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[CT] Kenya Airways - Barclays
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 10-05-2013 19:50
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 Volta Alentejo
We traveled to Portugal in hope of some good results from Nico Schinker. He disappointed though, not getting one Top 10 on each of four flat stages and failing completely in terms of the overall. A 5-pointer from the team which meant this was one of the worst races of the season so far. A complete disaster from us.
In terms of other results Santos took the overall for home team Prio-Porto after winning the final stage.
Santos dominating the stage 4 sprint en route to the overall
GC Results:
| 1 | Bruno Santos | Prio - Porto | 16h19'09 | | 2 | Christopher Sutton | Risa - Ergon Cycling Team | s.t. | | 3 | Emanuele Rizza | Die Berg Komt Er | + 4 | | 4 | Alex Ciocan | Mobil - Castrol Cycling | + 12 | | 5 | Mike Friedman | Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team | + 16 | | ..... | | 16 | Nico Schinker | Kenya Airways - Barclays | s.t. |
 Tropicale Amissa Bongo
After the disappointing race in Portugal, we needed a morale boost when we went to Gabon for the C1 hilly stage race, the Tropicale Amissa Bongo. We had an amazing race, thanks to Sulemain Kangangi winning Stage 3 before Benham Khalilikhosroshani took Stage 5, catapulting him to third overall. An amazing effort form the Iranian puncheur! We also managed to win the Teams and U25 Classifications while Kangangi got second in the KoTM.
Meanwhile, Armee took out the race in surprising fashion, continuing HTC's great season. Us and them took the most points here.
Kangangi taking a glorious stage win
Khalilikhosroshani taking Stage 5 which helped him up to third overall
GC Result:
| 1 | Sander Armee | HTC Nieuwsblad | 16h29'45 | | 2 | Fabian Wegmann | Sram-Riboxx Cycling Team | s.t. | | 3 | Behnam Khalilikhosroshani | Kenya Airways - Barclays | s.t. | | 4 | Martin Reimer | Team Vueling Airlines | + 4 | | 5 | Alex Dowsett | Jaguar - Eritel | + 8 |
 Donetsk GP
In our final race of the month, our squad from Alentejo looked to redeem itself in the flat Ukrainian classic, the Donetsk GP. Nico Schinker once again disappointed though, only managing 14th. Only God knows how he managed to win Puig at the start of the season as he has flopped in every race since then. Another bad race points-wise with us only picking up 6 points. Thankfully Bongo made up for our two other bad races.
Dall'Antonia took out this one with a fine solo to the finish, getting his second big classic win of the season after The Emerald Race.
Dall'Antonia celebrating his win
Result:
| 1 | Tiziano Dall'Antonia | Mobil - Castrol Cycling | 6h03'30 | | 2 | Cherif Abdallah | MTN - World Bicycle Relief | s.t. | | 3 | Igor Abakoumov | Die Berg Komt Er | s.t. | | 4 | Borut Bozic | Pivovarna Lasko Cycling Team | s.t. | | 5 | Aleksandr Mironov | LukOil-Rostelekom | s.t. | | ..... | | 14 | Nico Schinker | Kenya Airways - Barclays | s.t. |
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 10-05-2013 19:51
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 10-05-2013 19:55
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World Champion
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Apart from Amissa Bongo, Khalikroshani FTW, your team literally passed unoticed. Schinker isn't doing good atm. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 10-05-2013 20:30
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Miguel98 wrote:
Apart from Amissa Bongo, Khalikroshani FTW, your team literally passed unoticed. Schinker isn't doing good atm.
I know, hopefully he can return from his January form this month in Romania and Barcelona. If flops like this though for the rest of the season, he may be exiting the team...
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 10-05-2013 20:30
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 11-05-2013 11:15
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
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 Turul al Romaniei
2nd – 10th May
Target: Top 3 Overall
Our first race of May is the Turul al Romaniei, where we bring a strong team. Firstly, Zakayo Ndbri is here for the one mountain stage and the GC where he hopes for a Top 3. He will probably ride a weak prologue but he should be able to limit his losses before seeing if he can achieve something on the MTF. Due to there being 9 race days, we don’t expect massive competition but there should be some other good climbers making the trip. He also has Iker Camano in support of him.
There are also 7 sprint stages where Nico Schinker will be looking to expel his April demons. He has help from Matthew Brammeier, who we are hoping to team up against the rest of the sprinters travelling here. We have heard that there are some big names coming though so we don’t expect much.
Finally, for the flat short prologue we bring Daan Rijntjes. This is his specialty and if he cannot pick up a win and the leader’s jersey then he won’t anywhere else. He holds our high hopes for Stage 1. Alejandro Marque and Yoann Paillot are also capable of a good ride.
Leader:
 Zakayo Ndbri
Sprinter:
 Nico Schinker
Helpers:
 Matthew Brammeier
 Alejandro Marque
Iker Camano
 Yoann Paillot
 Daan Rijntjes
 GP Tunis
15th May
Target: Breakaway
We decided to come here as it is an Africa Tour race, in hope of some surprise points. Our chances look bleak though as there is sure to be a packed field in this C1 classic. Nico Schinker is probably our best hope of achieving anything but he has shown this season that his form comes and goes. Most likely this will end with no points in the bag. Matthew Brammeier is also making the trip here, to try and assist Nico or going for a higher placing himself.
The rest of the team that travels to Tunisia is riders who will look to get into the breakaway. A special mention goes to Riadh Ghdamsi who will be hoping to impress his fans in his home country.
Leader:
Nico Schinker
Helpers:
Matthew Brammeier
 Vahid Ghafari
Mujtaba Hussein
Riadh Ghdamsi
Yoann Paillot
Daan Rijntjes
Barcelona Classic
23rd May
Target: Top 10
In our third and final race we go back to the safety of C2, with the Barcelona Classic. Nico Schinker travels here like our other two races and will be looking to get a Top 10. He managed to win the Trofeo Luis Puig in his last trip to Spain but that looks to be impossible this time round. Matthew Brammier once again comes in assistance.
Other than that this is just a race day’s filler. The men who are good on the flat are in the squad to maybe build a lead-out on a good day. That is unlikely though.
Leader:
Nico Schinker
Helpers:
Matthew Brammeier
Alejandro Marque
Mujtaba Hussein
Riadh Ghdamsi
Yoann Paillot
Daan Rijntjes
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 11-05-2013 11:16
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 20-06-2013 20:46
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Sponsor News: Team moving towards African focus?
While the team is having African adventures, the manager has been busy securing a future for 2014. It has been rumored that the team is moving towards a more African focus, after Barclays were uninterested in staying on as co-sponsor.
Apparently, Kenya Airways are most likely to stay on as a sole title sponsor, making Kenyan and African riders the priority for the team. Ecobank and Safaricom have also been mentioned. These are just rumors however.
This jersey has been leaked from a fan website, made by top designer aidanvn13:
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 22-06-2013 18:34
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Goal Achieved thanks to Martinez
The team traveled to South Africa for the Giro del Capo a few days ago, needing a top-5 to complete a season goal. They did just that through leader Yasmani Martinez who also picked up the points jersey and a stage win on the way.
We started off the race well where on the first two flat stages Martinez managed a 6th, a 4th and a 5th. Things looked set for a second half of the race.
Sprinting to 4th on Stage 2
Stage four though ended badly, with our Cuban leader finishing eighth 2'21 behind eventual race winner Weening. That left him in seventh overall moving into the Mountain Time Trial of which he was the favourite.
Weening riding to victory, securing him the race win
He showed he deserved that status on Stage 5, by taking the win! The great performance moved him into the targeted fifth overall with one stage to go.
Riding to victory, ensuring a top-5 overall
The final stage brought yet more success with Martinez finishing third, clinching the points jersey. A top 10 on every stage shows he deserved the green jersey.
Securing the points jersey in 3rd
| 1 | Pieter Weening | Team Gazelle | 18h40'23 | | 2 |  Ngock Yves Ngue | MTN - World Bicycle Relief | + 43 | | 3 | Mikel Nieve | FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm | + 1'12 | | 4 |  Juan Sebastian Tamayo Martinez | PFG-Armavia | + 1'42 | | 5 |  Yasmani Martinez | Kenya Airways - Barclays | + 2'18 |
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 22-06-2013 19:05
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Your team has really impressed this year. Martinez has proven to be a surprisingly valuable rider to your team. I'm really liking the fact that you're also moving to a complete African focus, even though I know we'll be clashing on the transfer market 
To be honest, I thought our teams would be situated pretty close to each other on the continental rankings at the end of the year, but Kenya Air seems to be doing way better 
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 22-06-2013 22:04
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
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Thanks 
Things have gone well this year. Even promotion seemed possible earlier on, but I'll settle for a top 10 in the rankings + a decent budget for next year because of achieved goals.
I feel that I will enjoy managing an fully African team more, instead of buying whoever fits. I hope we can make a deal to avoid paying high prices for African riders though, your team is one of my favourites also. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it though I suspect.
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 22-06-2013 22:05
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 20-08-2013 12:41
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It has been a while since there was an update, so here is a summary of our recent results over the past two months. The great early season form seems to have dried up and probably ended our promotion hopes but with backing secure for next year, we want to finish strongly and maintain a Top 10 finish in the division as well as completing our final two goals.
[1.2]  GP Tokyo
The team traveled to this flat classic in Japan with high hopes after some good sprinting results over the season. You never know what will happen though with Nico Schinker who is either great or terrible it seems. Our loose cannon for a leader was well positioned as he went into the the final sprint, after the day's breakaway was caught.
In the end the Luxembourgian managed to grasp fourth in a close finish between third through to eighth. The victory was comfortably taken by Jiri Hochmann ahead of Blaise Sonnery, while Damian Drapac rounded out the podium for The Oz Cycling Project.
There was a close fight for third at the finish
| 1 |  Jíri Hochmann | Die Berg Komt Er | 6h23'40 | | 2 | Blaise Sonnery | Evian-MIAT | s.t. | | 3 |  Damion Drapac | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. | | 4 | Nico Schinker | Kenya Airways - Barclays | s.t. | | 5 | Kevin Peeters | Japanese - Korean Cycling Project | s.t. |
[2.1]  Tour of Eritrea
This race in Eritrea was another chance to show ourselves in a higher quality race than C2. We showed in April at the Tropicale Amissa Bongo that we were capable of big success at this level so we came here with a goal of a top 10 in the GC in mind. Zakayo Ndbri would lead us.
Ndbri sprinting during the queen Stage 2
We had a good race and despite being pretty anonymous, seventh overall was was what Ndbri managed in the end which was great considering the quality of opposition he faced here. In the end ING took the race through Gomez Marchante, after winning Stage 2.
| 1 | José Angel Gomez Marchante | ING Cycling - Project | 13h15'37 | | 2 | Florentino Marquez | HTC Nieuwsblad | + 8 | | 3 |  Magno Nazaret | Team Bintang | + 12 | | 4 | Vitor Rodrigues | Hollister Pro Cycling | + 57 | | 5 | Julien Berard | HTC Nieuwsblad | + 1'23 | | ..... | | 7 | Zakayo Ndbri | Kenya Airways - Barclays | s.t. |
[1.1]  Isle of Man ITT
Next on the calendar was the Isle of Man ITT. We brought three men to try and get results; Daan Rijntjes, Ysamani Martinez and Alejandro Marque, but we knew it wouldn’t be easy as the Pro Continental competition we faced was top notch. However, we felt we could grasp a top 10 if we had some luck.
Zabriskie rode to a dominant victory
Dave Zabriskie won the race in the end after a dominant performance, where he dispatched World ITT Champion Michael Rodgers by 1’40”. Our best result was from Daan Rijntjes who managed to finish twelfth, on a day where he was our only point scorer.
| 1 |  David Zabriskie | ING Cycling - Project | 1h29'29 | | 2 | Michael Rogers | Oz Cycling Project | + 1'40 | | 3 | Ian Stannard | Jaguar - Eritel | + 2'15 | | 4 | Hugues Mottin | Bouygues Telecom | + 2'28 | | 5 | Dennis Van Winden | ING Cycling - Project | + 2'41 | | ..... | | 12 | Daan Rijntjes | Kenya Airways - Barclays | + 3'37 |
[2.2]  Giro della Valle d'Aosta
Our most recent race was the Giro della Valle d'Aosta, set in the mountainous northern Italy. We were lead by our two strongest riders, Yasmani Martinez and Zakayo Ndbri, who favour this terrain, but they found it tough competing against the biggest Continental names like Arroyo and Marzano.
Marzano crushed the opposition in Italy
The latter stamped his authority all over his home race with three stage wins and the overall, taking a dominant victory well ahead of the rest. Arroyo managed second but couldn't fault his big rival once more, while Moreno snuck a third for Spanish promotion candidates Iberia.
Ndbri sprinting to a fourth place on Stage 5, en route to 6th overall
Our best result came through Ndbri who managed a sixth overall mainly thanks to a fourth place on stage 5. Martinez however could not even make the top 10, which really was a disappointment for the team. We simply didn't pick up enough points here and to mount a last promotion push we need these two to be reaching the top-5 every race.
| 1 | Marco Marzano | Kappa-ENI | 21h53'45 | | 2 | David Arroyo | Die Berg Komt Er | + 1'05 | | 3 | Daniel Moreno | Iberia - Communidad Valenciana | + 2'13 | | 4 |  Edwin Parra Bustamante | Boeing-Vivacom ProCycling | + 4'33 | | 5 |  Denis Menchov | FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm | + 4'58 | | ..... | | 6 | Zakayo Ndbri | Kenya Airways - Barclays | + 5'30 | | 12 | Yasmani Martinez | Kenya Airways - Barclays | + 7'05 |
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 20-08-2013 18:30
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You rarely seem to have a bad race your policy of signing riders good in every dicispline seems to have helped! a top 5 and promotion isn't out of the question at the moment especially if Matinez keeps picking up big points |
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Posted on 22-11-2024 17:47
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 20-08-2013 18:54
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Joined: 07-10-2012
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jt1109 wrote:
You rarely seem to have a bad race your policy of signing riders good in every dicispline seems to have helped! a top 5 and promotion isn't out of the question at the moment especially if Matinez keeps picking up big points
I would say promotion is almost out of the question now barring a crazy result or two. It could happen (look at what happened in the Tropicale Amissa Bongo for us) but I doubt that we can improve with some races that are coming up looking like terrible choices now.
We do have a pretty allround team (discounting cobbles) which has helped this season towards achieving 10pprd so far. Martinez also has impressed as well in races like the Tour of the Middle East and the Giro del Capo. I wouldn't agree that we don't have a bad race though, some like the Turul al Romaniei, Volta ao Alentejo and the Bahir Dar have been shockers points-wise 
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 20-08-2013 19:01
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 20-08-2013 19:10
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2797
Joined: 06-11-2010
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I really like this team, even if it is whipping our ass. It's really cool having a team with a very similar focus. Can't wait for this year's transfer season again, gonna be some epic fights
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 20-08-2013 19:16
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
Joined: 07-10-2012
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aidanvn13 wrote:
I really like this team, even if it is whipping our ass. It's really cool having a team with a very similar focus. Can't wait for this year's transfer season again, gonna be some epic fights
I already have a few deals planned that I'm pretty confident in happening. Hopefully we can work something out that avoids big clashes during free agent bidding, though transfers are still a long way off |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 17-09-2013 19:36
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
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Unsuccessful Trip To Ireland
The team traveled to Ireland for the FDB Eire Tour, in search of more points for a promotion push along with some good results. Chaoufi came as our leader, and was the strongest puncheur in the field so we expected to have a good race.
The race began with a TTT, and was a race we expected to do well in with strong rouleurs like Rijntjes, Paillot and Hussein here but we could only grab 6th out of nine teams, 54" behind eventual winners Gazelle.
That set the tone for the rest of the race, as Chaoufi could never get a great result to move up the overall ladder. His best effort came on Stage 7, as he attacked and got a 1'30" gap, but couldn't hold on and was caught before the finish. He eventually finished in 9th overall.
A small bright spark in a bad race for the team was Schinker, who took two podiums during the race, on the flat stages 2 and 8. Home sprinter Brammeier couldn't pull something off in his home race so the Luxembourgian stepped up to do well.
A mention must go to Gazelle though, who took every classification in the race! They took the overall through their leader Minnaard, who rode a dominant race and took three stages along the way.
Overall for us, the race was a disappointing one which saw under performances from most of the team. A dent in our promotion hopes for sure, but hopefully things can improve in later races after some promising signs.
GC
| 1 | Marco Minnard | Team Gazelle | 28h36'45 | | 2 | Eduard Vorganov | Team Privatbank | + 1'30 | | 3 |  Markus Eibegger | Magna-Ryanair | + 2'02 | | 4 | Jorge Adelbo Soto Pereira | Adira-Isq Project | + 2'08 | | 5 |  Adrian Honkisz | Team Credexbank | + 2'15 | | 6 |  Emanuel Kiserlovski | Kappa-ENI | s.t. | | 7 |  Juan Mora | Mobil - Castrol Cycling | + 2'25 | | 8 |  Perikles Ilias | Magna-Ryanair | + 2'26 | | 9 |  Tarik Chaoufi | Kenya Airways - Barclays | + 2'30 | | 10 |  Stanislau Bazhkou | Team Credexbank | + 2'35 |
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 20-09-2013 18:48
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 17-09-2013 19:39
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World Champion
Posts: 10497
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Mora Colombian? He feels sad now. 
This race really hurted your promotion push but the fight is still on, even tough my team scored probably more than yours. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 20-09-2013 18:52
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
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Miguel98 wrote:
Mora Colombian? He feels sad now.
This race really hurted your promotion push but the fight is still on, even tough my team scored probably more than yours.
I think it has put our promotion hopes in a bit more doubt, but I'm not that worried yet. We have had a few terrible races, but we always end up on about 10pprd. In my eyes that should be sufficient for promotion with many teams around us either inactive or going to the Tour of America, which looks like a big mistake to me unless you win the race.
Looking forward to seeing where you end up, as I like that your going to be more focused on South America. Teams that concentrate on one area are the ones I like to follow most
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 20-09-2013 18:54
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 20-09-2013 19:01
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World Champion
Posts: 10497
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FroomeDog99 wrote:
Miguel98 wrote:
Mora Colombian? He feels sad now.
This race really hurted your promotion push but the fight is still on, even tough my team scored probably more than yours.
I think it has put our promotion hopes in a bit more doubt, but I'm not that worried yet. We have had a few terrible races, but we always end up on about 10pprd. In my eyes that should be sufficient for promotion with many teams around us either inactive or going to the Tour of America, which looks like a big mistake to me unless you win the race.
Looking forward to seeing where you end up, as I like that your going to be more focused on South America. Teams that concentrate on one area are the ones I like to follow most
Well, true. But we'll see. But well, I hear your team is going full african, are those rumours correct? |
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| fintas |
Posted on 20-09-2013 19:11
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Given that the next season you'll tweak more on the African continent, I think the transfer of Henrique Casimirio for Adira, would be looked upon positively
Edited by fintas on 20-09-2013 19:12
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 20-09-2013 19:33
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2797
Joined: 06-11-2010
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Miguel98 wrote:
FroomeDog99 wrote:
Miguel98 wrote:
Mora Colombian? He feels sad now.
This race really hurted your promotion push but the fight is still on, even tough my team scored probably more than yours.
I think it has put our promotion hopes in a bit more doubt, but I'm not that worried yet. We have had a few terrible races, but we always end up on about 10pprd. In my eyes that should be sufficient for promotion with many teams around us either inactive or going to the Tour of America, which looks like a big mistake to me unless you win the race.
Looking forward to seeing where you end up, as I like that your going to be more focused on South America. Teams that concentrate on one area are the ones I like to follow most
Well, true. But we'll see. But well, I hear your team is going full african, are those rumours correct?
Hehe https://pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread....ost_741399
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 20-09-2013 19:34
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Posts: 4573
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Miguel98 wrote:
I hear your team is going full African, are those rumours correct?
I can confirm that those rumours are partly true. Our sponsors will be, but I have yet to decide though if we will sign only African riders, as that could limit us alot and leave me without the capability to sign some of my favourite riders. I'll see.
What I can say though is that if we do go all-African, Martinez will have to go. With your team looking to go South American he could fit in your team quite well, so maybe something can be worked out.
fintas wrote:
Given that the next season you'll tweak more on the African continent, I think the transfer of Henrique Casimirio for Adira, would be looked upon positively.
If we keep him in renewals then a transfer would interest us alot, as we will be looking to let him leave. Most likely though he will become a free agent at the end of the year.
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 20-09-2013 19:35
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