|
Tulip - Guinness HQ | August Newsletter
|
| Marcovdw |
Posted on 22-06-2013 12:42
|
Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
Joined: 04-07-2012
PCM$: 15345.00
|
Oh, and sorry i did not take any pictures of your riders 
|
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 22-06-2013 13:27
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
It's a pretty tough calender to start with for a neo-pro, but I think Mathias has already shown some great promise!
|
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 22-06-2013 13:43
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
With this being a continental race it isn't very high on our list of pririties. At least not as high as the other WT-teams, who sent guys like Purito and Gilbert.
Still we sent a competent team, that should be able to get us a top 10, while we also decided to include our sole Spanish rider for the benefit of the locals.
 Thor Hushovd
 Davide Rebellin
Dario Cataldo
 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen
Christopher Juul-Jensen
 Jack Bobridge
 Lloyd Mondory
 Gorka Verdugo
Mondory is feeling good today and decides to go in the early break. A nice little outing for the trio, but still to early to be anything decisive.
Purito is just a level above everyone else, but my guys really did well in the finish (though they could have been a bit more organized)
|
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 22-06-2013 13:44
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Marcovdw wrote:
Oh, and sorry i did not take any pictures of your riders
No reason. They should be sorry for not giving you any sort of reason to take a picture of them...
|
| |
|
|
| Bikex |
Posted on 22-06-2013 14:35
|
Team Leader
Posts: 7257
Joined: 25-08-2012
PCM$: 600.00
|
Wow, I must say your HQ looks really good with all those reports  |
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 03-07-2013 08:55
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
As our previous PR-officer wasn't quite up to his job, we are a bit behind in the newsletter department.
Apparently he was a bit to fond of our secondary sponsor, so he failed to produce the newsletters covering May and June.
Naturally he has now been sacked and we will make up for the lost time!
Cycling in May
I think it's safe to say that May was a very good month for the team!
First Chris Froome won Tirreno - Adriattico beating Contador with a second on the very last stage. He wouldn't have been able to do it without the magnificent effort by his teammates in the opening TTT though!
Paris - Nice was quite a different story for the team. With most of the good GC riders in Italy a lot of riders had an unique chance to chase their own glory in France. And they did good!
Bøchman was very good at hitting the right breaking giving us lots of TV-time, Thor had a couple of stage top 10's as did Davide Rebellin. The Italian veteran even managed to finish 8th in the GC, which is a bit more than we expected from him!
Then later that month it was time for the first monument of the season: Milano - Sanremo. I'm not quite sure mu guys realized the importance of the race though as our best finisher was Kristoff on 25th.
Good thing we quickly went on for Clasica Almeria where we got to top 10's for Kristoff and Hushovd on both the 1st and the 2nd start...
We went to Criterium International testing Roches legs before Catalunya. To be honest the Irishman disappointed with not even a top 10. Luckily Cataldo was ready to step up and save the race for us with two stage top 10's and a GC 4th-
That put a big question mark on the last stage race of the month. Roche was given captaincy in Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. And I belive it's safe to say that the team did amazing. Jonas put in some great sprint and Nicholas won a stage and finished 2nd in the GC scoring some important points for the team.
In the cobbled-races we were underdogs, but with both Hushovd and Breschel on the team we should have the chance for some good results. In E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, Gent - Wevelgem and [url=pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=26266&rowstart=80#post_742631]Ronde van Vlaanderen[/url] Thor fought his way to finish outside the top 10 but inside the top 20 harvesting a few points along the way. In the first two races Matti was completely invisible, but when things got real with the Ronde he suddenly showed some great form finishing 9th!
Rider of the Month - May
Lots of riders did very well this month. Nicholas finishing 2nd in Catalunya was more than we expected, but there can only be one Rider of the Month with a win in Tirreno - Adriatico!
|
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 03-07-2013 09:13
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
We went to all the Ardennes classics with no obvious favourite, but Froome as the obvious captain, expected to bring in some decent results.
In Amstel he really didn't ride the way I expect my riders to ride. He just sat at the back of the group all day finishing 16th without even showing the jersey more than on this pic of the group sprinting for 8th - and that's even though the photographer is an old friend of the team!
Edited by Atlantius on 03-07-2013 09:22
|
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 03-07-2013 09:21
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Before this race I made sure Froome knew I expected some more agressive riding from his side. And he delivered to some extent by at least not just sitting back when the attacking began.
And the stategy delivered. He was right there for the finish and managed to sprint to a 4th place, which is a very decent sprint by his standards!
|
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 03-07-2013 09:41
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Cycling in June
Coming out from a brilliant May we had high hopes for Vuelta al País Vasco, but except Juul-Jensen and Lagutin finishing in top 10 on stage 1 the race turned out a big embarrasment for the team and Roche in particular!
For the next race we went to Spain (yes, we acknowledge the Basque countries claim of independence) for Gran Premio Miguel Indorain. For a Continental race it was a very strong startlist, but Davide did ok finishing 10th 1 minute behind Purito.
On to the Ardennes hoping to regain some honour for the team Froome did the exact opposite in Amstel Gold Race, where he never even once stood up in the saddle, but just slowly followed the other riders in goal for a 16th place almost 3 minutes behind Evans...
Finishing of a month to be forgotten we had La Flèche Wallonne. Last chance this month to do something worth mentioning and Chris had gotten the message riding at the front making the race exiting and in the end finishing 4th in the sprint. This is how he was supposed to had raced in Amstel as well...
Rider of the Month
This was a very hard decision this month as none of the big names really did what they were supposed to.
Of course Froome's effort in Fleche Wallonne was good, but a rider with his salary can't get rider of the Month when only performing as expected one day.
Therefore rider of the month goes to a rider, who supported Froome right until the end in both of the Ardennes classics taking a lot of wind and bringing a lot of bottles along with Fuglsang. Both Jakob and Rebellin did an excellent jobs, but Davide crowned it with a 10th place in Almeria where he had a free role and thus he gets the award this month!
|
| |
|
|
| Ollfardh |
Posted on 03-07-2013 09:50
|
World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
|
Froome can do classics as well now? 
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
|
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 03-07-2013 10:40
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Well at least to some extent - after all he's not a bad rider going uphill (and the team has no Ardennes-specialist...)
|
| |
|
|
| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 10:12
|
Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
|
|
| IP: None |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 03-07-2013 10:51
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
After the good result in Fleche Wallonne we had high hoped for Froome today.
Right from the start Lagutin showed his Uzbek champions jersey for the cameras, but naturally the break didn't last long enough to have any effect on the finish.
That bit was taken care of by Froome, who attacked a lot to eliminate everyone outside the top 19.
As much as we enjoy aggressive riding he probably overdid it today as he had next to no energy left for the finish. He did manage to get another top 20 and the following points.
All in all a good race.
|
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 30-07-2013 13:57
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
We went to Norway with all our Norwegians expecting some great performances from them in the only race on home soil this year.
Especially stage wins from Kristoff and a good GC from Hushovd.
Stage 1: Sandefjord - Tønsberg
To put it short a terrible start for the team!
16 km from the finish line some guy couldn't keep on his bike and took most of the peloton down with him thus destroying our chances of a good GC right on day 1.
Stage 2: Oslo - Drammen
Today was a day for the team to redeem themselves by setting Alexander up for the sprint.
And they did good reeling in the break and setting up a very nice train for the Norwegian champion.
Kristoff did his best but was overmatched by Boasson Hagen in the sprint.
Thor ended up on a nice 8th place after doing some good work.
Stage 3: Lillestrøm - Elverum
Another flat stage, where everyone was dedicated to delivering Kristoff.
With 500 m to go he was in front
But once again Edvald was faster on the line and it comes down to another 2nd place for Alex.
Stage 4: Hamar - Lillehammer
Stage 4 was one fort the break and Jonas Aaen Jørgensen managed to get in there and win the first intermediate sprint
Unfortunately he wasn't strong enough on the hills and we were nowhere in the decisive moments of the stage.
Stage 5: Gjøvik - Hønefoss
Another won for the breakaway - almost anyway.
The breakers were caught right on the line, but at least Jonas managed to hold on to a 7th place to finish of a rather disappointing race.
Mountain Classification | 1 |  Nelson Vitorino | Pro Team Haier | 34 | | - | - | Tulip - Guinness | 0 |
Team Classification | 1 | Pro Team Haier | 63h34'27 | | 7 | Tulip - Guinness | + 8'36 |
A race that didn't live up to our expectations, but a big congratulations to Pro Team Haier with their absolute domination.
Then the Norwegians had something to cheer about anyway...
|
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 30-07-2013 16:34
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Stage 1: Yverdon-les-Bains - Champagne (ITT)
We have a very strong team in general for TT's and this race is no different!
In fact both Hushovd, Froome and Fuglsang rode fast enough for a top 10. Sadly though no podium and Zoltan looks really strong right now finishing 2nd.
Stage 2: Yverdon-les-Bains - Nyon
The finish of this stage wasn't quite flat enough and the route was a bit to hilly to be favoured by the pure sprinters.
That means this one should go to either a strong sprinter or the breakaway.
We don't get a guy in the break, so instead we reel in the break hoping Hushovd has something in his legs.
He is delivered on the back of the Dominos train and does well beating Davis and Viviani with only a few cm on the line. Unfortunately that was only good enough for a 2nd place though...
Stage 3: Bons-en-Chablais - Leysin
Time for mountains mean time for Froome to shine.
Chris is looking sharp when the attacking begins, but probably uses a bit much energy early on.
At leas he cracks when things get decisive and though a 5th place on the stage isn't all bad losing more than 2 minutes to Zoltan just isn't good enough!
Stage 4: Martigny - Col du Lein (ITT)
A mountain time trial shouldn't be all bad for our team considering Froome, Fuglsang and Roche are all both good climbers and TT'ers.
In the end it only amounted to a decent 3rd place for Froome, while Fuglsang dropped out of the GC top 10.
At least we gained a little time in the team classification as well. Hopefully we will be able to get Hesjedal away from teh podium and along with that Barrys Maple Leaf away from the team classification lead.
Stage 5: Montreux - Saint-Sulpice
I told Chris before this stage that I expected him to show just a glance of his class today.
Apparently he didn't listen as this is the most active we saw him all day as he rode to a comfortable 17th on the stage.
One stage left for the Briton to prove his class!
Edited by Atlantius on 16-08-2013 11:42
|
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 18-08-2013 16:36
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
The Newsletter is late due to a number of reasons, but here it is:
Cycling in July
July was a fairly quiet day for the team.
We started of in Liège - Bastogne - Liège with an 18th place for Froome. Enough to score points, but far from impressing...
Then we went to Glava Tour of Norway with big ambitions. Unfortunately some jackass decided to crash and pull several of my riders down with him while also making sure none of the rest could get home in teh front group. That's the GC gone then...
The team did what they could to get Kristoff a win on home soil, but was completely outshined by Boasson Hagen and Pro Team Haier. Two stage podiums and a couple of other top 10's was all we brought home with us.
Then off to Romandie, where we expected Froome to shine. We managed to get 4 stages done with in July and after these Chris was on 4th place in the GC after a couple of disappointing shows. Hushovd did well to get both a 2nd place and a top 10.
Rider of the month
While most of the guys only just lived up to expectations this month one man did much more than that. While mainly being in the role of the helper Thor Hushovd managed to score points in both Glava Tour of Norway and Tour de Romandie, while still doing his job to perfection.
In fact he even took another top 10 in the training race Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne!
Edited by Atlantius on 18-08-2013 16:40
|
| |
|
|
| Atlantius |
Posted on 01-09-2013 11:04
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Cycling in August
August was an extremely quiet day for the team.
In fact we only raced three days: The last three stages of Tour de Romandie.
We expected Froome to chase at least a podium place, but except for a 3rd place on the mountain time trial he did absolutely nothing and ended up on a 4th place in the GC.
Rider of the Month
No one did anything worth mentioning for the team this month.
|
| |
|
Chris Froome
Philip Deignan
Mathias von Triesenberg
Sergey Lagutin
Tour de Romandie 
Alexandre Pliuschin 
Jakab Zoltan
Álex Cano Ardila
Nintendo - Ambuja Cycling
