roturn wrote:
Imo the teams that have been ahead of me (Festina, Vesuvio, Becherovka, Aker) likely finish ahead of me again while Pendleton`s, Puma, Evonik really could be dangerous to pass me. So goal is top10 only.
Definitely agree with SotD that your team is looking very impressive now, a certain contender for at least a top 5. As it stands now (with limited overview and no training), I see you as a favourite for the podium, together with Festina and Becherovka. That can of course change. Well done on transfers this year!
For the quoted part, I can guarantee you Aker - MOT won't be a factor near the top of the standings. It's Guldhammer, Trentin and Kristoff to score any major points for me if we should manage that this season, with many other riders having potential of scoring a lot less than leaders, but more than pure domestiques. I'm just hoping it will be good enough to avoid relegation, as it would be kind of a shame to go from 4th place two years in a row to relegation
First of all, no other rider leaving the team. Hence the core is staying and being carefully build around.
But we have incredible 5 riders yet to present. First a young German sprinter, who got the last contract of the season with us. Phil Bauhaus will be our main sprinter in Avenir as also being leadout in some races for Swift or Groenewegen. He is young and surely still has to learn a lot but we thought it`s a good addition for our sprinter squad.
Then a big number of 4 riders are coming on a loan contract into our team. As usual we try to offer at least 2 riders the opportunity to ride on PT level. This year we even found twice as many and are happy to welcome riders from all over the World really.
Martin Weiss is a good puncheur with a decent sprint and hence will be one of the riders we expect to take part in several breakaways. It`s his last step to made and he will go back to Sauber after the season. Krisztian Lovassy is the 2nd rider coming via a loan. He should be a decent classic sprinter after this season and seeing our cobbled squad, he might actually have quite a lot of freedom this season as there is no rider to really work for. Lawson Craddock coming from Aeropostal was a rider we were happy to get early on as first loaned in rider actually. He is decent on the climbs and good against the clock. Hence a good option for stage races and hence the Grand Tours. German Anibal Orue is not from Germany actually but as with our other loanies we use to get them from all over the World and while having a rather strict National focus for the other riders, we are very happy now to say that we had riders from all over the World with our loanies now as all continents saw at least one rider with our team as South America was the last missing piece.
Seeing he is the Paraguyan National Champion, we might also look to get a colourful jersey for him. He is coming from Team Azteca for this season and actually is our shared best cobbler.
We are very happy to announce you our stage racers for the 2017 season and even more that it`s 3 of the top4 from the Netherlands and hence absolutely going towards our main sponsor Aegon.
Keizer and Olivier reached the top10 in last years GT already plus winning a stage each in those and we hope to see this being repeated.
With Dekker we have won a very experienced stage racer, who will make us even more dangerous in those kind of races.
Last but not least Koep, who will work as helper in many races and as his personal highlight he continues his series from 2016 to race all 3 GTs in one season.
Sprinters
Since our beginning we used to have strong sprinters (in most seasons). Since last year we have one of the best, which was impressively shown on many days. Swift stays with us and will hopefully repeat his successful 2016.
His team around him will be stronger even as Sbaragli and Van der Sanden remain as his main leadouts and later got his final "upgrade".
And not to forget Groenewegen, the fastest Dutch on the planet, who really jumps into the top sprinter area now and will get many opportunities for himself to aim for his first PT stage win but also occasionally will make a dangerous duo with the Brit.
Puncheurs
The hill area was okay last year but surely could have been even better. Hence De Bie will come back stronger we hope fighting for more consistent top10 spots and maybe a win here and there. His allround skill set should help him in classics and stage races.
Villella often will be his lieutnant for the hard races but also once again has the chance to go stage hunting which successfully worked last season including a GT stage, while Thurau basically is doing the same on a lower level.
Allrounders
Our allrounders are basically our cobblers as well, though it wouldn`t really be correct.
Boom as our big team leader can everything basically, maybe not the fastest sprint but he uses to do well from small groups as well. He can top15 in hilly stage races, climb decent enough, timetrial very well and also ride on the paves. Hence he will obviously once again go for the Tour of Northern Europe podium and maybe grab his first win there after years of close beatings.
His young "trainee" Bovenhuis has the perfect coach here and should also do well in those kind of races, even though the cobbles clearly are his main part.
Time Trialists
Dumoulin is back and will lead our pure time trial department. Yet another rider from the Netherlands high in the lists.
In especially for the numberous TTTs he will be just as important as last years Portugal prologue winner Frison and new rider Barth.
In addition we expect them to be active in breaks.
Talents
Arguably we weren`t able to get the biggest talents as we had considered pre transfers as some strong riders from the Netherlands had been on the market but by going for experience and scoring potential, the way was different. That said we still got 3 riders with some potential.
Bauhaus already can support our sprint preperations and just like Van der Sanden will become stronger in future. Still being very young he also will sprint for us in Avenir.
Another Avenir rider is Ciccone. The young Italian is expected to be a good climber for the future while van der Hoorn is simply a beast on the flat with decent skills on the cobbles. So a rider, we are very happy to have.
Loanies
And finally our loanies. 4 of them this season and also some that are rather important for us. Weiss as helper for De Bie but also with chances in breaks, Lovassy and Orue as helpers/leaders even in cobbled races and Craddock as stage racer to support in the big races. We are happy to have them all and hope to improve their chances for the future with this experience on high level.
Full Team
Loaned out
Here the full team. 23 riders in total of which we have 9 from the Netherlands incl. many of our leaders.
3 riders from Italy even though here surely some improvement in leadership is wanted in seasons to come.
2 from Belgium and 4 Germans as Neighbours.
And obviously 1 big Brit to probably take the most wins.
The loanies as said before from all over the World.
And not to forget Sven Nooytens, our only loaned out rider. Now you might ask, why we did loan out our best cobbler, a former top10 PT classic rider?
Well answer is easy. Without a real leader on that terrain and some depth in lower areas, we decided to let him go and ride for a big cobbled leader and then we hope to get one leader next season when he is needed a lot more.
It's a really nice looking team you have managed to put together here mate! Very unusual to see only 3 unmaxed talents there, and IMO a bit of a mistake to splash a lot of money for Dumoulin instead of making Daan Olivier 80MO, but I'm not complaining
I will be looking very eagerly at how your sprint setup is going to work, as Coquard basically have a similar rider to Sbaragli next season as his main leadout and it looks as though the secondary guys resemblances van Sanden a lot (Bouglas, Stocker and Farantakis) in the future. If it works for Swift, I guess it could work for Coquard aswell, otherwise I'll have to reconsider my options next year. Also very pleasant to see that Swift wasn't made 85SPR, which atleast keeps him on 84 until he starts decreasing
But no offers came for my transfer list and then I decided to go for Dumoulin late in transfers...just afterwards I got the offers that I was waiting for. So rather bad luck and Olivier had to live with smaller training instead.
Regarding Sbaragli. Unfortunately the game not 100% using him as I would as player. Hence losing some of the potential if sprint is "only" 77. So might have to train him +1 +2 later I guess.
That sprinting duo makes me a little bit jealous...
And I guess those leadout could work well, as in PCT last year even if I though we had the strongest leadout other teams did it better with weaker riders..
Atleast my team will beat you on the cobbles, hopefully
Keizer, Dekker and Olivier is a nice trilogy aswell.
De Bie would have fit perfect in my team with his fellows belgians born 1991
Olivier = Bongiorno so Herklotz+Nerz+Arndt need to remain close to Keizer+Dekker.
De Bie and Kelderman are very similar now.
I hope Ciolek+Demare can keep up with Swift+Groenewegen somehow.
Hopefully Boom won't outscore Blythe again.
Sütterlin will be better than Dumoulin.
So overall there's not that much between us at first sight, with your leaders likely to outscore mine, but my depth being slightly better. It's gonna be fun.
The season is about to kick off and the Aegon team already is preparing in training camp. It`s "just" January but the early month is already hugely important for us as you will see further below.
But first of all the 2017 Team Goals. After failing heavily with high set goals in 2016 and hence a big budget cut, we decided to go more safe this year to "recover" from that.
Team Goals
Tour de France
Stage Win
Tour of Northern Europe
Top 3
SAA Tour Afrique
Win
Liege Bastogne Liege
Top 3
PT Standings
Top 5
The Tour de France remains an important race for us and hence might see our strongest squad. But even though last year our top10 goal there worked out well, we decided to aim lower. It`s "only" a stage win goal there and as Ben Swift won a triple there last season, this is the way we want to repeat.
Then Tour of Northern Europe. Lars Boom must be our man there and with Bovenhuis he gets very good support for such an allrounder event. He was close to the win several times and hence getting a podium there is wanted minimum.
Now the race that was won last season already. SAA Tour Afrique was downgraded to PTHC but still remains high on our wish list. Perfect race for Swift and hence despite expecting a super packed startlist from both PT and PCT, this is the race we want to win once again.
Last but not least Liege Bastogne Liege podium? Crazy, yes. But we couldn`t go too low neither and with De Bie having a good preperation we hope for some kind of "surprise" there.
And with PT Standings looking very well last year and imo an improved squad with Dekker, De Bie, Groenewegen likely improving our team, I think going high for a top5 is difficult but not impossible.
Badaling International
Tour of Qatar
Sean De Bie
Leader
Ben Swift
Leader
Davide Villella
Lieutnant
Dylan Groenewegen
Lieutnant
Björn Thurau
Support
Kristian Sbaragli
Leadout
Jasper Bovenhuis
Support
Geert Van der Sanden
Leadout
Martin Weiss
Support
Tom Dumoulin
Support
Giulio Ciccone
Support
Frederik Frison
Support
Krisztian Lovassy
Development
Jasper Bovenhuis
Support
Phil Bauhaus
Development
Marcel Barth
Support
20th only in Badaling International in 2016 definitely needs an improvement. We really want a top10 minimum here as De Bie should be able to do this. That said, hill classics use to have the very best of all teams at the start.
Villella and Thurau are the main support and will basically be with most race days of De Bie.
In Qatar it`s all about the GC win. Swift is a fast sprinter, might be fastest. Last year Degenkolb jumped above him but he used to have the better leadout with Kluge and Mohs while Groenewegen rarely was linked to Swift`s schedule.
Now Iberia has lost Mohs and replaced with Zabel and hence a bit weaker I`d say while our team improved with Groenewegen and Van der Sanden. So should be a lot stronger and also the experience from last year`s Qatar with a strong leadout made us send Groenewegen here as well as first support rider.
There's a very good chance that all those goals will be reached! Nice team and well put together. I'm a bit surprised to see you actually use Groenewegen as a leadout for Swift. But not having a top top leadout I guess it will be a good move.
To be fair on Groenewegen. A 82 sprinter with good backup stats can`t be used as leadout only. Most races he starts as my sprint leader. But races such as Qatar just needed a top top leadout and while Sbaragli with his high flat/77sp combo or Van der Sanden with 73fl/79sp would be okay, those high speed finishes in pan flat races needed the double.
Last year I went with Swift-Sbaragli-Van der Sanden (77sp) and it was not enough to beat the 2x80+ combination of Pokerstars. Hence the change in some races.
If Groenewegen/Swift work just half as good as I am hoping on last 1-1,5km only I think it should be a nice duo. Main job now for the other two to bring them together until this point but I think Sbaragli is the ideal rider to do so.
It all started back in 2013. Groenewegen at 20 years only signed a pretty good 125k contract with PCT team Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim. Always good to ride for a small home team in the early years. He was a decent sprinter already but obviously still needed to learn a lot.
His first ever pro race then appeared to be the Australian sprinter event Down Under Classic. Pan flat and perfect opportunity for him. In fact it was a talented team with Boy and Danny Van Poppel or Teunissen as well. Leaders though was veteran Tom Veelers.
Young Groenewegen ended up in 27th position which is kind of impressive and was just the start of his career.
2014
Groenewegen has learned well from his leaders and made a nice little step forward. Not yet winning material but surely a decent leadout already and showed some very good recovery skills and the skills to survive some hillier sprint stages.
He remained with the team, that went under the name Team Hornbach in 2014. The team clearly was a sprinter paradise as basically 2/3 of the team were mainly focussing on the flat stages.
He now couldn`t learn a lot more from his former leaders Veelers, Lorenzetto, Priamo or Boy Van Poppel and basically was as fast as those. Hence the team went for a new sprint leader with Anthony Lavoine, one of the PCT/CT top sprinters and a nice rider to learn from surely.
He couldn`t really make a step this year in terms of results and was often in later half of the peloton but he had some opportunities for himself in C2 events, where he also got his first top10 stage result in the New Zealand Cycle Tour and actually winning the bunch sprint for 7th on that day.
2015
The end of 2014 was a hard time for him as the team folded and he was left without a contract. Though as one of the very best sprint prospects on the market, he probably never was too worried.
And with Rothaus - Aegon changing their focus even more on the Netherlands by changing to Aegon - Lavazza, the 22 year old was the big target for the team after relegating from the PT to the PCT.
This was kind of lucky for Groenewegen as he was immediately the team`s top sprinter and leader for the flat stages. With Alex Krieger and Kristian Sbaragli he got decent support for many stages as well but the times has changed a bit and competition was incredible in that division with Ciolek, Cavendish, Avelino, Boonen, Ahlstrand or Kupfernagel.
The season was an up and down for him really with some solid results such as the 8th in the Berlin Pro Race and Eneco Tour and some decent stage performances throughout the year. But one thing always was sure before the season started. He won`t get enough of experience to make his last step as there was simply no one in the team, he could learn from.
With the team doing extraordinarily well though his motivation also went up in the late season when promotion to the PT was basically secured.
In autumn he first got a 6th in the GP Moscow against PT sprinters being ahead of riders such as Swift.
Then in his last race of the year he finally was able to celebrate his first win and it was a fantastic one in Paris - Tours, when he totally smashed the competition.
Results
Spoiler
Paris - Tours
1st
GP Moscow
6th
Berlin Pro Race
8th
Eneco Tour
8th
Olympia`s Tour
17th
Baltic Chain Tour
15th
Stages
1x 2nd, 2x 3rd
2016
As said previously, he remained as unmaxed rider but got his first PT season with the team and as "teacher" the team signed no other than Ben Swift, one of the most successful sprinters of all time and multiple stage winner in his Vesuvio years before.
Hence what could go wrong? Well probably the fact that while being a decent PCT sprinter, the competition in the PT was too high for him still as Degenkolb, Bewley, Mohs, Kristoff, Van Stayen, Guarnieri, Kennaugh, Ciolek, Cavendish and many more were ahead of him.
Though he learned by riding against those and got his first two Grand Tours with the Giro and Vuelta. In later he actually showed some of his talent by finishing 2nd on day 1 already and then 3rd on the 14th stage. Both stages actually won by Jurgen Roelandts.
He then had yet another great GP Moscow and repeated the 6th from the year before but other than that not really much for his palmares.
Results
Spoiler
GP Moscow
6th
Vuelta Stages
1x 2nd, 1x 3rd
2017
The team stayed up in the PT and hence the now fully maxed Groenewegen was expected to be able to challenge a lot more. He still has a couple of stronger sprinters ahead of him but he definitely was one of the top10-15 sprinters in the division and with Swift staying with the team at least one of them he wouldn`t meet too often.
With two top sprinters the scheduling was mainly seperated and hence also the other top sprinters did meet Swift more often than Groenewegen. In fact only in Qatar and Moscow both ride together. And while Moscow, which was an important part of Groenewegen`s rise is not raced yet, in Qatar it did work pretty good with 2 stages and the 2nd in the GC for Swift with Groenewegen being his leadout.
After Qatar he started in Tirreno - Adriatico, which was mainly just to get rolling for him. His main goal this season was the GTs Giro and Vuelta as in the year before.
And the Giro started nicely. On the 2nd day already he was celebrating his first ever PT win and this against some really top sprinters.
And it wasn`t all yet as he did repeat this on the 7th stage as well making him one of the top Giro riders this year.
After a short break he then went to the Vuelta a Espana and eyes were looking on him now a lot more. But he kept cool and took yet another 2 stage wins on days 2 and 6 followed by 4 more podiums in the race. So definitely made a huge step forward and arrived at the top sprinter level. Most impressive actually that he acchieved all this without a real leadout as Sbaragli and Van der Sanden followed Swift`s season.
Results
Spoiler
Giro Stages
2x 1st
Vuelta Stages
2x 1st, 2x 2nd, 2x 3rd
2018 is yet a total unknown but one thing is for sure. Dylan Groenewegen will stay with the team and then trying to continue this progress. At 24 years of age only he still has a lot to reach and there seems to be no limit for this guy.
Question might be if he can complete the GT triple by winning a stage in the Tour de France as well. One day surely, but if already in 2018 is as said, an unknown yet.
I cant hide that I´m jealous about his GT stage wins this season looking at Ahlstrand result, I did not plan as good as you and did not send Ahlstrand to Vuelta but seeing Dylan taking two stages in Giro and Ahlstrand only managed podium twice as 3rd.
But congrats on your sprinting season so far even if Swift crashed out TdF.
Yes. Right now seems Groenewegen was the better pick.
Weird to see as Ahlstrand or Zabel looked more promising earlier on and won a lot more in PCT for example.
Still think all of them will have successful careers on PT level and once being trained here and there having nice fights against each other.
Once Groenewegen taking over the main sprinter role from Swift, it might be interesting if he can also do well in big sprint fields such as Qatar or the classics.
Definitely need to consider well at what time I make this swap as Swift`s points are vital for my team and none of my young riders (Groenewegen, De Bie, Olivier) can replace those without at least 2 years of training.
In the Giro alone he scored a bit more than in the full 2016 season. The Vuelta obviously was even better being ~150%.
So yes, finally being maxed, was vital for my team. In especially as I couldn`t expect Keizer being as strong as in 2016 TdF with his KoM rant or Olivier with his 2016 Giro 3rd week.
By the look of it Groenewegen about collects their points now together with Dekker. But still the rankings seem to have other teams improving more. So I need another good results in the races to come such as Praha Karlovy, TONE, Tasmania, Lombardia, Moscow and the TTT.
Actually having good hopes for all those and only 1-2 remaining events should see me not scoring very well.
The 2017 regular season has come to an end and we are happy to see the Aegon - Lavazza team finishing on a very good 5th place and repeating the 2016 performance.
1
Festina - Dexia
8042
2
Moser - Sygic
7569
3
Evonik - ELKO
6358
4
Vesuvio - Accumalux
6114
5
Aegon - Lavazza
6109
6
Pendleton's
5683
7
Team Puma - SAP
5607
8
eBuddy
5569
9
Gazelle
5552
10
Hugo Boss
5543
Spoiler
11
RBC Pro Cycling
5499
12
Aker - MOT
5488
13
Jayco - Cobra9
5140
14
Wiesenhof - Andritz
4946
15
Spotify - Haglöfs
4677
16
Porto - Prio
4327
17
Tinkoff Sport Academy
4316
18
Strava
4258
19
Ayubowan!
4255
20
Nemiroff - ABBYY
3556
21
Iberia - Team Degenkolb
3516
22
Project: Africa
393
With a bit more luck 3rd or at least 4th was clearly possible but it shows that the gap to the podium was in reach while behind we had some comfort and hence reached our top 5 goal as well.
Checking the goals from the season start, we probably never were that successful, which means a good base for 2018.
Goal
Result
Tour de France
Stage Win
yes (Dekker, Swift)
Tour of Northern Europe
Top 3
1st (Boom)
SAA Tour Afrique
Win
1st (Swift)
Liege Bastogne Liege
Top 3
4th (De Bie)
PT Standings
Top 5
yes (5th)
Only in Liege - Bastogne - Liege we did not succeed but finished by the closes margin just one spot off. Regarding the other goals, we obviously picked the right races to finish high i.e. with TONE, where Boom finally got his big win in his last prime season, what a team legend he is and surely worth an individual post at some time listing all his palmares since 2012, when he joined us in the debut year.
Swift successfully defended the title in the SAA Tour Afrique and hence our win goal was well picked, while the decision in the GTs were rather tiny. Instead of a GC goal we decided to go small with a stage win only. And with several stages we easily suceeded in the TdF while in fact any GT would have been good seeing our great run in this years GT sprints with wins in all three.
And hence coming to the wins.
No less than 15 stage wins this season!
- Swift (2x Qatar, 3x Paris Nice, 2x Tour de France)
- Groenewegen (2x Giro, 2x Vuelta)
- Dekker (1x Dauphine, 1x Tour de France)
- Boom (1x TONE)
- Thurau (1x Deutschland)
In addition 3 wins in the points competition and one team ranking win as also 3 GC wins. Swift in SAA Tour Afrique, Boom in TONE and then the most impressive and historical one with Dekker in the Dauphine where he takes his 2nd win, 10 years after his first in 2007!
With eight 2nd places and nine 3rd spots we had a very good run for podiums this year. Most impressive Swift yet again with five seconds places which means 12 times he finished on the first two spots while never being 3rd actually. Groenewegen with 4 more podiums in the Vuelta also was close to add more than 4 GT stage wins this year.
GC wise Swift added a 2nd in Qatar and Bauhaus a 3rd in the U25 Sprinter Classic while we were close with three 4th GC results. De Bie in LBL and Scandinavia and Keizer in Praha Karlovy Praha.
Full Podium and GC results can be found in the spoilers:
Podiums
Spoiler
1st
Ben Swift
Tour of Qatar
Stage 3
Ben Swift
Tour of Qatar
Stage 5
Ben Swift
Paris - Nice
Stage 1
Ben Swift
Paris - Nice
Stage 2
Ben Swift
Paris - Nice
Stage 5
Ben Swift
Paris - Nice
Points
Ben Swift
SAA Tour d'Afrique
Points
Ben Swift
Tour de France
Stage 1
Ben Swift
Tour de France
Stage 6
Aegon - Lavazza
SAA Tour d'Afrique
Team
Lars Boom
Tour of Northern Europe
Stage 7
Dylan Groenewegen
Giro d'Italia
Stage 2
Dylan Groenewegen
Giro d'Italia
Stage 7
Dylan Groenewegen
Vuelta a Espana
Stage 2
Dylan Groenewegen
Vuelta a Espana
Stage 6
Thomas Dekker
Criterium du Dauphine Libere
Stage 7
Thomas Dekker
Criterium du Dauphine Libere
Points
Thomas Dekker
Tour de France
Stage 11
Björn Thurau
Deutschland Tour
Stage 8
2nd
Ben Swift
Tour of Qatar
Stage 1
Ben Swift
Tour of Qatar
Points
Ben Swift
SAA Tour d'Afrique
Stage 3
Ben Swift
SAA Tour d'Afrique
Stage 4
Ben Swift
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
Stage 2
Ben Swift
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
Stage 4
Ben Swift
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
Points
Lars Boom
Giro d'Italia
Stage 16
Dylan Groenewegen
Vuelta a Espana
Stage 11
Dylan Groenewegen
Vuelta a Espana
Stage 13
Daan Olivier
Tour de Suisse
U25
3rd
Aegon - Lavazza
Giro d'Italia
Stage 4 (TTT)
Davide Villella
Giro d'Italia
Stage 14
Thomas Dekker
Tour of California
Stage 3
Thomas Dekker
Criterium du Dauphine Libere
Stage 6
Daan Olivier
Vuelta a Espana
Stage 14
Daan Olivier
Vuelta a Espana
KoM
Daan Olivier
Deutschland Tour
Stage 7
Daan Olivier
Deutschland Tour
U25
Dylan Groenewegen
Vuelta a Espana
Stage 16
Dylan Groenewegen
Vuelta a Espana
Stage 21
Martijn Keizer
Tour de Suisse
Stage 7
GC
Spoiler
Ben Swift
Tour of Qatar
2nd
Ben Swift
SAA Tour d'Afrique
1st
Ben Swift
Lac Megantic Classic
14th
Ben Swift
GP Moscow
11th
Sean De Bie
Paris - Nice
5th
Sean De Bie
Tour of California
9th
Sean De Bie
Amstel Gold Race
14th
Sean De Bie
Fleche Wallone
9th
Sean De Bie
Liege - Bastogne - Liege
4th
Sean De Bie
Scandinavia Open Road Race
4th
Sean De Bie
Tour of Northern Europe
13th
Martijn Keizer
Chrono des Herbiers
10th
Martijn Keizer
GP Lichtenstein
12th
Martijn Keizer
Vuelta a Espana
11th
Martijn Keizer
Tour de Suisse
17th
Martijn Keizer
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
4th
Martijn Keizer
Tour of Tasmania
8th
Thomas Dekker
Tirreno - Adriatico
14th
Thomas Dekker
Tour of California
7th
Thomas Dekker
Criterium du Dauphine Libere
1st
Thomas Dekker
Tour de France
10th
Lars Boom
Ronde Van Vlaanderen
21st
Lars Boom
Giro d'Italia
44th
Lars Boom
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
19th
Lars Boom
Tour of Northern Europe
1st
Lars Boom
Tour of Tasmania
8th
Daan Olivier
Giro d'Italia
14th
Daan Olivier
Vuelta a Espana
15th
Daan Olivier
Tour de Suisse
10th
Daan Olivier
Deutschland Tour
5th
Kristian Sbaragli
SAA Tour d'Afrique
26th
Thomas Koep
Giro d'Italia
47th
Thomas Koep
Vuelta a Espana
61st
Thomas Koep
Tour de France
57th
Geert Van der Sanden
SAA Tour d'Afrique
28th
Phil Bauhaus
U25 Sprinter Classic
3rd
Marcel Barth
Tour of Qatar
25th
Krisztian Lovassy
Paris - Roubaix
39th
Aegon - Lavazza
Copenhagen - Malmo TTT
5th
16
Ben Swift
GBR
Aegon - Lavazza
1219
28
Thomas Dekker
NED
Aegon - Lavazza
923
41
Lars Boom
NED
Aegon - Lavazza
645
42
Sean De Bie
BEL
Aegon - Lavazza
645
46
Dylan Groenewegen
NED
Aegon - Lavazza
600
50
Martijn Keizer
NED
Aegon - Lavazza
546
51
Daan Olivier
NED
Aegon - Lavazza
542
233
Björn Thurau
GER
Aegon - Lavazza
107
275
Kristian Sbaragli
ITA
Aegon - Lavazza
91
297
Davide Villella
ITA
Aegon - Lavazza
83
311
Krisztian Lovassy
HUN
Aegon - Lavazza
80
317
Martin Weiss
AUT
Aegon - Lavazza
78
321
Jasper Bovenhuis
NED
Aegon - Lavazza
77
326
Tom Dumoulin
NED
Aegon - Lavazza
75
339
Frederik Frison
BEL
Aegon - Lavazza
70
357
Thomas Koep
GER
Aegon - Lavazza
65
390
Geert Van der Sanden
NED
Aegon - Lavazza
54
404
Lawson Craddock
USA
Aegon - Lavazza
51
407
Phil Bauhaus
GER
Aegon - Lavazza
50
428
German Anibal Orue
PAR
Aegon - Lavazza
40
451
Marcel Barth
GER
Aegon - Lavazza
28
455
Taco van der Hoorn
NED
Aegon - Lavazza
25
463
Giulio Ciccone
ITA
Aegon - Lavazza
15
In the individual rankings we had no top15 scorer this season. Swift in 16th was close but had unfortunately 1-2 off races. Finishing 5th in the team rankings though shows a great depth, a point that was wanted a lot to be very contesting in many races (even though cobbles were rather low this year and might be worked on next season).
Dekker in 28th but almost topping the 1000 point mark is impressive. I mean, he was expected to be beyond his prime but had now the 2nd huge season in a row and 2017 was even on PT level.
Boom, De Bie, Groenewegen, Keizer and Olivier all between 41st and 51st and scoring 540-650 points each. Some might have the potential to go even higher, others might have been overperforming a bit. But when checking their age in especially the trio De Bie, Olivier and Groenewegen should be fun for years to come. Keizer was ~400 points below his 2016 while also Boom despite his TONE win was a bit down.
De Bie and Olivier pretty much remained on the same level (Olivier actually within 7 points) while Groenewegen improved hugely.
Having a rather low scoring season was Villella with 83 pts only. Compared to his 423 a year before, he surely wants to improve in 2018.
With the NCs and Worlds left, we hope to get some special jerseys into the team for 2018. Obviously this is also always a good way to fight for a contract.
So far decisions have not been made yet but at least couple of riders must not fear anything as Olivier, De Bie, Groenewegen are supposed to lead our team surely in the upcoming years and hence are guaranteed spots while also couple others are pretty secured.
The sheer number of stage wins is very impressive and looks like you have the perfect rider to take over the mantle from Swift in Groenewegen. Dekker's performance in the Dauphine was sweet. What a record that is, of winning the same race with a gap of 10 years! Also similarly with Boom finally winning ToNE after having come close so many times previously. Two feel good stories for your team this season.
You should be well setup for a podium run next time around. We'll be supporting you all the way as a compatriot team
Thanks Abhishek. Not yet sure. That said I was far from sure to repeat the top 5 in fact.
A lot depends on trasnfers as always and if I got enough money for training.
My team imo is missing 2 big pieces yet to attack the PT podium.
- A cobble rider to score another ~500+ points in those kind of races. Even more as Boom is decreasing and hence points will drop.
- A GT rider for the GC. I miss out on those big points as neither Dekker/Keizer/Olivier is strong enough for more than ~10th in the GC.
Hence big decisions and calculations are needed to see if I somehow can close one of those or even two without losing the main core though that is.
Finishing in 5th position of the PT rankings in two consecutive seasons shows that the team, the management, the sponsors work together pretty well.
Hence there is simply no reason to step back at the moment.
Both main sponsors Aegon and Lavazza confirmed to remain title sponsors and any rumour that popped up 1-2 years ago is probably gone.
The focus of the team will remain Benelux/German. With riders such as Olivier, De Bie, Groenewegen the sponsors are more than happy. Boom is one of the Dutch legends already and hence a great rider to have for any team with all the experience and aura he has while Keizer`s performance of 2016 in the Tour de France is not forgotten neither.
The great input of Dekker in 2017 is yet another fantastic story of Benelux cycling and even though not from the focussed nations, Ben Swift is obviously always a rider that shows the jersey and hence the sponsors in a lot of TV time.
And last but not least Lavazza, who was once rumoured to step back, expressed their interest in the way of young Italian talents to be developed by the team. Sbaragli made yet another step last season with some results by himself, Villella had a tough season but is getting a lot of freedom as well while young Ciccone was showing himself in Avenir and is a rider, where the sponsor sees potential for more.
That said, the amount of Italians in the team indeed became smaller and is something they asked to improve. May it be talents or big names may not matter.
Just as important for them is to remain strong in the big Italian races and last two years in the Giro d'Italia have shown consistency, we`d like to continue also in 2018.
While in the past seasons the team had a high number of stat gains each season with the likes of Groenewegen, Olivier, Sbaragli, Krieger, Villella, Koep, Van der Sanden, Frison, Bovenhuis... all being fully or partly developed by our team, this year`s list seems to be rather small.
Trying to have a good depth means, less chances for talents to develop or more likely, less salary to be spent for young riders, which is one thing to change in the upcoming offseason.
That said no less than 7 riders were developed by us in the 2017 season, though 4 of them (Lawson Craddock, Martin Weiss, Krisztian Lovassy and German Orue) were on loan only and return to their actual team.
The three riders, which had a full contract with us are:
Phil Bauhaus- 23 years - (4.00 -> Max)
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
2017
72
56
61
56
69
64
76
66
76
73
59
63
60
2018
74
56
61
56
71
65
77
67
78
75
59
63
60
Bauhaus is supposed to be an important key for our sprint train in 2018. He has a solid engine and a good speed. Next to Sbaragli and Van der Sanden, he should be a good piece of one of the top sprint trains in the PT.
Giulio Ciccone- 23 years - (2.50 -> 3.30)
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
2017
66
71
69
65
66
66
67
50
51
68
58
59
73
2018
66
73
70
67
67
67
69
50
51
68
58
59
75
One of our main issues was the climbing depth behind our 3 leaders Keizer/Dekker/Olivier.
Koep yet again had to ride all 3 GTs to be the only real support rider in the mountains. And hence in the week-long stage races, the support was rather small and in fact Ciccone was already the main support a lot of times at level 2.
In 2018 Ciccone will already be a better climber and hence is able to help out for maybe another mountain while he still has lots of room to improve in the future.
Taco van der Hoorn- 24 years - (2.00 -> 3.08)
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
2017
71
60
66
55
72
66
57
69
56
66
79
65
52
2018
72
60
67
55
73
67
58
71
56
66
80
65
52
Same level as Ciccone but already at 24, van der Hoorn is our next classic prospect and on Bovenhuis` way.
Good on the flat, decent on cobbles and also not that bad on tougher stages or in sprints from small groups. A solid allrounder with quite some potential to improve.
With the cobbled questionmark for 2018, he surely is a rider with some freedom or in case of a new cobbled leader, a good support rider for the Northern classics.
Phil Bauhaus will be our main sprinter in Avenir as also being leadout in some races for Swift or Groenewegen. He is young and surely still has to learn a lot but we thought it`s a good addition for our sprinter squad.
Martin Weiss is a good puncheur with a decent sprint and hence will be one of the riders we expect to take part in several breakaways. It`s his last step to made and he will go back to Sauber after the season.
Krisztian Lovassy is the 2nd rider coming via a loan. He should be a decent classic sprinter after this season and seeing our cobbled squad, he might actually have quite a lot of freedom this season as there is no rider to really work for. 
Lawson Craddock coming from Aeropostal was a rider we were happy to get early on as first loaned in rider actually. He is decent on the climbs and good against the clock. Hence a good option for stage races and hence the Grand Tours. 
German Anibal Orue is not from Germany actually but as with our other loanies we use to get them from all over the World and while having a rather strict National focus for the other riders, we are very happy now to say that we had riders from all over the World with our loanies now as all continents saw at least one rider with our team as South America was the last missing piece. 
Tour de France
SAA Tour Afrique
Liege Bastogne Liege
Badaling International
Tour of Qatar
Ben Swift
Davide Villella
Dylan Groenewegen
