While the big boys were racing the Tour de France, our team travelled to China for the 2.HC Tour of Qinghai Lake. It included two tough mountain stages, Simon Yates was the pre-race favourite with MON 76.
We laid the ground work for success on stage 2 which featured one massive HC climb just after the half-way mark. We had brought all our climbers along, with MON between 71 and 74, that includes our allrounder Smetannikov (72). We upped the speed as soon as we hit the foot of the mountain which produced a group of 14 riders. As we hit the final 20 km, which were totally flat, Smeta attacked and rode to a solo victory, gaining 1:24.
On the other mountain stage, tough with two HC climbs, he managed to hold onto the group of the best riders, his team mates were 54 seconds behind. A day later on a hilly stage only Gross kept up with Yates, Smetannikov and his colleagues lost slightly over a minute. But it was enough for Smetannikov to win by just 8 seconds ahead of Yates, Chiarini was 3rd. Lechuga, Formolo and Santeramo ended 5th to 7th.
We were also victorious in the 1.1 GP Matteoni a few days later, Kuznetsov launched a late downhill attack and won ahead of Barbin and Trentin.
Transfer talks, on the other hand, turned out to be a pretty frustrating experience again. After the hugely successful season thus far the sponsor is willing to increase the wage budget to 109k for next season, 3 times as much as were are paying now.
However, since a promotion to the WT seems pretty much inevitable we'll have to increase the squad size from 16 to 24 riders. Theoretically that is 4500 per month and rider. But once again there were so many rejections that we ended up with a new squad which will cost less than 80k per month.
Our star signing is Merhawi Kudus, MON 75, AVG 72, wage 7.5k. Pretty expensive, but the best rider willing to sign with us. Pfingsten, HIL 75, AVG 72, will receive 6k. Our best signing, however, was once again a U23 rider, Natanael Hita (SPR 76, AVG 73).
To be honest, I'm not really happy about that. Some time back I posted some tips&tricks in the general forum about starting with a weak team and recommended focussing entirely on U23 riders because they offer the best value for money. To make this career harder I thus wanted to disregard U23 riders entirely. But that turned out to be a tough proposition, no matter how many riders I contact, I find myself a man or two short by the end of the month. That's how I ended up with Hita as well as a Kazakh fighter, Shishelov (AVG 69).
In the 2.1 Portugal Tour Santeramo and Bruno Silva, wearing the national jersey in his home race, were 8th and 9th on the only mountain stage, which was won by Simon Yates ahead of his brother Adam. Simon went on to win the Tour, 4:55 ahead of Devenyns, Santeramo and Silva ended 6th and 7th. We also celebrated two stage wins from breakaways, Nicola Boem took the 3rd stage, Barwell claimed stage 7.
Smetannikov finished 6th in the 2.HC USA Pro Challenge, 1:34 behind winner Michael Schär, thanks to top 5 results in the time trials and a 12th place on the queen stage.
The 1.1 Giro del Veneto was the next objective for our sponsor, he was asking for a top 10 finish, which we fulfilled easily. Six of our riders made it into the final group of 17, four of them ended in the top 10. Villella won ahead of Moser and Brambilla, an Italian triple, Gross and Smeta followed.
Like last year our sponsor is asking for a stage win in the Settimana Lombarda, but this time we were unable to fulfil the goal. Closest was Kevin Carter with a 3rd place, the breakaway managed to hold off the peloton, but Kadri won ahead of Vorganov.
On the other hand, we rode an excellent 2.HC Tour of Britain. Poutsma was 3rd on stage 1, 2nd on stage 6 and won stage 4 against his breakaway companion, 38 seconds ahead of the peloton. Leopold König won the most difficult stage, stage 2, but Kuznetsov, Gross and Carter were 2nd, 3rd and 4th which would also be their final positions in the GC, König eventually winning by 1:27.
And we recorded another stage win, a flat ITT no less, thanks to our trainee, Jean-Claude Birtz. I forgot to mention him earlier, as a trainee he doesn't appear on the negotiation panel. A U23 rider with TTR 75! And good all round stats to boost, with the potential to develop into a stage racer who can win a Grand Tour! I picked him and Hita because they dominated the U23 race Giro delle Regioni. They won two stages each and were 1st and 2nd in the GC which included a tough hilly stage and an ITT.
Then it was time for Kuznetsov to shine once more. He was runner-up behind Chinello in the 1.1 Coppa Bernucchi and a day later he won the sponsor objective, the 1.1 Coppa Agostini, with another late attack, finishing 32 seconds ahead ahead of Lander, Kocjan and the rest of the reduced peloton.
In the last races before the World Championships Smetannikov claimed two 5th places in in the GP Pantaloni and GP di Prato.
Luke Durbridge claimed Gold in the WC ITT in Plouay, Tony Martin and Luis Leon Sanchez completed the podium. They are the three best time trialists around (TTR 83).
The WC road race used the same circuit as the WT race. I was controlling Russia with my two top riders Kuznetsov and Smetannikov, but our late escape attempts didn't stand a chance against a strong peloton and the duo ended 35th and 37th. But Vanmarcke had more luck, with an attack 10 km from the finish line he just held off the sprinters. Bouhanni had to settle for Silver, Kristoff took the Bronze medal.
We failed to achieve the objective of a a top 10 finish in the 1.HC Milano – Torino. The competition was simply too good, Betancur won ahead of Contador, Van Avermaet, Moser, Geschke, Slagter, Gerrans, Villella, Pinot and Ignatiev. Gross and Formolo were 22nd and 25th. That's the kind of competition we'll be facing next season.
But Carter was 3rd in the 1.HC Giro del Piemonte, only beaten by Moser and Nordhaug. Two days later Smetannikov won the 1.HC Tour de Vendee with a solo attack 15 km from the finish line. The peloton didn't react fast enough and Smeta just held off the two Movistar riders Lobato and Ciolek, Willwohl was 5th.
In Paris - Bourges Smetannikov wasn't quite able to repeat that feat, he had to settle for 2nd place behind Ciavatta, Sinkeldam was 3rd. Bjorn Tore Hoem was 4th, his best result with us so far. Moreno Moser won the Coppa Sabatini ahead of Simon Clarke, Gross and Lechuga were 3rd and 4th. We failed to make an impact on the Giro dell'Emilia, Gross was our best rider as 18th. Spilak beat Contador and Henao.
Just a few days after his 4th place in Paris – Bourges Hoem was 2nd in the GP Bruno Beghelli. Our last top 10 result of the season is owed once more to Smetannikov, he was 7th in the Giro della Romagna, which was won by Landa ahead of Moser and Barguil.
Since winning the Tour de Vendee Smetannikov has taken the lead in the Continental rankings and defended it until the end of the season. The young Russian proved he's an excellent allrounder. He has improved over the season and is now close to reaching his full potential. He has no great strengths, but simply no weaknesses. 11 of the 13 skills are „green“ (70+), and the last two (COB and REC) are at 68 and I believe they can reach 70, too. It makes him a great rider at the Continental level, but he might struggle in the World Tour.
He was followed in the rankings by the South African Van Rensburg (NetApp, SPR 77, HIL 74, AVG 76) and Dutch sprinter Van Dinteren (An Post, SPR 81). Van Dinteren celebrated 14 victories in 2016, only beaten by the World Tour (and world class) sprinter Bouhanni (16 victories).
Kuznetsov reached an excellent 4th position. His skills are hardly impressive (HIL 74 FLA 71 STA 67 AVG 71), but his well timed late attacks proved decisive. He was our most prolific rider with 5 victories: The Russian Championships, Coppa Agostini, Grand Prix Matteotti as well as stages in the Giro del Trentino and Course de Solidarnosc. And he was runner-up behind Leopold König in the Tour of Britain. Most of those victories came after the transfer season and we're slighty unhappy to not have offered him a new contract, he signed with FDJ. On the other hand he cannot improve any further and won't stand a chance at the WT level.
Other good results were Boem as 14th, Poutsma, Gross and Carter were 20th to 22nd. Our Ukrainian sprinter Anishenko ended 27th with 202 points. I only mentioned his 3rd place in the Trofeo Laigueglia and his victory in the NC, but he also collected points steadily all season with places between 8th and 14th.
Amore & Vita won the Continental rankings by a comfortable margin, 2487 against NetApp's 1966 points, Androni was 3rd with 1253 points. In the end we also overtook NetApp in the Superprestige rankings, 16th overall with 3628 points, NetApp close behind (3556). Together with the German team we are promoted to the World Tour and will replace Lampre and Europcar!
This didn't exactly go as planned. Goal at the start of the season was to avoid relegation, not to achieve promotion. The team doesn't seem much stronger than last season when good results in .1 and .HC races were very rare. But this season we claimed 22 victories divided among 11 riders. Admittedly, 5 of them “only” won their NCs.
The clear victor of the World Tour was Nairo Quintana with 776 points. He won the Giro and was 2nd in the Tour de France, winning 3 stages. Next was a bit of a surprise, Kreuziger (MON 83), with 589 points, just ahead of LBL winner Valverde (584). Contador won the Vuelta (541), Cancellara both De Ronde and Paris – Roubaix (513). Porte had a good season, winning in Catalunya, 2nd in the Gerio, 3rd in the TdF. Rui Costa won the Tour of Beijing (471) and overtook TdF winner Froome (458). Degenkolb (437) and Nibali (431) complete the top 10.
Grand Tours:
Giro d'Italia: 1. Quintana 2. Porte 3. Kreuziger
Tour de France: 1. Froome 2. Quintana 3. Porte
Vuelta a Espana: 1. Contador 2. Rui Costa 3. Betancur
Monuments:
Milano - Sanremo: 1. Degenkolb 2. Cavendish 3. Sagan
Ronde van Vlaanderen: 1. Cancellara 2. Degenkolb 3. Boonen
Paris - Roubaix: 1. Cancellara 2. Boonen 3. Vanmarcke
Liege - Bastogne - Liege: 1. Valverde 2. Gerrans 3. Rui Costa
Il Lombardia: 1. Nordhaug 2. Gilbert 3. Bakelandts
And so we arrive in the World Tour as an underdog after back-to-back promotions. The sponsor agrees, only 1 out of 15 goals is in the WT. There is no pressure to remain in the top league, after relegation we'd return with a stronger squad. But I won't shy away from a challenge.
Two years ago, still in the lowest division, we never sent riders into breakaways, just waited for late chances and sprinted into the lower top 10. Now in the World Tour we'll have to do the opposite, the only chance to collect some precious WT points will be to join breakaways in stage races and hope to survive.
Let's take a closer look at the squad:
The star: Smetannikov AVG 74
The winner of last season's Continental rankings is happy in any terrain, though sadly he doesn't excel at anything, HIL 74, FLA 74, SPR 74, MON 72, TTR 72. We'll have to wait and see how he fares at the top level.
The sprinters: Arreger (SPR 77 ACC 72), Hita (76/74), Willwohl (75/75) and Anishenko (74/70)
Considering the opposition we'll be facing (22 riders with SPR 80+) we can't expect much from our sprinters in WT races, only Hita and Willwohl might be able to survive breakaways.
The climbers: Kudus (MON 75), Beltran (74), Mannion (73) and Santeramo (73)
Lechuga, Formolo and Bruno Silva had all reached their limited climbing potential so we replaced them with three new climbers – who turn out to be no different. Beltran at the age of 26, Kudus even at 22, have already exhausted their potential, Mannion can improve 1 or 2 more points, like Santeramo.
A slight disappointment, on the other hand I'm actually pleased that the self-imposed restriction of not looking up the potential of riders is bearing fruit, is making the game harder. Still, I feel they all all good enough to join breakaways on mountain stages, fight for the polkadot jersey, maybe even win a stage.
The time trialists: Birtz (TTR 75) and Chudza (72)
We only brought in Chudza because Amore & Vita wants more Ukrainian riders. Frankly, they are all mediocre at best, Anishenko is the most talented Ukrainian. Chudza brings nothing to the table except for his TTR. Birtz, on the other hand, has plenty of potential, he will turn into a top stage racer given enough time. And for now he's a decent choice for breakaways on top of being a competitive time trialist.
The punchers: Everybody else
Gross has the highest HIL stat with 77, up 2 points since last year. His STA is much improved, but still fairly weak (65). Pfingsten, Carter and Barton all have STA 70+ and HIL 75, so they should be competitive. Le Boulch, De Vos, Howes and Irgalin aren't far behind. Barwell only has HIL 71 and the FLA is umimpressive at 63, but he adds SPR 71, which might give him the edge in sprints from small groups if he can hang on.
We also acquired a new coach, Castillo Lazon, his speciality is sprint training (6). Three coaches is still the bare minimum, maybe we'll look to add another one during the season, there's still room in the budget and our bank balance is healthy (985,000 Euros).
We began the new season with a victory in the Australian NC. It wasn't just the first professional victory for our new signing Ivan Grimshaw, it was a victory and a title in his maiden professional race!
A week later Amore & Vita partook in its first World Tour race, the Tour Down Under. It was an easy course this year, on every stage a large group arrived without any time gaps recorded. We managed to score our first WT point, Smetannikov was able to finish 5th on stage 3. The Russian was our best rider, he finished 27th in the GC, 3rd in the U25 rankings. The final top 10 was decided on the time bonuses, Omega's Peter Sagan won ahead of Coquard and Gerrans.
Winning a national title doesn't mean much if it's from a breakaway. I'm afraid Grimshaw's potential is limited, this might be the last you ever hear of him.
Birtz has the highest potential of all our riders, MON 69 and 5 stars on the training screen, theoretically that could take him to MON 85 but since he is a newgen - and his TTR is high - he'll probably end with 80/80. Carter and Gross should become good, though not great, punchers. Aregger will end with SPR 80+, but his ACC will remain a few points lower.
Here's the list of riders who'll at best add two more points to their key stat: Anishenko, Barton, Beltran, Chudza, De Vos, Honkisz, Kudus, Le Boulch, Mannion, Pfingsten, Santeramo, Shatskikh, Smetannikov and Willwohl.
The list doesn't include Grimshaw, he can gain up to 4 more points in all stats, but he's starting with AVG 69 so he's not going far.
The season objectives are very similar to last year's. Our first objectice (3 stars) was a top 10 in the Trofeo Laigueglia – and we didn't even take part in the race, I had unticked it during the season planning. Sloppy me!
Strade Bianche (5) and Roma Maxima (4) were next on the list and we managed to fulfil both these important goals. A top 5 on the Strade Bianche, Carter and Smetannikov were 4th and 5th behind Ulissi (Katusha), Geschke (Omega) and Demare (Cannondale). A top 10 in the Roma Maxima, and again Carter and Smeta managed a point landing as 9th and 10th, 1:55 behind winner Moser (Astana) as well as Henao (Omega) and Daniel Martin (Katusha).
Another top (5) objective was to win a stage in Tirrenno – Adriatico and we failed miserably. The best result was a 12th place by Smetannikov on stage 4. He was also our best rider in the GC as 45th, 5:20 behind winner Betancur (Katusha), who also won the points jersey. Malacarne (Lampre) was the best climber, Polanc (Tinkoff) the best young rider, 2 seconds faster than Smetannikov.
Paris – Nice was no better, Mannion's 9th place on stage 7 our best result. Mollema (Tinkoff) won the Race to the Sun, beating Kwiatkowski (Orica) and Contador (BMC).
The sprinters stood no chance in Milano – Sanremo, the punchers made the race too hard. After just winning T-A, Betancur also claimed La Classicissima ahead of Rui Costa (Omega) and Van Avermaet (Cannondale), Sagan was 6th, Kristoff 10th. Our best rider was once more Smetannikov as 31st.
Amore & Vita still only has the 1 WT point, failed 2 out of 4 objectives, sponsor confidence is below medium, but there's no need to worry just yet.
Our next lofty objective was a stage win at the Criterium International. At this point every WT team was off the mark with at least 1 point. Amore & Vita, NetApp and Giant-Shimano are at the bottom with a single point each, Garmin has 2 points, Belkin 6, FDJ already 27. Three races simultaneously are tough for our small squad.
We withdrew everybody but Le Boulch from the Volta a Catalunya on stage 2. He waited until the final two stages before slipping into the early breakaways. Both survived, but sadly he didn't make the top 5 on either day. On stage 6 he was 6th out of 6 riders, the only one to not score a point. A day later he was 7th out of 11. Mollema won, beating his team mate Rolland (both Tinkoff) and Astana's Nibali.
We did not fulfil the goal of a stage win at the Criterium International, Santeramo's 8th place in the opening ITT was the best we could manage. Santeramo was our best rider on stage 2 as 40th, 4:56 behind Quintana, Grimshaw (he does get another mention!) was 34th on the final day, 8:08 behind Quintana. The Colombian wins the Criterium International ahead of Pozzovivo (Ag2r) and Nordhaug.
Our best hope for a top 10 finish was Smetannikov (COB 69 FLA 74 STA 76) in the easier cobblestone races. The E3 Harelbeke proved too hard for him, he was 21st, 7:42 behind Sagan, who beat Stybar (Ag2r) and Van Avermaet.
But Gent – Wevelgem with only the three cobblestoned hills was more to Smeta's liking. He lost touch to the top group in the final flurry of attacks but finished an excellent 7th, adding 14 WT points to our tally. Cancellara (Trek) beat Degenkolb and Boasson Hagen (BMC).
The lower half of the WT team rankings in early April:
Smetannikov had a slim chance of making the top 10 in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, he got all the protection his team mates could offer. He ended in a group of six riders which would fight for 9th, but he was totally exhausted and came last in that group, 14th, 10:41 behind Sagan, who managed to beat Cancellara and Stybar. Vanmarcke was 4th followed by Degenkolb, Senechal, Kristoff, Boonen, Terpstra and 23 year old newcomer Sustronck.
We didn't even nominate Smeta for Paris - Roubaix, our best rider was Le Boulch as 51st. Cancellara soloed to victory, Boasson Hagen and Vanmarcke followed. The rest of the top 10: Senechal, Kristoff, Stybar, Roelandts, Boom, Boonen and Breschel.
Our next objective was another stage win at the Giro del Trentino, which featured a TTT, two mountain stages and a MTT. We brought all our four climbers to the race and Beltran joined Sepulveda and Zilioli for the early breakaway on stage 2. The peloton gave the three riders a long leash, Beltran set a high pace on the big second climb, first Zilioli cracked, then Sepulveda. Beltran won the stage and fulfilled the objective.
We didn't stand a chance in the Ardennes classics and didn't try very hard, either. Van Avermaet beat Gilbert and Kwiatkowski in the Amstel Gold Race, De Vos was 43rd. Spilak took La Fleche Wallone ahead of Ulissi and Kwiatek, Barton was 30th. And Kwiatkowski won Liege-Bastogne-Liege, outsprinting Rui Costa and Froome, Pfingsten was 64th.
Edited by Ripley on 31-07-2016 09:01
The sponsor asked for a stage win at the 2.HC Tour of Turkey, which Dwayne De Vos provided on stage 4 from Gocek to Marmaris. He was part of a 4-men-breakaway, Bandiera and Mol were dropped on the final hill and then Do Vos launched a final attack which Westra couldn't quite counter. De Vos finished 7th overall.
But in the World Tour we had no luck hunting for results from breakaways. On every hilly stage we sent a rider into the escape group, but were always caught, leading to a little frustration, so much work, nothing to show for it.
Our best punchers lined up for the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, Pfingsten, Gross, Birtz and Howes each spent a day ahead of the peloton, but were all caught and overtaken long before the finish line. Gross was our best rider in the GC as 92nd, 35:11 behind. Kwiatkowski won 30 seconds ahead of Rui Costa, followed by Quintana, Contador, Nibali, Porte, Betancur, Spilak, Rolland and Pinot. The Tour de Romandie was no different, it was again won by Kwiatek, this time ahead of Kreuziger, Quintana was 3rd once more.
Our hopes now rested on the Giro d'Italia, specifically on the slim shoulders of young Merhawi Kudus, the only climber we are bringing to our first Grand Tour. His aim is to fight for the climber's jersey and if the breakaway survives to win a few WT points with a top 5 finish on the day. The maglia azzurra itself isn't worth any points, but it would make the sponsor very happy.
To "cement" this claim of only competing for stages, the team took it very easy on stage 2, which featured a cat. 2 hill in the finale, Amore's riders formed a “special gruppetto” which arrived 24:25 behind the top group.
Stage 6 to Bagni di Lucca was the first mountain stage with four medium sized climbs. It was the first chance for Kudus to collect mountain points, he had to fight hard against FDJ's Chalapud and beat him, collecting 80 points, and slipping into the blue jersey. However, Chalapud went on to win the stage by over 2 minutes, Kudus was 3rd, 2:53 behind.
On stage 10 Pfingsten slipped into the breakaway but sadly he was dropped on the final hill by his 6 companions and only ended 7th, Schär won the stage ahead of Kruijswijk and Arredondo.
Stage 14 led over 4 mountains and Kudus joined up with De Gendt, Wellens, Anton and Stetina. He had to fight for the points again, De Gendt ended up with more on the day, but with 57 additional points Kudus was edging closer to winning the jersey. He couldn't make the breakaway a day later and Stortoni collected 131 points before winning the stage, getting worryingly close to Kudus. However, Stortoni gained over 12 minutes and moved into the top 15, so he probably wouldn't be able to join another breakaway.
And then we reached stage 17, once more with 4 mountains and Kudus attacked immediately – and nobody followed him, he'd have to solo his way to the finish line. Thankfully, the stage was only 156 km long, the first half was flat, Kudus rode with an effort of 48, enough to both create a significant gap and have enough energy left to set a faster pace uphill. 85 more mountain points all but made sure he'd with the maglia azzurra. And on top of that he held off the favourites to win the stage, our first WT stage win! Quintana, who'd go on to win the Giro, was 1:59 behind.
Barwell dropped out of the race on the day Kudus won, which left only our captain and Gross. Stage 18 was the last chance for Gross to possibly win a stage. It was nearly completely flat, but did offer a short and steep cat. 3 hill in the finale. Last year Kuznetsov had been able to win a similar stage in the Giro del Trentino. Gross joined the breakaway, the peloton had just about caught the group at the foot of the hill, Gross pushed as hard as he could, had energy left for a downhill attack – and won the stage 22 seconds ahead of his breakaway rivals and the peloton! Two stages in a row for Amore & Vita!
The penultimate stage to Bormio 2000 was the queen stage, featuring the only HC mountain in the whole Giro. Kudus became part of the breakaway once more but they were caught on their way up to the big climb, Kudus ended 11th on the day, 6:53 behind Quintana.
Kudus finished the Giro as 35th, 1:17:13 behind the winner Nairo Quintana. That was enough to not just win the blue, but also the white jersey as the best U25 rider, 18 minutes ahead of Polanc. His reputation jumped from district to international, the sponsor loves it, the overall confidence bar has gone from about 40% to 100%. Bouhanni takes home the red jersey for the best sprinter, winning 5 stages in mass sprints.
Despite few really long climbs some of the time gaps in the GC were massive. Froome and Mollema ended on the podium, only 3:05 and 3:39 back, followed by Uran (6:20), Aru (8:35), then a big gap to a tight group, Dombrowski (20:05), Fuglsang (20:27), Majka (20:30) and Kelderman (21:07). Ulissi was 10th, 39:18 behind Quintana.
With 16 points each for the two stage wins and another 4 points for Kudus' 3rd place on stage 6 we collect 36 WT points, taking our total to 51. Giant isn't far behind (39), but the two weakest teams, Garmin and NetApp, still only have 11 and 9 points respectively.
Last year Belkin was 16th with 363 points, not much hope that Amore & Vita can collect nearly that many. But I think/fear that playing in 3D mode makes the weaker teams gain fewer, even very few points. Garmin and NetApp have some decent riders, certainly way better than ours, but actually winning a stage or finishing high in a GC is as difficult for them as it is for us.
Patience and perseverence finally paid off in the Giro d'Italia, after months and countless days in breakaways which were either caught or our rider dropped in the finale we finally have some results to be proud of. There's no guarantee more will follow this season, but now that the sponsor is happy we are sure to improve the squad further for next year. But that's still a long way off.
In the Criterium du Dauphine the team once more dropped back on the first stage, arriving in the gruppetto 11:36 behind the top group. Our American puncher Alex Howes – his only notable result this season so far was a 9th place in the Strade Bianche – slipped into the early breakaway on stage 2. As the peloton was closing in Howes decided to attack the other escapees and not a moment too soon. Thanks to his late move he was just able to hold off Rui Costa, Romeu and Navardauskas, who had jumped away from the peloton on the final short climb.
5 out of 8 stages of the Dauphine were won from breakaways and Amore & Vita was present in all of them, collecting more top 5 finishes: Chris Barton was 4th a day after Howes won his stage, Irgalin was 3rd on stage 6, Santeramo 2nd in the penultimate stage and Mannion 2nd on the final day. Santeramo clinched the polka-dot jersey with his escape on the queen stage, just beating Astana's Zardini. Froome wins the Dauphine ahead of Porte and Mollema.
The Tour de Suisse was less successful. Kudus was back in action and had set his sights on the three consecutive mountain stages. He was the last survivor of the breakaway on stage 6 but was overtaken by 5 riders in the end – Quintana, Kwiatkowski, Betancur, Nibali and Bardet. A day later an escapee won, but not Kudus, it was NetApp's Denifl who held off the two top Colombians, Kudus took 4th. A similar fate awaited Kudus on the last of the mountain stages, Henao was part of the breakaway and won the stage, Kudus crossed the line in 9th place.
At least Kudus being in the three breakaways in a row was rewarded with the blue mountain jersey. Quintana wins the Tour de Suisse ahead of Kwiatek and Nibali.
As we are heading to the national championships Tinkoff-Saxo has a solid lead in the World Tour Team Rankings (1405 points) ahead of Ag2r (1031), Quickstep and Katusha follow (both 967).
Near the bottom of the table Garmin (67) had a good month and passed Amore & Vita (63), but we remain ahead of Giant (44) and NetApp (20).
Our final 5 star objective of the season was insultingly easy to fulfil: A top 10 result in the Ukrainian NC. For the third year in a row, Anishenko attacked as soon as the race started and never looked back. Chudhza came 3rd, probably his only notable result this season.
Five more of our riders managed to win their national jerseys, all of them from early breakaways: Irgalin (Russia), Howes (USA), Gross (Switzerland), Willwohl (Germany) and Honkisz (Poland). The Polish race was the most dramatic, Honkisz was up against Janiszewksi, who is a better sprinter (SPR 72 vs. 74) and it came down to a photo finish.
