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[PCT] Xero Racing '22
AbhishekLFC
Make that five? Pfft

Was expecting your team to be higher up the table at this stage of the season. Hope the rest of the races can bring better luck after the last two horrendous results.
 
jandal7
A fifth reply

i.imgur.com/ImSy259.jpg

AbhishekLFC wrote:
Was expecting your team to be higher up the table at this stage of the season. Hope the rest of the races can bring better luck after the last two horrendous results.

Me too man. Thanks for the support Grin
Spoiler
Some wonky results and the lack of depth or any breakaway hunting has been a killer and, though it's hard to blame him, Areruya not dotting every i and crossing every t means he can't just drag the rest of the team kicking and screaming to the promotion fight. So now the big hope is TOA which means rooting against you SadPfft
 
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jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

Critérium du Dauphiné Libere
14th-24th of May | Top 5 Team Goal | PTHC
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Profiles/mg_dauphine.jpg

One of our four races this year with a Team Goal was the Criterium du Dauphine. We didn't necessarily expect a Top 5 to be easy for George Bennett, but a weaker-than-expected startlist gave us great hope, despite the presence of a prologue and an ITT.

In a prologue which saw huge gaps for such a short stage, Bennett lost almost a minute - not a great start! Our loanee Regan Gough punched above his weight and took 11th on the stage, following it up with a Top 20 in the sprint on the second day and moving to a temporary fifth overnight on GC.

i.imgur.com/VfJGFtF.jpg

The PT teams present might not have known about it, but the PCT ones will have known for years now that Stage 3's hilltop finish was perfectly suited to George - he's made a trademark off of it. Nikiema, also a fast finisher uphill, put him in position and Mr. Xero opened up the sprint with 500m to go.

i.imgur.com/KniIspv.jpg

And nobody could pass him, proving again he's one of the best in the business on this kind of finish. A fantastic stage victory, and Nikiema added to it by coming 5th himself!

Stage 4's ITT saw Bennett improve from 176th to 55th in terms of placement on the day from the prologue, but still lost three and a half minutes to stage winner Mattia Cattaneo and around three minutes to many other contenders.

i.imgur.com/pzQErla.jpg

Into the snow and the Alps they went and Bennett was a very solid 6th, part of the first group behidn the major favourites. If it wasn't for the time trial kilometres this would be enough for him to target the Top 5 positions, but we would need more than that in the next two days, with him sitting 12th on GC, those three minutes down on the Top 5. On the undulating Stage 8 he didn't find the space to attack and lead the favourites group home in 13th behind the breakaway, moving to 9th in the GC as some riders were dropped.

Far from an awful race but the lack of pure HI/MO races this year means that this kind of mediocre GC result really seems like his ceiling for a lot of his calendar - however the stage win and good mountain form make this a promising showing ahead of the Tour of America.

1Justo TenorioMOL Cycling Team25h55'15
2Mattia CattaneoMinions - Subwoolfer+ 24
3Joseph DombrowskiGazelle+ 1'28
9George BennettXero Racing+ 5'04
54James FoucheXero Racing+ 25'32
76Henri Tesfaye HaudepinXero Racing+ 33'03
91Bachirou NikiemaXero Racing+ 36'33
116Salim KipkemboiXero Racing+ 46'16
129Ilan Van WilderXero Racing+ 53'52
136Corbin StrongXero Racing+ 55'39
153Regan GoughXero Racing+ 1h09'27
 
redordead
Seems about right, of course the stage win makes things a lot better.

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"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
 
jandal7
redordead wrote:
Seems about right, of course the stage win makes things a lot better.

Stage win was a cool moment indeed. Yeah given the ridiculous gaps of ITTs the last couple of game editions I guess this is close to Bennett's ceiling now (5th best rider in the road stages at TDF = 13th on GC comes to mind) in any race with an ITT which is a shame. Guess I should be moving away from pure punchy climbers given that the calendar, ITT gaps and high OVLs all combine to seem to make them not worth it...
 
Nemolito
Sucks to miss out on a sponsor goal. Apart from the ITT's it seems like he did have a very good race indeed. I hope Bennett can get some revenge in ToA, and still give you a positive feeling about his season Smile
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jandal7
Nemolito wrote:
Sucks to miss out on a sponsor goal. Apart from the ITT's it seems like he did have a very good race indeed. I hope Bennett can get some revenge in ToA, and still give you a positive feeling about his season Smile

Really excited for ToA indeed, our first time there as a team and to do it with GB will be very cool, hope he can do well.
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

Tour of South Africa
17th-26th of May | Top 5 + Stage Win Race Goal | C1
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Profiles/t1_southafrica.jpg

In our three years of our previous PCT stint, we always got up for our home race in South Africa, with stints in yellow from Debesay, Roux, and Houle, 2nd and 4th on GC for Houle, and a Top 10 for Roux, both of them winning the points jersey, and four stage wins between the trio, with at least one in every edition. In our return to the race, we brought an actually good TTT squad in order to help Houle chase basically the only thing left for us to do here: winning the GC.

i.imgur.com/6U81BqL.jpg

He was a big favourite for the lighter stages and somewhat dissapointed with 4th on the opening day, followed by losing a minute already on day 2. Habtemichael took over GC leadership as he made the 16-rider selection, moving him into a tie for the U25 lead. Our continued furthered with Houle too tired to sprint on Stage 3.

i.imgur.com/X5fQXUx.jpg

The team impressed in the TTT on Stage 4, which in 2019 and 20 was what stopped us winning the GC with Houle. For a time we were on the hot couch and Habtemichael in the virtual GC lead, but we ended up 2nd on the stage, and Habtemichael in 3rd on GC, our best ever TTT result. Don't tell the Evonik manager we sold out.

i.imgur.com/zJ6JyIp.jpg

Habtemichael unfortunately was dropped on Stage 5, and despite almost making the tail of the front group, they were adjudged to have a small gap to the last rider in it - unfortunately due to how strung out it was, that was a nearly two-and-a-half minute gap to the front of the group.

i.imgur.com/6ukXcsf.jpg

Houle only mustered up a third place on the final stage to compound a dour race for him and the team. What a shame the year we finally put it together in the TTT we can't repeat our usual success on the road stages. Apologies to the home fans.
1Bruno BorgesIndosat Ooredoo22h49'11
2Alex AranburuCarlsberg - Danske Bank+ 1'16
3Aidan Van NiekerkProject: Africa+ 1'24
17Daniel HabtemichaelXero Racing+ 4'59
35Hugo HouleXero Racing+ 11'10
46Johann Van ZylXero Racing+ 12'54
79Jamalidin NovardiantoXero Racing+ 22'43
89Florian VermeerschXero Racing+ 25'09
112Morne Van NiekerkXero Racing+ 30'20
141Nils SchomberXero Racing+ 1h03'33
145Darren YoungXero Racing+ 1h08'30
 
Laurens147
I would have loved to see you get a good result in South Africa, what a shame! Sad
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
 
jandal7
Laurens147 wrote:
I would have loved to see you get a good result in South Africa, what a shame! Sad

Yeah it would have been awesome to come back there and perform like we have in the past but I think much like in Cheshire last year we were due an underperformance after three great ones from 18-20 Grin
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

Apex Mountain Classic
27th of May | Win Race Goal | C1
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Profiles/mg_apexdh.jpg

A long mountainous classic, George Bennett was a consensus second tier favourite, right behind Padun - more a rival of Areruya than Bennett in previous years, but still somebody the team would love to get one over after our many battles!

i.imgur.com/lHAOHta.jpg

The young American Sepp Kuss looked to bring his freedom to the Great White North by escaping the pack, and Bennett was looking strong and attentive, matching his move which split the peloton in a big way. 32 riders left and Habtemichael didn't make the cut, leaving our leader to fight for himself.

i.imgur.com/PCIwe3p.jpg

However that was little concern, as not long after Padun made a counterattack, and Bennett was the only one who could follow, setting up what looked like it could be a one-on-one showdown on the road to Apex Mountain!

i.imgur.com/zwNrY21.jpg

With still 8km to go on the climb, they were caught by a select group, but Bennett then launched his own powerful move and got some solo separation!

i.imgur.com/DUQlt6r.jpg

Fernandez, the last remaining domestique, reeled George back but as soon as he was caught he was off again!

i.imgur.com/g8SN7ff.jpg

This time it stuck, and Bennett was solo for the rest of the climb as the group splintered behind him. Padun marked himself as the strongest and caught Bennett just before the summit.

i.imgur.com/yare0Uy.jpg

No time to admire the gorgeous vistas of British Columbia as the duo descended to a sprint finish. With 4km to go Kuss was shutting the gap with some maverick downhill riding!

i.imgur.com/AEfo7Nk.jpg

Under the red flag Padun had eked out a sizeable gap while Kuss continued to bear down on Bennett.

i.imgur.com/jr25u86.jpg

As the road flattened Bennett seemed to have a better kick and a bit more in the tank but still had a large gap to close!

i.imgur.com/vgOzvTQ.jpg

And he was shutting it...

i.imgur.com/Emiv405.jpg

All the way to the line, and with a large lunge earned a photo finish, where it was confirmed he took the victory! After a great duel the two could barely be separated, but on the day we think the real winner was cycling, as agreed by the very gracious Popo4Ever manager who acknowledged the strength of Bennett and took the close loss of Padun, who albeit a slightly stronger climber is widely known to be worse in a sprint and a long race, with humility and respect.
Obviously Padun coming 2nd instead of 1st is a way bigger underperformance than Habtemichael coming 79th instead of in the Top 15
Actually no, the real winner was us. Our first classic victory since 2020 and Bennett's first since 2017 (not that he rides lots of classics). He's conquered Canada, now bring on America!

1George BennettXero Racing6h09'08
2Mark PadunTeam Popo4Evers.t.
3Sepp KussMcCormick Pro Cycling+ 8
57James FoucheXero Racing+ 7'11
79Daniel HabtemichaelXero Racing+ 9'51
105Ilan Van WilderXero Racing+ 11'39
112Florian VermeerschXero Racing+ 14'22
129Corbin StrongXero Racing+ 19'29
147Yacine HamzaXero Racing+ 21'44
156Regan GoughXero Racing+ 22'31
 
redordead
Apex was a fun race Smile

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"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
 
jandal7
redordead wrote:
Apex was a fun race Smile

Sure was Grin
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

June Review | Ups and Downs
June had some rough results and some memorable moments, but overall it's not the brightest feeling at Team HQ as we sit well away from our pre-season ambitions of moving somewhere into the outer disband-promotion talk and have only one race in July and no Bennett or Areruya until September.
Rider of the Month
With Areruya moving to within one of the all-time team RoTM record, with two victories it was time for this man to extend his lead once again...

i.imgur.com/Tafmqbe.jpgStriking out for the win - Apex Mountain Classic

George Bennett
Total RoTM Wins | 9
RoTM Wins This Season | 1
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

July Review | Lithuania
July was our second month of the season to only feature one race, the PTHC Tour of Lithuania. Spearheaded by Hugo Houle, we had hope that he could survive the hills to a decent result if we could get our TTT train going as well as in South Africa - but in a PTHC field that's easier said than done!

i.imgur.com/xtddrkv.jpg

He was a very good 5th, 8th and 9th (slightly dissapointing in a sprinting sense but great from a puncheur's perspective!) in the road stages but was let down by the TTT and was only 19th on GC.
Rider of the Month
Naturally...

i.imgur.com/wZt5OtX.jpgIn the mix - Tour of Lithuania

Hugo Houle
Total RoTM Wins | 5
RoTM Wins This Season | 2
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

Benelux Challenge
1st-6th of August | Stage Win + Do Stuff Race Goal | HC
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Profiles/t2_blxchall.jpg

With Stannard, Novardianto and Schomber it was a grabbag team but one we hoped could do some animating of the race.

i.imgur.com/k1u68gB.jpg

An error from the forecasting saw Schomber sent out in the brief rain during the prologue, though he impressed in tough conditions his 4th place wasn't what we came here for. Robert Stannard impressed on the pan flat Stage 2, not his terrain but a Top 10 in the sprint nonetheless!

i.imgur.com/NLsV9Nm.jpg

However that had nothing on his performance the next day. Though his countryman Plapp remained ahead of the peloton from the morning breakaway, our man finished ahead of the rest from his own attack and was arguably deserving of a gap that would have given him the GC lead - instead the group well behind him in this photo got the same time and he moved only to 11th overall. He would lose 5 minutes on the cobbled stage to slip to 21st overall by the end of the race - hardly a bad effort for him. Florian Vermeersch took his first career Top 10 in the final day's sprint as well.

1Stefan KungCrabbe-CC Chevigny21h03'28
2Sam BewleyAmaysim Cervelo+ 2
3Albert KirevaProject: Africa+ 15
21Robert StannardXero Racing+ 7'07
41Jamalidin NovardiantoXero Racing+ 11'13
54Florian VermeerschXero Racing+ 14'07
69Morne Van NiekerkXero Racing+ 18'11
90Yacine HamzaXero Racing+ 23'23
119Ilan Van WilderXero Racing+ 35'26
121Corbin StrongXero Racing+ 35'29
164Nils SchomberXero Racing+ 1h29'07
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

Frankfurt Eschborn
15th of August | Win Race Goal | C1
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Profiles/mg_frankfurt.jpg

A profile which suits Houle very well as shown two years ago with his 2nd place here. A tough one for a flat classic which means he should have something extra in his legs for an attack or a final sprint than the rest.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Reports/C1/Frankfurt/EF%2011.jpg

Houle was involved in a couple of attacks around the 20km mark, eventually getting away with two companions.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Reports/C1/Frankfurt/EF%2013.jpg

With 9km to go the gap was around 20 seconds. Houle went out solo and managed to maintain it as his former companions were caught.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Reports/C1/Frankfurt/EF%2017.jpg

Heartbreakingly he was caught with just 1km to go!

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Reports/C1/Frankfurt/EF%2022.jpg

However the race ended up not being a disaster as a very impressive Tesfaye Hoffman used his local knowledge to time his sprint and finish 6th! Houle hung on to 12th to make this a solid day's outing for us. Disappointed to miss in a winnable race given the weaker field, but could have been worse and great to see Tesfaye continue his form in these races.
1Max KanterTryg - Gobik5h39'58
2Dylan KennettBinances.t.
3Peter VargaTeam Popo4Evers.t.
6Helmut Tesfaye HoffmanXero Racings.t.
12Hugo HouleXero Racings.t.
26Corbin StrongXero Racings.t.
49Morne Van NiekerkXero Racings.t.
52Ilan Van WilderXero Racings.t.
93Jamalidin NovardiantoXero Racings.t.
95Florian VermeerschXero Racings.t.
105Yacine HamzaXero Racings.t.
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

Riga - Jurmala GP
18th of August | Top 5 Race Goal | PTHC
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Profiles/mg_rigajurmala.jpg

A few days later a similar squad travelled a few countries over to Latvia for the Riga - Jurmala GP, another race where we were hopeful for Houle to do well even if it was in a tougher field this time. In a hard race or a late attack he should be attacking the podium or a win.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Reports/PTHC/Riga/RJ%205.jpg

However for maybe the first time ever Houle was caught out by the wind splits in the peloton and inside the final 10km he wasn't in the 65 rider selection!

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Reports/PTHC/Riga/RJ%2020.jpg

However he and the other favourites from that group bridged across and our man even managed to get to the front of the pack and sprint to 10th in the final kilometres - not the result we came for but an impressive salvage job from Houle! Tesfaye Hartmanis negotiated a familiar finale to come home 17th and bring in some more points.
1Bryan CoquardELCO - ABEA4h09'54
2Fernando GaviriaIsostar - Specializeds.t.
3Eduard GrosuHuski Chocolates.t.
10Hugo HouleXero Racings.t.
17Henrijs Tesfaye HartmanisXero Racings.t.
83Yacine HamzaXero Racing+ 1'11
91Florian VermeerschXero Racings.t.
92Jamalidin NovardiantoXero Racings.t.
147Ilan Van WilderXero Racings.t.
153Darren YoungXero Racings.t.
156Morne Van NiekerkXero Racings.t.
 
jandal7
i.imgur.com/4OQVv4J.png

August Review | To Live for the Hope of It All
August was a quiet month - flat classics are always high potential races for us with our riders but sometimes they are quiet ones, and Benelux was not one of our most anticipated races in terms of scoring.

i.imgur.com/FjieN2E.jpg

We did get a victory however, just not in the pros - Florian Vermeersch won a stage of the U23 Tour de l'Avenir while leading out Thomas Pidcock (who ended the race a somewhat disappointing 5th on GC) where he was too strong for the rest of the pack and held on for the win!
Rider of the Month
For his over-performances in the flat classics including a great 6th place...

i.imgur.com/wZt5OtX.jpg
Salvaging our race - Frankfurt Eschborn

Homiyu Tesfaye Heyi
Total RoTM Wins | 1
RoTM Wins This Season | 1
 
AbhishekLFC
Nice result in Frankfurt followed by an ok one in Riga. Hope things pick up Wink
 
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