Good report and very nice to see the guys working so hard for a bunch sprint - and winning it. That's not something you get to see very often as Euskaltel-manager
Great first report from you, I agree with cycleman though: too long for such a small race. Not much seen from Radioshack-NetApp guys, I suppose they just combine each other too well in doing almost nothing in one-day races.^^
@Cycleman: Thanks, I will think about making it shorter. I think it depends on the kind of the race and as this was not P-R or so, it should have been shorter, right
About the names: I will leave it last time, but I was just copying the names, especially Molard
@Atlantius: I did not believe it myself, but seemingly Euskaltel have the best lousy sprinters in peloton. No, for real: It was kinda weird to see the team tactics, because pretty decent climbers were working for rather lousy sprinters though there was quite hills, so it was fun
@all: Yeah, it was weird to see so many teams doing nothing at all. But at least Cannondale tried something, they really deserve it. Sorry for BMC as always though.
First of all, I wwant to explain why I have not been posting anything in a long period of time. My activity is going down remarkably for some time now and I fear that will not change any soon. However, I am still trying to keep up with the most important things, but those detailed reports and so on will not come back again sadly. Still, I'm trying to do my best to give that community something. In the end, it was nice to have so much spare time I could spend here, but even without that, it will still be fun. I just wanted to tell you, so you do not wonder why I first told that I'd try to always stay active and now I'm not really anymore. For those of you, who are interested in why I have less time for pcmdaily: For me a new period of life began, where many things changed lately and you just have less time to follow your interests - hopefully you will understand that.
RACE APPLICATIONS
We may apply for up to 10 CT-races and 5 WT-races for now. As of now, we do not know if there will be more races we could take part in, but that is nothing to worry about just yet.
We applied for 10 CT-races that are guaranteed. Those are:
CT.5 Osterreich Rundfhart [30 June-7 July]
CT.6 Tour de Wallonie [20-24 July]
CT.5 USA Pro Cycling Challenge [19-25 August]
CT.5 Tre Valli Varesine [23 August]
CT.5 Tour of Britain [15-22 September]
CT.6 GP Wallonie [18 September]
CT.5 Milano-Torino [2 October]
CT.5 Giro del Piemonte [3 October]
CT.5 Giro della Emillia [12 October]
CT.5 Japan Cup [20 October]
Now for the WT races. As those are not guaranteed, but the organisators decide between all the applying teams, we show you our whole applications to give you some inside-view of how our team is run:
WT.4 Tour of Beijing [11-15 October]
Is it easy to guess, why we are applying for this stage race. As an Asian team we try to expand Asian cycling and therefore make our sport more global. It is necessary for us to race in the only Asian WT-race as this will not only increase our media appearance in Asia but will also make our sponsor happy and hopefully lead him to giving us more money we can spend on developing Asian riders.
WT.4 Tour de Pologne [27 July-3 August]
While the Tour de France is the race for all the big stage racers to challenge, Tour de Pologne usually gives the second row of strong riders a chance to star. Among these, our best rider Christian De Vries, who will race here for sure if our application is accepted, should be able to compete at all. Upon that we are sure that Champion System will increase the competition which should also be liked by the organisators and the UCI. Thus we really hope to be given a chance in Poland.
WT.2 Clasica San Sebastian [27 July]
WT.3 GP Plouay [1 September]
WT.3 GP du Quebec [13 September]
For the upper three races, I'll write one application, because or interest background are pretty much the same: As I already said, developing Asian cycling needs media. With Spain and France we have two countries where cycling is widely celebrated and an important part of the sports environment. We hope, that through appearing in those three big races people all over the world will learn believe in Asia in terms of cycling. Thus we are going to show ourselves in the best way possible. But that is not everything, we do not only want to appear there, but we also want to show our best and maybe enhance the competition as we always want. Therefore we guarantee to send our best hills and thus classics rider Rajesh Kakhi to all those three races.
We hope that all our requests will be followed, but you can never know.
Let's see how things turn out,
Team Management - Jochen Hahn
Edited by Silvio Herklotz on 13-07-2014 14:30
On top of the races we applied earlier, we now had the chance to ask for some more, which we of course did. Here you can see our full applications, which will grant you an overview on our motivations as well.
World Tour Races:
WT.4 Eneco Tour [12 August-18 August]
There are two sides on the Eneco Tour that we as a team need and love. The first one are hills. Though there are several sprint stages and a time-trial we will head out for the hillier ones where the star of Champion System could surely shine. The second one is the diversity of this race in terms of location. While other races only cover one region or country, the Eneco Tour takes place in the whole Benelux-region and therefore gives us the chance to show our relatively unknown team colours in a widespread area, which for our sponsor means a huge advantage.
WT.3 GP du Montreal [15 September]
We already got a Wild card for GP du Quebec from the organisators. Of course we are thankful for that, but you always have to be aware that cycling is a logistical problem as well. As we have to travel to Canada anyway, we would really like to have the chance of appearing in GP du Montreal as well. As usual we also have sports-correlated arguments on our side: With Rajesh Kakhi we are going to bring a strong leader who is surely able to compete on the hills in Montreal.
Continental Tour Races:
CT.5 Tour of Qinghai Lake [7-20 July]
Though we do believe that it is relatively clear why we want to race in China, we tell you another time if you somehow forgot that we are from Asia: We are from Asia, this race is in Asia, we want do develop Asian cycling, and so on.. Wink
CT.6 Vuelta a Burgos [7-11 August]
Many teams use the Vuelta a Burgos as a preparation race for the Vuelta a Espana, but for our team it is more of a highlight itself. With its unpredictable climbs you can never know what happens. This is why we are going to add some competition here. Furthermore we lack Spanish races at the moment, while would really like to show our colours all over the European continent.
CT.5 Brussels Cycling Classic [7 September]
Hills are the terrain where Champion System has been showing strength in the second part again and again. We want to continue this line of success on the short but steep Belgian Hellingen that should suit Rajesh Kakhi very well.
CT.6 Chrono des Nations [20 October]
Being usually the race with win guarantee for Tony Martin, we want to improve the "peloton" a bit and give our young riders a chance to show that they can also time-trial. We admit that our win chances are not the best, but that is something based on the nature of time-trials being kind of predictable. All in all, we want to provide the spectators a good show as well.
We will see how the organisators react on our applications. As soon as we know in which races we will be able to attend, we will let you know.
Hoping for a successfull next round,
Team Management - Jochen Hahn
Edited by Silvio Herklotz on 13-07-2014 16:50
As the second round of race applications are over now and we were again given all Wild Cards we asked for, our calendar plannings are finished. Hence we now can provide our full calendar for the next part of the season, Part 3:
CT.5 Internationale Osterreich Rundfahrt [30 June-7 July] CT.5 Tour of Qinghai Lake [7-20 July] CT.6 Tour de Wallonie [20-24 July] WT.2 Clasica San Sebastian [27 July] WT.4 Tour de Pologne [27 July-3 August] CT.6 Vuelta a Burgos [7-11 August] WT.4 Eneco Tour [12 August-18 August] CT.5 USA Pro Cycling Challenge [19-25 August] CT.5 Tre Valli Varesine [23 August] WT.3 GP Plouay [1 September] CT.5 Brussels Cycling Classic [7 September] WT.3 GP du Quebec [13 September] WT.3 GP du Montreal [15 September] CT.5 Tour of Britain [15-22 September] CT.6 GP Wallonie [18 September] CT.5 Milano-Torino [2 October] CT.5 Giro del Piemonte [3 October] CT.5 Tour de Vendee [6 October] WT.4 Tour of Beijing [11-15 October] CT.5 Giro della Emillia [12 October] CT.6 Chrono des Nations [20 October] CT.5 Japan Cup [20 October]
All in all, these are 22 races with 78 race days. So there lies a nice and full Part 3 ahead.
By the way, this calendar can also be found in the introduction which has been updated a bit overall.
Let's get the best results possible in this las part,
Team Management - Jochen Hahn
Edited by Silvio Herklotz on 15-07-2014 00:08
Our first goals we may set by our own. That is a special moment for the Team Management, but we hope that we will be successive heading for these goals and the ones, we will be countered with:
Easy: Top 10 GC - Internationale Osterreich Rundfahrt [30 June-7 July] Medium: Top 5 - Brussels Cycling Classic [7 September] Hard: Top 3 GC - Tour de Pologne [27 July-3 August]
Waiting if countered goals will suit the pre-done rider planning,
Team Management - Jochen Hahn
Our first goals we may set by our own. That is a special moment for the Team Management, but we hope that we will be successive heading for these goals and the ones, we will be countered with:
Easy: Top 10 GC - Internationale Osterreich Rundfahrt [30 June-7 July] Medium: Top 5 - Brussels Cycling Classic [7 September] Hard: Top 3 GC - Tour de Pologne [27 July-3 August]
Waiting if countered goals will suit the pre-done rider planning,
Team Management - Jochen Hahn
They never do
Countered goals:
Easy goal: Top 10 GC Beijing
Medium goal: Stage Win Qinghai
Hard goal: Top 5 San Sebastian
Our first goals we may set by our own. That is a special moment for the Team Management, but we hope that we will be successive heading for these goals and the ones, we will be countered with:
Easy: Top 10 GC - Internationale Osterreich Rundfahrt [30 June-7 July] Medium: Top 5 - Brussels Cycling Classic [7 September] Hard: Top 3 GC - Tour de Pologne [27 July-3 August]
Waiting if countered goals will suit the pre-done rider planning,
Team Management - Jochen Hahn
Countered goals:
Easy goal: Top 10 GC Beijing
Medium goal: Stage Win Qinghai
Hard goal: Top 5 San Sebastian
I kinda have to congratulate you as all three don't fit and I really need to do some changes
Team Champion System is proud to announce that the 18-year young Peruvian talent Jamel Johnson has signed for the team as a stagiaire. In this weird universe, stagiaires are allowed to race from July onwards, so he will be an important part of the team in the whole last part of the season and certainly improve our squad.
J.J. is our third new signing now, so throughout the last year, our team has improved rapidly and we are sure that this signing is the next step to become even more successfull in future. Furthermore, the international orientation is served well by him as Peru is a nation usually unknown in cycling so far.
Surely J.J. is going to say something about himself later and show his face to you, but just to remind you, here is how experts from all over the world valued his strength as of now:
TO OUR CUSTOM RIDERS: WHICH RACES DO YOU WANT TO BE IN?
While we felt free to plan Christian De Vries' season part all by ourselves for obvious reasons, we want to know from Rajesh and JJ which plans you have for the last season part and in which races you want to appear.
For Rajesh we already made up a calendar, but if you disagree, we can of course still made changes. Little note: You will be riding all those races as our captain, though in Clasica San Sebastian and two other still-to-choose one day classics you will be sharing this role with Christian. All of your race days will be used for sure, as they are by now.
Here is your calendar we thought of: CT.6 Tour de Wallonie [20-24 July] WT.2 Clasica San Sebastian [27 July] CT.6 Vuelta a Burgos [7-11 August] WT.4 Eneco Tour [12 August-18 August] CT.5 Tre Valli Varesine [23 August] WT.3 GP Plouay [1 September] CT.5 Brussels Cycling Classic [7 September] WT.3 GP du Quebec [13 September] WT.3 GP du Montreal [15 September] CT.6 GP Wallonie [18 September] CT.5 Giro del Piemonte [3 October] CT.5 Tour de Vendee [6 October] CT.5 Giro della Emillia [12 October] CT.5 Japan Cup [20 October]
As we have another strong climber on the squad, we do need Jamel as a leader only in the following two races: CT.5 Tour of Qinghai Lake [7-20 July] CT.5 USA Pro Cycling Challenge [19-25 August]
If you agree to that, you will have eight race days still available. Which races do you want to race? If you don't mind being a super-domestique for once, then we would like to have you in WT.4 Tour de Pologne [27 July-3 August].
The last race day could be used for a classic of your choice.
Do you agree to those plannings? If so, please tell us, so that we can go on for the rest of the squad. If not, we will definetely find a solution that makes you happy then.
Easy negotiations ahead?,
Team Management - Jochen Hahn
Hello I am Jamel Johnson, the newest signing on team Champion Systems. I am honoured to say that I will be riding for the team let alone, leading the team in some races. My proposed Calendar for this season part is as follows:
CT.5 Tour of Qinghai Lake [7-20 July]
In my first race as a pro bike racer, I will be leader, which is a dream come true for me as I have always wanted to have a chance to race for victories at a pro level, and being the leader at my teams home race, is a dream come true as it shows that the management see my potential despite me being only 18 years old.
WT.4 Tour de Pologne [27 July-3 August].
In this race I will be a domestique for our team leader for the race, Christian De Vries as he ttys to achieve the glory for our team, with this being my first world tour race, I am happy that the team have decided to give me an opportunity to ride against my idols. Another factor behind me wanting to ride this race is that my brother Abasi will also be racing, so I will aim to beat him on GC, and get better results, despite being a domestique, as there is a lot of brotherly rivalry between us.
CT.5 USA Pro Cycling Challenge [19-25 August]
Another race which I shall be leading, although I'm not sure if the route will suit me, so I will aim to win stages and try to be up in the top 5 of the young riders or KoM jersey. I am very satisfied to be asked to lead the team, as I will have only raced in the pro ranks 2 times before this, and this race is very prestigious so I will do my upmost to achieve in this race.
CT.5 Japan Cup [20 October]
The final race which I have requested to ride is the Japan Cup, as it is a race that suits me as a rider due to the short steep climbs, that I am used to due to the fact that the races in Peru are often on steep climbs, which means the short climbs feel easy to me.
My Stories
My Teams
ICL - Project Cumbria Powered by Thomas Graham Steel & Industrial Supplies
Before my first race as a pro I would like to let the cycling world get to know me better by telling you about my history of how I became a pro at one of Asia's top cycling teams.
History
I got my first bike when I was 6 years old after my father moved to the city, away from our tribe, to sell foods of the Jungle to the people of Lima. His business became successful enough for him to buy me and my brother mountain bikes, which became our way of escaping the city. From the age of 8, I would go with my brother and ride 80 miles a day through the mountains and forests that cover Peru.
When I was 9 years old, I was riding up a climb with my brother when we caught and passed a group of cyclists who were all on road bikes, barely able to climb the 33% gradient climb that felt easy for me and my brother. When the cyclists caught up with us on the descent, they told us we had a real talent, and that we should come down to the local cycling club, and they would help us develop as riders. From then on we would cycle to the opposite side of Lima, so that we could train with more cyclists our age, although we did most skill based sessions, so at the weekends, we would continue to go on rides in the mountains.
After 3 years, so age 12 I was told to try racing. So me and my brother rode to the centre of Lima, where the race would be held, it was on a circuit with a decent climb in it, but we were on mountain bikes, where as the other racers where on road bikes, but that didm';t bother us, as we stood on the start line, some of the other lads wished us luck, but they weren't expecting us to stay with them. Not only did we stay with them but Diego won and I was second over 5 minutes ahead of the next group of riders, we were on our way.
We continued to race on the same bikes until I was 16, when out on a training ride in the Peruvian hills, we met a group of cyclist our age, who were able to keep up with us on the climbs, so we got talking and one of the lads told us he was adopted from this area, and that his parents were called Juan and Carla, which is the name of our parents, so we talked some more and we told him about our family. He then asked to meet our parents as he believed they may be his biological parents, so we agreed and he came round for dinner one night. Later in the night mum and dad told us that they had another baby but they'd put him up for adoption as they couldn't afford another child. That was when we realised that Abasi was our brother.
From then on Abasi has come over to Peru on a regular basis, and even bought me and Diego a road bike each, as his adopted dad is the King of Nigeria. We have also been over to Nigeria to race, and the three of us have become like the three musketeers.
My Stories
My Teams
ICL - Project Cumbria Powered by Thomas Graham Steel & Industrial Supplies
Osterreich
Qinghai
Tour de Wallonie
San Sebastian
Pologne
Burgos
Eneco
USAPCC
Varesine
Plouay
Paris-Bruxelles
Quebec
Montreal
Britain
GP Wallonie
Milano-Turino
Piemonte
Vendee
Beijing
Emilia
Chrono
Japan
As by now there should be all race schedules handed in, we publish all our team rosters for the last season part right away. Of course those can be changed due to sickness of riders, but we do not hope so.
All in all we are proud that we could use all the race days for our leaders and most of the riders at all. Only a few have some days left. The only exception is Zachary Bell, who has disappointed the management in a huge manner in the second part, so he is denied to race anything. Furthermore, team plannings for next season do not see him on the roster anymore. We are sorry for that, but who does not show a right dedication to working and suffering is perhaps wrong in this hard business.
Getting back to the original topic, we are eager to know who we will race against in all those races. We were able to send a leader to all races we are in, so at least one of either Christian De Vries, Rajesh Kakhi or Jamel Johnson will always be in our races. This makes us look into the future optimistically. Of course we also hope for good results by our sprinters - and maybe some other guy who tries his luck in an attack?
By the way: The Team HQ has been fully updated for Season Part 3, take a look if you are interested.
Can't await the racing to start,
Team Management - Jochen Hahn
Edited by Silvio Herklotz on 06-08-2014 17:30
Overall Description: Two hard mountain stages, followed by one for the sprinters and two less tough stages with uphill finish. After another stage for the fast men, there will be the GC-deciding time trial with the last stage being basically pan-flat.
Squad:
Christian De Vries
Christopher Butler
Chad Beyer
Pengda Jiao
Mart Ojavee
Kin San Wu
Chun Feng
Biao Liu
Sponsor Goal: Easy - Top 10 GC
Tactics: With Christian De Vries we have our strongest GC-rider. On the mountain stages, he will be among the best hopefully and he even can gain much time on the other favourites in the time trial, so we hope for a very good GC-position. All the other guys are just here to help him at all terrains with Christopher Butler and Chad Beyer being the strongest domestiques in the mountains and the other ones helping all-around.
Team Objectives: Top 3 GC
Edited by Silvio Herklotz on 12-08-2014 19:07
Christian De Vries, who will race here for sure if our application is accepted, should be able to compete at all. Upon that we are sure that Champion System will increase the competition which should also be liked by the organisators and the UCI. Thus we really hope to be given a chance in Poland.
Rajesh Kakhi to all those three races.
Internationale Osterreich Rundfahrt [30 June-7 July]
Tour of Qinghai Lake [7-20 July]
Tour de Wallonie [20-24 July]
Clasica San Sebastian [27 July]
Tour de Pologne [27 July-3 August]
USA Pro Cycling Challenge [19-25 August]
Tre Valli Varesine [23 August]
GP Plouay [1 September]
GP du Quebec [13 September]
Tour of Britain [15-22 September]
Japan Cup [20 October]
