|
Team Rothaus - Aegon | 2012
|
| roturn |
Posted on 17-03-2012 09:15
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
Good start, disappointing end in Luxembourg
With a very strong squad we started with high ambitions in the Tour de Luxembourg. Lars Boom, Ben Hermans, Martin Velits and Aurélien Passeron. You could have expected some high GC results.
It started pretty well with a 2nd in the opening prologue by Boom just beaten by ITT machine Ignatiev.
Also the 2nd stage ended very well for us. Velits and Passeron were able to find the right break and so Velits celebrated his first season win with Passeron sprinting on the 4th. Both had good overall chances now.
Unfortunately the next stages were too hard for Velits and he couldn`t hold on his lead. Also Passeron was unlucky when missing an early split, which cost him all ambitions.
But the worst part started then. Our two leaders Boom and Hermans stopped for Velits to escort him into the finish. This happened on stage 3 and 4, so all GC ambitions were gone. This was surely not how we imagined the situation.
On the final stage Van Heerden at least sprinted into the top 10 and Kunitski got 2nd in the KoM ranking after puncturing in stage 3 but attacking again on the 4th day just being beaten closely by Casar.
So in general a disappointment GC wise but at least a stage win for our team, which saved the race a tiny bit.
In other news our team underperformed in the Philadelphia GP. Surprising Barcelona winner Iglinski crashed in the final phase and wasn`t able to sprint for a good result. Also our more experienced riders had problems.
So it was mainly up to our Czech loanies Vesely and Novak. Especially 2nd one had a great day trying it all over the stage but wasn`t able to follow the deciding move by Cobo Acebo for the win. |
| |
|
|
| roturn |
Posted on 20-05-2012 11:22
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
Rothaus and Aegon renew sponsorship
Team Rothaus - Aegon has a solid first year in professional cycling so far. We had some big wins in races so far, where we haven`t expected to perform that well, we had expected results and we also had some disappointing results.
In general we can`t be too unhappy with the performance so far.
Good for us that also our sponsors think the same. So both of our main sponsors have extended their contracts for another year. They see it as project that needs more than one year and so they are happy to sponsor us also in the next season.
On the other hand rumors say that Aegon might become the bigger sponsor next season. The great performance by our Dutch Boom and also Ruijgh might be one reason for this, while our Germans couldn`t perform on the highest level although they took care of some great results.
Also many rumours mentioned a new big co-sponsor, who will support the team next season as well. According to them it`s a big international sponsor. So stay tuned for more informations later. |
| |
|
|
| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 19:59
|
Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
|
|
| IP: None |
|
|
| roturn |
Posted on 14-06-2012 17:42
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
What happens to Team Rothaus-Aegon in 2013?
Lots of question marks over the team and so far no real answers have been given by team manager roturn.
The debut season seems to end somewhere in the middle of the rankings and another year in the Continentel Tour is supposed to be planed already.
But who will lead the team next season?
Top sprinter Maxime Vantomme? - Very doubtful as he never showed his worth of 700.000€. Not one single stage win this season and the only thing to avoid being kicked is to have a brilliant late season and even then rumors say, that he needs to be pleased with less money. Other rumors say that the Belgian is not even sure if he wants to continue his engagement for the team. According to some people who know some people and so on he was not happy at all with the race schedule so far. Actually this might be pretty fair as he did miss almost every single sprinter classic so far. Time will tell probably.
Or Ryder Hesjedal? - Tough call. He surely is a solid rider and had some decent performances in especially in the early season but since then he couldn`t find his form again. Also he won`t become younger. He surely won`t be worth as much money as this season and won`t have the leader role next season.
And the sprinters in general? - Well. With guys like Vantomme, Baumann, Cucinotta, Van Heerden and Gajek you would expect some good results in sprint finishes. But well, there aren`t. Almost no podium spots and even top7`s have been something to be happy with. Surely there is room for improvement and earlier statements of team manager roturn even said that it`s not sure yet if the team will focus on sprints next season.
Last but not least coming to the more positive appearances.
Lars Boom and Rob Ruijgh surely should be part of the team next season. In especially since Aegon might become the stronger sponsor and the team is supposed to become more dutch. But at first it`s surely a question of money as the good performances surely mean higher salary wishes. But pretty sure that the manager will do everything to keep these duo.
And what about the young talents? - Koep, Ariesen and Krieger are all expected to make the next step next season. But can they do this in a CT team? Probably not. So it wouldn`t be a huge surprise if they will enter the Pro Tour after this season in some loan deals. Maybe in 2 years then we can talk about these guys as leaders.
Ben Hermans can`t lead the team although he had some good moments. He is supposed to go back to Wiggle. Here the future must be waited before anything else can be said.
And finally a short view on Paul Voss. The German climber had a solid year for the Festina squad participating in the big races. There he collected some more experiences and will be a helpful rider in the mountains next season. But he will also be no leader there.
So the transfer period will be highly expected as several top stars are free agents then looking for a new team. And maybe we will even see someone riding in the Rothaus jersey in the next season. |
| |
|
|
| roturn |
Posted on 06-07-2012 18:01
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
2 more months or 8 more races to ride. It`s still some time until the end of the season but on the other hand it`s coming to the end of 2012.
Our team is somewhere in the middle of the rankings but still looking forward. In all remaining races we have a very strong squad and want to improve a bit.
In especially the next race is very important for us. The Deutschland Tour is obviously one of the most important for us and so we hope to shine there. It will be interesting how Boom and Vantomme perform there as this combination wasn`t that successful recently. Baumann, Gajek, Ruijgh, Krieger and Koep complete our roster there and should be able to perform on every terrain. A stage win must be our goal here.
Also the rumor of a new co-sponsor seems to be right as the new jersey has been seen on the homepage for a shirt time. Long enough to present it right now. The new co-sponsor obviously is the Dutch-British company Unilever and also the main colour changed to blue while Rothaus is still very present. But most important the jersey designer has changed. After some first drafts of the former jersey designer they asked a more professional one in laidbackmarc, who is already known due to some other mangame designs.
The team manager seems to be very happy with this jersey and is already looking forward for the new season, where he won`t repeat some of the mistakes he made in his first season.
|
| |
|
|
| Heine |
Posted on 06-07-2012 18:30
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4116
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
|
Unilever, that should open more up for a international-focus I believe?
|
| |
|
|
| Levi4life |
Posted on 06-07-2012 18:33
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4882
Joined: 16-03-2007
PCM$: 200.00
|
That's a good looking jersey
|
| |
|
|
| roturn |
Posted on 07-07-2012 08:47
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
Heine wrote:
Unilever, that should open more up for a international-focus I believe?
The team is still supposed to be Dutch/German with a stronger Dutch influence maybe than last year.
On the other hand I indeed decided to take a more international company to have this option as well. |
| |
|
|
| roturn |
Posted on 18-07-2012 13:35
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
Lars Boom wins opening prologue in Germany
One of the most important races this season started as good as possible. Our Dutch time trial specialist leads the ranking after his win on the first stage.
But more important will be the upcoming stages, where we on the one hand will try to defend the lead but on the other hand try to win more stages as we have star sprinter Maxime Vantomme here as well, who is still looking for his first season win.
In other news the team page on the first site is fully updated. |
| |
|
|
| roturn |
Posted on 22-08-2012 14:07
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
Canadian Hesjedal convinces in his home country
Experienced Ryder Hesjedal was sent to Canada to lead in the two hilly classics. He was supposed to ride aggressive and presenting our team colours as long as possible. The roster was mainly filled by young talents and so the support for him was not that great.
So we decided to change our tactic to a very offensive one. Hesjedal attacked early in Quebec and together with Koldo Gil he then joined the breakaway.
After leaving them behind he won the sprint against Gil and surprisingly won the first Canadian classic to the joy of the home crowd.
With a lot of self-confidence he tried it in a similar way in Montreal. And again Gild was one of his companions. For a long time it looked like a dejavu and Hesjedal even was the strongest at one point. But here the favourites have been chasing too much and he was caught just a bit before the finish. In the sprint for the win he had nothing more to add and felt down to 23rd.
Still Hesjedal showed his worth once again. He will turn 33 after this season. An age where you must plan your career a lot. Only with performances like this he can commend himself for a new contract. |
| |
|
|
| roturn |
Posted on 27-08-2012 15:53
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
Thomas Koep celebrates in Germany
To be honest the Deutschland Tour was one of the weirdest races this season. It was annoying for us but also gave us some unexpected success. So in total we can`t be unhappy with the race.
We started great into the race with Boom`s win in the prologue. But everyone who expected our team to defend the lead until the last stage, where Boom and Ruijgh were supposed to fight for good results, was proven wrong.
Although our team worked on the next stages we lost the jersey on the 3rd stage. The first of 3 successful breakaway stages.
Since then the race was pretty crazy and even the last sprint finish was won by Wegmann instead of a pure sprinter and Vantomme (again) disappointed with bad decisions. Not much chances for him to prove his value.
Luckily Thomas Koep was in one of these breakaways and climbed into the top20 in the overall before the final stage with a mountain top finish in the German Harz, a small mountain area.
The last stage, how could it be different, ended again in a breakaway win.
For our team Rob Ruijgh was best placed in the first group of the splitted peloton. 30s later Boom finished with the bigger 2nd group and surprisingly also Koep was was him different to several other former riders of the successful breakaways. So the young German climbed up the GC spots and finished the race on a fantastic 6th as best German rider. Brilliant performance by him.
He showed his talent not only in this race and will go stronger into the next season, where he is still looking for a new team. Koep and some others are supposed to have a shot in a Pro Tour team on a loan deal before coming back to us later to lead our team. |
| |
|
|
| roturn |
Posted on 18-09-2012 12:30
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
Lars Boom surprises the elite in the World Championship
Without big ambitions our team riders started their mission World Championships. And we also hadn`t much chances and most experts never mentioned one of our riders. Only the TTT event was a good chance for Lars Boom to show his qualities. Together with the Dutch team he won the gold medal after beating the Spanish squad in a close and exciting fight until the finish.
After not being nominated for the individual time trial he obviously was a bit angry about this decision. At least he was in the road race again and there is really showed his strength. Just like in the E3 Prijs earlier this season he proved to be a high quality rider being strong on the cobbles and a superb allrounder in general.
After joining the breakaway in a mid-stage attack together with his team mate Broers, Lhotellerie and Rojas they created a good gap and after Boom`s attack in the final kilometers he was able to win by a very small gap to the sprinting peloton.
So in short: Lars Boom is the surprising World Champion 2012!
Silver goes to Burghardt, Bronce to Ballan.
So nothing for the high favourites Cancellara, Bewley or the Belgium Armada.
|
| |
|
|
| tsmoha |
Posted on 18-09-2012 13:06
|
Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
|
Well, this is a great achievement in a first ManGame-season 
|
| |
|
|
| alexkr00 |
Posted on 18-09-2012 13:25
|
World Champion
Posts: 13915
Joined: 05-08-2008
PCM$: 300.00
|
Congrats. As tsmoha said, excellent achievement for your first season in the ManGame.
But the World Champion deserves something better than the CT. So, you should sell him to lets say... I don't know... a Dutch PT team? 
|
| |
|
|
| CountArach |
Posted on 18-09-2012 13:35
|
Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
alexkr00 wrote:
But the World Champion deserves something better than the CT. So, you should sell him to lets say... I don't know... a Dutch PT team?
I was wondering how long it would take you to express interest Your team was my first thought.
Congrats again roturn, a nice reward for all that you do for this game.
|
| |
|
|
| roturn |
Posted on 18-09-2012 21:59
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
New World Champion jersey unveiled
Thanks to all congratulations. Also thanks to the Dutch team, that gave Boom the chance to go for his own chance instead of helper tasks. They surely have seen his talent and chances to beat the bigger favourites.
And coming to possible transfers. Lars Boom said, he is very happy with his actual team and a big goal for next season would be to help Rothaus-Aegon to reach the top spots in the CT division for climbing into the Pro Tour.
This is something he wants to reach in his career and this obviously is a "no" for any other team, who was hoping to sign Boom for the 2013 season.
Team manager roturn also said, that there isn`t any other rider, who could replace Boom 1 to 1. The quality, Boom is having, is unique and no trade could give us a win situation.
And last but not least our great jersey designer laidbackmarc now also designed the new World Championship Rainbow jersey, Lars Boom is supposed to wear next season. Very well done.
|
| |
|
|
| Rin |
Posted on 19-09-2012 10:47
|
Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2748
Joined: 14-04-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
I hope you will sign up for some PT races next year
 Team Bianchi - 2012 Man-Game ProContinental Tour Champions
 |
| |
|
|
| Rin |
Posted on 13-10-2012 09:52
|
Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2748
Joined: 14-04-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
There are reports about a possible deal between Lotto and Aegon.
It is said that Lotto would send Ciolek to Aegon and Aegon would send Vantomme + X to Lotto.
Team Bianchi - 2012 Man-Game ProContinental Tour Champions
|
| |
|
