10 races are on the CT calendar - in theory. And I couldn't get a meaningful split with them. So, "fortunately", PCT teams didn't leave any room for CT teams in Omloop, with all 24 going there - reducing the CT calendar to 9 races. And with that, we can just do the same split as in PCT - cobbles & the rest.
Partial Monthly Ranking: Cobbles
The first race in this category is a truly unconventional cobbled race - the C1 Viana do Castelo. Instead of cobbled hills, there's a tarmac hill and a cobbled downhill. But with Omloop being unavailable for CT, the teams wanting to do cobbles on that day had no other choice but going to Portugal.
With just 8 teams present, this was a fantastic opportunity for CT teams to score big. And Netwon Foundation definitely did score big - more than a win's worth of points! Jorgenson was 2nd here last year; he could "only" take 3rd this time, having to let go of Viana specialist Meurisse (besides Benoot who was out of reach anyway), but the Americans also had Mengoulas in 10th, Debesay in 12th and Canal in 14th, making perfect use of that small field. 82 points in total!
With even 5 riders in the points, Duvel were able to claim 2nd place among the CT teams. Their top result wasn't that high, with Dewulf taking 7th, but Noppe (15th), Van Lerberghe (17th), Roosen (20th) and Van der Sande (25th) also scored, for a total amount of 46 points. Closely followed by Würth, who had Zepuntke in 5th place (rather surprising given the big hill), Goosens in 18th and Lehtinen in 21st. 44 points for the Germans.
Next up was the C2 classic Gent - Wevelgem. Not a "proper" cobbled classic, either, given that it takes about 50km from the last cobbled section to the finish line.
Still, minimal cobbled skills were needed to do well. And undoubtedly, Tom David has more than minimal skills, even after two declines. The Kiwi won the race for Glanbia, netting 50 points for the Irishmen. Curley's 19th place makes it 52 in total.
2nd place was "stolen" by a PCT rider, with 3rd ranked Darbinyan leading Euskotren to 2nd place among the CT teams. Hofstetter (17th), Erdenesuren (22nd) and Serrano (24th) bring the team's total to 34 points. The 26 points for Welten's 4th place were enough to make Newton Foundation the 3rd highest scoring team.
Yet another C2 classic with GP Herning - and this time it's a "true" cobbled race. Even more surprising that CT cobbles top dog Zepuntke decided to skip this one and rather try his luck in the clashing Le Samyn...
Moulingui said "thanks for not being here", riding to a classy solo win after attacking with more than 5km to go! He didn't have much room to spare, but he made it to the line, taking the win and 50 points. Trans also had Kolev, Centrone and Peng all in the points, scoring 61 in total.
Van Lerberghe narrowly missed out on the podium by taking 4th, but with Duvel having Roosen (11th) and Noppe (17th) in the Top 20 as well, the Belgians still are the 2nd highest scoring team with 37 points.
Just 1 point ahead of Euskotren, who got another great result by Darbinyan - this time not being denied 2nd place by a PCT rider, but the win by a late attacker. Still, that's another 35 points for the Armenian, and Hofstetter in 23rd makes it 36 for Euskotren.
We talked about Le Samyn earlier on - the 2nd HC race on the calendar. There was exactly one spot available for a CT team, which was taken by Würth. Who decided to send Zepuntke to Belgium instead of Denmark.
Let's say that the race didn't exactly go according to plan. The German was only able to finish 26th, for 5 points. No-one else scoring for Würth.
The final cobbled race of the month was another C1 classic, Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne. Usually a granted win for Stallaert; not this time, though. So, could any rider of one of the 7 CT teams present take his place on the sun instead?
Not quite. But Moulingui confirmed his good form once again, getting a strong 10th place against PCT's top cobblers. Centrone (19th), Pent (21st) and Kolev (24th) once again delivered a strong display of Trans' great cobbles depth, for 24 points in total.
And Zepuntke? Unlike in Le Samyn (where he had no competition), he wasn't the highest CT finisher, as he ended up 11th, right behind Moulingui. 12 points for the German, which also is Würth's total score.
A single scorer, this is also the case for Duvel, who had Van Lerberghe right behind in 12th place, making it three CT riders in a row. 11 points for the Belgian and his team.
So, what do we get after all these cobbles? Well, no Zepuntke at the top.
Instead, it's Duvel topping the "Cobbles" rankings! They might still be lacking the top-notch result, but they were mostly solid, and scored 114 points from these races.
Newton Foundation got the vast majority of their points from Jorgenson's Viana podium, adding some more in Gent, for 108 in total. The second - and final - team to score above 100 points.
It was a fierce fight for 3rd, which Trans won by a single point. Moulingui's Herning win obviously was massive, but they also scored in Viana and Kuurne for 92 points in total. Zepuntke's Team Würth - the only one to do all five races - scored one point less.
The last two teams getting really good points from the cobbles are Glanbia - with David winning Gent - Wevelgem - and Euskotren, thanks to two Darbinyan podiums. 71 and 70 points respectively for 5th and 6th place.
All other teams scored below 40 points, and we even have 4 zero-pointers. Of these, Ethiopian Airlines and Simba didn't even bother racing, with Spark and Hilcona failing to score in the C2 classics.
Here are the full numbers:
Pos
Team
Via
G-W
Her
Sam
KBK
Total
1
Duvel-Tsingtao
46
20
37
0
11
114
2
Newton Foundation p/b Zwift
82
26
0
0
0
108
3
Trans Looney Tunes
7
0
61
0
24
92
4
Team Würth MODYF
44
6
24
5
12
91
5
Glanbia
0
52
19
0
0
71
6
Euskotren - Pays Basque
0
34
36
0
0
70
7
Euskadi-Murias
0
7
31
0
0
38
8
Genii Hyundai N Cycling
0
14
22
0
0
36
9
Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team
0
0
24
0
0
24
10
SEE Turtles
0
1
22
0
1
24
11
Cervelo Test Team
13
0
0
0
0
13
12
Air New Zealand-Alfa Romeo
0
13
0
0
0
13
13
Zain-Omantel
0
0
10
0
0
10
14
Babymetal
0
0
1
0
0
1
15
Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh
0
0
0
0
0
0
16
Spark Team NZ
0
0
0
0
0
0
17
Ethiopian Airlines
0
0
0
0
0
0
18
Hilcona Racing Team
0
0
0
0
0
0
Partial Monthly Ranking: "The Rest"
The C1 Isle of Man TTT was the first non-cobbled race of the month - with a rather short startlist of 15 teams, everyone was guaranteed to score some points (awarded for the Top 16).
And unlike last year, Gjensidige managed to handle the huge difference in TT quality in their lineup - Van Moer and Knotten waited for 4 other riders, with two really weak ones being dropped early on. The strategy fully paid off, with the Norwegians taking 2nd place and 65 points!
The Turtles in 6th and Genii in 7th place were the next best CT teams, scoring 35 and 30 points respectively. All participating teams got at least 10 points, with 15th place being taken by a PCT team.
The next race was CT's highlight of the month, the 6-day C2 Volta a Catalunya. Some flat stages, some hilly ones, a TTT and some mountains was the recipe for a tension-loaded week.
Or not quite, as probably 99% would have bet on a Jorgenson win anyway. And the young American delivered; maybe in a less spectacular way than expected, but he won the GC, and therefore the Youth standings as well. He got a stage win, although he has to share that one with his teammates, as Newton Foundation won the TTT. Jorgenson also took 2nd on the first mountain stage, scoring 117 points in total. Besides the TTT points, only Abreu managed to add another point for 3rd in GC after stage 3, so that's 134 points for the Americans.
They may not have a spectacular GC result in the end, but Euskadi got two stage wins by Munoz and the surprising Garcia, outsprinting Carapaz. Munoz took a respectable 7th place in GC. Barcelo was wearing the KoM jersey almost from start to end, only to lose it on the final day. Still, 2nd plus having the jersey all these days is worth some points, too. Euskadi also came 2nd in the team standings, with Ablenado and Acosta being the two other riders getting some of these points. All in all, that's 100 points flat for the Basque outfit.
We had a fierce fight for 3rd, with three teams scoring 73 points, one team getting 75 - but in the end it was Genii claiming the final podium spot with 83 points. Bernard's stage 5 win probably was their highlight of the week, and the Frenchman also took 10th place in the GC, for 34 points in total. But whereas Genii - just like Euskadi - didn't have an outstanding GC rider, they did have depth: 10th Bernard, 12th Ulysbayev, 13th Barta, 18th Ahmad Zamri. Four in the Top 20, with the team standings win being the logical consequence. They also came 2nd in the TTT - all of this adding up to 83 points, as previously mentioned.
The HC Circulo de Juarez left room for 6 CT teams - but only the Turtles decided to give it a go. They probably were hoping for more, but at least they didn't leave Mexico completely empty-handed, with 5 points for Keough's 36th place in GC in their bags. One spot higher, and they'd have doubled their output...
Let's take a look at the overall numbers then. And quite some teams did pretty well; we have 7 teams above 100 points.
At the top, despite participating in just two races, are Newton Foundation. The win in Catalunya and a solid outcome in Placci accounted for 163 points in total.
Gjensidige are just 8 points behind, with their great Isle of Man performance almost closing the gap to Newton. But only just; with 155 points, they come 8 points short.
Another 11 points behind are Genii, who also had three very solid races in the TTT, Catalunya and Placci. 144 points in total, nice podium.
Würth are next, stuck in the middle between 3rd and 5th, with Euskadi, Euskotren and Duvel in 5th through 7th separated by just 6 points.
Also somewhere "in the middle" are Trans in 8th place with 88 points - 15 behind the Top 8, but more than 35 ahead of the next teams. Which are Spark and Ethiopian Airlines, rounding off the Top 10 with 51 points each.
Here are the full numbers of the "Rest" standings:
Pos
Team
IoM
Cat
Jua
Pla
Total
1
Newton Foundation p/b Zwift
0
134
0
29
163
2
Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team
65
73
0
17
155
3
Genii Hyundai N Cycling
30
83
0
31
144
4
Team Würth MODYF
0
75
0
50
125
5
Euskadi-Murias
0
100
0
9
109
6
Euskotren - Pays Basque
10
73
0
23
106
7
Duvel-Tsingtao
0
68
0
35
103
8
Trans Looney Tunes
15
73
0
0
88
9
Spark Team NZ
0
28
0
23
51
10
Ethiopian Airlines
0
40
0
11
51
11
SEE Turtles
35
3
5
0
43
12
Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh
0
22
0
17
39
13
Glanbia
15
19
0
0
34
14
Zain-Omantel
0
33
0
0
33
15
Babymetal
0
17
0
10
27
16
Cervelo Test Team
10
0
0
5
15
17
Hilcona Racing Team
0
1
0
7
8
18
Air New Zealand-Alfa Romeo
0
0
0
0
0
Period Ranking | February
2nd in cobbles, winners in "The Rest" - there was no way past the #1 division favourites Newton Foundation this month. With 271 points, they not only have the highest score by far; they also used just 12 race days to get there, with their 22.6 PpRD average being the highest value by a mile, too.
But Duvel-Tsingtao definitely are holding their own, too! The comeback-newcomers are doing a great job so far, and with 217 points and a 13.6 PpRD average, they have the 2nd best value in both key values. Good job!
The fight for 2nd actually was tense, with Würth ending up just 1 point short. Despite some Ruben letdowns, they also had some top Ruben performances, and a Top 5 PpRD is definitely a good sign of things to come.
Genii and Trans both total 180 points - but as if it wasn't close enough in that region anyway, Gjensidige with 179 and Euskotren with 176 are also in the mix. A good month for all of them, not very far off the podium, and close to or inside the Top 5.
Euskadi are about 30 points down, but can still consider this a good month given some past performances. They're the last team with a 10+ PpRD average, so really a good job. Glanbia then are the final team above 100 points, but already pretty far behind the top teams.
The rest of the pack then are another 40 and more points down, and none of them can be positive about their low scoring with a high PpRD. At the bottom of the list, Hilcona even end up below 10 points, with Air New Zealand only marginally better.
Here's the full February update:
Pos
Team
Cobbles
Rest
Total
RD
PpRD
1
Newton Foundation p/b Zwift
108
163
271
12
22.58
2
Duvel-Tsingtao
114
103
217
16
13.56
3
Team Würth MODYF
91
125
216
18
12.00
4
Genii Hyundai N Cycling
36
144
180
16
11.25
5
Trans Looney Tunes
92
88
180
18
10.00
6
Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team
24
155
179
14
12.79
7
Euskotren - Pays Basque
70
106
176
14
12.57
8
Euskadi-Murias
38
109
147
14
10.50
9
Glanbia
71
34
105
14
7.50
10
SEE Turtles
24
43
67
19
3.53
11
Ethiopian Airlines
0
51
51
8
6.38
12
Spark Team NZ
0
51
51
12
4.25
13
Zain-Omantel
10
33
43
12
3.58
14
Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh
0
39
39
8
4.88
15
Babymetal
1
27
28
10
2.80
16
Cervelo Test Team
13
15
28
6
4.67
17
Air New Zealand-Alfa Romeo
13
0
13
10
1.30
18
Hilcona Racing Team
0
8
8
12
0.67
Full Ranking
After a strong start in their first month, Duvel went even better in February and are now leading the CT standings! With 402 points scored in 34 days of racing, their 11.8 PpRD average sees them right on promotion track - great job, even though I'm repeating myself!
Gjensidige have moved up from 4th to 2nd, totalling 377 points - and having the division's best PpRD so far with 13.5. After a difficult 2023 season, they seem to be on track now as well - and the TT-heavy races haven't even started...
Newton Foundation had a rough start after their back-to-back relegations, but also seem to have found their legs in February. From 11th straight up to 3rd, and with 359 points they're less than 50 points off the lead. Could a Middle East battle between Smith and Jorgenson decide on our March leader?
Glanbia and Euskotren round off the Top 5, just 7 and 11 points respectively behind Newton Foundation. However, Glanbia have been the most busy team so far and currently aren't projected to promoted.
Which on the other hand is the case for Genii in 6th place. They're just 12 ponts behind the Top 5, followed by Würth another 6 points down. The Germans however have raced much more and will have to improve their scoring to reach the Top 5.
Simba are hanging somewhere in between the promotion contenders and the midfield teams, totalling currently 286 points - about 60 behind the Top 5, and more than 40 ahead of the next team.
The said "midfield" ranges from Spark in 9th with 242 points to Zain-Omantel in 13th with 192 points, therefore 50 points separating these 5 teams.
At the bottom, Ethiopian Airlines, the Turtles and Babymetal are about at the same performance level, with Air New Zealand and especially Hilcona clearly struggling to keep up.
Two races, two great results - Matteo Jorgenson, the top favourite for the individual crown, has already taken the lead. 163 points after the Viana podium and the Catalunya win.
However, he has a very slim lead so far, with KHJ being just 4 points down and Thymen Arensman another 2. Both of the chasers had their great moments in January and hence were overtaken by Jorgenson - but they're clearly within striking distance.
Which also pretty much holds for Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev and Ian Boswell - two other January performers - who stay in the Top 5 with 131 and 123 points respectively.
Harm Vanhoucke almost made the Top 5 as well, but comes 4 points short after a great Catalunya show. Mikel Iturria and Dion Smith both consistently pick up their points and are the final riders above 100 points.
Ruben Guerreiro is Würth's better Ruben so far, taking 9th place, ahead of Richard Carapaz in 10th - despite some pretty low performances.
So despite quite some cobbles this month, no cobbler made the Top 10 (except if you count Jorgenson in there) - which probably would only change if a CT cobbler gets a great result in Lillestrom or Dunkerque. Looking at you, Ruben...
Not our best month but also wasn't expecting it to be. Long way to go and way more races specific to us. I still can't believe I selected to go to all these cobbled races with no cobbles rider. Bad planning that could end up costing us promotion.
Davila still performing well and Bennett with no race this month. Beltran with a top 10 which was good but I need more from him as Davila and Bennett can't really do it all themselves.
Great read though and thanks for the update! Hopefully we can go up from here.
This month feels much more like it should be compared to January as Newton Foundation finds their way to the top of the month with amazing results from Jorgenson and Welten. Gjensidige well-earned at the top of the projected rankings as well - scary how good these two teams can be. A 2000 point season could be reachable.
As I wrote in my HQ, this wasn't supposed to be our month, but it should have been better than it was. Isle of Man showed us what we needed to move forward, so hopefully our star signings in the TT and prologue can finally show themselves soon - although May will be the month that finally tells us if we can get out of this hole. Hated having to realize that I couldn't read a spreadsheet correctly as I tried to give myself extra points from this month as well, but those were unearned. Glad I read this early to correct and again only speaks to how professional you are in crafting these updates.
