Bruno sent me some photos from that... Thing... You know,.. The cobbly one, a tour. With the funny name? O never mind.
As we all know, Bruno is amazing on cobbles, a future world star! This is him making a move with 60km left on stage 1
After he was reeled in, we showed we had the best of both worlds, with a train for Djaja.
We split the peleton on a narrow crosswind section, then set it up, Djaja managed a decent third despite a few hitches in the leadout.
Both Bruno and Djaja had a good TT. Bruno won, in 13:00, and Djaja came 10th. This put Bruno in the lead of GC, with Djaja not far behind.
Then extra sprint the leadout was better, Djaja won, and Bruno made the top 10.
Then, on the cobbles, Iksander, Pal and, of course, Bruno, broke away on the early cobbles. This was a fearsome classics trio at this level.
Peter and Surya both emptied themselves, leaving Bruno alone with Vandousselaere up top. This wasn't a good race for names
Unfortunately he was edged out, but kept the jersey. It's the lapped peleton in the background by the way!
Another great race for the team, two podiums! We're continuing that form, promotion looks a certainty! Next up is Paris- Camembert, but maybe I'll get in the news before that, who knows!
This race didn't have any of my mates, or me, in it, so it's just a short report!
O'Malley was leader and favourite.
With about 20km left in the day, O'Malley attacked. After getting away with a small group, he attacked again. This time Wout Poels had also attacked, so he went over the final climb chasing the Dutchman.
But he was too late. A poor descent from O'Malley put the win out of range, but he just about held on for 2nd place, still a pretty creditable performance.
So there we go, next race is Vuelta a Castille y Leon.
Edited by The Hobbit on 23-01-2014 20:15
I felt like leaving you hanging a bit on that news. After all, it is really big!
This is a small hilly race, pre classics, but clashes with AGR, so you get some decent names, but no one big. We sent Tom O'Malley as our main man.
On the first two flat stages Djaja, our sprinter, struggled. He came 10th and 7th, which was good enough for us.
Unfortunately, in the hilly stage, Tom was struggling. Even early in he lost contact several times and had to rejoin, sapping valuable energy.
When things were back together, he was isolated. He launched a clever little dig with 22km to go. He used it to gauge his opponents strength and to fetch water!!
Things were back together with 16km to go, but Tom wasn't waiting around. With just 5km left, he attacked again, and quickly gained more time.
The sprint was tight, but Tom had a few metres of advantage, would that compensate for tired legs?
Vanspeybrouck, a remnant of the breakaway, was the eventual winner, despite Tom's best efforts.
All was not lost, Tom held on (just) for 2nd place.
Another good-ish result for the team, next time may we make the podium, or, ideally, win.
Here is a part cobble, part flat race. As such, both Ricardo and Bruno are here. Oddly enough for a race with both my mates, there weren't many photos, but you'll see why in a bit!
The race had cobbles even during the sprint, so we didn't know how things would pan out. As such we formed 1 lead out train, with Ricardo protected by Iksander just behind the support for Bruno.
Everything went swimmingly, but the sprint was very narrow, and a lot of Garmin riders up top were blocking the way! In the end Bruno, and even Ricardo gained massively over the cobbles, but it was still tight!
But in the tiny section of road before the finish, Ricardo had done it, he'd won.
Hang on a second.
In a huge failure on behalf of both the organisers and the teams, the race had already been won! Without us even knowing it, the breakaway had waltzed in. We were made to look like fools, maybe that was why only us and Garmin tried a sprint!
Even so Ricardo was 8th, and Bruno 11th. Mind you, I wouldn't like to be the one explaining this to Mr Hobbit, what a blunder!!
No wonder they didn't tell me much about what happened!
@Ollfardh: Tom sure has started the season finely. I wouldn't say we don't have any good cobblers. Ramires da Costa (Bruno) is 73, Pal (Peter) is 71, and Iksander (Surya, custom rider) is 70. Not exactly WT, but good enough.
This was a proper cobbled race. No duel leadership, no waiting for the sprint, we were going all out for Bruno today, and he fancied his chances. If only I was there!
We took control of the pack on the cobblestones. No one could attack until we said so, and more importantly, no one was sticking around unless they were willing to work for it, especially sprinters.
This may be a far cry from the weather in Brazil or. Indonesia, but that's what the team had to cope with today. As the race got ever closer towards Melton, we stepped up the tempo, with Surya Iksander and Toms Ozolinsh the men in charge.
Then, with 23km to go we made our move. There would be no cobbled finish, this was the last section, so we needed to move now, or we'd lost. Peter Pal and Bruno both attacked. It was risky to get out of the saddle on the cobblestones, but these were two of the biggest talents in cycling at the moment, so they risked it!
In the end a group of 3 formed, Peter, Bruno, and Sentjens, of De Rijke. Peter was slaving away, but he was almost spent, this wasn't looking good, with the peleton looming.
Then Bruno hit the front, Peter struggled to stay on, and the gap was widening again, we might just make it.
The peleton stopped riding, this was the winning group, but because of Bruno's efforts, Sentjens had grabbed his wheel. After doing 0 work, he looked like he was about to nick it!
He waited, and waited, almost tauntingly, but he didn't come round. What was going on?
What was this! Sentjens had let it slip, he couldn't come round at all, he was falling.
What a race, what a ride, what a win! He'd done it.
To add to our glory, Peter slipped in for 3rd, another brilliant race for the team. We'd proved what few doubters remained, this team was here to stay.
@Sutty and The Rider: It's an unusual nationality, and one who probably isn't used to that weather, but it's still a great victory!
News
You know that big piece of news I was going to tell you about. Well.... I'm not allowed to say it here. sorry to keep you guys hanging like this, especially after all your support, but I can't. Mr Hobbit says this is one of the biggest projects he's ever done, and that's saying something if you count an entire team, basically creating Indonesian Cycling, and of course the Tour of Indonesia. So I can tell you its big!
There is some good news for my loyal followers though. There will be a big reveal pretty soon, all the journalists will be there. It's also the Astra early season review, so there'll be a lot of questions. I'd really appreciate it if you guys could send some questions to Mr Hobbit, it will make a change to the 'controversial' dribble of the journalists! I hope you get those questions in in time! See you all then!
It has been a fantastic start to the year for everyone at Astra. We've had so many victories, it feels great. I, myself have been more successful than I could possibly imagine, with many victories. For the team though, 3 victories stand out, and all are from me! They are the 2 Indonesian Championships (we were guaranteed a win, but they are still important) and of course, the big one, the Tour of Indonesia. Our entire season was planned around that point, and it worked, we won, and won in style.
As such there was a jovial mood. As 'the star' of the team, I sat between Mr Hobbit and Ricardo, as the video and presentation started. I found it boring, just watching videos of me and Ricardo, as that's really all it was. Mr Hobbit gave a small speech, (thankfully I didn't have to) and then the interesting part began, the interview!
Spoiler
Daily member questions in italics
Your start has been really good so far, can you continue it?
Mr Hobbit: It has been amazing, if you look at our record, we are out shining even World Tour teams. I, for one, see no reason why this shouldn't continue. We have the strength and depth to carry on, and even maintain a similar level of form, although it was our objective to shine in this particular part of the season.
This has been the first anyone has seen of Indonesian Cycling at the top level, how far do you think it can go?
Me: I think that it really has been an amazing leap into the spotlight. This is a small, not particularly sporting nation, but we are doing great things. It may seem odd, but it's happened before, look at the example of the UK. Before 2000 they had no real top cyclists, now they dominate. I am not saying Indonesia will get that far, but we will certainly try.
Is it a bad thing that Astra have such a strong link to Indonesian cycling?
Mr Hobbit: I do not think so. It is true that the team, and indeed Walter ( ) have been the reason for this rise. It is also true that we have almost taken over the Indonesian cycling association. However, again referring back to the example of British cycling, which is dominated by Sky, and look how successful they have been!
What is it like for the foreigners at your team, knowing there is so large a focus on Indonesian cycling?
Ricardo: I think I am the best person to answer that! In my opinion, there is no difference to any other team. If I was at Movistar, Sky or FDJ, they are all dominated by one country, but contain many foreigners, as does Astra. The Indonesians receive no preferential treatment, and it isn't a presence in the team. There is a bit of rivalry, but nothing unhealthy, it's still a great team to be at!
What are your goals for the next part of the season?
Me: As you all know the Tour of Indonesia was our big goal. The team hopes to carry on similar performances in all the other races. There are no specific objectives. Personally, I'm taking a small break but I'll race more in Autumn and late season, where I hope to do well.
How goes the UHC trial?
Me:I think that's a question I can't really answer.
Ricardo: As you well know it has reached a stalemate which we are trying to resolve. We hope to bring about a fair and speedy conclusion, but so far nothing has happened. If something happens you will be the first to know.
Mr Hobbit: I think that just about ends part one, are there any questions from the audience or online? No, it seems not. Please take a short break, the big reveal will come soon!
I walked down the corridor with Ricardo. He elbowed me and said maybe my blog isn't so popular after all! It was in jest, but annoying still. Even so, I was looking forward to everyone's faces when we announce the big reveal.
Interesting interview. A bit ambitious to compare oneself to Sky, but I agree: Sky did lots of things for british cycling, Astra might end up doing the same for Indonesia.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
@Shonak: It never hurts to be ambitious. It would be good to so what Sky did, but maybe be a bit better like.
I Need Your Help
Does anyone feel particularly atatched to the bits between races, where I comment on what happened, or should I just skip them. There are three options as I see things.
1- Carry on as we are
2- Skip it and get back to Walter's races
3- Give a brief summary, like, just saying who won, our riders... Etc.
) have been the reason for this rise. It is also true that we have almost taken over the Indonesian cycling association. However, again referring back to the example of British cycling, which is dominated by Sky, and look how successful they have been!
