As Cerne's manager I obviously wasn't happy with your last victory. However you have to love Bruno Santos expression in the last pic. The man is really pissed
Didn't notice his face before now, but indeed, he looked pissed
You better hope he use that to revenge himself on stage 3! Though, I won't mind to be perfectly lead out by him again
But you will definately deserve a stage win in Tachira, great showoff from your sprinttrain at the first sprint.
Aker Solutions - Bergans continues their great start to the season
After a 3 days break from racing in Venezuela, thanks to heavy rain, they finally took up racing again. And it seems like Aker Solutions - Bergans had used the break well.
Aaen Jørgensen was once again on fire in stage 4 of the race! He delivered a stunning sprint, this time from a longer way behind than on stage 3. But in the last kilometer he really showed his power, and he powered to the line, winning the stage with the distance of a front wheel.
The team didn't stop there. Stage 4 was the first of many mountain stages, and Alarcon showed his climbing abilities. The climb had two really steep sections, the last one started with about 3 kilometres to go, and Alarcon attacked at the steep part there, gaining 37 seconds on Magno Nazaret, who came second. A brilliant win from Alarcon, which saw him jump into the leader jersey.
Stage 5 saw the riders back in to flatter terrain. Once again it was Cerne who took command in the final kilometres. And they produced another stunning leadout for Santos. And this time, he was able to hold off for the victory, winning with a solid bike length. Aaen Jørgensen showed his consistency in the sprints, ending 4th. Later in the team bus, he told how tired he was, working very hard for Alarcon yesterday, and sprinting today. Hopefully he has the power to help Alarcon in the continuation.
Vuelta al Tachira continues, with mixed results for Aker Solutions - Bergans. After an amazing start, our team showed the first sign of fatigue on stage 6. A dangerous break was allowed a good gap at the foot of the final climb, and Alarcon was inches away from taking his second stage win. Alarcon was very close to the win on stage 6.
It was Edwin Parra Bustamente from Team CSC - Orbea who took the stage, after being out in the breakaway for the whole stage. That was only the beginning of an amazing showoff from Team CSC - Orbea. Stage 7 saw Rodas, also a member of Team CSC - Orbea, in the breakaway. He had an amazing day, and hold on for the stage win, and the leader jersey, as our team was too tired to chase him down. Alarcon led our team home, a good 9 minutes behind Rodas. Alarcon leads the team home, his last day in the leader jersey
Stage 8 and 9 was a mountain time trial and an "easy" mountain stage. Nothing special happened, except another breakaway win on stage 9. Alarcon looks like he has to settle for 2nd overall, but we need to be sharp to be able to defend his position. Especially the last stage of the tour, stage 12, is dangerous, and we expect attacks from those chasing Alarcon's overall placing there.
Stage 10, and the riders were back to flatter terrain. The final kilometers were uphill, so we decided to do the sprint for Haedo. It turned out to be a smart decision, Haedo showed his great kick, giving him his first stage win of the season, and our 4th stage win in this year's Vuelta al Tachira. Haedo grabs our 4th stage win in Venezuela, a great kick saw him outsprint Carrara.
Before the last two stages of this year's Vuelta al Tachira, we were pleased with our performance in Venezuela. Aaen Jørgensen won stage 2 and stage 3 from a bunch sprint, so did Haedo on stage 10. Alarcon held all jerseys, except the yellow one, and he also won stage 4, and wore the yellow jersey on stage 5, 6 and 7. Before stage 11 though, he was about 3 minutes down on the overall leader, Rodas, who took the jersey and the win on stage 7, from a successful breakaway.
We had almost given up on the yellow jersey before the start of stage 11, as there was a huge climb, but the climb was followed by 10 kilometres of flat, before the final two kilometres were uphill. Alarcon had other things in mind though! Alarcon digs deep, and makes a huge attack on stage 11.
He attacked, almost 17 kilometres away from the finish line, and no other favourites were able to follow him. He rode the climb great, and took on the flat part with a decent gap to Rodas. Rodas, mainly thanks to his team mates, took back a lot of time on Alarcon on the 10 flat kilometres, and at the bottom of the final climb, Alarcon only had a lead of 35 seconds to Rodas. Then he really put the hammer down, dropping Brandt (he had been in the breakaway), and gaining time on everyone else. At the top of the 2 kilometers uphill, he was the clear stage winner, question was, how much time had he gained on Rodas? He gained a lot, Rodas crossed the line 2'16 behind Alarcon, meaning he still had the jersey, but now his lead was only 7 seconds. Alarcon gained 1'40 on the last two kilometers of climbing, a huge ride!
The final stage was a hilly one. It included one climb, with gradients of ~7%, and the riders faced the climb 12 times, with the finish line being on top of it. Alarcon follows the decisive move on stage 12.
And inside the last 5 kilometers, Alarcon followed an attack from Lloret. Rodas struggled to keep up, and when Alarcon realized that, he continued, giving it everything for the yellow jersey. Alarcon crosses the finish line on stage 12.
And he succeded, he got second place on the stage, 12 bonus seconds, and a good gap on Rodas, meaning he had just edged Rodas for the overall win! A fantastic ride from Alarcon in the final two days, which summed up a great Vuelta al Tachira for us. Winning 5 stages and all jerseys also gave us a massive amount of points, and for the first time in Aker Solutions - Bergans' history, we're leading the Continental Division. That will most likely not last long, but it's still a great thing.
Now, we are on our way to the airport, and I can assure you all team members are thrilled. We're looking forward to the rest of the season, next race for us will be Tour de San Luis, where Gustav Larsson and Jairo Agudelo will lead the team.
Aker Solutions - Bergans takes on Tour de San Luis
After the great start in Venezuela, we continued racing in America. This time we are trying our luck in Argentina, Tour de San Luis. It's a balanced stage race, 7 stages, 3 mountainous stages, 3 flat stages and 1 ITT. We brought both Larsson and Agudelo here, and we had no doubt hopes of a good overall placing, especially for Larsson. We even dreamt about yellow jersey after the time trial, but that wasn't meant to be.
We brought no sprinter to Argentina, which meant we had to try our luck in breakaways. Rovira did just that on stage 1, but they were reeled in with 7,5 kms to go. Aleksandr Serebriakov from Hollister took the win, continuing their great start of the season.
Stage 2 was the first mountain stage, and the it was won from a breakaway. We had Ole Hirschlein, the talented climber from Germany, on loan from Milka - Vittel, in it. He fought bravely on the steep mountain, and managed 5th on the stage, and he was also 4th overall now. A great stage for him! The roads were very narrow on the final climb, meaning both Agudelo and Larsson, which started the climb too far behind, got caught behind, and they lost too much time to the other favourites. Ole Hirschlein leading the breakaway on stage 2
Stage 3 was the second flat stage, and for the third day in a row, we were in the breakaway. It was Zrimsek who tried his luck today, but they got caught with 9 kms to go, we're still happy though, we won't win if we don't try!
Stage 4 was the individual time trial, and we had high hopes for Larsson. And he proved fast, not fast enough for the stage win though, he ended 4 seconds behind Schädlich, who won the stage. Larsson took a nice 2nd, though, he was still a bit disappointed for being caught behind on the first mountain stage. Zrimsek also had a good ride, ending 16th on the stage, 39 seconds behind Schädlich. Larsson on his way to second on the individual time trial
That was all for now, we hope we continue to be in the breakaways, hopefully one of them will succeed, just like Hirschlein and his companions did on stage 2.
Stage 5 was the second mountain stage of the race, and again we were in the breakaway. Both Zrimsek and Jaramillo made it to the breakaway, were they co-operated well, Zrimsek gave it all he could to give Jaramillo the best possible start at the final climb. But it wasn't meant to be, as the peloton had controlled the break all day long, and Jaramillo was soon caught by the biggest favourites. But Jaramillo continued to fight, and he won the sprint for 4th at the finish line. A great ride from him! Larsson was again behind the best, ending the stage 21st, and all hopes for a top 10 for him was definitely over now.
Stage 6 was the penultimate stage, and the final mountain stage. I wasn't happy with the guys today, as we didn't manage to have anyone in the breakaway. Though, the breakaway was once again reeled back, and the big guns could fight for another stage win. And again, it was Valverde who proved the strongest, and he secured his overall victory. Larsson did one better than yesterday, ending the stage 20th, giving him 15th overall. Not horrible, but I must admit I expected a top 10 from him in this race. Luckily, he will get a lot of chances as leader this year, and he will definitely try to revenge himself later on.
Leading the breakaway on stage 7
Stage 7 was the final stage, a flat stage for the sprinters. We had learnt from yesterday, and featured in the break today. But we didn't get much time up front, but at least we showed ourselves at the very front of the race. It ended in a bunch sprint, and Greipel took his second stage win in the race.
We are now looking forward to our next race, GP di Lugano, 28th of February, there we hope Roux can get a top 10, but we know it will be very tough competition, so we have to see how the race unfolds.
We haven't participated in any races recently, and therefore, our media thread has been a bit silent. That's all about to change though! We're having a hectic March ahead of us, where we will have every chance to continue making our mark on this year's Continental Tour.
We continue our racing season already in February though, on the last day of the month, we will participate in the one-day classic, GP di Lugano, in Switzerland. It is rumoured to have an extremely strong line-up, but we hope to continue in the way we started down in South Africa, at the MTN Cycling Classic, where both Roux and Rovira finished inside the top 15. Though, it will be extremely tough, it's a challenging course in Switzerland, and our main objective is to protect Anthony Roux as long as possible, and hopefully he can finish top 10 for us. Except of Roux, we hope to feature in the breakaway, and we certainly has the rider to cover any early attempt there will be.
Volta ao Algarve
Gustav Larsson Anthony Roux Johan Le Bon Emilien Viennet Jaume Rovira Hector Duenas Nevado Lars Petter Nordhaug
Volta ao Algarve is a hilly stage race, taking place in Portugal, and it's a race we have some expectations for. We're bringing both Larsson and Roux here, they will be joint leaders. Roux will try to attack on the hilly stages, and gain time there, if it doesn't succeed, we will have Larsson for the final time trial. He's an exceptional strong time trialist, and every puncheur will have to try to get rid of him before the final time trial, if not, they know Larsson will be right up there. To help our two captains, we've brought our "core" of helpers for hillier terrain. They will protect Larsson and Roux, but they will also try to cover the breakaways through the race.
A HC stage race in Malaysia, and we're lining up an interesting team for it. The climbing trio of Vasquez, Agudelo and Ortega should be able to challenge for a top 10 on the mountain top finish, which also should be the decisive stage for the overall standings in the race. We've also brought Jørgensen to the race. He had a great start in Venezuela, winning two flat stages, and we hope he can continue his great season start, as there are 7 flat stages on offer. Though, the competition will for sure be of top class, and we hope he manages to position himself well for the sprints. Other than that, we've brought a mix of youngsters and experienced riders, they will all try to cover breakaways, and protect our climbers and Jørgensen.
Corsica International
Jose Alarcon Gustav Larsson Jure Zrimsek Remberto Jaramillo Lars Petter Nordhaug Lucas Sebastian Haedo Hector Duenas Nevado Jonathan Castroviejo
A HC stage race in France, and it's a very important one. We're having a goal of achieving a top 5 in the overall standings here, and Alarcon will be our man for that. He started his season in a great way, winning all jerseys in his home race, Vuelta al Tachira. In France, the start list is most likely a lot stronger, considering it's a HC race, and lots of points on offer. Therefore, we've brought a great team to both support Alarcon, but also hunt glory for the team in the time trial and the flat stage. Larsson will be a great domestique for Alarcon on the mountain stage, the same goes for Jaramillo. Larsson will also go for glory on the ITT, the same will Zrimsek do. Finally, Haedo will join our team, and try to take on the podium on the 2nd stage.
Midway in March, we're taking an airplane to Africa, joining a one-day sprinter classic. There will be a great line up for this race, including the Daniele Bennati. Anyway, we will give it our best. Aaen Jørgensen will be our main sprinter, and he can rely on support from Haedo and Rojas Gil to prepare the final sprint. Hopefully we can surprise everyone, and sneak into the top 5. That's at least what we are dreaming of.
Anthony Roux Emilien Viennet Mauricio Ortega Remberto Jaramillo Hector Duenas Nevado Lars Petter Nordhaug Lucas Sebastian Haedo
A stage race on one of many icelands in Asia, Taiwan, it contains 10 stages, and has a good mix of hilly, mountainous and flat stages. Therefore, we've brought a bit of everything to this race. Roux will, on paper, get another chance as leader, but it all comes down to how the mountain stages are raced. Haedo will also get his second chance in a stage race this month, as the leading sprinter. Hopefully he can do well in a couple of the flat stages. Ortega and Jaramillo are here to cover other riders on the mountain stages, hopefully they can challenge for top 10s on those two stages.
Giro del Trentino
Jose Alarcon Wilmer Vasquez Jairo Agudelo Jaume Rovira Johan Le Bon Ole Hirschlein Lars Petter Nordhaug
Just like Corsica International, Giro del Trentino is a mountainous stage race, and just like in France, Alarcon will lead our team. This time, he relies on support from Agudelo and Vasquez for the mountains. Nordhaug will be great to protect him on the flat staes, then Le Bon, Rovira and Hirschlein should all be active in breakaways. With Alarcon as our leader, we hope to make the podium overall, and also challenge for the win. But there will be tough competition, a couple of teams have listed a good overall placing in Trentino as one of their season goals, so we expect fireworks in the high mountains in Trentino!
Edited by ember on 01-09-2011 19:10
GP di Lugano was our first race on a while. The guys had been training a lot in Europe to prepare for Switzerland and Lugano. Roux was our leader for this race, but he disappointed. More on that later.
Duenas Nevado in the breakaway
Hector Duenas Nevado made it into the breakaway. And as one of the strongest riders there, he pushed the pace on every possible hill. For a while, it looked like the peloton got it all wrong, and Duenas Nevado was on his way to a sensational podium. But it wasn't meant to be, and on the very last lap, he was caught by the big favourites. Still, he managed to hold on, and he lead our team home in 17th. A great ride from him!
There wasn't much time to deal with our results in Switzerland, only 2 days later we started racing in Portugal. Volta ao Algarve was a hilly race, which included a 16 km long timetrial as the last stage. We sent Larsson and Roux to lead our team. Only Larsson managed to deal with the pressure, as Roux had a bad day on the hardest stage.
Nordhaug goes solo on the queen stage
We raced very active in Portugal, covering pretty much every early move there was. That resulted in a strong 2nd place for Jaume Rovira on the 2nd stage, and a great effort from Nordhaug on the 3rd stage, the queen stage. He ended the stage 3 km short for the stage win, but he put up a great fight, which saw him ending 12th overall at the end of the tour.
Larsson goes 2nd on the time trial
The last stage was the time trial, and Larsson's opportunity to show himself. And he truly did. Blasting home in 21'54, and taking the lead. Then he had to wait for the challengers, and there was only one man who went faster than Larsson, Boom clocked 21'48, and won the stage. With his great timetrial, Larsson moved himself to 8th overall, only 15 seconds behind 4th. He wasn't at his best on stage 3, nor could he attack there, as Nordhaug was solo up front, meaning he lost valuable time there. But at the end of the tour, we couldn't hope for much better than 8th, and we are satisified with our performance here in Portugal.
Now we're turning our attention to Malaysia and France. First up is Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia. We've brought an interesting team there, we hope Jørgensen can continue on the path he started walking in Venezuela, grabbing a stage win or two. For the 2 mountain stages, we hope Agudelo can overperform, surprising everyone.
As the racing in Malaysia progresses, Corsica International starts in France. We're sending a great team there, Alarcon will lead our team on the first stage, Haedo will try his luck on the second stage, and Larsson will try to be at the top of the podium on stage 3. In theory, we could win all 3 stages there, but our main goal is to have Alarcon top 5 in the overall standings. It is one of our season goals, and to succeed, we need to go all in on the mountain stage, gaining time there, as time trialling isn't what Alarcon does best.
Aker Solutions - Bergans shows their depth in Malaysia
Tour de Langkawi, a 10 days long stage race in Malaysia were next up for our guys. The race was ranked in the HC. category, meaning lots of points were on offer. We didn't bring our best climber, Alarcon, here. But we still had a strong team, with Agudelo as our captain. We arrived Malaysia with 2 goals; cover most breakaways, and get Agudelo a strong overall position. We succeeded in both, Agudelo ended the race 6th, and we were in the daily breakaway all days except one.
This year, Tour de Langkawi had the hardest stages on the first 5 days. Stage 1 though, was a flat one, and when everything looked set for a mass sprint, Rojas tried his luck with an attack on the last 6 kilometers. He didn't succeed, but it was a brave try and a good sign for our team. The boys looked more than ready. Rojas attacking on the final kilometers of the first stage.
Stage 2 was another one for the fastest men. Aaen Jørgensen represented us in the breakaway, as we got nothing from the finish. But we were all happy, all of the guys were looking forward to the next tough days. And stage 3 was the first test for Agudelo. Hirschlein was in the breakaway, but that was never allowed to get a winning gap. Agudelo fought bravely, clinging on to the other favourites. But bad positioning on the final kilometers saw him give away 1'15 to stage winner, and race leader, Marco Marzano.
Stage 4 saw us put two men in the breakaway, Hirschlein and Le Bon was on a mission to win the stage. But they were caught on the biggest mountain of the day, the penultimate climb. When they were caught, Agudelo made his move. He had great legs today, created a small gap back to Marzano and the other big favourites, but he got caught close to the summit. Agudelo trying his luck on stage 4.
It came down to a sprint between 18 men. Agudelo, Hirschlein and Le Bon did their best, but none of them could deny Caruso's first, and Ferrari - ERG's second, stage win of this tour.
Stage 5 was the Queen stage. Agudelo wasn't at his best, but he was greatly assisted by Vasquez, and they were both in the front group with 4 kilometers to go. However, on the last 4 kilometers, there were fireworks, and they weren't able to follow the best. Agudelo finished strongest, ending the stage 10th, giving him 9th overall.
Stage 6, 7 and 8 all saw some serious crashes, meaning Agudelo moved to 6th overall in front of the 9th stage. On stage 9, we had Ortega in the breakaway. Before the stage, he was 16th overall, 10'07 behind the race leader. The peloton never took Ortega and his 3 breakaway companions serious, and at one point, Ortega had the virtual yellow jersey. It was clear they were going to fight it out for the stage win. Kilun, from Jayco - Red Bull, made a great move, securing him the stage win. Ortega sprinted to 3rd, more than 6 minutes ahead of the peloton, lifting him to 7th overall. Ortega in the succesful breakaway on stage 9.
Stage 10 was the final stage, and all our guys finished safe, meaning Agudelo ended 6th overall, Ortega 7th. Both we and our sponsors are very happy with our results down here in Malaysia. We also got a lot of coverage, thanks to our active racing, meaning we showed off our sponsors in a good way.
But we move quickly, and our focus is now on Corsica International, a 3 days long HC. stage race. It started yesterday, with a tough mountain stage. Our Venezuelean captain, Alarcon, proved strongest, taking the stage win and the leader's jersey. A detailed summary from that race will come when the race is finished.
Ember
Aker Solutions - BergansEdited by ember on 02-11-2011 16:06
Corsica International was next on our program. A short HC. stage race, containing a mountain stage, a flat stage, and a short time trial. On paper, a perfect race for both Alarcon and Larsson, therefore both were sent to Corsica, as we hoped for some good racing. But there were tough competition, Valverde, Rujano, Van den Broeck, Duarte and Eastman had all lined up for this intense race.
The race started with a bang, the Queen stage was on the very first day. An almost 200 kilometers long stage, where the final 15 kilometers were all about climbing. It should suit Alarcon perfect, but thinking of the final time trial, he would need to gap his competitors, if he was going to win the overall title on Corsica. And that should be a tough task, as last year's Vuelta winner, Valverde, was up for an overall win here, the same counted for Rujano, who was 3rd overall in the very same Vuelta.
Stage 1 was no doubt the Queen stage, with several tough climbs. We sent Nordhaug in the early breakaway, it turned out to be a good decision, as we didn't need to do any chasing behind in the peloton, and thus arriving the final climb with fresh legs. Nordhaug goes with the early move.
Going into the final 10 kilometers of the stage, the breakaway held a lead of 2.30. Nordhaug wasn't in the front anymore, meaning everything was about Alarcon now. And what a show he gave us! With 9 kilometers to go, he hit the front, to bring a dangerous attack from Nazaret and Eastman back. And in the process of that, he sensed everyone behind him struggled. He had a great day. Alarcon hits the front of the pack with 9 kilometers to go.
When he caught Nazaret and Eastman there was no point in waiting anymore, he attacked. No one were able to follow, and he was on his own. Alarcon lifts the pace, accelerates, and gets a gap.
With about 4 kilometers to go, Alarcon finally caught Ruijgh, the final survivor from the breakaway. But he also got caught by 5 strong climbers, who had attacked their way up to Alarcon. Van den Broeck, Valverde, Duarte, Eastman and Nazeret had all made it up to Alarcon, thanks to another strong acceleration from Nazaret. 7 men look set to fight it out for the stage win, Alarcon is at the front, with 4 kilometers to go.
But Alarcon knew he needed time on the others if he was going to win this race, as his skills on a time trial bike isn't as great as his climbing skills. So, with 2.5 kilometers to go, he accelerated once again, and this time, he was definitely on his own. None of the other favourites were able to follow him, and he found his own rythm, trying to take as much time as possible. Alarcon attacks inside the final 3 kilometers.
And it paid off, he crossed the line first, with a good gap down to the other favourites, meaning he had time to celebrate. Alarcon wins the opener at Corsica island.
Behind, Larsson also showed great riding, finishing the stage 12th.
Stage 2 was a short, flat stage. It should have been a stage were the GC men could relax before the decisive time trial, but that wasn't meant to be. Alarcon was clever, and with great help from Nordhaug and Duenas, he was kept close to the front all the time. Larsson though, had to get himself a gel from the team car, on his way up to Alarcon, he got caught behind a crash, and there was no option but to hit the pavement for him aswell, meaning his hopes for a top 6 overall were ruined. Alarcon was always near the front, taking no risks.
A late move from Vansummeren, Schädlich and Laidler saw the peloton fight it out for 4th place. Lucas Sebastian Haedo proved best of the rest, sprinting to 4th on the stage. Lucas takes 4th on the stage, ahead of his brother in 5th.
Stage 3 was the final time trial. Larsson was luckily not hurt after yesterday's crash, and he put up a brave ride. He ended the stage 2nd, only 2 seconds short of the stage win. For those wondering, without yesterday's crash, he would have been 6th overall, 47 seconds behind Alarcon. Larsson shows his spirit, coming 2nd on the stage after yesterday's crash.
Now it was all about Alarcon though. The Venezuelean climber had no problems defending his overall lead, and he won Corsica International 2012 with 18 seconds. Alarcon was never threatened on the final time trial, and he took the overall win.
A great Corsica International for us, and Alarcon showed why we used a million Euros on him. He has had a great start to his season. First he won the overall in his "home tour," Vuelta al Tachira, and also 2 stages there. Here on Corsica, he stunned the opposition with his great climbing skills, giving him an edge none were able to take back on the final time trial. We're of course very sorry for Larsson, he looked set for his best result so far this season, but thanks to bad luck, "all" he got from the race was a 2nd place on the time trial. Hopefully he will use this to boost his motivation for his next race, Vuelta Castilla y Leon, where he will be our leader.
We can't celebrate this win now though, as we're heading to Africa and Cape Argus Cycle Tour. It's a classic for the sprinters, and we hope Aaen Jørgensen and Haedo can surprise everyone there, with one of them breaking inside the top 10. Then we will round off March with Tour of Taiwan and Giro del Trentino, I hope to see you all there!
Ember
Aker Solutions - BergansEdited by ember on 04-11-2011 19:38
Cape Argus Cycle Tour was our next race on the calendar. A one day classic, held in South Africa, with a strong startfield. The profile was ranked flat, but there were several hills on the route, which gave the experts a hard job guessing who would be fighting for the win.
When the race started, there was immediate action. 7 riders formed the breakaway of the day, we were represented by Viennet, who's on loan from Spyker Cars. They were never allowed much of a gap back to the peloton, thanks to a relatively short race, and a determined chase from Rapha Condor - Qhubeka. Viennet shows our colours in the breakaway.
With about 50 kilometers left, Nordhaug gave it a go. He had a great day, he told us pre-race that he enjoyed being in South Africa for the first time, and that clearly motivated him. He got away from the bunch, and together with Murakami, he quickly made his way up to Viennet and the rest of the breakaway. Nordhaug continues his offensive riding this season, attacking away from the bunch.
Only a few kilometers later though, two of the favourites for the race, Bennati and Gasparotto, also attacked from the peloton. Rovira quickly understood how serious their attack was, and he went after them a kiometer later. Rovira attacks, going after the duo from Team Puma - SAP.
His attack succeeded, and with 40 kilometers left, he joined forces with Gasparotto and Bennati. They co-operated well, and with 30 kilometers to go, they were only 1'37 behind the leaders, which still were riders from the breakaway. Rovira joins forces with Bennati and Gasparotto, up the road is the breakaway, but also Nordhaug.
After a strong chase, Rovira, Gasparotto and Bennati join the leading group, and going into the final 20 kilometers, Viennet, Rovira and Nordhaug were all at the very front of the race. Eventually, Viennet had to let go, after a long day in the breakaway, but Rovira and Nordhaug were still fresh, thanks to the solid work Viennet had done when they all were up front.
With less than 10 kilometers to go, Nordhaug made his bid for victory. He soon got a gap, but it never became more than 25 seconds, with less than 3 kilometers to go, he still held a small gap: Nordhaug holds a small lead, going into the sprint.
Behind Nordhaug, Rovira had placed himself good for the sprint, and when the sprint started, it was clear that Nordhaug would get caught. Sambris proved strongest in the sprint, he sprinted past Nordhaug, and concluded a brilliant victory. Behind, Nordhaug just held on for second place, and Rovira outsprinted Gasparotto for third. An outstanding performance from both, they both coloured the race. Sambris wins, Nordhaug holds on for second, and Rovira outsprints Gasparotto for third!
It was an absolutely great race for us! We expected nothing from this race, only some aggressive racing, and no doubts, the aggressive racing paid off. Both Rovira and Nordhaug were great, covering dangerous moves, which put them in a great position for the victory. When the winner was to be decided, we gave it all, but Sambris proved strongest. We're definitely proud of our guys down here, and we hope to see you all in our next race, which is Tour of Taiwan.
May is looming, and so is the only race on Norwegian ground.
The season has already reached May, and Aker Solutions - Bergans are still going strong. First, Alarcon continued his great spring, going 5th overall in Giro del Trentino, and thus he secured himself a good amount of points, meaning he's sitting 2nd on the individual ranking as we've started the month of May. In a comment to the race, he said: "I didn't have the best legs on any of the mountain stages, and when the race was opened with a time trial, I'm pretty happy to become 5th overall. On the final stage I felt terrible, but luckily I managed to save 5th overall. Hopefully I can do better in Subida al Naranco and Transfagarasan GP, at least I will be well prepared for those races."
The team continued stage racing in Tour of Taiwan, where Haedo proved his class again, on a flat stage, and took the stage win. But except of Haedo's win, we were quite unlucky in Taiwan, hitting the tarmac a couple of times, and caught on the wrong side of decisive splits. But as Anthony Roux said: "It was a funny race, it was nice to race in Taiwan, and I tried my luck in a breakaway. Unfortunately, I couldn't win the stage, and I crashed on a later stage, but I didn't get any kind of serious pain, which made the race enjoyable. Hopefully we'll come back to Taiwan next year, to enjoy the great atmosphere around the race, but also to do better on course than we did this year."
Then Gustav Larsson took on Castilla y Leon as captain, but it wasn't meant to be Larsson's race. "I felt great going to Spain, and my feeling was good on the first day of racing. But on the 2nd stage, on paper a boring stage, made for the sprinters, riders around me suddenly crashed into each other. I had no option, but to hit the brakes, but I couldn't avoid the rear wheel to the rider in front of me, and I had no chance at staying on the bike. Luckily, I wasn't seriously hurted, but I lost valuable time. On the next stage I tried my luck in a late attack, but I was caught by the best puncheurs. Then it was all about the stage win on stage 4, the individual time trial. I came close, but I was simply not good enough, coming home 16 seconds slower than Castaño."
After Castilla y Leon, the team took a break, but we're about to show up in some races again. GP of Moscow is our next race, and we're hoping Aaen Jørgensen, led out by Haedo and Rojas, can surprise the greatest sprinters of the Continental Division. Alarcon and Roux will be joint leaders in Subida al Naranco, hopefully one of them can deliver a top 5 result. Immediately after the finish in Spain, we're turning all our attention to home soil. Norway, and Rogaland GP is next on the program. We feel our team is competitive, but we lack a strong sprinter to finish the race. Hopefully we can show some aggressive racing on home soil, to show off our jersey. We hope there will be lots of crowds out on the roads, cheering for us.
That was all for now, good luck to the other teams for the rest of the season!
After not having participated in any race for more than a month, it was a hugely motivated Aker Solutions - Bergans that turned up in Russia, to participate in GP Moscow May 9th. Both Jørgensen and Le Bon went for the breakaway. They co-operated well and the peloton struggled to catch them, and the catch wasn't made before there was only 4 kilometers left of racing. Jørgensen and the rest of the team kept a great position in the peloton going into the sprint, resulting in a 4th place for Jørgensen, an 8th place for Rojas, 13th for Duenas Nevado, and 18th for Haedo. Obviously, we were extremely pleased with such a great result from a flat classic, as we don't have a world class sprinter. But aggressive racing paid off, and it was a great "comeback" to racing.
Next on the program was Subida al Naranco, a tough classic in Spain, which, on paper, suited both Alarcon and Roux well. Both were sent to the race, and Alarcon gave us an amazing show. He put the hammer down with more than 80 kilometers to go, and went solo for the last 35 kilometers, to conclude an epic solo win. A great show from him, and we were flying high after his win, a great win for our team, and our first classic win.
Roux was also in the mix, coming home in 14th, but 4 minutes behind Alarcon. The final climb proved too hard for him, hopefully he'll do better in races and stages that suits him better.
The last race we raced were on home ground. Rogaland GP was, just like Moscow, a flat classic, perfect for sprinters. Our performance in Moscow raised the expectations for "our" home race, and I'm pleased with what we showed. Jørgensen again went in the breakaway, but were caught with 13 kilometers left. I'm taking full responsibility for what we did in the final 10 kilometers. A big crash gave Haedo a good chance for a top 5, but I told him in the team meeting this morning to work for Roux. He did that, just like he were told, but that turned out to be a terrible decision from me, as Haedo still become our best rider, in 12th. Roux followed in 15th, after being nicely led to a safe position by Haedo. But 2 riders in the top 15 was more than we hoped for, so at the end of the day, I'm satisfied.
Now we're facing a hectic period of racing, as we will race Transfagarasan GP, Vuelta a Guatemala, Giro del Capo and Philadelphia International the next days. Alarcon will be our undisputed leader in Romania, while Larsson/Roux will lead our team down in South Africa. Haedo/Jørgensen will hope to do better than in Rogaland GP, and hopefully we will get our team tactic right there, with Roux also racing. Guatemala will be very interesting, as only Ortega, Vasquez, Hirschlein and Lund will race there. We expect nothing from Guatemala, but hopefully the 4 riders can show our jersey in an unexpected way.
That's all for now, we're looking forward to June, which will be a hectic month for us.
