No time to stop and think, barely the time to write a blog! Racing finshed in Gabon, sleep. Wake-up and straight to the airport for a 30hour series of flights and transfers. Arriving in Adelaide just in time to sleep and start racing again. Major recommendation to the UCI to change the dates of one race to make this transfer more doable.
Luckily i'm not too tired from the racing. First time out and i couldn't hold the peloton most days. I could have if i pushed myself but i knew what was coming and that my goals are the TDU. As such i saved energy and let others breakaway for the breif glory, congrats to them though!
Delfi showed some good promise. I hope he can shake of the repuation he earned last season. Good start for the team and it's time to build on that a move forwards. I know i can't really go backwards for here!
Hello again everyone! I have already finished the first race of the season, in which I was be leading the Androni Team. It was of course, the Tropicale Amissa Bongo, or Tour of Gabon. It was not necessarily a return I was been looking forward to, since I have mixed memories from last year. In 2013 I went into Gabon as one of the favourites, but I only managed to achieve 8th overall, and didn't get a stage win.
Stage 1 was interesting to say the least. It felt great to be back in the professional peleton, but also a bit strange. It felt as though the whole race was just warming up, with all the teams and riders just seeing how things would go. In the end the breakaway capitalised on the shaky legs and took a great win. It is a shame I wasn't fighting for the win , but the team did some great work on stage 1, and I managed to get through without having to test my early season form.
Things were a bit more routine on stage 2. Since it was a flat stage, I figured I could just drift in inside the peleton. However, instead Movistar took it upon themselves to ride aggressively and in the end I was one of only a small group at the finish line. I didn't gain any time, but many of my rivals lost out.
However, it wasn't until stage 3 that things got really interesting for me. For most of the race the pace was less than challenging, but near the end the pressure was huge. Many of the big names got caught out, but I am proud to say I wasn't one of them. It seems my luck really has changed this year. In the end the break won, but I was the third best of the race favourites.
Stage 4 was quite similar. I was near the front all day, and when the big split came, I saw it coming, and made the front group. However, it was not a really action packed stage and in the end it came down to an uphill sprint. I am no sprinter, so I just dropped off the back by a few seconds. This was disappointing, but the important thing is that I made up a bit of time on the GC leaders, although it was never going to be enough.
Overall, it was a good warm up race for me. I came into Gabon hoping to prove my doubters wrong, and do better than last year. In the end I came 4th in the General Classification, which is a definite improvement. If it wasn't for some strange breakaway results I would have made it onto the podium, but I can't blame the team for that as it was amazing to ride with so many supportive guys. It is always good to show an improvement from last year, and I hope to go the next step for my next few races.
Yikes these guys are fast - they went full bore up the pretty hard Menglers hill and despite Yuki's best efforts I just couldn't get up to the front again to contest the sprint. I am pretty annoyed with myself becuase the team management were absolutely clear that I had to be in the first 20 riders going into the climb, but I was nowhere near.
I have to tell myself that the Tour Down Under is a learning experience and it is at Qatar where I should be legitimately targetting my first every high finish. But to get blown out before I got the chance at a clean sprint is pretty disappointing.
Other than Yuki, I think the guys are a bit annoyed at me they were seen talking to last years sprinter Calzone who finished 12th today and I think they wish he was still here. Glad Yuki is here else I think I would be carrying water tomorrow trying to repair the damage. I feel I gotta show the guys something here in Australia.
I've been racing in Qatar these last few days. Leading out umm I can't pronounce his name, something like Kwaoski. unfortunately, he doesn't speak much Italian, or any French, so I have to just know when to go for the lead-out, although on stage 1 I had to go earlier because he was too far back, I dropped him off at the front, then tried to stay there to help, but I was too tired, in the end I came 21st.
The second stage went differently, with Hayden Roulston getting away to win the stage for the team, which mean I didn't have to do as much work chasing, still, I finished 28th.
Stage 3 was a Time Trial and I was determined to get a top 10 at the least, but a bad day in the saddle and worse conditions in the middle of the stage, denied me of that. But some of those guys are really fast, I lost 42 seconds on that course! Still, I came 15th.
Chao! Pierre
Edited by trekbmc on 20-02-2015 21:03
Last place but still smiling. Might become my season tagline. Australia is not going great for me. The team is doing ok, about expectation given the level of the event. But i'm way down in last place on the GC heading to Willunga Hill. The short turn around from Gabon hit me harder than i thought.
I'm really struggling to keep up with the peloton most days and it is much easier to give up than fight for ~120th place just to keep the same time. At least down the back things are less serious. I'm making friends with the stragglers and we're building up and nice clique. We finish each day with a smile and put on a little show for the fans. A mock sprint, a wheelie, whatever we fancy down the backend of things.
The crowd has been amazing. Tons are here for Orica and Drapac and the bigger Aussie riders, but you can't miss the big Marcus signs around. The media buzz is still pretty big everyday. I imagine it will drop off as the season progresses and the novelty wears off, but i am going to enjoy it whilst it lasts. Another bonus is Thomas keeps my spirits high back at the hotel. I might be last but i'm having much more fun than anyone else!
I finally got to get my teeth into a sprint on stage 4, a bit unexpected to be honest that I was going to be there. I was desperate however to convince the guys that I was worth working for after really suffering on the previous days. 14th on stage 4 of the Tour Down Under may not look like much, but 7th out of the main group sounds better especially when I look at who was ahead of me.
Obviously finishing behind Calzone was frustrating, but it now becomes a bit of a mini goal for me. I have to say Ale-Jet Pettachi has been pretty good and came up to me after the stage and said that I showed him and the team something today.
In a couple of days we get a real flat crit style circuit, I think I will have a chance of a good stage finish. I've been warned not expect much from Qatar with high winds predicted but it should give me a chance to build my power for mid season. Still struggling to settle into the team dynamic here - but Yuki has been invaluable to keep my positivity up.
Hello again! I have just finished racing in Siena, for the Strade Bianche race. It was a very exciting race, which ended rather disappointingly for me, but it was a great experience to ride in such a historic race. The narrow gravel roads have a history of producing some extraordinary racing, but also unusual results. Both of these were on show this year. For me, finishing 25th is not a result I can be satisfied with, but I am happy with how I raced.
In the end, the breakaway were the victors, taking the race away from the battle behind them, which was particularly interesting for the spectators. For my part, my main job was to follow attacks. I knew if I could stay in the front group till the last few climbs then I could spring a few surprises to disrupt the finale. However, I couldn't quite stick with one of the later attacks, and with the high pace over the final kilometres there was no chance of getting back.
In the end, I finished 25th, not far behind the best peleton riders, with the remnants of the breakaway scattered throughout the standings. It might not sound like a good results, but I am happy with how I rode until Sagan's attacks ended my race. In the end a combination of narrow gravelly roads, breakaway riders, and lack of concentration meant I did not stay in the front group. However, the win for the breakaway meant the lesser results were chaotic to say the least, with even Sagan finishing 20th.
Ryu Kawasaki - Getting closer to that elusive win can team have patiance with me?
I finished off with an 11th in Australia - it had become clear that the Adelaide Crit was going to be a bit of a letdown when the bunch split to smithereens. I ended up working for Gavazzi after holding my hand up and saying I had lost some zip. This concerned me - it is in my contract and indeed my nature to be the fastman. Still I thought it would not hurt team morale and with Matteo getting a 5th place should have smoothed things over. Unfortunately I was shunned at the table later that night - Yuki told me later that I was lacking the sprinters mentality I really should not have let on my weakness it was seen as lack of confidence.
The recent race in Qatar was seen as a very important race for me and my professional future. Yuki seemed my only friend and worked with me to help my positioning in the bunch. I've have strived really hard to give it my all as sprint captain and not give up that captaincy.
I did okay on the opener with my highest finish of 5th place - guys like Matt Goss and mark Cavendish are really hard to beat but I knew I could get closer to these guys. A teammate got up the road and denied the sprinters on stage 2 - hiding what was a weak day in the wind from me. I could tell the pressure was off on the chrono day but as it was a reasonably short one I managed to impress with a 19th place finish. This got me a few congratualations from Hayden the guy that won the previous day. Still Ale-Jet and Matteo were keeping their thoughts to themselves.
In fact those guys were nowhere on stage four which proved a really windy one and by far the hardest stage of the race with things being ripped to shreds. I had worked really hard on surviving these kind of days and Yuki really patted me on the back for a finishing with the main guys. Yuki said he had talked to Gavazzi and Petacchi that night, he revealed to me that I really needed something better than my 5th place and decent GC to impress them and in turn management.
Stage 5 I went a bit better and nabbed a 4th, behind Goss, Cav and Arnaud Demare. But still Ale-jet was not impressed. You need to beat one of them Ryu he said pretty matter of factly like that was such and easy thing to do! I really got into a finish on the final day thankfully and even managed to edge out Demare to my first career podium. I was euphoric about it - but Yuki talked me to down. He said that really I needed a win to get any sort of recognition - the team had nabbed a fortunate stage win from a break and this would apease them but they expected me to be the one who got the stage win.
Still I got some press recognition from back home who were pleased to see my name pop up in top 10's three times and I even nabbed a 10th place on GC. Yuki and some other youngsters came with some sugary sweets later to me room for a small celebration. It may not be good enough for Petacchi and the DS's but it feels great to be making some improvements.
Nice to relax, even if only briefly. The run of Gabon and Tour Down Under really took their toll on me. I was not ready for the speed of the pro peloton. It caught me off guard in Gabon and i had no time to recover for the TDU and a World Tour peloton. By the end of the race i was doing well not to crash.
It's been a wake up call though. I will need to really dig deep to find any kind of result it seems this season. Certainly it will take until at leas the end of March to start making real progress. At least other riders on the team seem to be coping much better and firing decently.
Short break, which i really need, before Algarve. There's a time trial and i look forward to trying out my best skill for the first time this season. Before then i've fitting in some down time and training in Oz with Thomas before heading up to the Algarve. Will be another interesting race and learning experience. Still very much excited and enjoying myself even if i am down the back end of things
Hello, it's Ahmed. After my last blog update a lot has happened. If you watch Fox you might have seen me since then outside of racing. Fox made a new show for me, giving me a platform to share my views and oppinions on the world. I think is important, as too few people realize what's going on in the world. Great to have such a neutral TV channel that allows spreading of great oppinions. After last blog update of me a lot of people got angry. Even a weak soul like my team managers dared to call me a pig in public. I raced in Australia where also a girl rode for our team. I don't think it's a right thing and said that in my last blog update, which made people go crazy. After the last stage of Tour Down Under I got even attacked by militant feminists. Lawyers of my fathers take care of them now and my injuries are healed, so you don't have to worry about that. Someone of Fox found out about that and called me to ask if he can make reality TV show about me. I only have to show my well earned toys like Ferrari or yacht in front of TV and sometimes say something about my oppinion. Sometimes they even want me to destroy my car. That's weird as usual people say that's crazy. But this is big fun and like that I can give people opportunity to learn important stuff about life. In other news I also took part in my home race the Tour of Qatar. Before that there was charity race, where money was collected for making new oil plants. Luckily my father knew organisateurs and I won the race. I was very happy with that and so didn't really care about Tour of Qatar after. My best ranking was a 42nd place.
Algarve was a strange race. There was some confusion with the organisers failing to record intermedite sprint points and mountains points. After the situation was resolved it felt like we'd ridden the race twice over! On top of that there was a change of stage orders which just created more mess. It was a really un-fun situation for the riders.
On the road things went a lot better for me. I was finding it wasier to stick with the peloton on the flat and wasn't even too bad on climbs. The Time Trial was a good test, my favorite discipline but still a loooong way off anything competitive. As i keep saying it's all moving in the right directions but i don't think i'll be getting any real noteworthy results in 2014.
Eyes forwards to the Continental Championships. I signed up under the EPIC Rider scheme as our management decided not to enter a full squad to the Aufrasian events. I jumped at the chance to enter it regardless and will tackle both the Time Trial and Road events in my home nation of Australia.
Ahmed Al-Mohney also joined under the same rule so we are the sole two representitives of Androni. No secret we have some issus. I'd much rather race with any other member of the Androni team than him. Hopefully he'll sort his attitude out so we can have a pleasant time at the events.
Then we'll be onto Season Part 2. No idea on races at this stage just that i'll be looking forwards to the end of the Part when Nationals take place. My recent training is also sure to bring some boosts to my skills. I've been working hard on long runs to better keep with the peloton. Long time before i'll be competeing for wins but the work has to start somewhere.
The Part 1 has come to an end with some bad news. The management, like so many under the EPIC system, seems to have gone AWOL. This left us riders in the lurch for Contis but we managed to save ourselves there. I am looking forwards to the ITT and to racing back home in Aus.
But there are problems going forwards. Without managment the team hasn't signed up for any races for Part 2, except the Giro which was locked in at the start of Part 1. So as it stands i will not be doing any racing in Part 2 because the team will have no races. Unless i jump myself into the Giro team, but i don't want to take on a GT this early in my career, it would only do bad for me in the long run.
I could switch teams but Drapac is rudderless as well so i don't particularly feel like there's another team i want to ride for. Hopefully the UCI can help resolve the situation very soon but so far doesn't seem particularly concerned which is worrying. The best thing for me to do is keep training and improving my skills so that when racing does come around i can keep becoming more competitive.
Dropbear
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
Pierre Lipawsky 
