The Lincoln GP is a tough one-day race with a circuit featuring some narrow cobbled streets.
Startlist
An Post looked to be favourites for this one, with Eeckhout anfd Bagdonas looking particularly threatening.
Raleigh team
With the sponsors looking for a result on home turf, we fielded a strong team for this one, and were looking to set up Sparling for another solid cobbles result.
Race report
This was a chaotic race, with the narrow cobbled climb on the finishing straight causing splits in the peloton almost immediately.
The narrow finishing climb caused chaos each time the peloton went up it
Janssen sought to take advantage of the narrow streets by launching a solo attack early on.
Janssen went for a long solo break
Janssen maintained a two minute lead over the slimmed down peloton of about 30 riders. Sparling got caught behind in one of the early splits but managed to find his way back to the lead group. Sulzberger's race was over almost immediately however, caught at the back as the splits occured and was never able to get close to the front after that.
Janssen was caught with about 20km to go. Not long after, Bagdonas, Eeckhout and Franzoi formed a dangerous-looking break over a 16-man chase group featuring Sparling and Horton.
Bagdonas, Eeckhout and Franzoi seek to make the race-winning move
With the chase group seemingly making no inroads to the leading trio, both Sparling and Horton decided to set off in pursuit alone with just 8km to go.
Sparling and Horton in pursuit
Meanwhile, up front, Eeckhout had managed to forge a 40 second lead over Bagdonas. Franzoi was 11 seconds further back, with the Raleigh duo were 20 seconds behind him.
With 5km to go, Horton and Sparling caught up with Bagdonas and Franzoi. Eeckhout's lead was now an almost insurmountable 1 minute 28 seconds.
The Raleigh duo catch Bagdonas and Franzoi
Eeckhout took the win convincingly. Behind him, the race for second was tight, but Sparling proved the best of the rest, coming in second, with Horton taking fourth. A great day for the team on home soil!
The view of the tense sprint for second was confusing, as the leaders got mixed up with the back markers
@sutty68 Thanks - couldn't ask for much more than 2nd and 4th!
Tallinn - Tartu Grand Prix
26.05
The team finished their month with two one day races in Estonia as part of the Estonian Cycling Weekend 2012. With a flat parcours, the first of the two races was almost certain to favour the sprinters.
Startlist
This was to be the team's first 1.1 race of the year, so the competition was stiffer than normal, although the only World Tour teams represented were Lotto, Liquigas and Garmin. The bookies picked Furlan, Simon, Pichon and Cardoso as the race favourites.
Raleigh team
Our team featured some of our strongest riders but none were in top form. Briggs was winding down for a mid-season break, whilst Oliphant and Holohan were using the race to gain fitness for next month's block of races. Still, Briggs has had an impressive month, so he was still hopeful of a good result.
Race report
The race looked set to follow the usual formula of an early breakaway followed by a bunch sprint. Saur-Sojasun and Bretagne-Schuller controlled the race and comfortably brough back the day's break. Just as the teams began to set themselves up for a sprint, however, Franzoi - 5th in the recent Lincoln GP - caught the peloton on the hop with a surprise attack.
Franzoi catches the peloton by surprise with a late dig
As the peloton tried to organise itself, Briggs and his lead-out man Holloway found themselves a little too far back with just over 3km to go. Franzoi meanwhile was hanging on in front.
The positioning of Briggs and Holloway was far from ideal as the bunch neared the finish
Franzoi held on for a fine victory, whilst Reihs and Bodnar also jumped from the pack to steal second and third places ahead of the fast finishing Furlan.
Franzoi held off the bunch to take the win
And Raleigh? Briggs showed he wasn't in the shape to compete with the best today, finishing a lowly 26th.
@Miguel98 No it didn't - I think Briggs has got his mind on a nice holiday somewhere after a busy racing schedule (and some fine results)!
SEB Tartu Grand Prix
27.05
Raleigh's final race of the month was another flat Estonian affair. Would the sprinters get it right today after letting a late break escape yesterday?
Startlist
Another strong field today. BMC's Adam Blythe was the big tip from the bookmakers. Iglinsky, Gavazzi, Simon and Weissinger were also expected to challenge.
Raleigh team
Our sprinter Briggs showed yesterday he was off the pace and looking forward to a summer break, so the team's plan was to look for breakaway opportunities.
Race report
The weather was grim today, with the rain teeming down. Five brave souls made it into the break, including Raleigh's Holt, who was given a rare chance to shine after several months of dogged teamwork.
Holt (last in line) made into the day's escape on rain-soaked roads
It wasn't to be far the not-so-famous five however, and the bunch brought them back looking to set up the sprinters. Inspired by Franzoi's late escape the day before, Oliphant tried his luck with a last minute break. Franzoi and Jungels followed hot on his heels.
Oliphant leads Franzoi and Jungels in a daring late escape
But the bunch quickly reeled them in. In the last kilometre the sprint appeared to be head-to-head race between Blythe and Weissinger.
Weissinger versus Blythe on the finishing straight
Blythe faded, however, and so it was Weissinger who took a comfortable sprint win. Raleigh's sprinters were once again nowhere to be seen.
Weissinger beats the rain and the peloton to take the win
May was undoubtedly Raleigh's most successful month of the season. The team began the month with just one victory this season, but finished it with six.
Sulzberger got the month off to a flyer with a superb second in the Memorial of Oleg Dyachenko. After this, the good results came thick and fast. Daniel Holloway and Brennan Townshend both picked up stage victories in the Tour of the Gila, with the latter also picking up his third KOM victory of the season. Sparling picked up a battling second-place in the Lincoln GP (with Horton 4th), and Horton was second on Stage 2 of the Ronde van Overijssel.
But the cream of the crop was team leader Graham Briggs, who finally came good for us this month. He took three wins: the GP of Moscow, as well as Stage 2 and the GC at the Ronde van Overijssel. He also took third at the Circuito del Porto.
Briggs was Raleigh's rider of the month in May
Other news
Things were also hectic behind the scenes for the team this month. Perhaps the biggest news is that Raleigh have begun negotiations with a potential new co-sponsor. Nothing is confirmed yet, but the rumours are that the company is a sizeable US-based firm with a keen eye on the cycling market...
Meanwhile, the team decided to invest some of its race earnings by hiring its first scout. He's been sent to the US to try and unearth America's next big thing.
The management will also need to make decisions over the coming month about the contracts of three riders which are due to expire at the end of the season: Tobyn Horton, Simon Holt and Daniel Holloway.
Results
Memorial of Oleg Dyachenko
Rasmus Guldhammer
Tour of the Gila
Alexander Efimkin
Giro della Regione Fiuli Venezia Giulia
Alessandro Bertolini
Grand Prix of Moscow
Graham Briggs
Ronde van Overijssel
Graham Briggs
Vuelta a la Communidad de Madrid
Nairo Quintana
Circuito del Porto - Trofeo Arvedi
Marco Frapporti
Circuit de Wallonie
Davy Commeyne
5 Jours de Dunkerque
Gianni Meersman
Giro d'Italia
Michele Scarponi
Rhone-Alpes Isere Tour
Vincent Jerome
Tour de Picardie
Leigh Howard
Amgen Tour of California
David Zabriskie
Rogaland GP
Adam Blythe
Lincoln GP
Nico Eeckhout
Royal Smilde Olympia's Tour
Nico Eeckhout
Circuit de Lorraine
Gerald Ciolek
Glava Tour of Norway
Christian Knees
Neuseen Classic - Rund um die Braunkohle
Kevin Hulsmans
Bayern - Rundfahrt
Luke Durbridge
Ronde van Belgie
Jan Barta
Grand Prix de Plumelec - Morhiban
Dominique Rollin
Tallin - Tartu Grand Prix
Enrico Franzoi
Boucles de l'Aulne - Chateaulin
Pablo Lastras
SEB Tartu Grand Prix
Rene Weissinger
Skoda Tour of Luxembourg
In progress
Continental Rankings - Individual
1
Nick Eeckhout
406
2
Denis Flahaut
338
3
Angelo Furlan
315
4
Elia Favilli
271
5
Jan Barta
254
…
29
Graham Briggs
148
Eeckhout remains the top Continental rider, while Briggs climbs from 80th to 29th after his fine month.
Continental Rankings - Team
1
Cofidis
954
2
Christina Watches - Onfone
810
3
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
721
4
An Post - Sean Kelly
711
5
Saur Sojasun
693
…
15
Raleigh - GAC
410
The team meanwhile moves 6 places to 15th after its strong performances.
CQ Rankings - Individual
1
Tom Boonen
1938
2
Matthew Goss
1326
3
Mark Cavendish
1210
4
Michele Scarponi
1074
5
Nick Nuyens
949
…
337
Graham Briggs
72
CQ Rankings - Team
1
Sky Procycling
4323
2
BMC Racing Team
4304
3
Omega Pharma - Quickstep
4257
4
Movistar Team
3444
5
Orica - GreenEdge
3291
…
39
Raleigh - GAC
245
The team sneaks into the top 40 this month (from 43rd), raising hopes that we might be able to nick promotion to the Pro Continental ranks if we can continue to perform strongly.
June Schedule
03.06
1.HC
TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship
12.06 - 17.06
2.2
Tour de Beauce
20.06
1.2
Fleche Ardennoise
23.06 - 27.06
NC
National Championships
27.06
1.2
IWT Oetingen
The team has a light schedule in June. The sprinters now have a rest period before returning to serious action in August ahead of the Tour of Britain. Our punchier riders have high hopes for strong performances in the Tour de Beauce, particularly Jamie Sparling who will be looking to shine on home soil. The national championships meanwhile will give the riders a rare chance to pit their wits against some of the best riders in the world.
Edited by lennybernstein on 29-10-2012 22:19
@sutty68 Yes, but i'm not too worried about Estonia. The sprinters peaked end of April/beginning of May and the hill specialists are aiming for Tour de Beauce and races after that, so hopefully the results will pick up again very soon!
@Miguel98 We are indeed, and I'll be announcing some contract news shortly!
TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship
03.06
This one day race in Philidelphia is Raleigh's only .HC of the year. It was also the team's last warm-up race before the Tour de Beauce later this month. The flat route looked set to favour the sprinters.
Startlist
With this being a sprinters' race, Forster, Rathe, Keough, Candelario and Lacombe were touted as the pre-race favourites.
Raleigh team
Holloway was our only sprinter at the race, and he was still a little off-form, so our plan was to look for breakaway opportunities today.
Race report
Holohan made the day's break. He was joined by Cooper (OPT), Davies (XRG), Moinard (BMC) and Vande Velde (GRS).
Holohan joined a strong breakaway group
The five escapees worked well and built a lead of 8 minutes in front of very sizeable crowds on the Philidelphia streets. However, the lead was quickly erased once the sprinters' teams got organised, and the escapees were caught with 12km to go. Vande Velde gave it last one attack, but couldn't make it stick.
As the race approached the finish, United Healthcare and Bretagne-Schuller each set up impressive sprint trains, looking to set up Forster and Blot respectively.
United Healhtcare battle it out with Bretagne for sprint supremacy
With 700m to go, Blot took to the front. Forster was in the wheel of team mate Keough, while Lloyd (far side) and Rathe (near side) also challenged.
Blot has his nose in front with 700m to go
Blot held on to win the race and upset the favourites. Candelario produced a late surge to finish second, while Forster managed third. Raleigh's best finisher was Oliphant down in 22nd.
Breaking sponsorship news...
With the team busy racing on the streets of Philadelphia, things were apparently no less busy behind the scenes. A source close to the team confirmed that Raleigh have signed a new co-sponsorship deal for 2013. The team said they weren't prepared to announce the news publicly at this stage, but the source did say that the deal will give Raleigh greater exposure to the US market and is likely to provide a significant boost in income for the team.
Who will Raleigh's new co-sponsor be?
Contract news...
Meanwhile, it appears Raleigh have also been busy negotiating with the remaining riders out of contract at the end of the season. Horton and Holloway are rumoured to have been offered one-year extensions, although it is not yet clear how they will respond. It is understood that Simon Holt has been told that his contract won't be renewed and that he is free to look elsewhere for a ride in 2013.
The Tour de Beauce is held in the Beauce region of Quebec, Canada and has been on the racing calendar since 1986. This edition is held over six stages with enough variety to suit all types of riders. The key stages for GC stages are likely to be the mountainous stage three and stage four's test against the clock.
Startlist
This is a race for all-rounders. It's difficult to pick out the favourites, but we expect riders like Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, young Hugo Houle and Bagdonas to all be in the mix at some point.
Raleigh team
This is a key race for the team and the sponsors, who are looking for a stage win. Oliphant will be our GC leader, although his lack of time trialling ability will probably mean he won't be able to challenge for the very top spots. Sparling will have a free role on home soil. While Holloway will be our man for the sprints. The team are in reasonable shape and will be looking to ride themselves into peak fitness as the race progresses.
Stage 1 was a flat-ish stage with an uphill kick at the end that threatened to spoil the sprinters' party.
After a disappointing few races we were determined to ride an aggressive race. As such, Holohan made an early statement of intent by getting into the day's break with Luzzader (BPC) and Van Dijk (JSH).
Holohan makes the break on Stage 1
The trio were joined by Pellaud (ARH) a little later on. Holohan picked up enough points in the KOM to finish second by the end of the day. The escapees fought bravely against the advances of the peloton but were eventually caught with 5km to go.
As they were swept up, Canadian Sparling jumped clear on the stage's final rise.
Sparling launches a late counter-attack
He opened up a decent gap and with 1.5km to go he still had just over 30 seconds on the fast-finishing bunch. His attack was clearly perfectly timed and he held on to take a superb victory in the front of the home fans, taking the overall lead to boot! Badgonas took 2nd with Fred Rodriguez 3rd.
Sparling wins Stage 1
On Stage 2 we decided to defend our GC lead and hope the sprinters teams would help us bring back the inevitable breakaway group.
The stage was another rolling affair, again with another little kick towards the end. A break of four eventually got clear.
The break enjoy some picture-perfect scenary
Little Brennan Townshend tapped out a solid rhythm at the front of the peloton before An Post and Team Exergy took over the work to set up Bagdonas and Rodriguez.
Townshend worked tirelessly on the front
As the break was caught, we once again decided to hit the bunch with a counter-attack. This time Holohan jumped away.
Holohan jumps clear of the pack
An Post and Exergy worked hard on the front and eventually brought Holohan back. Just as he did yesterday, however, Sparling hit the peloton with another 1-2, jumping clear with 7km to go.
Sparling decided attack was the best form of defence
His attack seemed to cause confusion within the tired peloton and oo-one initially seemed prepared to chase. Sparling opened at a 45 second lead before there was any reaction behind. Eventually, An Post led organised the chase and led out an early sprint to try to catch the Raleigh rider.
An Post lead out the sprint in pursuit of Sparling
But once again, An Post's efforts were in vain and Sparling collected a second straight victory to consolidate his overall lead. A perfect start for Raleigh!
Sparling doubles up in Canada
Bagdonas took another 2nd, with Endura's Blain in 3rd. Going into the mountainous stage 3, Sparling now had a 16 second lead over Bagdonas. Oliphant was also well-placed after picking up the day's first intermediate sprint.
@the_hoyle Thanks! Yes, Sparling is looking good on home soil. Unfortunately, mountains and time trials are not his thing!
Tour de Beauce
Stages 3 & 4
Stage 3's mountain top finish on Mont Megantic looked set to test Sparling's mettle to the max. Could the Canadian roadman hold on to yellow?
A break of four got clear after about 50km. Holloway set the pace at the front of the peloton to keep the gap in check.
Stage 3's escapees
The break was comfortably brought back, but shortly after Bagdonas seemed to want to beat Sparling at his own game, jumping clear of the bunch in an apparent solo bid for glory.
Bagdonas surprises the pack with a solo attack
Bagdonas won the second intermediate sprint and then decided to sit up - a cleverly calculated use of energy to pick up valuable bonus seconds, it seems.
As the bunch hit the slopes of Mont Megantic Townshend and then Holloway set a solid pace to discourage attacks.
Holohan sets the tempo up Mont Megantic
With 7km to go, things were still altogether, Holohan still leading around 80 riders up the slopes. With around 3km left, the action finally kicked off. Tiernan-Locke put in a fierce attack, taking Fothen with him.
JTL attacks
Going under the red kite, the pair had a 19 second advantage over Bochman, Sparling, Oliphant and a clutch of Spidertech riders.
Bochman leads the chase
Tiernan-Locke proved he was the strongest rider on the day, outsprinting Fothen to take the win.
Tiernan-Locke celebrates atop Mont Megantic
Sparling and Oliphant came in with the the pursuing group 22 seconds behind, not quite enough to defend his yellow jersey. Tiernan-Locke finished the day in yellow, two seconds ahead of Sparling. Fothen lay 3rd, 8 seconds down, with Houle (4th) 34 seconds back and Oliphabnt (6th) 38 seconds behind.
The following day's time trial promised to shake up the overall classification once again. Fothen and Houle, as well as Bochman and Boily all lay within striking distance of Tiernan-Locke and each had solid time trialling skills.
Bagdonas set the best time of the stage, clawing back some valuable time in the general classification after a bad day in the mountains on Stage 3.
Bagdonas on his way to a fine time trial win
Bochman was the first of the GC contenders to put in a strong time, finishing the stage in 6th, 27 seconds behind Bagdonas.
Bochman challenged for GC
Young Hugo Houle went even better shortly afterwards however, finshing the stage in 2nd place, just 7 seconds off Bagdonas's time.
Houle was the best of the GC contenders
Next up was Fothen, who shot out the blocks. He also put in an impressive time, finishing in 5th, 12 seconds down.
Fothen sets off determined to take yellow
Sparling set off second from last. He's not a natural time triallist and unfortunately his performance confirmed this. He finished in a lowly 73rd place, 1 minute 28 seconds down. Raleigh's best performer today was Oliphant, rolling in 55th, 1 minute 18 seconds down.
Sparling's performance today was unremarkable
Last man off was Tiernan-Locke. He also disappointed today, coming in 1 minute 10 seconds down in 42nd, a time not good enough to defend his lead.
Tiernan-Locke couldn't defend yellow
Fothen ended the day in the top spot overall, with Hugo Houle doing enough to move himself up to second. Tiernan-Locke dropped to 4th, while Raleigh's Sparling held on to a top ten position, finishing the day in 8th overall. Oliphant meanwhile was 13th.
Stage 5 was a short rolling circuit race. Holohan made it into the day's break. At only 2'10" on GC, Fothen was sure to want to keep a keen eye on him.
Holohan made the day's break
Indeed, the break was duly reeled back in on the final loop of the circuit. Once again, Raleigh decided to chance their arm with a late attack. This time it was Oliphant who leapt out of the bunch.
Oliphant goes for a late one
The bunch were having none of it however, and his attack was snuffed out as the reached the bottom of the finishing slope. Sparling was looking good, though, lying in wait in sixth wheel.
Oliphant gets reeled back in on the finishing straight
Bagdonas and Lacombe opened up the sprint for the line, but it was Thomel who timed it to perfection to take the stage win, ahead of Rodriguez and Franzoi. Sparling faded to 15th. The general classification remained unchanged.
Thomel wins Stage 5
The final stage of the Tour de Beauce was another rolling circuit race and represented the last chance to Sparling and Oliphant to make a move up the GC.
Determined to make it hard race from the off, Holohan attack from the gun. He was joined shortly after by another five riders.
Holohan was once again in the break on Stage 6
Holohan put a lot of effort in to make the chasing peloton work and with 30km to go, things hung neatly in the balance with the break holding a three minute lead. The GC race took an unexpected twist shortly after, as Fothen fell.
The yellow jersey hits the deck
He didn't seem to badly hurt and was quickly back on this bike. His teammates swarmed back to help guide him back to the bunch.
Fothen is piloted back to the peloton by his loyal team mates
With around 20km to go, Oliphant decided to heap further pressure on Fothen by putting in a stinging attack.
Oliphant attacks
He quickly bridged to Holohan and the other escapees. Holohan buried himself to drive the break. Then, when his energies was all used up, Oliphant attacked again, forging clear of the tired breakaway riders. The bunch was closing fast behind, however, and with 5km to go, Oliphant held a slender 18 seconds lead, with the other escapees already caught.
Amazingly, Fothen had even recovered enough to put in a long turn himself to try to bring back Oliphant.
The yellow jersey led the chase for a while
Sadly, the efforts of Fothen and co meant that Oliphant was caught with just 1,5km remaining. Endura opened up the sprint, but it was Rodriguez who emerged victorious, with Bagdonas taking another second place.
Rodriguez takes the final stage
The hard racing meant that only around 80 riders finished with Rodriguez. Significantly, one of the riders dropped was Endura's Ian Bibby, he fell out of the top ten, enabling Sparling to climb one place to 7th overall. Fothen's impressive ride today meant he remained in yellow to win the Tour de Beauce.
