Interested to see how Jago goes think that could be a strong source of points this year Bini will be insane and Amezawa calender youve pretty much perfected by now! and Madouas is such a cool x-factor to have
I was happy to hear your positive assessment of Jago in the podcast and hope you're right!
I'm curious what you think of the choices of races where Bini rides in support of Jago. In hindsight, I think going for the all-out sprinter races may have been a mistake as Jago will likely not get a sprint train anywhere with all the top sprinters present, so Bini might be wasted, unless he sprints for himself, which I don't think that's likely. Maybe going for Britain or Langkawi might've been the better choice to give Willems a strong leadout when he might need it? But then there are quite a few race days (hilly/mountains) where Bini has almost no role. Not sure, but something to think about for next year I guess.
Erm it really depends I doubt he will will need a leadout which means Bini will probably just hover around in the top 25-35 range unlikely they both sprint together though.
Willems is the type of rider who it's unlikely he will ever get a leadout unless the sprint field is very weak so it could be one where Bini is almost worth attempting to ride races with 1 sprint stage in knowing there would be less sprinters so he might sprint but I have the same issue with Lapeira in that you know they could score really well if they did sprint but finding the oppurtunities for them is more the skill
We start the season with the first race for maxed Jago Willems. It should give us a decent indication straight away how he'll perform against the cream of the PCT sprinting crop. He's got pretty much the best support we can give him with Bini Girmay, Habimana, De Buyst and Samu Mugisha. As mentioned before, I'm unsure if sending Bini to these flat classics alongside Jago was such a great idea, but again, we'll find out early. The hope is for a Top 10 result for Jago, anything outside of the Top 15 would be a disappointment.
Tour Down Under
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Madouas
74
75
77
78
69
76
73
76
60
73
73
66
68
70
Willems
75
57
61
64
63
72
78
71
55
79
79
66
67
72
Habimana
74
65
70
75
62
74
73
66
77
66
71
76
68
66
Mansouri
73
73
74
74
74
77
75
78
62
68
76
76
65
74
Seigle
68
72
75
77
64
73
73
69
60
63
72
70
69
67
Mugisha
67
71
73
75
62
64
74
71
60
63
73
80
64
61
Niyonkuru
63
71
70
68
58
68
71
70
57
59
66
69
71
55
Another debut, this time for new signing Valentin Madouas, who gets his first shot at team leadership. He should be suited quite well for the race, Top 10 in the GC is the minimum expectation, and he has decent support around him. Jago Willems is here, too, for the three flat stages.
Tour of the Middle East
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Amezawa
68
80
79
77
64
76
78
80
60
68
75
72
69
60
Wellens
68
78
75
71
68
73
74
70
58
59
62
60
66
68
Miltiadis
68
75
75
75
67
70
71
66
68
61
75
67
68
67
Perera
70
52
58
63
57
67
71
74
63
78
78
50
60
73
Barguil
66
77
74
71
66
71
71
73
51
60
69
62
72
66
Mugisha
76
64
67
70
74
70
74
71
63
62
68
74
64
68
Masengesho
66
62
63
63
63
68
69
68
57
73
72
80
72
63
Takeaki Amezawa also starts his season already. The Tour of the Middle East should suit him quite well and we're hopeful he can use his strong puncheur qualities to beat out nominally better climbers. In a crowded field, that's a bit tough to predict, but a Top 5 should at least be within the realm of possibilities. Less than the Top 10 would be a disappointment, and I'm hoping Tim Wellens could be able to score some depth points, too.
Madushanka Perera won a stage here last year, but the race was still C2 and he was in his prime, so that won't happen again. But he's got a chance to compete for points in the two sprint stages, so that would be neat.
Three races right off the bat where I expect quite a bit from your team. Willems, Madouas, and Amezawa should all be able to rack up some points.
Best of luck!
"Some points"
I guess Bralirwa will get a headstart right after the first month. Madouas must be the top favourite in TDU, Amezawa an outsider for a Top 5 in Middle East - and Willems could be everywhere from winning to lower Top 20 in DUC.
The more I look at this team, the scarier it is, really a great squad! In particular Madouas is heavily underrated by the OVL formula imho and will be a real threat in a lot of races!
January hasn't come to an end yet, but since we start racing on the 1st of February, I want to give the preview a few days of space. Especially since February might be the single most important month of our season. Why? Mainly because 50% of Biniam Girmay's cobbles race days take place here, and those include all four of our goal races. And that's basically our entire month! Six cobbles races, five for Bini and one for Jean Eric Habimana, and rest for every other leader.
[PCT GTM] Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Girmay
77
64
68
71
61
76
76
77
81
77
76
64
71
65
Habimana
74
65
70
75
62
74
73
66
77
66
71
76
68
66
Miltiadis
68
75
75
75
67
70
71
66
68
61
75
67
68
67
De Buyst
72
60
65
69
67
71
73
73
74
75
74
69
69
67
Kuypers
71
60
68
75
59
70
76
69
73
65
76
68
76
61
Marti
70
66
67
68
65
68
71
67
67
66
71
69
71
66
Gojkovic
67
63
66
69
71
68
70
65
63
67
70
70
66
72
Niyonkuru
63
71
70
68
58
68
71
70
57
59
66
69
71
55
Biniam Girmay's cobbles campaign starts immediately with one of our two win goals. This will be more or less his standard support squad for all cobbles races, with Jean Eric Habimana, Jasper De Buyst and Gerben Kuypers as the primary helpers.
Any win goal on cobbles this season will be tough, given the presence of David Per most of all but also many other strong cobbles riders in the division. Bini finished 5th here last year, which was of course before his training, so we're cautiously optimistic.
[PTHC] Roma Maxima
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Girmay
77
64
68
71
61
76
76
77
81
77
76
64
71
65
De Buyst
72
60
65
69
67
71
73
73
74
75
74
69
69
67
Mugisha
76
64
67
70
74
70
74
71
63
62
68
74
64
68
Masengesho
66
62
63
63
63
68
69
68
57
73
72
80
72
63
Gojkovic
67
63
66
69
71
68
70
65
63
67
70
70
66
72
Niyonkuru
63
71
70
68
58
68
71
70
57
59
66
69
71
55
Due to the clash with Viana do Castelo and our desire to give Jean Eric Habimana a good shot there, the squad for Roma Maxima is quite a bit weaker, with only Jasper De Buyst as a significant domestique for Biniam Girmay. Was it ideal planning to set this as a goal race nonetheless? Probably not. But even in this setup, we're hopeful that Bini can achieve that Top 5 goal, or at least come close.
[C1] Viana do Castelo
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Habimana
74
65
70
75
62
74
73
66
77
66
71
76
68
66
Seigle
68
72
75
77
64
73
73
69
60
63
72
70
69
67
Miltiadis
68
75
75
75
67
70
71
66
68
61
75
67
68
67
Barguil
66
77
74
71
66
71
71
73
51
60
69
62
72
66
Kuypers
71
60
68
75
59
70
76
69
73
65
76
68
76
61
Mugisha
67
71
73
75
62
64
74
71
60
63
73
80
64
61
Marti
70
66
67
68
65
68
71
67
67
66
71
69
71
66
As mentioned, Jean Eric Habimana gets his one shot at sole leadership in Portugal. He's got decent support from Gerben Kuypers and, hopefully playing a good role on this terrain, Andreas Miltiadis. Habimana finished 14th here last year while still in development, so a Top 10 is the minimum expectation.
[HC] Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Girmay
77
64
68
71
61
76
76
77
81
77
76
64
71
65
Habimana
74
65
70
75
62
74
73
66
77
66
71
76
68
66
Miltiadis
68
75
75
75
67
70
71
66
68
61
75
67
68
67
De Buyst
72
60
65
69
67
71
73
73
74
75
74
69
69
67
Kuypers
71
60
68
75
59
70
76
69
73
65
76
68
76
61
Marti
70
66
67
68
65
68
71
67
67
66
71
69
71
66
Gojkovic
67
63
66
69
71
68
70
65
63
67
70
70
66
72
Niyonkuru
63
71
70
68
58
68
71
70
57
59
66
69
71
55
We're back to full team strength for our second win goal of the year. Biniam Girmay was already the runner-up here last year, so hopefully he can take one more step up.
[PTHC] Cheshire Cycling Tour
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Girmay
77
64
68
71
61
76
76
77
81
77
76
64
71
65
Habimana
74
65
70
75
62
74
73
66
77
66
71
76
68
66
Miltiadis
68
75
75
75
67
70
71
66
68
61
75
67
68
67
De Buyst
72
60
65
69
67
71
73
73
74
75
74
69
69
67
Kuypers
71
60
68
75
59
70
76
69
73
65
76
68
76
61
Marti
70
66
67
68
65
68
71
67
67
66
71
69
71
66
Masengesho
66
62
63
63
63
68
69
68
57
73
72
80
72
63
Niyonkuru
63
71
70
68
58
68
71
70
57
59
66
69
71
55
Cobbles stage races are notoriously volatile, but we still chose the Cheshire Cycling Tour as our final goal race, again with a Top 5 goal. All four stages should suit Biniam Girmay very well and we don't have any sprinter here to confuse the AI. Instead, Bini could even be in contention for the sprint himself. He's got full team support again of course, so we're looking forward to a fun and hopefully successful race.
[HC] Le Samyn
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Girmay
77
64
68
71
61
76
76
77
81
77
76
64
71
65
Habimana
74
65
70
75
62
74
73
66
77
66
71
76
68
66
Miltiadis
68
75
75
75
67
70
71
66
68
61
75
67
68
67
De Buyst
72
60
65
69
67
71
73
73
74
75
74
69
69
67
Kuypers
71
60
68
75
59
70
76
69
73
65
76
68
76
61
Marti
70
66
67
68
65
68
71
67
67
66
71
69
71
66
Gojkovic
67
63
66
69
71
68
70
65
63
67
70
70
66
72
Niyonkuru
63
71
70
68
58
68
71
70
57
59
66
69
71
55
To round out the month, it's the third HC cobbles classic, Le Samyn. No goal race this time, just hoping for another strong result, ideally a podium finish, for Biniam Girmay.
Will be a good feeling to check off all sponsor goals after just two months of racing
Of course, things can always go wrong, but Bini is just so amazing that the worst thing I can see happen are some close misses. Or punctures obviously, but I guess it's more likely to see you get a rather commanding lead in the PCT standings after February
Will also be interesting to see how Habimana does in Viana. Should be a good race for him
Will be a good feeling to check off all sponsor goals after just two months of racing
Of course, things can always go wrong, but Bini is just so amazing that the worst thing I can see happen are some close misses. Or punctures obviously, but I guess it's more likely to see you get a rather commanding lead in the PCT standings after February
Will also be interesting to see how Habimana does in Viana. Should be a good race for him
It feels like there's a big David-Per-shaped roadblock to a commanding lead But I'm optimistic we'll at least be up there. And looking at how our seasons typically go, we need as big of a lead as possible after the cobbles. Either way, I'm mostly just excited to see new and improved Bini in action And yeah, Habimana should also be interesting!
I'm perfectly aware of Per And also of the PT competition in Britain.
But post-January you should already be so far ahead of Grieg that even if they manage to climb to 2nd in February, you should easily stay in front of them Madouas and Amezawa have already scored big time for you, and Willems hasn't been too shabby, either - I don't really see anyone matching your team this year
Five races (I may have forgotten about two of them in the preview) with 19 races days meant a busy first month of the season for us. Jago Willems was main attraction, leading us in three of the races. Valentin Madouas made his debut for the team. And Takeaki Amezawa had his first race of the season in our first PTHC outing.
How did it go? Overall, I'd say it was pretty good. No wins, but the goal this season is to get to the top by collecting Top 5s and Top 10s at a very consistent rate. And January was a prime example of that.
[HC] Down Under Classic
1
Sondre Holst Enger
Zwift - Newton Foundation
1h37'00
2
Danny Van Poppel
Bianchi Enel
s.t.
3
Bryan Coquard
Peugeot
s.t.
4
Caleb Ewan
Ethiopian Airlines
s.t.
5
Kaden Hopkins
Bacharu Mamachari Faito!
s.t.
6
Jago Willems
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
7
Darshana Prasad
SparkNZ - Liquigas Pro Cycling
s.t.
8
Aliaksandr Riabushenko
McCormick Pro Cycling
s.t.
9
Matthew Walls
Tryg - ENI
s.t.
10
Xhuliano Kamberaj
Deutsche WindGuard
s.t.
...
57
Nicolas Gojkovic
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
58
Pau Marti
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
62
Jean Eric Habimana
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
77
Jasper De Buyst
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
89
Samuel Mugisha
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
92
Samuel Niyonkuru
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
113
Biniam Girmay
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
Points: 53
PpRD: 26.5
We opened the season with the HC sprint race Down Under Classic. In his first race as a maxed rider, Jago met expectations with a good 6th place. No further contributions from the team and an early glimpse that Bini's non-cobbles planning might be rather bad this season, but still a very decent start.
Historically, around 20 PpRD would be a near-guarantee for promotion, so that's going to be the goal for most races and we achieved that here.
[C1] Tour Down Under
1
Hayden McCormick
Philips - Hero
17h36'02
2
Valentin Madouas
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 6
3
Patrick Müller
Team UBS - EDP
+ 7
4
Matthew Walls
Tryg - ENI
+ 8
5
Matevz Govekar
Trans Looney Tunes
+ 13
6
Odd Christian Eiking
Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team
+ 24
7
Bachirou Nikiema
SEE Turtles
+ 26
8
Christopher Lagane
Bacharu Mamachari Faito!
+ 27
9
Alexandr Kulikovskiy
Philips - Hero
+ 28
10
Jay McCarthy
SEE Turtles
+ 32
...
25
Hamza Mansouri
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 1'07
95
Roman Seigle
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 4'52
100
Moise Mugisha
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 5'11
160
Samuel Niyonkuru
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 18'41
161
Jean Eric Habimana
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 18'54
173
Jago Willems
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 31'14
Points: 113
PpRD: 18,83
In his debut, Valentin Madouas immediately showed why we spent so much money on him in FA and training. On the two most selective hilly stages, he finished 3rd both times, which brought him up to 2nd overall. He also finished T-3rd in the mountain classification.
Jago Willems added a few points with 8th, 5th and 6th place finishes on the three sprint stages, and Hamza Mansouri added his first 2 points in a Bralirwa shirt, finishing 25th in the GC.
In total, this was quite a successful race. The fact that we still missed our PpRD target, even if just barely, shows just how good you need to be to ultimately promote - and that the real points are scored in HC and especially PTHC.
[PTHC] Tour of the Middle East
1
Miguel Angel Lopez
Evonik - ELKO
14h33'45
2
Andres Camilo Ardila
Bolt - Eesti
+ 17
3
Sergio Higuita
Los Pollos Hermanos
+ 57
4
Mark Padun
Trans Looney Tunes
+ 1'12
5
Takeaki Amezawa
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 1'25
6
Joao Almeida
Team UBS - EDP
+ 1'35
7
Pavel Sivakov
Tinkoff - La Datcha Team
+ 1'43
8
Laurens De Plus
ELCO - ABEA
+ 1'49
9
Cristian Scaroni
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 2'02
10
Maxim Van Gils
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
+ 2'11
...
42
Warren Barguil
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 4'47
49
Tim Wellens
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 6'06
51
Andreas Miltiadis
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 7'29
117
Samuel Mugisha
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 21'26
143
Vainqueur Masengesho
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 30'05
149
Madushanka Perera
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 30'59
Points: 139
PpRD: 34.75
Speaking of big points in PTHC races: Takeaki Amezawa began his season in the Middle East. Last year, he struggled a lot in the first half of the season, missing the Top 10 in all of his first five races. Not this year. On the two mountain stages, he finished 4th and 6th, respectively, and consequently earned himself a 5th overall rank.
With a few more points added for 4th place in the KoM rankings and some depth scoring from Wellens, Barguil and Miltiadis, this was handily our best race of the month.
[HC] Circulo de Juarez
1
Caleb Ewan
Ethiopian Airlines
17h44'37
2
Jiankun Liu
Trans Looney Tunes
s.t.
3
Rick Zabel
Peugeot
+ 36
4
Fabio Jakobsen
Minions
+ 39
5
Willi Willwohl
Everesting
+ 45
6
Dylan Kennett
SEE Turtles
s.t.
7
Itamar Einhorn
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 46
8
Danny Van Poppel
Bianchi Enel
s.t.
9
Sondre Holst Enger
Zwift - Newton Foundation
+ 47
10
Jago Willems
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 53
...
57
Madushanka Perera
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 1'21
63
Nicolas Gojkovic
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 2'26
65
Samuel Mugisha
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
78
Biniam Girmay
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 2'32
130
Jasper De Buyst
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
138
Vainqueur Masengesho
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
152
Gerben Kuypers
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
Points: 101
PpRD: 20.2
Bit of a tough one to evaluate, this. On the one hand, Jago Willems performed less than ideal on four of the five sprint stages with 7th, 8th, 10th and 12th place finishes. His one great result, a 2nd place on stage three, was enough to lift him to 10th in the GC. Before the race, we said a Top 10 and winning the U25 classification was the minimum goal, so we at least checked both of those. But one more good result could've meant as much as a Top 5, so this feels like a missed opportunity.
That feeling of ambiguity and missed opportunity is amplified by youngster Nicolas Gojkovic's performance. One day in a breakaway was enough to vault him into second place in both the mountain and U25 classification as well as the Top 15 in the GC before the final stage. Then, he ended up on the wrong side of a big split in the peloton and lost his GC and U25 position rather unnecessarily. At the same time, scoring 17 points is great for the rookie, and 101 points for the entire team is still quite good. So, not a full disappointment, but not a great feeling either.
[C1] Great Ocean Road Race
1
Bryan Coquard
Peugeot
3h49'04
2
Rick Zabel
Peugeot
s.t.
3
Fabio Jakobsen
Minions
+ 1
4
Matthew Walls
Tryg - ENI
+ 2
5
Jiankun Liu
Trans Looney Tunes
+ 3
6
Sergey Medvedev
Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh
+ 4
7
Tobias Bayer
JEWA TIROL Cycling Team
+ 6
8
Nicolay Cherkasov
Lotto-Caloi
s.t.
9
Jonas Abrahamsen
Grieg-Maersk
s.t.
10
Warre Vangheluwe
DeNA RoadStars
+ 7
...
29
Jago Willems
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 1'14
49
Biniam Girmay
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 1'20
78
Samuel Mugisha
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 2'01
116
Gerben Kuypers
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 2'21
126
Pau Marti
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 2'29
161
Samuel Niyonkuru
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 3'03
163
Vainqueur Masengesho
Bralirwa - Cegeka
+ 4'08
164
Nicolas Gojkovic
Bralirwa - Cegeka
s.t.
Points: 0
PpRD: 0
The full disappointment came on the last day of the month. Hoping for one more Top 10 result for Jago, we got the first zero pointer of the season. In a very hectic race, the peloton fell apart near the end and we were simply caught out of position. Unfortunate, but that happens.
January Rankings
Pos
Last
Team
Total
RD
PpRD
Proj
1
-
Trans Looney Tunes
684
21
32,57
5309
2
-
Peugeot
485
19
25,53
4161
3
-
Ethiopian Airlines
453
17
26,65
4344
4
-
Bralirwa - Cegeka
406
19
21,37
3483
5
-
Team UBS - EDP
312
14
22,29
3633
Pos
Last
Rider
Nat
Team
Total
1
-
Caleb Ewan
AUS
Ethiopian Airlines
354
2
-
Jiankun Liu
CHN
Trans Looney Tunes
331
3
-
Matthew Walls
GBR
Tryg - Eni
223
...
11
-
Jago Willems
BEL
Bralirwa - Cegeka
142
12
-
Takeaki Amezawa
JPN
Bralirwa - Cegeka
124
14
-
Valentin Madouas
FRA
Bralirwa - Cegeka
103
By points, this has been easily our most successful January in team history. We are where we want to be in 4th place in the team rankings, in good position to take over the lead with a strong February on cobbles (well, looking at OHN, we'll see how strong it'll be, but the potential is still there).
Our three leaders that were active this month are all in the Top 15 and Jago Willems has surpassed Alvaro Hodeg's points from the entire previous season by a decent margin after just one month already.
To track our progress throughout the season, I've looked back at the last five years of this division, how we as a team have fared on average, and what 1st place and 5th place looked like on average, points-wise. So far, we're on track for a Top 5 finish, which is what we're after.
It's obviously still early, and at this point in the season, the points over the last few years still vary greatly, so the average isn't as meaningful yet. But it underscores that we can really call this January a good start to the season.
But I'm optimistic we'll at least be up there. And looking at how our seasons typically go, we need as big of a lead as possible after the cobbles. Either way, I'm mostly just excited to see new and improved Bini in action 
