@Sutty I'd have to agree. Omloop just isn't an ideal race to get the season started. At first I had planned with Qatar then Benelux, but our invitations were declined. This might come back to haunt us when MSR comes along.

The second race of the season, and we came here with high hopes for Sam Bennett. We didn't put a man in the break, because every one of us could be important in the finale. We relied fully on the teams of the big favourites to bring back the break, since we were only seven, which they duly did. We formed a lead out train of Flakemore-Mullen-Lavery-Myself-Bennett, and came to the very front with 10km to go. Sadly it broke up as Phil came to the front, and it was only the second race for me and Sam, so all he could achieve was an 11th place, whilst I hung on for 15th. Norwegian superstar Kristoff took the win. All in all we were beaten by weaker sprinters, but given the point in the season, it was to be expected. Hopefully we'll be in form for Milano – San Remo in two weeks...

1	Alexander Kristoff	Team Katusha	4h18'26
2	Davide Cimolai	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
3	Michael Mørkøv	Tinkoff - Saxo	s.t.
...
11	Sam Bennett	RTE Cycling Project	s.t.
...
15	Jack O'Connor	RTE Cycling Project	s.t.

@sgdanny So he will

@Sutty Yep, form is indeed improving.

We lined up at the Ronde van Drenthe badly needing a winning experience. That (and preparation for Milano – San Remo) made us send our more or less strongest lineup, with me set up to lead out Sam Bennett. Of course a breakaway formed, but as favourites for this .1 race, we managed to control them easily enough and got ourselves set up for the sprint. By now, 10 weeks in to the season, our leadout routine was well trained, and with 1,5km to go, I found myself at the very front of the race, with Sam on my back wheel. As he launched his own sprint under the flamme rouge, I decided to keep going rather than swere to the side, as I would usually do. And it payed off, a lot more than expected. As Sam took the win without any sort of competition, I managed to hold on for second, giving the team some much needed confidence.

1	Sam Bennett	RTE Cycling Project	4h16'13
2	Jack O'Connor	RTE Cycling Project	s.t.
3	Jens Debusschere	Lotto Belisol	s.t.

@Sutty It really was. And by such a distance!
Though it has to be said, the opposition was really poor and anything but a win would've been a huge disappointment.

@Hoyle Yep, gaining momentum for the big one.
Also, as a side thought, I should really start following your story again.

Well, what should I say, another day, another win. This one didn't come half as easily as Drenthe though. If you look at the profile, you'll see that it's got way more cobbles than Drenthe, and for the first time since Omloop, it felt like a real spring classic. It was raining more or less all day long, and we had some strong mid day attacks, including three Topsport Vlaanderen riders. At one point it looked like Van Keirsbulck had it, but the team did a great job to pull him back on the last few kilometres. Me and Sam just preserved as much energy as possible, and I had no problems leading him out to a second win against tired opposition. They were so tired in fact that I could still hang on to second, which is of course a great feeling. Hopefully my first win with RTÉ will come soon too.

1	Sam Bennett	RTE Cycling Project	4h22'28
2	Jack O'Connor	RTE Cycling Project	s.t.
3	Bernhard Eisel	Team Sky	s.t.

@Sutty That'd be nice of course. Hopefully the first win will come soon, maybe in a race like De Panne, which should suit him more, with the combo of hills, cobbles and sprints.

We came really, really close to making it three out of three here, but in the end, it was not to be. We had Phil Deignan with us to cover the hills and our usual lead out to cover the sprints, but in the end, the loss was our own fault. As we approached the last 10km with only me, Sam, Shane and Phil up front, we decided to send Phil up the road to prevent any attacks which we couldn't follow. As it was, Westra followed his attack, sped right past him, and TTed to the win. We gave it our all on the last kilometre, and had the race been fifty metres longer, I'm sure we could have caught him. We can't let this happen again!

1	Lieuwe Westra	Astana Pro Team	4h15'57
2	Sam Bennett	RTE Cycling Project	s.t.
3	Daniele Bennati	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
...
6	Jack O'Connor	RTE Cycling Project	s.t.

@Jihardy Yep, Westra was really close to getting zabel'd

@Sutty Gaining some much-needed momentum ahead of MSR, which is the next one to come.

@Hoyle I've started catching up on it already. At the start of 2014 right now.
That's where I got inspired for (read: stole ) the results layout.

“Welcome to Eurosport's coverage of Milano – San Remo, my name is Phil Lighett, and this is Sean Kelly beside me. With 70km to go, we have a four man breakaway up the road. Here we can see Irish Champion Sam Bennett dropped from the pack, that looks to be the last rider from the Irish RTÉ team to be dropped.“

„Yes Phil, I can't see Deignan anywhere in the peleton, it looks to be an anticlimatic first monument for the relatively new team. I had high hopes myself for Sam Bennett, but I guess with the inclusion of Pompeiana he was never going to be a favourite.“

…

„Here goes Martin! He's being followed by Gilbert, Betancur and young Matej Mohoric. This could be a big move as we scale the Pompeiana, meanwhile in the pack it's Orica – GreenEDGE setting the pace for Simon Gerrans. Meanwhile the spaniards Valverde and Purito are looking at each other wondering how they could miss such a move, ordering their respective teams to the front of the race.“

„Dan Martin looks to be slowing down a bit, it looks like he doesn't like the chemistry of the group. Betancur is refusing to take the front now, and you can see the peleton in the background. They'll be caught again in no time as we descend the Pompeiana.“

„It's mainly Orica, Movistar and Katusha working. The latter two of course have options for a sprint finish too, with Ciolek and Kristoff respectively. And who's that pulling up alongside them? Is that Phil Deignan? How did he come back? Or did he just hide in the pack all along?“

„I think he might have been there all along. He's of course a wildcard for an attack on the Poggio, I'm sure we'll see something from him in a few minutes time. Meanwhile, the last commercial break for today.“