baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
Miguel98 wrote:
3rd isn't bad, but Hivert winning flat sprints...
It's not like there are WT riders here because of the bug, but he is winning pretty dominantly I guess. Maybe it's his high ACC stat of 75, as he only has 71 SP.
Yeah, more than likely is I kind of hate that you have to have a sprinter that is really good at both. I would say ACC is almost more important this year.
Nice results for Enger again. The field doesn't look too strong, but its always like that for me too, and upon further inspection almost half the peloton are 70-73 sprinters so its quite a lot to deal with.
Thanks guys I have decreased Hivert's sprinting stats by two each, so he shouldn't be so dominant from now on.
Anyway, before I finish Glava, here is a small Transfer Update.
Transfer Update
Even at this stage things are already being prepared for next season, as many riders find themselves trying to get new contracts. So far, things have gone well for us as we re-signed all of key riders' contracts. Two riders will be leaving however; Morten Morland and Kristian Johansson couldn't agree new deals.
Those departures leave space for some fresh talent to come in. We decided to look for some upcoming talent and sent Scouts to some U23 races around Norway. One rider immediately stood out, 20 year old Tom Selnaes. He was very strong, especially uphill, and is deemed to have a good future. Therefore we signed him on a three-year deal which will begin in August as he joins as a Trainee.
That is all for now, but expect more on the Transfers front as the season progresses.
Another flat stage, and perhaps the last chance for the sprinters to grab a win here, due to the more hilly parcours on days to come.
With the breakaway caught with 8 kilometers to go, Lemoine (Sojasun) puts in a surprise attack to try and cause an upset. He gets a gap of 30" but a chase is organised relatively quickly behind.
Unsurprisingly, the Frenchman is caught and the sprinters get their bunch sprint. Once more Enger decides to latch onto the Accent Jobs train, who have the only leadout today.
That pays dividends for them in the end as their leader Napolitano takes the stage! Enger can't overtake the Italian but he pips leadout Commeyne to 2nd place, which puts him into 3rd overall going into tomorrow's hilly stage.
1
Danilo Napolitano
Accent.Jobs - Wanty
4h08'06
2
Sondre Holst Enger
Team Plussbank
s.t.
3
Davy Commeyne
Accent.Jobs - Wanty
s.t.
4
Jonathan Hivert
Sojasun
s.t.
5
Leonid Krasnov
RusVelo
s.t.
Stage 4
The potentially pivotal stage arrives, where the hills should shake up the GC as the sprinters drop. We'll try a surprise attack or two, while Enger sits with the GC favourites.
Lunke is sent into the, but with 30 kilometers left they only have a minute's advantage over a the GC favourites group, which is down to 15 riders and includes Enger and Hoem.
The break is soon pulled back after that, leaving the GC contenders to battle out the victory. Soon a group of three attacks away and get a good advantage, made up of Arroyo (Caja Rural), Hivert (Sojasun) and Othman (Champion System).
The race leader Hivert proves to be the strongest of the three, and attacks away to take yet another win, which should ensure that he wins the race.
Othman and Arroyo complete the podium, while Enger's great sprint just catches them to take 4th. That is enough to put him into 2nd overall, thanks to bonus seconds claimed in the sprints!
1
Jonathan Hivert
Sojasun
4h39'40
2
Muhamad Adiq Othman
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
+ 2'00
3
David Arroyo Duran
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
4
Sondre Holst Enger
Team Plussbank
s.t.
5
Marek Rutkiewicz
CCC Polsat - Polkowice
+ 2'28
Stage 5
Stage 5 is the final chance to get something from the race for all teams, so expect plenty of attacks. The flat rating hides a steep few hills near the finish, which the sprinters will find tough.
We decide to send Hoem into the break, incase the peloton wants a rest day where the breakaway takes a harmless victory. That doesn't seem to be the case though, as their advantage is cut to under 5 minutes as the stage reaches the halfway point.
They are all eventually caught, bar Bystrom (Oster Hus) who gives attacking one last go. He manages to hold on until the final kilometer thanks to a heroic effort, only to be overtaken by Hivert and Othman, who attack across the gap. It is the French rider who takes another dominant victory, while the Malaysian takes 2nd, to move into 2nd overall.
Enger is caught on his heels behind, and after a final attempt to pull the two back he can only sprint to eleventh. He moves down to third overall but we can't complain after a brilliant home race.
@ Miguel - I know, nothing can stop him winning And thanks!
@ Sutty - Indeed, it was a good result for the team
Boucles de l'Aulne - Chateaulin [1.1]
The team travels to France after a good home tour, intent on keeping up our form. After his success at the Glava Tour, Enger now takes a break for a couple of months. That gives an opportunity for some of the other riders in the team to ride for themselves. Due to the hilly parcours, Hoem, Lunke and Aasvold will all be given free licences to ride for themselves as they should be able to achieve a good result on their day.
As for the competition, the 1.1 rating doesn't really reflect the strength of the field. Barring a surprise appearance from Duarte (Colombia), there are no big names so a result shouldn't be impossible to get.
The race is held on two hilly circuits, of which both include a steep climb. That should be enough to split the poorer hilly riders from the best, and lead to an exciting finish.
The breakaway is established early, containing nine men. It soon becomes apparent that they won't be caught by the peloton, who let the gap grow too large. We send Lunke on the attack, and he is joined six others, including the favourite Duarte. As they reach the breakaway with 14 kilometers left, Flotten (Joker) is off the front after putting in an attack earlier.
Flotten just holds on during the final kilometer, to win the race! He finishes just ahead of Duarte, who's attack almost caught the young Norwegian rider.
The sprint for 3rd behind is won by Stallaert, while Lunke sprints to a respectable 8th. A good result for the 20 year-old, which is his most impressive result to date for the team.
Thanks Miguel, I guess they are still a bit strong even after the Patch...
GP Sudkarnten [1.2]
2nd June, 2013
This race is the first of three in Austria, the hilly GP Sudkarnten. Our best hopes here are our best riders at riding uphill, like Lunke and Hoem. Looking at the startlist however, something does stand out; only forty-five riders from six teams attend! This could lead to a breakaway victory, so we'll have to watch out for that.
The race is held around a circuit, the highlight of which is a 13% gradient at the end of every lap, a slope which will feature in the last 800 meters of the race undoubtedly.
As the race begins, we send Schmidt on the attack and he forms the day's solo breakaway. Despite the small field however, his gap never grows uncontrollably and with fifty kilometers left he only has a three minute gap.
With 20 kilometers left the favourites start to attack, lead by Laverde Jiminez (Coldeportes). Schmidt gets passed by them as he is caught, leaving the Colombian to take victory ahead of three others who finish off the front of the peloton.
The depleted is left to sprint for fifth, a battle won by Chaporro Lopez (Coldeportes). Hoem, Lunke and Schmidt all finish together as they take 6th-8th, which is a decent result if not great.
1
Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez
Colombia Coldeportes
4h37'37
2
Silvio Herklotz
Team Stölting
+ 51
3
Luke Roberts
Team Stölting
+ 1'33
4
Javier Eduardo Gómez Pineda
Colombia Coldeportes
+ 2'29
5
Didier Alonso Chaparro Lopez
Colombia Coldeportes
+ 3'01
6
Bjørn Tore Nielsen Hoem
Team Plussbank
s.t.
7
Sindre Skjostad Lunke
Team Plussbank
s.t.
8
Petter Schmidt
Team Plussbank
s.t.
9
Remco Broers
Team Vorarlberg
s.t.
10
Jan Tratnik
Tirol Cycling Team
s.t.
Int. Raffeisen GP Judendorf/Strabengel [1.2]
The same squad travels here as to the previous race, in the hope fo getting another top ten with the likes of Lunke and Hoem. It will be tougher here however as twenty-four teams travel, eighteen more than Sudkarnten.
This is another race held on a circuit, with the main climb being climbed before a flat finish. The puncheurs should do the best today, but don't count out a sprinter if one holds on to the end.
Lunke is sent into the seven-man breakaway, which is given an eight minute gap at its peak, before coming back down to five minutes at the halfway mark.
Soon though it becomes apparent that they will be caught. Therefore we send Lunke on the attack on the penultimate climb, and he rides away from his fellow attackers. Soon though the attacks begin from the favourites, and he is caught and passed by Zoidl (Gourmetfein) and other favourites.
It is the Austrian Zoidl in the end who takes the victory solo. The home fans will be happy, as will rider and team.
Lunke is just pushed out of a top five by Herklotz (Stolting), but can be happy with 6th, which is another solid result for him here in Austria.
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
From the pictures, the stage/race, especially the finish doesn't look one bit like Châteaulin (it's supposed to finish in the middle of a town, not in the middle of fields and vegetation).
@ Aquarius - I'm not a stage maker, so I wouldn't know why, but that does seem quite weird. I think part of the race passed through a town though, which may have been Châteaulin.
@ Baia - Thanks, although I also think we are in need of a win. We'll see what the team can do in the next few races.
@ MrTeamSky - Thanks for the kind words, hope you keep on following!
The next update could be done tonight, I'll see what I can do.
A tiring squad travels to Austria, for our last race before a month's break (not counting the National Championships). The race consists of two hilly stages and one flat one, so Lunke should carry our GC hopes and Schmidt will target the flat stage 2.
Stage 1
Stage 1 is rolling until the race reaches three big climbs, which should prove decisive in the result at the end of the day.
A three man break is formed, but it soon becomes apparent that Hačecký (ASC Dukla Praha) is the strongest there, as he drops the others on the first big ascent.
On ascent 2, the two astray breakaway riders are reeled in. That is followed by three favourites attacking: Leopold (Wsa), Walker (Drapac) and Ares (Voralberg). Lunke decides to join in as well and sets off in pursuit.
Lunke gives everything on the last climb to catch the three favourites, and does, but he pays for it on the descent, being distanced once more.
No-one can catch Hačecký though, who holds on to take a magnificent solo victory! Leopold takes the sprint for 2nd just 18" behind.
Completing the top five is Lunke, who is exhausted at the finish. He rode well though, and now a good GC should be on the cards for him and the team.
1
Martin Hačecký
ASC Dukla Praha
3h45'13
2
Hans-Jörg Leopold
Wsa
+ 18
3
William Walker
Drapac Cycling
s.t.
4
Diego Ares
Team Vorarlberg
s.t.
5
Sindre Skjostad Lunke
Team Plussbank
+ 1'33
Stage 2
Stage 2 brings a flat stage to the race, and therefore a chance for the sprinters to take a win while the GC contenders rest.
We send Aasvold into the break in the hope of him grabbing some King of the Mountains points. He succeeds, taking all five sprints and taking a commanding lead in the competition.
They are inevitably reeled in, and the resulting sprint is won by Auer (Wsa). Our best finisher is Schmidt in 12th, after he got caught in the wrong wheels. A disappointing result really for him, in a weaker field than usual.
1
Gernot Auer
Wsa
4h27'23
2
Alexander Gottfried
Nutrixxion - Abus
s.t.
3
Léo Menville
Team NSP - Ghost
s.t.
4
Grischa Janorschke
Nutrixxion - Abus
s.t.
5
David Wöhrer
Tirol Cycling Team
s.t.
Stage 3
The concluding stage is hilly, but isn't as hard as the first. It should still cause some splits though, on a day which could be for the breakaway.
Another small two-man breakaway is let go, and start to grow a large gap. The riders involved are Sapa (BDC - Marpol) and Muller (Nutrixxion). The two riders work together well, with Muller taking Mountain sprints and Sapa Intermediate sprints, which both prove enough to take the two respective jerseys.
Behind, a group of favourites emerges off the front of the peloton, including Lunke and Aasvold. It doesn't however contain race leader Hačecký, which could prove to be his downfall.
There are plenty of attacks from that group, but only Ares catches the front two. He can't stop Sapa taking the stage win though, ensuring he takes the Points competition.
Lunke is forced to attack in the end and finishes in a decent eighth, which moves him up to 4th in the final GC, and into the white jersey. Sadly though Aasvold loses his King of the Mountains jersey to Muller, who amassed three more points than the Norwegian.
1
Marcin Sapa
BDC - Marcpol Team
3h39'36
2
Dirk Müller
Nutrixxion - Abus
s.t.
3
Diego Ares
Team Vorarlberg
s.t.
4
William Walker
Drapac Cycling
+ 47
5
Hans-Jörg Leopold
Wsa
+ 1'12
Final GC
1
Diego Ares
Team Vorarlberg
11h52'26
2
William Walker
Drapac Cycling
+ 46
3
Hans-Jörg Leopold
Wsa
+ 1'10
4
Sindre Skjostad Lunke
Team Plussbank
+ 2'29
5
Martin Hačecký
ASC Dukla Praha
+ 2'47
Mountain
1
Dirk Müller
Nutrixxion - Abus
29
2
Lorents Ola Aasvold
Team Plussbank
26
3
Marcin Sapa
BDC - Marcpol Team
22
U25
1
Sindre Skjostad Lunke
Team Plussbank
11h54'55
2
Martin Hačecký
ASC Dukla Praha
+ 18
3
Adam Phelan
Drapac Cycling
+ 2'16
Post-Race Comments
A good overall result from Lunke, who gave an impression on both undulating stages. Aasvold also fought well, but we could have done better in the sprinting department. Overall though, a good race to finish with before our break.
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 10-09-2013 21:29
Seriously, this race should be renamed OberospamKOMandintermediatesprints
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
I have decreased Hivert's sprinting stats by two each, so he shouldn't be so dominant from now on.
Glava Tour of Norway [2.1]
Danilo Napolitano
Davy Commeyne
Jonathan Hivert
Leonid Krasnov
Muhamad Adiq Othman
David Arroyo Duran
Marek Rutkiewicz
Stefan Schumacher
Engert did very good to finish 3rd in the GC. Shame that he didn't get a stage win.
Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo
Rasmus Guldhammer
GP Sudkarnten [1.2]
Luke Roberts
Remco Broers
Jan Tratnik
Chad Haga
Matija Kvasina
Martin Hačecký
Diego Ares
