East Java was decent in terms of the GC but March continues to be sluggish. Having said that, Strade was always going to be tough with the involvement of PT teams.
@Abhishek - Indeed a slow start to March, and not much going on on paper to finish it either
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
Jelajah SKL
28-31st of March | Top 10 Race Goal | C1
Startlist
Stanislau
Bazhkou
Leader
Anthony
Roux
Puncheur
Tosh
Van der Sande
Sprinter
Marvain
Kossohorou
Domestique
Dylan
Kennett
Domestique
Tom
Davison
Domestique
Callum
Scotson
Domestique
Jamalidin
Novardianto
Free Role
"A funny little tour up next, with a prologue, a sprint stage with little hills, a hilly stage with slightly bigger hills, and an epilogue. We've brought three leaders here, and hopefully they can all give it a real shot."
Roux got into the stage 2 breakaway in case he could take a gap with him onto the final hill and surprise the peloton. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.
Tosh came off the hill in a group of 4 (Navardauskas, Van Asbroeck and Ignatiev) chasing down the attacker Kwiatkowski. He worked hard to shut the gap and eventually went first in the sprint - at Xero we go for the win rather than waiting to come second!
In a long and brutal sprint we caught the Pole but, not for the first time this season, was beaten by Van Asbroeck! Very close to a stunning stage win. Despite a poor prologue this was still enough to lift Tosh into the Top 10, but we'd need a good performance in the hills to hold on. We also moved into second in the teams competition.
As some puncheurs took a time gap on Stage 3 we lost our spot in the teams ranking but we still had Tosh in 8th and Stan in 15th on GC now, so both had outside shots at the top 10 after a solid Stage 3.
However both had weak epilogues by their standards, and so we ended up with Stan only in 15th, with Tosh slipping to outside the top 25, with MTK also in the top 30 after a solid race.
1
Mohamed Shawal Anuar Aziz
Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ
8h02'44
2
Pello Bilbao
SPAR - Shimano - SCG
s.t.
3
Cesare Di Maggio
ENI-MOL
+ 6
15
Stanislau Bazhkou
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 1'18
25
Marvain Tognama Kossouhorou
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 1'34
28
Tosh Van der Sande
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 1'38
70
Jamalidin Novardianto
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 3'46
93
Tom Davison
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 6'13
99
Anthony Roux
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 6'19
136
Dylan Kennett
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 10'18
153
Callum Scotson
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 12'02
Not a nothing race with us with 3 riders collecting GC points plus the stage podium from Tosh, but disappointing really due to Stan's uncharacteristically weak TT performances.
GP Herning
31st of March | Top 10 Race Goal | HC
Startlist
Mekseb
Debesay
Co-Leader
Luke
Rowe
Co-Leader
Carl
Ngamoki-C
Domestique
Gregory
Daniel
Domestique
Jordan
Schleck
Domestique
Nils
Schomber
Domestique
Hamish
Schreurs
Free Role
"Another flat cobbles race and a super tough one! But it actually sometimes ends in a smaller group sprint, perfect for Rowe! As usual a top 10 and a breakaway is the goal, and as usual for both that's easier said than done."
Debesay was dropped early on an off day and in fact finished outside the points, 6 minutes down with Schreurs.
Rowe was no shining light either, finishing in 18th after a hard race. Not one to remember for our team.
1
Geraint Thomas
Podium Ambition
4h25'37
2
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck
Nordstrom - BioWare
s.t.
3
Robert Bush
World Cycling Center
s.t.
18
Luke Rowe
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 1'17
54
Mekseb Debesay
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 6'48
57
Hamish Schreurs
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
s.t.
93
Carl Ngamoki-Cameron
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 17'49
DNF
Gregory Daniel
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
boo freaking hoo gregory maybe I'd have something to say if you didn't DNF every race i'm so accustommed to it that my eyes skip right over the gregory daniel xero racing dnf because it's always there is that comment enough
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
Sadly your old pal Mr. HQ man has not been around to keep up with the racing, so we'll need to pump through these real quick, so let's forget all the shitty classics we came 18th in and just focus on the lights, be them high or low.
Urgh, to think we used to run an award-nominated HQ, and now look where we are.
Tour of Vancouver
1-7th of April | Top 5 Race Goal | HC
Velits here as leader in a stage race, so who knows what could happen? Throw a TTT into the mix and we guess chaos will reign for Xero this week.
However it was off to a solid start with Velits fourth in the prologue, and staying safe over the next two sprint stages. Meintjes with a brutal attack on stage 2, finishing the sprint before Velits to change GC spots, but we got him good on Stage 3 to reclaim 4th.
Meanwhile Davison joined the break on Stage 2, before Kossohorou tried it on Stage 3, finally getting into it on Stage 4, the first mountain stage of the race. However it would not be a positive stage for us, with Velits ceding four minutes and any hope of a top 5, let alone a podium tilt. Even the top 10 seemed a faraway prospect. To raise our spirits, or more likely to get away from our misery and test his legs before the Tour of Ukraine, Stan got into the next two breakaways.
If you were expecting Velits to give up, you haven't been watching the PCT this year. Together with the also struggling Meintjes, he lit up the final summit finish on Stage 6, attacking with 11km still to go and cutting up the main field. They rode together well and, although he couldn't follow Pluchkin when he came past as Meintjes could, he held on for fourth and a boost back into the top 10 of GC, 9th in the end. We rode solidly in the TTT to secure this final result.
Tour of Ukraine
13-15th of April | Top 10 Race Goal | HC
Finally, the intriguing debut of power puncheur and hilly stage race specialist, Stanislau "The Manislau" Bazhkou, the Belarussian Bazhkooka, et cetera. He began it with a solid 44th in the prologue, with enough time on the puncheurs to cede a few seconds on a hopefully not so selective second stage.
However it was a fairly selective day, but to everybody's astonishment Bazhkou relished it, not responding to the flashy attacks of McCarthy and Lutsenko but grinding away from the flailing peloton and finish a quite stunning fifth on the stage among the greatest puncheurs in the division! A truly special ride for an unfancied rider, and set-up enough for a GC podium tilt the next day.
Which he only went and accomplished! Another huge overperformance saw our man come in 11th, holding off the best in the world Coppel by a single second and leapfrogging two puncheurs to climb onto the podium. What a result, welcome to the team Stanislau Bazhkou!
Tour of Cyprus
20-24th of April | 2 Stage Podium + Top 10 Race Goal | C1
A race where we brought an exciting triple threat: Rowe for sprints and cobbles, Debesay for the cobbles and GC, and Bennett for the mountains, hills, and GC if Debesay faltered on Stage 2. No expectations other than crazy racing!
We began with a solid fourth place on the sprint stage from Rowe, his best result of the season so far. However it is saying something, but this is the least memorable day for us!
We knew a strong breakaway may surprise the GC teams focused on survival on stage 2 and Debesay was a driving force in all iterations of the breakaway, earning a spot to fight for the stage win as a strong group of subtop cobblers held off the dissolving peloton. Behind Rowe and Jams tried to keep Bennett in touch and did an admirable job before he was dropped with 34km to go!
Debesay's group held off the strongest cobblers who attacked across to try and get a stage win and some GC time, and put three and a half minutes into thebest placed climbers. Although he did a lot of work as the most likely GC contender in the group, Mekseb also did well to take a fantastic second place on the stage behind the sprinter-cobbler Lindeman, capping off a fantastic performance where he turned the GC top 5 race unexpectedly into his favour!
With Bennett out of the GC picture he volunteered himself immediately that night to stay with Debesay on the mountain stage rather than going for the stage win, which he doubtlessly could have fought for as a GC non-threat. He first set a false tempo on the front of the peloton and then stayed with the Eritrean to guide him up to the finish at Mount Olympus. A fantastic performance from the duo (and Tom Davison) who limited Mekseb's losses to stay in the top 5 of GC, just two seconds away from the podium! In fact with much worse puncheurs ahead of him we had a plan to be second after the hilly stage 4.
We worked hard on Stage 4 and eventually shelled everybody above Debesay on GC except for the yellow jersey of Roglic. Although perhaps we could have came second on GC if Bennett had stayed with the group, he was allowed to fight for the stage win and his own place on GC, where he stood a chance at breaking into the top 10 despite his time losses over the last two days! In the end he was fourth and moved to 12th on GC, whilst Debesay sprinted home in the peloton in ninth, but couldn't quite make up the extra two seconds to overthrow Van Keirsbulck (aided by his fantastic Nordstrom climbing team) in second on GC. However this strong result had an unexpected upisde:
The green jersey! A fine way to cap off a fantastic race for us, which also saw us bring home 2nd, 4th, 4th and 9th stage positions and 3rd and 12th on GC. Woohoo!
Corsica International
28-30th of April | Stage Win + Top 3 Race Goal | C1
Hoping for a great result for a well-suited race to Velits, with Bennett here in support after his great Tour of Cyprus. But first, we wanted to get our hands on yellow with Tosh!
Which we did! A great sprint win from our man, delivered to the last kilometre well with a makeshift leadout of Bennett and Kennett, finally working together to deliver pure rhyming awesomeness. A great stage win and a chance to wear the yellow jersey in the following day's time trial.
Tosh lost the lead the next day's time trial as expected, but far more worrying was the awful performance of Velits, who would need a huge ride the next day to get onto the podium.
Sadly, although it wasn't a collapse, sixth on the final stage was subpar, especially combined with his awful ITT, and he could only manage, yet again, ninth on GC. Luckily for us it was backed up by a rather great performance from Gilanipoor in 12th, and a perhaps subpar one from Bennett in 19th, which was also enough for third in the teams' classification.
Veenendaal - Veenendaal
29th of April | Top 10 Race Goal | HC
A tough race as we hoped for in the Netherlands, as Rowe used to his advantage when he beat normally faster sprinters to fifth in the pack sprint for sixth in the race, behind late attacker Hermans. A great showing for us.
Screenshot of the Month
Debesay in the sprint - Credit to tsmoha
Rider of the Month
Two third places on GC, both so strong and unexpected, but in the end it went to
Time trialling to third on GC - Tour of Ukraine
Stanislau Bazhkou Total RoTM Wins | 1 RoTM Wins This Season | 1
Despite a fine first year in the PCT where they outstripped their relegation battlers tag to finish safely mid-table, rumours coming out of Xero Racing HQ this week suggest a lack of funding for next year. With many sponsors with unrenewed and expiring contracts, the team's continued failure to invest in South African cycling, and the New Zealand sponsors waiting impatiently on some return on their investment into the sport's future in the country, there seems to be nobody yet stepping up to fund the ambitious plans of the team, who are looking to secure a brighter core of young talents whilst also promoting within two years to match their project goals.
Currently New Zealand sponsor Xero are still contracted another year and an agreement to stay on as title sponsor for that last season is waiting to be inked, but fellow title sponsor Octagon haven't renewed yet, and neither have the third major sponsor Kiwibank. This is the biggest issue facing management at the moment, but the fact that two of the three minor sponsors (Econet and Telkom Indonesia) are yet to renew either will only add to the headache at Xero. This is extra hard on the team, who have failed four of their MGUCI season goals and were looking for extra sponsors to support their tilt towards the PT in the next few years.
Although the future is still very bright on the cycling front, the monetary stress will no doubt be starting to gnaw at the team management company, Lionheart Racing, who have so far curtly insisted the team will carry on in it's current form, with or without the current sponsors.
Congrats on a great turnaround after a difficult transfer window. I hope the sponsors realize that they're a part of a great setup and come back for the coming season. I'm sure you'll take the team forward even if changes are made in the off-season. Look forward to another season in the peloton with you
Abhishek - Thanks a lot, really pleased with how we went. And the same to you too, good luck and can't wait for another year racing with you guys!
sammy - Yeah we've got a few options on the table, one of which could be a conglomeration of sponsors with no title under the Lionheart name But it's all up in the air. Same goes for next year - I have a clear plan in mind for the direction of the short term but there's a number of ways to do it and other directions to consider.
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
After a positive April got us back on course, May threatened to be another slow month. With three interesting but unsure hybrid stage races the main attraction, with Rowe, Bennett and Bazhkou in action. Surprisingly, they all went at least okay!
In the unmentioned races this month, Roux came 30th in a PT field in the Scandinavia Open Road Race, and we completely blew it in the Berlin ProRace, with Rowe in 22nd our best finisher.
Cheshire Cycling Tour
1-5th of May | Top 10 + Stage Win Race Goal | HC
A cobbled stage race with three tasty sprints for Luke to sink his teeth into and hopefully gain some bonifications for the GC fight, where we have hopes of a top 10 and a top 15 from him and Debesay. However those chances took a minor blow on the up and down first stage, where they came in 13th and 18th respectively. However, the only way was most certainly up... if we forget a subpar sprint the next day outside the stage win fight.
The third day started well as Jams got involved in the KoM fight as our young baroudeur continues to find his feet at this level.
But it only got better as our man Rowe edged out his brother Matt to his first win for Xero, and what a time to do it! A fantastically taken stage win showing his sprinting power, moving to second in the points classification and 11th on GC.
The next day saw another great sprint from Luke, coming from behind in the sprint to nearly take a second successive win, just being held off on the line by Vantomme. With Saber having won on stage 2, it was a threepeat for the conglomerate in the North West.
However our fortunes would only get better on the cobbled stage five, with our leaders navigating a tough day very well, with Rowe in 8th moving up to the same on GC, and Debesay not far behind springboarding to 13th - with the stage win and the points classification (taken on the last day at the sad expense of our friend Saber) as well as minor KoM scoring by Jams, making for an excellent points haul for us in England!
1
Jérome Baugnies
Kulczyk - DMTEX
21h17'25
2
Kenneth Vanbilsen
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
+ 18
3
Adam Blythe
Iberia - Team Degenkolb
+ 40
8
Luke Rowe
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 3'46
13
Mekseb Debesay
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 6'08
61
Carl Ngamoki-Cameron
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 21'25
67
Hamish Schreurs
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 25'07
74
Jamalidin Novardianto
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 27'27
114
Dylan Kennett
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 50'37
DNF
Nils Schomber
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
come on
DNF
Joseph Areruya
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
sorry
Tour of Eritrea
19-24th of May | Top 5 + Stage Win Race Goal | C1
Another stage race with hills big and small as Bennett aimed high at the top 5, whilst between him, Roux and van der Sande we wanted to leave this African race with a stage win to garner some local support - hard with Kudus on the startlist. Tosh started fairly dissapointingly, 7th on stage one.
A tough stage 2 saw a 13-man group contest the sprint, Tosh got into it and looked poised to take the sprint after a hard race, but ran out of road coming around from deep and had to settle for third.
Bennett had a dissapointing stage on the decisive stage 3, coming in 11th and losing any shot at the podium. However we knew the hills to come meant that dissapointment wasn't guaranteed to continue. He'd move to ninth after finishing in the front group the next day, where Roux joined the break in search of a stage win - not the best route in the end as he would have been amongst it in the pack, but a daring one.
Stage 5's flat stage brought crosswinds, as the pack turned on itself it barely caught the breakaway containing our neo-pro Areruya. He would finish a credible 11th, whilst Tosh focused on guiding Bennett through the crosswinds, a worthy tactic as he gained time to go 7th on GC!
On Stage 6 Venter joined the break looking to improve his GC, whilst Bennett rode well to gain a lot of time, we thought he'd make the top 5 when the group ahead gained a little too much time, and Kiserlovski slipped ahead of him on GC! However the bump to 6th still made for a decent race for us considering the calibre of those ahead - though with no really above average performances (other than the crosswinds gains), it shows that the potential was there for more. Sadly Gilanipoor lost time today placing him outside the top 30 on GC, so we got minimal depth points.
1
Merhawi Kudus
Repsol - Netflix
24h16'44
2
Michal Kwiatkowski
Netia - Vonin
+ 4
3
Yonathan Monsalve
Ayubowan!
+ 44
6
George Bennett
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 3'28
29
Jaco Venter
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 15'55
31
Abolfazl Gilanipoor
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 17'15
55
Anthony Roux
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 29'15
65
Tosh Van der Sande
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 32'34
72
Joseph Areruya
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 34'38
73
Tom Davison
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 34'54
74
Stanislau Bazhkou
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 35'22
Tour of Norway
27-35th of May | Top 10 Race Goal | PTHC
A PTHC outing for Stan but we were confident we'd find ourselves in the 5-10 spot on a well suited route - some more hills would have been helpful though. Roux was here for a free role on all four role stages, but it's a world class puncheur field so breaks were the goal.
Bazhkou put in a solid ride to come in 21th in the time trial stage - now we were hoping for a hard but not crazy stage the next day.
Areruya continued his newfound knack of finding breakaways by joining the one on the hilly Stage 4, and ending the day third in the KoM classification!
Our riders rode amazingly well as Bazhkou and Debesay came in the main group behind solo winner Hagen, and it looked like one of our best results of the season was on the cards with possibilities of a PTHC podium and top 10 when we were unfortunately told the gap was not counted just behind them as it looked it would, but another 20 or so riders back. Our euphoria was cut short, but 9th and 17th on GC could be worse. However due to their great form, it's a shame the stage was not more selective - or the race jury less selective with their fricking eyesight.
On the final flat day (with a few hills), Roux went into the break and it was looking like he would be in the stage win fight before a flying Edvald Boasson Hagen flew through the breakaway on his way to his GC victory. Roux held on for third on the stage a very solid result. Sadly Debesay lost one GC spot. A race that went okay, especially with Debesay, Areruya and Roux picking up minor GC, KoM and stage points in addition to Stan's top 10, but could have been better.
1
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Air France - KLM
16h47'13
2
Jerome Coppel
Carrefour - ESPN
+ 1'19
3
Andreas Vangstad
Aker - MOT
+ 1'40
9
Stanislau Bazhkou
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 2'26
18
Mekseb Debesay
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 3'51
47
Tom Davison
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 6'35
54
Joseph Areruya
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 7'26
58
Marvain Tognama Kossouhorou
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 7'42
87
Anthony Roux
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 13'10
142
Hamish Schreurs
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 20'42
149
Dylan Kennett
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 22'10
Screenshot of the Month
Jams first on the climb - Credit to tsmoha
Rider of the Month
We continue our trend of no repeat winners of this award so far, as, despite a horror showing in Berlin, it's our Welshman in Cheshire who takes the title
Triumph over your older brother, how sweet - Cheshire Cycling Tour
Luke Rowe Total RoTM Wins | 1 RoTM Wins This Season | 1
Team management was on edge. This was our one trip to South Africa all season and what did we have? Nothing, nothing. A minor puncheur looking for the top 15 and a weak TTT squad. It was time to convince Octagon to renew and/or appeal to new South African sponsors, and we had six days to win over some local fans. Nervous times for the management, but how would the race team react to the pressure?
Beasty bastard Roux, home boy Venter, African joker Kossohorou, Eritel fan favourite Debesay, Stan the Man, Tommy Davison and our loanees were the men to do it. A surprisingly solid TTT squad, but it was all on Roux, failing that Venter, to do the goods on the road stages.
A good start on stage one with Roux 5th in the sprint after a hilly stage, with MTK in 10th as well showing his CAF colours. Our riders keen to get involved and a nice sign of things to come.
As a late attack was caught on the downhill run in to the line on stage 2, Roux found himself in the wheel of a good sprinter in Navardauskas, and spotted an opportunity for a long sprint given the downhill sprint.
He took the lead as the Lithuanian faded, and was left with plenty of energy, having read the final kilometre better than his rivals!
YYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS! What a win from our Frenchman, his first of the season and showing he can do it in this division at the best time. The crowd cheering him showing a growing affinity for us, and we didn't even realise
that we had the yellow jersey! Maximum exposure in our home country and a huge surprise in such a race, but what a day, what a performance from Anthony Roux in one of our most important races of the season, business-wise.
On stage three nobody had a sprinter and so we were left chasing the breakaway by ourselves to protect Roux's yellow jersey, an arduous task and one we couldn't fully commit to with the wider GC picture in mind.
Roux tried to defend the jersey himself but by 8 seconds Nic Hamilton from the breakaway group slipped into the GC lead. However, Roux was still second going into the team time trial.
A very very solid TTT where we placed sixth to keep Roux in the top 10 of the general classification. With his form, we really believed he could keep it now! Stage five would be the test, though.
No pictures of Roux on stage five, and with good reason. He stayed cool in the main peloton and within himself until the attacks went, where he worked to limit his losses in the best of the rest group, sliding to 10th on GC, a very respectable performance.
Stage 6 saw a plan executed we had planned before the start of the race: on an undulating stage, Debesay (who had been resting most of the race except the TTT), joined the breakaway which still had a healthy minute with 12km to go when he attacked, going solo and now racing to the line, trying to get there before the peloton could catch him.
Behind, Roux was following all attacks from the peloton - on a good day, but with Debesay in it for the win he didn't dare attack.
Debesay was within sight of the peloton, but as we hoped was advantaged by the disorganisation of the GC favourites. The gap was shutting fast.
But not fast enough! Debesay with enough of a gap to sit up and enjoy the adulation of the fans - if we thought they had cheered us hard when Roux was in yellow we hadn't seen anything yet as one of Africa's best won in South Africa in beautiful solo style. His first in Xero colours and what a way to do it!
Roux very nearly made it our first ever 1-2 but couldn't quite, but another stage podium was very very good and capped a very special day for us.
And once again, at the time of the podium ceremony we were surprised with an unexpected jersey as Roux reclaimed the green jersey on the final day by a single point over GC winner Ulissi, another great result. Two stage wins, a spell in yellow, the points jersey, 10th on GC and thousands of fans won over. Not a bad week's work - and one that could save our future in the African market. One of our most important races ever? Only time will tell.
We were now really getting into the swing of things as our hybrid riders were riding amazingly - and it was to be another outing each for Bennett and Bazhkou in Japan and Denmark respectively. We had a home tour, which went amazingly and was summarised in the post above, as well as a tough flat classic in the Netherlands and two cobbled classics.
In the unmentioned races this month, Japan went awfully due to, if I can break character a moment here, PCM shitting the bed, with Roux's surprising GC performance and a sprint win for an otherwise under-par Tosh (above) the only highlights. A PTHC cobbled classic was a step too far as our leaders finished together anonymously in the 20s, whilst the GP Kigali saw Debesay underfire in 23rd, Rowe fire regualrly in 13th and Ngamoki-Cameron overfire in 18th from the breakaway.
Post Danmark Rundt
10-14th of June | Top 5 Race Goal | HC
A race for Stan which looked right up his alley, though perhaps the hilly stage might not be tough enough to distance the top time triallists. MTK and Jams both made a breakaway in the first three days, whilst Tosh struggled to break the top 10 in a harsh sprint field.
Roux had a license to go for the stage on Stage 3 and missed the final move but won the sprint from a chasing group for fourth, a solid but not spectacular result.
Bazhkou was one of the first in the peloton, finishing 9th but it was a rather large group and so he'd need a very very good time trial to crack the podium.
The next day Kossohorou would join the breakaway again, and Tosh would fail to fire.. again.
A solid ride from Bazhkou on the final stage's time trial moved him up to sixth on GC in an extremely tight final standings. It was a race that could really have seen him challenge for victory with a tougher hill stage, but it wasn't to be and we can't fault our man for yet another strong performance in this kind of stage race. A strong performance for Isostar alumni in this race as Stan's former teammate Brändle took the win.
1
Matthias Brändle
SPAR - Shimano - SCG
14h51'33
2
Marlen Zmorka
Team Reddit
+ 3
3
Mikhail Ignatiev
Fablok - Bank BGZ
+ 12
6
Stanislau Bazhkou
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 1'15
67
Tosh Van der Sande
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 6'25
78
Tom Davison
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 6'55
91
Jamalidin Novardianto
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 7'52
100
Dylan Kennett
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
s.t.
130
Anthony Roux
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 11'30
140
Marvain Tognama Kossouhorou
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 12'20
152
Joseph Areruya
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 14'00
Ronde van Het IJsselmeer
26th of June | Top 5 Race Goal | C1
An extremely exposed route on an extremely windy Dutch day was going to make for an extremely hard classic, which we were all too happy about. Tosh and Luke were both here and with their qualities we were quietly confident of a top 5 and trying to get the win.
When it all started going down in the wind we made an unusual move as it was one of our sprinters, Van der Sande, that took to the front and forced a final selection of 15 with twelve kilometres still to go in the crosswinds. It was a very good position for us with Luke Rowe tucked away in the group.
A surprise as one of the top favourites for a sprint, Dan Holloway, attacked, and only one man had the strength of mind and of legs to chase him - our very own Luke Rowe set off in pursuit of the American with six kilometres to go!
They would both get away from the group but Luke agaonisingly couldn't shut the gap to make it a final sprint, both sprinters proving they're more than that on the flat with amazing performances, neither giving an inch but Luke stayed exposed in the wind several seconds behind due to not getting into the slipstream at all!
It would be a second for Rowe in the end, never quite managing to shut the gap to a fantastic Holloway, but what a result all the same! A very very strong ride in awful windy conditions from our "sprinter"!
And to cap it off, our amazing second sprinter who opened the gap that forced the final selection Tosh van der Sande hung around to take a top 10 finish, bringing us big points and an even bigger feeling of joy - what a race from both of our sprinters!
1
Dan Holloway
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
4h56'59
2
Luke Rowe
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 20
3
John Degenkolb
Iberia - Team Degenkolb
+ 1'49
9
Tosh Van der Sande
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 1'49
26
Mekseb Debesay
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 3'29
63
Jamalidin Novardianto
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 3'56
70
Carl Ngamoki-Cameron
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 4'15
82
Callum Scotson
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 4'25
95
Marvain Tognama Kossouhorou
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 4'36
113
Nils Schomber
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
+ 5'53
Rider of the Month
Our most winningest rider of this award adds another to his tally with a strong GC in Japan backing up a stunning South African week...
Sprinting to stage glory and a day in yellow - Tour of South Africa
Anthony Roux Total RoTM Wins | 5 RoTM Wins This Season | 1
Survival was secured early but left a little later was the financial future of Lionheart Racing. However we are now pleased to announce that Xero have taken the option for a further year as title sponsor and we will now be racing under the name Xero Racing. Our former co-sponsor Octagon have renewed with a new contract with us as a minor sponsor, and will continue to work on our marketing, HQ and all our team and talent representation.
Meanwhile we step up our association with Qhubeka as they take a more prominent role on our jersey, and our third major sponsor Kiwibank decide not to renew their contract due to not getting enough out of the team in terms of Kiwi exposure, with our failures to find any new talents from the region for two years and the non-signings of both Jesse Sergent and Tom David last season. In compensation we have two new secondary sponsors to fill the gap in the team's funding.
The Primary Sponsors
About: The overnight success that is Xero is now a international company still based in little ol' NZ. They develop online accounting software for small businesses (like our own?) Contract Until: 2019 Focus Nations: New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain (minor), United States (very minor)
Xero stepped in at the last minute in 2016, but have been a great asset to the team and are now nearly synonymous with us. They continue as lone title sponsor for another year but have publicly noted their dissapointment in our lack of impact on the young blood of New Zealand cycling - and in a renewal year that's a worry. We effectively have two more young rider recruitment classes to convince them otherwise.
About: Qhubeka is a non-for-profit, the South African programme of World Bicycle Relief, distributing bikes to help connect people to schools, clinics and jobs. Contract Until: 2020 *new Focus Nations: South Africa
A charity which helps use bicycles to support communities in poverty, as well as as a tool to help people of any age move forward in life. Not a sponsor by any means, quite the opposite. We ride for Qhubeka to increase awareness and taking part in fundraising, both of them increasing their funds and reach. We have renewed with them for another two seasons.
The Secondary Sponsors
About: My Food Bag is another hotshot emerging modern Kiwi company, an online food delivery service philosophising in “Eating food from the ground, sea or the sky. A sure-fire way to enjoy food the way nature intended, with less preservative, salts and a host of other artificial things. With recipes being focused on bringing natural ingredients forwards as the heroes”. We will help spread the word as they hope to develop this message with local (not always possible for us) and free-range produce. Contract Until: 2020 *new contract Focus Nations: New Zealand, Australia
We've loved the nutrition tips provided by the Kiwi upstart, and we're happy to keep going with this partnership for the next two years!
About: Octagon is the sports and entertainment marketing division of the Interpublic Group (IPG). The IPG is one of the "big four" advertising companies and so being sponsored by the South African arm of the sports arm of the IPG is a smaller deal but with big background. Contract Until: 2020 *new contract Focus Nations: South Africa, The World (minor)
Octagon help us get our name on the backs of buses, billboards, wherever, in our target countries. Good for publicity, finances and fans. They have stepped down from their title sponsor role but maintain a solid presence within the team as our marketers and talent representatives.
About: Castle Lager is South Africa's favourite beer and is now available in over 40 countries worldwide. Contact Until: 2020 *new sponsor Focus Nations: South Africa, The World (minor)
Castle Lager continues their long association with South African sport as they signa new two-year deal with us, and will take on a role as one of our new minor sponsors, filling the gap of Octagon and Kiwibank.
About: Visit Rwanda is a premier tourism company operating in, you guessed it, Rwanda. Contact Until: 2020 *new sponsor Focus Nation: Rwanda
The tourism company want to use our young talent Joseph Areruya, very visible in breakaways this year, as a vessel through which to advertise the cycling-mad country to the world. They give us an interest in new regions of Africa and are delighted to sign a two-year deal.
The Minor Sponsors
About: Econet are an innovative company based out of Southern Africa but operate in the rest of Africa South America, Europe, East Asia and Australasia. Their core area is telecommunications and specifically broadband and fiber networks. They are also involved in other ventures in other sectors entirely Contract Until: 2019 *new contract Focus Nations: Zimbabwe, South Africa, Africa (minor)*, Australasia (minor) East Asia (very minor)*, South America (very minor)*, Europe (very minor)* *The choice of flags here means nothing
Econet are a truly innovative company which we are glad to be sponsored by. As a more worldwide company they don't demand any focus nationalities but will hopefully expand our influence even more in Southern Africa.
About: Telkom Indonesia is a majority state owned telecommunications company, the largest in Indonesia. Contract Until: 2020 *new contract Focus Nations: Indonesia
Jamalidin Novardianto is a cult hero now and nowhere is this more clear, other than the manager's room, than in his home country of Indonesia. Not investing too much money, this state-owned telecommunications firm wanted in and will sponsor the team, just so they know we're tight and all, as long as Jams rides for us. So until he retires, then.
I respect the pragmatism (cynicism) of Telkom Indonesia.
Despite raking in billions, their capital expenditure processes mean that they can only afford to sponsor a PCT team until they don't see any more value coming from Jams.
Booker wrote:
I respect the pragmatism (cynicism) of Telkom Indonesia.
Despite raking in billions, their capital expenditure processes mean that they can only afford to sponsor a PCT team until they don't see any more value coming from Jams.
Those are the kinds of sponsors we like.
Well with no Jams we have no value to the Indonesian market, it's very smart indeed And yes, it's a very small chunk of their coffers
We are pleased to announce the development of our talent programme in 2018. It has been a rather successful year of growth for our young guns as we look to continue developing home-grown riders and giving them major places in the team, which we our now only one or two years away from doing with our older talents. Next year we hope to add some bright stars of the future to the mix as we secure our young core of riders for the team's foreseeable future.
Mekseb Debesay 27 | 4.68XP | 365,000
FLA
MON
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRL
XP
74
67
73
72
74
78
69
75
69
78
72
74
74
4
68
75
67
74
72
75
79
70
77
69
78
73
74
74
4
100
Our Eritrean's slow burn development comes to a final end after years of being confined by the shackles of carrying Eritrel, as he finally becomes to cobbled leader he was born to be. He's no real cobbler just yet who can glide over the rough pavé but his bike handling and all-around skillset will hopefully make up for it. He has worked hard in Northern France and Flanders on his skills over rough cobbles and cobbled bergs, and the results will show next year.
Jamalidin Novardianto 24 | 3.73XP | 50,000
FLA
MON
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRL
XP
73
61
68
68
69
75
72
69
69
76
74
68
72
3
73
75
61
68
68
70
77
73
69
71
78
74
68
74
4
42
...
76
61
68
68
70
78
74
69
73
79
74
68
75
4
100
Due to the MGUCI repeatedly confirming their stance against the Xero manager's experimental all-around baroudeur training, Jamalidin Novardianto is now a flatbeast and boy is he pulling it off. A big step up this year for the Indonesian as he nears his full potential. Watch out, sprint teams. There's a finisseur in town.
Jordan Schleck 22 | 3.54XP | 50,000
FLA
MON
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRL
XP
62
71
69
52
68
67
75
53
52
70
56
57
60
3
54
63
75
72
53
69
69
77
53
52
72
59
58
61
4
99
...
64
77
74
53
70
70
79
53
52
74
63
59
61
4
100
Everybody knows Jordan Schleck can ride up mountains for days and days on end. The problem has always been everything else. Well that's still the problem but he's better at mountains now.
Hamish Schreurs 24 | 3.06XP | 50,000
FLA
MON
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRL
XP
69
54
66
52
71
73
68
73
69
69
64
62
61
3
06
71
54
67
52
73
74
70
75
71
71
64
63
61
4
49
...
72
54
67
52
75
75
71
77
72
71
64
63
61
4
100
Who needs Bewley or David, we have our own Kiwi cobbler and he's another one to have made great strides in his development as he approaches his future of being a very very good cobbled superdomestique, and already next year will be a great helper for Debesay (or perhaps a PT leader) who can also score well in his own right.
Nils Schomber 24 | 2.95XP | 50,000
FLA
MON
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRL
XP
69
54
57
68
62
70
64
50
69
69
62
64
75
2
95
70
54
57
70
63
72
65
50
69
69
63
64
77
3
99
...
73
53
58
74
66
76
68
50
69
69
65
64
81
4
100
Slowly, but surely, it's becoming worth it. Our prologueist extraordinaire in the making is gradually progressing in the world of cycling, and soon those DNFs will turn into, well, more DNFs - but after he's already worn the yellow jersey. He gets a lot of hate but we have faith.
Dylan Kennett 23 | 2.87XP | 50,000
FLA
MON
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRL
XP
71
58
64
69
72
72
68
62
73
72
67
68
74
2
87
72
58
64
69
72
73
69
62
75
74
67
68
75
3
99
...
75
58
65
69
73
76
71
62
79
78
67
68
78
4
100
Though he's done a fine job for Tosh this year in our makeshift leadout trains, our Paris-Tours Espoirs winner has taken a step forward in becoming a proper leadout for Luke - he's not the full package yet, that'll be 2020 and then after that he's a fully grown power sprinter in his own right. Exciting years ahead!
Daniel Afoa 23 | 1.55 XP | 50,000
FLA
MON
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRL
XP
64
63
67
62
65
68
65
57
64
67
68
70
60
1
55
64
64
69
62
66
69
67
57
64
68
68
70
60
2
99
67
67
76
63
73
72
69
57
67
75
75
73
61
4
100
Sadly hamstrung by our budgetary concerns in transfers not being able to pay for Equinor's full training package, our Samoan puncheur is still not quite at a racing level yet but he's still a solid water carrier as he returns to us from the CT. We want to keep developing a Pacific Island cyclist or two each year and so hopefully he fits into our budget again next year.
Joseph Areruya 22 | 1.00XP | 260,000
FLA
MON
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRL
XP
71
70
71
64
73
74
72
53
68
69
67
59
64
1
00
71
74
74
64
74
76
75
53
68
72
70
59
64
3
30
...
72
79
79
65
76
78
79
53
68
76
75
60
65
Our Rwandan superstar in the making has had a great first year scoring quite a few points already and will only look to increase his personal goals in his sophomore year, with a lot of progression he's a very solid domestique and attacker and growing in maturity and confidence every race. We look forward to seeing him helping out GB and learning the ropes of the HI/MO races, and chasing KOM points in what is probably his last year as "just" a domestique.