All: Thanks for the support. Very happy that Kjell could remain in the champions jersey. It got very close with Veikkanen winning Tour of Beijing (30-40 pts)
The cobble season was dominated by Belgian Tom Boonen, who not only won three of the four cobble classics, but now also holds the record for most victories in Harelbeke, Gent – Wevelgem (shared) and Paris – Roubaix (shared).
In the Ardennes classics no rider took more than one victory, and only Cunego more than one podium (though no win).
The Giro d’Italia turned into a huge disappointment for Igor Antón, who won three stages and wore the pink jersey for 13 days, only to lose it to Scarponi on the last time trial.
In the Tour de France Andy Schleck won his second victory after some great riding winning three stages. Cadel Evans got his second GT-third of the season.
Alberto Contador made his comeback as late as Clásica San Sebastian, but the short season didn’t stop him making it a great one winning both the Vuelta a España and Il Lombardia.
Most of the season the American teams held the world tour lead, but In the end the amazing season finish by Philippe Gilbert got BMC the win
Velo d’Or Nominations
Tom Boonen: Paris – Roubaix, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen – recordholder in all three. Belgian Champion, several other podiums and victories
Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank In:
Pavel Brutt, Katusha
Rein Taaramäe, Cofidis Out:
Christopher Juul-Jensen, Falcon - STARK
Sergio Paulinho, RusVelo
Daniel Navaro, Euskaltel – Euskadi
Juan Jose Haedo, Bank BGZ
David Tanner,
Jaroslaw Marycz,
Takashi Miyazawa
Blue Water Cycling In:
Jesper Mørkøv, Falcon – STARK Out:
Thomas Nybo Riis, Falcon - STARK
Cristian Jersild Jensen
Frederik Thalund
Jacob Nielsen
Christina Watches – Onfone In:
Beñat Intxausti, Movistar
A.M. Richeze, Nippo Out:
Daniel Foder, Glud & Marstrand – LRØ
Stefan Schumacher, Argos - Shimano
Kenneth Hansen
Martin Lind
Glud & Marstrand – LRØ In:
M. Kohler, BMC
Kristjan Koren, Liquigas – Cannondale
Danail Petrov, Caja Rural
Daniel Foder, Christina Watches - Onfone Out:
Jesper Hansen, Falcon – STARK
Lasse Bøchman, Falcon – STARK
Rasmus Sterebo,
Joker Merida In:
R. Sinkeldam, Argos – Shimano
M. De Maar, UnitedHealthcare
R. Valls, Vacansoleil Out:
A. Flotten
A. Gjølberg
C. Jensen
M. Lohne
R. Borgersen
S. E. Vold
S. Sörtveit
Concordia Forsikring – Himmerland In:
M. Rubiano, Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela Out:
Magnus Cort, Falcon – STARK
Casper von Volsach,
Lars Andersson
Øster Hus – Ridley In:
IT G. Brambilla, Leopard – Trek Continental
CA G. Boivin, SpiderTech powered by C10 Out:
K. Dyrnes
Announcement from the Swedish Government
The Swedish government have decided to fund small Swedish team after being ridiculed following the Swedish roadrace championships earlier this summer (you remember - when three low-profile riders beat the favourites by an hour because no one bothered to work in the peloton.) The team will be using the Swedish National Team's kit and race under the name Svenska Cyklister.
It is an embarrassment for us that we don't have any Swedish Continental team for our young riders. Up until now they either have had to be among the very best or not be riding at all. That is not the Swedish way!
Lena Liljeroth, Swedish Minister of Culture and Sports
We are very happy that you have come for the introduction of a new World Tour team. As you all know Norheim are no longer sponsoring the team. Instead we have made a very good deal with STARK. But that left us in a position, where we needed a new team jersey.
We considered the approach heavily and in the end we decided to go with a young Australian designer who has shown interest in our project right from the start. I give the word to Jakstar22:
We were given this to work with and we did the best we could. We are very proud of what we came up with and so is the Falcon-Stark management
Falcon – STARK will have 29 riders on contract for 2013. Most prominently Thor Hushovd, but also two young riders have been added in the last moment
We were actually quite content with our roster, but at the end of the season we saw that two young talented riders were without a contract. We figured that we had space for an additional two youngsters on the squad and wanted to give them a chance, so we signed them on a one-year contract. Willy Ipsen is turning 23 this month and is therefore too old to continue in the U23. Rasmus Sterebo won a stage in Bayern Rundfahrt last season. We are very surprised to see that none of the Danish Continental teams wanted these two young talents – and equally happy that we are able to give them the chance they deserve.
And in came the 29 riders in alphabetic order:
Spoiler
Lars Ytting Bak (32), All-rounder Geir Berg (33), All-rounder Morten Kruse Brink (23), TT Magnus Bäckstedt (37), Flat races Lasse Bøchman (29), Stage races Kjell Carlström (36), Hilly races Michael Færk Christensen (26), TT Pelle Clapp (21), Talent Magnus Cort (19), Stage race talent Gunnar Grönlund (25), All-rounder Ole Haavardsholm (23), Hilly classics Jesper Hansen (22), Mountain talent Jeppe Lykke Hartvig Nielsen (21), Mountain talent Thor Hushovd (34), Cobble/sprinter Willy Ipsen (22), Stage race talent Kasper Jebjerg (27), Sprinter Christopher Juul-Jensen (23), Stage race talent Daniel Kreutzfeldt (25), Hilly races Philip Lindau (21), Classics talent Tobias Ludvigsson (21), TT-talent Jens Erik Madsen (31), Cobble classics Erik Meiniche McDermott (20), Cobble talent Håkan Nilsson (32), All-rounder Søren Nissen (28), TT Havard Nybö (28), Classics Thomas Riber-Sellebjerg (25), Cobbles Thomas Nybo Riis (20), Stage race talent Rasmus Sterebo (21), Hilly classics Christofer Stevenson (30), TT
The team has both the current Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish champions as well as former champions from all the countries and a former World Champion in Thor Hushovd. This is slowly beginning to look like the Nordic Powerhouse of Cycling the founders wanted.
It is expected that the team will have to fight hard to avoid relegation, and many are excited to see if Hushovd can find his old self again or if he really just is getting too old, likewise it will be interesting what Lars Bak can achieve when not having to work hard for the team most of the time. Along with the many very young riders it is hard to predict the team’s season. But we know that they will always fight for their chance and that might just get them enough points to survive in the World Tour.
I really missed riding with other Danes, so when Falcon – STARK approached me I instantly went in on it. It’s great for me to be allowed to ride my own chance, and I was very honored that they said I was a must-have rider for a Nordic Super team.
- Lars Bak
Obviously I had offers from more prestigious teams, but I really like the philosophy of the team. Having a few experienced riders to take the pressure of the young and help them find their feet in professional cycling. I really wanted to be team captain again, and seeing this is supposed to become a Nordic super-team they have far too few Norwegians. But I expect we’re hard to get since we actually OWN the cycling world…
- Thor Hushovd
Last season I saw how much the young riders at Falcon – Norheim developed, and since the Argos – Shimano didn’t really show interest in anything but sprinters, I started speaking a lot to the Falcon riders in the peloton and I quickly got really envious on them. So as soon as the transfer season started I contacted Allan Grønborg to be part of the project.
- Tobias Ludvigsson
Tom Boonen: Paris – Roubaix, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen – recordholder in all three. Belgian Champion, several other podiums and victories
Fabian Cancellara: Ronde van Vlaanderen, Kuurne – Bruxelles – Kurne, Amstel Gold Race, 2 TdF stages.
Mark Cavendish: Tdf: 5 stages+PJ, VaE: 4 stages+PJ, most wins throughout the year
Alberto Contador: Vuelta + Il Lombardia
Damiano Cunego: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, good secondary positions
Cadel Evans: Winner of the World Tour ranking, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Tour de Suisse and podium in both the Giro end the Tour
Andy Schleck: Tour-winner and good secondary positions.
Germany
France
Denmark
Netherlands
Columbia
USA
Norway
Russia
Portugal
Poland
Czech Republic
Canada
Slovakia
Sweden
Kazakhstan
Slovenia
Lithuania
Ukraine
New Zealand
Rein Taaramäe
