Tirreno - Adriatico - Bos Lives up to Expectations!
Squad:
131. G. Levarlet
132. T. Bos
133. T. Gallopin
134. M. Kneisky
135. K. Peeters
136. S. Vandousselaere
A small 6 man squad came here with two ambitions - see what Levarlet could do in the GC, and see if Bos could make it to a bunch sprint. However, we failed at both, with Bos never making it to a bunch sprint, and Levarlet losing 7 minutes and 6 places in the GC due to helping out Bos. Oh well, we don't particularly care, we just like racing Bos
Squad:
201. J. Roelandts
202. A. Aulas
203. S. Caethoven
204. JF. Camier
205. P. Jacobs
206. C. Lhotellerie
207. W. Weylandt
The Race to the Sun saw us bring a team loaded with sprinters, all working for Jurgen Roelandts. And he performed admirably, gaining four top 6 finishes including a second place. His assault on the points jersey didn't go well though, and we often left the chase too late. We also struggled with the hilly terrain, meaning more punchy sprinters had the better of Jurgen, but overall, we're content with our performance
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Taaramae Debuts in a Tactical Nightmare
Squad:
51. R. Taaramäe
52. B. Curfs
53. R. Di Gregorio
54. J. El Fares
55. J. Libert
56. O. Solis
57. J. Suaza
Our 1 million euro man, and last years CT champion, Rein Taaramae, made his debut here, and started off strongly, bagging 3rd place in the prologue. On stage 3, the team's tactics played out superbly, slipping Jaime Suaza away into the break and putting him in the lead. The stage afterwards is where things went wrong. Tired from the previous day's exertions, the new race leader couldn't stay in the front group, and unfortunately, Rein also decided to try and help out Jaime, losing over 2 minutes. From there, he fought admirably to finish 18th overall, 1 place ahead of Jaime. But who knows where he could have finished had he not lost that time. It would have seen him at least in the top 10. But we'll learn from this, and come back stronger.
Stage 1: Rein Taaramae 3rd;
Stage 2: Rein Taaramae 28th;
Stage 3: Jaime Suaza 1st;
Stage 4: Rein Taaramae 23rd;
Stage 5: Rein Taaramae 8th;
Stage 6: Rein Taaramae 23rd;
Stage 7: Remy Di Gregorio 6th;
Overall: Rein Taaramae 18th @ 4'24
Points: Rein Taaramae 8th
KOM: Jude Libert 2nd, Jaime Suaza 4th;
U25: Rein Taaramae 6th
Team: 8th
Squad:
51. J. Roelandts
52. A. Aulas
53. R. Di Gregorio
54. J. El Fares
55. T. Gallopin
56. G. Levarlet
57. J. Libert
58. S. Vandousselaere
Not much to report here. We came to work for Jurgen Reolandts, and that we did. Unfortunately, he missed the 14 man cut, but was an impressive 5th in the bunch sprint, which is very pleasing given the length of the race and the coastal climbs not playing into his hands.
Squad:
1. F. Cancellara
2. A. Aulas
3. B. Curfs
4. P. Jacobs
5. M. Kneisky
6. C. Lhotellerie
7. K. Peeters
8. S. Vandousselaere
The team journey to the UK, with Fabian again made the pre-race favourite. We were looking to be positive and aggressive, but we just weren't. The team left Fabian isolated when the splits occurred, and despite a few moments of attacking, Fabian never looked like getting clear of his rivals. Thus, when the inevitable Boonen-led sprint occurred, Fabian could only manage a disappointing 5th.
Towards the business end of the race, and Cancellara showed off his talent, being the only one able to follow Tom Boonen. But alas, Tom showed why he is perhaps the finest talent ever to grace cobblestones, as he powered away from Fabian. It was a solid effort from the Swiss powerhouse, but we hoped for better in the Monuments.
Ronde van Vlaanderen - A stunning performance from the wrong favourite
Squad:
1. F. Cancellara
2. A. Aulas
3. B. Curfs
4. P. Jacobs
5. M. Kneisky
6. C. Lhotellerie
7. K. Peeters
8. S. Vandousselaere
After the hard work at Gent - Wevelgem, this time the parcours meant we didn't need to set a hard pace for a hard race. But when Boonen was dropped, we put the hammer down, and it only took a very stubborn effort from Boonen himself to catch up.
But when Ballan made the decisive move, astonishingly, Cancellara found Boonen following the Italian as well. Boonen showed himself to be a veritable superman in front of his home fans, and then proceeded to drop Cancellara and Ballan.
Cancellara finished 3rd again. Commendable, but perhaps a sprint he should have won
Squad:
1. F. Cancellara
2. A. Aulas
3. B. Curfs
4. P. Jacobs
5. M. Kneisky
6. C. Lhotellerie
7. K. Peeters
8. S. Vandousselaere
A 3rd at Gent - Wevelgem, a 3rd at Ronde van Vlaanderen - another podium performance should have been on the cards in the Roubaix velodrome. That was the idea, anyway.
The day was a war of attrition, as the front group slowly got smaller and smaller, the favourites forcing the pace - but it seemed that our rivals were resentful of the hard pace we'd been setting over the recent classics, and Cancellara was forced to do the bulk of the work whenever a dangerous attack was put in.
A breathtaking, strong, late attack came from Cancellara - a massive, all-out gamble, putting himself deep into the red. Unfortunately, it just led to Fabian being the uniwtting lead-out man in the velodrome, but he still held onto 4th. So close, and yet...
Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Harry Potter's not the only one with an invisibility cloak
Squad:
161. G. Levarlet
162. A. Aulas
163. S. Caethoven
164. JF. Camier
165. B. Curfs
166. R. Di Gregorio
167. T. Gallopin
168. J. Libert
Whilst our main focus was on the northern cobbles, an odd assortment of stage hunters formed our team in the Basque country.
It wasn't a race to remember for us. Steven Caethoven produced 10th in the sprint on stage 2, and Guillaume Levarlet showed some consistency to finish 18th overall at the end of the week.
Vuelta a la Region de Murcia - The world's most average team in the world's most average performance
Squad:
111. R. Taaramäe
112. S. Caethoven
113. B. Curfs
114. J. El Fares
115. T. Gallopin
116. G. Levarlet
117. J. Libert
118. O. Solis
An interesting three days of racing in Murcia. Not for us though. Rein came as leader, and whilst pretty invisible, managed an encouraging 10th place in the final GC.
Squad:
91. R. Taaramäe
92. JF. Camier
93. B. Curfs
94. R. Di Gregorio
95. M. Kneisky
96. J. Libert
97. J. Suaza
98. S. Vandousselaere
Our team finally showed a bit of backbone when confronted with adversity at the Tour de Romandie. After successfully negotiating the first two stages, and even showing some attacking aggression by slipping into breaks, Rein Taaramae committed the ultimate GC contender sin, by not being at the front when a split occurred on a fairly innocuous stage. He haemorrhaged time, slipping to 40th, 6 minutes behind the race leader.
The fightback began on stage 4 though, with a strong time trial from Rein moving him to just over 5 minutes down, but still back in 36th place. It was stage 5 though where Rein showed his true colours.
He attacked early in a risky move, but held on well whilst the other GC favourites caught him. Hew then powered away to a stunning 2nd, just 21 seconds behind stage winner Contador. This shifted him up to 11th overall.
The final stage, and Rein again showed off his talent, making the front group to move up to a final 9th in the GC. Chapeau!
Credit must also go to Jude Libert on stage 5, who finished a fine 15th on the stage, despite being in the BOTD.
Notable Performances:
Stage 5: 2nd Rein Taaramäe @21
Overall: 9th Rein Taaramäe @2'58
Giro d'Italia - You know what's coming, let's just get this over with
Squad:
171. J. Suaza
172. T. Bos
173. JF. Camier
174. B. Curfs
175. P. Jacobs
176. G. Levarlet
177. J. Libert
178. S. Vandousselaere
179. W. Weylandt
We came here with zero ambitions, hence why we brought Theo Bos along. The team was loosely based around Jaime Suaza as leader, but we were really just looking to be active.
Stage 1 started with us just being edge out for last in the TTT. Stage 2 saw Theo Bos dropped, but not last in the stage or GC. Stage 3 saw the whole team drop back to help Theo. We lost a lot of time that day. Same on stage 4, except now Jean-Francois Camier had the privilege of last in GC
Stage 5, and everything changed! Levarlet went on a bold attack, and was just edged out for the stage win. Still, a second on a stage had made our Giro!
Stage 6 saw Theo Bos switch to last on GC as the team abandoned him.
Then the mountains came. Jaime Suaza got some strong top 20s. Wouter Weylandt managed a 10th on a sprint stage. Theo Bos was eliminated. We were aggressive, but never seemed to get in moves which made it.
Squad:
171. J. Roelandts
172. S. Caethoven
173. R. Di Gregorio
174. J. El Fares
175. T. Gallopin
176. C. Lhotellerie
177. K. Peeters
178. O. Solis
The Tour of California showed off our potential in glorious style, as Jurgen Roelandts rode the Carmeuse - Bouygues Telecom train to glory. On stage 2, a superb lead out from the whole team, finished off by Kevin Peeters and Steven Caethoven gave Jurgen a simple and dominant sprint victory, and our 3rd win of the season.
Stage 3 saw a missed split from Jurgen, but on loan Kevin Peeters produced his best result of the season to finish 9th in the sprint.
Stage 5 saw us try to take control of the stage again, but the final hills proved too much for Jurgen, who still mustered a decent 10th.
Mountain goat Oscar Solis showed off some impressive form in the hills of stage 7, taking an impressive 7th in amongst a strong field.
But it was the final stage, stage 8, where we showed just what we can do (again). We set a furious pace in the last 20km, stringing out the peloton, then Steven Caethoven led out Jurgen Roelandts, who managed to blast everyone off of his wheel and take a second win, doubling our victory list in one race!
Vuelta a Espana - We may have misjudged the parcours
Squad:
141. O. Solis
142. A. Aulas
143. S. Caethoven
144. B. Curfs
145. T. Gallopin
146. M. Kneisky
147. J. Roelandts
148. S. Vandousselaere
149. W. Weylandt
Jurgen Roelandts won the points jersey here last year, and, on paper, there should have been enough sprint stages for him to reclaim the jersey again. Unfortunately, we didn't bank on three things - Angel Madrazo,the quality of the sprint field (especially Michael Van Stayen), and just how hilly Spain is.
The first sprint stage saw us slip Alexandre Aulas into the break. The break stayed, and he managed a decent 5th. Ominously though, Jurgen was only 3rd in the bunch sprint for 8th.
Stage 3 saw a return to the form of California. The team was in superb form, as Wouter Weylandt and Steven Caethoven delivered Jurgen to a superb victory.
Stage 4 was a disaster. Steven delivered Jurgen to the front too early, getting stuck in traffic and releasing Jurgen to a miserable 7th.
Stage 7 was poor again. This time, the mountains of the previous two stages had sapped the legs of our lead out train. Jurgen stuck religiously to his fellow team mates wheels, rather than following the other sprinters, and could only manage a disappointing 4th.
Stage 7 was a day in which the team recovered from the mountains. Stage 8 saw us initiate perhaps our most stunning sprint train to date. Webeffect managed to dusrupt our train, with Wouter Weylandt losing the wheel of Ben Curfs. Webeffect took advantage, surging forward to try and deliver Avelino to victory. But they hadn't counted on Wouter, who delivered a blistering increase in pace, leaving Steven and Jurgen to do the simple task of finishing off! Win number two! But still no points jersey...
Stage 10, our last chance for Jurgen before the Pyrenees began. And on this stage, Jurgen showed his true class as one of the finest sprinters in the ProTour. Proximus - Trek disrupted our lead out train so much, Jurgen found himself in the unusual position of having no team mates going into the crux of the sprint. He powered away for his win by the biggest length so far in the Vuelta. But still no points jersey...
Stage 14 saw a transition stage, and another chance for Jurgen. A 2 man break went away, and our team was just too tired to hase it completely down. We still chased though, leaving Jurgen isolated in the sprint, but he still managed 4th on the stage, a surprising 2nd in the sprint to a very fresh Valverde. Still no points jersey...
Then on after, the mountains came into play, and Angel Madrazo emerged to scupper any chances of Jurgen taking the points jersey. Credit to Oscar Solis during these stages, who was extremely aggressive despite havin worked for Jurgen on every stage.
Jurgen finished 5th in the points classification. He was 6 points off being the best sprinter, Michael Van Stayen, and whilst Jurgen had 3 brilliant victories (1 more than last year), he lacked consistency to take the jersey.
We must end with the team. The team was superb. On every flat stage we chased, on every flat stage we led out Jurgen. The three wins were a justification of how far our sprint train is coming along, with special credit going to Caethoven and Weylandt, who were awesome.
Squad:
71. R. Taaramäe
72. B. Curfs
73. R. Di Gregorio
74. J. El Fares
75. T. Gallopin
76. G. Levarlet
77. J. Libert
78. O. Solis
Rein Taaramae had performed well so far this year, and looked to continue his Tour de France preparation in France.
He started off well, getting 8th in the prologue. He lost a few seconds to the favourites in the hillier terrain of stage 2, but was still sitting pretty in 8th. Stage 3 was a disaster. Rein found himself on the wrong side of a peloton split, losing 3 minutes on the favourites, and slumping to 30th overall, 4'47 down.
But since Rein has joined, Carmeuse have found some backbone, and the fightback begun.
50km of time trialling on stage 4 saw Rein lose time to the leaders, yes, but coming in 10th, he managed to move up to 16th overall. The climb to Risoul on stage 5 saw more encouraging signs, as Rein finished 9th, moving up to 11th overall. Stage 7, and he lost a place in GC, despite climbing well and finishing 11th on the stage.
Stage 8 was the stuff of legends. The terrain was hilly, not mountainous, perfect hunting ground for an Estonian with a point to prove.
With 102km left, Rein attacked and joined the front group of 5. He then dropped his companions one-by-one, soloing in for a fantastic victory and a massive leapfrogging up the rankings.
Bring on le Tour!
Notable Performances:
Stage 8: 1st Rein Taaramae 4h43'17
Overall: 5th Rein Taaramae @2'44
U25: 2nd Rein Taaramae @1'51
Tour de Suisse - Consistency is the key...to relegation
Squad:
161. J. Suaza
162. T. Bos
163. JF. Camier
164. P. Jacobs
165. M. Kneisky
166. C. Lhotellerie
167. K. Peeters
168. S. Vandousselaere
Jaime Suaza showed off his stage racing averageness by finishing 19th overall, never breaking the top 10 of a stage. Our best result came from Jean-François Camier, who showed hi power by being dropped from the break and just rolling in 10th on stage 8.
