Yeah, this time you've come to PT to stay there. Bad Tasmania? Well, easily compensated by Qatar or the TTT. Quite a lot of quality in this team, should be a fun year for you
Thanks for the nice comments. I hope my riders don't crumble under the pressure kb and Fabianski are putting on them however
Copenhagen - Malmo TTT (PT)
We tried to ensure having a decent TTT set-up during the off-season, and it seems to have worked. The squad finished second in the infamous Copenhagen - Malmo TTT, only a handful of seconds after winner EA Vesuvio. Let's hope a (slightly) weaker version of this team can do similar stuff in Paris - Nice and the Giro later this year. The five riders that scored a nice 35 points per person were Vlatos, Erdenebat, Ocampo, Zmorka and Eaton.
First PTHC race of the year, first real stage racing test for Eastman. We also brought Costa Rican champion Marin for the sprints, but he was unable to get a top-10 result. Eastman on the other hand made sure to not get dropped on the flat and hilly stages, after which he raced to a strong fourth place in the longer time trial on the penultimate stage. The final stage, the only mountain stage, didn't go perfect. The team did well and set up Eastman for a good final climb, but the American didn't manage to do anything noteworthy.
Nevertheless, holding on with most of the other favourites was enough to finish 2nd in GC behind the fantastic Taylor Phinney. No stage results, but a good GC in the end. Lopez Nolasco in 41st and Osorio in 44th finished inside of the top-50. If we have to give this race a rating we'd say 6,5/10. Maybe we're being a bit harsh, but maybe it is what our riders need to perform (even) better next time!
We say this with the utmost respect for our six riders at the startline in Luxembourg, but out of the three races in the triple clash this was clearly our weakest line-up. We hoped for a breakaway appearance, but were unable to get it. Aular managed to pleasantly surprise us by rolling over the finish line in 18th and thus scoring some more points than we initally expected. Was a fun race to follow as a half outsider with some great reporting.
I guess Eastman wasn't expected to get big stage results on the hills, not losing time must have been the tactics. Agree that the mountain stage was a bit disappointing (finishing behind you-know-who ), but I think he'll do better on long, steady, steep climbs than on this rather particular one. Marin definitely disappointing, hopefully he'll find his 2023 legs!