You can't go wrong with the combination of industrial batteries and a dormant Volcano! The two unlikely partners link up for the 4th successive season - while Accumalux are now firmly established as one of the longest running sponsors in Cycling today.
- 2nd in ProTour Team Standings
- ProTour Individual Standings: Ben Swift (14), Andy Schleck (18), Frank Schleck (26)
- Andy Schleck: Tour de France (GC, Points, KoM, 4 Stages), Tour de Suisse, GP Liechtenstein, 3rd in Paris-Nice
- Frank Schleck: Badaling International, Tour of Norway, 2nd in Amstel Gold, 3rd in Deutschland-Tour, 3rd in Classique du Grand-Duche, 4th in Paris-Nice, 5th in Tirreno-Adriatico
- Ben Swift: 1 Vuelta a Espana stage, 4th in Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha, 5th in Rund um Koln, 5 other stage wins
- Marcel Kittel: 3rd in Tour of Qatar, 5th in Chrono des Herbiers, German TT Championships
- Alex Kirsch: Tour de l'Avenir, 1 Tour de France stage
- Jaime Suaza: 6th in Vuelta a Colombia
- Ben Gastauer: 7th in Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
Spoiler
Team [24 riders]:
Andy Schleck
Richie Porte
Frank Schleck
Ben Swift
Bob Jungels
Romain Feillu
David Claerebout
Thomas De Gendt
Sebastien Einsle
Frederik Strand Galta
Ben Gastauer
Pedro Merino Criado
Alex Kirsch
Maciej Paterski
Gilles Heymes
Jaime Suaza
Pit Schlechter
Chen Shikai [Loan]
Kevin Feiereisen
Moreno Hofland [Loan]
Marcel Kittel
Dmitri Medvedev
Oleksandr Lobov [Stagiaire]
Ivan Savitsky [Stagiaire]
Loaned out [1 rider]:
Toms Skujins
Vesuvio - Accumalux SportingNonsense
2013
5th
- 5th in ProTour Team Standings
- ProTour Individual Standings: Andy Schleck (4), Frank Schleck (9), Ben Swift (20)
- Ben Swift: 4 Giro d'Italia stage wins, 2nd in Tour of Qatar (1 stage win), 3 other stage wins
- Andy Schleck: Tour of Romandie, 2nd in Tour de Suisse, 3rd in Tour de France (1 stage win), 3rd in Vuelta Ciclista a Catalunya
- Frank Schleck: Giro di Lombardia, the 'real' winner of Tirreno-Adriatico, 3rd in Vuelta al Pais Vasco, 8th in Vuelta a Espana
- 5th in ProTour Standings
- ProTour Individual Standings: Frank Schleck (6), Rigoberto Uran (9), Benat Intxausti (13)
- Frank Schleck: Liege-Bastogne-Liege, FBD Eire Tour, Badaling International, GP Yekeratinburg, Giro di Lombardia
- Benat Intxausti: 'Moral Vuelta Winner' (1 stage win, long stint in race lead)
- Rigoberto Uran: 5th in Tour de France (1 stage win, stint in race lead), 2nd in Deutschland Tour, 2nd in Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, 3rd in Tour de Suisse
Spoiler
Team [23 riders]:
Frank Schleck
Rigoberto Uran
Ben Gastauer
Beñat Intxausti
Nick Clesen
Pedro Merino Criado [loan]
David Claerebout
Juan Carlos Rienda Segura [loan]
Sebastien Einsle
Matea Kvasina
Nico Schinker
Marcel Kittel
Teodoro Costagli [loan]
Marcel Barth
Thomas Faiers [loan]
João Cabreira
Maxim Iglinski
Michael Ford
Denis Galimzyanov [loan]
Ciaran Kelly [loan]
Dmitri Medvedev
Amadou Bakari [loan]
Jan Hopman [loan]
Loaned Out [2 riders]:
Drastutis Stundzia
Mwangi Samwel
Accumalux - Huez SportingNonsense
2010
6th
- 6th in ProTour Standings
- ProTour Individual Standings: Frank Schleck (7), Benat Intxausti (14), Franco Pellizotti (22)
- Frank Schleck: Paris-Nice, Amstel Gold Race, Liege-Bastogne-Liege
- Benat Intxausti: 2nd in Vuelta a Espana, 5th in Tour de France
- Franco Pellizotti: 2nd in Giro d'Italia
- Marcel Kittel: World U23 TT Championships
Spoiler
Team [20 riders]:
Frank Schleck
Santiago Perez Fernandez
Christian Poos
Beñat Intxausti
Nick Clesen
Matea Kvasina
David Claerebout
Marcel Kittel
Sebastien Einsle
Marcel Barth
Franco Pellizotti
João Cabreira
Rafaâ Chtioui
Gatis Smukulis
Maxim Iglinski
Drastutis Stundzia
Nico Sijmens
Franklin Chacon
Remmert Wielinga
Mwangi Samwel
Loaned Out [1 rider]:
Ben Gastauer
Accumalux - Formex SportingNonsense
2009
1st
- 1st in ProTour Team Standings
- ProTour Individual Standings: Frank Schleck (1), Franco Pellizotti (7), Fabian Cancellara (33), David Millar (39), Oscar Freire (47)
- Franco Pellizotti: Milano-San Remo, 3rd in Giro d'Italia, World Championships
- Frank Schleck: Tour de Suisse, Japan Cup
Spoiler
Team [23 riders]:
Frank Schleck
Oscar Freire
Christian Poos
Beñat Intxausti
Nick Clesen
Matea Kvasina
Franco Pellizotti
Marcel Kittel
Rafaâ Chtioui
Marcel Barth
Maxim Iglinski
Jorge Giacinti
Jussi Veikkanen
Raivis Belohvosckis
David Millar
Drastutis Stundzia
Chris Newton
Fabian Cancellara
Nico Sijmens
Jean Nuttli
Remmert Wielinga
Rubens Bertogliati
Piotr Mazur
Accumalux SportingNonsense
2008
4th
- 4th in ProTour Team Standings
- ProTour Individual Standings: Frank Schleck (7), Fabian Cancellara (14), Francisco Mancebo (27), David Millar (48)
- Frank Schleck: Tour de France
- Fabian Cancellara: Paris-Roubaix, Eneco Tour of Benelux
- Francisco Mancebo: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
- Eindhoven TTT
Spoiler
Team [28 riders]:
Frank Schleck
Francisco Ventoso
Christian Poos
Beñat Intxausti
Nick Clesen
Koldo Gil
Nico Schinker
Francisco Mancebo
Carlo Kirsch
Marcel Barth
Jempy Drucker
Jorge Giacinti
Ondrej Sosenko
Edgardo Simón
Robbie Hunter
Raivis Belohvosckis
David Millar
Drastutis Stundzia
Geraint Thomas
Gonzalo Garrido Zenteno
Mikhail Ignatiev
Fabian Cancellara
Remmert Wielinga
Jean Nuttli
Piotr Mazur
Rubens Bertogliati
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Manuel Medina
Saunier - Duval Prodir SportingNonsense
2007
1st
- 1st in ProTour Team Standings
- ProTour Individual Standings: Frank Schleck (2), Francisco Mancebo (8), Koldo Gil (29), Leonardo Piepoli (35)
- Francisco Mancebo: Vuelta a Espana
- Frank Schleck: Tirreno-Adriatico, Fleche Wallone
- Eindhoven TTT
- Leonardo Piepoli: 4th in Giro d'Italia
From left to right are the top ranked riders from each year. Frank Schleck was ranked in the ProTour Top 10 for 6 consecutive seasons, and after a year out, made it back in again in 2014.
It was a good start for the team when Cancellara won the prologue to become the first race leader. 4 riders in the Top 15 of the prologue is worth noting for what was to come. A couple of sprint stages followed, with Theo Bos taking a momentous 3rd place on Stage 1! Already the pyrenees arrived in Stage 3, with a multiple climb stage that ended by going up the Tourmalet and back down again. Schleck made the selection with Valverde and Di Luca, who had earlier crashed, and won the stage in a sprint!
Schleck then took Yellow after a surprising stage win on a stage with a slight uphill finish in Plumelec, beating Sastre and Kirchen on the line. Earlier in the stage Millar had been involved in the breakaway - alongside Green Jersey Tom Boonen!
More flat stages followed, until the return of mountains on Stage 10 and 11. Kirchen and Gadret took victories, with no real gaps forming amongst the favourites. Gaps were a plenty on Stage 13 - a team time trial.
Accumalux, powered by Cancellara and Millar, simply destroyed the field. We put nearly 4 minutes on the team of our main rival Di Luca, La Gazzetta dello Sport, and now the closest contenders to Schleck were Valverde at 1'53 down, Rasmussen at 3'11 and then Di Luca, Evans and Gadret around the 3'50 mark. The gains continued on Stage 14. Schleck may only have been 2nd to Di Luca, but Spanish champion Valverde lost time, as did Rasmussen and Gadret. Rasmussen responded by taking a long range attack on the next mountains stage, but it backfired for him, while Schleck safely finished 8th behind a victorious Dessel.
Just 4 stages left, and now it was time for Alpe d'Huez. Again Rasmussen went long range, while Schleck was pressed into action when reacting to Di Luca on the Galibier.
Rasmussen led by 7 minutes at the foot of Alpe d'Huez, with Valverde giving chase. But it was French power which followed, as Dessel stormed the climb to win the stage - catching the Dane with 1km to go.
4th on the stage for Schleck, all but securing overall victory - now with a 4 minute GC lead over 2nd placed Dessel. It did not even matter that Schleck could only finish 11th on the following Mountain time trial stage. There was still time for Dessel to lose his podium place though, as Schleck played a key part in shaking things up on the hard penultimate stage that was mysteriously rated as flat.
And that was that. Alessandro Petacchi won the Champs Elysses, but Frank Schleck had won the Tour.
What happened next?
Frank Schleck did return in 2009 to defend his title, and three stages wins in the first half of the race, plus the crash of race leader Thomas Dekker, put him in a strong position to win a 2nd Tour. But it wasn't to be, as Stijn Devolder proved too strong, and defeated Schleck by 2 minutes.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 27-04-2015 18:10
For the first time in a long time, the Vuelta a Espana has moved to May and the peloton is lining up in Grenada. Accumalux - Huez have their hopes pinned on Benat Intxausti in his first season as a serious team leader. Drasutis Stundzia, Franklin Chacon, Matea Kvasina, Marcel Barth, Rafaa Chtioui, João Cabreira, Marcel Kittel and Santiago Perez Fernandez provide a multi-cultural support team. Lining up for Domina Vacanze is Andy Schleck, who crashed out of his GT in 2009, but did podium the Giro back in 2008.
The early TTT and ITT did not suit Schleck, but did go well for Intxausti. After the first mountain stage - won by Schleck - it was Intxausti who took the race lead.
Schleck vs Intxausti
But on the following Stage 8 - won by future Accumalux rider Rigoberto Úran - Andy Schleck took the race lead and did not look back. There were only 4 road Mountain stages in the whole race, but Andy made it 3 wins out of 4.
Winning Stage 13 on the Angliru
There was a Mountain ITT, but the final week was remarkably flat. So Schleck turned himself into a sprinter! An infamous stage win on Stage 16, ahead of Bellis, Rodriguez Segarra and Cavendish, would be a key driver in the increased recovery stat for sprinters. There was a further podium on Stage 18, behind Bennati and Roelandts, as Andy fought Bennati all the way to the end for the Points jersey - falling just short.
Take that, sprinters!
He did take joint victory in the King of the Mountains jersey though alongside, of course, the overall Vuelta triumph - his first Grand Tour triumph. Benat Intxausti took 2nd in 2'55, in what remains the Spaniard's best GT result.
Stage
Type
S Pos
GC
Gap
1
TTT
9
150
+ 21
2
F
140
+ 23
3
F
58
+ 35
4
F
52
+ 35
5
ITT
19
14
+ 1'40
6
F
109
14
+ 1'40
7
M
1
2
+ 12
8
M
2
1
- 27
9
H
12
1
- 27
10
F
42
1
- 27
11
F
7
1
- 27
12
H
29
1
- 27
13
M
1
1
- 35
14
M
1
1
- 2'18
15
H
2
1
- 2'30
16
F
1
1
- 2'50
17
F
18
1
- 2'50
18
F
3
1
- 2'58
19
H
19
1
- 2'58
20
MTT
3
1
- 2'55
21
F
19
1
- 2'55
July 2014
Now on board with Vesuvio - Accumalux for a 2nd season, Andy Schleck took to the start at Mont Saint-Michel faced with another opening TTT. The rest of the squad was Jaime Suaza, Thomas de Gendt, Marcel Kittel, Alex Kirsch, Chen Shikai, Dmitri Medvedev and Richie Porte.
And the first week could hardly have gone worse, ending it in 21st place - a whopping 5'32 off the lead of Taylor Phinney. What came next was possibly one the greatest comeback in ManGame history.
It started on Puy de Dome. He may have been beaten by Andrey Amador at the top, but this is where the time gains began. A day of huge climbing followed on Stage 9, and it ended with a fine solo victory. The gap now more than halved to 2'25.
Attacking clear on Prat de Bouc
Nothing is straight forward though, and an awfully timed puncture saw him lose time on Stage 10 while Phinney consolidated his race lead with a victory. Gap now 3'34. The back and forth continued into the Pyrenees and La Mongie. A 3 man selection was made: Schleck, Madrazo and Pluchkin. Bringing back those old sprinting skills, it was a 2nd win for Andy.
Aleksandr Pluchkin now held the Maillot Jaune, and the gap held firm at just over 2 minutes for 5 more days. Further success for the team came as Alex Kirsch took his first pro win at Orange, and Chen Shikai came 2nd behind Teklehaimanot on Mont Faron. The GC action began to pick up again on Stage 16 as yet more sprinting earned another stage win for Schleck, and more crucial seconds.
Fastest in Firminy
Kirsch was back in the break on Stage 17 for a big day of Alpine climbing. The Izoard was the big climb, before a descent and uphill finish in Briancon. On the Izoard Schleck linked up with Kirsch along with other favourites and the support on the descent was critical. Schleck destroyed the pack in the final climb of Briancon, and now the gap was only 1'27.
Huge acceleration in Briancon
That set things up for a monstrous time trial up to Orcieres-Merlette from Gap. Pluchkin might have been expected to extend his lead, but the opposite occured - and the gap had now been slashed to 20 seconds, with 2 Mountain stage remaining. Andy only needed 1.
The Alpe d'Huez is a fitting place to secure a Grand Tour triumph and as Schleck tore up the road, Pluchkin cracked under the pressure. He put so much into the climb that breakaway man Henao was able to beat him at the end, but a resulting 2 minute gain on the Moldovan leader was more than enough. Pluchkin actually gained some time back in Stage 20 on the Galibier, but too late for that.
In Yellow, and in command
And with a celebratory sprint on the Champs Elysses for 7th place, Andy Schleck wrapped up his 2nd Grand Tour win. A final winning margin of 1'27 after such an emphatic turn around. The Points and King of the Mountains jerseys came with it.
Stage
Type
S Pos
GC
Gap
1
TTT
6
42
+ 54
2
H
16
18
+ 1'49
3
F
20
18
+ 1'49
4
F
40
14
+ 1'49
5
F
21
12
+ 1'49
6
ITT
111
24
+ 5'32
7
F
9
21
+ 5'32
8
M
2
7
+ 4'00
9
HM
1
5
+ 2'25
10
H
22
5
+ 3'34
11
M
1
5
+ 2'20
12
M
3
5
+ 2'24
13
F
20
5
+ 2'24
14
H
9
4
+ 2'24
15
F
11
4
+ 2'24
16
H
1
4
+ 2'04
17
M
2
3
+ 1'27
18
MTT
2
2
+ 20
19
M
2
1
- 1'52
20
M
3
1
- 1'35
21
F
7
1
- 1'27
Andy Schleck has now won the King of the Mountains jerseys at all 3 Grand Tours. But the true Grand Slam requires overall victory in all 3.
December 2014
Vesuvio-Accumalux management are looking ahead to the new season. The first team goal down on the list was a simple choice, and will define the season for Andy Schleck.
Win, Giro d'ItaliaEdited by SportingNonsense on 28-04-2015 00:27
It's nice to vary up the races Schleck does, keeps it interesting - there's not much he could achieve at the Tour this year that he didnt already do last year, after all.
It's hard to be too disappointed with a 2014 season that featured 6 victories, but for a rider like Ben Swift, expectations are rightfully quite high - and clearly they were not met last season. The dream team 2013 combination of Pedro Merino Criado, Steven Caethoven and Swift was a tough act to follow, and though Merino Criado did well upon stepping up to Man 2 - the new addition of Romain Feillu was not always the most consistent.
Where it mattered most in 2014, Swift did not deliver. Only 1 Vuelta a Espana stage win - the opening stage - with the Brit being overwhelmed by Erik Mohs, and the leadout provided to him by John Degenkolb. And then in an ideal World Championships route, he could only finish 4th. He also disappointed at the Tour of Qatar - it took a supreme ride by Marcel Kittel to save our sponsor goal there.
Compare that to 2013 where he was the team's best rider. 2nd overall at the Tour of Qatar but most significantly was the 4 Giro d'Italia stage wins following an entertaining head to head with Daniele Bennati.
But this was not the first time that Swift has underwhelmed on the big occasion - his debut (and to-date only) Tour de France appearance could only net him a 2nd place on Stage 5. Sprinting is an incredibly competitive field, but that does not stop being the harshest of critics on themselves when things do not go right.
It's yet to be decided which Grand Tour Swift will race in 2015 - although of course it will not be the Giro. Either way, it will provide him an opportunity to make up for past disappointments, and show the peloton that he is able to perform as well as his stats suggests.
In looking ahead to the new season, Swift has expressed a clear determination to do just that. But he also expressed disgust at the recent actions of the cycleYorkshire team, who have tried to big themselves up by presenting lies to indicate an association with Swift. Financies are expected to be tight at Vesuvio this season, but Swift is certainly not for sale and even if he were, he would have no intention of ever going to a team such as that.
The team will have two national time trial champions here after two riders took their debut national title. For Bob Jungels this could be the first of many, while for Marcel Kittel the TT title was extremely satisfying with it being such a competitive discipline within Germany.
Regulars depart as Vesuvio take aim at loans market
After riding for the team for 5 seasons, Vesuvio-Accumalux have opted to release the Luxembourg pair of David Claerebout and Sebastian Einsle this off-season. Having joined us as neo-pros they developed into two excellent domestiques who have served the team well on many occasions. Einsle in the hills, and Claerebout with his mountain and time trial abilities.
The stand out individual performance from these two riders came from Sebastian Einsle, who hit a real purple patch towards the end of the 2012 season. He won Stage 5 of the FBD Eire Tour up Seskin Hill, leaving his breakaway companions behind for a first professional victory. At the next race the Tour of Northern Europe he again infiltrated a decisive breakaway on Stage 6 - doing enough to finish 17th overall for the race, and take 2nd in the King of the Mountains competition. Meanwhile David Claerebout delivered some of his finest performances in 2014, with 27th at the Dauphine Libere and 28th in the Deutschland Tour.
They may be leaving our team, but this is by no means the end of their careers. We strongly encourage others teams to consider them this transfer season - there's no doubt that they could be particularly useful to CT teams.
Their departure will allow Vesuvio - Accumalux to devote more space to the loaning in of riders from either PCT or CT for the season. We have a long sucessful history of loaned in riders. Last season we saw Chen Shikai play a vital role in Andy Schleck's amazing season, while Moreno Hofland rode with us for a 2nd year running as part of our successful hills squad. Previous seasons have seen the likes of Riccardo Zoidl, Johnny Hoogerland, Carlos Betancourt, Thomas Faiers and Andreas Stauff all gain valuable experience riding for us - amongst many others.
Our initial target is to loan 4-5 riders in for the season. We will be drawing up a shortlist of potential candidates, but will also welcome contact from other teams once the transfers season is underway, to advertise their available riders.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 08-05-2015 19:37
There are a couple of Puma riders that I could very well imagine on loan at Vesuvio next season, it'll be interesting to see whether they are already on your shortlist or whether I have to approach you.
Well I expect my shortlist will contain as many as 20 riders when I've made it - so if I don't contact someone about loaning a rider straight away, it doesn't mean I'm not interested in them
I have 2 riders that needs to be loaned out. Hopefully they are any interesting for you!
Expect my call once transfers is underway!
Edited by dev4ever on 08-05-2015 20:43
It was rumoured a few months ago, and it can now be confirmed. Toms Skujins, one of the hottest young puncheurs in the world, will be sold by Vesuvio-Accumalux in the coming weeks.
He has struggled to fit in at Vesuvio, with 2 of his 3 contracted seasons with the team having been spent loaned away. His renewal wage of € 500,000 sealed the deal, as there is simpy no space for him to remain in the team.
Vesuvio
Accumalux
Corratec
Giro
Andy Schleck
Swift
Intxausti
Úran
Iglinski
Cancellara
Paterski
Samwel
Caethoven
Medvedev
Hoogerland
Kvasina
Ford
Hunter
Sosenka
Medina
Dessel, 
Rasmussen, 
Popovych, 
