The season started perfectly, with winning a stage and the GC of the Tour Down Under by our new signing Matti Breschel. Niki Terpstra did also great with winning the KOTM-ranking. In the last days of the montyh, Marc De Maar took a good 4t in the Giro della Calabria.
Unfortunately, there was one very negative thing: the crash and serious injury that Jack Bobridge suffered. He's in Australia right now, working to come back better than ever!
Media awards Matti Breschel gets awarded as best rider of the month, and there's no question about it!
Rankings
World Tour riders
The top 3 in the TDU is the same as the top 3 here, so Breschel leading Farrar and Rojas.
World Tour teams
And of course, Monster Energy - Subway leads the World Tour teams ranking, followed by Omega Pharma - Quick Step and Garmin - Barracuda.
Continental Tour riders
With 2 stage wins and the GC in Malaysia, Sylvester Szmyd takes the lead in the Continental rankings. Surprisingly second is Differdange's Byron Guama out of Ecuador, who finished 2nd in Malaysia. Tom Leezer takes the 3rd place, after 2 stage wins.
Continental Tour teams
Stage wins by Veelers and Leezer bring M&M's the lead in the CT teams, followed by Liquigas and Saur - Sojasun.
Cycling Quotient riders Matti Breschel is in the lead here and Sylvster Szmyd squeezes in between him and Tyler Farrar.
Cycling Quotient teams Monster Energy - Subway in the lead. Liquigas - Cannondale has taken the first step to promote again, with Omega Pharma - Quick Step in 3rd.
Wins riders
Sylvester Szmyd is the only rider with 3 wins, followed by 7 riders with 2 wins.
Wins teams
Qantas, Liquigas and M&M's all have 4 wins so far this season.
So leading the World Tour and CQ rankings in both riders, as teams... You all know what that means!!!
February is a strange month, with no World Tour races and even only 1 .HC race. So the month is meant to get in shape. And as you can see, we are a bit Spain-orientated this season, as we want to ride new races.
Monthly goals:
- Our most important goal is the cobbles-weekend with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne. Our cobbles-squad will ride the Tour of Oman, and some others also the Vuelta a Mallorca. The main goal will be a top 3 in OHN and KBK.
- The riders that will race Paris - Nice or Tirreno - Adriatico in March, will start in the Vuelta a Mallorca, Tour Méditerranéen and the Vuelta a Andalucía. We'll aim for stage wins and Top 5's in the GC there.
The same group of riders that raced the Giro della Calabria, will start in the Cran Premio Costa degli Etruschi. The race starts very hilly, but the last part is flat, so a mass sprint is expected. Last year, Antonio D'Aniello surprised the sprinter with a solo attack.
The favourites *** Tyler Farrar (Omega Pharma), Theo Bos, Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini). ** Sacha Modolo (Team Type 1), Fabio Felline (Nespresso), Borut Bozic (Liquigas). * Jacopo Guarnieri (Pisanellastoria), Assan Bazayev (Astana), Davide Vigano (Colnago).
Our goal
With Farrar and a lot of fast Italian sprinters present, and we without a sprint train, we'll aim for a top 5.
The race
The race was coloured by a 10-man BOTD, including Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) and Danielle Ratto (Nespresso) as the most known names. They had a maximum gap of 5 minutes, but had no chance against the peloton.
In horrible weather (lots of rain, and pretty hard wind of 48km/h), the peloton caught the BOTD with 10km to go. Theo Bos was already in the wheel of Tyler Farrar, but then Farrar started to fall back in the peloton, and suddenly with 5km to go, he started to rush forward again. As a result, Bos got blocked many times by riders that didn't want to participate in the sprint, and lost contact.
Up front, Team Onfone's Michael Reihs launched a punch with 4km to go, and created a gap of 20 seconds. And without strong sprint trains chasing him, the Dane managed to bring it home and took the win!
Sacha Modolo finished in 2nd, Farrar with his strange tactic in 3rd. And Bos? 26th.....
Results
1
Michael Reihs
Onfone
4h50'15
2
Sacha Modolo
Team Type 1
s.t.
3
Tyler Farrar
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
4
Daniele Callegarin
Team Type 1
s.t.
5
Assan Bazayev
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
6
Henry Frusto
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
s.t.
7
Fabio Felline
Nespresso - Algarve
s.t.
8
Giorgio Brambilla
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
9
Marc Hester
Onfone
s.t.
10
Borut Božic
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
...
26
Theo Bos
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
Today's winner
Word from the DS
When you don't take things in your own hands with a sprint train, you got to be lucky. But what the heck was Farrar thinking, letting him fall back that much? He just threw away his shot at the win... Let us learn from this one...
The first race in Spain is the Vuelta a Mallorca, a 5-stage race at the isle of Mallorca. The stages are rather short, but feature a lot of climbing kilometres. Last year, Igor Antón started a great season with the win in Mallorca.
The favourites *** Igor Antón (Euskaltel), Nicholas Roche (AG2R), Ezequiel Mosquera (Caja Rural). **Wilco Kelderman, Cayetano Sarmiento (Acqua et Sapone), Xavier Florencio (Nespresso). * Jure Kocjan (Team Type 1), Daniel Navarro (Saxo Bank), Sergio Henao (Barbot).
Our goal
Top 5 in the GC.
Stage 1
The first stage is the most flat one. At a circuit in Palma, with the higehst point at 33 metres above sea level, this one will be for the sprinter.
A few breakaways were formed this stage, but no group could create a margin of over 2 minutes. It turned out to be a mass sprint. We tried to set up a train, but with all riders with fitness around 70, we knew we stood no chance. Pim Ligthart finished in 12th place, with also young Jens Mulder in 18th.
The win was for Sacha Modolo (Team Type 1), beating Koldo Fernández (Euskaltel) with a bike length.
I made a mistake when I wanted to post this report, and all disappeared, so just a short version.
Stage 2
The 2nd stage to Cala Millor ended in a mass sprint, with Michael Matthews being the fastest. Pim Ligthart improved 2 places and finished in 10th.
1
Michael Matthews
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
3h59'28
2
Sacha Modolo
Team Type 1
s.t.
3
Koldo Fernández
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
4
Jacopo Guarnieri
Pisanellastoria - Guerciotti
s.t.
5
Danilo Napolitano
Acqua & Sapone
s.t.
6
Daryl Impey
Team Type 1
s.t.
7
Jure Kocjan
Team Type 1
s.t.
8
Alex Rasmussen
Nespresso - Algarve
s.t.
9
Javier Benítez
Andalucía Caja Granada
s.t.
10
Pim Ligthart
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
Stage 3
The first of 3 hilly stages, with the Coll de Puig Major in it, ended in a sprint of 10. Igor Antón won it, scoring his first season win. Wilco Kelderman was on the wrong wheel and got boxed in terribly and finished in 9th, 1 place before Thomas Dekker. Antón leeds the GC with our boys in 3rd and 4th.
1
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
3h46'50
2
Brice Feillu
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
3
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
4
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
5
Danilo Di Luca
Acqua & Sapone
s.t.
6
Daniel Navarro
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
7
Jarlinson Pantano
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
s.t.
8
Luis Pasamontes
Andalucía Caja Granada
s.t.
9
Wilco Kelderman
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
10
Thomas Dekker
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
Word from the DS
2 stages with top 10 finishes, but some good positioning in the GC. Not bad....
I'm not at home, so I believe it's Anton, with Niemiec at '13 and a group of 7 including Dekker and Kelderman at '20 (with Dekker in 3rd and Kelderman in 4th)....
Stage 4 leads the peloton over the Coll de Puig major again. A group of 15 riders, including all riders of the GC Top 10, round the summit. There are still 24km to go, including a long descend and short climb towards Bunyola. Wilco Kelderman is the first of the summit, which means he becomes the new leader in the KOTM-rankings.
Attacks in the short final climb cause a split in the first group and Igor Antón and John Gadret battle it out for the win. Antón wins the sprint and takes his 2nd win in a row. 20 seconds behind finishes a group with Di Luca, Niemiec, Kelderman (5th) and Dekker (6th).
1
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
3h38'41
2
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
3
Danilo Di Luca
Acqua & Sapone
+ 20
4
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
5
Wilco Kelderman
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
6
Thomas Dekker
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
7
Luis Pasamontes
Andalucía Caja Granada
s.t.
8
Daniel Navarro
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
9
Jarlinson Pantano
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
s.t.
10
Marc De Maar
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 1'05
Stage 5
The last stage from Magalluf to Palmanova is very hilly and tough, with 3000 height metres. The domestiques of GC-leader Antón set a high pace in the climbs, that thins out the leading group. Only 20 riders arrive at the summit of the last climb of the day, with Antón and Gadret trying to attack, but without succes.
With Marc De Maar in a good form, he forms a lead out for Wilco Kelderman in the sprint. The last 2 kilometres are a bit uphill (2-3%), so Kelderman doesn't want to start his sprint too early. But as a resut, he gets boxed in a bit by John Gadret and Przemyslaw Niemiec, and can't fight for the win and has to settle with 3rd. Gadret wins the stage, Antón (7th) wins the GC, just as last year.
1
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
4h42'14
2
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
3
Wilco Kelderman
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
4
Jarlinson Pantano
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
s.t.
5
Nicolas Roche
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
6
Marc De Maar
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
7
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
8
Brice Feillu
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
9
Omar Fraile
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
10
Hubert Dupont
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
GC
1
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
18h37'17
2
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 8
3
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Saur - Sojasun
+ 40
4
Wilco Kelderman
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 52
5
Danilo Di Luca
Acqua & Sapone
s.t.
6
Jarlinson Pantano
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
+ 1'00
7
Luis Pasamontes
Andalucía Caja Granada
s.t.
8
Daniel Navarro
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
9
Thomas Dekker
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 2'45
10
Marc De Maar
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 4'04
Points
1
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
9
59
2
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
25
59
3
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Saur - Sojasun
20
50
4
Sacha Modolo
Team Type 1
0
45
5
Michael Matthews
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
0
41
KOTM
1
Wilco Kelderman
Monster Energy - Subway
8
38
2
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
4
28
3
Pello Bilbao
Orbea Continental
28
28
4
Adrián Palomares
Andalucía Caja Granada
20
20
5
José Antonio De Segovia
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y León
20
20
Overall winner
Word from the DS
We can look back at a good Vuelta a Mallorca, with a 3rd place in a stage and 4th in the GC for Wilco Kelderman. He also won the KOTM and U25-ranking. We won the teams ranking as well, so a great result!
@ Avin & sutty: yeah, he's doing great. His goal is the Tirreno (or Paris - Nice, can't remember right now ), to get a good spot there. He's a future GT-star, but his stamina and recovery need to improve
For the first time in the 3-year existence of the team, we take part in the Tour Méditerranéen. As we won't ride in Qatar this year, the South of France, including 2 flat stages and 3 hilly ones including the final ascend of the Mont Faron, should bring the riders in a better shape for Paris - Nice and Tirreno - Adriatico.
Last year, Philippe Gilbert used the Tour Méditerranéen to show up in Paris - Nice in a great shape, and took the win, beating his team mate Chris Horner.
The favourites *** Alejandro Valverde (Colnago), Maxime Monfort (Lotto), Thomas De Gendt. ** Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank), Vasily Karpets (Saxo), Jonathan Hivert (Saur). * Biel Kadri (AG2R), Remy Di Gregorio (Bretagne), David Moncoutié (Cofidis).
Our goal
A stage win and the GC-top 5.
Stage 1
The first stage of the Tour Méditerranéen is only 115 kilometres long and is between Maubec-Coustellet to Pertois. The last few kiometres are slightly uphill.
7 riders form the BOTD, and as more often in such a short stage, the peloton miscalculates and the 7 sprint for the stage win and the leader's jersey. Jean-Marc Marino (Roubaix Lille Métropole) wins the stage, beating Geert Steurs (Wallonie), who started his sprint too early and lost too much speed in the last hundred metres, The third place goes to Eddy Ratti (Colnago).
The peloton finishes at 1'08, with Thomas De Gendt winning the difficult uphill sprint for the 8th place.
Results & GC
1
Jean-Marc Marino
Roubaix Lille Métropole
3h03'42
2
Geert Steurs
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
3
Eddy Ratti
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
4
Mathieu Delaroziere
TEAM MX3 Nutrition
s.t.
5
Nicolas Vogondy
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
6
Mads Christensen
Saxo Bank SunGard
+ 28
7
Adrian Hegyvari
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
+ 48
8
Thomas De Gendt
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 1'08
9
Jonathan Castroviejo
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
10
Danail Petrov
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
Today's winner
Word from the DS
Decent start. We didn't want to work in the chase, so are content with the 8th place, although we think we would have a great chance to win the stage...
The 2nd stage is the first of the 2 flat stages. An early breakaway, with Joeri Stallaart (Landbouwkrediet) taking the most KOTM-points, got caught with 10km to go. Our sprint train got derailed early in the stage, when final lead out Coen Vermeltfoort crashed and gpt too injured to be part in the train. Nevertheless, we still tried to form a train, but had no chance with Marcel Kittel being without a lead out man too early and finished in 8th. Heinrich Haussler was about to win the stage, but surprisingly got passed by Caja Rural's Diego Milán in the uphill sprint.
1
Diego Milán
Caja Rural
2h45'11
2
Heinrich Haussler
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Jimmy Casper
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
4
Jonathan Hivert
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
5
Maxime Monfort
Lotto - Belisol
s.t.
6
Guillaume Blot
FDJ
s.t.
7
Nikolas Maes
Lotto - Belisol
s.t.
8
Marcel Kittel
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
9
Gene Michael Bates
Lotto - Belisol
s.t.
10
Jonathan Castroviejo
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
The winner
Stage 3
Another fairly flat stage, from Carnoux-en-Provence to La Farlede over 127 kilometres. Today, we decided to have a different tactics, mostly thanks to the bruised Vermeltfoort. Marcel Kittel has chosen the wheel of Heinrich Haussler and is in a perfect position with 1km to go, when Haussler is in th elead. But where the Aussie can keep on accelerating, Kittel stalls a bit (daily form -1) and has to settle with the 2nd place, behind an extremely strong Haussler. Jean-Marc Marino has no problems in staying in yellow.
Results
1
Heinrich Haussler
Rabobank Cycling Team
3h05'29
2
Marcel Kittel
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
3
Diego Milán
Caja Rural
s.t.
4
Guillaume Blot
FDJ
s.t.
5
Jonathan Hivert
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
6
Gene Michael Bates
Lotto - Belisol
s.t.
7
Maurizio Biondo
Pisanellastoria - Guerciotti
s.t.
8
Benny De Schrooder
Accent.Jobs - Veranda's Willems
s.t.
9
Jimmy Casper
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
10
Saïd Haddou
Team Europcar
s.t.
The winner
GC
1
Jean-Marc Marino
Roubaix Lille Métropole
8h54'02
2
Geert Steurs
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
+ 8
3
Eddy Ratti
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 12
4
Mathieu Delaroziere
TEAM MX3 Nutrition
+ 20
5
Nicolas Vogondy
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
6
Mads Christensen
Saxo Bank SunGard
+ 48
7
Heinrich Haussler
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 56
8
Diego Milán
Caja Rural
+ 1'00
9
Marcel Kittel
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 1'16
10
Jimmy Casper
Saur - Sojasun
+ 1'20
Word from the DS
Stage 2 with the 8th place was disappointing, but today was a good stage, with Kittel getting a 2nd this early in the season with a bad fitness and daily form.
Nice work from Reihs, winning over Farrar and co.!
), to get a good spot there. He's a future GT-star, but his stamina and recovery need to improve
