We put two riders in the break in the form of Mick VD and Kooistra. They wouldn't survive till the end. Benoot went on the move with 23 km to go and was at the front of the race for 15 odd kilometers. There would be no repeat of last year's result though, as he didn't have the legs to stay with the next attack after he was caught. He would then ride at his own and won the sprint for 8th. Shiki Kuroeda went under the radar to finish a good 12th. Havik got us some more points in 33rd.

TTTs have never been our strong point but we perhaps sent our best ever line-up to this race, which wasn't to say we expected to challenge for Stage 1. We finished 8th, 21 seconds down, which was a fairly good start.

Stage 2 was for the sprinters and we didn't have any play.

The hilly Stage 3 led to a reduced bunch uphill sprint where Choi finished 3rd, and gained some valuable seconds, moving himself up to 6th in the GC.

We did a lot of chasing on Stage 4. After an initial attack and counter went away, Choi was able to stay with the leading group till the line, finishing 4th this time. He moved up to 2nd in GC, just a second off top spot.

Stage 5 was the MTT and Choi set off well, making good time in the early stages. He would clock in tied for 3rd at the finish. The wait for Oomen, the current GC leader ended soon enough, and the monitors showed him as 2 seconds slower than our leading man. This means Choi became the new GC leader by a single second!



The flat Stage 6 was uneventful and we got Choi home to win the GC!



Kozhatayev finished 16th, with Carboni in 18th in the GC. Choi finished 2nd in the Points and 3rd in the KOM. Leemreize finished 5th in the U25s. We finished 2nd in the Teams classification.

The uphill finish on Stage 1 saw Vesely taking the lead with 100 meters to go and holding it for our first stage win of our season.



It was almost a repeat on Stage 2, but Vesely, in the Leader's jersey, took 2nd and extended his lead in both the GC and Points standings.

Vesely was dropped on Stage 3 in the TTT, and our hopes of a decent GC went out the window.

We didn't have any contender for the hilly Stage 4.

Vesely finished 27th in the GC. He won the Points classification!

We put Kooistra in the break again. With 20 km to go, and the break long caught, we had thre riders in the leading group. Things didn't go that well after that though, as Ringheim had his first weak race of the season. Shiki Kuroeda made up for it a bit, joining a couple of attacks but eventually not having the legs to stay at the front. He finished 9th. Ringheim finished 18th.

Vesely hasn't been consistent in the classics, with just one good result so far this season. We don't have very high expectations from this race as a result. We do have a good flat team and may look towards a late attack to catch out the pack. Our pick would be Shiki Kuroeda to try the surprise attack.

Carboni gets his second chance to lead the team this season. He did decently in Badaling, getting a Top 10 result. While we don't expect this result to be similar, we do hope that he can get some points on the board.

Choi is in good form, coming off the back of his win in Romandie! He did well in Colombia against stronger opposition earlier in the year, and we hope he's up for it again in this race. With just one mountain stage, this race can be a bit unpredictable though.

Vesely is here for the sprints, but that's always a lottery. We are tempering our hopes for the ITT but we do hope we can try to get into the Top 10.

Pretty much the same expectation as from East Java in this one. Choi is here, and Carboni is the extra addition in the mountain train from East Java. Jungels and Ocampo travel to try and get something out of the Prologue.

Vesely has done relatively better in sprint stages with undulations and/or uphill finishes. This is one does have the former in loads so we have slightly higher hopes than in Hanko earlier in the month. The same support staff as in Hanko, barring a Alben for Hayter switch, joins him for this race.

Choi's third race of the month, and expectations remain high as for all his races! The profile looks to be a challenging one, but with the early mountain stage and the TTs, we do believe he has what it takes to be up there with the best of the competition.

Vesely has been in good form recently, pulling off consistent results in and around the Top 5. The flat team have supported him well and are here in full strength. We hope Vesely can keep his run going.

Choi has been in similar form as Vesely all through the season and we hope he can make his mark in this race as well. The tough hill stage means we've split up our domestique team between mountain and hills specialists but it is still a strong one by our reckoning.

We expect a strong startlist as always for a PTHC race and that's why we've kept our sprint train at home and are asking Vesely to try and jump onto the right wheels of the stronger sprinters in this one. We hope he can be near the Top 10 spots. Anything more would be a bonus.

We took the big decision of not bringing Benoot to this race and have opted to go with the cobbles leadership instead. We don't know whether that will be a very big mistake when this race is done and dusted but we hope our trio can keep themselves in the hunt for some decent points.

This is the only flat classic of the season where we don't have Vesely starting. Instead we have our flat squad on the startlist, hoping to make a mark via a late attack. It is a low probability event, but we felt like this was the best planning decision to make, all things considered.

The month started off with a trip to Finland. We were mostly anonymous throughout the race but Vesely sprang to life in the sprint and finished 3rd.

Carboni was our leader in this one. Hayter joined the break. He was caught with 18 km to go. Carboni was part of the initial move which went away. He couldn't stay near the front in the final kilometer but managed to get 8th which was a good result for us. and him.

We did not have a sprinter for this race and we did not put anyone in the breaks. All our focus was on Stage 3 where Choi was able to win the KOM on the penultimate climb. He would finish 6th on the Stage to take the KOM jersey which he eventually won as well. He would finish 8th in the GC on countback.



Kozhatayev finished 23rd, Shirota 39th and Tratnik 49th in the GC. Leemreize finished 7th in the KOM. We finished 4th in the Teams standings.

We had a bad start with Jungels and Ocampo under par on Stage 1.

Vesely finished 5th in the sprint on Stage 2.

After a brilliant leadout by Shiki Kuroeda, Vesely improved to finish 2nd on Stage 3.

He could not get into the Top 10 on Stage 4.

The Stage 5 ITT was also disappointing from Jungels. He ended up 19th in the GC. Ocampo did well to finish 25th. The latter was 3rd in the U25s. Vesely finished 5th in the Points.

Jungels did better in the Stage 1 prologue to finish 9th. Ocampo was 2nd in the U25s after this stage.

Stage 2 was uneventful as we didn't have a sprinter.

Choi was very patient at the front on Stage 3, not attacking himself but careful about every move. He ended 10th on the stage.

Stage 4 was also flat rated and had nothing for us.

Stage 5 played out quite similar to Stage 3 with Choi always near the front of the pack. He finished 8th this time.

We finally did some breakaway chasing on Stage 6. Choi chased down the first attacks from the favourites in the closing kilometers. He would finish in the first group - 7th on the day.

We were mostly anonymous again on Stage 7 but Choi and Carboni made it into the decisive split. Choi remained in the lead group of 13 at the start of the final climb. Choi would follow the moves at the front and drive the pace once they were caught. He would also make it to the winning move of three riders but would just fall short in the end to finish 2nd on the stage. He would move up to 4th in the GC as a result. Carboni finished 26th, Kozhatayev 35th, Ahmad Zamri 49th and Leemreize 67th for some decent depth points. Choi was 5th in the Points. We were 4th in the Teams.

we didn't do much in the stage but Vesely into a great position for the sprint. Inly problem was a couple of late attackers survived and while Vesely got 2nd from the bunch, it was only good for 4th place. Still a good result though.

Jungels was in better form and finished 6th in the Stage 1 Prologue. Ocampo once again did a fine job and led the U25s after this stage.

The mountainous Stage 2 was not very selective with only two riders getting a gap and Choi finishing in a large group.

Stage 3 also saw a big bunch finish together with only four later attackers getting a gap.

Stages 4 and 5 were for sprinters and didn't have anything for us.

Choi did fine in the Stage 6 ITT preserving his GC position.

The hard Stage 7 was, hard! Choi was on good legs again and spent some time at the front of the group of GC favourites. He remained with the lead group till the finish as riders were dropped off. He finished 6th on the stage and moved up to 4th in the GC. Carboni finished 18th and Kozhatayev 22nd. We won the Teams classification.

We were on chasing duty behind the break for most of the race. Vesely jumped on the sprint trains, and finished 3rd in the sprint. But two riders had got away in a late attack and were not caught, so our leader got 5th, still a good result. Havik finished 24th for some extra points.

We didn't bring a sprinter here and didn't join the break on Stage 1.

We rode for Choi on Stage 2. Choi was able to follow the first attack from the favourites but that wasn't successful. He finished in the pack, with Carboni ahead of him, and in 10th, our best result on the day.

Choi once again was able to follow the initial move from the favourites with 3.5 km to go but was dropped soon after. He finished weakly and just got into the top 20 on the stage.

Choi was 14th in the GC with Carboni in 17th. This was a very bad result for us. Leemreize was 6th in the U25s. We finished 5th in the Teams.

We didn't do much all race except keep Vesely safe and put him in a good place to contest the sprint. He was able to get 7th at the line, which was a decent result for us again on the flats. Havik in 33rd and Jungels in 39th gave us some more points.

We didn't have great expectations from the Stage 1 prologue. Tim was the best losing 26 seconds, which put him 3rd in the U25s.

Only three of our riders made the split on Stage 2, Shiki who finished 10th, Mick and Alben. It was a big shock to see both Saya and Ringheim dropped on a cobbled stage. This put Mick into 2nd in the U25s.

Mick was at the front for all of the action in the closing stages of Stage 3, launching the sprint to the line with a kilometer to go.



He didn't have the legs to hold on but did finish 5th, moving himself up to 6th in the GC! Shiki also finished in the lead group. Alben didn't.

Shiki, Ringheim and Mick were able to stay with the lead group, behind a three man winning move, till the finish of Stage 4. Ringheim finished 7th with Shiki in 10th. Mick moved up another spot in the GC to 5th.

On Stage 5, once again, Shiki, Ringheim and Mick finished in the lead group, with Saya also joining them there, this time behind a five man winning move. Ringheim finished 9th.

Mick lost a couple of GC spots on the flat Stage 6, as two sprinters just behind him in the standings were able to pick up bonus points and move ahead. He still finished a fantastic 7th! Shiki was 13th with Ringheim in 36th and Saya in 39th. Mick finished 2nd in the U25s and Tim finished 6th. We finished 4th in the Teams.

We didn't have a sprinter, yet we didn't join the break nor try a late attack. Only Havik in 20th gave us some points. Very disappointed (even more than I was expecting since no one even tried!).

Carboni's last race as leader this season, his third overall and his first in a stage race. We have provided a strong climbing support squad to him to help him pick up as many points as possible. He did well in both the classics he has led, getting Top 10s in both. We'll be elated if he can do that again but we remain realistic with our chances.

Vesely is here to target the three flat stages, and that is probably our best hope for decent points in this race. Jungels might be decent in the TT if he has a good day but he might not be able to survive the hilly Stage 3.

Vesely's last race of the season and he has a chance to end it on a high (or low, given how these races tend to go!). He only has Havik and the kids for support so they'll have to be on top of their game to get their leader into good positions in the sprints.

Our cobbles squad returns after a break and we really hope they can keep the momentum going from the early season. It's the same triumvirate of Righeim and the Kuroedas leading our charge but the support staff are all in Ireland, so they'll have to fend for themselves and look after each other.

Ezeefreak wrote:

Quite busy month for your team it seems and also the expecations doesnt seem too high so I hope you can achieve all of them and maybe get some positive surprises.
If sprints work well this time it shouldnt be any problem ... IF