Standard Bank is a South African based amateur cycling team. In the upcoming time it will challenge 23 teams from all five continents in a race series around the world - called Mini ManGame. The main focus of the teams is in the southern part of Africa, a north African and even an Italian complete the team.
The Team
Aarbia
Adnane
Sprinter
Bakke
Jason
Puncheur
Bassingthwaite
Marc
Climber
Bitew Shiferaw
Solomon
Climber
Brown
Arran
Cobbler
Martinelli
Davide
Sprinter
Mesfin
Getachew
Puncheur
Monese
Phetetso
Climber
Obiang
Frederic
Climber
Wesemann
Martin
Puncheur
Climbing
The climbing core is the team's biggest strength. Following leader Solomon Bitew Shiferaw there are five more that can challenge the top in the mountains. Most notable Marc Bassingthwaite and Phetetso Monese. The biggest goal of the climbing part is to get a podium at the Tour d'Andorra. That is going to be hard as there are some better climbers around but with the right preparation everything is possible.
Sprinting
Leading the team in the flat is obviously Morrocian sprinting star Adnane Aarbia. His biggest help will be Italian sprinting talent Davide Martinelli, who joined the team from Ukrainian outfit Metinvest - Emirates to spend some days in the Amateur scene. Aarbia is hoping to get some TOP 5 finishes in bunch sprints.
Punching
In the HIll section also Solomon Bitew Shiferaw will be the leader, but along side him as a shared leader will be his fellow country man Getachew Mesfin. While the former will mainly show his skills on the hills in stage races Mesfin will target hilly one day races like the Trofeo Matteotti.
Cobbling
Only one cobbled race is on the calendar - the Tour of Rutland. South African Arran Brown will try to get a decent result here. His biggest handicap is his low stamina though. In case of an energy consuming race Mesfin would step up here and replace Brown as a leader.
Overall Standard Bank has cyclists with decent strengths in every terrain missing a top leading man though. In the mountains we expect with some good team efforts several good placings, for other terrains the team can only hope to get some good results.
Based in Italy, our super sprinting squad is ready to take the Mini Man Game of PCM Daily by storm.
The Squad
Leaders
Martin Schoffman
Martin Schoffman will be our GC leader. He isn't the top of his kind, but as a preseason pickup, he will be able to at least function for that role on a team not geared towards climbing.
Fabio Sabatini
Sabatini is our top sprinter. He is the best it comes in his class and can also make it over some hills, which will be very valuable. So he will be our guy to win numerous stages in the schedule.
Fabio Borghesi
Our other top sprinter shares the same first name as Sabatini, and also the same top speed. He gets demoted however for being weaker on hills. But he makes up for that in being a decent TTist and prologue specialist.
Dark Hourses
Elia Bigotto
He could be a leader on most teams, but for us, he is just a lead out man. This won't stop him from getting the team wins. Whether they are for himself or not, they help the team succeed.
Martin Haring
Martin is our lead mountain domestque/free element. He loves long drags as much s Schoffman, but lack the punch to contest himself. However, breakaways could be an option.
Pierpaulo Di Negri
Our last sprinter. He could be the lead out man for Sabatini on tougher stages if the other don't make it over, and is a legitimate threat as the final lead out man anyway.
Domestiques
Francesco Tizza
Tizza is a great mountain domestique. His role will be to get Schoffman and Haring into the final climb with maximum possible energy.
Andrea Moletta
Moletta is a pure domestique for most races, but has a lot of value. he can help some on the hillier races, and get into breaks. He is also decent enough in cobbles to go for the Tour of Rutland since we have no one else.
Lorenzo Bernucci
Another good domestque for our team. He will be mainly protecting our leaders and working in relays.
Michele Viola
Our last help. He isn't a great talent, but he is a hard worker, and every team does need a water boy.
Goals
*** Win 5 stages or classics overall, and get 10 podiums
** Finish on the GC podium in the Tour of Andorra
* Win a points classification
What is America's greatest cycling team I ask you? Is it Garmin? No. Is it BMC? No! Is it UnitedHealthcare? NO!!! What is it then? What is the greatest cycling team in America? Ladies, Gentlemen and not so gentle men, I present you:
That's right, 7-Eleven is back to conquer the world. We will conquer the sport of cyling just as we have conquered the international market of convenience stores. Consequences will never be the same. At the head of this operation is this man:
He's a business man. He's a visionair, he's a cold entrepreneur, but most importantly he's a cycling fanatic and he's not the black guy in the picture. His name is Joseph DePinto, CEO of 7-Eleven. He will lead this team to great success.
Team. Team, team team team team. Joseph even likes saying the word 'Team'. If our riders can't work as a team, they're all fired. Have you ever seen the picture Joseph has on his desk? It's not a picture of his family. It's the A-team. Bodie, Doyle, Tiger, the Jewellry Man, teamplayers each and every one of them!
To lead this team we present you, from left to right:
Will Frischkorn, Nate English, John Murphy and Brad Armstrong.
Frischkorn is the experience of the team. He's been a DS at Garmin, but when we offered him a new opportunity to ride himself, he couldn't resist. He'll lead the team over the cobbles. Nate is our beloved time-trialist. John will be sprinting us to success, and Brad is our very own Mountaineer. Together, they will crush the opposition, or be fired!
Joseph was invited to take part in this cycling season at the very last minute, so we needed to rush with the season planning, but everything is now set to race. From Joseph, the 7-Eleven company and the cycling team, thanks and see you in the races!
I like all those team presentations in this thread.
I hope this will continue over the Mini Man Game Season.
Personally I am excited what my two stagiares are able to show here, even though they are mainly helpers.
Arnaud Grand, riding for Rucanor might have better chances as outsider on the cobbles, while Alexander Edmondson (Node4) might show something out of a breakaway with a decent sprint in the end.
I am not that much into all the teams yet. But on a first look Miche looks dominant in the sprints, while still having a good all around team. Eventually the team to beat here.
roturn wrote:
I like all those team presentations in this thread.
I hope this will continue over the Mini Man Game Season.
Personally I am excited what my two stagiares are able to show here, even though they are mainly helpers.
Arnaud Grand, riding for Rucanor might have better chances as outsider on the cobbles, while Alexander Edmondson (Node4) might show something out of a breakaway with a decent sprint in the end.
I am not that much into all the teams yet. But on a first look Miche looks dominant in the sprints, while still having a good all around team. Eventually the team to beat here.
Well that's good to hear.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Rucanor is a Dutch brand, known for its sporting clothes. When the direction was looking for new publicity, they decided cycling was the solution. Now we are here with a small team, but with a proud sponsor.
Our riders
Stefan Cohnen - Climber -
Floris Goessinen - Fighter -
Leif Hoste - Classic Specialist -
Krisztian Lovassy - Sprinter -
Jens Mouris - Time Trialist -
Thomas Rabou - Climber -
Tom Stamsnijder - Fighter -
Wim Stroetinga - Sprinter -
Eddy van IJzendoorn - Sprinter -
We also have a stagiaire, who we loaned from Rothaus - Aegon
Arnaud Grand - Cobbler -
Team: Emilien-Benoît Bergès Paul Brousse Sandy Casar Anthony Colin David Deroo Daniel Klemme (co-owned with AMEX Pro Cycling) Martin Kohler Cyril Lemoine Guillaume Malle
Our team is a new project financed by the australian bank with most of the guys being aussies and three foreign riders who give the team some abilities we didn't have.
The Squad:
- Nathan Earle (25) - he is very solid on flat and hilly terrain, has good stamina and he is also fast. Could give us some points.
- Mark Jamieson (29) - Our second best sprinter is also a good time trialist and should be the perfect launcher to Brown.
- Cameron Wurf (30) - Not as fast as Jamieson but he is much better on hills. He can escape and go for the win or be an important member on the team train.
- Shaun Higgerson (28) - Our bet for time trials. He's not very consistent but can be a good attacker or a team member.
- Sid Taberlay (32) - He comes from mountain races and he is our best climber. Not good enough for overall races with time trials he can win stages when the road inclines.
- - William Clarke (28) - With no important characteristic he can be a good team member when a chase has to be done or he can escape himself if the chance comes.
- - Graeme Brown (34) - The most fast and experienced rider of the team is our leader on the sprint stages. The only problem is that if there is a bump he'll have troubles getting with the peloton.
- - Ethan Kimmince (20) - The teams benjamin will have some opportunities to show his talent, despite we're not expecting great things from him.
- - Yuriy Leontenko (27) - The ucranian came to strengthen the team on mountains and a complement to Taberlay. With this double we can be at the front when the road rises up.
- - Gebru Alemayhu (27) - This unknown african rider might surprise. He is the new rider on the team who can cross cobbles and who is also good on hills, being relatively fast.
We want our shirt on the television and we want to win some stages. A modest but balanced team.
Edited by kimiopn on 07-09-2013 00:42
So, the first ever Mini-ManGame season is underway, with the more-than-pan-flat course in the Copa America de Ciclismo having being raced.
The pre-season was fueled by heated 'discussions' over which sprinter teams were best. Miche and Node4 stood out, but in addition to them several other teams fueled the conversation with somewhat arrogant points of view. One team that was not part of one such discussion was Fuji. In fact, the only mention of their sprinters was in an interview with manager Cycleman123 in which he said that he hoped his sprinters could finish a few races in the top 5 and maybe even the top 3, possibly causing a surprise.
And a surprise is certainly what we got. Thanks to a class leadout by Badr Mohamed Banihammad, Aussie Adam Pierzga shocked the world by raising his arms as the Mini-ManGame's first victor.
The following is a transcript of an interview is Cycleman123:
So, Cycleman, this obviously comes as a surprise. How proud are you with the team?
Well I have to say I'm extremely shocked in a good way. We were definitely helped by the fact that Miche decided not to bother, but Banihammad was amazing in his leadout, and Adam put in a great sprint to just beat a number of other guys. Credit can't go away from Huang though. He did really well in the breakaway and at a point I thought it might hold. Obviously we still had to get on with the sprint preparations and we kind of disguised ourselves and it worked really well.
Dario Diaz didn't do anything today, are you disappointed?
Yes I am. He was meant to be the leadout man for Adam but didn't seem to bother. At least Badr Mohamed filled in well.
Does this make you confident for the rest of the season?
Not at all. Of course now I know that Adam can compete with the best and win, but now because of this win teams will rate us higher and we'll have trouble hiding around like we did today. Plus, it's the first race of the season, and riders aren't used to riding with their new teammates. Trust me, soon, the Miche lead-out train will actually exist and the better sprinters will fire. Then if we still win, I will be confident.
KazMunayGas is a brand new team from Kazakhstan, focussing on Asia and Eastern-Europe. They'll be one of the teams in the Mini-ManGame division this year.
KazMunayGas is an oil & gas company, owned by the state of Kazakhstan.
The Squad:
The Leaders
Abbas Saedi Tanha Our leader in most of the stage-races. He's able to climb very well, one of the best in the divisions. He's good in the hills as well, and decent on the Timetrial bike.
Ruslan Tleubayev Our leader in the sprints. He's able to go over hills just a little better than most other sprinters, which will be a big advantage, we hope. He gets full support as long as the road doesn't go up a lot.
Ivan Stevic Serbia's cycling hero, and hopefully our hero as well. He was a last-minute signing, and will lead the hilly races. Not only he's a specialist on the hills, he got a very strong sprint to finish it off as well. Ideal for the hilly stages that end up in a reduced sprint.
The Luxery Helpers/Free Roles
Viatcheslav Dyadichkin Climbs faster than you can spell his name. He's very weak on the hills for a climber though. He will be a great help for our leader, and is a very agressive rider. Might go for the win when Saedi Tanha can't follow, with a late attack.
Usta Behcet A good replacement and helper for Stevic on the hills, but a late attack suits him great as well. Can be a useful mountain domestique too.
Sergey Renev He will lead on the cobbles of Rutland, but will be an ordinary helper on the other stages
The Helpers
Saeid Safarzadeh A great domestique for in the mountains
Konstantin Volik The leadout of Tleubayev in most cases, at least in the flatter areas. Might give a few breakaways a shot as well
Aleksej Kolessov Will be part of the leadout train and a good helper on the cobbles. Hates hills, will be dropped on every doorstep.
Jakub Filip A big talent, he will turn 20 this year. LukOil gives him the chance to get some experience in our team, this year. He's an amazing downhillist and a good leadout. Unfortunately, he struggles with hills
Team Stats An overview of the weak and strong points of the team.
Team Goals
KazMunayGas gave us some ambitious goals. After all, they want some tv-time, that's the purpose of sponsoring a cycling team. Here are the goals:
*** 3 wins
** Tour of Andorra - GC Top 3 Giro di Padania - GC Top 5 Vuelta a Andaluca - Stage-Win
* Launceston to New Norfolk Classic - Top 3 Getting in a lot of breakaways Taking 4+ jerseys home
Martin Schoffman
Fabio Sabatini
Martin Haring
Daniel Klemme (co-owned with AMEX Pro Cycling)
Martin Kohler
Nathan Earle (25) - he is very solid on flat and hilly terrain, has good stamina and he is also fast. Could give us some points.
Sid Taberlay (32) - He comes from mountain races and he is our best climber. Not good enough for overall races with time trials he can win stages when the road inclines.
- Yuriy Leontenko (27) - The ucranian came to strengthen the team on mountains and a complement to Taberlay. With this double we can be at the front when the road rises up.
- Gebru Alemayhu (27) - This unknown african rider might surprise. He is the new rider on the team who can cross cobbles and who is also good on hills, being relatively fast.
