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Team LOT Polish Airlines
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| danto194 |
Posted on 19-07-2013 22:39
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Under 23
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Team LOT Polish Airlines
Team LOT Polish Airlines is a brand new World Tour cycling team funded by one of the oldest airlines currently in operation. Despite the tough financial climate, the CEO Sebastian Mikosz has decided to plough more than half a million Euros into a new team, and significantly Poland’s most exciting cycling talents in a generation. The opportunity of nurturing the emergence of the likes of Michal Kwiatkowski and Rafal Majka in a Polish team was too irresistible for Mikosz.
Although the team will look towards supporting its outstanding Polish talent, Mikosz is aware of the demands of the World Tour and therefore the team will in no way restrict the opportunities of riders from different nations. Ultimately the team needs to compete and be successful regardless of whether it is a Polish rider crossing the line first or not.
The composition of the team favours stage races but there is a nice blend of talent which will ensure the team will be strongly represented on all fronts throughout the long season. Although winning a grand tour is perhaps beyond the team in the 2013 season, there is confidence within the camp that a grand tour challenge may not be too many years in coming. The experience and class of riders like Przemyslaw Niemiec ensure that the team will show strongly in stage races in the infancy of this project.
Leaders:
Michal Kwiatkowski
After an impressive 2012 season with Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Michal joins LOT as one of four leaders. Michal is a strong and punchy all-rounder who the team believe can be a future grand tour winner. Michal will focus on one grand tour in 2013; the Giro d’Italia. Relatively unproven at this level, it is futile to set targets other than to place as high as he can on GC. In preparation for this, Michal will definitely ride Tirreno-Adriatico and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and a few smaller races too. Michal will then wind down his season and pick up his training late on for the World Championships where he will target both the ITT and the road race.
Rafal Majka
Rafal caught the eye of the cycling world when riding in support of Alberto Contador’s successful bid to win the 2012 Vuelta a Espana. His impressive climbing ability ensures he joins LOT as one of four leaders. Rafal has the potential to become one of the very best climbers in the world in the next few years and the team will allow him the freedom to express himself in grand tours. Rafal could well be a grand tour challenger in the future but the team recognises it is important not to take the edge off his natural climbing talent to try and achieve that. This season, Rafal will ride Paris-Nice and Criterium du Dauphine in preparation for a tilt at this year’s 100th edition of the Tour de France. Rafal will also tackle La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in amongst this.
Przemyslaw Niemiec
As an extremely talented and consistent all rounder, Przemyslaw will add plenty of experience as he joins LOT as one of four leaders. Przemyslaw will bring the wisdom gained by over ten years worth of pro peloton riding under his belt. Although not a prolific winner, Przemyslaw rarely dips below a high level of performance which the team’s younger riders will be encouraged to take note of. He will lead the team at this year’s Vuelta a Espana and target the a GC challenge there as his main goal. Przemyslaw will also ride the Giro d’Italia as a super-domestique for Michal Kwiatkowski, and compete in the Tour de Suisse as he concentrates on stage races in 2013.
Giacomo Nizzolo
Giacomo rose to prominence in 2012 with victory at the Tour de Wallonie and joins LOT as one of four leaders. Although the team has a focus on the sharp end of stage races, management were keen to have a presence in sprints and the acquisition of Giacomo will certainly ensure that. Giacomo has been set an ambitious schedule which will include both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. Before this, he will set his sights on the Tour Down Under and also Milan-Sanremo.
Squad:
Maxim Belkov (RUS)
Manuele Boaro (ITA)
Maciej Bodnar (POL)
Baden Cooke (AUS)
Stephen Cummings (GBR)
Bart De Clercq (BEL)
Tom Dumoulin (NED)
Rick Flens (NED)
Jose Luis Gonzalvo (ESP)
Bartosz Huzarski (POL)
Kristijan Koren (SVN)
Seweryn Kuranty (POL)
Michal Kwiatkowski (POL)
David Labiano (ESP)
Johan Le Bon (FRA)
Alberto Losada (ESP)
Rafal Majka (POL)
Tomasz Marczynski (POL)
Bartlomiej Matysiak (POL)
Przemyslaw Niemiec (POL)
Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA)
Serge Pauwels (BEL)
Stefano Pirazzi (ITA)
Alex Rasmussen (DEN)
Jacek Roslaniec (POL)
Fabio Sabatini (ITA)
Mirko Selvaggi (ITA)
Sylvester Szmyd (POL)
Paolo Tirolongo (ITA)
Dominik Wenc (POL)
Sponsors objectives:
5*
Tour de France - Stage win(s)
Liege-Bastogne-Liege – Top 5
Milan-Sanremo – Top 5
4*
Vuelta a Espana – Top 3
Paris-Roubaix – Top 10
Giro d’Italia – Top 10 |
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| danto194 |
Posted on 19-07-2013 22:40
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Under 23
Posts: 59
Joined: 09-07-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Just to note, the race difficulty will be between normal and hard, with the coefficient 1.0125 |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-12-2024 11:25
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| Chons07 |
Posted on 19-07-2013 23:06
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Junior Rider
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Good Luck! Love all the young Polish riders, should be great to see how this develops! |
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| Cycleman123 |
Posted on 19-07-2013 23:37
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4478
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Good luck! 
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| welker3257 |
Posted on 19-07-2013 23:40
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2336
Joined: 29-05-2013
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Good Luck! Hope you can stay in the World Tour
Gig 'em Aggies
Fast N' Loud Cycling Project - ICL
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 19-07-2013 23:41
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World Champion
Posts: 10891
Joined: 19-11-2010
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Looking forward to this ;-)
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| Maxvir |
Posted on 20-07-2013 00:02
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Stagiare
Posts: 185
Joined: 16-08-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Good luck with this one, looking forward
LMGKK Ziemia Brzeska
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 20-07-2013 03:10
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Team Leader
Posts: 6690
Joined: 11-10-2010
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Good luck, i really love Poland (as a ski jumping country  ) and Polish riders, so i'll try to follow this.
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| NTTHRASH |
Posted on 20-07-2013 03:25
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3192
Joined: 09-09-2012
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If a man doesn't like the Polish riders, he's mentally unstable.
"America. Show a nipple on television and the whole country goes ape-shit." -DubbelDekker
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| bdenigma |
Posted on 20-07-2013 07:21
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Amateur
Posts: 5
Joined: 05-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Squad looks great! Can't wait to see how you get on. |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 20-07-2013 11:30
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Great team, good luck |
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| carmelobymelo |
Posted on 20-07-2013 11:40
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Domestique
Posts: 551
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Will follow your story, good to see polish based team. Powodzenia.
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| Katusha |
Posted on 20-07-2013 12:08
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Free Agent
Posts: 114
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Did you edit Kwiatek? İf you are not i think you can edit. |
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| danto194 |
Posted on 20-07-2013 16:58
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Under 23
Posts: 59
Joined: 09-07-2012
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Thanks for the words of encouragement guys, much appreciated. Hope I can do the riders justice.
If anyone wants me to change the way I present results etc or has any tactical advice etc at any point throughout this just let me know.
I'll be keeping the presentation very simple and precise, and wait until the big races before going into real detail. I did a story last year and got bogged down by doing too much detail and images so I'll keep it relatively concise as to keep the season moving on.
Katusha wrote:
Did you edit Kwiatek? İf you are not i think you can edit.
I loaded up a real name database from here not so long ago, not sure whether they changed any stats or not. I've not changed any stats for anyone. Here are Kwiatkowski's stats:
Average 76:
FL 73 COB 66 FTR 63
MO 74 SP 72 STA 72
HI 78 ACC 77 RES 71
TT 75 DH 65 REC 69
PRL 76
I reckon they're relatively realistic, maybe could be one or two notches higher in mountains and fighter but I'm not planning to change. |
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| danto194 |
Posted on 21-07-2013 15:43
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Under 23
Posts: 59
Joined: 09-07-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Australian National Championships
Cooke
Spoiler Cooke managed to get in a three-man breakaway with Brown and Van Hoff. Evans, Sutherland, and Goss joined late on and a six-man sprint ensued. Cooke pounced late to secure a fantastic win! He will get to showcase his new jersey in his home tour!
1) Cooke
2) Brown (Blanco) +0’00
3) Goss (Orica) +0’00
Santos Tour Down Under
Cooke
Huzarski
Le Bon
Losada
Nizzolo
Pirazzi
Selvaggi
Stages:
Spoiler • Stage 1
Frantic chase. Nizzolo latched onto Ag2r’s train and fended off Belletti’s late charge.
1) Nizzolo
2) Belletti (Ag2r) +0’00
3) Ventoso (Movistar) +0’00
• Stage 2
Hansen survived from the opening break, Dumoulin tried to bridge. We scrambled to a creditable 3rd and 4th. Hansen new GC leader.
1) Hansen (Lotto)
2) S.Dumoulin (Ag2r) +0’21
3) Nizzolo +0’37
4) Pirazzi +0’37
• Stage 3
Le Bon made a three-man breakaway, which included stage winner Rabon who impressively attacked late. Pirazzi secured a very decent 3rd leading the main group home.
1) Rabon (OQPS)
2) Kolobnev (Katusha) +0’33
3) Pirazzi +0’45
• Stage 4
Had a great leadout train so a pretty disappointing outcome. Was very tight on the line.
1) Kocjan (Euskaltel)
2) Ventoso (Movistar) +0’00
3) Nizzolo +0’00
• Stage 5
Vichot produced a great uphill sprint on the Old Willunga Hill and S.Dumoulin takes the overall GC lead. Pirazzi and Le Bon finished in a chase group and lie 5th and 9th in GC.
1) Vichot (FDJ.fr)
2) Kolobnev (Katusha) +0’00
3) S.Dumoulin (Ag2r) +0’00
17) Pirazzi +0’40
27) Le Bon +0’40
• Stage 6
Blythe dominated the sprint. Our sprint train was severely hampered and we paid the price.
1) Blythe (BMC)
2) P.Velits (OPQS) +0’00
3) Richeze (Lampre) +0’00
7) Cooke +0’00
Overall Results:
Spoiler Overall GC:
1) S.Dumoulin (Ag2r) 17h24’13
2) Kolobnev (Katusha) +0’20
3) Vichot (FDJ.fr) +0’34
5) Pirazzi +1’02
Young Riders GC:
1) Vichot (FDJ.fr) 17h24’47
2) Le Bon +0’48
3) Jungels (Radioshack Leopard) +0’50
Mountain:
1) S.Dumoulin (Ag2r) 20pts
2) Hansen (Lotto) 18pts
3) Kolobnev (Katusha) 16pts
7) Le Bon 12pts
Points:
1) Rabon (OPQS) 20pts
2) Nizzolo 16pts
3) Fenn (OPQS) 16pts
Team:
1) Movistar 52h16’11
2) FDJ.fr +0’00
3) Sky +0’40
8) LOT Polish Airlines +1’37
Directeur Sportif comments: “I would say a reasonable effort overall, although missing the win on stage 4 was a big regret. You have to take what you can get though and a stage win and high placing on GC means it wasn’t a wasted trip.” |
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| welker3257 |
Posted on 21-07-2013 15:50
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2336
Joined: 29-05-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice start to the year for the team . Congrats to Cooke.
Gig 'em Aggies
Fast N' Loud Cycling Project - ICL
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| danto194 |
Posted on 24-07-2013 20:49
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Under 23
Posts: 59
Joined: 09-07-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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www.LOTcycling.pl
RIDER SCHEDULES DECIDED FOR 2013 SEASON
Directeur Sportif Daniel Cox spoke to assembled journalists in the team's warm weather base in Almeria, Spain with regards to the campaign ahead. He spoke in general terms about the season's goals and outlined the specifics with regards to the team leaders respective schedules. Experienced leader Przemylsaw Niemiec was also present to discuss his own schedule and his happiness and being part of a Polish team.
Cox said: "It's been a testing few weeks and a real balancing act to get it right, but we've just about got there with the schedule. Some riders will have had a lot of miles in their legs come October, but for a new World Tour team we must enter a large volume of races to protect our World Tour status. We believe we've found the best solution for all riders though."
Michal Kwiatkowski 
Michal will begin his season at the Tour du Haut Var. In preparation for his big goal, the Giro d'Italia, Michal will ride Tirreno-Adriatico and also the majority of the Northern Classics. Post-Giro, Michal will rest for a couple of months before returning at Vattenfall Cyclassics and a number of one-day races after this. His final tour will be the Tour of Beijing as he ramps up his preparation for the end-of-year World Championships.
Rafal Majka
Rafal will begin his season at the Volta ao Algarve before tackling the French duo of Paris-Nice and Criterium International. The Tour de Romandie and Criterium du Dauphine will hopefully ensure Rafal is in great shape to tackle the 100th edition of the Tour de France.
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Speaking to written press, Niemiec said: "My season will be a slow burner to start off. I've been told I'm racing Pais Vasco and Trentino to prepare for the Giro where I'll be riding for Michal. I'm looking forward to that, I love racing in Italy and Michal is a great rider. I'm really happy to be spending my summer riding the Tour de Suisse before I build up to the Vuelta, where the team want me to be the leader. To lead a team in a Grand Tour is exciting, but to do it with the first Polish World Tour team is personally very special for me. At my age these opportunities don't come around too often!"
Niemiec was in a contemplative mood ahead of the 2013 season
Asked if he felt he could win the Vuelta, Niemiec grinned: "Why not? I'll have the support of my good friend Sylvester Szmyd and a lot of good climbers that we have. It's too early to say what shape everyone will be in, but the team are confident in me and I am confident in them."
Giacomo Nizzolo 
With a stage win under his belt in Australia, Giacomo will return to action next in Paris-Nice before tackling the prize asset of Milan-Sanremo. From that point, Giacomo will train to peak at the Giro. After this, he will ride the GP Berlin before moving onto France for the Tour which will bring the curtain down on his season.
Nizzolo has one victory to his name in 2013 already
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| welker3257 |
Posted on 24-07-2013 21:38
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2336
Joined: 29-05-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice article there very well written
Hope there are no injuries as they screw up all the planning
Gig 'em Aggies
Fast N' Loud Cycling Project - ICL
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| jseadog1 |
Posted on 24-07-2013 21:41
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Grand Tour Champion
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Just now discovered this, good luck hope you succeed!
PCM.Daily Survivor Season 2 Fan Favorite Winner
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| danto194 |
Posted on 24-07-2013 22:09
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Under 23
Posts: 59
Joined: 09-07-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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welker3257 wrote:
Nice start to the year for the team . Congrats to Cooke.
jseadog1 wrote:
Just now discovered this, good luck hope you succeed!
Thanks guys!
welker3257 wrote:
Nice article there very well written
Hope there are no injuries as they screw up all the planning
Yeah hope not, took me a few hours and I still think it's a bit ropey in places. The leaders have the lightest schedules at least.
Already had an injury in Besseges which mucked that race up as you'll see soon. |
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