Urgh, let's make this quick so we can move to celebrating! Our secondary "home" race in the CT was the Herald Sun Tour, but given it had a TT and was C2 we should never have come to it! On the first day Jams lost time helping a crashed (grr), which was just dandy because on day 2... he was part of a fricken successful breakaway!
Not a great race in the end, but one highlight was our young Samoan stagiaire Daniel Afoa earning a point and taking part in two breakaways. Our magnificent loanee Rei Onodera also took a stage podium on the final day, meaning we had two stage podiums and a breakaway on every stage to shout about at least.
Top to Bottom: Jams <3, Afoa <3, Onodera <3
Over in Poland at the Course de Solidarnosc our planning meant what could have been a better race was much, much worse. Davison tried:
on Stage 4 and got intermediate bonuses to put him in the top 25 on GC, but mostly all we had to cheer was the fantastic win of Krieger on the same day, and therefore the GC victory!
We then made some C1 adventures. First, the Tour of East Java, an Indonesian race to please Telkom Indonesia and to let Jams be worshipped like a true icon in his home country. One day he'll win stage one, but after signing signatures on paper, Xero jerseys (plus one Indosat one ) and even some guy's stomach, he was late to the startline then and couldn't get into the breakaway.
Anton (despite crashing!) and Salinas put in sensible rides to secure top20 GC placings to make it a decently successful race, and almost making it a 10PpRD race! Also securing that we wouldn't have a duck in C1 this year. We hope to go even better next season.
In the GP Kigali, Jams made the first of many PCT cobbled breakaways, but our leaders failed to score any points. His raw cobbled skill clearly putting the hurt into his companions:
So it came down to Zuri. No team ever wants it to come down to Zuri.
Roux didn't have the best of days but rolled in fifth, enough to secure sixth place for us in the rankings. The season is over, we held on, PCT here we come!
It's over! With a fifth place in Zuri the curtain has come down on another season in the CT - and Xero slotted in sixth in the rankings. Whilst we'll dive into the who, what, when, where why and how later, here are the final rankings for 2017!
Teams
1
World Cycling Centre
1780
2
In-n-Out p/b Carrefour
1597
3
Kulczyk - DMTEX
1583
4
Philips - Continental
1535
5
Team Reddit
1414
6
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
1343
7
Azteca - NBCSN
1290
8
Repsol - Honda
1267
9
cycleYorkshire
1159
10
Goldcorp - Nordstrom Rack
998
Sixth! Not exactly where we wanted but not far off and really that's not important: with three confirmed disbands from other divisions, we have promoted! We have done what we set out to do this year in what is now typical up and down Xero style. But the ups outweighed the downs enough to drag us across the line in the middle of some fierce competition. Whilst we missed the line that we aimed for this is still a sweet feeling.
Individual
1
Rafael Valls
ESP
Repsol - Honda
753
2
Anthony Roux
FRA
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
631
3
David Boily
CAN
World Cycling Centre
485
25
George Bennett
NZL
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
197
58
Simon Clarke
AUS
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
110
63
Jonathan Salinas
VEN
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
107
96
Igor Antón
ESP
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
66
108
Tom Diggle
GBR
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
58
120
Stijn Vandenbergh
BEL
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
50
121
Tom Davison
NZL
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
50
171
Geremie Nzeke
CMR
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
27
223
Jamalidin Novardianto
INA
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
14
251
Marvain Tognama Kossouhorou
CAF
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
10
254
Dylan Kennett
NZL
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
9
296
Hamish Schreurs
NZL
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
5
313
Rei Onodera
JPN
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
4
332
Egidijus Juodvalkis
LTU
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
2
347
Carl Ngamoki-Cameron
FIJ
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
1
349
Daniel Afoa
SAM
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
1
354
Matthew Lloyd
AUS
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
1
413
Scott Ambrose
NZL
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
0
Wow! Anthony Roux was consistently winning stages and podiuming elsewhere and came close (before the crash...) to winning the individual title. He really helped carry us to this promotion with a stunning season. George Bennett was next with some big highs but unfortunately was up there with fellow Oceanic climber Lachie Morton in terms of bad luck this season - he could've been up there as well but fell to bad luck.
Simon Clarke came back hard in the second half of the year to come just outside the top 50 again, whilst Salinas, Anton, Diggle, Vandenbergh and Davison all scored well enough to pitch in with nearly 350 points between them - good considering three of them were domestiques this year!
Elsewhere every full member of the squad - plus stagiare Afoa - pitched in with at least a point, very pleasing to see. Some big performances, some hard luck, but overall every Xero name on that list (disregard cheeky wheelsuckers and EPO-Monsters/men carried by their assassin teammates) made the performances of Roux, Bennett, Clarke and Salinas possible. Well done to the class of 2017, you beautiful men.
Predictions!
Now for a look at the predictions this season. Most of them said we'd finish about where we did - to quote our manager jandal, "the blue zone", but who was the most accurate?
Matt's pizza-fuelled prediction - 3rd
The DB king is not the prediction king, being far too kind on us in third. Damn you for getting my hopes up!
Tamijo's Mathestimat - 3rd
Eh, a tad too high from Tami as well with his experimental prediction. We don't mind the compliment on the squad though
Vien's Quickie Prediction - 5th
Vien's short but very sweet prediction was the most accurate overall, but had us one place off of the truth. However massive props (and an apology for my disparaging reaction) for predicting Roux as one of the best riders in CT!
Croatia14's "sustainable quocient prediction" - 5th
Another 5th from Croatia, so almost on the money. We are more interested in being the second best team in the future as he predicted. Let's hope we can make that happen!
knockout's "I would simulate 400 seasons" prediction - 6th
Well done to our friend knockout on his quite accurate prediction (not as good as mine ) which had us in exactly sixth! Though if we're being pedantic, he did say we were most likely to come 4th, rather confusingly. It seems not all formulas are wrong!
Aquarius' "The Subjetive but Accurated CT Preview" - 6th
The Repsol manager got our position exactly right, further proving that he had advanced knowledge of his team's "activities" and engineered our season to his own ends.
Abhishek's Team Rankings Predictions - 7th
Another stats one that was quite accurate, Abhishek was one spot too negative with his formulas. But a very nice preview really. He predicted Bennett where he should have been without bad luck and bad planning, up in the top of the individual, so well done for being kinder on him than Repsol, Race Juries or my planning!
jandal's jandally CT Preview - 7th
This incompetent bastard said we'd finish seventh, Bennett would outscore Roux and the latter would be the weakest puncheur. What a tosser.
Marco's "overall ranking based on overall" - 8th
Overall is not our strong suit, we prefer super sexy stats over... boring stats! Props to him for trying a completely impartial formula, but as we like to say at Xero, "I don't give a flying fart about formulas!"
SN's "a bit mathy" preview - 8th
Our great overlord SportingNonsense's to be honest quite good preview further proved that our team has transcended to ability to be formulaised and people should stop trying. Down low, too slow.
maxime's "super-bold predictions" - Clarkey will win from a break before he wins from a sprint
To be fair he hasn't done either so this one is still ongoing.
It seems when we set a goal, we smash it or we crash it. Can we get a leader crashed result for the teams rankings?
2017 Official Goals
Gisborne GP
Win
SUCCESS
Vuelta al Tachira
Top 5
FAIL - Top 15
Tour d'Andorra
Top 5
FAIL - Top 20
Tour de San Luis
Top 5
SUCCESS+ - Won
Team Standings
Top 5
FAIL - 6th
So 2/5, much less than we wanted but as we said we should get compensation due to how well we were doing in Venezuela and Andorra. Still dissapointing to miss out on both, as well as the top 5 of the Team Standings.
Vuelta al Tachira - Failed - Antón, 14th
How well were we going for a second there? Our leaders attacked the flat stages, even if they weren't avoided time gaps due to incompetent race juries!
Bennett's brave attack in the wind all for nothing
However it came to fruition with a brilliant team sprint on the medium mountain stage 4, where Antón took a close stage win and the yellow jersey (our first ever!)
All of the trio at the front of the sprint
However after another attack from Anton and Bennett was denied time gaps, these were the enduring images of the Vuelta al Tachira for Xero:
Bennett crashing and injuring himself, and Antón's podium run coming to an end on the final mountain stage after a valiant performance. With our situation looking strong and some positive racing this one stung.
Gisborne GP - Success - Bennett, 1st
Our biggest goal of the season and boy did we deliver on home turf. Here's the full race highlights, give it a read. It was attack after attack from Bennett and Roux and a heroic team effort.
Roux attacks!
Bennett attacks following Roux's attack!
The attacking pays off as our duo starts their sprint for the win!
Bennett takes the win for the home crowd!
What a way to take our first ever home win, and the best race ever for our team to this day. The 1-2 punch worked out a treat and Bennett had the legs for the sprint after a deluxe Roux lead-out, both of them making it into the final selection despite two previous attacks each!
Tour d'Andorra - Fail - Bennett, 17th
A major goal being at the C2HC level and we were confident of succeeding. We were right about our ability, but very wrong about the ability of saboteurs in the peloton.
A terrible start as Bennett loses three minutes, Salinas over four on the first day after an unsuccessful strategy.
Stage two not off to a flyer either with Bennett involved in a crash!
Bennett needed a long-range attack and so went on the offensive at the bottom of the finishing climb on stage three. Cheeky wheelsucker Cataldo joined him. The Italian would wheelsuck his way to the stage win, but Bennett hopped up on GC, and after a strong ITT moved up to fifth! What a comeback, surely the cycling gods/assassin squad at Repsol would have mercy now?
F$#% OFF! Bennett was brought down on stage 5 and was badly injured. He fought home but slipped to 17th in the standings, giving us another failed goal through a crash.
Tour de San Luis - Success - Roux, 1st
We were falling like flies. Salinas, Bennett, Clarke and Diggle all suffered many mechanicals and were brought down in crashes throughout this race. It was brutal. But we came together, and made something magical. Our first GC win.
It wasn't easy. After some failed attacks and a bad TT, Roux sat in 27th on GC, more than two minutes down. But a fantastic team set-up launched a last-gasp attack in epic conditions. He was caught by race leader-elect and cheeky wheelsucker Boily, but the Canadian couldn't pass him even to do a turn.
As the snow came down so did the curtain on what was a fantastic stage win, booting Roux into fourth on GC, over a minute down but fulfilling the sponsor goal.
Before the final climb, Nzeke and the squad lead the pack with a huge pace to set up Roux for one final assault on the podium. One of the best team performances we've seen, regardless of how Roux would go in the finale.
9km, over a minute needed. Let's not die wondering as Roux puts in another big attack! Nobody from the peloton could follow.
He extended his gap over the nine kilometres to 1'36 at the line - what a ride! Roux showing his class and strength by boosting himself into the GC lead. From 27th to 1st in two days, taking the stage win in both. What a performance! He'd hold the GC to the end and take our first ever GC victory and securing a goal it looked like we were destined to lose. Allez Allez Allez!
Team Standings - Fail - 6th
We'll dissect this further but we were up and down all year - second, first, slipped to 10th, 4th, 5th and 6th after we and Reddit had completely opposite Octobers - the CT men in orange who we actually like with a very good performance to outdo us.
Project Goals
Here at Lionheart we have a mission to achieve the following goals:
Short-Term Goals
- In 2016 place a solid CT ranking and develop young talents from our focus nations in particular
- In 2017 promote and come out trumps in the Oceanic CT battle.
- In 2017 continue to develop our younger riders.
- Have a team 75% from our focus countries
Medium-Term Goals
- In 2018 Survive in PCT and continue to develop riders.
- Increase the popularity of all divisions of Cycling in NZ.
- Survive with an at least 65% focus nations team
Long-Term Goals
- Promote to PT
- Max Out talents and develop new ones
- Sign Sam Bewley before he declines
- Establish ourselves as the premier NZ-based and eventually Oceanic Team
- Establish NZ as more than just Bewley and Sergent, a global power.
- Keep the national focus and Lionheart ideals throughout our time in professional cycling
Our short-term mission was a resounding success as we have achieved our two-year plan. However now it's time to turn those Medium-Term Goals into short-term, and present a new two-year mission statement when we launch our HQ next season. Stay tuned.
Edited by jandal7 on 03-05-2018 23:56
That Gisborne GP, quite a start. Unfortunately your mountain goats couldn't match the Roux train at Tachira or Andorra, but still, a very successful year.
Hope you manage to pull off that 65% focus next year, although I'd be very impressed if you successfully accomplished that and the survival goal
The goal success for the project, if not so much for the season, are going very well. Very much interested in what your plans are for PCT. The current squad is a good base to build around, so that should work in your favour.
Booker wrote:
Hope you manage to pull off that 65% focus next year, although I'd be very impressed if you successfully accomplished that and the survival goal
I think he should be able to do it. Is just a matter of building the core about New Zealand and South African riders and then have the big scorers from other countries.
@Booker - Yeah the hills with beasty bastard Roux and a bit more luck really shone for us over the higher peaks. Hope to rectify that given the talent of Bennett and Salinas, who are definitely Xero riders for their careers
@Booker/Aquarius - I think I can do it - I have a plan that is 66% Oceanic/African roughly (I don't think I can do it with just SA/NZ just yet). Obviously it won't go that way but I certainly think I could do it
But the goal is certainly to have passed that number for 2019, and as close as we can get for next year. Survivial comes first though obviously.
@Croatia - Smart and sexy, how we like it
@Abhishek - Thanks again, we love plaudits so it's fine Yes absolutely we are on track for the mission project, even if our seasonal goals were a slight miss PCT will be very interesting, will have a lot of fun building outwards from our curent leaders - with a few new faces on the inside to shore up the solid base and of course talents
@Jakstar - Well right now not much Oceanic riders are set on leaving - sure we'll do some business though, we need to get both in PCT together as soon as we can
@Aquarius - I agree - but I don't see the need to make the leaders not from NZ and Africa, but some might be I guess. But we'll see in transfers
Great to follow the original goals and see how and when you achieve them. You tempted me to look up my own application to compare my team set-up with the outlines i gave when i applied.
Of course you would finish 6th like i predicted. I hope you didnt doubt me about that
And where is the upvote button for "beasty bastard Roux"?
@knockout - Yeah I think it's very nice to keep checking up on our overarching goals - gives a very cool sense of progress. Would be interesting to see how you compared, surely you didn't expect to double promote then hit the podium of PT so quickly
Haha nice work And I seem to remember you were the first to call Roux that, so you deserve the upvotes
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
Just noticed, you're absolutely right about jandal's shite prediction for Xero...
Idiot!
Survival coming first for 2018 is quite shortsighted, I would say Get that spine of African and NZ beasts and you'll be fine long-term, they'll beast their way through the CT on their way right back up!
@Booker - Yeah such a prick, shouldn't be allowed to do further predictions imo.
Ah, interesting idea What a surprise that a fellow promoter is keen to see us relegate
#RepsolGate
The Feel-Bad Sporting Story of the Year
Ever since the infamous stage three incident in the Euskal Bizikleta race, murmurs of insiders in cycling have been awash with talk of a dastardly plot against the Xero Racing p/b Octagon team. This plot would appear to be the work of none other than their rivals Repsol - Honda. For the last six months I have been tirelessly working to shed some light on this heretic show of poor sportsmanship. It is time, my loyal readers, for a Spanish Inquisition.
I aim to provide a clear, unbiased series of events - providing evidence from both sides. Due to the glib nonchalance of the Repsol Manager - who I will sometimes refer to as Blofeld because it's fun - and the at times seething rage of the Xero manager - who I will, on occasion, codename Mr. Angry Pants for similar reasons - it can be hard to get to the bottom of this mystery. So I present part one in my series to uncover the truth and present a chronicle of what is now known as #RepsolGate: First Blood.
17th of May 2017 | Euskal Bizikleta | Journalist's Car
English language race radio buzzes into our ears. It's reporting a crash near the front. Could this have taken out a leader? Apparently not, but it is said to be a bad one. Some nice bike handling skills from some Xero, Philips and WCC riders to doge out of the way, but two riders are down. Their names come over the radio: It's Matsumoto of Campari and an uncomfirmed Xero rider - a protected one. A few seconds later confirmation that it's number 36 - Novardianto.
Jason in the driver's seat lets out a sigh. The Kiwi is a bit of a Xero fan and had interviewed their DS before the stage. They were planning on using the Indonesian as part of their stage plan for Roux. Surely this is a blow to his big scoop - and his favourite team's chances of the stage win? (It's not, they won it.)
At this point I wasn't sure if the break were up the road, and so using whatever mobile reception I had in Nokwhzergreksvixlle, Basque Country, I checked twitter. Naturally. What greeted me was a rain of tweets, some angry, some defensive. Some bored, some intrigued. Here are the highlights:
I showed Jason, Freddy and JJ. This was causing a very odd amount of outrage. We found some footage and I don't know, diary. Maybe they're onto something.
It's the image that some will tell you started it all. A hitjob on the young Indonesian, already worth so much to Xero. Some naysayers will tell you it was a botched plan - meant for eventual stage winner Anthony Roux. And some will tell you that Prado was under pressure from management to prove himself loyal and useful. But many - mostly Spaniards - point to this as mere exhaustion after a long, hot day in the breakaway.
As for me? I am not here to give you my opinion - would you even care to read it? these are the facts:
- There was a look back. Prado checked back and looked straight at the Xero line of riders. However this could just as easily be common courtesy from a caught break member to try stay out of the way as a sign of pre-medidated sabotage. But he didn't exactly stay out of the way.
- It is too hard to tell if he unclipped. This would be some more damning evidence, and I do hold a view myself. However objectively, it is impossible to say yes or no with the angle of the only camera view.
- And the Repsol manager said this before the race:
Aquarius97 said:
Mmmm... two top10 contenders with Cunego and Gilbert... won't even get a top15 between both
Hopefully they don't disappoint me and actually fight for a top5 or a double top10. We really need the points here to avoid this month from being an absolute disaster
He seems a little under pressure - a little on edge. But then again, so too did Xero's boss, frantically coining the term "Maynaissance" to get something out of his riders. And that didn't go very well for him at all.
The general consensus is that the 17th of May was the first blood in the series of unfortunate - or fortunate, depending on your side of the world - events surrounding the heated Repsol-Xero rivalry. It was an attempt to sabotage a team in some way - whether that be Xero by going for Novardianto, Roux or if Mr. Angry Pants just misunderstood the point and they were trying to target Campari. After all, their leader Brataschuk did win Euskal Bizikleta.
Some say Blofeld was severely offended by the a) accusatory, b) demeaning (they didn't get the wrong team!) and 3) misinformed comments from Mr. Angry Pants, and seeked vengeance throughout the rest of the season, so in fact this was not the first blood of the Repsol Plot. I can find no factual basis for this, but it would be amusing of Mr. Angry Pants sunk his own ship.
How much of it was premedidated, or planned, whether or not it was confined to the "leadership group", if the manager had prior knowledge, if Prado drew the short straw, is all still murky - they go either way depending on who you ask and what you believe to be a credible source.
But I do know this: This was not the last time a Xero rider was sabotaged by Repsol. Not all the crashes Xero were involved with were Repsol-caused, and indeed some may say not all the crashes Repsol caused were aimed at Xero. But these crimes, whilst abhorrent, do make for a fascinating tale. So stay tuned for the further installments as I try to wrap up Repsolgate.
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
This was our squad for the 2017 season - the promotion class. They are a fantastic team and as a unit they came together week in, week out and made our promotion happen. But we've got to highlight and review their performances individually, from A to V (we need to hire a rider whose name starts with Z).
Daniel Afoa
Tussling for and earning the KoM lead - Tour de l'Avenir
Highlight: His late-season breakaways, particularly wearing the KoM jersey in Tour de l'Avenir (above) and the white jersey in the Herald Sun Tour Lowlight: Nothing Points: 1 (349th CT/17th Team) Rider of the Month: 0 Breakaway Appearances: 2 (+3 in Avenir and 1 in CC) Verdict: The young Samoan puncheur came into our squad for the late season as a stagiare but has sealed a full contract already with inspired breakaway riding, an easy-going attitude and great fighting spirit.
Scott Ambrose
Near the front working for the team leaders - Tour of Britain
Highlights: Not much, just consistent work really. Lowlights: Nothing Points: 0 Rider of the Month: 0 Breakaway Appearances: 2 (+3 in Avenir and 1 in CC) Verdict: A maybe to come back next year - but certainly somebody we will cheer on no matter what he does, and would love to see back at Xero when we have the room.
Igor Antón
Taking the small group sprint victory - Vuelta al Tachira
Highlights: His massive January - an MVP lieutenant role/top 10 in San Cristobal then his stage win and yellow jersey run in Tachira. Lowlights: His bad luck and injuries in major mountain races. Points: 66 (96th/5th) Rider of the Month: 1 (October) Breakaway Appearances: 2 Verdict: A very welcome addition to our climbing and hills squads and a wise head on the team is always welcome. A good season for Igor, but he may want to stay in CT to get some more leading opportunity before he gets too old, just like he did after his Isostar stint. However if he does want to stay we'd love him to be a captain de route in PCT.
George Bennett
Taking an emphatic win on home roads - Gisborne GP
Highlights: The biggest one of course in Gisborne where he took the biggest result ever for us. But let's also not forget his legendary Trentino solo stage win either. Lowlights: We can't blame him for any of them but his bad luck in what felt like every non-Gisborne race of the season leaves a sour taste in the mouth - he deserved so much more. Points: 197 (25th/2nd) Rider of the Month: 1 (February) Breakaway Appearances: 0 Verdict: George was often the unluckiest man in CT, crashing far too much to be natural* and losing a lot of points because of it. But when he was good - Andorra pre-crash, Gisborne and some of Trentino - he was very, very good. He's got a lifetime contract, let's be honest, and provided some of our best memories this season.
*(HINT HINT BY THAT I MEAN TO SAY REPSOL MADE HIM CRASH)
This was our squad for the 2017 season - the promotion class. They are a fantastic team and as a unit they came together week in, week out and made our promotion happen. But we've got to highlight and review their performances individually, from A to V (we need to hire a rider whose name starts with Z).
Simon Clarke
A return to thirding ways - Circulo de Juarez
Highlight: His turnaround race with a 6th on GC in Mexico (above) from then on he was much better. Lowlight: His first half of the season gave barely any points. Points: 110 (58th/3rd) Rider of the Month: 1 (June) Breakaway Appearances: 0 Verdict: He had more downs than ups this season but surprisingly was our third highest scorer (I have no idea where he got so many points to outscore Salinas). He will likely come up with us and lead our PCT sprint "squad". The manager abuses him a lot but we love him really.
Tom Davison
Stringing out the bunch for Roux - Tour of Britain
Highlights: His massive efforts in the hill squad is highlight enough, but he also grabbed a very nice 13th in the Benelux Challenge and made the breakaway in the c1 Nelspruit Classic. Lowlights: None! Points: 50 (121st/7th) Rider of the Month: 0 Breakaway Appearances: 1 Verdict - Our very own James Milner, Tom Davison is the cool head and glue of our team in any race he attends. Solid, hard-working, loves his Ribena and a great team player, he is always ready with the assist for Roux. A lifetime Xero rider if he so wishes.
Tom Diggle
Giving birth whilst on the bike - Tour de San Luis
Highlights: Not a standout individual season for Tom, but he did come 7th in the Benelux Challenge. Lowlights: Underperformances (some involved crashes) when given leader/co-leader roles. Points: 58 (108th/6th) Rider of the Month: 0 Breakaway Appearances: 0 Verdict: A solid yet quiet season for Tom. he wasn't at top form so perferred to destroy the pack rather than take the offered co-leader role. He did good work there but didn't justify his wage. If he takes a wage cut he will certainly be part of our plans again.
Egidijus Juodvalkis
Dishing out the pain - Tour of Langkawi
Highlights: None individually but always did a great job setting up our climbers or puncheurs. Lowlights: None really. Points: 2 (332nd/12th) Rider of the Month: 0 Breakaway Appearances: 0 Verdict: A good season for Egidi. He isn't from our focus nations but has fitted in nicely in the mountain and hill squads and could well return in the PCT next season as well.
) and even some guy's stomach, he was late to the startline then and couldn't get into the breakaway. 
What a surprise that a fellow promoter is keen to see us relegate 
