@SSJ2: I thought my goal consisted of early breaks only, but I don't mind
Stage 1 for Hainan must be something special, as it's the only stage so far and it already has a report. I'll just fast forward to the end.
After a superb lead-out Mario surprised the other stars, such as Adrien Hanzen and Alexander Kristoff. He obviously leads the general classification as well.
There are many ways I could've reacted to my non-selection for the worlds. I could have killed our Italian national coach. I could've put a horse's head in his bed. But I decided to answer with my legs, as all the training for the world really gave me a top shape. In Hainan, I wouldn't have to face the best sprinter competition, but it would be hard nonetheless against Hanzen and Kristoff.
Still, I have a great team. It's too bad it took us so long to get the sprint train on the rails, but it finaly worked. I have to thank the team and the manager for the confidence in me, even as I'm leaving the team. They worked hard for me all day, and in the end Kristian and Dave set up the perfect sprint train for me. I have to tell you, it's very easy to come out of the slip strem of such a tall guy.
Kristian dropped back after a great last kilometer and managed to knock Kristoff out of my wheel. In the mean time I was still safe behind Dave's back while all the other sprinters were in the wind already. This was going really well.
I started sprinting with all I had, and then I started realising it. I was going to win my first race. I looked right, no one. I looked left, Modolo was coming but he wasn't going to get past me. It was time for me to raise my arms.
Unbelievable, I still can't fully realise I just got my first professional win. And look at the sprinter field that I've beaten today. Of course the leader jersey is a nice plus and I will do all I can to defend it, but for me this Tour of Hainan is already a success.
I really need to thank my team mates for the fantastic work today. I never felt so sorry about leaving the team until now. Sure, it was a season of ups and downs, but I won't forget what the team has done for me. I'm happy to give them this win as a going away present!
I'll end this blog with a question. Are you watching this, mister Italian Manager?
Tour of Hainan
The success of stage 1 unfortunately couldn't be repeated. Mario managed to hang on to yellow for a few stages, and things looked good with other riders being up high as well. Unfortunately this was all ruined in the final stage, where Mario lost his GC-podium and all our other riders lost their good top-15 classification as well. Disappointing, but at least our goal accomplished.
Paris-Tours
We proudly participated in the season finale, the semi-classic Paris-Tours. With a goal of top-5 we relied on Gerald, and he didn't let us down with a good 4th place. 4/6 this season part, and we have truly shown off African cycling isn't rubbish.
Already renewed:
Josef Hintermüller
Marouane Shaqif
Stay away from them:
Gerald Ciolek
Louis Meintjes
Sergio Pardilla
Andreas Stauff
Merhawi Kudus
Linus Gerdemann
Already signed:
Abasi Abundi (CCC)
Husani Mashaba (Neo)
Natnael Berhane
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg
Linus Gerdemann
Robert Hunter
Merhawi Kudus
Probably staying as well:
Tsgabu Grmay
Jacques Janse van Rensburg
Ignatas Konovalovas
Martin Reimer
Meron Russom
Kristian Sbaragli
Jani Tewelde
Jay Thomson
Dennis van Niekerk
Jaco Venter
Very likely to leave:
Freqalsi Debesay
Songezo Jim
Adrien Niyonshuti
Bradley Potgieter
Youcef Reguigui
Martin Wesemann
Confirmed to leave:
Luke Bryan (Retirement)
Mario Guido (Colombia)
Dave Kennedy (Retirement)
Johnny Schmidt (Retirement)
Transfer targets:
Good African riders
Of course, if you have any interesting riders, feel free to send a message to me.
Edited by Selwink on 07-01-2015 11:34
After not starting in the World Championships, I wanted to ride in Hainan and took my first win ever. I did my best in the following stages, but my sprint train was not up for 9 stages, and to be honest neither was I. Calzone won, so I'm glad for him, but losing the podium on the final day did hurt a lot!
So, I guess this is goodbye. I really liked MTN, but for my career the best move is a team where I can be the leader. Ciolek and me are too similar, although he's a lot better of course. Maybe I will return one day, but next year will bring me to Team Colombia.
Guten Abend Afrika,
I post here to say thank you for the support I've been getting. I know I didn't live up to some of the expectations in the Vuelta, where I finished "only" 21st, but I'll give it my very best shot to improve on that next season. The team management hasn't decided yet if or which GT will be targeted, but I promise an improvement regardless. Other than that, this year wasn't more eventful than the Vuelta. I took part in both world championships, but all the time as helper, so I didn't have much opportunity to shine for myself. That will hopefully change next year, with a course that might suit me even better. That's all for now, see you in the new season!
I feel like this is my homecoming. I have started my career as a pro at the great set up of CCC, but now it is time to move on and begin to climb up the ladder towards success. In my final part of the season I managed to take my first win, which will hopefully will be the first of many and now as I join the team I look forward to finding my home.
As part of the preparation for my off season I was hoping to ride some of the 6 day races, however I have as yet not been able to find a partner, so if anyone from this team would be interested then I would feel honoured. At the moment I am just riding the Amsterdam 6 Day along with my long time friend and current training partner, when I live in the UK (during the cycling season), Ed Clancy.
Thanks I will tell you how it goes,
Abasi
My Stories
My Teams
ICL - Project Cumbria Powered by Thomas Graham Steel & Industrial Supplies
Welcome to the review of the 2013 season of MTN-Qhubeka. We're the first ever African team to race in pro-continental level. To look forward to the review itself, it's been quite a good season.
Start of the season
Our first ever race in as pro-continental team was the only race in Africa this season. The Tour of Gabon featured many WT-teams and immediately we'd have a big clash against other strong riders. However, even before the racing started we got good news. We had already received our first wild cards for the Italian races in the WorldTour, the Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-San Remo. In Gabon, we started well as Jaco got 2nd in stage 4. It turned out to be a great preview for what was to come.
Victory!
The next stage was a flat stage, so for the sprinters. Our leader for those was Gerald, the former Milram and Quickstep rider. After some lost years in Belgium he got a fresh start in our team, and already paid us back in stage 4, which was won by him in a mass sprint, seemingly extemely easy!
Continuation
After a strong start in Gabon we didn't quite do that well afterwards. San Luis didn't turn out to be a large success, nor did the february races. We got a few podiums, with the 3rd place for Gerald in Almeria as highlight.
March
March was a better month for us, starting with a 4th place for Gerald in the Strade Bianchi. We had our first ever WorldTour races, starting with the Tirreno-Adriatico. Our highlight so far in the season is undoubtedly the Tirreno-Adriatico, and of that it was stage 3. Gerald once again featured in the race highlights, and not for the first time he could raise his arms.
Monument and part 2
Unfortunately Milano-San Remo, our first ever monument, didn't turn out to be this successful. Our Italian youngster Mario joined the break, but the rest of the team unfortunately couldn't show itself. We didn't even end in the top-50. The next season part wasn't very successful either. Okay, we did achieve some of our goals but we never really got the big success we wanted. Highlight must be Gerald's stage win in his home country Germany in the Bayern Rundfahrt or the fact we immediately got a wild card for our first Grand Tour ever, the Vuelta a España.
La Vuelta
Before that, we raced several other races, such as the Eneco Tour, where we got several top-10s, and the Danmark Rundt, with some podiums. Our highlight has to be the Vuelta of course. Our goals would be to join two long breaks and win 2 stages. Especially the latter would be hard, but we were confident it would be possible for Gerald to do it. We were very anonymous in the first stages, which didn't change until Gerald came 3rd in stage 6.
It got even better afterwards. In stage 12 Dennis joined our second break in the race, but you might expect even better now. And indeed, Gerald won the mass sprint! Both goals achieved halfway.
Stage 13: Another mass sprint. Another victory for Gerald. Goal achieved.
Afterwards
We went on joining more breaks and getting more top-10s. No doubt the Vuelta has been our most successful race of the entire season. After the Vuelta we had two more major results. Stage 1 of the Tour of Hainan was a nice gift from Mario, who unfortunately decided to leave us. Paris-Tours was Gerald's 50000th 4th place, but still another goal achieved.
Conclusion
So, to conclude overall: A fantastic starting season for MTN in the ProContinental division. Our good results got us at a strong 23rd place in the rankings, and we realistically couldn't have expected much better. With new signings for the next season, such as Nigerian Abundi, we should be able to do better and develop African talent. Of course, if any talented African shows up, we'll try to sign and develop him.
@Dippo: Maybe I could have added Langkawi 5th GC or Bayern top-10, but I only decided to include the absolute highlights.
@Ollfardh: I agree. Hopefully that will change for the next season. Maybe Josef should start to deliver. Anyway, I hope to pick up a good custom rider for next season, who also fits in the team (cough African cough).
The new transfer season is hardly underway, but we can already confirm our first signing of the season, and we are very glad to announce it's one of Africa's greatest climbing talents, Merhawi Kudus. The Eritrean climber is hoped to be a star in the future, but we are very confident he can already bring us some nice surprises this season, but his main job is to help our better climber for now.
MTN is still looking for more riders to sign, and with a decent budget available we think we will be able to bring in some more signings. If you have any offer that might be interesting, don't hesistate to contact the management.
After the successful draft of Eritrean Merhawi Kudus MTN-Qhubeka has been far from quiet at the transfer market. Many more riders have been enquired for, but it simply is impossible to sign everyone desired. Nevertheless, three new signings have been brought in.
The first signing for us was of the experienced Robert Hunter. The by now 36-year-old South African sprinter is with 3 grand tour stage victories, including one in the Tour, arguably the most successful African cyclist so far. With his experience and sprinting qualities he can not only support the development of our African talent, he will hopefully get some good results of his own, of which we know he is capable.
Our next signing is another South African, and the first signing with a past at the team. That's right, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg came back from a disapppointing year at Argos to not only rejoin the team, but also his brother Jacques. We are confident Reinardt can be just as much valuable as he has been in the past with this team.
Finally, our third signing so far is Eritrean Natnael Berhane. At the age of 22, he has already won two African championships and many domestic races. After a year development in Europe at Europcar we managed to sign him for 15.000. Natnael is potentially one of the best climbers, and we think that riding for MTN-Qhubeka could provide a perfect way to develop.
On the other side, we have also said goodbye to our first rider. Kristian Sbaragli got an offer he could not refuse at one of the best teams in the world, Movistar, and we obviously didn't want to deny him this fantastic opportunity. We wish our Italian friend the best of luck at his new team and we hope he can show his value for them.
Despite our new headquarters already being created (not opened for public) our transfers will still be announced here, and we are glad we can announce our seventh transfer already. This time, it's not an African rider, but a German. It's Linus Gerdemann we've brought in.
Linus, born in 1982, already has a big experience in the world of cycling. Once considered one of Germany's greatest stage racing talents, he never really delivered that. Nevertheless, we can still find a stage win in the Tour de France and an overall victory in the Deutschland Rundfahrt among his major results. His role for us will be to help our German leading stage racer, Josef Hintermüller in the mountains, and with his time trialling skills he should be of great value in the team time trials as well.
Our transfer season seems as good as over now. There still are two minor targets left for us, but whether we sign either of them is highly doubtful.
