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UBS - La Pierre 2012
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 25-06-2012 14:34
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Sprinter
Posts: 1910
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Well hold on a second. I had a legitimate at each one of those goals. Gomez Marchante has podiumed twice before at the Vuelta, so I figured he had a shot at it this year as well. Schumacher should have won the Rund um Koln, and all he needed was a good day to win Liege - Basdtogne - Liege (and he actually even almost did win it, but was caught at the end). I admit that I misjudged the team standings, but that's only 1/5 that were unrealistic. And we're still going to win GP Mendrisio 
Its not like I picked impossible goals to get money and then bombed them all. I had a very real shot at all of them, and came painfully close for some. Yeah, I'm going to get screwed here in the transfer season, and I fully realize that. When I said I wasn't concerned, I meant that I'm not going to stress over barely missing these targets and I can't complain because we did good in these races anyway. I tried to jump 10 meters into the air, and only got 9.5 meters high. Can't complain about that 
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 21-09-2012 23:51
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Sprinter
Posts: 1910
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Gearing Down
I know its been a while, but with the season rapidly coming to an end, I'd like to give another update before the Giro di Lombardi. Since the last update after the Tour, the team has had many successful races. Not only have our big-name riders shined, but we've also had our lesser known guys seize on opportunities and come out big for us. As per the normal format, I'll go through race by race.
The first race after the Tour was Seine - Marne - Seine. The team was quiet here and we sent them to work for Maximiliano Richeze, but he was unfortunately unable to make it over the hills to contest the sprint. He finished 54th as our highest placed rider.
Again at the Vattenfall Classic we failed to get a big result. We didn't expect anything, as Richeze was busy racing elsewhere, so we sent a team focused on getting into a successful breakaway. David Lelay tried to find the right move early on, but he couldn't manage to stick, and we ended the day with our best placed rider being him in 82nd.
The Vuelta a Colombia was a different story though. Here the team saw much success, particularly from our leader José Angel Gomez Marchante, who finished 6th Overall with a stage podium and several other top-10 results throughout the race. Richeze also found some luck in the sprints, netting 3 top-10's himself. Thomas Frei and Gian Piero Signorini took part in 4 breakaways between themselves, with Frei finding himself in the leader's jersey of the KoM competition for the first 2 days.
Gomez Marchante narrowly misses the sprint in Stage 4 to finish 2nd on the day.
In the GP Liechtenstein we definitely sent our A team, which featured the trio of our best climbers: Andrei Amador, Florentino Marquez, and Gomez Marchante. Amador was the designated leader, and we played all of our cards with Denis Vorontsov going for the early break, and Gomez Marchante and Amador going attack-counter attack towards the end. While Andrei found himself vying for the win with the top guns, he just couldn't pull it off and ended up 6th.
Gomez Marchante attacks to soften up the other favorites for Andrei Amador.
In the FBD Eire Tour we sent a team centered around Stefan Schumacher and Maximiliano Richeze for the sprints. Richeze performed okay, taking 2 stage top-10's, but of course we would have liked a little more. The race was made for us on stage 5 though, where we sent Florian Stalder and Rubens Bertogliati both into the breakaway, recognizing that this stage was one of the unpredictable hilly kinds. Sure enough, they stayed away and Rubens took 4th on the day with Florian coming in 7th. This boosted Rubens into 2nd and Florian into 4th in the GC. The next day, Schumacher podiumed and Florian cracked, losing his 4th place, but Rubens remained in 2nd.
The decisive breakaway on Stage 5 with both Florian Stalder and Rubens Bertogliati.
Rubens Bertogliati stayed safe for the final 2 days to finish in 2nd Overall, behind CT rider William Ford. This was a huge result for us and it easily made up for the lackluster performance from Schumacher, who only finished 16th, most likely because the parcours was not decisive enough. Regardless, Rubens was either gunning for a place in his manager's heart or an extension of his contract for next year with that result, and he may have ended up with both.
Maximiliano Richeze was sent to contest what we though would be a bunch sprint in the GP de Fourmies . We expected maybe a top-10, but unfortunately once again he was unable to make the final selection, and he ended the race 33rd.
The Tour of Northern Europe was a race that we had little ambition in. Without a sprinter or a classics leader (a deficit that we hope to remedy in the transfer season), the team looked for opportunities in the breakaways. Sergio Barrio and Rafaâ Chtioui found themselves in 4 separate moves, with Barrio finishing 6th on Stage 6 and eventually 3rd in the KoM Classification. He was also our best placed rider, finishing 31st Overall. This is his best result of the season, and we are pleased with it. Keep an eye on Sergio, big things are going to come from him.
This brings us to our most recent race, the  GP Mendrisio. This was a big one for us, being a home race that our sponsors had requested we win. Stefan Schumacher was our leader to complete that task with capable help from the home town hero Michael Albasini. It was in the cards for Michael to do something similar to the late breakaway that brought him 2nd in the Fleche Wallone, but unfortunately the legs just weren't there today. The team was prominent on the front though, controlling the race until Rubens Bertogliati slipped into the breakaway. He couldn't hang with them though, and was eventually brought back to the peloton.
The team on the front controlling the race in the early kilometers.
Fast-forwarding to the closing kilometers, Schumacher and Simon Zahner both made the decisive split. Schumacher launched an attack on the final hill with Frank Schleck and Jan Bakelandts, but couldn't stay with the two superstars and eventually faded to 4th, just off the podium. Simon Zahner finished best of the Swiss in 24th, his best result of the year. While it is a good result, we can't help but be disappointed to not come away with the win in our home race.
Going in to the end of the season, UBS really has only one chance left to shine: the Giro di Lombardia. Here the team will be headed by Stefan Schumacher who will look to finish the season with a bang and take his only big win. He will have strong support from his faithful lieutenant Michael Albasini, as well as Swiss climbers Johann Tschopp, Oliver Zaugg, and Simon Zahner. We will also be sending Sergio Barrio, Florian Stalder, and Kévin Lalouette.
Because we lack depth in time trialists, we don't expect to produce a competitive result at the Chrono des Herbiers. Nevertheless, we will have Dimitri Champion, Rafaâ Chtioui, and Kévin Lalouette representing us there.
I'll give another update after the Giro di Lombardia and Nationals recounting our probable success (  ), and detailing our plans for the transfer season. Speaking of the transfer season, we have very big plans, so stay tuned!
Edited by Bushwackers on 21-09-2012 23:51
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 07-10-2012 17:57
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Sprinter
Posts: 1910
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Season Wrap Up
With the Giro di Lombardia comes the end of the season, and while we had hoped to go out with a bang, things just didn't work out in our favor. While Schumacher went into the race as a top favorite, he only managed to come in 10th, which is a decent result but below the level that we have come to expect from him.
With that said, the final rankings in the Pro Tour have been announced, and UBS - La Pierre have finished in 12th, well above the relegation zone, but below our goal of a Top-5 for the season. This means that we were unfortunately unable to meet any of our sponsors' goals, despite coming very close multiple times. We did do very well in our other target races however, and next year we will try to pick more realistic goals now that we better understand the dynamics of the Pro Tour.
So stay tuned for an announcement about our plans for the transfer season, and I'll leave with a list of our wins throughout our first year in the Pro Tour:
Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco Stage 2
Tour of Romandie Stage 3
Criterium du Dauphine Libere Stage 3
Tour de Suisse KoM
Vuelta a la Region de Murcia KoM
Giro d'Italia Stage 16
Tour de France Stage 9
Tour de France Stage 10
Tour de France Stage 16
Til next time!
Edited by Bushwackers on 07-10-2012 17:58
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 14-10-2012 04:53
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Sprinter
Posts: 1910
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Double Post, Ignore
Edited by Bushwackers on 14-10-2012 14:58
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-12-2024 11:18
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 14-10-2012 04:53
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Sprinter
Posts: 1910
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Pre-Transfer Season
So with the transfer season coming up quickly, we here at UBS -BMC would like to announce our plans going forward. There are going to be some major changes, as the team will seek to emphasize our Swiss nationality with the addition of BMC as a title sponsor. With the team not making any of our sponsor's bonus goals, we don't expect to have a lot of free money available to make purchases, so we will unfortunately be looking to trade out some of our non-Swiss riders when we have the opportunity.
With that said, I think no one will be surprised when I announce that our main target for the transfer season is Fabian Cancellara. Since Carmeuse is facing relegation and has announced that it is highly likely that he will be leaving the team, everyone has to expect that he will be a target of the only professional Swiss team (in 2013). Not only are we looking to sign Fabian because he is the most prolific Swiss rider of this generation, but we also have a large gap in the classics department on our team that produced a noticeable lack of points for us this year.
With that said, if we are able to sign Fabian, we will need to build a solid support team around him to ensure his success in the cobbled races. For this reason, we are looking at Swiss classics riders Michael Schär and Danilo Wyss, who will both be free agents after the disbanding of their teams. Grégory Rast is also on our radar, and we'll be talking to the management of Trillux - Falke to see if we can't work something out in the event that we do sign a classics leader.
There are also several other Swiss riders that we would really like to sign that aren't necessarily classics riders. On the top of this list is, of course, the newly crowned Swiss champion, Hubert Schwab. Of course we'll have to discuss a suitable trade with Rin, but Schwab is definitely high on our list. Also on our list are Steve Morabito and Ivan Santaromita. We actually came close to signing Santaromita last year, but rycadinho and I couldn't come to a suitable agreement. But I will definitely be in contact with SotD and rycadinho in the coming weeks because I really want to see Morabito and Santaromita riding under Swiss colors. Marcel Wyss is another target that we think could really add to our team as support for Schumacher, and we will look to make a trade with viking90 to obtain him.
As for renewals, after a lot of thought and consideration, I'll announce our riders that fall under the following categories:
Definitely with UBS - BMC in 2013 (Will be Resigned, No Trades Considered)
 - Andrei Amador
 - Stefan Schumacher
- Oliver Zaugg
- Johann Tschopp
- Michael Albasini
- Florian Stalder
- Simon Zahner
- Thomas Frei
- Silvan Dillier
Depends on Wage Request
 - Maximiliano Richeze
 - Dimitri Champion
 - Rafaâ Chtioui
 - José Angel Gomez Marchante
- Johan Lebon
Available for Trade
- Florentino Marquez
- Sergio Barrio
- Christophe Riblon
 - Alexander Kristoff
 - Denis Vorontsov
 - Gian Piero Signorini
 - Chu Thien Sinelobov
Undecided
- Rubens Bertogliati
Will Not be Resigned
- David Lelay
- Kévin Laouette
Thanks for reading!
Edited by Bushwackers on 14-10-2012 14:59
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| SotD |
Posted on 14-10-2012 08:57
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World Champion
Posts: 12201
Joined: 29-11-2006
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DP mate... Well written though. Let me here what you have in mind with Morabito. He's one of my fav riders 
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 14-10-2012 14:30
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Sprinter
Posts: 1910
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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That double post was intentional because that's how serious I am.
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 14-10-2012 14:36
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Team Leader
Posts: 6716
Joined: 13-10-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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To be honest I thought SotD was talking about a movie I watched the other day... that girl seemed to like ...
[url=cleavercycling.co.uk]  [/url] |
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 14-10-2012 15:04
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Sprinter
Posts: 1910
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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For Morabito, you can see who we have listed as available for trade. In particular, I would look at a swap including Christophe Riblon, as he is a climber of similar quality and could enhance your team's French identity.
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| viking90 |
Posted on 14-10-2012 15:16
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4032
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We will have our ears open regarding Marcel Wyss, but it must be a good bid for him to leave because he is important in our team.
Maybe Kristoff could go the other way... |
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 14-10-2012 15:27
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Sprinter
Posts: 1910
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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A trade involving Kristoff and Wyss would be very possible.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 16-10-2012 16:24
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Team Leader
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Evian - MIAT have to admit that they are admirers of the French climber Christophe Riblon, and with his future with UBS in doubt wonder what his and his manager's thoughts would be on a move to a French outfit?
Edited by jph27 on 16-10-2012 16:24
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 16-10-2012 16:38
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Sprinter
Posts: 1910
Joined: 07-02-2009
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jph27 wrote:
Evian - MIAT have to admit that they are admirers of the French climber Christophe Riblon, and with his future with UBS in doubt wonder what his and his manager's thoughts would be on a move to a French outfit?
If the offer is good enough anything is possible, but it would have to be a very good offer because Christophe is one of our main bargaining chips for trades since we won't have a big budget.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 21-10-2012 23:07
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8063
Joined: 22-06-2009
PCM$: 650.00
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CSC-Orbea is very interested in Marquez and Barrio, and as the team said they are available for trade, is there any way you would package them together? And if so are you looking for $ or riders? CSC is willing to combination of both because money will probably be tight since we failed all our goals this year...  So are there any riders we have that you would be interested in?
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 21-10-2012 23:40
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Team Leader
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Spanish cycling press has been stating that CSC-Orbea is looking to sign Florentino Marquez and Sergio Barrio from UBS-BMC, however there are news reporting the spanish duo would rather sign for a much more awesome team like Prio - Porto
There are no confirmations just yet, but the word on the street is that a deal involving a trade between Barrio and Nicácio could be on the forge.
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 22-10-2012 00:08
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Sprinter
Posts: 1910
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Mresuperstar wrote:
CSC-Orbea is very interested in Marquez and Barrio, and as the team said they are available for trade, is there any way you would package them together? And if so are you looking for $ or riders? CSC is willing to combination of both because money will probably be tight since we failed all our goals this year... So are there any riders we have that you would be interested in?
Gustavovskiy wrote:
Spanish cycling press has been stating that CSC-Orbea is looking to sign Florentino Marquez and Sergio Barrio from UBS-BMC, however there are news reporting the spanish duo would rather sign for a much more awesome team like Prio - Porto
There are no confirmations just yet, but the word on the street is that a deal involving a trade between Barrio and Nicácio could be on the forge.
Regarding the rumors of Marquez and Barrio leaving the team, all I can say at this point is that "cash rules everything around me". With regards to the rumors linking these two with CSC and Prio - Porto, anything is possible, but I would like to stress that a cash offer interests me much more than a trade.
Both teams have plenty of great riders that would make an adequate trade, but none of them mesh with our main transfer goal of signing more Swiss riders, while money would allow me to make offers to other teams with riders that do interest me.
So basically, all that would interest me from these teams in particular would be a cash offer.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 22-10-2012 00:26
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8063
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Thanks for addressing these rumors, management at CSC is preparing to save up money throughout the transfer period to try and submit an offer that UBS can't refuse (or that 'awesome' Prio-Porto team can't match).
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 22-10-2012 14:55
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Team Leader
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Thanks for the reply Bushwackers
Save everything you want Mre, I'll fire my whole team just to win this transfer Just kidding here, can't wait for the renewals.
See you two gentlemen at the trenches.
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| tastasol |
Posted on 23-10-2012 11:57
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Classics Specialist
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The big star from Rogaland is clearly Alexander Kristoff. As a new started team, we would be very interested in a deal which could bring him home.
Has the manager of UBS - La Pierre any comments?
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 23-10-2012 15:57
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Sprinter
Posts: 1910
Joined: 07-02-2009
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Alexander Kristoff is transfer listed, so he will be available if an adequate offer is made. I'm sure he'd like to ride for a Norweigan team.
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