Angus Osborne wrote:
I love that you included Tafi - and that you gave him terrible attributes. And those Molteni colours look superb in the screen shots
thank you Angus! but honestly, I have to say that Tafi was already included in the World DB 2019, and with these poor stats: not my merit
Slower than I'd wanted (but I have child of 5 weeks and it's quite challenging ) let's continue our carreer with the Herald Sun Tour.
For this australian race with an opening time trial and an uphill finish the next day, we align of our best team, leaded by Brendan Canty for the GC and by the 20-years-old Ethan Hayter for the sprints, supported by a strong lead-out train with the british compatriots Mark McNally, Scott Thwaites and Jonathan Dibben.
Brendan Canty Jonathan Dibben Maxime Farazijn Ethan Hayter Mark McNally Laurens Sweeck Scott Thwaites
Well, we have high expectations, but the startlist is quite interesting and won'te be easy to hit the mark, especially as regards the sprints, with Peter Sagan as the most notable contender, but also Bryan Coquard, Leonardo Bonifazio, Ramon Sinkeldam, Michael Albasini, Ryan Gibbons and New Zealand national champion Dylan Kennett in the mix. More affordable the task of Canty in the GC, where only Sergio Henao seems out of reach:
So, let's have a look to how it infolded.
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) is already in front of all
Prologue: Melbourne > Melbourne
1
Peter Sagan
Bora - Hansgrohe
2:47
2
Zdenek Stybar
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:02
3
Adrien Petit
Direct Énergie
+00:04
4
Bryan Coquard
Vital Concept - B&B Hotels
+00:04
5
Gediminas Bagdonas
AG2R La Mondiale
+00:04
Sagan surprises, but up to a point; big disappointment for Molteni's Joe Dibben, who was one of the pure favorites, but is only 74th at 8 seconds. Canty at 9.
The Herald Sun Tour just started yesterday, with the win of Peter Sagan in the prologue in Melbourne, and already faces his most important day: the arrival atop of Falls Creek climb. Sergio Henao was the great favourite, but UAE's colombian lost early the wheels of the main group. Yellow jersey Sagan, instead, hung in there a lot more than expected, being preceded only by Trek Segafredo's Gianluca Brambilla, who is the winner of this 1st in-line stage.
Peter Sagan is second at 18 seconds, and great effort also by our leader Brendan Canty, who finishes fourth at 27 seconds, just behind to the Spaniard Jonathan Castroviejo registered at the same time of the Molteni's rider. Excellent result also by Ethan Hayter, a sprinter, who crossed the line in 13th place 2:17 later than the winner.
1st stage: Wangaratta > Falls Creek
1
Gianluca Brambilla
Trek - Segafredo
4:30:47
2
Peter Sagan
Bora - Hansgrohe
+00:18
3
Jonathan Castroviejo
Team Sky
+00:27
4
Brendan Canty
Molteni
+00:27
5
Nico Denz
AG2R La Mondiale
+00:41
6
Enrico Battaglin
Katusha - Alpecin
+01:00
7
Cyril Gautier
Vital Concept - B&B Hotels
+01:00
8
Vegard Stake Laengen
UAE - Emirates
+01:00
9
Pieter Serry
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+01:43
10
Ian Boswell
Katusha - Alpecin
+01:43
So, Gianluca Brambilla is the new Herald Sun Tour's leader
With the most important stages behind, the Herald Sun Tour continues with three hilly stages that don't exclude sprinters from the odds.
Peter Sagan (Bora), in green jersey, outsprints Hayter and Coquard
2nd stage: Mount Beauty > Beechworth
1
Peter Sagan
Bora - Hansgrohe
3:19:24
2
Ethan Hayter
Molteni
+00:00
3
Bryan Coquard
Vital Concept - B&B Hotels
+00:00
4
Arthur Vichot
Vital Concept - B&B Hotels
+00:00
5
Enrico Battaglin
Katusha - Alpecin
+00:00
Only a monster like Peter Sagan was able to beat our Ethan Hayter, whose impact with the pros was astonishing. The Slovakian nibbles 10 seconds to Brambilla but remains in second place. Thanks to the selection made on the final KoM at 13 kms to go by his teammates (only 25 riders finished with the same time of Sagan), Ethan Hayter moves to the 9th place on the GC as Brendan Canty stays in 4th.
Michael Albasini (Mitchelton-Scott) wins a very pulled sprint with five riders on the same line and the photofinish needed to decree the arrival
3rd stage: Benalla > Mitchelton Vinery
1
Michael Albasini
Mitchelton - Scott
3:47:19
2
Mark Renshaw
Dimension Data
+00:00
3
Ethan Hayter
Molteni
+00:00
4
Ramon Sinkeldam
Groupama - FDJ
+00:00
5
Bryan Coquard
Vital Concept - B&B Hotels
+00:00
Mitchelton-Scott conquers a crucial win at mains sponsor's home, thanks to the experienced Michael Albasini who surprises Mark Renshaw; another podium appearance for Ethan Hayer, even more close to the win than yesterday despite the third place, as the young british was overtaken with just 50 meters to go. Only 7th place for Sagan, who fails the assault to Brambilla's yellow jersey.
Peter Sagan triumphs in the final stage and conquers also the GC
4th stage: Kinglake > Kinglake
1
Peter Sagan
Bora - Hansgrohe
2:57:44
2
Michael Albasini
Mitchelton - Scott
+00:16
3
Bryan Coquard
Vital Concept - B&B Hotels
+00:16
4
Jonathan Dibben
Molteni
+00:16
5
Arthur Vichot
Vital Concept - B&B Hotels
+00:16
Just one more personal show by Peter Sagan in the final stage of Herald Sun Tour: the Slovakian needed to gain just 5 seconds to strip Brambilla of the yellow jerseay but, instead of waiting for the sprint, attacked with 15 km to go and, once was achieved at the last 5 km, launched another and decisive assault on the last 2,000 meters, anticipating the peloton by 16 seconds and conquering, in addition to the third stage win, also the general classification.
With Hayter unable to repeat the good sprints of the last couple of days, Molteni still managed to nab a fourth place with Jonathan Dibben, confirming also the same final placing in the GC with Brendan Canty and the 9th with Etan Hayter himself.
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) won the Herald Sun Tour 2019
Final General Classification Herald Sun Tour 2019
1
Peter Sagan
Bora - Hansgrohe
16:12:40
2
Gianluca Brambilla
Trek - Segafredo
+00:21
3
Jonathan Castroviejo
Team Sky
+00:51
4
Brendan Canty
Molteni
+01:00
5
Vegard Stake Laengen
UAE - Emirates
+01:29
6
Cyril Gautier
Vital Concept - B&B Hotels
+01:31
7
Nico Denz
AG2R La Mondiale
+01:48
8
Arthur Vichot
Vital Concept - B&B Hotels
+02:24
9
Ethan Hayter
Molteni
+02:39
10
Enrico Battaglin
Katusha - Alpecin
+02:47
Just a few days before of Sun Tour, always in Australia but without Molteni at the stard, was planned the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. And these are the results:
Finally, in Europe! Molteni's debut in the Old World is from Spain, with a Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana devoid of the biggest names of the peloton and for this reason opened to a quite large draft of possible winners. This is the startlist:
And these are our seven riders in detail: Simone Ponzi Jens Adams Maxim Belkov Brendan Canty Alexander Foliforov Andriy Grivko Marco Tizza
Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto-Soudal) surprises in Peñiscola
1st stage: Oropesa del Mar > Peñiscola
1
Tosh Van der Sande
Lotto - Soudal
4:40:27
2
Daniele Bennati
Movistar
+00:00
3
Nikias Arndt
Team Sunweb
+00:00
4
Simon Clarke
EF Education First
+00:00
5
Jan Bakelants
Team Sunweb
+00:00
Another belgian win in Albuixech: it's Deceuninck's Pieter Serry
2nd stage: Bétera > Albuixech
1
Pieter Serry
Deceuninck - Quick Step
4:04:50
2
Tiesj Benoot
Lotto - Soudal
+00:00
3
Paul Martens
Jumbo - Visma
+00:00
4
Simon Clarke
EF Education First
+00:00
5
Sander Armée
Lotto - Soudal
+00:00
Team Sky dominates the team time trial giving to Pavel Sivakov the leadership in the general classification
3rd stage: Benitatxell › Calpe (TTT)
1
Team Sky
21:18
2
EF Education First
+00:18
3
Team Sunweb
+00:29
4
Katusha - Alpecin
+00:29
5
Jumbo - Visma
+00:38
Maybe there are not the biggest name regards to GC, but medium level is very high and it's been diffcult for Molteni to rise in these first three days of racing: just an 11th place for Marco Tizza in stage 1 won by Tosh Van der Sande and a 10th for Brendan Canty in the second stage, with only 29 riders arrived with the time of the winner Pieter Serry. In the team time trial Molteni was 9th at 58 seconds from Team Sky.
And this is the general classification after stage 3:
The queen stage of this year's Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana finishes atop of Alto de las Canteras. Between the large group of fugitives, the last survivors are W52-Porto's Rául Alarcón and Sporting Tavira's Tiago Machado, curiously the main favourites of next Volta a Portugal. But in the final climb also the big GC men get back to the head of the race...
And it's Jumbo-Visma's Koen Bouwman to win and become the new race leader! The dutch precedes by 25 seconds the Vuelta a San Juan winner Tiesj Benoot, of Lotto, and the new EF sign Tanel Kangert.
Tiago Machado, José Gonçalves (Katusha-Alpecin) and Raul Alarcón cross the line with a gap of 57 seconds, while the GC leader Pavel Sivakov (Sky) is only 7th to 1:30 and loses the yellow jersey.
A poor day for Molteni too, with Brendan Canty got slowed by a couple of crash, and finally 22nd at 6:26.
4th stage: Orihuela > Alto de las Canteras
1
Koen Bouwman
Jumbo - Visma
+00:00
2
Tiesj Benoot
Lotto - Soudal
+00:25
3
Tanel Kangert
EF Education First
+00:25
4
Tiago Machado
Sporting-Taviria
+00:57
5
José Gonçalves
Katusha - Alpecin
+00:57
6
Raúl Alarcón
W52 - FC Porto
+00:57
7
Pavel Sivakov
Team Sky
+01:30
8
Carlos Verona
Movistar
+01:57
9
Jan Bakelants
Team Sunweb
+01:57
10
Enrico Battaglin
Katusha - Alpecin
+01:57
Simon Clarke (Education First) wins the final sprint in Valencia
5th stage: Paterna > Valencia
1
Simon Clarke
EF Education First
+00:00
2
Paul Martens
Jumbo - Visma
+00:00
3
Jon Aberasturi
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
+00:00
4
Daniele Bennati
Movistar
+00:00
5
Nikias Arndt
Team Sunweb
+00:00
Anything changes in the last flat stage in Valencia, won by Simon Clarke in a sprint against Paul Martens and Jon Aberasturi. And Antwan Tolhoek (Jumbo-Visma) conquers his major win in his still short carreer, winning the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2019!
Final general classification Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2019
1
Koen Bouwman
Jumbo - Visma
+00:00
2
Tanel Kangert
EF Education First
+00:11
3
Tiesj Benoot
Lotto - Soudal
+00:39
4
José Gonçalves
Katusha - Alpecin
+00:58
5
Pavel Sivakov
Team Sky
+01:02
6
Jan Bakelants
Team Sunweb
+01:58
7
Paul Martens
Jumbo - Visma
+03:42
8
Laurens De Plus
Jumbo - Visma
+03:52
9
Dylan Van Baarle
Team Sky
+05:15
10
Ivan Ramiro Sosa
Team Sky
+05:44
Molteni's best rider in the GC is Brendan Canty, however, not further than the 17th place at 6:65.
Another time to the other side of the ocean for the second edition of Colombia Oro y Paz, renamed Colombia 2.1: I edited db in order to add to the startlist a Colombian national selection and all the real WT team that rode the reace this year; but I made a mistake selecting Bora and forgetting Sky
Aside for this, let's see the startlist of the race:
Molteni will be leaded by Mekseb Debesay for the GC and by Ethan Hayther in the flat stages.
Deceuninck-Quick Step wins the time trial and danish Kasper Asgreen is the first leader: deception for Álvaro Hodeg who was supposed to cross the line first
1st stage: Medellín > Medellín (team time trial
1
Deceuninck - Quick Step
0:15:59
2
EF Education First
+00:09
3
Movistar Team
+00:14
4
Bora - Hansgrohe
+00:26
5
Israel Cycling Academy
+00:31
6
UAE Team Emirates
+00:37
7
Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
+00:45
8
Molteni Arcore
+00:47
9
Manzana Postobón
+01:00
10
Astana Pro Team
+01:04
Fernando Gaviria (UAE) wins in front of his fellow citizens: other excellent result by our Ethan Hayer, beaten only by the strong colombian sprinter. Álvaro José Hodeg takes the orange jersey
2nd stage: La Ceja > La Ceja
1
Fernando Gaviria
UAE - Emirates
3:38:08
2
Peter Sagan
Bora - Hansgrohe
+00:00
3
Ethan Hayter
Molteni
+00:00
4
Jurgen Roelandts
Movistar
+00:00
5
Sep Vanmarcke
EF Education First
+00:00
Peter Sagan (Bora) takes his first win in Colombia, but Ethan Hayter is another time second placed: the Molteni's 20 years-old would really deserve a win. Hodeg keeps the jersey
Tour Colombia 2.1 enteres in his final, decisive couple of stages, preceded by a the last chance for pure sprinters in Medellín.
Fernando Gaviria, in the yellow jersey of points leader, pulls out his second week in the race ahead of Jurgen Roelandts (Movistar) and Peter Sagan (Bora).
4th stage: Medellín > Medellín
1
Fernando Gaviria
UAE - Emirates
3:22:50
2
Jurgen Roelandts
Movistar
+00:00
3
Peter Sagan
Bora - Hansgrohe
+00:00
4
Bob Jungels
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
5
Tom Van Asbroeck
Israel Cycling
+00:00
Only 10th place, this time, for Ethan Hayter, stuck in the middle of the bunch at the time to launch the sprint.
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) soloes to win and catch the leader jearsey
5th stage: La Unión > La Unión
1
Peter Sagan
Bora - Hansgrohe
4:49:34
2
Enrico Barbin
Bardiani - CSF
+00:00
3
Nairo Quintana
Movistar
+00:00
4
Esteban Cháves
Mitchelton - Scott
+00:00
5
Rafal Majka
Bora - Hansgrohe
+00:00
Only six riders survives to the Alto La Unión, and Sagan wins easily the sprint, almost by distance. The sixth of the group is Miguel Ángel López, former leader Hodeg loses 5:47. Molteni riders entered in the break, but finished far from the winner: 11:13 the gap of our supposed GC leader, Mekseb Debesay, who choose to not keep hard once he lost the wheels, in order to save energey for the last stage and try to enter in the break.
As we wait for the last and decisive stage of Tour Colombia, in the Old Europe Trofeo Laigueglia opens italian's season, meaning for Molteni the first big rendez-vous of the year. Confirmed the route of the last few years, with the short but steep climb of Colla Micheri to be repeated for four times in the final:
Very strong the field of contenders, with nine World Tour Teams and the likes of Richie Porte, Roman Kreuziger, Jasper Stuyven, Jens Debusschere, Fabio Aru, Domenico Pozzovivo, Giacomo Nizzolo, Giovanni Visconti, Enrico Battaglin, Diego Ulissi, Remco Evenepoel and last year winner Moreno Moser all at the start.
And this is our lineup for the race: Marco Tizza Jacopo Mosca Luca Chirico Simone Ponzi Simone Antonini Nicola Gaffurini Andriy Grivko
With Ponzi still far from his best shape, Marco Tizza is our real protected rider, not excluding Jacopo Mosca and the experienced Andriy Grivko.
And it was Andriy Grivko the only one to survive to Colla Micheri for us: here he is along with the other 19 riders who make up the head of the race at 5 km from the finishline and at the bottom of Capo Mele:
This is the full list of the riders still in contention for the victory: Jasper Stuyven, Richie Porte and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Enrico Gasparotto, Ben O'Connor and Roman Kreuziger (Dimension Data), Enrico Battaglin and Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin), Domenico Pozzovivo and Iván García Cortina (Bahrain-Merida), Diego Ulissi and Jan Polanc (UAE Emirates), Dries Devenyns and Petr Vakoc (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Giovanni Visconti (Neri-Selle Italia), Merhawi Kudus (Astana), Moreno Moser and Marco Canola (Nippo-Fantini-Faizané), Andriy Grivko (Molteni) and Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott), the south african national champion, who already attacked in the last two transits on Colla Micheri.
As it starts the short and fast cimb to Capo Mele, Domenico Pozzovivo launches the attack: Bahrain plays his first card, saving Cortina for the sprint.
Last kilometre: Pozzovivo is still in the lead, but the group catch up and is just Andriy Grivko to lead the chase.
The effort of the ukrainan was decisive to undermine Pozzovivo's try, but now neither Grivko can compete at the sprint and has to slip back while Daryl Impey, followed by Enrico Battaglin, Diego Ulissi Giovanni Visconti, opens full gas. On the other side, Iván García Cortina whit Jasper Stuyven and Jan Polanc behind him.
Iván Cortina drops back as Enrico Battaglin moves forward: is a head to head between the italian and Daryl Impey...
And it's Daryl Impey to win! Astonishing ride for the South African, two times at the attack on Colla Micheri and still able to win the race at the sprint. Battaglin and Cortina complete the podium.
For Andriy Grivko and Molteni a more than decent 10th place in the sight of some of the best riders in the peloton.
) let's continue our carreer with the Herald Sun Tour.
Brendan Canty
Jonathan Dibben
Maxime Farazijn
Peter Sagan
Zdenek Stybar
Adrien Petit
Gediminas Bagdonas
Gianluca Brambilla
Jonathan Castroviejo
Nico Denz
Vegard Stake Laengen
Ian Boswell
Michael Albasini
Ramon Sinkeldam
Maxim Belkov
Andriy Grivko
Ivan Ramiro Sosa
Vasil Kiryienka
Tanel Kangert
José Gonçalves
Israel Cycling Academy
UAE Team Emirates
Astana Pro Team
Bob Jungels
Kasper Asgreen
Ariel Maximiliano Richeze
Rafal Majka
Rafal Majka
