I felt good when I came to Switzerland and a 36th place on the opening TT isn’t too shabby for me I think. Too bad it was obviously another race in the service of Po-Ding…
Stage 2 was a sprint stage, so I just rolled over the line in the middle part of the pack.
On stage 3 there was a few small climbs, but enough for our North-Korean to out me to work even though I prefer the climbs much longer. Stage 4 was pretty much the same story…
Stage 5 was the main reason for me to be here, but it didn’t quite go as hoped as Kim needed a lot of help from the entire team to avoid cracking chasing all the many attacks. I still dream of the day when I can get to actually show what I’m capable of instead of just fetching bottles all day – this doesn’t do much to raise the profile of cycling on my home island I think…
Next up for me is the closest thing I will get to a home-race namely the Glava Tour of Norway. Seeing as I'm pretty sure the team has agoal tehre I suspect it will be another week of hard work for me...
Kim Po-ding would like thank Nokkva for good help in Romania. Was a lot better than in Argentinia. Keep working hard, and maybe one day, you can be good rider as well!
I just came back from Norway where the managers were so kind to let me race even though the profiles doesn't suit me better than as such. It was nice to get some racing done up north and with Schroder on fire it was fun to be the helper as well.
I generally had a good feeling in the legs and finished with the peloton every day after having done my work for the team. 40th doesn't sound like much I know, but after all it was in the same time as the guy on 18th place so I'm quite happy with that for a race with no mountains and a team mate in the form of his life!
Great news here! As you know, we had a goal here, getting a Top 3 in the GC. Schröder and Voeckler both got a Top 10 in the stage 1 sprint, which showed good form.
Then we had to await the hilly stages. Schröder attacked along with some others on a late hill. He got a gap on them when the sprint started, and therefore comfortably won it!
Actually, Schröder attacked once again during stage 5, and managed to get us another win!
So not only a goal accomplished here, but also a GC win and 2 stage-wins! Schröder definitely proving his worth for us, here!
California: Mission Failed
While things looked quite good at some point, things actually got bad after the last few stages. Rolland dropped out of the GC Top 10. Po-Ding dropped all the way to 7th in the GC. His fight against capitalism has therefore failed a bit. Maybe we should let The Great Leader participate next year.
Köln: Surprise Surprise!
We had Coquard in this nice, semi-hilly race. The peloton did not co-operate well, though. Therefore, it was a nice fight, breakaway vs peloton. We had Gène, a good sprinter, in the break. The breakaway just managed to win this in the end. Despite attacks from the break, the rest from the escapees managed to keep the break together, and it got a sprint.
Gène actually managed to win that sprint, which is fantastic!
A great, surprising, win for us.
Belgium: Meh
We had both Schröder for the hills, and Turgot for the few cobbles there. We didn't have a good TTist in Belgium, which turned out to be a mistake. The TT proved way more decisive than the cobbles or even the hills.
Our best moment here was probably the hilly stage. Veilleux was in a surviving break and podiumed the last stage. Unfortunately, Turgot and Schröder only got 18th and 20th in the GC. A race to forget.
Next-up:
Next up for us, are the NCs. We're looking forward to them and hope to get plenty of NC jerseys. The smaller cycling countries, like Iceland or Laos, seem practically ours. North Korea as well, unless the Great Leader decides to participate.
We're hoping to win a NC in the big countries as well. We're mainly looking at France(Coquard or maybe Voeckler) and Germany(Schröder) for that.
It has been a few busy months, but since I do not have any races to attend in June, I finally can sit down and update you on what has happened from De Ronde till Bayern Rundfahrt.
De Ronde van Vlaanderen is a huge race. The atmosphere around the course is great. It was a great experience for me, although the terrain does not suit me, with all the short, steep hills. It also started raining really bad. On top of that I did not have a good day and I was unable to help our leaders in the finale. Turgot did manage to get a top 10 though.
Paris - Roubaix, the Hell of the North. I was quite nervous the whole week, since I did not know what to expect of this race. Of course the team did some recons of the cobbles sectors, but it is always different when there are almost 200 riders fighting for a good spot in the peloton. Vanmarcke won the small sprint and Gaudin finished 10th for us. Not bad at all. I lack experience in these races to be of any factor here and finished 15 minutes later in 107th place.
To finish of my spring season, I went on to De Brabantse Pijl. Less hilly than de Ronde, but still a bit too hilly for my liking. It was a strange race, which was won in the end by the breakaway. Lue was our best rider in 15th. I came over the line in 60th place, already 17 minutes down. Hoping for a better classics campaign next season.
Here is another update from me. After my break I was off to Switzerland for the Tour de Romandie. I went here mostly as a domestique for Po-Ding. I could ride for myself on the closing Time-Trial. It turned out not to be a great race for me. I hit the pavement on the 2nd stage and was still recovering on the 3rd stage. I felt better as the race went on, but stage 5 was torture for me. I do not like mountains a lot and lost over 30 minutes. It was a tough week, which affected my Time-Trial on the last stage. I was not happy with that performance at all, finishing 41st.
I am back in country. Just to confirm, I did not ride Tour of California. Nor was any other North Korean allowed to race there. The rider finishing 7th, losing to all Americans, was obviously japanese failure Arashiro. Our Great and Noble Leader had said it so.
My last race for this part of the season was Bayern Rundfahrt. I was mainly there to help Po-Ding in his GC ambitions and Coquard for the sprints. The Time-Trial on stage 4 was a chance to go for myself again. It proved to be quite a good week for us, with Coquard getting a few top 10's and Po-ding winning the Time-Trial and the General Classification. I lost a lot of time on stage 1, so I was never in contention for the GC, but I am quite happy with a 12th place in the Time-Trial.
Next up are the National Championships and I'm excited to return to Italy for some racing there. With a bit of luck I might even take home a jersey.
Not good enough. Also Pennarossa beat me. Was not a good day from me. Next day also not good. He attack and I could not close the gap. Again not top 10 for me, but I still go on podium for white jersey. Managers say defend white jersey, so I put it in safe in hotel before I go sleepy sleepy.
While I'm currently riding in France (more about that at a later time) news just got in from back home.
Last time I was there I went for a trip in my bike in this lovely countryside.
I had invited people to come and join me if they felt like comparing themselves to a pro cyclist. No one showed and now the Icelandic Cyling Federation have declared my ride the National Championships of Iceland and me the winner (obviously). Since I was the only rider in there they decided that it should count as both RR and ITT.
A local designer made this version of the Europcar jersey for me and said he would be happy to help if for example Po-ding would like him to make a champions jersey.
I'm so happy to be back in my own country after all my adventures accross the world. It really is the best country of them all! The reason why I'm back here, is because of the national championships. I finished second quite a lot already, after Our Great and Most Noble Leader, and I hope to continue it this year. This is of course a very prestigeous race against the best rider in the world, so I'm very honoured to start.
But just before the start, our Great and Merciful Leader came to me and said he would not race this year. He wanted me to show the North Korean colours to the world, and for that I had to win. I kissed his feet and thanked him for his great present. Thank you, Great One, thank you!
So me and 4 other guys started the race, but since I was supposed to win, military shot other riders. So I am North Korean National champion in Road Race and Time Trial! This is the happiest day of my life, even better then when I won Continental Championship. Now last goal for me is World Championship, but will be very hard.
I hope Europcar jerseymaker can give me nice jersey, maybe I can show you next week. Take care!
Hello, it's me, Lue. It's been a while since I posted something here, but that's because I've been so busy. Just a few days ago, I got my first victory of the season, in one of the most important races for me: The Laotian championships! I won the TT easily on a city parcours in Luang Prabang, but the Road Race that was held on gravel roads between Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng was brutal. Luckily I could stay at the front all the time, and in the end I beat Alex Destribois rather handily in a sprint. Now I'm all focusing on the last part of the season, where I hope to take my first victory in a UCI race.
Before I go out training, I would also like to congratulate Ounheua Khochaleune for making it to the top of motor racing, I'm sure I'll go and cheer for you when you race in France!
But that's it for now, I'll keep you updated
This time, some bad news from France. Our goal here was to win the U25 classification. The opposition wasn't that strong, but with Kwiat and TvG, they weren't weak either.
We had a strong squad, with for instance also Voeckler and Schröder here. The latter did a good job at stage 2, getting 5th.
Po-Ding took a podium spot and the U25 jersey at the TT.
Po-Ding unfortunately had a bad day at the first big mountain summit finish.
Here you see him at the front, at the first part of the climb, when he still looked good. Afterwards, he just blew himself up.
He just fell out of the Top 10 on the stage, but Kwiat still took over the white.
On the next mountain stage, Po-Ding cracked big time, finishing 4 mins behind Froome, along with helper Peeters.
We didn't only throw away our U25 jersey in that mountain stage, but also our GC Top 10.
The French and German NCs haven't been raced yet, but some smaller ones have already been raced. - Lue Khampse Khamphan managed to win both the NCs. That is amazing news for Europcar! - No NC for Arashiro unfortunately. Kim Tan and Nishizono grabbed the NCs. - After the Great Leader's decision not to race the NCs, it were two easy wins for Po-Ding! - Nokkvason grabbed the NC double of Iceland as well! Great wins for him! - This one was a bit heavier contended. We couldn't grab the RR win, but Berhane managed to give us a nice TT win!
Only some NCs remain now. The French one is really important for us. After that, the riders get a well deserved break.
To make a long story short this was another week of busting my ass of for Kim. I really hope all this work will get me a Skiing holiday in his home country in the off season…
Anyway I did my thing alternating between getting bottles and pulling for our North Korean leader and then just saving energy in the last few km when my job was done.
I could walk you through every stage, but truth be told you probably already know the headlines and apart from the TT everyday was very similar for me so I won’t bore you with telling how many bottles I picked up which day.
Hello mr. Europe, hello mr. Car. I would like to know which races I'll ride for the last season part. I would really like to ride a few races close to home, like Beijing or Japan Cup.
It's a big moment for Europcar. A few times in the year, we present our goals for the upcoming season part. Now, it's time to present our goals for the third part of the season.
Part 3 might be the most important part of the season for us. Mainly because of the Tour de France. That is the race that most people watch and obviously the most important race, especially for a French sponsor.
Obviously, the Tour de France is one of our goals. While we hope to ride a good GC with Rolland, who's getting a lot better lately, we mainly aim for a stage-win. Coquard hasn't prepared for this year's Tour de France, so that mainly has to come from a fighter. Both Voeckler and Rolland are going to be in France, and both are very attacking riders.
That's why the goal will be a stage-win.
While there are 20 chances to reach the goal, most of these chances will go to the world-best riders. This is why this is a medium goal.
For the next goal, we'll be counting on Po-Ding. We've recieved a wildcard for Pologne, and this race suits him very well. The race has 2 mountain stages and a long final TT. Po-Ding can both climb and TT very well, and this race can give him a good GC, unless some of the big guys show up. We're hoping for a Top 5, but we're aiming high here, and go for a Top 3 in a GC.
Given that Coquard has grown, we'll definitely aim for the sprints in the final season part too. Coquard has already ridden a lot though, so he won't ride the Tour de France. He will mainly focus on one-day races now, and we'll send a capable leadout train.
GP Fourmies is one of these races, and it's our last goal of the season. It's kinda flat, and we expect a strong field here. We aim for a Top 8 there, therefore, given that a Top 5 would be too much to expect from him. Normally, we should be able to reach a Top 8, but things could go terribly wrong, of course
Easy: GP Formies - Top 8 Medium: Tour de France - Stage win Hard: Tour de Pologne - Top 3 GC
, an important race for us, is coming up soon as well. We'll be having an important goal there, we're looking to win the U25 jersey. Po-Ding will be our leader in France. We've heard some startlist rumours, and it seems that both Betancur & Quintana, the strongest U25 riders, are not there. That means that we do have a good chance here. Good luck Po-Ding and the rest of the team!
- Lue Khampse Khamphan managed to win both the NCs. That is amazing news for Europcar!
- No NC for Arashiro unfortunately. Kim Tan and Nishizono grabbed the NCs.
- After the Great Leader's decision not to race the NCs, it were two easy wins for Po-Ding!
- Nokkvason grabbed the NC double of Iceland as well! Great wins for him!
- This one was a bit heavier contended. We couldn't grab the RR win, but Berhane managed to give us a nice TT win!
