jandal7 wrote:
Not looking forward to seeing you in ToA - how about you can win every flat stage if Choi just loses 15 minutes on one of them? Excited to see the debut of Tiesj down under!

AbhishekLFC wrote:

I would prefer not winning any flat stage and choi winning by 15 fifteen minutes

jandal7 wrote:

Pretty sure you're sacrificing a lot of points for that

We were completely anonymous the whole race, with no participation in the break, nor could Van Asbroeck get into the thick of things in the sprint. Van Asbroeck finished 20th, which was our only points from this race.

A no-show from Minali on Stage 1 meant we didn't get anything.

Minali was nowhere to be seen on Stage 2 as well but Saya Kuroeda did well to mix it up with the sprinters and come away with a 6th place.

We concentrated on keeping Benoot safe and he repaid with a cool 2nd place finish on Stage 3, and was unlucky not to be given a gap to the peloton at the line!



Benoot rode another strong Stage 4 to finish 9th in the reduced bunch sprint and pick up some important bonus seconds. This moved him up to 2nd in the GC after this stage.

Benoot could not repeat the same on Stage 5, finishing outside the Top 10, and slipping to 4th in the GC.

Minali finally showed up on Stage 6, sprinting to 5th place, to not come back empty handed from this race.

Benoot finished 4th in the GC, with Saya Kuroeda in 36th.

Out first cobbles race of the season and a chance to see the Brothers of Destruction in action as leaders. Saya started of his season quite well in Australia and will hope to continue that here. Van Asbroeck and Minali are both here to help on the cobbles and try their hand in the sprint, if it comes to that.

All in for Benoot in this race, with Velasco as the only real domestique. Despite this, Benoot should be among the top favourites for this race, given his skillset, and we are reallu looking forward to how it goes.

Pretty much the same team as in Omloop with Van Dijke coming in for Minali. Pretty much the same expectations as well.

Our first wildcard race and we have put everything in here including the kitchen sink. This is a race just to have fun though and mess with a few of the PT biggies if possible.

The first real race for Choi as leader, but it's an experimental outing because the profile is not perfectly suited. We wanted to take a chance here, to see if Choi's combination of skills can see him sneak into a good GC position, because no one else in the team really had the skill-set to make an impact here.

The first race we ride with Minali as the out and out leader. He did not do great in TDU, so we hope he can show here. Let's see if Saya Kuroeda can continue his good start from TDU on the flats here.

Fabianski wrote:
Interesting and pretty loaded month for you ahead! Benoot should really be THE man to beat in Portugal, while your lineup for the other cobbled races is pretty strong as well. Great roster for the first wildcard race, too

I think Choi could do a great job in Ukraine; the prologue should suit him well given the uphill second half. Obviously there are better specialists, especially given it's a PTHC race, but I can see him do pretty well there. And with 3 days you aren't taking a huge risk anyway.

Juarez will be a lottery as well, you just have to hope Minali gets the winning ticket there. Probably not the best/most complete sprinter, but that doesn't really matter, you just need to be lucky enough.

Good luck!

Our cobbles team for the season will depend on consistency rather than explosiveness to get points. We did exactly that in this race. While none of our riders could stay with the decisive moves in the closing stages, Shiki, Van Asbroeck and Saya rode their own steady pace to finish 13th, 19th and 20th. Three riders in the Top 20 is better than we came here expecting.

Benoot was top favourite for this race but we know how those kind of things usually work out. While he stayed attentive at the front, we lacked any real support to make the race a hard one. A reduced pack reached the finish behind the late attacking winner, with Benoot taking 5th from the former.



While this was not a disaster, we were definitely hoping for better from this race.

Almost an identical lineup to Omloop but the race turned out to be much harder for the riders here. saya Kuroeda finished 26th to salvage some points and ensure we did not come back empty handed.

This was supposed to be a fun outing as a wildcard team, which it was, but it also a bit boring as Benoot rode under the radar to finish 9th. Eenkhoorn finished 23rd, with three more rider from positions 27 to 31.

We brought Choi to this race hoping the hilly TTs can play to his favour. It worked on Stage 1 as he finished a creditable 7th.



He did not do that well in the second stage though, as the hills were raced too hard. He fell to 18th in the GC as a result. Velasco joined the break and finished 13th.

Choi recovered well in the final stage ITT, getting a 9th place on the stage and rising to 13th in the GC. While this experiment wasn't a resounding success, it wasn't a complete failure either.

Minali showed up on Stage 2 to get a very good 3rd place finish.



He got 11th in the GC courtesy the bonus points he got on that day.

Stoltz joined the break on Stages 3 and 5, and picked up some points to finish 5th in the KOM classification.

Minali has had a hit and miss season so far and we don't expect much from this race, given it is PTHC and will have an even stronger startlist. We hope one of the Kuroedas can take the challenge with a late attack, but maybe that's a bridge too far.

The strongest mountain team possible will start this race for us and it is the only race in the calendar where this will happen! We have a Top 10 goal for this race, which is achievable but will still be a challenge given the kind of startlist that is expected. Eenkhoorn is here to challenge for the U25 classification while Minali will hope to get lucky in the sprints.

Our second wildcard race of the season sees us unable to field as strong a team as we would've liked because of the clash with Strade Bianche. Despite this, we would hope to be visible in the race and maybe create a wave or two.

First hilly classic of the season for Benoot. A moderately strong support team follows him here. We hope he can be competitive and help us forget the ghosts of hilly races past with his perfomance. Raileanu will be an option for us too if the race becomes quite hard.

More of the same for us in cobbles for the season, with the hope that we see more of the Omloop type of performance rather than the Samyn type. The Kuroedas and Van Asbroeck will lead the charge with us not fielding a full squad, as is the case with most cobbles races this season.

We did not join the break, we did not chase, no one was able to make a late dash for the win, and Minali did not show up for the sprint. A nothing race for us.

The flat Stage 1 was a chance for Minali to redeem himself after Great Ocean. He did show up for the sprint but managed 8th in the end.

A very tough Stage 2 saw Choi follow all the right moves and finish in the group behind the lone winner for 4th on the stage and in the GC.



Stage 3 was another hard mountain stage, with Leemreize joining the break this time. Choi was once again very attentive near the front, once even attacking to try to get away with 6 km to go.



It didn't work but he was again able to follow all the moves right up until the end when he lost some time, finishing 7th on the stage but still maintaining his GC spot.

Stage 4 was flat again but Minali decided to take the day off, probably tired from all the climbing on the previous two days.

Back to climbing on Stage 5. Same story as stage 3 with Choi losing some time at the end. But this time, it caused him to fall a place in the GC.

Raileanu and Leemreize joined the break on Stage 6. Neither were strong enough to stay at the front for very long though. Choi finished in the group of favourites behind the successful breakaway to secure 5th in the GC.

Eenkhoorn finished 3rd in the U25s with Leemreize in 5th. They also finished 35th and 41st in the GC respectively, with Raileanu in 49th.

Second wildcard race of the year saw a Kuroeda join the attacks and represent us. We didn't have enough firepower to challenge at the front for the finish.

We did a lot of work at the front with Velasco in support of Benoot. The latter stayed with the lead group all through, following all attacks and riding near the front without to much effort. In the sprint up the hill to the finish, Benoot was able to come through from behind and take 2nd, narrowly missing out the win.

First one Kuroeda attacked and joined the break. Then the other decided to do the same! Unfortunately, the break did not survive and in hindsight, it was not the wisest move to have them both go for it. Van Asbroeck had a weak day as well but McLay was able to hang on to one of the leading groups and win the sprint for 9th place. Not the depth points we were expecting, but realistically, we were not expecting a Top 10 placing either.

Our first of two CT races, and our first look at Barta as a leader. While we don't expect to be competing near the front, we are quietly excited to see how our team, a mix of youth and experience, goes here. We have a sub-top competitor for all stages, with McLay, Henttala and Stoltz looking to be in contention for the sprint, TT and Prologue. We also have Leemreize and Champuossin for the U25s.

Benoot is back as our leader in this race, and we hope he can continue his good run going since the start of the season. Having said this, we know he is probably not expected to be among the top favourites for a race like this, and a top 10 looks like a realistic goal.

Another Benoot race and our expectation remains the same as in Badaling. A slightly changed support squad though, and perhaps a slightly stronger one for a hilly race. We hope this will also help get us a better result here. Hoping to sneak into a Top 5 placing here as a result.