We've got the same program, I think.
And at least the same goal to make Plouay hard enough to drop the main sprinters, though I think I'll have to make even harder to not have Russo in the legs
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
Oh boy, nobody wants months like your july. Well, you didnt have much races to score at least. Overall I share your pain for not scoring as well as thought but time will changes again, did for us too. And next year we will then battle out the the overall win in CT
Best luck for August! We'll meet in italy in france then.
August was a big step up from the entire team as we got some good results from many different riders, weirdly apart from those we had the highest hopes for as Teuns and APP didn’t show much in the end. But especially our young guns put up a show with many breakaway appearances, resulting in a surprise stage win for our biggest prospect Vauquelin. But our loaned in riders and stagiaires did well in riding active as well, and though it didn’t make up for much points it’s just much more fun to watch and surely doesn’t reduce their chances of riding in the peloton next year too.
Start
End
Race
team goal
results
01-Aug
05-Aug
Tour de Vineyards
-
1st U25; 3rd U25; GC Top 25
We had high expectations in the U25 classification and we met them with Gall finishing in the white jersey and loanee Karatsivis finishing 3rd in this classification. Gall also finished 24th in the GC which isn’t too bad given the TTT handicap he had to tackle. And with Russell and Baudin two of our stagiaires showed themselves in the break, the Canadian even twice. In total we got 20 points from the race which isn’t great, but it’s still or highest score since Austria in May.
Start
End
Race
team goal
results
07-Aug
09-Aug
Giro del Trentino
-
GC Top 25
The result of the initial TTT was decent and gave APP an okay position for the GC fight, but in stage 2 he wasn’t able to follow the big favourite’s attacks and only finished in the fifth group which just wasn’t good enough to get into the GC top 10. In the last stage Chevrier was part of the winning break but finished 7th (and last of the group) according to his poor sprint abilities. APP did much better in the sprint and beat all the other favourites to finish 10th in the stage. Those two also were our highest riders in the GC with 23rd and 18th place respectively. The resulting 8 points from this race are clearly another disappointing result.
Start
End
Race
team goal
results
10-Aug
15-Aug
Tour du Maroc
-
stage win; 3rd KoM
We came here with no big expectations but some hopes and we weren’t disappointed for once. Paulus was in two breaks and was the last survivor in stage 4 before Yates (and the rest of the GC favourites) came into play, resulting in a 3rd place in the KoM after the team even chased down the break in stage 5 so he could win the final KoM sprint from the field. Hopkins was part of the break that won the final sprint stage and though he finished last of the group that’s still a 7th place and a good effort for a neo-pro. Speaking of which: two other neo-pros were responsible for our race highlight here (and probably a big moment in team history in some years). Thompson and Vauquelin were in the break in stage 3 and while our Kiwi loanee worked hard to get the sprinter teams behind our future leader and star Vauquelin managed to beat some more experienced competitors to get his first win as a pro! We’re confident it’s only the first of many to come, but it’s a huge success for him (and us after some hard months) nonetheless.
Vauquelin taking his first career win in Casablanca.
Start
End
Race
team goal
results
17-Aug
GP Plouay
-
Top 5
We went here with some hopes (and some fears from the experiences of the season), but with Toumire and Baudin in the break and Baudin even still attacking in the final we would have been okay with this race anyway. But Russo managed to finally show what we signed him for (hilly, but not too hilly races with sprints from reduced groups, like … well this one actually) and finished 5th by winning the sprint of the first bigger chasing group. With 1st, 2nd and 4th place taken by PCT riders that’s actually a great result for us, wrapping up a good month and leaving us even more thrilled for the month to come!
Having worked on the talents last off-season and handcrafted them together with Ulrich, they all kind of feel like my kids. So I'm very happy to see one of my boys take a win so early on in his career, and for such a nice team as well! Congratulations! Nevertheless, would have preferred to take a win when there wasn't a Los Pollos rider closely behind, but still
Can only join the others in congratulating you on the great Vauquelin win! Awesome to see your signature signing perform in his neo pro season already - and as you say, it surely wasn't his last win
We wished an active racing style for August and we got it from our riders. Especially our stagiaires and neo-pros were in many breaks and resulted (among some KoM placings) in a stage win from Vauquelin. September is our busiest month of the season with 32 RDs, so we’re happy to see the team racing anyway, but it also includes one of our potential highlight races of the season.
Start
End
Race
Cat
01-Sep
05-Sep
Tour of Britain
C1
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Delbove
Joris
64
72
70
58
66
71
72
62
60
67
69
71
58
Jiang
Zhihui
72
61
66
65
69
73
72
62
75
75
65
73
79
Karatsivis
Panagiotis
69
72
68
68
70
71
70
60
64
71
71
67
67
Russo
Clement
73
65
73
65
73
73
76
68
76
78
66
64
65
Teuns
Dylan
68
75
78
64
73
73
76
50
66
72
70
65
60
Thompson
Reuben
71
68
66
63
67
71
66
57
67
68
62
73
62
Our lineup here seems decent as Teuns is among the best puncheurs, especially among the best hybrids. And even more importantly he’s not alone among them with his bad TTing. So a good GC result should be possible if he can finally step up to his game again. We won’t mind some stage results as well, especially Russo could need some of them.
Start
End
Race
Cat
04-Sep
24-Sep
Tour of America
C1
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Chevrier
Clement
65
75
74
57
69
69
69
50
60
67
77
60
57
Gall
Felix
67
77
76
63
70
71
72
58
61
72
70
64
62
Garibian
Arman
68
71
68
69
70
71
73
55
60
69
65
69
69
Hopkins
Dylan
68
68
68
67
69
70
63
61
57
65
66
70
64
Lammertink
Maurits
73
67
75
65
73
71
72
59
67
67
80
72
67
Le Gac
Olivier
70
69
77
60
73
74
71
52
64
69
74
73
60
Paulus
Daniel
69
74
77
64
71
68
73
56
62
71
73
67
64
Vauquelin
Kevin
67
69
64
68
65
69
66
58
68
67
70
70
67
It’s the biggest and longest race a CT team can race, it’s the People’s Grand Tour and we really like the race. And though it’s not the wisest choice pointswise that doesn’t really matter for us at this time of the season as we’re somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the rankings, so let’s just enjoy it. And we actually should have a lineup to see our riders in the break regularly. Gall should be a good enough (but not too good) climber to be an option for the mountain breaks (and a minor GC placing) as well as 2nd or 3rd place in the U25 classification behind McNulty, and maybe the KoM fight as well. And Paulus, Chevrier or Vauquelin have already shown to be viable breakaway options too, while Lammertink and Le Gac still have to show up this season.
Start
End
Race
Cat
16-Sep
20-Sep
Tour of San Luis
C2
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Baudin
Alex
65
66
66
66
68
66
67
63
63
66
67
65
63
Jiang
Zhihui
72
61
66
65
69
73
72
62
75
75
65
73
79
Karatsivis
Panagiotis
69
72
68
68
70
71
70
60
64
71
71
67
67
Paret-Peintre
Aurelien
72
76
77
72
73
75
73
63
72
74
72
70
72
Paret-Peintre
Valentin
64
66
66
56
66
64
62
50
60
60
68
57
56
Russell
Evan
66
64
66
63
67
69
64
63
66
69
68
65
64
Teuns
Dylan
68
75
78
64
73
73
76
50
66
72
70
65
60
Thompson
Reuben
71
68
66
63
67
71
66
57
67
68
62
73
62
It’s the only C2 race this month (not only for us but for the entire MGUCI universe) and it’s hilly and only has a prologue TT, so it could actually suit our kind of riders. So this is the race we have the highest expectations for since ToME at least (if not ever). Jiang was signed for the prologues, but due to bad planning has his only real chance to shine in this kind of stage here as he’s the favourite for this stage besides Oka, presumably making for our best TT result ever. He’s also among the sprint outsiders, so maybe he’s adding one or two top 10 stage results there too. But more importantly Teuns and APP are here as some of the best puncheurs (and clearly the best hybrids), so the two hilly stages should be made hard by our team to get them into position for some stage results and the GC as well. We never achieved a GC podium in our teams history, so the hopes are as high as the risk of being disappointed.
Start
End
Race
Cat
28-Sep
GP Lugano
C1
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Delbove
Joris
64
72
70
58
66
71
72
62
60
67
69
71
58
Hopkins
Dylan
68
68
68
67
69
70
63
61
57
65
66
70
64
Jiang
Zhihui
72
61
66
65
69
73
72
62
75
75
65
73
79
Karatsivis
Panagiotis
69
72
68
68
70
71
70
60
64
71
71
67
67
Russo
Clement
73
65
73
65
73
73
76
68
76
78
66
64
65
Teuns
Dylan
68
75
78
64
73
73
76
50
66
72
70
65
60
Thompson
Reuben
71
68
66
63
67
71
66
57
67
68
62
73
62
Teuns is here as one of the best hybrids on the startlist, so if the race is hard enough we could get a really nice result out of it. Alternatively we could also end up with 0 points if the race isn’t selective. Though we also have Russo as a reserve for a sprint of a bigger group, which wasn’t the safest bet this season so far.
September was the best month in the history of the team points-wise as well as in the results, probably secured our top 10 spot in the CT rankings (and thus another goal) and even put us back in the competition for promotion. But to be fair, this description doesn’t give an adequate picture of the historic and record-breaking insanity that was September for us.
Start
End
Race
team goal
results
01-Sep
05-Sep
Tour of Britain
-
GC Top 25; stage podium
The race began with a rather hilly flat stage and with Russo we had a perfectly equipped rider for that kind of profile – and he finally delivered by getting a second place there, getting his first podium for our team after some quite disappointing appearances from him. The following ITT saw our riders dropping in the rankings, but we never had any hope there anyway. Teuns made up some ground with a 5th place in stage 3 before the uphill finishes in the last two stages. Stage 4 was a big bummer though with Teuns being dropped early and losing more than 7 minutes. Stage 5 saw a small redemption with our Belgian finishing 12th there and climbing to 24th in the GC.
Start
End
Race
team goal
results
04-Sep
24-Sep
Tour of America
-
4 stage wins; 5 stage podiums; KoM win; 3rd U25
Our second ever GT started rather unspectacular with a 7th place from Paulus in the uphill sprint of stage 2. But especially our youngsters Hopkins and Vauquelin set the tone for the race with regular appearances in the break in the sprint stages. Our race was always set to really only begin in the second week when the peloton enters the mountains – and so it was indeed. Paulus finished 3rd in stage 8 after a late attack, but stage 9 saw the first big highlight of our race with Chevrier and Le Gac taking a 1-2 from a reduced field. Both finished a great team effort after Gall not only being part of the break in an early effort to get into the KoM race but also attacking again from the peloton late in the stage. Paulus was also attacking in the final before our two Frenchman finished it all off. It shouldn’t be the only great result (and team effort) in the next days though.
Chevrier and Le Gac making our first GT stage win a 1-2.
Stage 10 saw Gall in the break again, resulting in him taking over the KoM lead. He also finished second in the stage, only beaten by fellow CT rider Gaspar. Gall lost the polka dots in stage 11 to Hermans after a fierce battle for the points in another breakaway appearance. But after some more great work from Vauquelin and Le Gac in the break late in the stage the two KoM fighters were also able to battle it out for the stage win, now with Gall getting the upper hand and taking our second stage win within three stages. Le Gac set another personal highlight by just beating the chasing peloton and finishing 3rd in the stage.
Gall winning stage 11 in the polka dots.
The 12th stage was another mountain stage which had ‘breakaway win’ all over it. So it wasn’t the biggest surprise to see Gall in the break once again, also once again battling for the KoM points with Hermans. He managed to beat the Belgian there and take over the polka dots again, but even more importantly he stayed in front of the race till the end and brought home his second consecutive stage win! His great results of the last days (in combination with some won intermediate sprints on the way) also resulted in him taking over the green jersey as well. As the break had a sizeable gap at the end of the stage our young Austrian also raised up to 5th in the GC after the stage, apparently putting an end to his breakaway efforts for the moment.
Gall winning stage 12 to make it two in a row.
With Gall high up in the GC it was quite a surprise to see him in the break again in stage 13, but this time he had to pay for his previous efforts and was dropped after snatching some more KoM and sprint points. At the end of the stage he lost 7 minutes to regain his good position for the breaks to come and some more minutes were added at the following TTT. The following stages were much quieter again with mainly Gall in the breaks, chasing KoM points. He secured the polka dots jersey in stage 18 but paid the price by losing nearly a quarter of an hour in the stage and thus ultimately dropped out of the top 25 in the GC. But the team wasn’t content with that and half of our squad joined the break in stage 19, including Lammertink and Garibian who finally made it 8/8 riders in at least one break in the race. And as if that wouldn’t have been enough of a success for us in a sprint stage, our foursome managed to keep the chasing peloton behind by sacrificing Vauquelin and Garibian (who still managed a 9th place in the end) to make it another 1-2 for the team! Lammertink finally showed what he was drafted for in his first breakaway appearance this season by taking the stage win while Le Gac took his third stage podium in the race.
Lammertink winning stage 19 with Le Gac following immediately behind.
The last two stages weren’t made for our squad, but given all the evening parties the riders had in the race they surely deserved a quiet ending before they could celebrate a last time, this time Galls win of the KoM jersey.
We went to Argentina with quite some expectations – and we weren’t disappointed by our riders. Jiang had his only real chance to shine in a prologue this year and he finished in 2nd, only beaten by the fractions by Kireva. That’s the best TT result ever for our team by miles. Our drafted Chinese also managed to snatch a 7th place in stage 2, thus taking over the lead in the GC and the points classification – adding another first to our teams palmares. But Jiang wasn’t our main focus rider here and our puncheurs showed why in stage 3. Teuns took his first win for our team there by beating APP who finished 2nd and took the GC lead in front of Jiang – another great day for the team this month.
Teuns and APP adding another 1-2 to the teams tally this month.
Stage 4 was one for the sprinters again and Jiang finished in 13th, thus losing the points lead by countback. More importantly some puncheurs were caught in a split, luckily Teuns and APP were well positioned, so the split went in our favour. Stage 5 was the second and decisive hilly stage of the race and we were in pole position for the GC win. And the team just finished the job in an impressive way with APP taking his first win for the team and Teuns finishing in 3rd after some great lieutenanting.
APP defending the yellow jersey by winning the final stage with Teuns always by his side finishing 3rd.
After this dominating performance it’s no surprise APP also took the GC win in front of Teuns, with those two also adding a 1-2 in the points classification. Both were also firsts for the team (we actually never finished on a GC podium before), making this race a truly historic one for the team.
APP celebrates after winning the first stage race for the team in its history.
Start
End
Race
team goal
results
28-Sep
GP Lugano
-
-
We came to Switzerland with quite some hopes, but we also pointed out the possibility of a 0-pointer in our September preview. Well, we were right there, though Thompson was part of the winning break till late in the race. Sadly he was ultimately dropped and fell through the ranks and out of the points. Russo and Teuns had one of their weaker days and finished even further behind.
Wanted to troll you with that time when you weren't a top 10 competitor anymore, but couldn't find it.
Congrats on a great month, particularly on the ToA result!
As so, I'm pretty happy I managed to do better in Britain (maybe) and Lugano.
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
After a stellar September which even put us unexpectedly right in the promotion race it’s pretty evident October can’t be expected to match this results, but with the stakes much higher now so is the room for disappointment. But at least two of the three races should give us a good chance for nice results and points.
Start
End
Race
Cat
06-Oct
10-Oct
Herald Sun Tour
C2
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Delbove
Joris
64
72
70
58
66
71
72
62
60
67
69
71
58
Garibian
Arman
68
71
68
69
70
71
73
55
60
69
65
69
69
Jiang
Zhihui
72
61
66
65
69
73
72
62
75
75
65
73
79
Karatsivis
Panagiotis
69
72
68
68
70
71
70
60
64
71
71
67
67
Le Gac
Olivier
70
69
77
60
73
74
71
52
64
69
74
73
60
Toumire
Hugo
68
67
66
63
65
65
63
60
62
64
67
64
62
This race obviously doesn’t suit our squad, but we somehow had to get our RDs together. So all we can hope for is the occasional stage top 10 by Jiang and some minor U25 result by Garibian and Karatsivis. Not the best outlook in the promotion fight …
Start
End
Race
Cat
12-Oct
15-Oct
() Euskal Bizikleta
C1
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Garibian
Arman
68
71
68
69
70
71
73
55
60
69
65
69
69
Hopkins
Dylan
68
68
68
67
69
70
63
61
57
65
66
70
64
Karatsivis
Panagiotis
69
72
68
68
70
71
70
60
64
71
71
67
67
Le Gac
Olivier
70
69
77
60
73
74
71
52
64
69
74
73
60
Paret-Peintre
Aurelien
72
76
77
72
73
75
73
63
72
74
72
70
72
Paulus
Daniel
69
74
77
64
71
68
73
56
62
71
73
67
64
Thompson
Reuben
71
68
66
63
67
71
66
57
67
68
62
73
62
Vauquelin
Kevin
67
69
64
68
65
69
66
58
68
67
70
70
67
The goal for the two flat stages only has to be in the break, but for the hilly stages we have quite some options with APP, Paulus and Le Gac. So some good stage result and a reasonable GC place should be doable.
Start
End
Race
Cat
18-Oct
Zuri Metzgete
C2
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Chevrier
Clement
65
75
74
57
69
69
69
50
60
67
77
60
57
Delbove
Jo-ris
64
72
70
58
66
71
72
62
60
67
69
71
58
Garibian
Arman
68
71
68
69
70
71
73
55
60
69
65
69
69
Karatsivis
Panagiotis
69
72
68
68
70
71
70
60
64
71
71
67
67
Le Gac
Olivier
70
69
77
60
73
74
71
52
64
69
74
73
60
Paret-Peintre
Aurelien
72
76
77
72
73
75
73
63
72
74
72
70
72
Russo
Clement
73
65
73
65
73
73
76
68
76
78
66
64
65
Vauquelin
Kevin
67
69
64
68
65
69
66
58
68
67
70
70
67
The final race of our season should be our best chance this month. The combination of APP / Le Gac and Russo should give us good options for any scenario in the final.
After our stellar September we headed into the final month of the season in 8th place after rapidly climbing up the rankings. This also meant we suddenly had something to win (or to lose), so this was by far the most nerve-crushing month of the year.
Start
End
Race
team goal
results
06-Oct
10-Oct
Herald Sun Tour
-
-
We came here without any real contender for the sprints or the TT which wasn’t exactly the best approach in a flat race with a decisive TT, but we got a handful of points out of it and Le Gac wore the KoM jersey for one stage. Even more importantly we didn’t lose many points to our biggest contenders before those races we were better suited came.
Start
End
Race
team goal
results
12-Oct
15-Oct
() Euskal Bizikleta
-
GC Top 10; stage Top 10
We came here with APP as our captain and though he wasn’t very spectacular in the race he managed to finish in the front group in every single stage (including 6th in the final stage), thus finishing in the s. t. group of riders who were 2nd to 12th in the GC. He came out as 7th, gaining some valuable points and giving us a good position for the final race of the season.
Start
End
Race
team goal
results
18-Oct
Zuri Metzgete
-
Top 3
We needed to gain some points on our competitors here and with our Russo-APP combo we were well equipped to do so, but so were our contenders too. It was a spectacular race with APP ever attentive. It wasn’t enough for the win as a certain Italian snatched the win for a second year in a row, but Aurelien won the sprint for 2nd place to get us our first (and only) classics podium in the entire season (and also our only second overall), once again delivering in a crucial moment.
As a result of our late successes we now are in a position to not exactly know in which division we'll be next season - which is much more than we could hope for two months ago, but also is a bit odd as we now need disbands to promote, something that always gives you mixed feelings. So we'll use the time of waiting to give some season recaps (and analysis).
Just about pulled the season together in the end, although those final months were more what i expected the whole time from Ekoi. Promotion would be a just reward, but if not you'll be in a great spot to contend for a title. Lets see what happens, my fingers are crossed for you.
Not sure I remember a team having a better single month than your September. Seem likely you will be in PCT next year, but as TMM says, if not you have a really nice base for CT without having to worry about decliners too much.
Thanks for all the great reports and contributions to the game.
The season is over (except for the WC and NCs) and we finished 6th in the CT rankings, resulting in … well, we don’t know yet. We missed direct promotion, but are now in pole position to promote if any team from a higher division disbands. So the season isn’t really over yet (and the off-season tasks will have to wait) as long as we don’t know in which division we’ll start next season. This gives us some time for recapping the 2023 season. We’ll start with an overview over our results and race podiums (you’ll find this one very September-heavy ). Then there’s a review of our season goals and a short rider-by-rider recap. A deeper analysis of our squad and the implications for the transfer season will follow later in the off-season (probably after the renewals are done). And sorry if you’re tired of the words “September”, “Tour of America” and “San Luis” afterwards
It’s no surprise our overall results are a big improvement to last season, especially as the bar was rather low anyway. We exactly doubled our points, raising in the rankings by 11 positions as a result. We also nearly doubled our podium results, with a huge increase of especially the wins (11 instead of 2 last year). And it’s really impressive that 12 of our 15 full-time riders scored a podium (including two of or three loaned-in riders and both drafted riders), so even if some names are pretty dominant in the list it’s really been a good season by the entire team - especially if you take into account the three riders without a podium (Garibian, Delbove and Hopkins) are all in their first or second season as a pro.
Here’s an overview of all our podiums (stages, races and classifications) of the season:
Spoiler
rider
race
classification
result
Karatsivis
Tour Down Under
stage 4
1st
Paret-Peintre
Vuelta al Tachira
stage 4
3rd
Chevrier
Vuelta al Tachira
stage 7
1st
Karatsivis
Vuelta al Tachira
stage 7
3rd
Paret-Peintre
Vuelta al Tachira
stage 8
2nd
Chevrier
Vuelta al Tachira
stage 9
3rd
Chevrier
Vuelta al Tachira
KoM
3rd
Karatsivis
Vuelta al Tachira
U25
3rd
Teuns
Hong Kong Challenge
stage 1
2nd
Paret-Peintre
Volta a Catalunya
stage 5
3rd
Paret-Peintre
Volta a Catalunya
points
3rd
Teuns
Tour of the Middle East
stage 3
3rd
Gall
Tour of the Middle East
U25
1st
Tour of the Middle East
team
3rd
Gall
Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt
stage 2
1st
Paulus
Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt
KoM
2nd
Gall
Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt
KoM
3rd
Gall
Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt
U25
3rd
Chevrier
Tour of Vancouver
KoM
3rd
Gall
Tour of Vancouver
U25
3rd
Thompson
Tour of Eritrea
KoM
3rd
Gall
Tour de Vineyards
U25
1st
Karatsivis
Tour de Vineyards
U25
3rd
Vauquelin
Tour du Maroc
stage 3
1st
Paulus
Tour du Maroc
KoM
3rd
Russo
Tour of Britain
stage 1
2nd
Paulus
Tour of America
stage 8
3rd
Chevrier
Tour of America
stage 9
1st
Le Gac
Tour of America
stage 9
2nd
Gall
Tour of America
stage 10
2nd
Gall
Tour of America
stage 11
1st
Le Gac
Tour of America
stage 11
3rd
Gall
Tour of America
stage 12
1st
Lammertink
Tour of America
stage 19
1st
Le Gac
Tour of America
stage 19
2nd
Gall
Tour of America
KoM
1st
Gall
Tour of America
U25
3rd
Jiang
Tour de San Luis
stage 1
2nd
Teuns
Tour de San Luis
stage 3
1st
Paret-Peintre
Tour de San Luis
stage 3
2nd
Paret-Peintre
Tour de San Luis
stage 5
1st
Teuns
Tour de San Luis
stage 5
3rd
Paret-Peintre
Tour de San Luis
GC
1st
Teuns
Tour de San Luis
GC
2nd
Paret-Peintre
Tour de San Luis
points
1st
Teuns
Tour de San Luis
points
2nd
Paret-Peintre
Zuri Metzgete
2nd
But apart from the pure results we got us some big team firsts:
Spoiler
achievement
by rider
in race
Win (& podium) by a loaned-in rider
Karatsivis
Tour Down Under (stage 4)
U25 podium
Karatsivis
Vuelta al Tachira
Points podium
Paret-Peintre
Volta a Catalunya
U25 win
Gall
Tour of the Middle East
Team podium
Tour of the Middle East
Achieved goal
Tour of the Middle East
Best TTT result (9th)
Monterrey TTT
Podium by a loaned-out rider
Louvel
Tour of Norway (stage 5)
1-2
Chevrier and Le Gac
Tour of America (stage 9)
GT stage win
Chevrier
Tour of America (stage 9)
GT jersey (KoM)
Gall
Tour of America
ITT podium
Jiang
Tour de San Luis (stage 1)
GC lead
Jiang
Tour de San Luis (stage 2)
Points lead
Jiang
Tour de San Luis (stage 1)
GC win (& podium)
Paret-Peintre
Tour de San Luis
Points win
Paret-Peintre
Tour de San Luis
Most wins in a season (3)
Gall
Most wins overall (3)
Gall
But there are of course some achievements left for the years to come:
Spoiler
- Win in a classic
- Win (& podium & top 10) in a cobbled classic
- Win (& podium) in a HC race
- Win (& podium) in a PTHC race
- Win (& podium) in a PT race
- Win in an ITT
- Win (& podium) in a TTT
- Win a team classification
- Win by a loaned-out rider
- Promotion to PCT
- Promotion to PT
We were just awful in regards of completed goals last season, not coming near achieving any of them whatsoever. This year was the complete opposite as we achieved two of our goals and missed the other three by 2-4 places. APP played a huge role there with his consistent results in the hilly classics as he’s the one responsible for all of those near-misses. And though Gall was the one who actually achieved the only race goal this season, APP was there as well finishing 11th in the race with a top 10 goal. The late-season charge by the entire team also resulted in achieving the team standings goal rather easily (at least if you look at the final standings, there was a big chance of missing it pre-September).
race
goal
result
Gisborne GP
Top 5
7th
Tour of the Middle East
Top 10
6th
GP Izola
Top 5
8th
Badaling International
Win
5th
Team Standings
Top 10
6th
As a result of this rather great outcome we hope for a really nice budget for next season.
All statements referring to contract extensions are of course only our plans pre-renewals.
Clement Chevrier
He’s one of only four riders who were with us last season too (apart from our two loaned out talents) and surely hasn’t the most spectacular skillset. But he’s one of our biggest surprises of the season as he got us an early stage win in Tachira from a break and a late stage win in ToA from the actual peloton, making him part of the team’s history as our first ever GT stage winner. He also was our all-time record winner for exactly three days (two of them uncontested) as the first rider to get a second win with us. Surely that’s more than could be expected from him pre-season and should get him a new contract.
Joris Delbove
He’s another rider who remained from last season, but his season was far more anonymous than Chevriers. But that’s no surprise as he’s still developing, so getting another XP level was his main goal for the season and he achieved it. Once maxed he could actually take over from Chevrier as he’ll have a quite similar skillset and will max out when Chevrier starts to decline. Let’s hope he’ll add the same kind of results too.
Felix Gall
Gall was one of our bigger signings for this season and we planned with him as kind of a GC rider (despite his weak TT). And though he won a stage in his home race and took the occasional U25 victory we actually were rather disappointed with him prior to his last race of the season. But this race was ToA and to say he did a bit better there would be a huge understatement. He got a second place and two stage wins within three days, resulting in him leading the KoM and sprint classification (plus being 5th in the GC) mid-race. And though he ‘only’ managed to keep the polka dots (sacrificing a GC top 20) he ended the race as our first GT jersey winner, our new all-time record winner and 11th in the individual rankings of the division. That’s no disappointment at all. We now have a clearer idea of what his role in the team has to be and he should be a good stage-/KoM-hunter even in the PCT.
Arman Garibian
Our second not loaned out talent from last season had a season quite similar to Delbove, being more of a workhorse in the peloton than a breakaway rider. But he was part of our ToA squad too and is planned to stay with the team as part of the stage race and TTT department.
Zhihui Jiang
We drafted him because of his prologue skills and then gave him exactly one prologue to ride in (sorry for that), but he showed us he deserved this opportunity by finishing second in the San Luis prologue (our first ever ITT podium). He added our first ever yellow and green jerseys a stage later and thus started our awesome run there. We’re not sure yet he’ll stay with us for next season too, but he surely presented his case well.
Maurits Lammertink
Our second drafted rider was selected as a breakaway specialist and to be fair, he was quite a disappointment in this respect with only one breakaway appearance all season – but to stay fair he won a ToA stage from that break, thus adding to our list of nice scoring drafted riders (joining McEvoy and Jiang). But given he’s declining and it was really a one-off day he’ll probably leave us on this high after the season.
Olivier Le Gac
Here we have another rider who was rather disappointing for a long time (at least regarding his own results), but then had his highlights late in the year. He was part of our ToA squad and got three stage podiums out of the race – and in all of these stages a teammate took the win. Now that’s what we like in a domestique! He also added a short stint in the polka dots a bit later in Herald Sun Tour, adding a few valuable points in the battle for 6th in an otherwise hopeless race for us. Given a reasonable wage demand he should stay with us.
Aurelien Paret-Peintre
What could we say about him? He is our most expensive rider in transfer fee and wage – and he’s well worth it! He mostly gave us good (though not great) results in the spring classics and good (though not great) GC results and an occasional stage podium in the spring stage races, giving us a consistent points income. When he was on hiatus mid-season we didn’t score well at all and after he returned rather bad in Trentino (his only disappointing race in the season and one he wasn’t really suited for) he was just brilliant in September and October. Winning his first stage for us in the dominant team performance in San Luis resulted in him also being our first GC and points classification winner ever. He added another GC top 10 in a C1 race (Euskal Bizikleta) and a second place in the season finale in Zuri, thus bringing in the much needed points for the 6th place in the team rankings. He also finished 4th in the individual ranking, just showing how great he was as our most consistent scorer. So let’s hope his wage demands stay reasonable as he’s already shown he’ll be able to score in the PCT (and PT last year) as well. But there’s probably no chance we’ll let him go.
Daniel Paulus
Given his skillset he had rather few highlights this season. But regarding his minimum wage and his calendar it’s clear he never really was our leader in a race but a domestique for Teuns, Gall or APP. And as long as his wage stays low we don’t see why we should end this approach.
Clement Russo
Russo is another of those riders who were disappointing most of the season, but got some results in September (most notably a 2nd place in a Tour of Britain stage and a 5th place in Plouay). But that’s of course less than we hoped for (and also less than we expected from him in the footsteps of Alaphilippe). Given he stays near minimum wage in the renewals we see him as a valuable low-price option for any division nonetheless.
Dylan Teuns
He was less consistent than APP in regards of top results as well as solid scoring. His one big race was basically San Luis where he and APP crushed the competition as a duo, leaving him with his first win for the team and 2nd place in the GC (and points). He finished 23rd in the individual standings nonetheless and should still be a good puncheur either in the CT or PCT, though a wage reduction could be incoming for him.
Kevin Vauquelin
He is our team leader and he managed to show that even in his debut season. After some breakaway appearances over the entire season (including his first stint as a KoM leader in Romandie) he even managed his first career victory in Casablanca. We’ll surely have high hopes for the years to come (though probably not exactly next year – apart from Avenir), but we also have high hopes he’ll rider for us for a much lower wage.
Dylan Hopkins (loaned in)
Amaysim put him in our hands to get his first experiences as a pro in the CT and so he did. He was in some breaks and otherwise worked for our leaders, also being part of our great ToA squad.
Panagiotis Karatsivis (loaned in)
Our first ever Greek rider started the season on a high note with a surprise stage win from a break in Australia and another stage podium in Tachira. It’s no surprise he couldn’t repeat this successes in the remaining season, but he’s surely been one of ELCOs rays of hope this year.
Reuben Thompson (loaned in)
He was surely more in the Hopkins than in the Karatsivis category this season, but he finished 3rd in the KoM classification in Eritrea, adding some valuable points to the teams tally. He’ll probably take the next step in his development in CT again with his team Spark being relegated as well (as did all the teams who loaned riders to us; don’t take that as a bad sign for transfers please).
Alan Boileau (loaned out)
Xero took good care of our first loaned out rider and ensured he got enough XP to level up. He was mostly on domestique duties and with the team promoting he couldn’t have been too bad. And if he learned anything from Areruya he’ll actually be able to take over puncheur duties from Teuns once maxed.
Matis Louvel (loaned out)
Our second loaned out rider had kind of the opposite of a season: his team Genii relegated, but he had some breakaway appearances and nearly snatched a win in Norway, showing what we hope to see from him in the future.
the stagiaires
Our stagiaires had the important role of getting us to the minimum number of riders, so we had no real expectations for them apart from being signed. Alex Baudin, Evan Russell and Hugo Toumire used their RDs to show themselves in some breaks (with Baudin actually scoring a point) and apart from that just work for the team (as did Valentin Paret-Peintre). And the best months of the season started when they joined the startlists in August, so they actually have their fair share in the late comeback of the team (especially with three of them being in the San Luis squad). But given their limited development potential we don’t see big chances of any of them getting a full-time contract with us.
And as we’re doing all this end of season stuff anyway, we can as well have a look at the development of our talents:
Alan Boileau | 24 years old | LVL3>LVL4 | LVL 4.21
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
66
72
72
64
66
69
71
62
66
72
64
66
63
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
67
73
75
65
68
70
72
62
67
74
66
67
64
Joris Delbove | 23 years old | LVL3>LVL4 | LVL 4.2
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
64
72
70
58
66
71
72
62
60
67
69
71
58
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
65
74
72
58
67
72
74
62
60
69
71
72
58
Arman Garibian | 23 years old | LVL3>LVL4 | LVL 4.3
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
68
71
68
69
70
71
73
55
60
69
65
69
69
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
69
74
70
71
72
73
76
55
60
70
66
70
71
Matis Louvel | 24 years old | LVL3>LVL4 | LVL 4.6
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
73
64
70
69
70
74
68
71
67
66
66
65
69
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
⇊
75
64
71
71
73
76
69
74
67
67
67
66
71
Kevin Vauquelin | 22 years old | LVL1>LVL3 | LVL 3.17
Congrats to your season and especially the last part of it. Awesome to see how you turned around your season with some really great results. You clearly outscored us and its funny how you excatly doubled your score, if you do again nothing is impossile
Though I dont hope there will be disbands but I also hope for you you can somehow make it to PCT next year.
Your talents looks great too and especially Vauquelin was a great signing for a rather low price, if you can keep him long term you will have a lot of fun with him.
It all came together at the end! A hard earned 6th place that surely leads to promotion via disbands. I like how you built the team and think you should transition upwards very nicely.
Tour de Vineyards
Giro del Trentino
Tour du Maroc
GP Plouay
Tour of Britain
Tour of America
GP Lugano
Herald Sun Tour
(
) Euskal Bizikleta
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
). Then there’s a review of our season goals and a short rider-by-rider recap. A deeper analysis of our squad and the implications for the transfer season will follow later in the off-season (probably after the renewals are done). And sorry if you’re tired of the words “September”, “Tour of America” and “San Luis” afterwards 
Karatsivis
Tour of the Middle East
GP Izola
Badaling International
Arman Garibian | 23 years old | LVL3>LVL4 | LVL 4.3
