Following our recent report, the team participated in 4 more races during the month of March. Shortly after Geraardsbergen-Bosberg finished, several of the racers there had taken a flight to Singapore to participate in the Jelajah SKL. Technical difficulties prevented teams from getting live results unfortunately, but eventually everything was made available. We've sent Kozhatayev and Robov as our main riders, but little was expected from them considering that the first and last stages were short TT stages and neither are that good at prolouges. In the end Kozhatayev finished 10th overall thanks to finishing with the leading group in Stage 3. Robov, who was in the same group in that stage, finished 20th overall.
Next was a visit to the Basque Country and the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. The race opened with a TTT and despite not sending all of our good TT riders, we've finished as the second best CT team on that stage - on par with fellow promotion fighters Jura. Stage 2 was a relative calm affair, but Brändle managed to finish with the Stage Winner's group as well as in Stage 3. In both instances Robov and another newcommer to the team in the transfer window Flavio De Luna finished with the same time as the experienced Austrian. Stage 4 was an 18.6 km TT which was won by Brändle - his second ITT win for this year. This put the Austrian in Top 5 position, but memories from the Hong Kong Challenge were still lingering as Brändle is more of a mountain climber than a hilly puncheur and the final 2 stages were favoring puncheurs. In Stage 5 Brändle lost 29 seconds - which was fine, while Robov finished in Top 10. In Stage 6 however he lost over 2 minutes, which droped him out of Top 10 overall. Considering that this was a C1 race, 12th from Brändle and 16th from Robov is not that bad considering that the Austrian was the best placed CT rider in this race.
Next was another hilly race - this time was the the Coppa Placci. This time we've decided to experiment with another Austrian - Hermann Pernsteiner, with Brändle as a second option. It was now a gamble to send Brändle to any hilly race, but finishing 25th, 43 seconds behind the winner Daniel Hoelgaard was OK. Robov on the other hand was 34th on nearly 2 minutes behind. But Pernsteiner was the star of the team in San Marino - an attack on the final kilometer saw him just shy of the podium in 4th.
Finally, there was the Lillestrom GP, where the trio of Fenn, Paprstka and Richardson was sent once again to battle with other top cobblers. However, this was a C1 race, meaning that the competition will be much stronger. And as it happened, unlike Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne, the luck was not with us this time with Fenn and Paprstka finishing in the lower part of Top 30.
March was an OK month - while it wasn't anything special, we've managed to get some nice results which will be quite handy for the promotion battle, but we're not alone as there are other team in the CT division, who will be looking to get one of the 5 promotion berths
The BWT Hyundai N Cycling team has returned pretty much empty handed from the last few races, especially in Romandie when the team suffered misfortune from Day 1. And another issue arose on the sponsorship front - BWT announced that they will not be sponsoring the team after the conclusion of this season. The decision to end the cooperation was revealed to be mutual between both parties and that BWT reaffirmed their commitment to see out the current season.
Following the conclusion of the race it was revealed that the team has reached an agreement with the Luxembourg-based finance/investment company Genii Capital for titular sponsorship starting the 2023 MGUCI season. Genii Capital, which was previously an owner of the Renault F1 team, has stated that they wer interested in investing in a MGUCI team.
For now it's unclear if Hyundai will remain on board for 2023, but according to several sources, Hyundai Europe has given a green light to extend the partnership for another year. Further sources tell that the team is filing for registerring the team as Genii x Hyundai N Cycling Team for next year. But this is yet to be confirmed by all parties. It's also unknown whether some of the minor sponsors such as Ionos and DataMap will remain on the team's jersey, but early signs show that they would remain.
Sad to see BWT leave already, but I understand that they weren't quite happy with what they got so far for their money. Luck has definitely not been on your side that much lately - let's hope that the team gets the turnaround already this year! At least the new sponsor will actually fit the team nationality
Let's be honest here, shall we? This team...is not getting promotion. And that's because their manager is so inept at his job that either A) Doesn't know what to do or B) Is generally incompetent in picking up the races and the riders best fit for them and...Oh, we're live? Uh huh? Alrighty then.
So yeah, our promotion aspirations took a severe nosedive and it's unclear if we go up or down afterwards. And after great first 3 months with very great results and a race win (at least we won't be empty handed), the next 2 months were a rude awakening and perhaps a sign of what it is awaiting us in the next months. But was it really that bad? Well, we shall see in this "honest" review.
Last time we've made an extensive review was in March where the team had the second best result for the month after Colombini-Adler Aalterpaint and in 5th place overall. With 5 teams gaining promotion (if all teams continue in the next season), the team was holding the final ticket. But keeping it turns out to be more difficult than obtaining it. And really, it didn't click for us in the entire month of April. Tour of California saw Kozhatayev in the driver's seat and though he finished 5th overall, for the rest of the team it was an immense struggle to get any result that could be considered good. Tormod Jacobsen finishing 7th in the opening prologue was perhaps the only highlight of note other than Kozhatayev's overall performance.
We did not participate in either the Baltic Chain Tour or Tour de Pologne. So therefore Berlin ProRace was our next race - an odd choice, considering that this was C1 race and the team didn't had top sprinter. Max Losch and Momchil Robov finished in the lower Top 25 and considering that other teams within the CT division got riders in Top 10 this race was disappointment. The team didn't race in any other races until the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Sending Matthias Brändle was a really a very odd choice, but the team took the gamble as the final stage was an ITT. However, this was a short TT stage and the gamble failed - Brändle finished all the way down to 16th place.
In the end the team finished 19th for the month, droping down to 8th place overall - over 100 points behind 5th place Caja Rural. And the next few races weren't any better either. In Tour de Romandie the team sent both Kozhatayev and Brändle - the first race where both riders rode together. Despite a great start in the TTT stage - 8th, the rest of the race was a nightmare. While Kozhatayev finished with the peloton, the rest of the team finished over 4 minutes behind in Stage 2 and the remainder of the race was ruined. Further loss in Stage 2 ended any chance of the team ever scoring top result. In the end, 22nd by Kozhatayev was the best the team could do. It was not considered even as a consolation prize by the team.
Tour of Chile was next and with the Romandie disaster still fresh in the team's mind, expectations were relatively low. And Stage 1 saw perhaps one of the most unexpected wins as Momchil Robov outsprinted Munkhtulga Erdenesuren from BNZ and took clean sweep of jersey leads as a result. Stage 2 was quiet one for all riders in the team, though Robov stayed on top in the points standings. Ahmad Zamri was in the breakway in Stage 3 and came close to winning the KoM jersey, but was not close enough and had to settle for 2nd in this classification. Robov ended down in 4th in the points classification - 1 point behind the three-way tie between Joseph Areruya, Nikias Arndt and Orluis Aular. GC wise, nothing spectacular to talk about - Hermann Pernsteiner was the best placed rider in 27th.
Next was the final cobbled race for the team - the 3-stage Tour du Faso. It was the final time where the cobbled quarted of Fenn-Paprstka-Richardson-Losch was considered a top pick. These four had managed to stay in one of the top groups in the three stages. Fenn was the most consistent with two 6th places, finishing 2nd overall. Richardson was 17th overall, Paprstka 21st and Losch 24th. Combined the team was classified 3rd.
The next race for the team was the Olympia's Tour. The team's best TT specialists are also the top climbers and the team only sent its top flat TT'ers - Stoenchev and Tzortzakis. Both finished in top 5 in the opening prologue - Tzortzakis was 2nd and Stoenchev 5th. It stayed this way until the TTT stage after which Tzortzakis droped to 11th and Stoenchev fell to 15th. The final standidngs were 13th for Tzortzakis, while Stoenchev ended in 16th.
The final race in this review is the Hanko Classic - another C1 sprinter race, which was another odd choice as Berlin ProRace. At least there weren't that many CT sprinters in the Top 25, but that's not really warm us in any way.
And this was the "honest" review so far. Unfortunately the chances of us getting promoted via the traditional way (i.e. finishing in Top 5) have almost faded. The goal now is to be between 6th and 8th place, but even that is looking a tall order. Maybe the race selection was botched and didn't take into consideration other factors. But it is what it is.
While getting a result in C1 flat classics is possible, sprints are still random enough. Having a C1 mountain race like Romandie makes even less sense with a 77 MO Kozhatayev as your best option.
There is still around half of the season left though
I definitely get your frustration. Especially the cobblers were rather lame this year - despite his mediocre overall skillset, I expected more from Fenn, who regularly got beaten by even weaker (overall) riders. This is especially surprising given that low Res doesn't seem to hurt other riders at all - but maybe his abysmal Mo stat affects him a lot. The same might be true for Losch, who should also deliver some good results looking at similar sprinters. But well, if you only have one sprinter, chances to get lucky every now or then are reduced...
Seconding red, I guess it's asking too much from Kozhatayev to expect some consistency at C1 level or higher. Of course, he can get lucky from time to time and stay with the best, but the climbers field is so insanely stacked in PCT this year that even Stüssi with 79 Mo is far from granted to have some success. Romandie wasn't a bad try, though, given your good TTT lineup.
And I guess you'll also be in Vancouver and Trentino, where your TTT could help you get some more good results. You just can't expect Kozhatayev to perform at Isostar level anymore, just because nobody other than Croatia knows how Croatia magic works ^^
The month of June had come and gone for the MGUCI season. And for us 3 more races have passed since our last very honest review where the team has gone down the pecking order. And this month wasn't very good either with mostly downs and one huge up.
Let's take a look at the downs first shall we. Tour of Vancouver was a huge letdown for us, but maybe we came in with waaaaay too high ambitions to begin with without knowing what the competition was going to bring. We've brought in the best MO/TT combo team (+ throw Stoenchev and Tzortzakis for some TTT firepower), but yet it was not meant to be. The opening short climb TT was lukewarm at best with Kozhatayev being the best positioned rider in 10th. This was followed up by two Top 5 finishes by Tzortzakis (our best sprinter here). The 4th stage was where everything went wrong and maybe, just maybe we were way too confident. Kozhatayev finished 15th on over 3.5 minutes behind the stage winner with the gap to new leader Sepp Kuss being nearly 4 minutes. It'd had to take either a very bad day for most of the riders or Kozhatayev to switch to Super Sayan mode from now on. Stage 5 was very quiet one even for our designated flat stage general Tzortzakis. On Stage 6 Kozhatayev did enough to be with the leading pack and bumped him up to 6th overall, but considering that both Aru and Ituria were circa 2 minutes ahead only an unhuman TTT would've brought our Kazakh leader in Top 5 (unfortunately we couldn't unlock Isostar Kozhatayev yet). But it was not meant to be as the team finished 2nd, just 8 seconds behind Jura GIANTS, which was insufficient for us in our quest for at least Top 5. Unfortunately we left Vancouver disappointed.
The Apex Mountain Classic was another race we took part it, but we couldn't say anything about it other than "we were there". And with that "participation trophy" out of the way at least there was the Monterrey TTT win to cheer us on. With the same setup as the Vancouver one the team not only won, but crushed any opposition with McCormick being the closest with 45 seconds and Podium Ambition at 55 seconds. We didin't expect to win back-to-back this TTT, but we did.
And what's in store for us in July? Well, we'll try to help Max Losch defend his Uppsala Classic victory (considering that the PCM20 AI is unpredictable as hell, don't have high hopes), the preview for the Isle of Man TT is there which gave us the role of hidden outsiders considering that we have the combo MO/TT pair of Ahmad Zamri and De Luna. Windhoek TTT would be interesting with far tougher competition. And Tour d'Andorra is also around the corner.
Leaks show BWT negotiating with another team before Romandie?
After the Isle of Man 2 Leg TT race where the team scored a pretty decent race journalists were speaking with CEO ivaneurope. However, the topic wasn't the IoM race, but rather some things surrounding one of their sponsors - BWT. It was revealed that conversations between the Austrian company and another team long before BWT's announcement were leaked. The team had been aware from the start that BWT will not continue the partnership beyond 2022. Furthermore he also stated that there are no legal grounds to which the team would even consider terminating the deal.
"BWT are in their right to talk with other teams and we didn't stoped them from doing so in any way, shape or form prior to their announcement earlier in the year. Furthermore, if anyone thinks that these leaks could serve as a reason to end prematurely our partnership, let me reiterate that both parties have agreed to honour the agreement until the end of the season irrespective of what was going on behind the scenes".
He also pointed out that BWT gave the green light to speak with other potential partners such as Genii Capital, which was announced as BWT's replacement. It's also belived that BWT gave their blessing to use the new moniker for next season for the Tour d'Avenir. "We've started talks with Genii Capital long before BWT made their announcement and BWT's directors were OK with it. I'd also thank BWT for allowing us to use the Genii moniker for Avenir"
While it was never specified which team had BWT started talks with, but recent rumours say that it's the Philips - Force India team that's the most likely "secret" team. Earlier in the day the Dutch electronics company announced that they'll end their association with the team dating all the way back to 2017. Neither of the involved parties confirmed or denied this for the moment
Helly Hansen to become the team's new clothing partner
While this was going, ivaneurope also announced that the team has reached a deal with Helly Hansen with the Norwegian outdoor and skiing clothing brand will become the team's new clothing partner. It is believed that the Avenir jersey would be a bespoke one from Helly Hansen. It is also belived that the Norwegian brand wants to supply other teams should they choose to.
July (so far) saw the team compete in two time trail based event. First, it was the Isle of Man TT (formerly known as) Celtic Chrono - a 2 day ITT race, where teams send 3 riders. It wasn't anything to brag for really - Flavio De Luna was the best rider in 9th with Valentin Stoenchev 12th and Muhamma Afif Ahmad Zamri in 24th. The next race however proved to be something no one expected to happen. It was time for yet another TTT race - the Windhoek TTT. While the race in Monterrey was C2 category and thus the win there was expected, the TTT in Namibia was from the upper C1 category, meaning that PCT teams will have no restrictions on what riders they're able to use. And therefore those PCT teams - Cedevita, Zara and Red Bull among others, were expected to be among the favorites with BWT Hyundai being an outsider for a podium finish, let alone the overall win. However, this being a TTT event, teamwork was also improtant - the configuration was the same as the one that took victory in the Moterrey C2 TTT race and second in the TTT final stage from Tour of Vancouver. This was a pretty expereinced unit with success to boot, but expectations were low given the higher category. But no one expected the form to continue.
Heading into the checkpoint halfway through the distance, the team (started 8 of 13) clocked in the fastest time up until that point 28’12 which was 7 seconds faster than one of the favorites in Cedevita and it remained that way when the remaining 5 teams passed the checkpoint. However, the team belived that once the finish line was crossed the favorites would record much faster times and will move up in the rankings. However when the team crossed the finish line the lead to Cedevita increased to 9 seconds. Project:Africa, who were 4 seconds behind BWT in the 1st checkpoint, dropped out of contention after losing further 8 seconds. Glanbia also failed to improve its time, which left Zara - Irizar who were 5 seconds behind on the first checkpoint as the last threat. And even they've lost time. That meant that a Continental team won both Monterrey and Windhoek TTT races.
While this should be a celebration, it also exposed the ugly reality that the team is in - these two wins along with a win from Tomas Paprstka early on in Geraardsbergen - Bosberg are the only wins so far. And all three were one-day events. Other notable results were again from 1-day races. The only exception has been the 2nd place in GC for Kozhatayev in Catalunya, but the rest of the stage races the team has entered were either meh at best or dreadful at worst. And there have been worries that the team may not be able to keep its winning TTT unit intact for the next season and the team has to hope that the riders will sign team friendly deals which is much easier said than done, but that's a story for another time.
Now, what's next - aside from the Uppsala Classic and Tour d'Andorra (which have been delayed), there's the Giro del Trentino where the all conquering TTT unit will be present, Tour of Britain is also a race the team has registered, Tour of America (where unfortunately we won't be with our leades - Pernsteiner is scheduled to be the leader there) as well as GP Lugano. Herald Sun Tour, Euskal Bizikleta and Zuri Metzgete would be the final races for the season
Nice presentation on the sponsor changes, that must be something, after 5 seasons!
And congrats for the great TTT wins! With again a strong win in Trentino, that's something to take.
We'll obviously still "compete" in some other races (the delayed ones, Euskal, Zuri...) even though for some of them, I'm not sure I can say I'll compete to anything
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
The July Rankings have been released the previous day and there something I want to be really honest here. This has created a false hope that we are in the promotion hunt. I mean sure, we're 7th, 55 points behind Bianchi who hold the 5th and final promotion spot. On paper we have slightly better PpRD ratio than the other teams around us and according to the projected final tally (assuming that there will be no changes to the PpRD ratio) gives us provisional 5th place. Which is the final spot that guarantees a promotion.
But we are not making any conclusions yet. And we believe that this projected ranking is deceptive. Why you may ask? Well, for starters the August ranking update has not been completed in which we have participated only in Trentino, while Tour of Britain is in progress, but we don't expect getting that much points there anyway and we as might be getting a bagel from it. Secondly - neither of our GC leaders (that being Kozhatayev and Brändle) would be competing in any races for the remainder of the season save for Brändle competing in the season ending Zuri Metzgete. Not that there were any races that would've suit them anyway and we've already spent their RD quotas before Tour of America.
Aside from Tour of America, we have 4 more races to participate in - GP Lugano where we had Top 10 finish last time thanks to Momchil Robov, Herald Sun Tour, Euskal Bizkleta and the mentioned earlier Zuri Metzgete. We don't know where the other teams will participate, meaning that the chances of us being denied promotion are higher despite early projections.
And our predicament isn't easy at all either. It has been a common thing that some teams from the upper echelons may cease to operate, meaning that more teams from below could have the chance to promote. For teams that are at position 6-10 they may need to have post-season plans for both scenarios - either staying in the same division, or get promoted due to 1 or more teams disbanding. We've been through the second option during our first (and so far only) season in PCT which ended misreably. This time we should be prepared for both scenarios, but keeping the same roster as this season would be a tall order. So we have to wait and see how the stars would align.
The 2022 MGUCI season is drawing to a close and the BWT Hyundai N Cycling already looks into the 2023 season. As the Tour of America (dubbed the Grand Tour of the Continental Division) is set to start, the team made some sponsorship/partnership updates for the next season and introduced a 'tier pyramid' as well. Here's how the pyramid looks like (subject to change):
Premium tier Genii Capital Hyundai N
This tier is the sponsors that have been confirmed to be forming part of the name and would be the main financial contributors going into the next season. It has been confirmed that Genii Capital would step in as title sponsor earlier in the season. Hyundai's involvement was under doubt initially and they've decreased their stake during the off-season and was expected that they may pull out. We can now confirm that Hyundai (alongside the N performance brand) will enter their 4th year as title sponsor.
Elite tier: Helly Hansen (could upgrade to Premium) BWT AG DataMap Europe
The Elite tier has been described as sponsors or partners who have pledged extended support for the team. Helly Hansen has already been confirmed to be the team's new kit and apparell partner for 2023 while the patnership with DataMap (which had been ever since the team's debut season) will continue. The surprise here is BWT - it had been confirmed that they're going to step down earlier in the season, but now it has been confirmed that the partnership will be extended for one more season, but BWT's role would be downscaled.
Standard tier: RTL Group
For now only RTL has confirmed to stay with the team as standard sponsor/partner for the next season. Negotiations with Ionos are ongoing but at the present day we cannot confirm if a deal is reached.
Suppliers: DT Swiss Uvex
At the present moment only DT Swiss (wheels; part of a loyalty programme) and Uvex (helmets) are confirmed to be staying with the team. Negotiations are ongoing with various bike manufacturers for potential supply in 2023.
Tour of America expectations
Ivaneurope was also asked to give his thoughts about the upcomming Tour of America. Here's what he had to say:
"We read the preview, which was compiled by Fabianski and I have to say that it's a very accurate representation of the team at this race. We've already spent the RD for Brändle and Kozhatayev on other more important for us races which made it impossible to select them. I wish I could use them, but unfortunately the rules don't allow me. Only BNZ and Tryg are a threat for us in the promotion battle, but considering that some PCT teams have sent riders that are top contenders for the GC, I don't think that the gap would be that big. But anything is possible and all we have to do is to hang on."
6 stages of Tour of America came and went and so far the team's performance has been average at best and mediocre at worst. So far from this race alone the team has 9 points - 1 point from Tormod Jacobsen in the opening prologue and 8 from Jay Vine in Stage 5. Considering that the chief competition in BNZ is having a better Tour of America (and had been participating in the Tour of Middle East) this prompted questions on whether or not BWT Hyundai will hold onto the final promotion spot and would missing PCT promotion will cause the team to hit the reset button once again with most riders being either released of re-signed with the view to be sold. Here's what the team's CEO ivaneurope had to say:
"We currently have an average Tour of America, but we've been in breakaways most of the time which in terms of exposure is OK. However this is not very acceptable considering that we are in a tense promotion battle and you see BNZ have greater chances to get a strong points haul and I wouldn't be shocked if they leapfrog most of the teams ahead of them including us. As far as future plans for the roster are concerned, we will start planning for the next season after both Tour of America and GP Lugano conclude. At the present moment we are considering doing double planning given the circumstances" - Ivaneurope on MGUCI Insider
Considering the team's unique position (5th-8th place) the double planning has been understood to be plans for both divisions depending on their final position. While the team could fail to qualify for promotion by virtue of finishing in the Top 5, there have been external factors like disbandment of upper division teams or promoted teams failing to lodge a renewal application in time. This will not be the first time the team has promoted via technicality as their first and only foray in the PCT division has been after Netia - Vonin failed to apply for renewal and before that Bianchi - Campagnolo went defunct after a single season. Additionally there have been rumours of MGUCI considering expanding the PCT back to its original size of 26 teams (this season the PCT teams are 24 in light of the multiple disbandements the previous years), but ivaneurope has quickly quashed any speculation of his team promoting via either withdrawal of other teams or expansion.
"At the present moment we're looking to promote by merit and not outside factors. Yes, disbandments happen, but we should not be drawn in speculations regarding the fate of other teams. And the rumours of expanding the PCT are just that - rumours. All I and the other managers know as of now is that the PCT division will remain at 24 teams and any expansion will be decided by the MGUCI Executive Committee."
While ivaneurope has said that any decisions regarding the roster will be made after September, there are already speculations that some riders may leave the team. Matthias Brändle has been touted as one - he's currently on 140k wage and given that he's be 34 next season the team has admited that they may lose him if they fail to sign him on a team friendly deal. Andrew Fenn is another rider that may be on his way out after being undewhelming in the cobbled races (with Tomas Paprstka winning Geraardsbergen - Bosberg). Polychronis Tzortzakis has admited in an interview that he'll most likely leave, but he said that he is thankful to the team for giving him the opportunity to race one more season.
After the conclusion of the Euskal Bizikleta the team's season is almost over with the Zuri Mezgette being the final stop this season and could be decisive for the final classification. But before the team departed for Switzerland they took time to unveil their new kit which will be used from 2023.
For the past 5 seasons the team designed their jerseys in-house. But for the first time since 2017 the team has decided to turn to a third party to design the jersey. Ezeefreak was commissioned with the task to make a striking new design for the team in 2023 and here is the result:
The result is really striking. Unfortunately gone are the pink and magenta tones. This time the coroprate colors of Hyundai's motorsport division are on full display on the entire kit. The geometric shapes, seen on numerous Hyundai touring and rally cars, now take a sizeable chunk of the jersey which makes the design really stand out among other jersey.
Here's what ivaneurope has said: "I'm very pleased with the final product. We've wanted a jersey that would 'scream' Hyundai. We've seen their motorsport livery designs and we've thought that such design would work on a cycling jersey. Unfortunately, the in-house department didn't had the time or resources and to accomplish the maximum effect we desire, I'm very happy that we've chosen Ezeefreak to make this awesome design. We saw his work for other teams and perhaps this was the driving force to ask him to create an unique jersey for us as well. I'm very pleased with this masterpiece"
Regarding whether or not we'll see this gorgeous design in an upper level of the MGUCI ladder, ivaneurope appeared to shrug it off: "Will we see this beauty in the PCT? Well, it isn't over until the last rider on the last race crosses the finish line. Currently we aren't in a direct promotion spot following the last known ranking update - the results from the Herald Sun Tour, Euskal Bizikleta and most importantly Tour of America hadn't been published yet. BNZ and Tryg had far superior ToA than us and we were on par with BNZ in the last two races. I think the battle for promotion will be until the bitter end."
He was a great asset for us and looks the same now. Good results elsewhere as well!
Genii Capital
Hyundai N
Helly Hansen (could upgrade to Premium)
BWT AG
DataMap Europe
DT Swiss
