March was a very busy month for the team, with the second half of the month including two stage races, and the cobbled classic, e3 Prijs.
Tour of Sochi
Team line-up:
Ignas Konovalovas
Rene Mandri
Simon Richardson
Gert Rajala
Andris Vosekalns
Andris Smirnovs
Gilles Heymes
After Lowe's success in Portugal, it was again Konovalovas' turn to lead the team, on yet another hilly + TT stage race, in the Tour of Sochi, in Russia.
Once again, the Lithuanian champion showed guts and determination, to attack with the best climbers of the division in the decisive stage 3. The following day, however, would be decisive; the time trial.
Konovalovas performed well above expectations, to take 4th on the stage - enough to leap a position in the GC to 6th. Rather bitterly, however, less than a second separated him from 5th place.
The overall went to Kritskiy, who proved dominant throughout the entire race to hold off Dekker and TT specialist Zabriskie.
With the trio of Konovalovas, Lowe and Mandri, the plan was to support the Lithuanian champ, and hopefully sneak a few decent placings with the other two.
The plan was put into action on the third, and queen stage of the race, when Konovalovas went on the attack nearing the finish. He rode powerfully, only getting caught just before the flamme rouge.
Unfortunately, his efforts took their effects on him, as he struggled to keep up with the pace on the following day, losing over a minute, with Lowe for company. Thankfully, Mandri was able to hold on, keeping at least one of our riders in the hunt for the GC.
Mandri proved his role as new team leader, by going on the attack on Stage 5. The breakaway took victory, and Mandri made a bold effort to get clear himself - his aggressive riding got him 4th on the stage, but no time gaps. He also managed to hold on in the next stage, which saw the favourites do battle on the uphill finish. His performance was enough to earn 10th on GC, salvaging some joy from the race.
Efimkin was dominant through the race, taking a much deserved overall win and 3 stages along the way. Davis also had a good race, talking all 3 sprint finishes presented to him.
Unfamiliar terrain for the team, as we head to Belgium and the Cobbles of the North. Vaitkus and Cavendish led the team, and were both hoping that the smaller fields that have been in the cobbled races so far, would allow them to get to the finish for a group sprint.
Playing a different tactic though, Cavendish went on the attack to join the BOTD. Unfortunately, the break was unsuccessful, and both Cav and Vaitkus were dropped.
The top 3 cobblers in the division battled it out, with Eisel beating Vanspeybrouck and Baugnies in the final sprint.
A fairly quiet month for the team, with only 7 race days - which could see the team slip further down the board, possibly leading to difficult times heading into May.
Philadelphia International
The USA plays host to this HC rated classic - considered flat, though the 16% gradient is likely to tell after 10 laps. Expect the puncheurs to do battle, though with the flat finish, it's unclear who will take it - pure puncheurs, or a puncheur with a good sprint finish. Lowe and Mandri lead the team.
Hel van Het Mergelland
The same day as Philadelphia, the Netherlands plays host to another classic. The undulating route looks set to shake the field up, but with a flat finish, a sprint is likely. Or, will a break take it? Our young team will certainly be hoping so, as we look to contest the Break of the Day.
Ostdeutschland Tour
A 5km prologue and a hilly finale look set to shake up the overall, and so both Lowe and Konovalovas feel they have shots at decent placings as we head to Germany. There are also at least two definite chances for the sprinters, and Rowe's on board to try and snatch a stage or two.
Edited by ANFreeman on 21-04-2013 11:44
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A relatively quiet month for the team, with only 3 races on the calendar - however, it proved to be the calm before the storm, with a highly packed race schedule in the following months.
Philadelphia International
Sprint finish or not seemed to be the question heading into this HC race in North America. Already showing good pace this season, Docker led the team, in hopes of the race coming to a sprint finish - and that's exactly what happened.
Great positioning saw Docker battle it out with the very best in the sprinting business, but the wear of such a testing day was apparent, as Docker couldn't hold on to the final battle for first. He still managed a highly impressive 5th, and considering it was only the true elites of PCT sprinting who beat him, it's a result our Aussie champ can be proud of.
Hel van het Mergelland
With our team split between here and the USA, any sort of result would have been commendable - however, young Estonian proved to be the team's star man, getting into the break and looking impressively strong, only being caught in the last 18km. Belgian champion Roelandts took the win.
Ostdeutschland Tour
Konovalovas would once again lead the team in this hilly stage race in Germany, supported by trusty lieutenant Trent Lowe. The opening TT put the Lithuanian maestro into a good position, taking 9th in the prologue.
The following stage, veteran Graham Briggs managed to rise above what was expected of him, taking 4th in the sprint finish. The following days however were spent predominantly controlling the pack - partly to protect Konovalovas, but also to try and give young Luke Rowe a shot in the sprints. The best he managed was 9th in the 5th stage.
Stage 6 was the decider, however, and once again Konovalovas showed tremendous guts and talent, as he went off after the races top favourites on his own, eventually managing to end the day in 4th, and taking 5th overall on the GC.
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These 5 days in France proved to be 5 of the best days for a certain Australian sprinter on the team. Let's begin with stage one...
From the off, Docker proved why we sent him here: as the race was expected to be contested by classics specialists, it left an opening for a strong sprinter who could handle the hills to take a few strong stages.
Docker really showed his strength on stage 2, as the finish was on a rough patch of cobbles - but, inspired by the pink leaders jersey, he battled the very best in the business, BPost's Vanspeybrouck, to claim second on the stage and remain in both the leaders and points jersey.
Stage 3, another second place and more solid points and time bonuses. Stage 4 sadly played out the way it was expected, with the cobblers coming to the fore. Docker battled bravely, doing the leaders jersey justice, eventually coming in over a minute down, but enough to retain 15th on GC.
Docker would get his revenge, however, taking out the last stage, and rounding off the race with 2 wins, 2 second places, and the points jersey. Chapeau!
GP Moscow
A wet, grim day faced the riders, along with 211km of racing, all keyed up to end in a sprint finish.
Napolitano took out the win in an all-out sprint. Our own Cavendish took 6th, despite bad positioning, taking some nice points, continuing our consistent flow.
Lincoln GP
Racing back in britain in the lower category C2 races, Dan McLay led the team - and shocked fans with an exceptional 7th place in a race which was previously considered unsuited to him.
Edited by ANFreeman on 08-09-2013 19:10
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I was concerned there'd be too much info crammed in, but I guess the monthly breakdowns work quite well 
Tour of Sochi 
Ignas Konovalovas
Rene Mandri
Simon Richardson
Andris Vosekalns
Gilles Heymes
Nolan Hoffman
Aurélien Passeron
Thomas Dekker
Luka Mezgec
Linus Gerdemann
David Zabriskie
Ion Izzagire
Tour of Taiwan 
Trent Lowe
Dan McLay
Hassen Ben Nasser
Francesco Ginanni
Andre Cardoso
Juan Sebastian Tamayo Martinez
e3 Prijs 
Bernhard Eisel
Ermin Van Wyk
