All Go Before the Season Starts
The cycling world has been busy in the past few weeks with some major events taking place which will shape the upcoming 2006 season.
To begin with, rumours began flying around about the DFL team, who appeared to be having major talks between riders and the team owners. In an announcement on boxing day, the team’s PR man announced that the sponsors had withdrawn from the team, and after no other offers to save the team, it was forced to expand.
The main riders were quickly swooped up, with the two Downing brother’s joining Liquigas, and Matthew Brammeier joining SouthAustralia.com.
With this empty slot in the Continental Tour, various teams seemed to be moving in, but instead, a new British team was formed and put into the division on December 28th, called Team Cycling24 – 2012, under the management of little known 25 year old Englishman Allan Smile.
The company spokesman announced to the media:
“The brand new British sports channel, Cycling24, will begin broadcasting cycling from around the world, and has decided to invest in its very own cycling team. With support from the London 2012 Olympic Committee, Cycling24 hopes the team can make it to the ProTour next year in anticipation of the Cycling24 channel going global. We also hope to raise awareness and hopefully bring out Britain’s next big thing for the 2012 Olympics!”
The team has had to be fairly active, already having pinched Kirk O’Bee in a daring swoop, as well as investing in some young riders. The team has also begun its investment into British riders, hoping to groom a 2012 sprint king for the velodrome of 2012.
However, with the unknown and experienced leader of Smile trying to take the team to the top levels, it’s going to be difficult work.
Cycling24
Cycling24 are a new sports channel in Britain, who focus mainly on cycling but do bring coverage of other sports. The channel began just back in September 2005, where they got backing from a mysterious businessman, and have prepared to begin broadcasting for the start of the 2007 season, focusing on the three tours and the Tour of Britain. They hope that by launching their very own team, they will get good publicity and hopefully more viewers, and already have plans for team rider exclusives throughout the season. When they move global next year, they hope to be in the ProTour and have a large financial backing to take the team to success
1st January 2006
Wow, I can’t believe that I’m actually a sports director of such a new and exciting team. This just shouldn’t happen! All I did was help out Cycling24 as an expert of sorts as they started up, and instead of paying me money, they give me this as reward! It’s ridiculous.
I met my boss this morning, Ken West, who is Director General of Cycling24, who told me all about the board’s expectations and the future of the team, as well as setting out my budget and telling me all about the staff and riders. He was a bit boring really.
In the afternoon, I finally met the staff and riders at our fairly dilapidated London HQ, which has had to be rented as the board tell me they won’t build a proper one until we’re in the ProTour. London’s hardly the best place for a cycling HQ, we won’t be spending much time here.
Anyway, I met all the team as a group and they seem like a nice bunch of guys who have bonded well as a team already. We’ve got some real youngsters in the team, and my assistant David Jones has already been working them hard whilst I sort out a mountain of paperwork to get the team ready: it was nice just to get them training. David’s an odd sort really, but is quite experienced, having worked as a trainer at various ProTour teams and a successful one at that: his joke that a race is never really complete without a full team breakaway brought up a laugh. At least I think he was joking!
January 2nd Cycling24 TV Competition
Cycling24 went live on air today, and immediately launched a competition in association with their new cycling team, Team Cycling24 – 2012. They want viewers to design their jersey for 2006, and the winning jersey will be unveiled at the team’s presentation in late January.
Well, a hope the jersey is a good one, as at the moment we’ve been given some DFL jerseys, and the team looks none to pleased with it. Our sponsor goals mean we’ve got some heavy work to do in January, but I feel all the goals are achievable:
Goals:
1. Wear points jersey for 1 day in Tour of Britian
2. Top 10 Tour of Britain
3. Stage wins in Circuit Franco-Belge
4. Top 10 in Jayco Bay Cycling Classic
5. Stage wins in Jayco Bay Cycling Classic
The sponsors also want us to do well in the 4 Jours de Dunkerque, the Route Adelie de Vitre, the Tour Down Under and the Herald Sun Tour, which menas our sprinters will need to be in tip top shape from the word go. That means Kirk O’Bee and Damien Nazon will be our two leaders for the whole of January, starting on the 4th in Australia.
Edited by Crommy on 19-02-2010 19:39
Now, I really like this! Really well-written (well, you're English so you have an advantage), and I like the idea of starting from the ground with a team. Good luck!
January 4th Jayco Bay Cycling Classic
My first race and I’m in sunny Australia! David is really jealous, and tried to blag his way onto the plane, but someone needs to srtay at HQ and work the boys. It’s really hot but with two sponsor goals to fulfil, we need to work really hard. Kirk O’Bee and Damien Nazon are our two hopefuls for stage wins and the GC Stage 1
This stage was built totally for sprinters, and we had to get out front and position our sprinters well. The tight bends through the city streets were going to be a problem , so the riders needed to be careful. The riders set off, and immediately it was obviously nobody was going to get away in a break. Some futilely tried, but got nowhere. Then, with half the race run, a serious of crashes turned the race into a farcical. In the end, a total of 7 mass crashes occurred, with only half the riders managed to survive without falling, and two unlucky riders having to pick themselves off the road four times! The first crash brought down 25 riders, including race favourites Dean Downing, Nibali and Matt Goss, as well as our very own Alfredo Balloni, who then went 100m only to crash again. However, the rest of the team somehow survived, and with the rest of the competition over 2 minutes behind, I told the boys we could win this easily. They set a frenetic page, and only a few could follow. In the sprint, there was only 6 out front, and Damien Nazon had the strength to WIN! That’s right! My first race and we won! Not only that Kirk O’Bee finished third, and David Hill came 4th. I nearly crushed Damien with my bear hug after the race. Paride Grillo came in second. Damien celebrates for DFL...no wait Cycling24
I may have got a bit tipsy that night. Stage 2
Nursing a fairly major hangover, I just about managed to make it to the second stage. Today was all about staying out of trouble and keeping the lead. With only a few crashes today, which we managed to avoid, we mucked up the sprint with a confused sprint train which nobody really led, so finished in the pack, but held onto the lead, with Paride Grillo breathing down his neck. With time bonuses, Kirk moves to 4th. Stage 3
There was an early break today, and we sent Alfredo Balloni into it to go for it. The group splintered, but with 25km to go, the front group of 7 had managed to level out at 1’30 ahead. However, the pack started to really push it along, moving at 45km/h, but the gap was only cut to 1’ with 20km left. However, the peloton worked hard and overtook the break with 15km left at 50km/h (that’s over 30mph)! In the sprint, a good lead out from Hill allowed Damien Nazon to cruise to victory for another WIN! Kirk sprinted well for third, moving to second in the GC! Alfredo did really well, refusing to give up after the break was caught, powering into 5th at the line, staving off some serious competition. Stage 4
Today’s stage was a bit longer, and talking to the team set the race plan by itself. Kirk wasn’t feeling to good, so the whole team rode for Damien, but surprisingly, young Alfredo said he felt great, so we told him to go for the break. He tried twice, but the poor youngster was chased down by the pack, who immediately stepped up the pace when he attacked. He’s only 16! A one man break lasted for the middle 50km, but it boiled down to a sprint, and the strongest man was Nazon again! This guy is immense already. Even though Kirk said he didn’t feel 100%, he managed to finish fourth, and with today’s time bonuses, he falls to fourth, behing Greg Henderson and Paride Grillo, who finished 2nd and 3rd, the same place as their GC.
Edited by Crommy on 23-05-2007 22:03
Stage 5
With Damien’s tour victory already wrapped up, the aim today was to get Kirk up to 2nd place overall. However, confusion left Kirk to far back, so guess who saved the day with his fourth stage win out of five? Damien Nazon wraps up the race in style
Cycle World reporter Jack Daniels managed to catch up with Allan Smile at the finish of the race:
JD: Congratulations on your first win! How do you feel?
AS: It’s amazing, Damien has just dominated this tour
JD: Is this just a lucky one off like your critics say?
AS: Hopefully not. We’ve got a very strong team that should be pushing for many victories this season
JD: Your team is very young, do you think your rider’s and your inexperience could jeopardise your season?
AS: Not at all. All our riders could do very well this season, and the older riders of the group are already helping to guide the young ones in. As for me, well, I’ve got David Jones constantly keeping an eye on me and helping me out, so I should be fine.
JD: Thank you Allan, and enjoy your win!
In the end, Damien has won the GC by over a minute, with Kirk coming fourth. It was a good ride by David Hill as well, as he managed 13th overall.
The mood of the team out here is really good, even though the press are saying it was total luck, what with the crashes wiping out the competition in the first stage. It was a great tour by Damien, and things look promising for the rest of the season. We’ve got the Tour Down Under coming up, with a slightly more demanding course, so we’ll just have to see how we get on.
Jacob Creek’s Tour Down Under
I got a nice little holiday in Australia between these two competitions, and went and saw Robbie McEwen own the sprint in the Aussie Champs. He was incredible, left the other guys for dust. Anyway, holidays over, and the team has gone to the Tour Down Under, with us having two leaders in the form of Kirk O’Bee and Damien Nazon, as well as Alfredo who’s going for the U25 or KOM, depending on how he breaks in the early stages. Stage 1
This stage just boiled down to a sprint, but with some more serious competition, we had to really get a good lead off at the end, which we did, and Damien managed to get yet another WIN! He’s thriving out here in the hot Australian sun, and our good sprint train got David Hill in 5th and Kirk in 4th! Damien even managed to outsprint Allan Davies and Thor Hushovd who came 2nd and 3rd Stage 2
With an early KOM, Alfredo was ready to break as soon as somebody went off, and at the base of the short hill, he set off with a small group of 5, but just wasn’t strong enough to get any mountain points. We told him to stay in the break, which lasted until the first Sprint which Alfredo won, but was caught at about the halfway stage. From then on, the ProTour boys set a ferocious pace, and in the sprint, a crash of 15 helped us a lot as it disrupted our rivals whilst we managed to slip pass, setting a 1, 3, 4. No surprises for who won, with David Hill doing well for 3rd and Kirk in 4th. Thor Hushovd stayed close behind in 2nd, hot on the heels of Damien.
With Alfredo’s time bonuses, he’s now 6th, with David 4th and Kirk 10th.
By the way, could somebody please make me a jersey! I haven't got any software to be able to make a jersey, and I really do need a jersey to be able to continue this story! Please help! Thanks a lot in advance!Edited by Crommy on 23-05-2007 22:05
Stage 3
This stage was an absolute disaster for us. The profile looked fairly flat, but I misjudged the four little hills. On the first hill, which was only a couple of kilometres long, the peloton split in two! Only Damien and Kirk were on the right side of the split. Credit Agricole then decided to set a fast pace throughout the race, and for the sprint, Damien and Kirk are only just hanging onto the back of the pack. Thor Hushovd managed to take the stage win, pushing Damien into 2nd (came 12th today), whilst Kirk managed 9th. They both had no team support, and they were so tired they couldn’t even help each other. Kirk has moved up to 8th, 40 seconds behind in the GC, whilst Alfredo and David move out of contention. Stage 4
It happened AGAIN! I was really nervous after yesterday’s race, and told the whole team to really concentrate on protecting Damien and Kirk, but with two successive hills in the middle, only Damien and Kirk could keep up with the pace today. I think Credit Agricole have worked us out, leading the pack again at a quick pace again today. Our sprint went a bit better though, with Damien following Thor in to come third and keep his 2nd spot, whilst Kirk holds onto 8th but falls a whole minute behind. Tomorrow’s hill could decide the GC, let’s hope Kirk and Damien can hang on. Stage 5
This stage had been built as the race decider by the media, and with Credit Agricole looking to set the quick pace again, when the first break went, Kirk followed. I’d decided that the only way we could get a good GC was to go for it, and the break went really well, with a gap of 7 minutes at the half way stage. When the break reached the base of the hill, all hell broke loose, and it took until the top of the hill for the whole thing to sort out, but going over the top, Van Hecke of Davitamon took a solo lead, with a group of 5 including O’Bee a minute behind him, and the peloton another minute behind. However, the break off the front just didn’t have the legs, and it was caught before we’d even started to go downhill. With only O’Bee up their now, I told him just to hang on, and whilst he looked a bit dejected at being caught, he managed to hold on and finish in the pack. Van Hecke took a great solo victory, and rides away with the GC. Kirk is now 5th, whilst Damien slips from 2nd all the way down to 33rd! Stage 6
If Kirk got on the podium today, he would move 4th due to time bonuses. However, he tried his hardest but just didn’t have the legs managing to come 8th, so finishes 5th. Damien managed to come 6th, finishing 33rd in the GC but he did okay overall as he came 3rd in the points. Thor won, and his time bonus gave him the overall win, with Van Hecke 2nd and Allan Davis 3rd.
25th January 2006
The team presentation was supposed to be today, but our new jerseys haven’t been made yet, so the presentation has had to be put on hold until we can find a day where everybody is available. Here’s a brief overview of the team anyway: Gonzalo Bayarri (29, Spanish): Co-Leader, very solid rider when the road gets steep Aitor Gonzalez (30, Spanish): Co-Leader, another good overall rider, but is also a firm TT rider Damien Nazon (31, French): Our sprinter who should beat most Continental sprinters Dario Cataldo (20, Italian): A talented young climber who will lead some races Kirk O’Bee (29, USA): Experienced multi-talented American who specialises in the sprint Dominique Cornu (20, Belgium): Young time trialist with a lot of potential David Hill (22, British): Young sprinter who is part of the 2012 programme Alex Holder (19, British): Another rider who’s part of the 2012 project, he could become a good mountain rider Benat Intxausti (19, Spanish): A fairly strong mountain rider, but needs to develop his talent David Belda (22 Spanish): A support for the climbers Brad Viera (20, USA): The 20 year old will be developing his climbing skills this year Ryan Keels (18, USA): An exciting American, who is tipped as a future Lance Armstrong Alfredo Balloni (16, Italian): A very young rider, he could go very far with the right training Graham Taylor (26, British): A fairly useless rider, who is the team owners cousin
The staff is a fairly mixed bag, but they seem quite dedicated:
Racing Director: Allan Smile
Assistant Racing Director: David Jones: Experienced trainer who will help me a lot
Trainer: Alfonso Galilea: A flamboyant Spaniard who focuses on youth development
Trainer: Chris Boardman: Helping out with the 2012 programme, he was a very good TT
Doctor: Stewart McAllister: Our Scottish Doctor
Doha International GP
After staying in London for a few days, trying to get to know all the riders, the team travelled to Qatar. The main riders for the Doha GP are Damien Nazon and Kirk O’Bee again, although we’ve brought along quite a few youngsters who could do well
Start: The riders set out, with the team working for both Kirk and Damien
100km to go: An 11 man break sets off with Alfredo Balloni within it.
65km: The 11 man break has now increased to 19, with Alfredo in a group of 2, 50 seconds behind, and the peloton 1’30” behind them
54km: Alfredo has been pulled up to the leading group by Stephane Berges. The break is now 21 riders, with a 3 minute gap.
30km: The break has been reduced to just over 2 minutes, with 3 more riders attempting to bridge the gap
20km: Break is now just over 1’30, with the peloton really pushing for it. If this break comes off, Alfredo is one of the stronger sprinters
9km: Break at 1’50, it’s going to make it
Finish: In the end, it was a great sprint by Alfredo. He showed great experience to come home 4th, and this was an amazing result for someone so young. He was so happy after the race, and wasn’t at all bothered he didn’t podium, which was something I was worried about when I saw him finish. The winner was Dimitri de Fauw of Chocolade Jacques, who was fought all the way to the line by Marcel Sieberg of Wiesenhof.
Edited by Crommy on 18-03-2007 09:23
Tour of Qatar
Stage 1
With the stage most likely to end in a sprint, the team was set on building up a good finish, apart from Alfredo, who we gave free reign today. True to form, he went with the first break, but this hard month of riding for him certainly showed, as he just couldn’t keep up, and ended up going out of the back of the peloton. The sprint was simply incredible. Damien came out of absolutely nowhere to beat the best ProTour sprinters for a great WIN! He zoomed past Boonen, Eisel, McEwen, Petacchi and Zabel as if they weren’t even there. The rest of the team finished in the pack Stage 2
Alfredo Balloni attacked from the line today, and was followed by four more riders. The break lasted for three quarters of the race, but the pack just gobbled it up, with Alfredo going straight out the back. The sprint wasn’t as good as yesterday, but Damien managed 6th, falling to third, with Kirk now 12th in the GC. Alessandro Petacchi won the race and takes the overall jersey, whilst Bernhard Eisel is 2nd.
MONTHLY UPDATE
To: Dan Taylor, Cycling Team Liaison, Cycling24 TV
From: Allan Smile, Team Cycling24 – 2012 Team Director
Date: January 31st, 2006
Subject: Monthly Update
Well, I’ve been told to keep you up to date with the administrative details of the team (especially the finances), and here you go. Finances
Race Winnings: + €239200
Equipment Costs: - €90000
Salries and Bonuses: - €153750
Total Balance: - €4550
Previous Budget: €843000
New Budget: €838450
Predicted End of Year Balance: €233450
As you can see, we will shall be fairly well into the black next season, and this value excludes race winnings. This money can be used in future for rider signings and scouting at the end of the year. CYCLING24 – 2012 MONTHLY ROUNDUP Posted online on Cycling24.tv and broadcast on Cycling24 (channel 450 on Sky TV), direct from Allan Smile
Hello Cycling24 – 2012 fans! Our first month has been very successful, I couldn’t possibly have wished for a better start. I’ll never forget Damien Nazon giving us our first win in mine and the team’s first ever race, and the team needs to continue to build on this. Damien is also Continental Leader, and has been looking good in his white jersey in Qatar. Results:
--Jayco Bay Cycling Classic: Damien Nazon 1st overall, points classification win, and 4 stage victories! Kirk O’Bee 4th
--Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under: Kirk O’Bee 5th in GC, Damien Nazon two stage wins
--Doha International GP: Alfredo Balloni 4th
--Tour of Qatar: Stage 1 win for Damien Nazon, currently 3rd Rankings:
Continental Individual Rankings:
1 - Damien Nazon (Cycling24 – 2012) - 191
2 - Dimitri De Fauw (Chocolade Jacques) - 80
3 - Matthew Goss (SouthAustralia.com – AIS) - 65
4 - Kirk O’Bee (Cycling24 – 2012) - 59
5 - Elio Aggiano (Team LPR) - 56
11 - Alfredo Balloni - 24
15 - David Hill – 14 Continental Team Rankings:
1 - Team Cycling24 – 2012 - 288
2 - Chocolade Jacques - 117
3 - SouthAustralia.com - AIS - 69
4 - Team LPR - 63
5 - Team Wiesenhof – Akud - 56 Doctor’s Report: Stewart McAllister reports an injury free month, and he’s tipping Damien Nazon to be the rider in the best form this month Wiggle.co.uk Rider of the Month: Damien Nazon
This is the easiest thing I’ve ever chosen. Damien has been phenomenal this month, there’s no other word for it. He’s been dominating on the flat, beating some world class competition. He’s registered a total of 6 stage wins, a general classification win, a points classification win and a third place. He’s domination of the Jayco Bay Classic (4 out of 5 stage wins) was breathtaking, and his ability to beat the best sprinters in the world in the 1st stage of the Tour of Qatar rightfully give him this award Best Under 25 Rider of the Month: Alfredo Balloni
Alfredo has been a press favourite this month, launching many attacks and fighting as hard as possible, and whilst only a few breaks were successful, he’s only 16, and just needs to develop. His month was capped by a brilliant fourth place at the Doha GP, as well as a 6th place in the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic, riding brilliantly even though his break was caught. Next Month:
Next month is a busy month for us, with some of our biggest races of the season. We finish the Tour of Qatar, then go off to Malaysia for the Tour de Langkawi, as well as having 28 days of riding.
Tour of Qatar
Stage 3
It came down to another sprint today. Boy, was it a good one. All the favourites were neck and neck, until at the vital moment, Damien moved out of Tom Boonen’s wheel, and just pulled away. Tom looked incredulous, and he was absolutely gutted afterwards, refusing to answer any of the media’s questions. Damien however, was the absolute centre of attention, and he lapped it up. He now moves up to 2nd, on the same time as leader Petacchi, who just held onto his lead by coming in 2nd today. Kirk rode well again to move up to 11th.
Damien flies past the competition Stage 4
There were numerous breaks today, and Alfredo again struggled when he decided to go after one. He’s too young to have the endurance to stay with the breaks, and when he was caught, he went straight out the back, head down and covered in sweat. I pulled up with him with 20km to go, and he gave me a tired smile. I talked to him, and he decided to abandon. He wasn’t very happy, but there was no point in him continuing. He was hurting himself by going on, and he was a little relieved to join me in the car.
In the sprint, a good lead out from Kirk propelled Damien up near the front, but Alessandro Petacchi was just to strong, so Damien had to settle for 2nd.The rest of the team finished in the pack, avoiding the crash which resulted in 42 riders losing two minutes. Kirk O’Bee managed 6th, moving up to 8th overall, but he’ll be working totally for Damien tomorrow, who needs to win the race to win the tour. Stage 5
This race was all important, so the whole team worked for Damien today. The break was caught easily, and with 10km to go, the sprint chains began to form. I told Kirk to get Damien to the front, and he did that perfectly. He almost killed himself, but he managed to last until the sprint began, then completely blew up. With such a great lead out by Kirk, Damien was right at the front, but he had René Haselbacher on his wheel, who inched ahead. Damien just quite couldn’t make up, and even though I screamed at him till my lungs gave out, he could only managed 2nd, and right behind him was Petacchi, coming in 3rd, making him the overall winner and points winner by 2 points! Damien was joined at the finish by Kirk, just slumped next to the railings, speechless. Damien was so close, and the two of them had worked so hard, only to fall at the final hurdle. It was hard to take. I just couldn’t find any words to say to them. There weren’t any. There was a bright side that brought out a smile in the team, as we had won the team classification, but it was little consolation for Damien. Final GC
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Team Milram) 19h02’18
2 Damien Nazon (Cycling24 – 2012) +4”
3 Rene Haselbacher (Gerolsteiner) +32”
4 Bernhard Eisel (Francaise des Jeux) +44”
5 Tom Boonen (Quickstep – Innergetic) +1’00”
12 Kirk O’Bee +1’08”
13 David Hill +1’08”
Date: 3rd February 2006 From: To:
Subject: Tour de Langkawi Stage 1
Hey Allan, sorry to hear about Qatar. You’ve just got to take it on the chin and get on with it. Not much to report on my first race in charge, just a pack sprint, but with no sprinters, I just told the team to stay in the bunch. Hope to see you tomorrow.
Edited by Crommy on 23-05-2007 22:07
4th February Tour de Langkawi
I flew out to Malaysia today in what I see as one of our most important races of the season. It’s a tough 10 day race, with some vicious mountains in the middle, and is reflective of a T.HC classification. Anyway, I joined the team on stage 2, and the team is:
Gonzalo Bayarri: Main Team Leader
Dario Cataldo: Co-Leader, U25 Jersey
David Belda: U25 Jersey/Support
Benat Intxausti: Support
Dominique Cornu: Support/TT specialist
Brad Viera: Support
Neither Gonzalo nor Dario are in great shape, but with a fairly unimpressive field, they should be knocking on the top 5. Gonzalo should be aiming for the win Stage 2
This stage is just a warm up for the mountains tomorrow, so I told the team to just relax and stay in the peloton. Jean-Patrick Nazon won for the second day in a row, but he’s got no chance tomorrow. Date:5th February 2006 From: To: Subject:Trofeu RDP Algarve
Hola jefe! We is celebrating tonight after a great uno-dos. A couple of breaks were caught near the end, and in the sprint, Damien was the winner! David Hill came 2nd to make it a doble. We way to good for the rest down here. Good Luck in Malasia! Stage 3
With a long hard climb near the end of the course then a mountain top finish, this race was all about who could last up the climb. The early suicide breaks went off at the start, and I told the team to just let them go. With the mountain coming into view, I told the team to just relax and help out our two leaders. As soon as the road started to rise, Jose Serpa went off the front. I didn’t see the main break going off so early, so the team had to get through the peloton to get off the front, and this mistake cost us. The team worked really hard, but up the big long climb, only Gonzalo could get near Jose, and was forced to try and bridge the gap alone at halfway. By the top of the climb, Jose led Gonzalo by 30 seconds, but the gap was widening, with a group of 4 2’30 behind Bayarri which included Dario Cataldo, a further group of 3 trailing another 1’55 behind them, including Benat, and a final group of 13 including David Belda 40 seconds behind them. The rest of the pack were trailing over 5 minutes behind.
At the base of the final climb, the work Gonzalo had to do told, losing a minute to Jose, whilst the other gaps stabilised, and it stayed that way to the end, with Jose first, Gonzalo 2nd, and Dario 3rd. It was a hard days work, and I felt with my tactical mishap that I let the team down. Finish:
1 Serpa (Selle Italia) 3h58’46
2 Bayarri +1’28
3 Cataldo +3’26 (U25 jersey)
4 Mizourov (Capec) s.t
5 Baliani (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) s.t
6 Swindlehurst (Capec) s.t
7 Intxausti +5’54 (8th overall)
13 Belda +6’48 (11th overall) Stage 4
A relaxation day with another pack sprint
Its a good idea for the crucial mountain stages to keep near the front, but its interesting that we were both caught out by a solo break in stage 3 of langkawi at practically the same time (I just posted it on my red bull thread).
Stage 5
Today’s 2nd and final mountain stage was going to be tough, but I was determined not to make the same mistakes again. There were three climbs today, with the finish at the top.
We stayed in the pack again, allowing the early breaks to go as none of them were anywhere near the top of the GC. At the base of the mountain, we were at the front, taking a group of 6 including Dario, Jose and Gonzalo who began picking off the early breaks, whilst the rest of the team rode for themselves.
At the top of the first climb, Benat and David manage to traverse the gap, expanding it to 10 with a gap of 1’40.
16km to go: Bayarri now riding solo, 30” off the front of the break which still has 10 riders
14km: The riders reach the top of the second climb having broken up, with Gonzalo leading Jose by 30 seconds, who is closely followed by a group of 5 including 3 Cycling24 – 2012 riders
10km: Jose Serpa has caught up with Gonzalo Bayarii, and they now will go all the way, with the closest being our three riders in their own group 40” behind
Jose and Gonzalo match each other pedal for pedal
5km: Jose and Serpa are increasing their lead, but Gonzalo is looking pretty wasted. They lead Mizourov (Capec) and Dario by 1’01, with Benat and David working together a further 2 minutes behind
3km (Summit): At the finish of the climbing, Jose and Gonzalo are neck and neck, but Gonzalo looks like he’s fading, with Dario now on his own 58” behind, with a 30” gap on Mizourov
Finish: Jose Serpa eases up as Gonzalo looks as though he’s had it, but with cheeky grin, he zooms past Jose to take the stage win! Jose looks shell shocked, as he was already celebrating. I gave Gonzalo a big hug and congratulated him as I watched the others come in. Dario rode in alone to come in a minute behind, taking 3rd overall and holding onto his U25 jersey, with good rides from Benat and David who came in 5th and 6th. Here are the stage results:
1 Bayarri 3h04’11 (2nd overall/KOM jersey)
2 Serpa s.t (Overall GC)
3 Dario +56’ (3rd overall) (U25 jersey) (3rd KOM)
4 Mizourov +1’37
5 Intxausti +5’58 (7th overall) (2nd U25)
6 David Belda s.t (8th GC) (3rd U25) Stages 6 – 8
These stages ended I more mass sprints, with the team just resting after the tough rides in the mountains Stage 9
My first TT as manager, and I was determined to make it go right. Dominique Cornu was favourite to win, but he didn’t feel so good, just missing out on a podium spot and coming in 4th. The TT was quite short, so their were no major changes to the GC. Stage 10
The last stage was a short victory parade in Kuala Lumpar for Jose Serpa, with a final sprint for Jean-Patrick Nazon giving him the points jersey. Even though we’ve won two jerseys (U25 and KOM), finished 2nd and won best team, it’s been fairly disappointing for me. I messed up, and I feel really guilty as Gonzalo could have won this. The worst thing is he knows it to, but it’s good of him to not bring it up. Final GC
1 Jose Serpa (Selle Italia) 29h00’48
2 Gonzalo Bayarri +1’52 (KOM)
3 Dario Cataldo +4’55 (U25 Winner) (3rd KOM)
4 Andrei Mizourov (Cycling Team Capec) +5’26
5 Fortunato Baliani (Ceramica Panaria – Navigare) +11’32
6 Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators Insurance) +12’43
7 Benat Intxausti +12’53 (2nd U25)
8 David Belda +14’14 (3rd U25)
29 Brad Viera +27’43
36 Dominique Cornu +31’39
14th February 2006 Trofeo Laigueglia
With 3 hills in this Italian classic, I realised we were facing some tough opposition and decided for a multi stage plan: Kirk O’Bee would go off on the first hill, Dario Cataldo on the 2nd hill, and Gonzalo Bayarri on the final hill. Hopefully, one of these would make it.
But plans hardly ever translate into action smoothly, and a break right at the start caught us out completely (again!). We just stayed in the pack for the whole of the race, until the break was caught at the bottom of the hill, and the attacks came. Gonzalo managed to get up the front group of 12. He tired to go off alone near the top of the hill, but was quickly caught on the descent. This group stayed away until the sprint, where Bayarri just completely blew up, finishing in 7th with his head on the handlebars, whilst the rest of the team struggled to stay in the pack.
1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Acqua & Sapone)
2 Filippo Pozzato (Quickstep)
3 Giuliano Figueras (Lampre)
4 Enrico Poitschke (Milram)
5 Alessandro Petacchi (Milram)
I’m off to America tomorrow to prepare for the Tour of California, while David Jones will look after the team in the Volta ao Algarve.
Date:19th February 2006 From: To: Subject:Algarve Tour
Hello Allan. Not particularly good news from Portugal, the boys weren’t in great shape. 4 flat stages were first, with Damien our leader. Got 2nd on stage 2, but was largely unimpressive until stage 4 which he won. In the hills of stage 5, we were simply outclassed, with Gonzalo only managing 19th, our best rider overall. Damien came 2nd on points. A bit disappointing, Gonzalo seems a bit down after Malaysia, you may need to talk to him.
Good Luck in California!
19th February Tour of California
We’re in America with a fairly Northern American team to try and impress. Kirk O’Bee has been looking really strong for the past couple of days in training, and as he’ll be pumped up in his home country, I’m giving him completely free reign to do what he wants. The team leaders are Aitor Gonzalez and Dario Cataldo, with the overall leader being determined after the first few stages. There’s some really tough competition, and a top 10 finish and maybe a stage win would be brilliant. Stage 1
A very short time trial, it was flat out all the way. Floyd Landis got the win over Stefan Schumacher in 2nd and Dominique Cornu finishing the podium with a fantastic ride. Kirk is down in 13th with Aitor 20th, but the course has made the gaps really small. Stage 2
This was a flat stage, so I told the riders to stay in the pack and let the ProTour teams chase down the breaks. Unfortunately, I’ve made another error (this is starting to get worrying), and the break made it to the line, even when some of my riders were panicking and saying they should be chasing it down. I screwed up again. Kirk could have won this stage, he’s one of the strongest sprinters at the moment. Stage 3
With a hilly profile today, I gave instructions of Kirk to go for it with the first attack, and try and get Aitor off on the last hill.
Kirk tried to go with the early break, but it contained Inigo Cuesta, who set a brutal initial pace, and Kirk just couldn’t keep up. Inigo managed to hold it until the base of the last hill, a 100km solo effort, before he was swallowed up by his own team. The attacks then came, and a break of four (Voight, Van Huffel, Totsching and Frank Schleck) held it until the end, with Voigt taking the overall lead. A group of 120 followed a minute later including Dario and Aitor. Aitor now lies in 9th, with Dario 10th on the same time, but he is ranked 2nd in the U25 category, which is good. Stage 4
The second TT was a lot longer, and would be fairly crucial towards the final GC. Voigt managed to get the win, extending his lead, with our best placed rider being Dominique, who managed a really good 5th only 25 seconds down. Aitor and Dario rode really well, climbing up the rankings, with Aitor now 7th, 2’47 behind Jens, and Dario 8th, 3’02 behind, but only 30 seconds off the U25 jersey Stage 5
The second flat stage came down to a pack sprint, and Kirk O’Bee got really pumped up to place in 2nd, moving up to 5th on points. Stage 6
Before the race, I talked to Kirk and told him to go for it today and get into the first break. I even gave him Brad Viera as a helper, and Kirk obviously took my message to heart, as he set off straight away, with Brad and four others in tow. The pack decided not to chase, and with Brad setting a high pace whilst Kirk stayed fresh, I knew he had a good shot at staying away for the whole race. Kirk rested at the back but always came to the fore to take points and mountain classifications, and by the final hill, I was figuring out how to get Kirk the win. I told Brad to get up the front and set a fast pace to try and break up the break, but only 1 rider was dropped. So the race came down to a sprint, and the Californians were cheering on Kirk, who looked almost shocked as he came into the packed streets as he heard them chanting his name! The look on his face as he set off on the sprint was completely determined; he was drawing on the strength of the crowd as he sprinted off, taking the stage win and even getting a 21” time bonus! He was phenomenal, and was still cycling at 40km/h when he passed me, nearly taking me out! All that adrenaline was still flowing through, and he nearly crushed me in a bear hug.
Great helper Brad Viera missed out on the podium by coming in 4th, and was congratulated repeatedly by Kirk. Kirk’s antics had also played havoc with the pack, which had split into two groups, with a front group of 30 including Dario and Aitor being really pushed on at the end. There were some surprise entrants in the second group, including Floyd Landis and Levi Leipheimer.
Kirk has moved up into 2nd place in both the points and KOM competition, but Jens Voigt holds on to his lead. Stage 7
I decided to send Kirk on another break, as he could take the KOM and points jersey. I asked Kirk if his was ready, and he didn’t even answer me. He gave me a look of fire: he was going to attack and he was going to win.
He attacked straight away as there was one of two KOM near the beginning. He was followed by another three riders, who just couldn’t get near Kirk on the first mountain points. He now controlled the KOM jersey, but needed to make sure he didn’t lose it in the last mountain sprint towards the end of the race. At the 100km sprint, he took it easily, as well as the 50km sprint. The pack began to work, determined not to give Kirk any more glory with the lead at 6 minutes. With 40km left and a rapidly advancing pack, Kirk knew he needed to force the pace a lot, and attacked up the final hill, taking the points, with only Benjamin Brooks able to follow him. The two worked hard together, gritting their teeth but still holding off the pack. With 8km to go, their lead was under a minute, so I told Kirk to go for it. He didn’t need telling twice, and was strong enough to go all the way for another great stage victory, followed merely 30 seconds later by the pack. He now holds the KOM and points jersey, and is untouchable in both. His celebrations were even more pronounced yesterday, literally jumping for joy. He’s now the centre of media attention and a crowd favourite after two breakaway wins
Cycling UK Online’s reporter Geoff Stubbs managed to catch hold of Kirk at the finish:
GS: Congratulations on your second great win. How do you feel?
KB: It’s absolutely amazing. I can’t believe it! I’ve got two stage wins PLUS two jerseys. It’s unbelievable!
GS: Was this your tactic to go for the two jerseys, or just the stage win?
KB: I’ve got to give the credit to my manager Allan Smile. He allowed me free reign for the whole of this tour, and just guided me before each race making suggestions. He didn’t put any pressure on me, and encouraged me to just go for it.
GS: Well, congratulations again.
Stage 8
With Kirk guaranteed his two jerseys, today was just about seeing whether he could finish in style. The sprint at the end was a testament to just how buoyed up Kirk is after his two wins, as he took another stage victory! He has now romped home with the points jersey, and is commonly acknowledged as the most exciting rider of the tour. Even Jens Voigt congratulated him. All the other results for us were fairly good. Dario came 2nd in the U25, and we were the second team overall against some tough ProTour competition Final GC
1 – Jens Voigt (Team CSC) 23h18’08
2 – Bobby Julich (Team CSC) +1’45
3 – Georg Totsching (Gerolsteiner) +1’52
4 – Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile Team) +2’01
5 – Franck Schleck (Team CSC) +2’26
7 – Aitor Gonzalez +2’47
8 – Dario Cataldo 3’02 Points Classification
1 – Kirk O’Bee 128
2 – Jens Voigt 81 Mountain Classification
1 – Kirk O’Bee 48
2 – Bert Grabsch (Phonak Hearing Systems) 38
CYCLING24 – 2012 MONTHLY ROUNDUP Posted online on Cycling24.tv and broadcast on Cycling24 (channel 450 on Sky TV), direct from Allan Smile
Hello again! February has been a really busy month for the team, but a very successful one. Damien Nazon managed to bounce back from disappointment in Qatar to win in Portugal, and our young riders have excelled this month. The team is progressing well in the Continental Division, and hopefully the team can keep this up as we accelerate into the rest of the season. Results:
--Tour of Qatar: Damien Nazon 2nd (2 Stage Wins). Best Team
--Tour de Langkawi: Gonzalo Bayarri 2nd (1 Stage Win), Dario Cataldo 1st U25, 3rd GC, Benat Intxuasti 7th, David Belda 8th
--Trofeu RDP Algarve: Damien Nazon 1st! David Hill 2nd! Ryan Keels 25th
--Trofeo Laigueglia: Gonzalo Bayarri 7th
--Volta ao Algarve: Gonzalo Bayarri 19th, Damien Nazon 2nd in points classification plus Stage 4 win
--Amgen Tour of California: Aitor Gonzalez 7th, Dario Cataldo 8th, 2nd in U25 competition, Kirk O’Bee KOM, points classification win plus three stage wins
Rankings: Continental Individual Rankings: (points earned this month in brackets)
1 - Damien Nazon – 397 (206)
2 - Jose Serpa (Selle Italia) - 214
3 - Sergio Ribeiro (Barbot – Halcon) - 201
4 - Igor Astarloa (Team Barloworld) - 155
5 - Kirk O’Bee – 123 (64)
6 - Gonzalo Bayarri – 116
12 - David Hill – 70 (56)
14 - Dario Cataldo - 64
35 - Benat Intxausti - 25
39 - Alfredo Balloni – 24 (0)
47 - Dominique Cornu - 17
51 - David Belda - 15
60 - Aitor Gozalez - 12
95 - Brad Viera - 5 Continental Team Rankings:
1 Team Cycling24 - 2012 - 853
2 Team Barloworld - 340
3 Selle Italia - 264
4 Barbot – Halcon - 201
5 Chocolade Jacques - 146 Doctor’s Report: Stewart McAllister reports on another injury free month, and tells us to watch out for the WHOLE TEAM as they begin to peak: they’re all in really good form! Wiggle.co.uk Rider of the Month: Kirk O’Bee
Kirk O’Bee has stood out this month when competing in California. His constant attacking leading to three stage wins made him a crowd favourite and the centre of media attention, but what made him so good this month was that he not only went on the breaks, but he kept them going all the way, even when chased by a world class peloton on stage 7. He deserved to get the Mountain and Points classification for a great month’s riding, and he’s win in the final stage was the icing on the cake. Best Under 25 Rider of the Month: Dario Cataldo
Dario has already surprised me. Nobody saw him developing so rapidly, and the 20 year old has shown great ability this month, culminating in a 3rd overall in Malaysia and 2nd in the Tour of California. His strength in these races have proven that he should be leading the team in some races Next Month:
Next month will be a hard month of riding, with the team mainly riding in Italy, including the Milan-Torino classic. There will be 16 days of riding, although this figure could increase pending application to certain races
Edited by Crommy on 23-05-2007 22:11
Date:1st March 2006 From: To: Subject: Le Samyn
Hello gaffer. Fairly strange race today, with the peloton just splitting near the end for no apparent reason. 7 riders were at the front, with Damien Nazon and Ryan Keels, but they could only manage 5th and 6th behind winner Bradley Wiggins. Graham Taylor managed 8th in a group of 2, 55 seconds behind, then the front part of the peloton arrived, including Kirk O’Bee who came in 12th.
4th March Milan-Torino
To Italy for another hilly classic. We’d brought a fairly strong team, with the leaders being Gonzalo Bayarri and Aitor Gonzalez, with Kirk O’Bee as support. The hill at the end proved to be the decider, as the peloton broke up led by a group of 8 including Bayarri and race favourite Franco Pellizotti, with a group of 3 from the original break trailing closely, and then a fairly small peloton a fair way back. This was the way it stayed towards the finish, and I told Gonzalo to attack near the line as he was one of the weaker sprinters at the front. However, he wasn’t strong enough to keep off Samuel Dumoulin, having to be satisfied with 2nd (again).Our next rider in was Aitor who finished in 14th, whilst the rest of the team finished within the pack with Aitor.
Giro della Provincia di Lucca
A fairly standard race, with an early break caught with about 20km to go. In the sprint, Samuel Dumoulin proved the strongest, whilst team leader for the day Kirk O’Bee finished 4th, with his lead out man Damien Nazon holding onto 11th.
Trofej-Porec
This race saw us go out to Croatia, and it was a race we were going to take fairly easy. I allowed Chris Boardman to take a turn controlling the team, and he showed me why I shouldn’t, as he reacted too late to let an 11 man break take the win. He didn’t have a clue what was going on, misinforming the riders and never really looking comfortable. We did have some success though, as we had three out of the top four riders in the pack sprint, with Kirk our first rider home in 12th.
Nokere-Koerse
For this race, some of the teams decided to set a very high pace, which destroyed the peloton which quickly broke up, with riders dropping out very quickly. A group of 7 got up front without really trying to break, which included Dominique and Damien, and they were joined by five others who made it all the way to the end. Damien sprinted well, finishing 2nd, whilst Dominique struggled and could only manage 7th. The next group of riders came in 2 minutes later, whilst the peloton languished 11 MINUTES behind
30th March
I’ve been really ill the past couple of weeks (food poisoning), so I missed the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon and Settimana Ciclistica International. However, Alfonso and Dave watched over the team, and sent me these reports: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon (Alfonso Galilea)
Stage 1: A pack sprint
Stage 2: An individual time trial, which didn’t go to well. Best Rider: Dario Cataldo +1 minute
Stage 3: Kirk O’Bee goes in the early break, and even though it’s caught near the end, he gets out in front to sprint to 2nd. He’s the best rider in 28th overall
Stage 4: This was a big stage for the team, and Dario Cataldo managed to pull off6th, moving up to 11th in the GC, whilst Gonzalo Bayarri who went in break is 2nd in KOM
Stage 5: This last stage was won by a break, but no GC shake up, so Dario finishes 11th and Gonzalo is 3rd in the KOM Settimana Ciclistica International (David Jones)
Stage 1: A very good sprint from Damien Nazon, who used all his cunning to get to the front and take the stage win
Stage 2: The team’s first team time trial, and we struggled. Davitamon won, and we came 10th, but only 17 seconds behind, so Damien stays in yellow
Stage 3: This course had some hills, and we just stayed in the pack until we made our moves. Pellizotti took the win, with Aitor finishing 18th, 1’45 behind but is in 31st in the GC, with Alex Holder one place behind him on the same time. Damien now has no jerseys, having fallen to 2nd in the points
Stage 4: This fell to a sprint, and Damien struggled after yesterday, only coming 9th, falling another place on points
Stage 5: Van Huffel took the win today in another hilly route, but Pellizotti holds onto the lead. Aitor finished 2 minutes down in 16th, but moves up to 14th overall
Sprint, Damien 9th, falls to 3rd on points
Stage 6: Another sprint for the peloton, with no GC changes
Route Adelie de Vitre 31st
The final race of the month saw us field our strongest team as the sponsers were watching this race intently, but Blaise Sonnery was just too strong for us, so Gonzalo Bayarri had to settle for 3rd, with Aitor 5th and Dario struggling into 7th
QUARTERLY UPDATE To:Dan Taylor, Cycling Team Liaison, Cycling24 TV From:Allan Smile, Team Cycling24 – 2012 Team Director Date:March 31st 2006 Subject:Quarterly Update
It’s been a very good quarter for the team, scoring some impressive victories and actually making a fair profit
2006 Original Budget: €843000
Income:
-Race Bonuses: €1,008,200
Expenditure:
-Salaries and Bonuses: €208,750
-Equipment: €90,000
March 2006 Budget: €1,552,451
Predicted End of year Balance: €1205951
As you can see, we’re going to have a very good end of season balance to play with, and let’s hope for another profitable quarter so we have even more cash available for transfers and scouting. CYCLING24 – 2012 MONTHLY ROUNDUP Posted online on Cycling24.tv and broadcast on Cycling24 (channel 450 on Sky TV), direct from Allan Smile
It’s been a hard month of rising for the team, but we’ve had some good results. We saw the ProTour season kick off with a win by Stefan Schumacher in the Paris-Nice, and Frank Schleck taking the Tirreno-Adriatico. Our quest for promotion to this event is looking really good, with two riders in the top 5 of the continental rankings and Damien Nazon still leading the way for his third month in a row!. Results:
--Le Samyn: Damien Nazon 5th, Ryan Keels 6th, Graham Taylor 8th
--Milan-Torino: Gonzalo Bayarri 2nd, Aitor Gonzalez 14th
--Giro della Provincia di Lucca: Kirk O’Bee 4th, Damien Nazon 11th
--Trofej-Porec: Kirk O’Bee 12th, Damien Nazon 14th, David Hill 15th
-- Nokere-Koerse: Damien Nazon 2nd, Dominique Cornu 7th
--Vuelta a Castilla y Leon: Dario Cataldo 11th overall, Kirk O’Bee 2nd on stage 3
-- Settimana Ciclistica International: Aitor Gonzalez 14th, Damien Nazon stage 1 win, Alex Holder 34th
--Route Adelie de Vitre: Gonzalo Bayarri 3rd, Aitor Gonzalez 5th, Dario Cataldo 7th
Rankings: Continental Individual Rankings: (points earned this month in brackets)
1 – Damien Nazon - 510 (113)
2 – Jose Serpa (Selle Italia) – 284
3 – David Blanco (Comunidad Valenciana) – 257
4 – Sergio Ribeiro (Barbot – Halcon) – 241
5 – Gonzalo Bayarri – 218 (102)
7 – Kirk O’Bee – 161 (38)
20 – Dario Cataldo – 83 (19)
25 – David Hill – 70 (0)
57 – Aitor Gonzalez – 36 (14)
74 – Dominique Cornu – 29 (12)
84 – Benat Intxausti – 25 (0)
92 – Alfredo Balloni – 24 (0)
117 – Ryan Keels – 16 (16)
124 – David Belda – 15 (0)
183 – Graham Taylor – 8 (8)
206 – Brad Viera – 5 (0) Continental Team Rankings:
1 Team Cycling24 – 2012 – 1182
2 Selle Italia – 442
3 Comunidad Valenciana – 420
4 Chocolade Jacques – 396
5 Team Barloworld – 382 Doctor’s Report: Stewart McAlister has had to deal with two problems this month, with Dario Cataldo picking up a grazed elbow which stopped him cycling for two days, and Benat Intxausti, who suffered a more serious fractured hip when he fell into a ditch going full speed downhill in training. He’ll be back in about a month’s time Wiggle.co.uk Rider of the Month: Gonzalo Bayarri
Gonzalo has been looking very strong this month, and was unlucky to to only finish 2nd in the Milan-Torino. His third in the Route Adelie de Vitre also displayed his strength Best Under 25 Rider of the Month: Dario Cataldo
Dario’s progress in these first three months has been little short of phenomenal. This month he began to move towards some good form, taking 7th in the Route Adelie de Vitre and performing amazingly well in the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon where he finished 11th overall in a really tough stage race Next Month:
Next month will be a period of relaxation after 3 really hard months. The team will be travelling across the Atlantic again when competing in the Tour of Gerogia, the focal point of this month’s cycling. There will be 11 days of riding
Hel van het Mergelland
With a hill top finish, we just wanted to keep our riders at the front of the pack. Dario, David and Alex set a brutal pace to split up the peloton, so Gonzalo and Aitor could break away late in the race in a group of 4, whilst the rest of the team recovered from pace setting. Up the final slope, Gonzalo and Aitor were just far too strong, giving us a one-two, whilst super helpers Cataldo, Belda and Holder came in just 20 seconds behind in 12th, 13th and 14th. These lot were followed four minutes later by the next rider, and then a beleaguered peloton who finished over 10 minutes behind Gonzalo. I allowed them all to have a bit of ice cream that nice: the team deserved it!
GP de la Ville de Rennes
Alfredo Balloni looked determined this morning, as I gave him free reign for this flat race. He went off straight away, and was joined by a few others. The break was being closed down in the final kilometres, but Alfredo was the only escapee strong enough to hold on as the pack caught up, and he took his first ever WIN! Damien Nazon managed to come in 5th, but all eyes were on Alfredo
Balloni captures a great victory Cycling UK Online’s reporter Geoff Stubbs caught up with Cycling24 – 2012 boss Allan Smile at the finish line:
GS: Well done Allan on another great win. Was this the plan to get Alfredo in the break and to the finish?
AS: Well, I gave him freedom to do what he wanted, and he delivered the goods. He rode amazingly for such a young guy, I cannot praise him enough!
GS: How do you think Alfredo managed to stay away whilst his breakaway friends faded?
AS: I think its because he’s just bristling with confidence: you just can’t keep him down, even when he goes out the back of the pack, he still comes back smiling the next day
GS: Some director sportifs seemed to be criticising the fact Alfredo didn’t help pull the pace right until the end. Was this on your orders?
AS: It was. We’re here to win, and Alfredo isn’t in the best of form, so why shouldn’t he just sit in?
GP Cerami
A strong sprint from Kirk O’Bee except he left it too late, still passing riders rapidly as he crossed the line in 6th. The tough pace throughout on a varied terrain may have meant he didn’t realise how close the line was: he was just hanging on.
Giro d’Oro
Brad Viera joined the fairly early break, which managed to make it to the top of the 2nd to last hill. However, a ferocious pace that broke up the peloton pulled it in, and I told the boys to get up front and pile on the hurt. Gonzalo Bayarri then managed to get off the front, and he was followed by Giuliano Figueras and Luca Mazzanti. However, he was just too strong for them, and sprinted to victory, with Dario Cataldo following to take th, and Aitor Gonzalez managing a good 6th even after doing most of the pace setting
18th – 23rd Tour of Georgia
Our only major race for the month saw us take a fairly strong team. They weren’t in great form though, so they would just have to work as hard as possible and hope to finish near the top of the GC. A win was possible for either Aitor or Dario, but was a bit unrealistic Stage 1
A fairly normal stage with a sprint, with Kirk managing a good third Stage 2
This race saw an early break as usual, but one rider managed to hold on until the end. The solo winner was Vassily Davidenko, who took a 1’51 win to lead the overall, with Kirk O’Bee sprinting a good 4th place, which is where he stands overall
Stage 3
This ITT was really tough, and our riders just weren’t up to the task. Our first rider in was Aitor Gonzalez who could only manage 14th, over two minutes behind race winner Jurgen Van den Broeck, who moves 20 seconds behind Davidenko who somehow holds onto his lead. Stage 4
This race was very tough, with multiple climbs which the team could take advantage of. We sent a high tempo throughout the climbs, splitting the peloton completely, with a group of 8 taking to the front including Dario, Aitor and Gonzalo. Dario was strong enough up the final hill to take the win, out sprinting Lars Ytting Bak who came 2nd, with the rest of the group of 8 following in by no more than 36 seconds. The next rider was over 4 minutes back, but our best rider is still Aitor in 6th due to our appalling TT, still 2 minutes behind new race leader Jurgen Van den Broeck.
Edited by Crommy on 23-05-2007 22:12
Stage 5
Another tough mountain stage, we set the same tactic of setting a fast pace which destroyed the peloton. Up the last climb, only 3 riders remained (Dario, Bak and Brajkovic), but the Discovery rider blew up at the bottom of the climb, leaving the two riders to fight it out. Dario was the stronger, taking the stage victory and moving to 4th overall, whilst Aitor Gonzalez came in 6th to move up to 5th in the GC. Lars Ytting Bak now holds the overall lead, and is set to hold on to it tomorrow.
Stage 6
The final stage was another sprint, and so we just concentrated on Kirk trying to get a stage win. He just didn’t have the legs, and had to settle for 4th, with Jakob Piil taking the win and the points jersey, whilst his team mate for CSC celebrated the overall win and the mountain rankings. Final GC
1 – Lars Ytting Bak - Team CSC - 24h26’36
2 – Janez Brajkovic - Discovery Channel +1’02
3 – Jurgen Van den Broeck - Discovery Channel +1’51 4 – Dario Cataldo - Team Cycling24 – 2012 +2’48
5 – Aitor Gonzalez - Team Cycling24 – 2012 +4’21
8 – Gonzalo Bayarri - Team Cycling24 – 2012 +6’52
11 – Alex Holder - Team Cycling24 – 2012 +12’53
Ronde van Noord Holland
This long race had a cobbled section in the middle, which split the peloton up a lot, but Damien Nazon and Dominique Cornu managed to get on the right side of it in a group of 13. This group managed to increase their lead in the last few kilometres, and with another great sprint, Damien Nazon added another WIN to his record of achievement! Dominique managed a good 8th having led out Damien.
Colliers Classic
A race that we could dominate, we brought all our top sprinters (Nazon, Balloni, Hill and O’Bee) and they didn’t fail to disappoint. In the closing stages, we set up our own sprint chain, with Balloni leading out Hill, leading out O’Bee who was leading out team leader Nazon. The tactic worked perfectly, and Damien took yet another win, whilst Kirk held on for 3rd, with Hill 6th and Alfredo 7th. In all, a very good race for us.
CYCLING24 – 2012 MONTHLY ROUNDUP Posted online on Cycling24.tv and broadcast on Cycling24 (channel 450 on Sky TV), direct from Allan Smile
This more relaxed month of cycling has been quite successful, with Damien Nazon still holding onto his lead in the Continental Rankings and some good rides bringing us many wins. The race to the ProTour is hotting up, and I would have said that we should qualify comfortably. The favourites to join us are Comunidad Valenciana, and I would say that’s spot on.
We’ve also got a new staff member, after American David Wyandt was signed up to try and sign a future winner of Le Tour. Results:
--Hel van het Mergelland: Gonzalo Bayarri 1st, Aitor Gonzalez 2nd, Dario Cataldo 12th, David Belda 13th, Alex Holder 14th
--GP de la Ville de Rennes: Alfredo Balloni 1st, Damien Nazon 5th
--GP Cerami: Kirk O’Bee 6th
--Giro d’Oro: Gonzalo Bayarri 1st, Dario Cataldo 4th, Aitor Gonzalez 6th
--Tour of Georgia: Dario Cataldo 4th, two stage wins, Aitor Gonzalez 5th, Gonzalo Bayarri 8th, Alex Holder 11th
--Ronde van Noord Holland: Damien Nazon 1st, Dominique Cornu 8th
--Colliers Classic: Damien Nazon 1st, Kirk O’Bee 3rd, David Hill 6th, Alfredo Balloni 7th Rankings: Continental Individual Rankings: (points earned this month in brackets)
1 – Damien Nazon – 650 (140)
2 – Janek Tombak (Jartazi – 7Mobile) – 592
3 – Gonzalo Bayarri – 392 (174)
4 – Sergio Ribeiro (Barbot – Halcon) – 334
5 – Jose Serpa (Selle Italia) – 284
9 – Kirk O’Bee – 229 (68)
11 – Dario Cataldo – 180 (97)
15 – Aitor Gonzalez – 142 (106)
21 – Alfredo Balloni – 116 (92)
33 – David Hill – 86 (16)
106 – Dominique Cornu – 32 (3)
127 – Benat Intxausti – 25 (0)
166 – Ryan Keels – 16 (0)
173 – David Belda – 15 (0)
234 – Graham Taylor – 8 (0)
242 – Alex Holder – 7 (7)
261 – Brad Viera – 5 (5) Continental Team Rankings:
1 Team Cycling24 – 2012 – 1866
2 Jartazi – 7Mobile – 781
3 Chocolade Jacques – 581
4 Selle Italia – 539
5 Comunidad Valenciana - 524 Doctor’s Report: Another injury free month for Stewart McAllister Wiggle.co.uk Rider of the Month: Aitor Gonzalez
Whilst Aitor hasn’t had the success of Damien Nazon and Gonzalo Bayarri yet, he’s just coming into form, and has been a super helper this month, culminating in the Hel van het Mergelland, where he also managed to hold onto 2nd! He’ll be looking to lead the team in some races in the coming month Best Under 25 Rider of the Month: Alfredo Balloni
The 16 year old Italian just had to win this award again. His performance in the GP de la Ville de Rennes belied his youth, and its hard to remember just how young he is when he pulls out performances like that. Definitely the highlight of the month, if not the year so far Next Month:
May is another tough month for us, with some hard stage races including a visit to the Czech Republic and Germany. We’ll also be watching the Giro d’Italia kick off on the best cycling channel, Cycling24
Edited by Crommy on 23-05-2007 22:17
