Only 4 race days for Glanbia this month but that worked as out as 2 races on 2 days.
Today’s pair is Ocean Road Classic and the Gisborne GP.
Our sprint team of Bennett/King line in for the Ocean Road while Haas leads in Gisborne.
At the Ocean Road some good work from new bot Eoin McCarthy as he makes the break of the day. He is hauled back but a surprise solo run takes the win leaving our sprinters fight for the places.
It is another very concerning day as Ben King come sin 18th and Bennett finishes 43rd. There will have to be questions over whether Bennett was better off on his own!
Could Glanbia salvage something from the month in the Gisborne GP?
Not a chance! Haas is dropped early from the group that is dropped when things get tough. His role as hilly classics guy will come under close scrutiny. Paddy Clarke in 63rd is actually Glanbia’s best finisher.
The rankings never lie and at the end of January Glanbia are dead last. This year even more than last a strong Time Trial season will be needed.
A bright day in Flanders sees the start of Glanbia’s (thankfully very short) Spring Classics.
Ben King gets in an early break but otherwise it is as expected.
Our best finisher is Eoin McCarthy in 44th. Let’s get outta here.
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Can the Glanbia boys pay a homage to Catalonia or will we thoroughly outclassed in another C1 race?
A quiet day 1 sees no breakaway action for Glanbia and all home safely in the peloton.
Things go uphill from here....day 2 is spiky.
99 riders finish together but unfortunately Craddock is not one of them...Tyler Brandt remains our hope now. It was a great surprise to see a Glanbia jersey one the podium...Apparently we are leading the Team GC with 16 other teams on the same time...I’ll take it!
Day 3 is a Team Time Trial. We have learned that we can’t compete with higher division teams but can do ok in these stages. And so it is 9th out of 18 losing 1’20. Hoped for a little better but not a disaster, close though.
Day 4, mountains. Can Brandt make an impact on the GC?
He manages a respectable 25th meaning 23rd in GC.
Day 5 is tough hills.
Turns out not to be a very competitive day and our back up Sprinter Ben King pop[os up with a surprise 5th place!
The final day appears to finish on a vertical wall so here’s hoping Tyler Brandt can hang on and even crack the top 20. He puts in a solid 22nd place on the day which moves him up to 18th place on the GC. A relative success. Craddocks’ 52nd place is disappoiting,
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Home, sweet home, An Rás!
The home crowd expectations are muted this year after the bad start to the difficult second season. The sponsors have been promised a win here though and all eyes are on Sam Bennett.
Perhaps it showed a lack of confidence in Bennett that Freddy Cruz tried to make the BOTD on day 1 and if did, it was justified. A disastrous finish saw Bennett take only 29th and Glanbia’s win goal for the season is out the window.
Maybe we can salvage some pride on the other days?
Both Felix English and Petrie-Armstrong make the six man BOTD. After yesterday it really does make sense to have a go.
It is a sprint in the end and not only does Bennett not compete he actually needs a massive team effort just to re-joining the peloton after being dropped. Manager MacC was “too sick” to attend the sponsors’’ dinner that evening.
Day 3 and only one more day of racing before the misery ends. Some good work from Cruz on the break today. Bennett continues to disappoint more and more each day this time being dropped by the peloton completely. Bonus seconds means Freddy Cruz is our best finisher in 19th place.
Bennett didn’t even score a single point over the 3 days.
Things can only get better, right?
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Points won at home or on the other side of the world have equal value so hopefully the team sent to New Zealand for the Tour of Southland can fare better than their teammates in Ireland.
Haas and Craddock are here for the hilly finishes.
Which means no sprinter for Day 1. A break with Michael Ford gets to 9km from the line which is satisfactory. No time lost.
Day 2:
Flat, flat, flat, big Hill.
Ford gets in the break again but it’s swallowed up 25k out today.
In the hilltop finish neither Haas nor Craddock can hold onto the top group, or the second or third.... both come home in the 4th group 48 seconds down.
Day 3 and we’re back on level ground.
Both Connolly and Clarke get in the break and each win a KOM which is a pity because if one of them had won both they would be clear leaders. Now they are tied for first with another rider but no polka dots for us.
GC day! says reporter but for Glanbia it’s hopefully grab a KOM jersey day although that means competing in the hilltop finish,
Haas, our leader I thought, goes for the early break meaning he’s caught and done for before the climb.
65th on GC for Craddock....but hey I bet the lad are doing well in the Rás, right?
The last day is probably one for the sprinters,
Connolly gets in the break, can he deliver the KOM? He takes the first climb leaving him only one point behind with one climb to go...can he do it?
For once, let’s enjoy this moment.............he can!
Well done William Connolly, 46th overall and a King in the Mountains (small hills)
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And finally, Laiguelia.
No drama for Glanbia but Haas brings in his first decent result finishing 13th
Edited by MacC on 26-03-2021 11:34
We head into March hoping Glanbia’s fortunes improve with the weather.
We’re off to climb a mountain in Canada for the Apex Classic.
Any result would be welcome but the best we can do is 31st with McConvey and 33rd for Brandt.
Later in the month and we’re hitting Eritrea.
Day 1:Nathan Haas is in the BOTD and wins some bonus seconds and KOM points. The peloton finishes together but his bonus points means he is second in the GC, nice!
Day 2 and another sprint finish. Van der Ploeg reps the team in the break today.
The sprinters are so fast today they actually have a time gap on the rest meaning Haas falls back out of top 10.
Day 3 : MOUNTAIN
Haas goes early and there are a lot of KOM points there for the taking. But he’s consistently pipped into 2nd place.
The Mountain top finishes sees Tyler Brandt get 19th but that’s in the same group as 5th place. He’s 12th overall.
Day 4:
A hilly one and maybe a breakaway shot. Glanbia certainly think so putting 5 (five) men into the break. It turns into a real GC day though and not a good one, Brandt falls back to 17th.
Day 5:
Flat. Coté gets into the break. It is a fast day and the sprinters take no chance. Too fast for Brandt who gets dropped and falls to 19th, could have been worse.
A final hilly Day 6, can Brandt stay in the top 20?
McConvey is in the break and it is going well..he even attacks on descent giving himself some space over the other escapees. Can Glanbia actually win something?
AND>>>>...he’s caught 1.5km from the finale...
Brandt has another lucky escape losing time but holding onto 19th place in the GC
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Uppsala, we’re here to Time Trial.
Prologue of 5km.
Some stiff competition but Seán Downey in his Irish TT outfit takes 9th place, something to build on.
Day 2 and we’re living a sprinter’s paradise.
We have Bennett here but true to (terrible) form he can only take 12th.
Day 3 and still pancake territory.
That’s more like it! A good sprint from Bennett and hes takes 4th on the day.
Day 4 , TT of 24km
Another strong day for Downey, 8th place = 8th in the GC. Craddock also moves into 17th place.
It all wraps up with one more sprinter’s day. Can Bennett break the top 3?
He disappoints but it was an unusual finish with a breakaway winning out despite not having a time gap. A very satisfactory 8th overall for Seán Downey.
Edited by MacC on 26-03-2021 13:32
Only 2 race days in April so a chance to get our heads back in the game and rethink our approach for rest of season
The Hungarian Betonexpress could mark a turning point in Sam Bennett’s season...
Glanbia worked hard to bring in the break but were powerless in the face of the strongest rouleurs. They took the glory but a good spring saw Bennett take 7th which was 3rd in the bunch. Not a bad day.
The Lincoln GP has all these weird bumpy stony parts on the road that Glanbia are not fond of but here goes nothing! GC man Tyler Brandt says “what the hell” and gets into a 15 man break. His reward is to be Glanbia’s top finisher in a cool 82nd place!
It has been a tough season for you. Most of the (team) time trials are in C1, and poor teams like ours simply can't compete with those big guns in the PCT I'm also under the impression that quite a lot (team) time trials have some hard uphill parts in them, which definitely isn't in favour of your time trialists. I hope your luck changes soon though, would love to see you take a win somewhere!
May sees a return to Glanbia’s greatest (and only ) race victory in their history- Windhoek.
The 2 leg ITT is a target for the team sponsors again this year. Will lightning strike twice or will the “dreaded difficult second season” continue?
Last year Freddy Cruz won overall after Michael Ford won the first stage. They’re both back this year although Ford is not the rider he was.
They prove to be Glanbia’s best riders on the first day but that’s not worth much when they are 16th and 17th with Seán Downey one place back in 18th. Can we at least storm to a top ten on Day 2?
Cruz does have a stronger day but still only 11th on Day 2. It is good for 14th overall. Downey just makes the top 20 but Ford slipped back to 22nd.
A major disappointment for Glanbia. Having dominated this race last year we are only also-rans this year. Ford has declined but Cruz is the same man he was last year.
Next up is Faso.....
A brutal cobblestone finish rules Glanbia out of contention already on day 1.
The boys are active in the early breaks but who are we kidding?
Connolly comes home in 76th!
Stage 2 is flat but no cobbles. It’s all in for the break away!
We miss the BOTD so Glanbia work like hell to reel it back in so English can jump across to the escapees. We’ve seen Glanbia pull this trick of before with success! Not today as the escapees are caught 13km short.
On the last day the profile is more grey than it is yellow. Let’s just hope nobody gets hut here guys...
There are about 40 escapees including exactly zero Glanbia riders.
Maybe it’s for the best as we were among the few teams to have more than half our team finish the race! I’ll take it!
It’s Trentino time and Day 1 reminds me why we are here - a TTT.
C2 race, flat as a pancake, do Glanbia have a chance?
Pfft, no! We take 6th though losing just over a minute.
To be fair it was only half my TTT team and day 2 reminds me why. Mountains, lots of them. Can Brandt build on our decent day 1?
He puts in a very respectable day and is now 10th in GC.
There is one more load of mountains to go...
It’s a comfortable victory for the breakaway but no news is good news and Tyler Brandt finishes 9th. In the year of Glanbia that’s a good half-week’s work in Italy.
Last race of the month is Olympia’s Tour.
It is Time Trial heavy but we know that in C1 races Glanbia are just not cutting it in TTs.
We’ll do our best though and today that means 13th for Ford...18th for Sebright.
Van de Ploeg makes the unsuccessful break on day 2.
Day 3 sees no interest in the break or sprint. Ford and Sebright are holding steady.
Day 4 is a TTT. A good ride from the boys sees take them fifth place. It was a short stage so the gaps are limited but it means 14th, 16th and 18th overall for Ford, Sebright and Downey.
Some sprinters sprinted on Day 5 but my three in top 20 don’t lose any time.
Had enough Time Trials? No, me neither. Bring it on Day 6.
With only the top 10 to go Seán Downey is leading...he falls to 4th but a great effort.
He climbs to 13th overall with Ford 18th and Sebright 19th. Finally some limited success against the clock.
We’re into the northern Summer. it’s June in Vancouver and Glanbia are looking to start building up some better results.
The Tour starts with a Time Trial (smiley face0 but it is a Mountain (sad face)
Tyler Brandt comes in in 38th place already a minute behind ion the GC after 6km.
Day 2 was chaos but splits and huge break aways with Cruz and Downey being active. It all sort of acme back together and no time was lost by the leading Glanbia men.
A far more civilised Day 3 saw a break with no Green and a sprint also with no Glanbia interest.
Day 4 is Mountainous. can Brandt climb up the mountain and rankings?
McConvey got in the break which held on until the final climb.
Brandt holds on well finishing 12th moving up to 15th overall.
Day 5 is a nothing day on the flat. Always disappointing not to make the break though.
Day 6 is severe Mountain. Craddock and McConvey jump out into a break.
There are lots of KOM points on offer and Craddock and McConvey are sweeping them up taking 1-2s over the peaks. The break has a chance even after two break from it, Craddock and McConvey and pulling them back.
They catch them but unfortunately the elite Climbers pass the break but it holds on to bring Craddock home in 6th and McConvey in 11th...
Brandt brings home the next GC group in 13th. A good day in Canada but it still means only 13th for Brandt overall.
It also looks to me like McConvey would have taken the Polka Dots were it not for Craddock taking the maximum points on two climbs!
A Team Time Trial to finish. A strong performance could see Brandt break onto the top 10.
It is a strong 3rd place for the team but agonisingly Brandt misses out on the top 10 by 7 seconds.... tough but an enjoyable and competitive race for Glanbia.
Denmark, a flat country so maybe we are in with a chance if we can get our Time Trials right.
The first day is for the sprinters and Glanbia put in a lot of work to catch the break to give Bennett a chance. He even, get this , has a lead-out man in Van der Ploeg . All for nought though as he fades fast and can only come tenth. Sprinting will have to be thought about for Glanbia next year.
(Seriously, anybody have any views? Does he have a particular weakness that is preventing him from competing, is it a lack of suitable team-mates, is he just not very good?)
Day 2
A longish day with a couple of KOM sprints but should be a mass sprint. Maybe it is because Bennett is here but Glanbia seem uninterested in joining the breaks.
Again, encouragingly, Van der Ploeg acts as a lead-out man for the final sprint. Problem is he’s not very good at it and Bennett fades again to 7th.
Day 3:
A Puncheurs’ day means we are here tom limit losses before the Time Trial.
With 15km to go, Downey and Cruz are here in the front group of 40. That would be an excellent result. some Punchers punched out a minute over this group but it’s still a positive day where Downey and Cruz could have had but didn’t lose much time.
Day 4 is another chance for Bennett. Again, a lot of work from Glanbia to give Bennett a chance. A chance he doesn’t take falling back to 26th today but out of nowhere Alex Frame pops up with a 7th place, possibly the first time these reports have ever mentioned him.
And on to the decisive Time Trial. Downey and Cruz are nicely positioned to land a solid GC place. 35km should allow for decent gains.
Sebright lost a lot of time in earlier stages but is blinding fast today and sets the early mark.
Downey is slower than Sebright but takes the virtual Yellow Jersey, could be a good day...Cruz is even faster than Downey.
When the dust settles on the stage Sebright was 5th, Cruz 10th, Downey 16th. In GC that translates as 6th for Cruz and 10th for Downey. Well done boys, and 2nd in the team GC.
From Denmark to South Africa and a step up in quality to C1. As the reporter neatly put it Glanbia are here for the TTT.
And it shows on Day 1 with Ford and Frame being the first riders dropped on moderate hills. However we do Haas here and he puts in a good first day staying in the first group and finishing 9th. Maybe he can stay close to the leaders and our TT can push him into a decent GC finish?
Another Hilly day, can Glanbia get in a break or is it all about protecting Haas? Haas, apparently as nobody joins the BOTD. To be fair 3 of them have already been dropped!
Haas does the necessary finishing in the s.t. as leaders in a group of 20. He’s 14th overall, same as his stage result.
Day 3, more hills. same plan I take it.
Nope! Sebright ,who usually gest dropped on speed bumps, decides his day to attack.
At 50km he and his 5 buddies have 2 minutes or so on the group just as Ford is dropped again. Sebright and co. are still ahead with 10km to go but there’s a steep road ahead. Too steep for the break who are caught but a good showing by Sebright.
Haas shows real form finishing 5th in a very large group. He goes up to 12th overall.
Its’ TTT day, can Ford and co bring Haas up a couple of spots in the GC? There is a hill which might be an impediment but we’ll give it our best.
That hill is in the first split which hopefully means Glanbia can improve on their 15th position! Up to 13th at second split. 12th at third split, this won’t do Haas any favours. In fact, it means 18th overall, he has a right to be disappointed in his teammates today.
Day 5 is 14 hills or rather the same hill 14 times. Let’s hope Haas can start sneaking back up towards the top 10. Clarke and Van der Ploeg go for the break today.
At the top end the break is down to 5 including Clarke while at the other end Haas has been dropped. A Stage Win would trump GC if we had a choice. Alas, Clarke is dropped by three leader soon after. They are all caught and it’s a chaotic finish. Haas is only 33rd while 3 (three) Glanbia riders are outside the time limit. A disastrous day. Haas is 21st overall.
The last day brings more hills and why not a breakaway win!
Richardson and Clarke agree and join the BOTD. And it looks good.
Clarke attacks in last 2km of the final hill but it’s the worst thing he could have done. The strongest rider in the break goes on to take the stage while Clarke gets swallowed up. Haas disintegrates again falling back to 26h in GC.
A tough race with no real rewards. Nice to see Haas competitive in early stages. Looks like he gave up a bit after the TTT and half his team were disqualified.
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June ends in Monterrey. I know what you’re thinking - Team Time Trial, maybe a good shot at a result but let’s face it Glanbia have to learn their limitations.
In a C1 race on a fairly hilly course we can’t expect much ? Right?
Yes, that is right, 11th out of 14. Time for management to re-look at what are good uses of our TTT ability.
July is a Time Trial heavy month so Glanbia are hoping things can really pick up.
We start in San Luis with a Prologue where good performances from Sebright and Downey yield 4th and 8th place.
With no Bennett here we are hoping for some breakaway fun but none to be had on Day 2.
Day 3, a holly finish. If Craddock (or Haas) are to be competitive they shouldn’t lose today.
They perform solidly, Craddock now 6th overall and Hass 18th.
Day 4 is hilly again but a flat finish might make it easier to hang on.
Again, Glanbia showed no interest in the break which was a pity as it made it all the way. No time lost for Craddock or Haas.
Day 5 is an ITT. Cruz, Downey and Sebright can go for it while Craddock can hopefully solidify his GC place.
Boom! Cruz wins the Stage by 1 second, another rare victory for Glanbia. Also Craddock’s 11th place leave shim in 2nd in the GC. This could be a good race.
Day 6 is hilly...Craddock can hold on in hills all day (we hope), long climbs are his weakness. Today is hilly so he comfortably sprints to 6th out of large group retaining 2nd place. Haas now in 17th,
Day 7 more hills, tomorrow is flat so if Craddock can hold on here we’re looking at podium.
Alas, Craddock cracks on the last hill of the Tour and slips to 8th overall. A real disappointment.
It finishes with a sprint on Day 8 after Cruz tried his luck in the BOTD. So a credibel 8th for Craddock and 16th for Haas, and, oh yeah, a stag win.
More Time Trials please. OK say the Celtic Chrono. We are claiming the Isle of Man as a Celtic country so this is a home race.
It’s a tough one though with most of the competition from a division above. Nevertheless, Downey, Sebright and Ford are here to protect Glanbia’s rep against the clock.
On day 1 , Downey is our fastest coming in in 17th, Ford 24th and Sebright 26th.
Day 2 and Downey is our slowest while Ford and Sebright do better. What does it all add up to? Not a hell of a lot, Ford is 19th, Sebright 21st and Downey 23rd. We didn’t shame ourselves but a long way off the top riders.
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You may have noticed Freddy Cruz didn’t make it to the Chrono, why? Because he’s in Malaysia for the Prologue of Langkawi.
Was that a master stroke? Let’s see....
He finishes 5th, decent but we were hoping to snatch a victory.
We know Langkawi means mountains but before we get there there are chances for the sprinters. Bennett is here, can he deliver on the flat Stage 2. Cruz has other ideas and tries for the Break, he’s easily caught though. Bennett sprints to 6th.
Day 3 and well I did mention mountains... for the flat build up van der Ploeg got in the break but it’s all about the finishing climb. Our GC hope Brandt limps home in 18th which means 13th overall.
Day 4 should have been for the sprinters but the break with no Glanbia interest made it.
Day 5 and more mountains. Can Brandt do enough to get into top 10?
Paddy Clarke had a good day in the break but Brandt suffered falling back to 19th in GC.
Day 6 is flat and Cruz very nearly makes it to the end through a break. Bennett has a good sprint finishing 3rd.
One more flat day to finish.
Bennett found himself at the front of a train and could only manage 10th on the day. Brandt 19th in GC, could have been better.
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More Time Trials but this time at C2 level?
Let me introduce the Vilnius GP
It’s a single day Team Time Trial that Glanbia just lost out on last year. Can we go one better and win this year?
Only 6th at first checkpoint....
A string finish moves u sup to 3rd but that’s still a bit crap. On the of the teams that beat us had only 6 riders.
Regression not progression sadly.
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Finally, we are off to USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Bennett has great success here last year until the final short TT.
It’s a very long day. Petrie Armstrong got in the break, which was swallowed up 3km out. Bennett failed miserably to assert himself finishing 62nd.
Day 2 is flat again and not as long, will that help Bennett?
Yep, Glanbia even give him a lead out. He finishes 3rd.
Day 3 , can Bennett get better? It’s more or less flat.
He does ok but only 6th. Tomorrow is a Time Trail where all his bonus seconds will be blown away by his terrible time trialling.
It’s only 5km but he loses over a minute. Ian Richardson (who?) pops up for an 8th place which is 13th overall. This was a big target for Bennett and only one 3rd place isn’t what Glanbia were looking for.
August brought only a single race for Glanbia, the Tour de Vineyards.
We start with a prologue (Glanbia’s ears prick up).
Downey loses out on split seconds...but wait the final countback sees Downey awarded the stage and Yellow Jersey! Solid day too for Craddock who is our GC hope.
Day 2, pan-flat so let’s hope Downey is still in yellow tomorrow. We’ve no sprinter but the sprinter’s teams do their job and Downey stays top, Craddock 5th.
Day 3, a big Mountain. Downey will lose out but can Craddock stay with the big GC men?
It’s not great with Craddock losing 2 minutes falling back to 17th. Downey is awarded the green jersey settling a 3 way tie.
Back to the flat for Day 4, maybe a Glanbia boy will go for the break? Disappointingly, No, it ends in a sprint with Craddock safe in the bunch. Downey loses Green.
Day 5. Cote gets into the break but it is a sprinters’ day. No change for Craddock.
Day 6, a hilly circuit. It’s a tough circuit and Craddock falls into the secondary group, boo! Haas however is in the first group. And with 5km to go he attacks and..brings it home, stage winner! A pleasant surprise from Haas who has underwhelmed all year. Craddock actually recovered slightly and moves up to 12th in GC.
Which is good as the last stage is a TT, can Craddock crack top 10? Can Downey repeat his TT victory? It’s a TTT so I’m hoping for a decent show even if a lot of our TT big guns are not here.
We can only manage 7th and Craddock falls to 13th. Two stage wins however makes this a good race for Glanbia.
So, in summary zero goals met out of 5, with the absolute disaster of out home race at the Rás really causing problems with our sponsor
Really tough to see others promoted while Glanbia disappoint. Last year's final standing would have seen us promoted this year.
However a bit of perspective is needed as we simply didn't perform and didn't have the riders. More worryingly, many of our top guns are in decline and our young talents are neither very young nor very talented.
There will be definitely some deadwood shifted.
Our loyal sponsor subjected manger MacC to quite the "hairdryer treatment" but ultimately they are signed up for another year. The team's ficus on an Irish team with North American and Oceanian links will remain the same, as will the focus on Time Trials.
In terms of development Felix English and Alex Frame are the most noticeable breakthroughs. English as a flat expert and Frame as a Prologue hope. Both are now in need of a loan to max out although at their age Glanbia might be better off just using them at the current level
I'm also under the impression that quite a lot (team) time trials have some hard uphill parts in them, which definitely isn't in favour of your time trialists. I hope your luck changes soon though, would love to see you take a win somewhere!
