Rodrigo Melo putting in the ride of the stage on stage 3 in the Algarve.
We may not have achieved anywhere near the results we achieved earlier in the month, here in the Algarve, but the team cannot be faulted for trying in the four day stage race. The first half of the race saw Bruno Borges, who has been really consistent for the team so far this season, get stuck into the final sprints. Stage 3 saw Brazilian Rodrigo Melo spend the whole day in the break and survive for a whopping 35 kilometres by himself until he was caught by the favourites group, a display which won him many plaudits in our camp.
Bonsucro light up the TT, in style!
Pedro Nicácio rode a superb final stage to finish 4th in the individual TT in which we showed what a strong team we can be with 6 of our riders finishing in the top 50.
So, all in all, the team showed well in Portugal and can be proud of their efforts against stiff opposition, not forgetting that unrelenting Algarve heat!
117 Mike Friedman Team Chiquita - Universal + 17'03
118 Murilo Affonso Alpina - Avianca + 17'04
119 Ivor Bruin Control Team + 17'16
120 Domagoj Breznik Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team + 17'20
121 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen Team Carlsberg - Danske Bank + 18'51
122 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Risa - Ergon + 19'46
123 Wim Stroetinga Team Chiquita - Universal + 32'05
124 Dario Antonio Team Ameriabank-Novatek + 32'44
125 Tomasz Zywer Control Team + 34'24
126 Patrick Oyakaua Bonsucro + 34'35
127 Anton Kaus Team Carlsberg - Danske Bank + 42'22
128 Viktor Renäng Team Live Nation + 44'11
129 Ian Stannard Team ASDA-Savers + 47'55
Mountain: 4th Rodrigo Melo 10 Points: 18th Pedro Nicácio 14
Review:
Alberto Losada on the attack. He would put in speculative late attacks on stages 1 and 3.
From our team's point of view, the quicker this Tour de Beauce is forgotten the better. Although the team put in some unexpected attacks, it always seemed the team was in a mood and mind-set whereby a victory was never on the cards. Some of our riders, one several occasions, where confused with another team's to compound our sorrow in this race.
Uruguayan, Soto Pereira, was leading us here and it was looking good in the first half of the race where he sprinted to 5th from a depleted peloton and managed to hang in to a large group on the final climb on stage 3. However, when it came to his favoured discipline, the time trial on stage 4, he didn't perform and from there any chance of a good GC placing was out of the window.
If a rider did save the race for us it was, the youngest rider in the squad, the young Brazilian João Gaspar. He made the break on stages 2 and 6 and finished in 3rd place in the fight for the mountain jersey after valiant displays.
Not the best way to round off what, overall, has been a successful and enjoyable month for the team. Thoughts will not linger here, but look ahead to April. April, being a big month for our team, arguably the biggest yet for we enter our biggest race of the season the ......
Interlagos Grand Prix
Breakdown of stages:
Stage:
Best Result:
Best Placed in GC:
Stage 1 (flat)
J.A. Soto Pereira (5)
J.A. Soto Pereira (10)
Stage 2 (flat)
Alberto Losada (47)
João Gaspar (10)
Stage 3 (hilly)
Sergio Godoy (10)
J.A. Soto Pereira (13)
Stage 4 (flat/TT)
J.A. Soto Pereira (23)
J.A. Soto Pereira (13)
Stage 5 (flat)
J.E. Rodrigues (43)
J.A. Soto Pereira (16)
Stage 6 (flat)
J.A. Soto Pereira (54)
J.A. Soto Pereira (16)
FINAL GC:
1 Vegard Robinson Bugge Risa - Ergon 18h02'47
2 Mirsamad Poorseyedi Siam Cement - Lenovo + 1'00
3 Joey Rosskopf Dell - 361° Racing + 1'09
4 Carlos Castaño ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team + 1'26
5 Francis De Greef Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team + 1'59
6 Daniel Moreno Team TomTom + 2'00
7 Phillip Gaimon In-n-Out Racing Powered by Auchan + 2'06
8 Diego Gallego Team TomTom + 2'16
9 Lasse Bøchman Team Carlsberg - Danske Bank + 2'17
10 Patrick Naud RBC Pro Cycling + 2'18
Spoiler
11 Cesar Andre Fonte Grupo Nutresa + 2'25
12 Benjamin Dyball Wounded Warrior Racing + 2'28
13 Matteo Montaguti Team Vontobel s.t.
14 Julián Rodas In-n-Out Racing Powered by Auchan + 2'32
15 Jasper Stuyven Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team s.t.
16Jorge Adelbo Soto Pereira Bonsucro+ 2'57
17 Alberto Losada Bonsucro + 3'16
18 Arnold Jeannesson Euskaltel-Bavaria Continental Team + 3'17
19 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke Team ASDA-Savers + 3'34
20 Michael Olsson Risa - Ergon + 3'35
21 Sergio Godoy Bonsucro + 3'38
22 Xavier Zabalo Grupo Nutresa + 3'39
23 Christophe Kern In-n-Out Racing Powered by Auchan + 3'41
24 Christopher Stevenson Team Carlsberg - Danske Bank + 3'51
jt1109 – Thanks a lot. I suppose as the whole Bonsucro project is pretty different from everything else in the MAN GAME, it follows that the jersey is different too.
Team races for April & May:
C2HC Europe: GP Oudenaarde (Apr 4th)
C2HC America: Ruta America del Sur (Apr 8th - 15th)
HC America: Interlagos GP (Apr 21st)
C2HC Europe: Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt (May 1st)
C2 America: Circulo de Juarez (May 15th - 19th)
C1 America: Cartago - Irazu (May 17th)
C2HC Europe: Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid (May 23rd)
C2 America: Bucks County Classic (May 25th)
C1 Europe: GP Onda-Boavista (May 31st)
The upcoming months of April and May are very exciting times for Bonsucro. We enter our home race, the Interlagos GP, which we consider to be one of the top races we enter all season. We also enter the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid race where our first season goal is set, the goal being to win.
So, how did we get on in our first two races? Let's find out ......
Lineup:
- Willian Araujo - Bruno Borges - Lluis Mas - Patrick Oyakaua - Carlos Oyarzun - Jose Eriberto Rodrigues - Rafael Silva
On-loan Rafael Silva, 29th, battles well in Belgium.
If you were to devise a calendar from hell for our team then the GP Oudenaarde would be slap bang in the middle of it. All of our training takes place in Brazil and, therefore, we don't have much of a hope when it comes to the cobbles. Fortunately, we only take part in a few races with cobbles all season. Having said that Rafael Silva showed very well, he made the break and was one of the last survivors, finishing in 29th on the stage.
We had much higher hopes of doing something in this 8 day stage race. With Godoy on home soil we had serious hopes for the GC, with Manarelli we had hopes for the sprint stages and with Borges .... well, his aggressive nature could pay off ...
The day the GC was won: Bruno Borges celebrating his emphatic stage victory on stage 5.
Thanks to Bruno Borges we have now won the first two stage races on the continental calendar in South America this season. The ever aggressive Borges made the successful break on stage 5, rode away from the rest of the break and continued on strongly to hold off the peloton and claim the win with a decisive margin back to everyone else.
Manarelli sprinting to 3rd and Borges sprinting to 4th on stage 7.
It is fair to say Bonsucro where the standout team in this stage race. Aside from the prologue we never finished a stage with a rider outside of the top 12, in addition, on multiple stages we finished with multiple riders in the top 10. Once Borges claimed the yellow jersey he was not willing to let it go, showing his decent sprinting abilities to finish right up there in the hard sprints. Borges takes home the GC, the youth jersey and we leave with the team classification.
One for all and all for one. There are no egos at Bonsucro, this was epitomised on the final stage where the likes of Manarelli were working to set up Borges. We couldn't have hoped for anything more from the Ruta America del Sur, any teams looking to meet us on South American roads .... BEWARE!
sutty -Thanks. A few more like that and we are a shoe-in for finishing in the top 10 in the American rankings
Startlist:
Carlos Manarelli Willian Araujo João Gaspar Lluis Mas Rodrigo Melo Patrick Oyakaua Carlos Oyarzun Rafael Silva
This is our race! Our world championship! The next race we enter will be, for us, the biggest for a number of reasons. The upcoming Interlagos GP, taking place in Brazil, is our home race. Being a HC race it is the highest classified race we will enter all season long.
In Carlos Manarelli we feel we have a real contender to mix it up in the predicted final sprint at the end of the 85 KM flat stage. Buoyed by home support we are hoping for the best. We are under no illusions that Manarelli isn't in the same league as the likes of Ciolek and Napolitano, the favourites for victory. However, many sprinters who may have taken part are elsewhere at one of the following: the tour de Bretagne, tropicale Amissa Bongo or the Dutch food valley classic so Manarelli, even on a bad day, is safely considered one of the top 10 fastest sprinters on the startlist.
A range of directeur sportifs, of various teams, offered up their two cents on the race and Manarelli's chances:
La Vie Claire, his former team, had this to say 'As his former manager, I believe Manarelli can podium on home soil. Hopefully he can turn the tables on Napolitano after leading him out in the past.'
Evonik - Signal Iduna stated 'I think the Interlagos GP fits Manarelli as well as nearly no other race on the calender. Combined with the home race extra motivation he will surely be a rider with a chance for a good result. In the end, Ciolek and Napolitano are out of reach but behind them, everyone can beat each other. My prediction is that Manarelli will finish around 6th.'
Team Vontobel stated 'We are looking forward to a highly motivated and well-prepared Carlos Alexandre Manarelli. It becomes apparent that Bonsucro is an efficently organized team in it's prime condition. A skillful choosen wheel in the bunch sprint... and the podium is within reach.'
Alpina - Avianca said 'It should be an interesting race with many top-level sprinters present. I expect Manarelli will be competing with Forero for somewhere in the 5-10th position and that should be an intriguing battle I am looking forward to - Forero having a slight edge in pure sprint terms but Manarelli having superior acceleration. Of course positioning also comes into it - both riders don't have the best of support so it will be a case of finding the right train to hang on to the back of.'
The Brazilian cycling public are expecting a big result here from Manarelli, as are we. The pressure is on like no other race. A decent result here will not only gain Bonsucro some more good recognition but also go along way to helping the team with their goals, a main one being promotion.
After winning the GC at both San Luis and the Ruta America del Sur, can we continue in our rich vein of form on South American roads?
Find out soon ...
Special thanks to: jph27, knockout, Margh Norway and Stromeon for their views.
I really wish you all the best for the GP Interlagos. It is always nice if riders deliver in their home country when riding for a home team. It would be great if Manarelli can get a top 5 (Or even better)!
Good Luck!
knockout - Tis funny how the cookie crumbles. We, both of our teams, have being doing well in many races all season long, yet when it comes to an important one (Frankfurt for you, Interlagos for me) our teams totally underperform.
Here we bring you tidings of two very different results from Bonsucro from the end of April and the beginning of May.
As good as it got at Interlagos: A Bonsucro rider appearing in the first 15 riders with 20 KM to go.
We went into our 'home race' with a big song and dance, a big preview and high expectations. .... The race turned out to be tantamount to a nightmare for the team. We missed the breakaway, which turned out to be a winning one, not that it matter as Manarelli was not able to contest the sprint.
It was great to test the team's strength against some top pro continental teams, however, we would have liked to have shone a bit brighter here.
We felt good intentions brought this race to the Man Game, however, we feel Brazil has much more, beautiful, terrain to offer than a race around a smoggy moto-circuit. We call for the Tour de Rio to be re-introduced or a longer one day race taking in the unique rural scenery of Brazil to replace this classic.
1
Jan Dieteren
AMEXpc
1h48'49
2
Yoann Barbas
Quickstep
s.t.
3
Jimmi Briceno
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
--
--
--
--
33
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Bonsucro
s.t.
47
Rodrigo Melo
Bonsucro
s.t.
104
João Gaspar
Bonsucro
s.t.
109
Willian Araujo
Bonsucro
s.t.
127
Patrick Oyakaua
Bonsucro
s.t.
128
Lluis Mas
Bonsucro
s.t.
130
Rafael Silva
Bonsucro
s.t.
139
Carlos Oyarzun
Bonsucro
s.t.
Mas makes the break in Germany.
After missing out at the Interlagos GP, loanee, Lluis Mas made the seven man break at the Rund um den Eschborn-Frankfurt to start off our month of May.
We brought Manarelli to this race which was thought to end in a bunch sprint, however, with hills throughout the stage we didn't have any real hopes of doing much in the final .... HOWEVER ....
Mas celebrates like never before!
Lluis Mas, Prio Porto paid us to take him on loan, only went on to take the victory. In the year of the breakaway we profit thanks to a strong and tactical ride from the Spaniard in the final.
Schuler attacked the rest of the break with several kilometres to go and we thought that was the stage win gone. However, Remo was brought back and Mas had the most left, after not spending too much energy chasing down the Vontobel rider, to take the win by a bike length from the rest of the break and the fast finishing peloton.
To be in the break all day, getting plenty of exposure for our cause, and round off with a win is just the ideal one day race for us. This race was C2HC ranked so it yielded more points than a C2 win would have done, a crucial result to add to our dream start to the season, a season which is now well well underway.
Continental Rankings:
* Accurate as of end of April.
We will leave you with the continental team rankings and projected rankings. Now we won't go into this in detail just yet, we feel it is too early to, but we will say this: Bonsucro is in a great position and it sure looks like it is getting better.
Home race didn't go as expected, but Frankfurt win has to make up for that! Looking strong in the rankings too. Things looking good for the team to promote thia year.
There is surely a bit of a similarity. It would have interested me what could have been possible if Manarelli would have contested the sprint but we will never know...
Congratz for your win in Frankfurt though. Looking at the projected rankings (which were published even before Frankfurt) you seem on a very good way for direct promotion eventhough it is closer than close behind you.
Alakagom & knockout - We have done very well so far and it is looking good, but there is plenty of racing still to go before we will have a real clear idea of who will finish in the top 5. We would be more assured if we had one of the standout riders in the division (Mendes, Rodrigues, Iglinskiy etc.), but we are more of a co-operative, so the wins/high places are never guaranteed.
Bonsucro were pleased to take part in the c2 Tour of the Middle East, being 12 stages long it was the second longest race we would take part in all season. We brought Pedro Nicácio in the hope of a combative GC performance and had hopes of at least one stage win.
Alberto Losada: Just being pipped to a stage win on stage 2.
Our race really got underway on stage 2 where a hilly stage saw some of the races top puncheurs and aggressors battle out the stage win. Losada, though not out leader here, rode an excellent final and ended second on the stage.
Stage 4 saw Nicácio lose more time than he would have liked ahead of three sprinter stages, with no Manarelli at the start we had little hope for these stages.
João Gaspar in the two man break on stage 6.
Half way into the race the results weren't really going our way. However, Gaspar making the break showed we still had plenty of ambition and looked to end the race on a run.
Pedro Nicácio: Fighting for a good GC.
Stage 8 saw Nicácio finish 5th on a stage which featured a gruelling mountain top finish, only really losing time to a handful of the top climbers in the division. He would climb the GC on stage 8.
Paulinho battles on.
Having lost some time, Sergio Paulinho made the break on stage 9, he ended the stage in 5th and moved into the top 10 in GC.
Super stage 10 for Bonsucro.
Jose Eriberto Rodrigues won stage 10 from a break to earn his first victory for Bonsucro as a rider on the last mountainous stage here. To say this stage was our best was an understatement as both Paulinho and Nicácio virtually secured top 10 places in the GC with the TT to come.
Pedro Nicácio: 2ndon the penultimate stage.
We really were ending this race on a high. Pedro Nicácio couldn't take the win in the TT, however, we did manage to finish this stage with 3 riders in the top 10.
Pedro Nicácio and Sergio Paulinho ended the race in 6th and 7th respectively.
Although we didn't take the GC here, we can be more than satisfied with how we performed here. All 7 of our riders played a part throughout the 12 stages. We continue to gain a steady stream of points in our quest for the pro-conti ranks.
Breakdown of Stages:
You had a very good second week in the middle east!
And surely if you dont have a standout rider then there is no guarantee (btw, there is never one due to crashes, AI, breakaways..) for a high place but those who have a standout rider often dont have much more scoring options and then they have lots of races where they cannot expect points at all and this equals your disadvantage of the missing superb rider...
knockout: What was great about the Middle East was that we had multiple guys riding well in the second week. The next ranking update will be much more insightful.
Nicácio: visible throughout the race in Costa Rica.
Pedro Nicácio was our shining light in Cost Rica for this one day mountainous classic, the first of four c1 races we will take part in this season.
Pedro was apart of a 3 man breakaway, which survived for well over 100 kilometres in merciless heat. He would go on to earn some decent ranking points by finishing 17th, although he was disheartened by not being able
to be the highest finisher from the break considering he was the most noted climber there. He battled on in true Bonscuro spirit despite suffering in the temperatures.
Overall we are very contented with our performance in this c1 race, competing against different liveries and riders was a welcome change that will only help our team.
1
Rigoberto Úran
Bacardi Limited
6h35'27
2
Andrei Kashechkin
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
3
Magno Nazaret
FCB - Polska
+ 1'57
--
--
--
----
17
Pedro Nicácio
Bonsucro
+ 14'51
21
Jonathan Camargo
Bonsucro
+ 17'19
30
Rodrigo Melo
Bonsucro
+ 25'40
37
Amets Txurruka
Bonsucro
+ 26'45
54
Hernâni Broco
Bonsucro
+ 30'21
60
Alberto Losada
Bonsucro
+ 31'31
DNF
Joao Gaspar
Bonsucro
DNF
We entered this mountainous C2HC race with Txurruka as our out-right leader. The Spaniard has yet to put up good results this season so he was only tipped to compete for a top 5 - top 10 place. Yet, we had a goal to win this race.
Joao Gaspar made the early break of the day. The Brazilian has shown very well for us in many breaks this season and continued to perform well in Madrid, he made the early 8 man break.
The break would be caught and the favourites, including Txurruka, would fight out the final.
Too much too early?
Rodrigues would attack with 13.5 KM to go and Txurruka would follow. The rest of the favourites would, however, ride back across to the duo.
Txurruka finishes down in 8th.
The early attack might well have done for Txurruka as he would be passed be riders he would expect to beat in his home country towards the finish. We wanted the win here, however, 8th brings some good rankings points to the team.
However, one wonders if Txurruka and Bonsucro are not a good match. The Spaniard has struggled with us so far, some combos just don't go well together.
1
Jaroslav Kulhavy
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
4h48'07
2
David Arroyo
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
+ 10
3
Maxim Iglinski
Maloja Mountain Nomads
s.t.
--
--
----
8
Amets Txurruka
Bonsucro
s.t.
19
Pedro Nicácio
Bonsucro
+ 1'39
39
Jonathan Camargo
Bonsucro
+ 2'36
40
Rodrigo Melo
Bonsucro
s.t.
60
Alberto Losada
Bonsucro
+ 5'47
63
Hernâni Broco
Bonsucro
+ 7'08
73
João Gaspar
Bonsucro
+ 9'12
There we have two more one day races done and dusted. They weren't our finest days, however, we made the break in each race and, also in each race, earned a few more rankings points. A very different type of race, Circulo de Juarez, is up next for the team. See you there
Five flat stages which comprise this c2 race had us really interested here for two main reasons:
1) - Manarelli would have a great chance to show himself in the sprints. 2) - The race is apart of the America Tour, where we have a goal of a top10.
We entered the race hoping for a stage win and a decent GC place.
Manarelli sprinting for 5th place on stage 2.
Stages 1 and 2 read as lacklustre for Bonsucro. Aguilar was unable to give Manarelli a lead-out and our Brazilian sprinter came into both sprints in arguably the worst position of all of the top sprinters here. He did well, really well, to finish these stages in 7th and 5th respectively.
Manarelli sprinting to victory on stage 3.
Stage 3, for the first time in Mexico, saw Manarelli get his first good position coming into the final few hundred meters. He had more than enough to come around Rowe and take a nice win.
It really was an up and down tour for Manarelli as on stage 4 he was back to being well out of position and ended up coming from well back to finish 6th.
Manarelli winning the final stage in Juarez by a bike length.
Carlos would round out this tour with his second stage win (his third overall for Bonsucro). He showed great spirit, aggression and anticipation to jump from wheel to wheel in the final. This potent mix saw him take enough bonus seconds to finish second overall in the GC, youth classification and points classification. Mission completed in Juarez!
Borges fights for another jersey!
Bonsucro's performance in Juarez didn't solely concern Manarelli. Bruno Borges performed out of his skin again. After nabbing some KOM points on stage 1 he made the break on stages 4 and 5 to secure the KOM jersey here. He is quickly securing himself a place in Bonsucro folklore!
We entered this race with Manarelli as our leader. Though truth be told there were no guarantees this would end in a bunch sprint, especially after a break took the win in 2013.
Mas continues his good month.
The race got off to a good start for us, with Mas making yet another break.
The break would be caught, just, and a bunch sprint would decide the winner. Farrar would take the win in his home country, with our man Manarelli finishing 2nd continuing his great form from Juarez.
Manarelli has one of the better accelerations of all of the continental sprinters and that really is making all the difference, he is one of the top continental sprinters around right now. That is 32 more points in the bag which help us towards finishing in the America Tour top10.
1
Tyler Farrar
Azteca - NBCSN
4h03'21
2
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Bonsucro
s.t.
3
Alexander Edmondson
Evonik - Signal Iduna
s.t.
--
--
--
22
Lluis Mas
Bonsucro
s.t.
37
Willian Araujo
Bonsucro
s.t.
59
Bruno Borges
Bonsucro
s.t.
84
João Gaspar
Bonsucro
+ 1'42
101
Carlos Oyarzun
Bonsucro
+ 3'52
106
Rafael Silva
Bonsucro
+ 5'15
Next up we have our final one day road race, this season, at the c1 level and the rankings update at the end of May. We will also be reviewing the upcoming races for June, including a race where it will be impossible for us not to score points! See you there.
Manarelli on a great run of form at the moment! Really pushing you forwards in the race for promotion, and you have got to be feeling more and more confident that might come true.
Am I the only one hearing the AI say: "Challenge accepted"
Manarelli is on a high currently. But what really is pushing you forwards to promotion is that whenever one might think that you could start to struggle now another rider gets you a brilliant result - whether it is Manarelli, Mas or Nicacio..
TheManxMissile & jt1109: His form has been great as of late, a shame the c2 races don't yield many points. We are in a great position, fantastic, if you consider the fact that two of our biggest names haven't performed much yet. Definitely pays to have a more rounded squad than one outstanding rider IMO.
knockout & all: Everything will be cleared up tomorrow in a monster post! So look out for that
I haven't been able to keep track of the lower divisions, so it's highly surprising to see the results you've achieved with all the men we've negotiated between ourselves. Keep up with the results and thanks for sheltering my loanees to such success
I suppose as the whole Bonsucro project is pretty different from everything else in the MAN GAME, it follows that the jersey is different too. 
- Willian Araujo
- Bruno Borges
- Lluis Mas
- Carlos Oyarzun
- Héctor Fabian Aguilar
- Sergio Godoy
Circulo de Juarez
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
