe my expectations have just gotten too low, not having a similar amount of top heavy leading as in the past.
Races: Strada Appia Antica Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha Ronde van Nederland Macskako Kerekparverseny Ronde van Vlaanderen E3 Prijs
After a couple of strong months it would likely be "back to earth" in a month with 4 cobbled races and just a few outside chances in races that semi-suited out team, such as Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha and Ronde van Nederland. In order to avoid a major setback we needed to provide a reasonable result in atleast one of those, preferably both!
Strada Appia Antica:
The difficutl Italian cobbled race, didn't suit us well on paper - and didn't surprise either. There was no mention of our presence in the preview, nor the race, but still 58th from Kortsidakis and 102nd from Karatzios was dissapointing. We came with low expectations, but due to the fact that all 8 riders actually survived the course we came out with a result inside the expected.
Actual Points: 40pts
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha:
Prague is a great city, and has offered a good share of results for us in the past. This time was different though. Vlatos started out with a very solid 2nd place in the opening prologue, but he had a disastrous result in the long TT to make this a very bad race for him - again!
The sprint on stage 2 was messed up in our organization, which led to Bouglas being our go to guy. 8th was OK, but with Coquard present in the race - not really enough.
Kiriakidis had an OK ITT, which saw him just outside the top 20, but 2nd in U25, which would add a decent amount of points. Coquard finished 2nd in the final sprint also adding some points to an otherwise underwhelming race. The points added here and there though ended up in a decent "middleground" of our expectations.
Actual Points: 150pts
Ronde van Nederland:
After a Praha only barely scraping through we needed a big race in the Netherlands, and we did bring everything we had in order to achieve some succes.
Coquard landed 3rd in the first stage, and despite a somewhat dissapointed manager looking at a 5th place on stage 2, it was enough to claim the leadersjersey aswell as the pointsjersey. So accumulated it was a solid outing from Coquard. We didn't know what to expect going into the final stage though, as on paper it would be too difficult for Coquard.
But rather than trying to ride defensively, Coquard decided to join what he rated as the winning move with riders such as Sagan, Kelderman, Gidich and Mohoric with 10km to go. The move didn't stick, but Coquard was now in a brilliant position to stay with the winning group and thus saving a very solid GC.
The sprint was perfectly chaotic for Coquard to show that he is a strong sprinter - and when only Gaviria beat him to the line he could celebrate equally to the colombian as he had claimed the win!
Coquard also took home the points GC to make this a very very good race for us. We expected somewhere in the region of 150 points, but came home with 435!
Actual Points: 435pts
Macskako Kerekparverseny:
Moving away from the flat territory and back to the cobbles, we could see our team once more move towards the back of the line. Macskako was no different.
Actual Points: 40pts
Ronde van Vlaanderen:
The Ronde can Vlaanderen has been OK to us in the past, but Karatzios is a shadow of his own self, and while we did land two riders in top 50, we also lost a rider on the course, so the points were nothing.
Actual Points: 45pts
E3 Prijs:
The E3 Prijs was the final race of the month, and we are now also close to the end of the cobbled section of the calender. It was another nothing, of course.
Actual Points: 45pts
Overall expectations:
We came with limited expectations to this month, due to the amount of cobbles, and in the cobbles we didn't surprise anyone. Not a single respectable result in 4 races. The Praha race didn't exceed expectations either, but Coquard shattered all expectations in the Netherlands to give us a 3rd consequtive month of great results! We came to the month expecting between 370-590 points, but ended up exceeding it by 165 points. Very very important overperformance from Coquard so far in a season where neither Koretzky nor Vlatos has really woken up just yet.
After the month of March the season is aproximately 1/3 over, and it seems like a good place to evaluate the first quarter of the year. We are fully aware of the fact that an evaluation pre-GT season is always a bit off, but it does give an indication of what we have seen so far - and what to somewhat expect.
Prior to the season we came with the expectation of landing 5.075 points, with an outside shot of exceeding towards 5.250 points. This is our benchmark for this evaluation/expectation. Let's break it into the same categories as before the season.
Rider name
Exp. Pts
Exp. PPrD
Actual PPrD
Projection
Difference
W. Chiarello
600
10,9
8,7
480
-120
M. Giannoutsos
250
4,0
1,8
113
-137
M. Mavrikakis
250
3,9
4,5
288
38
I. Spanopoulos
150
2,2
3,3
230
80
Total
1250
-139
Our GC riders haven't peformed well so far - atleast not our top candidates Chiarello and Giannoutsos. That being said, it's very limited what they have ridden so far and with the Grand Tours upcoming we hope to see them steal some breakaway points, KOM points or something similar to make the most of their free roles. Mavrikakis and Spanopoulos seem to be on the trail, while only Chiarello is very far behind. Still, we look to lose ground here with aproximately 150 points missing in the end.
Rider name
Exp. Pts
Exp. PPrD
Actual PPrD
Projection
Difference
C. Koretzky
750
16,7
7,6
342
-408
A. Miltiadis
100
1,5
1,5
99
-1
C. Kastrantas
100
1,3
10,6
806
706
E. Morin
75
1,3
4,0
228
153
A. Vila
75
1,3
1,5
86
11
V. Lafay
75
1,2
1,2
75
0
Total
1175
461
On paper it looks significantly better in the hills, but taking a look at Koretzky things start to look a bit worrying. At this point last season he was FAR above the expected level, but this time he's trailing quite drastically. With a significant amount of one day races still ahead of him, he should be able to close the gap somewhat, but we need a good ardennes campaign - otherwise the +450point gap here could well end up in the negative. The fact that we are this far ahead lies simply with Kastrantas who has hardly ridden any stages, but finished 5th in Grand-Duché to make for some overwhelming figures. We seem to have shot a bit low in regards of the domestique riders Morin, Vila and Lafay which can close a bit of the gap for Koretzky, and it also seems like Kastrantas - even with a bad final part of the season - will score significantly higher than anticipated. So we should end up with a little bit in the positive, but not 450 pts.
Rider name
Exp. Pts
Exp. PPrD
Actual PPrD
Projection
Difference
P. Vlatos
300
6,0
4,8
241
-59
N. Ioannidis
200
3,1
2,0
131
-69
I. Kiriakidis
150
2,2
6,4
439
289
Total
650
161
Vlatos has been alarmingly bad this season, but we did expect him to struggle compared to last season, as we saw this season had a high focus on TT riders, so he's still close to the path expected. Ioannidis unfortunately has had a pretty bad start to the season, but Kiriakidis helps the group, mostly due to his strong U25 campaign so far. We do expect this group to fare better than we initially anticipated, and the ~150pts we are currently over is probably a reasonable assumption of the final verdict.
Rider name
Exp. Pts
Exp. PPrD
Actual PPrD
Projection
Difference
B. Coquard
900
23,1
38,8
1512
612
S. Farantakis
400
7,3
12,1
663
263
G. Bouglas
100
1,4
2,0
143
43
Total
1400
918
If the abovementioned stats has become slightly worrying read, this group is making amends for the rest. Especially Coquard with his monstrous 1000 point score already have lifted and already high expectation to a possible new record season. And what a season to pick! The one season where we really need him to stand out and help the team he delivers. The 400 point expectation from Farantakis was a bit ambitious I think, but it seems well on the way of being correct. He's slightly over expectations right now, but after a Grand Tour it's likely to drop - unless he has a great one. Bouglas too has been slightly overperforming despite not really having chances for himself just yet. I do expect him to maybe even further expand the difference between expectation and reality. Coquard is probably fading a bit, but we have already reached the pre season expectation, so everything from here is a +. Brilliant stuff!
Rider name
Exp. Pts
Exp. PPrD
Actual PPrD
Projection
Difference
G. Karatzios
150
3,3
1,5
66
-84
M. Kortsidakis
150
2,5
2,1
129
-21
G. Stavrakakis
75
1,2
1,7
109
34
Total
375
-71
No need to stay positive for too long, though. Our cobblers have been devastating to follow. We didn't exactly have great expectations - but they are far below it still. What we can say positively here is, that the low ambitions also makes for a low potential loss if they can't perform. Kortsidakis is close to his par, but Karatzios is almost done with his calender and he has been utterly dissapointning, often close to 100th in cobbled races, with no aggressive riding at all. I hope that one of these guys can bring home some lucky side results to get us back on track, but realistically we are seeing a loss of 75-100 points here.
Rider name
Exp. Pts
Exp. PPrD
Actual PPrD
Projection
Difference
A. Koumpetsos
50
0,8
1,0
61
11
J. Nsengimana
50
0,6
1,7
131
81
L. Delco
50
0,9
4,8
271
221
J. Kelly
50
0,7
2,1
154
104
A. Agrotis
25
1,6
3,2
51
26
Total
225
442
The domestiques without any personal ambitions for the season, however seem to cover the lost of the above. We do have to keep in mind that a lot of racedays will be wasted for likely 0-8 points in the Grand Tours. So the 450 points in + is likely to end up somewhat on par in the end. But I don't expect these low figures not to be broken. Only Agrotis might end up below - despite very low expectations. But this is due to him only riding 16RD in total.
Conclusion:
If we look solely at numbers we are faring 1.772 points in the positive, seeing us ending up with 6.847 points which is in the higher spectrum of the top 10 (maybe as high as 5th), and far from relegation danger, while if we make the realistic measures, we will probably end up around 5.500-5.700 points, which is still far above expectations, and should mean survival, but is somewhere outside the top 10. We are not trusting data enough to moving our expectations into the 5.500-6.000 area, but we feel that the numbers conclude that we aren't likely to end up with only 5.075 points either as we are halfway there. So we have decided to up our expectations to 5.250 points, which was the high end spectrum prior to the season.
So many cobbles - oh so many cobbles! Luckily March is over, and despite the cobbles it was alright in the end. Unfortunately April starts out by even more cobbles, in the Hell of North - but it is also time for something new entirely. Grand Tour!
Races: Paris-Roubaix Giro d'Italia GP Liechtenstein Roma Maxima Veenendal - Veenendal Amstel Gold Race
Squads:
6 races, with a very different approach see us bringing every single rider of the team, except for Vlatos. We will see climbers, puncheurs, cobblers and sprinters in this month. March was not good on paper, but the end result was solid anyway. We have some mixed feelings about this month, but also some interesting thoughts as to what could potentially happen.
Paris-Roubaix
Having recently showed on 4 consequtive occasions that we cannot cobble, this very long and very endurant cobbled race is a nightmare for us to complete. We don't have a very good track-record either, so it is likely one to forget.
As always we look towards our trio of Karatzios, Kortsidakis and Stavrakakis. On paper the race is better for the two former, but in particular Karatzios has been far below expectations this season. Like always we bring Miltiadis as our 4th rider, aswell as some riders who need development on a high level race. We expect nothing.
Expected points: 30-60pts
Giro d'Italia
The first Grand Tour of the season is always intruiging, and this time is obviously no different. What you'll see from us, however is something new. The first ever race consisting of only greek riders will take place in one of the biggest scenes possible here at the Giro d'Italia, and we can't wait to see how that onfolds. We don't have big ambitions towards a good GC position, but we hope to be visable throughout the race, and who knows what is possible.
Let's go through the setup. We bring a joint leadership in Mavrikakis and Giannoutsos. The latter is also eligeble for U25, and we hope to see them be very aggressive. In terms of U25 we are pretty solid representated with also Kiriakidis, Vila and Stavrakakis joining the race. The latter two is mainly for support, while Kiriakidis is on a somewhat free role. Ioannidis is also here as a solid allrounder, who will help out with the TTT, while Kastrantas is here as our early breakaway specialist. He had a super start to the season when picking up 5th in the Grand-Duché, so we hope to see him continue to do so. For the sprints we have Farantakis here, and we expect him to be among the top 5 sprinters. As we don't have a sprint setup for him, though, we need him to play it cool in order to achieve some succes.
Expected points: 200-300pts
GP Liechtenstein
During the Giro we also find the usual climbing horrorshow of GP Liechtenstein. Unlike in the past we don't have a pre-race favorite in form of either Spilak, Ricco, Contador or Lecuisinier, so we are not going to see the team close to the front.
That being said, it's time for Chiarello to show his true strength, as he joins forces with Spanopoulos as outside top 10-15 options for the day if they find the climbing legs. On a good day Miltiadis too can fight for a top 30, but we are mainly here for experience.
Expected points: 60-80pts
Roma Maxima
The Roma Maxima will be a first for us - but not a pleasant first. While Stavrakakis is in elsewhere in Italy for the Giro route, we only bring 2/3 of our strongest suited riders here.
Karatzios and Kortsidakis for the win. Right? No expectations really, and with the race being a PTHC race we could end up like another 0 pointer like we did in Franceville. But that would be bad!
Expected points: 20-40pts
Veenendal - Veenendal
Veenendal is a bumpy flat ride, which has often been won by strong men rather than the fastest sprinter in the bunch. That being said we still hope for a good race.
Bryan Coquard has had a great season so far, and this one is another all for one-type of race. Coquard brings his usual team with him, althought Farantakis is in Italy. This is also the reason why Farantakis doesn't have any helpers with him. Bouglas as the leadout rider and Kortsidakis, Karatzios, Kastrantas and Koumpetsos to put the hammer down. We can't always control the attackers, but we hope to be able to fight for the win.
Expected points: 100-150pts
Amstel Gold Race
Time to kickstart the ardennes right at the end of the month, and while Amstel hasn't provided Koretzky with glory in the past we need him to deliver.
Koretzky obviously our go-to-guy here, but the past 5 season, this hasn't been his race. 14th, 27th, 10th, 20th and 29th are the results from the past 5 seasons. The best result would be acceptable, but we really need him to fight in that area.
Expected points: 90-120pts
Overall expectations:
Overall it isn't a great looking month for us, but there is enough diversity to hopefully see us somewhat succesful here and there. Prior to March, we would have expected that to bee the worst month so far - but as we did fairly well, we could see April close to as "bad" as March. A lot obviously is up to the Giro d'Italia!
Tour of Tasmania
Tour of Qatar
Franceville Classique
Volta a Portugal
Copenhagen-Malmo TTT
Tirreno - Adriatico
Classique du Grand-Duché
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
Ronde van Nederland
Macskako Kerekparverseny
Ronde van Vlaanderen
J. Kelly
GP Liechtenstein
