You guys continue to make a mockery of the whole "being a CT team" thing, ridiculous stuff and the fact the team hasn't even executed everything to the best of their potential all the time makes it even more amazing you put that squad together in CT. Looking forward to seeing you where you belong again soon and being in the same division for the first time
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 our huge success in Australia, we could only do worse in the Basque Country - and chances for that were high, given that we rarely were successful (at least GC-wise) in our C1/HC adventures.
We sent both of our top sprinters - Marcel Aregger and Grzegorz Stepniak - for the first two flat-rated stages, and then Fausto Masnada and Gianni Moscon as our co-leaders for the hilly stages 3 and 4, plus obviously for the GC.
However, on day one, our riders didn't seem to be aware that the race had already started. We were nowhere to be seen all stage long, and we were actually pretty surprised to see Marcel Aregger end up in 13th place. Which was definitely not what we were hoping for.
The evening talks however seemed to do wonders, as Marcel Aregger was far more attentive and active on day two - eventually being part of a group of just four sprinters fighting for the stage win! Unfortunately, he didn't have his best day and had to settle for 4th place, but he definitely showed the right attitude - in what was the final flat stage of his max-level career.
Marcel Aregger just coming short of another stage podium on day two in the Basque Country
On day 3, we got the first - and easier - test for the puncheurs. The final third of the race was pretty hilly, but with the finish line being after a flat stretch, race tactics would be as important as strong legs.
And we seemed to have the right strategy, with Fausto Masnada being as aggressive as ever, and eventually making the decisive split on the last descent! He was part of a group of 7 riders (who eventually didn't get a gap) - however, just like Aregger the day before, he didn't have the best legs and couldn't compete for the podium. 6th place for him - some points, but first and foremost we still had a rider in GC contention!
Well, actually, no. We had two of them, as Gianni Moscon finished inside the chasing group, which, as said before, got the same time! With Mauro Schmid also showing a good race so far and finishing in group number 3, we were tied for the team standings lead after day 3!
Fausto Masnada taking 6th place on day 3
Day 4 then marked the end of the stage racing season - and for the first time all year long, Mauro Schmid did, what we were hoping to see him do in many more races: mounting a KoM challenge! He did well, picking up lots of points from the breakaway - but eventually came 4 points short and had to settle for 3rd. Still, trying and failing is fine - we prefer this so much over not trying at all! Good job!
Having a rider in the breakaway meant no chasing duties in the pack. Moreover, Leo Basso was able to protect our co-leaders all day long, delivering them on the final uphill in a great position! Stage winner Kinoshita was gone, GC leader (and winner) Houle was way too fast, as expected - but Gianni Moscon was next, taking 3rd place on the final stage of the year!
And Fausto Masnada finished right after his teammate, for a great 3-4 on stage 4! Moreover, Leo Basso took 13th place, whereas Mauro Schmid had enough juice left to stay inside the group as well, finishing 21st.
Gianni Moscon and Fausto Masnada finish 3rd and 4th in stage 4!
GC-wise, Gianni Moscon ended up 5th thanks to the bonus seconds, with Fausto Masnada taking 7th place! Mauro Schmid used this last stage to move up to 25th, scoring a couple of points as well - and additionally finished 3rd in the KoM standings and in the U25 classification, making this his highest scoring race all season long!
On top of that - although stated differently by the reports - we won the team standings (having a far better tie-breaking value than Indosat), which only happened for the 3rd time this year - and even for the first time at non-C2 level! Congratulations to the whole squad for this achievement! This ended up being our highest scoring non-C2 race all year long, and being beaten only by Vancouver, Sun Tour and Catalunya! So, could we actually still be ready for PCT?
Laurens Indeed, the end of the year felt great. I guess the domination in the rankings was partly due to our own great racing, partly due to McCormick - and in particular Boswell - performing below par. But I'll admit that I'm pretty proud of that C2 podium streak
Mac Thanks! At some point, I thought even Glanbia would be candidates for the title, when Stüssi and Moscon were bad and you were doing great - and there were quite some TT-heavy races left. In the end I guess we were competitive on more terrains than you were - still, big congrats on promotion, it's great to see you join us in PCT
jandal I agree that looking at the DB we just had to promote if I didn't completely mess up the planning. Looks like I didn't
Will be fun riding against you for sure - although you'll probably find it more funny than I will, given that Bennett vs. Stüssi or Areruya vs. Moscon aren't exactly duels on level playing field
Abhi Thanks Promotion two years ago took us by surprise, now we should be slightly better prepared. We'll need two or three heavy-hitters for sure, so I hope we'll have a good transfer season
red Right, you're pretty lucky that all of LPH, UBS and Duolingo relegated Honestly, they do have TTers who are on another level than mine. But yeah, TTing surely will remain a focus, and I'll try to imitate part of what Cosnefroy/Thomas did for Zara with Bissegger/Brunel next year
Congrats on the promotion, the team build and the planning were both clealry spot on, very well deserved. Guess I should have overbid you on Aregger after all, although I think you maximized him with the planning in a way I would not have done.
After we weren't allowed to participate in the "Metzgete" last year (as we were a PCT team, and C2HC races were exlusively for CT teams), we were happy to come back to what has now become our new home race! In the Centovalli era, we'd rather consider GP Lugano our home race, but with Jura being headquartered in the German part of Switzerland (and not too far from Zurich), this attribute has changed as well.
We had mixed success here so far; whereas in our inaugural season Cyrille Thièry (now riding for Le Creuset) took a great 2nd place on a much tougher course, the route redesign didn't do as any good, as a 12th place by Gianni Moscon in 2020 definitely was a failure.
And now we were back for our 3rd participation - with the race being our win goal of the season for as many times! Hence, we obviously brough our three strongest puncheurs in Gianni Moscon, Fausto Masnada and Mauro Schmid - as well as local sprinter Marcel Aregger, in case the race would not be very selective.
However, the first rider stepping into action was one of our morning breakaway specialists - with Alexandros Matsangos launching the first attack of the race!
Alexandros Matsangos spicing things up early on.
Whereas the chance of succeeding obviously was minimal, our Cypriot's move freed us from any chasing duties in the pack, which we were hoping would pay off later on!
And it definitely seemed to pay off, as with 30km to go we still had six out of our 8 riders in the pack - including Matsangos, who was caught in the meantime - only Karatsivis and Janssen were (expectedly) dropped by this point!
A pretty strong presence in the pack with 30km to go, with Leo Basso, Mauro Schmid, Fausto Masnada, Marcel Aregger, Gianni Moscon and Alexandros Matsangos still (or again) there!
15km later, half of our representatives were dropped, with just our three strongest puncheurs remaining in the first group:
Gianni Moscon, Fausto Masnada and Mauro Schmid in the group chasing down Boswell and Serrano.
Surprisingly, the next wave of attacks dropped Moscon - another very disappointing showing by what should be our strongest rider!
On the other hand, Mauro Schmid did an amazing job, bringing attackers back over and over again - and even leading out teammate Fausto Masnada under the flamme rouge!
Mauro Schmid and Fausto Masnada at the front of the leading 10-rider group under the red kite!
Our team tactics worked out like a charm until the final 1,000 meters - would it be finally our big day, our first win of a goal race?
Well, almost. Fausto Masnada launched his sprint very early - which was the decisive move - however, a surprisingly strong Wackermann was able to stay with him and, being the far better sprinter, take the win.
Fausto Masnada finishing 2nd in the Züri Metzgete!
So, we did everything right today, and we definitely can't blame Fausto for not winning - one rider just was a tad stronger this time. 2nd place is still a great result for us in a race that actually doesn't suit our riders' skillsets too much, so well done!
And to make it an even better result, Mauro Schmid was able to finish ahead of the first chase group, claiming 10th place in this race, which is his best classic result of the year by a mile! Not only did he chase down everyone AND perfectly set up his teammate, he even got a Top 10 result - great job!
And while it's definitely not nice to talk about lowlights after such a big day, we still have to mention that Gianni Moscon inexplicably cracked completely in the end, not even finishing inside the Top 20 (having taken a 12th place the last time he was here).
To make up for that, let's also mention Leonardo Basso, who did a very solid race as well, finishing 26th - although that's no points for him, he contributed big time earlier in the race, before Mauro took over from him. Leo's our ever reliable domestique, and almost beat Gianni in a hilly race - kudos!
So, this was the 2022 season! As you probably already know, we did indeed win the CT division - our biggest success so far in team history - and hence go back up to PCT after just one year of CT racing! We'll provide some in-depth analysis later on, but for the moment we're just busy celebrating!
UU Thanks, mate! We'll see where the team build leads us; I guess I don't have THE big talent as you do have in McNulty, but I still have some pretty capable riders who are looking forward to facing PCT racing next year
Aregger was amazing, and I guess you wouldn't have been able to easily beat me for him Glad his planning worked out so smoothly, and a shame he's already declining after just this one season with us!
Btw, congrats for promotion as well, will surely visit your HQ in the next couple of days to say hello
What a season. With the calendar change I'm not sure how absolute points stack up, but when you looks at the victory margins, it's obvious that you crafted on of the best CT teams I've ever seen this year, and you did it while infused with young talent and committed to the sponsor missions. This was a genuinely deserved title. Congrats!
Unfortunately it looks like we'll have to wait another year to race in the same division again, but your core should be really great to buidl on this time around in PCT.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
I must say, I'm not too sorry about robbing you of this last goal - most notably because it was one of mine too, and in the end, it doesn't have any meaning in the title hunt.
Congrats on the title and the promotion, I'll be rooting for you in the PCT!
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
I guess mission accomplished - you got back into PCT first time of asking by winning it all. And you've said in other threads that your team is not "ready" for PCT - I strongly disagree. Your team has fewer riders that are either in decline or will decline down the road compared to...say...my team where most of my best riders are 30+ years old and neither would really set the world on fire in the PCT.
I would love to see in what direction your team will go during the off-season. By the looks of it both of us will be in the same division next year and with so many prominent teams are either ending their existence or contemplating one, I think the bidding war for top free agents from promoted teams (in both PT and PCT) will be fierce. All I can say is good luck
Congratulations on smashing us all and getting the CT win (and promotion too, of course). I think your team was amongst the favourites in every race we met and able to win on nearly every terrain (except the cobbles). And all that with a still pretty young and viable squad. I think with one or two strong additions (maybe a sprinter and some GC captain) you should be well equipped to stay in PCT.
Welcome once again to our traditional season review session! We're looking back on a very successful year, and we're happy to share our thoughts and analysis with you!
There will be four parts, which are the following:
Goals Team Riders Development
The last part is the one we're most looking forward to, as we'll discover how our future stars did this year, and how they progressed!
But for today, it will be part one - and without further ado, let's get started:
CT 2022 | Goals
Like every year, our sponsors also defined five budget relevant goals for the 2022 season. They are obviously over the moon after our huge success of winning the CT division - however, if we also want some additional money for next year, overall success isn't enough - there are precise races that needed to be successful. Let's just recall our goals before (chronologically) diving into the details:
Goals
Race
Goal
Coppa Placci (C2)
Top 5
Tour de Romandie (C1)
Top 5
Giro del Trentino (C2)
Top 5
Züri Metzgete (C2)
Win
Team Standings
Top 5
Coppa Placci (C2) Top 5
Besides the team standings, this was the goal we were most confident of reaching - given that Gianni Moscon won this race in our last participation two years ago. And this time, he even had Fausto Masnada as his prime domestique, so what could possibly go wrong?
Well, we don't really know - but it went wrong. Both Italians were there in the end, but they didn't cooperate at all, and Gianni Moscon just built up on his very weak start of the season, missing out not only on repeating his win, or at least a podium - no, he even missed out on a Top 5 in an honestly pretty weak puncheurs field. The first big bummer of the year, with just a 7th and 8th place by Moscon and Masnada.
Gianni Moscon and Fausto Masnada finishing 7th and 8th in San Marino.
Outcome: Fail
Tour de Romandie (C1) Top 5
We had the same goal a year ago already, where we pretty narrowly failed it with Nairo Quintana taking 7th place. The Columbian isn't riding with us anymore - and as a CT team, a Top 5 in a C1 race definitely is an ambitious goal. But we felt we were well prepared, with our TTT unit, with our climbing helpers - and even with our sprinter.
And the TTT unit delivered right on day one, missing out on the stage win by just 2 seconds - which was a great start for our GC ambitions! Marcel Aregger then took 4th place in stage 2 - he would add 3rd place finish on the final day on top of that. He didn't quite get the stage win we were dreaming of, but he definitely did a good job.
So did Colin Stüssi in the hilly stage 3, where he almost reached a podium finish by taking 4th place - and moving up to 2nd in the GC. He dropped one spot after stage 4, still holding onto 3rd though - it was looking great for our GC podium!
However, what followed was one of his worst performances all year long - in the decisive mountain time trial. A discipline he usually loves, but he just had a horrible day. Instead of checking off the Top 5 goal, he dropped down to 7th - which was the same result as the year before, and the second goal of the year failed by just two spots...
Marcel Aregger finishing 3rd on the final day.
Outcome: Fail
Giro del Trentino (C2) Top 5
This was a goal race for us in both previous CT seasons - and given that our sponsors still put a lot of weight on the regionality focus, the three-day event just a couple of kilometers away from the Swiss-Italian border was on our goals list once again. Unlike Placci, we hadn't reached this one before, though.
But this time, we were stronger - both in the TTT and on the climbs. And that showed right from day 1: Whereas we won the two previous TTTs in mountain stage races - in Catalunya and Vancouver - we had to settle for 2nd place for once, with BWT bringing their strongest - and almost unbeatable - outfit.
This 2nd place was still a great starting position for Colin Stüssi heading into the usually decisive stage 2. And not only did he overtake all BWT riders to take the race lead, he did this in style by winning the stage! Despite some struggles on the final day, our GC captain brough home the win, and the sprint jersey on top of that. Which means that we finally had our first accomplished goal of the year!
Colin Stüssi wins the Giro del Trentino!
Outcome: Success
Züri Metzgete (C2) Win
The final goal race of the year is a recurring one as well - as for the 3rd time, our sponsors asked us to win our home race in Zurich on the very last day of the year. So that's a race that could make or break our season - at least in terms of next year's budget.
We haven't been able to win this race yet, which since its course change in 2020 is mostly suited for punchy sprinters. Which is the reason why we sent Marcel Aregger here for his final race at his peak level. In case of a harder race, our hopes obviously once again were on Gianni Moscon's shoulders, who had a strong support cast including Fausto Masnada and Mauro Schmid.
Well, our hilly leader once again showed an awful race - as it inexplicably was the case in most of his races this year. But who needs leaders anyway when you have great helpers, who can step up when needed?
Mauro Schmid rode a pretty much perfect race, shutting down attacks, bridging gaps - and finally setting up Fausto Masnada for the final sprint! Our top talent also took a fantastic 10th place in the end, by the way.
The Italian took all others by surprise by launching his sprint early - all but one. He was granted a podium spot early on in this sprint - but unfortunately drew the short straw against the admittedly stronger sprinter Wackermann - thereby losing out on our most prestigious goal of the year - and a lot of cash - by just some meters.
Fausto Masnada sprinting to 2nd place in Zurich.
Outcome: Fail
Team Standings Top 5
Let's just be honest: as a team that just relegated from PCT, Top 5 and hence automatic promotion must be the minimum goal. Except if you choose a Podium Ambition like plan to do a full rebuild. Both teams who seriously wanted to get instantly back to PCT (with two others unfortunately stopping) actually did so.
And it was clear rather early on that we would achieve promotion - the only open question, at least until August or so, was whether we would be able to get the division title. In the talks with our sponsors, it was even considered to make the win our goal - in hindsight, we should have taken the risk.
But a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and so we're definitely happy to have reached the most important goal of the year:
2022
Teams
Pos
Team
Total
1
Jura GIANTS
2158
2
McCormick Pro Cycling
1505
3
Glanbia
1380
4
Colombini-Adler Aalterpaint
1350
5
Tryg - Gobik
1315
Outcome: Success
Summary
Let's again take a look at the goals overview - but this time including the outcome:
Goals
Race
Goal
Outcome
Coppa Placci (C2)
Top 5
Fail (7th Gianni Moscon)
Tour de Romandie (C1)
Top 5
Fail (7th Colin Stüssi)
Giro del Trentino (C2)
Top 5
Success (WIN Colin Stüssi)
Züri Metzgete (C2)
Win
Fail (2nd Fausto Masnada)
Team Standings
Top 5
Success (WIN Jura GIANTS)
The total cost of these goals was 20, out of a possible amount of 23 - which means we did have pretty ambitious goals. Maybe a tad overambitious, given that we only reached two out of them.
What is especially painful is the fact that we missed the other goals by 1, 2 and 2 spots only - being a total of 5 spots worse over three races means three missed goals! We'd have been far better off by reaching two of them and failing one by 5 places, but alas.
So whereas we did have a fantastic season overall, we didn't have our best races when it mattered most. Hence, we'll have to pay more attention to our bank account than what we were hoping for. We'll see if we can convince our sponsors that the season was still great, and that missing out on the goals by close to nothing is rather a matter of chance than of real failure - we'll see how the talks go!
This overview concludes part one of the season review. If you do have any questions - be it about riders, team history, general statistics or whatever - feel free to ask, we'll try to answer them in the upcoming parts!
bbl The question about the absolute points is an interesting one, and I'll write a couple of lines about that in the next part
Thanks for the congrats, and we'll surely meet in a couple of PCT (or wildcard PT) races
Imladrik Thanks for the congrats.
You're right, it didn't matter for the title hunt. But it does matter quite a bit for next year's budget, given that it's now a failed sponsor goal. But that's racing I guess
Good luck for your next year, and see you in a couple of races
ivan Thanks for the kind words.
The next part will reveal why I'm not sure we're ready for PCT. I guess on paper we should be, but our C1 races mostly weren't a success story. If we want to be competitive in PCT, we should do at least pretty well at the lowest PCT racing level...
There will surely be some bidding wars, but I guess with all the goals you accomplished you'll probably rather end up buying than bidding
kandesbunzler Thanks
Indeed, CT now (with the mandatory C2HC races gone) allows you to tailor your schedule pretty much to your team's strengths. And given that we did have some of the strongest riders in quite some terrains, being among the favorites pretty much everywhere was the plan
Thanks for the price, by the way - I'd have been surprised if it wasn't the right answer to be honest
While it would've been probably better to get at least one more goal, I think all those near misses should come into play and your budget should still be pretty solid.
Surprising in such an incredible season to miss more than you made in terms of goals but as redordead says only missing the others by 5 places total should still see a decent return I would think
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
Technically fails on three goals, but you're close enough to all of them to still bank some nice financial gains. As if you needed more good news after that season. Back-to-back promotion time, i will not accept less!
Rest in Peace, Gino Mäder A personal post - not MG related
It's with great sadness that I heard the horrible news about Gino Mäder's passing this morning. Being a Swiss citizen as well, I closely followed Gino's races in the last couple of years - maybe even more so since I signed him as my first talent in ManGame. To read about his bad crash yesterday was shocking, even more so given that he knew the roads pretty well, and was known to be a skilled downhiller.
This morning, I was trying to find some news, still hoping for the best. But there weren't any - until his team communicated his passing. The injuries caused by the crash were just too severe - despite getting quick medical help (the race doctor talked about less than 2 minutes between the crash ocurring and him reaching Gino), and resuscitation being successful, his way too short life suddenly ended today.
Gino only turned 26 in January, having his best pro years yet to come. He celebrated great victories early in his career, winning a Giro stage in 2021, and the Tour de Suisse queen stage the same year. He was Switzerland's greatest stage racing talent, probably since Alex Zülle. Which he underlined by his 2nd place in the 2022 Tour de Romandie.
For the big wins, he may not have been consistent enough yet - labelling himself a grab bag. He also often got sick at the worst possible moments - the latest example being him catching Covid right ahead of this year's Giro. But even when he was bad on one day, the next day could be a Gino show.
He was more than an ordinary racer; Gino was a thinker, a philosopher, a "guerrier, un chic type" (a warrior, a good guy) as stated by Alaphilippe. He didn't care about himself first, he cared about the others, about animals, about the environment, about human rights (causing some inner conflicts about him riding for Bahrain). Gino will be deeply missed - most of all by his family of course, but also by the peloton.
Although I didn't know you personally, Gino, I'm extremely sad about your sudden and early passing. It makes me realize what a privilege it is to be healthy, and just to live. It makes me realize that we can take nothing for granted.
Thank you for the great moments I had when following your races - and thanks for speaking up against injustice (although you didn't seek to be the loudest). Thank you for the person you have been.
Rest in Peace, Gino.
It might not be appropriate to post this here, I don't know. I just needed a way to handle my feelings, to express my thoughts. Nobody needs to read this, and I might even delete it later on - but for now I just wanted to pay homage to one of my favorite riders.
Very appropriate to post here and a great tribute. Obviously didn't follow Gino as closely as you but the one interview I saw with him was enough to make me a fan for what turned out to be a far too short life.
For me two huge career highlights jumps to mind. The 2021 Giro d’Italia stagewin and the very impressive overall 5th place of the 2021 Vuelta a España.
After those results I definately thought of him as one to Watch. Unfortunately 2022 was pretty uneventful despite taking 2nd in Romandie. In this years edition of Paris-Nice however, it seemed as if he was fighting his way back towards the subtop.
It’s extremely sad when riders (and people in general) die much too early due to accidents or illness. RIP Gino!
I'm curious how the build towards PCT will pan out!
Euskal Bizikleta (C1)
Marcel Aregger and 
Grzegorz Stepniak - for the first two flat-rated stages, and then 
Fausto Masnada and 
Alexandros Matsangos launching the first attack of the race!
Nairo Quintana taking 7th place. The Columbian isn't riding with us anymore - and as a CT team, a Top 5 in a C1 race definitely is an ambitious goal. But we felt we were well prepared, with our TTT unit, with our climbing helpers - and even with our sprinter.
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
