My first World Tour race today, but I have to say, it was not very professional. So I make ready for the start, but there is no start canon. In Korea, we have start cannon. Of course, for safety reason, we don't use cannonball, we use dissident. But Paris have no start cannon, just some weird beebs and strange guy speaking gibberish. Finaly he said depart, so I ask where is departy? He look at me confused. Next is Mr. Car shouting I should start racing, he was very angry, I think at french person.
So I start riding, was going very fast. But was very short race, suddenly there was finish line. I didn't know races in World Tour were so short, manager should have told me cause I don't like. It was very disappointing result for me, only twelve. I will have to do better, but maybe tomorrow is longer time trial.
Wanted to do this after Paris - Nice and make it 1 biggie, but well, it takes too long, so it's going to be seperate ones anyway
Omloop goal achieved!
We've got some good news again. About a week ago, Omloop het Nieuwsblad, one of the team goals, was ridden. Big names where there, including Cancellara, Boonen, and Khamphan. Our goal was to get a Top 5 at Omloop, which was quite an ambitious goal after all.
With 40km to go, Khamphan was caught in a small split, with Gaudin & Turgot as well. Luckily, we stayed calm, and it all got back together at some point, to get a reduced bunch sprint.
Nobody could match Boonen, but Khamphan made 3rd after an impressive sprint, only Mcdermott could get the better of him in the end.
Good job Lue!
Disappointing Kuurne
It can't be good news only, sadly enough. Kuurne was a bit of a bummer for us.
We had the strongest cobbles team there. A big break got away at a moment. We weren't part of the break, and it turns out that we should have been, since nobody in the pelotn was working anymore after that. Only us, and IAM helped us for a minute, but that's all. Thanks guys
Anyway, the break got to the finish, it got to a mass-sprint, and Greipel won it in the end, ahead of Degenkolb. We had high expectations of this race...
Strade Bianche dominated by Sagan
Strade Bianche, which is quite a prestigious race, was just outright dominated by Cannondale's Peter Sagan(No, not Juraj). He won 56 seconds ahead of Daniel Moreno.
Brouwer wins close Almeria sprint
Brouwer continues to lead the overall rider ranking: He managed to win Clasica de Almeria just in front of Boeckmans & Ciolek. Brouwer seems to be an excellent signing for Belkin, constantly doing well in weaker line-ups.
Surprise win for Karpets in GP Lugano
GP Lugano had quite an surprising twist after all. It has an tough hill before the end, but it was expected to be a reduced group sprint, with the Sagan-type of riders fighting for the win(Sagan wasn't there, for the record). With 25km to go, the break had 1'35 left, but still, they managed to hold off the peloton in the end. Karpets won the sprint of the escapees.
Delayed races
Sadly enough, due to unknown reasons, both Tour of Oman & Tour de San Luis have been delayed. Especially the latter one sucks for Europcar, since Po-Ding was wearing the leader's jersey. Luckily, the riders are not in danger, so it'll be all right.
I have just come back from Paris - Nice. After all tehre's not too far from Nice to my cabin in the mountains.
In this my first world tour race I was told to help Po-ding and Peeters, so that’s what I did…
Stage 6 was the big mountain test, where I did reasonably well finishing as 3rd best Europcar rider after having helped the others all day.
I have to admit I really look forward to the day where I won’t have to bust my ass of for other riders every single day! I mean it’s not like the others played any major role in the race, so I believe the team would have achieved more if I had gone in the break in stead.
I just got back from Nice, apparently we weren't in Paris anymore. Someone could have told me that. All was going well, until there was suddenly a mountain. Someone could have told me that. So team mate Arashiro useless again, I was on my own and couldn't hang on. So I lose time. But is no problem I said, is time trial later on. But was mountain time trial. Someone could have told me that! Only finished 9th and no top 10 in GC. Very ashamed now. But English is improving! But still, very ashamed.
Stage 1 was a bunch sprint, where I just made sure to get home safe.
Stage 2 was a short time trial, which isn’t really my kind of thing.
But stage 3 was something different. A mountain stage and for once I wasn’t tied to anyone so I attacked and spent a lot of time out in front. My breakaway companion Hinault went on to win pretty much everything, but I’m happy with finishing 32nd after proving myself to the bosses!
Alltogether it was a valuable lesson, where I in spite of still having to do a bit of work for Rolland feel that I proved that I can do something if given a free role to attack.
a few weeks have already been passed since my last races. I wanted to write to you earlier but i was too disappointed after Paris - Nice.
When we came there I wanted to fight for a stage win. I thought it should be possible as I liked the route profiles.
With a lot of hills I thought it would deliver me some nice chances but i have to admit that i fucked it up. I tried twice an attack from about 30 to 40 km out but i could not hold the pace I normally go for 60/70km when i'm in top shape for half of that distance.
I was not even close to a stage win as I did not even came into the Top 15 on a single stage. This is so disappointing that I am currently back in Germany for a private training camp in the Black Forrest.
The black forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg where you can find every type of rising roads.
Small bumps like in the Ardennes are there as well as medium sized mountains like the 1500m high Feldberg. I hope I can find the form I had last year in Junior Levels where I got third at U23 world championships and won a stage in Tour d'Avenir.
When the season started, I wanted to target the Ardennes classics but now I'm not sure if I will be allowed to start there as I showed nothing that was worth it. Of course, I was not expected to be in top shape but at least some signs of good legs would have been nice. But the only thing I was able show to show this season was my fighting spirit and that is not enough.
I still hope to get into top shape till then so I will take a small rest now and contacted Christian Bischoff. Christian is a former member of the German Youth Nationalteam in Basketball and now he is one of the most known mental trainer in Germany. He analyzed my situation and told me that I was too fixated on cycling and that it would be better if I spend some more time with other things. Therefore, I tried paraglading at the weekend and I will repeat it some day. I already feel a small effect from his lessons but I'm not sure if I just fancy that.
Unfortunately, we can report on missed goals today. These were particulary tough goals, but yeah. Allright, let's go through them...
Paris - Nice
Our goal was to get a stage-win. We sent a strong line-up involving Schröder, Po-Ding & Peeters, but it was just not meant to be.
Stage 1 was a bit of a communication error. Po-Ding thought he had to ride 29km, but it was 2,9 in the end. Still, he managed 12th.
We didn't bring a sprinter, so Stage 2 & Stage 3 weren't interesting for us. Stage 4 was hilly. We had some hopes on Schröder here. Unfortunately for us, it got a sprint, which isn't his strongest point. Peeters was our best finish, 32th. Stage 5 was an other hilly stage. Again, it got a group-sprint, but for third, while Valv & Gilbert made brave escapes. Schröder didn't look in great form. Stage 6 was the big mountain stage. With Po-Ding & Peeters both here, we expected something at least!
Unfortunately, nobody could finish in the Top 10, with Po-Ding 13th on 2'51.
It has to be said that Po-Ding was 12th in the GC at that time, we hoped him to finish in the Top 10 from that stage.
In Stage 7, Thomas Peeters got the closest to a stage-win. He got into a late attack of 7-men. He got 3rd in the sprint.
Then, a MTT was left in Stage 8. Po-Ding was expected to win quite some time here, but the differences were minimal and he only got 9th, leaving him outside the GC Top 10.
In the end, Valverde just won the GC, 10 seconds ahead of Froomey. He won those important seconds in Stage 5, a hilly stage.
So yeah, no stage-win for us.
Criterium International
Our goal was a GC Top 3 here. We sent Rolland. Unfortunately, Wiggins, Hinault & Mollema were there as well. Stage 1 was a sprint stage. We had Coquard, a strong sprinter. He managed to get a second place here, just behind Izagirre. Stage 2 was a TT. Rolland hates them. He got 49th in the end, which isn't the end of the world.
In Stage 3, Rolland was expected to do well. He didn't, really. Got 14th, and got 17th in the GC. We were really disappointed. Notable mention for Nokkvason though, who really showed himself here.
Dwars Door = a moderate succes
We had a beast line-up going to Dwars door, with Lue, Gaudin & Turgot. Tom Boonen won with a late attack, and a messy sprint-like thing followed. We got ourselves 4th & 6th, which is good, though we'd have liked a podium more
Nokere Koers going crazy!
Yeah, this one is crazy. It finished with a cobbled sprint, but in the end, the Belkin & Sky trains completely blocked the road, grabbing most Top 10 spots. Which was ridiculous, has to be said, since only a 9th was left for Gaudin... Judge yourself:
Spartacus dominates MSR
MSR, for some the biggest classic of the season, also took place in the past week. It was as always sprinters vs puncheurs.
Not a lot attacks took place, but there was one very notable one. 15km before the finish, before the last hill, Cancellara went for the attack. He must have had a good day, since in the end, he survived, and won La Primavera by 1 minute!
Exciting Tirreno - Adriatico won by Quintana
The young colombian Nairo Quintana managed to grab the Tirreno - Adriatico win. He was 25 seconds ahead Nibali and 31 of Porte in the end. Even while only winning 1 stage, he took the GC, and also the U25, KoM & Point jerseys, but the latter 2 were pretty close.
Volta Limburg Classic prey for Iglinsky
While everyone expected this classic to be a reduced group sprint, Iglinsky surprised us with a late attack, which granted him the win. Degenkolb & Brouwer could only sprint for second place.
"Where were all our good riders in San Luis? What were our, erm, most esteemed managers thinking when they send this bunch of ... questionable riders. I was all on my own for the last climb. Next time, give me some good riders like Rolland or Voeckler instead of those ... most esteemed co-riders."
Look Po-Ding, it's not that easy. It was supposed to be the first race of the season. A lot of the riders have a lot of goals later in the season and didn't want to ride earlier in the season. In the end, San Luis was delayed, so after all, Rolland & Voeckler could have gone to San Luis, but we weren't allowed to change our line-ups anymore. Nokkvason & Malacarne are quite good though, but not strong enough to bring Rodriguez back, he's really good.
You did do a good job though, Po-Ding! Hope you can hang on to the podium spot, or maybe even win
So we finally got to continue racing in Argentina and that with a big mountain shortly before the finish.
As you see on the picture above we worked out butts of pulling in riders to protect Po-ding's GC lead.
Sadly he was just to complacent to follow the attacks and prove himself worthy of the lead. In stead he just rode right behind us until the last km yelling things that didn't make any sence.
Still I'm hapy with finishing inside the group less than a minute behind Purito. Just too bad Kim couldn't (or wouldn't?) do his part in winning the race for the team...
Anyone who saw the race will know that Natnael, Davide and myself are the reason RodrÃguez and Kangert didn't gain more time than as such!
Hey Boss,
i know it's been a while, but i was just wondering how my chances are of making my continental championships? I think i could be a great help for Po-ding, and i'd love to get the chance to ride in Asia. So, what do you think?
You don't have to worry Lue.
You'll be in for sure!
Even though the profile is too hilly for you, I'm sure that with your abilities on the flat and your stamina, you'll be a good help for Po-Ding. In fact we'll probably send all our Asians & Africans(4 in total actually) to the championship.
Would you mind riding the TT as well? It would be an interesting way to see how you progressed in Time Trials, plus, the audience watching in Laos will be pleased to see you participating
Also, a personal message for you, Po-Ding:
We cannot send the best helpers in the mountains & hills that we've got to the Continental Championships. Believe us, we've tried to send Rolland & Voeckler to the Aufrazian championship , but the UCI refused due to some stupid rule...
I guess you wouldn't mind to go to the championship, both TT & RR? Edited by Jesleyh on 13-01-2014 21:17
Just found some time to update you all on my experiences in Belgium.
The first race in Belgian was starting in Gent, for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. With Khamse Khampan and Turgot in our line-up, I knew I had to do a lot of work to keep them in the race. When Turgot got clear with a small group, the pace went up and with 40 kilometers to go, I found myself in a group with domestiques and took it easy for Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. The team did great and after Turgot got caught, Lue sprinted to a 3rd place.
The next day it was time for Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. While I was feeling the efforts from the previous day, I felt pretty good. With 84 kilometers to go, on the Oude Kwaremont the race fell in pieces. I found myself in a 3rd group 30 seconds in front of the peloton, but we got reeled in pretty quick, which meant I had to take part in chasing the breakaway. Since no other team was willing to help us, we did not catch the riders in front, which left our team with no result.
The 3rd race in this series was Nokere Koerse. We had 3 riders with a great chance to win, so it would mean I had to help them in any way I could. We had nobody in the breakaway here, so we were forced to do the pacing in the peloton. Luckily this time some teams helped out with that. When the break was reeled in, Sky and Belkin took control of the race right till the end. No one is sure what happened at the finish line, but for some reason Team Belkin and Team Sky thought they could just use the whole road and block everyone else behind them. What a bunch of figli di puttana. At least Gaudin could push his way through for a 9th place.
The last race before I would make my debut in the World Tour was Dwars door Vlaanderen. A tough race, especially the 2nd half. More working for our leaders for me. When Quemeneur got himself in the breakaway, we could all take it a bit easier. That did not last long, because Gaudin followed an attack and the pace increased tremendously. Gaudin almost made it to the end, but got caught by a sprinting Boonen and just missed out on the podium with a 4th place.
2 of the WT cobbled classics have been finished in the last days. That is, E3 & Gent - Wevelgem. We had some high hopes for them, with our full cobbled squad being there again.
E3 turning out meh...
E3 Prijs Harelbeke is often a race where there are some shattered groups. This is something that we really like, since none of our cobblers is a great sprinter, though Khamphan and Turgot are definitely above average. Boonen put in a very late attack and managed to defend his gap in the sprint, and won it in the end. Unfortunately, Khamphan was all alone, we expected more of Turgot & Gaudin here. In the end, Khamphan got 12th. Which is slightly disappointing I must add, especially since a Top 3 was a goal. Well, he probably just had an off-day, which can happen of course.
Khamphan secured 6th in GW sprint
This is something we were happier with. The cobbles in Gent - Wevelgem weren't enough to shatter groups, but we didn't expect that anyway. A group of 27 survived. Strangely enough, Turgot & Gaudin again not there. Luckily, Khamphan felt good today and put out a decent sprint.
Sagan won this easily, really...
Lue is visible on the right. Among guys like Greipel & Sagan, he did a good job!
Tour of Oman turning into breakaway fest
Only 3 stages have been raced yet, but up to now, the stages have resulted in breakaway win every single time. This really sucks a lot, since we have at least one of the strongest sprinters there, Coquard. Due to the breakaway wins, we didn't manage more than 7th in stage 1, which wasn't even by Coquard, but by Lue.
Continental Championship Line-ups!
As you guys know, there'll be Continental Championships in a few days. Those will take place in Valkenburg, the Netherlands. There's an European, American & Aufrazian championship.
We'll go through our line-ups now:
European TT
We don't have a lot of strong TTists from Europe. Di Silvestro will stand the best chance, we think. We're looking forward to see what he can do, though with the strongest TTists of the world being European, we don't expect a lot. Good luck Drago! Line-up:
Spoiler
- Drago di Silvestro
- Thomas Voeckler
- Christopher Kern
- Damien Gaudin
European RR
We have a bit more chance here. Christian Schröder is our absolute leader here, being a good puncheur. Rolland & Peeters should be co-leaders and good helpers for Schröder here, with Voeckler being allowed to attack, of course! Line-up
Spoiler
"- Thomas Voeckler
- Damien Gaudin
- Pierre Rolland
- Cyril Gautier
- Christian Schröder
- Thomas Peeters
- Davide Malacarne
- Drago di Silvestro
- Johann Nokkvason
American Championships
Well, our RR & TT line-ups will be the same here, Veilleux is our only man. We hope he can attack in the RR and he might be able to score a Top 10 in the TT, if lucky. Line-up RR:
Spoiler
David Veilleux
Line-up TT:
Spoiler
David Veilleux
Aufrazian TT
Po-Ding is actually the best TTist of Asia, according to our calculations. Shaqif from Tunesia, and some Australians, will be his rivals here. We've taken our other Asians & Africans as well. Line-up
Aufrazian RR
Po-Ding Kim is our absolute leader here for sure. Being one of the better climbers of Asia, he surely has a chance here. The Australians are a danger though. Khamphan will be a good domestique here. Line-up:
We hope we'll take a title, and our chances actually seem quite good, especially in the Aufrazian championships. Go Po-Ding, Schröder, Veilleux and all the others!
Yeah, something went wrong.
Some flags didn't work and actually only 7 were displayed, while being 9 when I click edit.
Same for the EPIC Break topic, now both fixed
I just wanted to say that I'm really happy, that you have chosen me for the European championships. I actualy didn't really expect that. I'll do my best to work hard for the slim chances we have of doing some thing big.
This really boosts my morale before we get to the mountain in Oman.
And by the way the code for Iceland is IS (in Icelandic it's called Island)
Well, you've proved that you're a great domestique, and we thought you deserved a participation and it looked like a good award for your work in the last races as well Edited by Jesleyh on 15-01-2014 19:51
& Tour de San Luis
have been delayed. Especially the latter one sucks for Europcar, since Po-Ding was wearing the leader's jersey. Luckily, the riders are not in danger, so it'll be all right.
