[PT] Oxxo - Frisby | MSR
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AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 27-10-2024 05:52
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Directeur Sportif
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If Tasmania wasn't such a downer, the season would've been off to a spectatcular. Still a great one though
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Fabianski |
Posted on 28-10-2024 21:17
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4667
Joined: 29-09-2018
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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
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Nemolito |
Posted on 29-10-2024 14:10
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3367
Joined: 20-04-2020
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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.
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Nemolito |
Posted on 06-11-2024 09:05
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Classics Specialist
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Volta a Portugal (PTHC) 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!
Eastman time trialing
Classique du Grand-Duché (PT) 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.
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Fabianski |
Posted on 06-11-2024 09:16
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4667
Joined: 29-09-2018
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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!
Aular in Grand-Duché is a surprisingly good result, as you mentioned; the amount of climbing involved seemed to play in his favour.
Great start this time, no way you'll relegate
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jandal7 |
Posted on 07-11-2024 06:28
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
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Fabianski wrote:
Agree that the mountain stage was a bit disappointing (finishing behind you-know-who )
Hey please respect Mushin Misbah
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
5x x5
2x x2
2x x2
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redordead |
Posted on 07-11-2024 06:39
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4881
Joined: 18-10-2017
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The points keep rolling in
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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Nemolito |
Posted on 12-11-2024 09:43
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3367
Joined: 20-04-2020
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Fabianski wrote:
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!
Aular in Grand-Duché is a surprisingly good result, as you mentioned; the amount of climbing involved seemed to play in his favour.
Great start this time, no way you'll relegate
Thanks for the faith again, but we'll see at the end of MG October whether we can indeed stay in the PT
Some decent points in Portugal/Duché, also nothing too extreme. Hopefully it's enough at the end of the year
Tirreno - Adriatico (PT) We went to Italy in the hopes of getting some stage results and a decent final GC with Higuita, but couldn't get it. Stage-wise we can't complain too much with three top-5s (including a podium) in three hilly stages, but with no or few gaps awarded/won, the Colombian went from a fifth place in the GC to a fourteenth during the final time trial. With no time trialists or stronger stage racers there we also didn't have any other GC cards to play. Marin had three sprint opportunities, but never did better than a seventh place. Still props to Osorio and Ruiz for some nice domestique work for our leader.
Higuita attacking during a hilly stage
Paris - Nice (PT) France was all about Giro preparation and a good GC for Eastman. The competition was hard, and the first mountain stage went far from ideal. The second mountain stage was also going in the wrong way, but then Lopez Nolasco stood up and helped Eastman resurface and even finish second behind an unstoppable Pogacar. The final stage was a team time trial and catapulted Eastman into the number two in GC, after Ocampo lead the rest of the team over the finish line as best team of the day. Our first ever TTT win and a great final GC result making one out of three races of the triple header into a success!
Eastman being the second best climber behind Pogacar
The boys winning our first TTT ever
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Laurens147 |
Posted on 12-11-2024 10:30
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Really cool win in the TTT with Eastman's podium on top, congrats mate!
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
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Fabianski |
Posted on 12-11-2024 12:54
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Joined: 29-09-2018
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Great job by Eastman in Paris - Nice, although he definitely looked shaky on stage 6! But the team helped him to save the race on the last two days, great to take another 2nd place after Portugal!
Higuita surely was a tad disappointing, but I personally am absolutely in favor of a 10km+ ITT
I agree however that F1 bonus seconds would be a good idea in flat/hilly races - iirc we'll have them (respectively a slightly lower scale) in Scandinavia ORR, South Africa or Euskal, and if they get a positive appreciation they might well come to T-A (or P-N next year), too
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Ad Bot |
Posted on 21-11-2024 20:31
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AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 18-11-2024 06:22
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Directeur Sportif
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Eastman has been 2(nd) out of 2 so far, with another second added in the TT, plus winning the PN TTT - it's been a good month for sure, with TA somewhat disappointing
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Nemolito |
Posted on 18-11-2024 12:24
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Classics Specialist
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@Laurens: Thank you very much, was a joy to cross that feat of our list!
@Fabianski: Indeed he looked shaky, luckily Lopez Nolasco was there to save him/us. It doesn't surprise me you're in favour of a longer time trial, although I reckon this race without a long time trial could also be very interesting for Schmid.
@AbhishekLFC: Decent month at least yes, a solid Eastman in the 2 GC's and a strong TTT, but our other riders not really scoring a lot, so we'll see what that makes in the February ranking update.
Milano - San Remo (M) First monument of the year and it was Thomas Pidcock with a great ride for Xero Racing, together with Skujins and Vansevenant on the podium showing that puncheurs are still alive in San Remo as well. Our puncheur was Higuita, but a badly timed puncture didn't particularly help him when it came to positioning, finishing 26th. The whole team helped him get back, so we're left to wonder if other top-50 finishers Ruiz (15th) and Halvorsen (35th) would have done better if that puncture didn't happen. Hopefully we can try again next year!
Bringing Higuita back to the peloton
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redordead |
Posted on 19-11-2024 06:37
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Not the best Sanremo, but could've been worse I guess.
Slightly off topic, but fun to see a Cedevita rider front and center in another HQ. Not something I'm used to seeing
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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