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Team Kenya Airways | 2014
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 06:24
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 16-03-2014 14:30
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Hopefully Samwel will go very well for you, Kenya Mountain Classic will certainly be interesting!
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 16-03-2014 15:59
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SportingNonsense wrote:
Hopefully Samwel will go very well for you, Kenya Mountain Classic will certainly be interesting!
I hope so too, otherwise losing my big talent will be for nothing  It certainly will be, expectations will be high for him to do well everywhere he goes with such few racedays. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 16-03-2014 16:32
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Four More Sign, Including Gasparotto
Today is becoming a very fruitful day for the team, with five riders now completing moves to Kenya. Earlier Mwangi Samwel completed a move to his home team, to the relief of the manager. Now, another leader has been signed, with Enrico Gasparotto joining from Puma! More details are below.
 Salfo Bikienga | Wage: 50.000 | Age: 26 | Skills: 73 CB, 74 FT |
Firstly, Salfo signed earlier today from Asian team Compal - Merida. The Burkina Faso national champion will have a colourful jersey to wear next year for us as he arrives in a 250.000 double-deal along with Tsagbu Grmay. Decent on the cobbles, he will lead us there during the very few races with that terrain.
 Tsagbu Grmay | Wage: 50.000 | Age: 23 | Skills: 72 MO, 69 HI |
Also coming in from Compal - Merida as a part of that double deal is Tsagbu. Another national champion, this time the Ethiopian title holder, he will be a domestique in the mountains for us this year. He also brings plenty of potential, being able to improve to one of the teams' top climbers in a couple of years we think.
 Enrico Gasparotto | Wage: 240.000 | Age: 32 | Skills: 76 SP, 71 HI |
The biggest rider from this batch, Enrico will be leading us in the places where he races this year. Not the youngest or the cheapest, but he brings is a rather unique type of rider, being fast enough in the sprints and good uphill as well. If we can find the correct races for him, results could beckon. We thank Puma for letting him go for 600.000 euros.
 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana | Wage: 70.000 | Age: 21 | Skills: 67 MO, 67 TT |
The Rwandan with a long name, aka Bonaventure, isn't the strongest of riders yet but he has the ability and potential to become one of the top African stage racers in the future. He won't do much this year for us though, and will likely be sent fetching bottles or go out on loan to develop somewhere where he can be useful. |
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 16-03-2014 16:34
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Very nice signings, love how you kept the team so full of 'flavour'. Well done  I think Gasparatto might have few sprints against Lijke coming up
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 16-03-2014 16:37
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Alakagom wrote:
Very nice signings, love how you kept the team so full of 'flavour'. Well done I think Gasparatto might have few sprints against Lijke coming up
Thanks! Decided to not venture too much away from Africa, and when I did I signed veterans, not long-term riders. That's the way I enjoy it most, as they then can pass as 'mentors'.
Your team is pretty beast, so I'm not sure if we'll be able to contend with Van Lijke. Hopefully Gasparotto can sneak past him from time to time |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 17-03-2014 20:31
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Team Takes Shape; More Big Riders Arrive
 Hassen Ben Nasser | Wage: 620.000 | Age: 28 | Skills: 79 HI, 77 AC |
First up, we are very happy to confirm that Hassen Ben Nasser has signed a deal with the team! The Tunisian puncheur is one of the best African riders around, so we were extremely pleased when he was confirmed to come to our team, despite his rather over-expensive salary due to a number of other teams wanting his signature.
A rider that will lead the team wherever he races this year, his skills on the hills should see him being one of the top puncheurs in the division this year. As we have set hilly goals, this is a great signature as this sets us up well to achieve them.
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 Merhawi Kudus | Wage: 370.000 | Age: 20 | Skills: 71 MO, 69 HI |
Another rider that we've managed to sign over the past day is Merhawi Kudus. One of our biggest targets heading into the window, the Eritrean youngster has bags of potential to turn into one of the world's top stage racers. One to watch definitely.
He cost a lot, but hopefully he can repay that money in future. He replaces Fredrik Strand Galta as the team's top talent, and he will be given an intensive schedule to ensure that he improves as quickly as possible.
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 Mujtaba Hussein | Wage: 50.000 | Age: 26 | Skills: 72 TT, 72 PR |
Mujtaba spent last year on loan here, and he impressed us with his work ethic and his ability against the clock so we are happy to welcome him from Jaguar - Eritel on a permanent deal. An improved rider this year, he still has enough potential to grow into a great time-trialist. This year he'll continue to be a domestique though as he continues to improve.
 Hervé Raoul Mba | Wage: 50.000 | Age: 30 | Skills: 70 HI, 72 SP |
Joining on minimum wage, Hervé will be an interesting rider for us this year. He should be a strong domestique, able to climb hills and sprint well and will be tasked with being Enrico Gasparotto's right-hand man. He will also get the chance to lead us in places when we race down at C2 level.
 Lotto Petrus | Wage: 50.000 | Age: 27 | Skills: 74 TT, 69 HI |
With our mountainous stage-race leaders not being the best against the clock, we thought we'd need a couple of decent time-trialists to support them when they come up against TTT's. Lotto is one of those, who will be our strongest rider against the clock this year and will hopefully be a valuable domestique.
| Samwel Ekiru | Wage: 50.000 | Age: 31 | Skills: 73 SP, 74 AC |
Kenya's best sprinter, Samwel will spend the year helping out Gasparotto in the sprints wherever he can, while also taking a shot at some of the longer races on offer to see if he can grab a couple of top tens. Won't be a massive rider for the team next year.
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 20-03-2014 17:42
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 17-03-2014 20:32
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Three former Jaguar riders (although it has been a few seasons since I had Ben Nasser) plus the mighty Kudus! Some good signings definitely, and if you get Kudus to Level 3 then he has already caught up with Galta - so I can see why you were happy to sell the Norwegian.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 17-03-2014 20:35
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Yeah, you basically got Samwel for 245k extra salary and no fee considering Kudus exactly replaces Galta and it was a straight swap.
That deal is only theoretical, but one of the best this season in my opinion.
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 17-03-2014 20:43
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Happy that you signed Ben Nasser.
Should be an interesting season for you. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 17-03-2014 23:03
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SN - Didn't know Hassen had ridden for Jaguar, always good to know a bit of MG history. Kudus was a must-have after we sold Galta, who I wasn't attached to anyway, so I'm glad I've got him.
Cio - Hadn't thought of it like that, turned out quite well in the end for us. I just wish Ben Nasser hadn't gone so high, and we could have had a great team.
Miguel - Thanks, hopefully he can perform against all the other competitive punchers in the division. Sorry that me signing him cost you Betancur, though. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 19-03-2014 19:21
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Loan Swaps Round Off Transfers
After five riders were confirmed a couple of days ago, a couple of loan swaps with African rivals Jaguar - Eritel and Continental team Siam Cement - Lenovo have seen transfers reach a conclusion for the team.
Firstly, going to Asia with Siam for experience is Bonaventure Uwizeyimana, who we recently signed from the free agency. He should have a good year of fetching the bottles down in the Continental tour, preparing him for his future adventures with this team.
 Gyung Gu Jang | Wage: 0 (50.000) | Age: 24 | Skills: 71 HI, 71 MO |
Coming the other way is exciting Korean talent Gyung Gu Jang, to ride with us this season! We aren't paying any of his wage, but provided Siam with a good fee plus the promise to give him plenty of time on the road as a domestique in the uphill races we ride.
In our swap with Jaguar, Ethiopian champion Tsgabu Grmay leaves the team temporarily to gain experience. His good mountain stat will be missed, but he will return a better rider hopefully next year.
 Charles Anguilet | Wage: 20.000 (50.000) | Age: 25 | Skills: 71 MO, 69 HI |
The other side of the deal sees Gabon TT champion Charles Anguilet come our way for the year, also to gain experience. A good rider in the mountains, he should be able to fill the void left by Tsgabu and become a good domestique while he improves.
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So without and further hesitation, we give you our squad for this year. We are happy with the outcome as we feel our goals can be achieved with these riders and a decent finish is also possible, with a bit of luck of course! As you can see, the mountains and hills will be our main focuses.
Next up - a tribute to those who have left the team after riding for us in our first ever year, who have moved on this transfer season.
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 19-03-2014 19:31
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 21-03-2014 18:20
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Nine Riders Leave
The recent transfer period has seen plenty of new faces joining Kenya Airways. Over the course of transfers and renewals, this meant that nine of our riders from last year's Continental squad have had to leave. Featured are some that gave us some very memorable moments.
 Yasmani Martinez | 321pts (14th) | 76 MO, 73 TT | Joins: Team Nordeus |
Yasmani was our big team leader last year, who was the best point-scoring rider and someone who achieved goals as well as grabbing wins and getting some good results, ending the year in a great 14th place in the CT rankings. He had to leave due to the influx of new riders, but has fount a new home in the Continental division in Team Nordeus.
Best Result - 2nd  Middle East Tour
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 Nico Schinker | 148pts (61st) | 77 SP, 75 AC | Joins: Team Nordeus |
One of the manager's favourites last year, Nico was often in and out of form but always had the capability to bring a surprise result, none more so than his surprise classic win, the teams only outright race win, at the Trofeo Luis Puig. He had to leave as he didn't feel at home in a near all-African team, so decided to join Nordeus like Yasmani.
Best Result - 1st  Trofeo Luis Puig
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| Iker Camano | 96pts (101st) | 74 MO, 71 TT | Joins: Free Agency |
A one race wonder for us, Iker had a largely quiet year doing domestique work apart from at the Vuelta al Tachira, where he took the team's first ever win from a mid-stage attack on stage five, putting him into the leaders jersey! He then went onto finish 11th overall, a great memory for the team. It now appears he may retire with no new contract offers.
Best Result - 1st  Stage 5 Vuelta al Tachira
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Others Leaving
| Name | Joins |  Fredrik Strand Galta | Vesuvio - Accumalux (PT) |  Daan Rijntjes | Project 1t4i (PT) |  Matthew Brammeier | ASDA - Savers (CT) | | Alejandro Marque | Free Agency |  Yusuf Abrekov | Free Agency |  Henrique Madeira Casimiro | Free Agency |
Edited by SportingNonsense on 21-03-2014 22:43
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 21-03-2014 18:33
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I really hope the first 2 guys will bring me alot of points this year, just they did with your team last year.
HQ looks cool with these screenshots and texts, keep up the good work.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 21-03-2014 18:50
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Glad to see you've managed to sign Kudus. And for a pretty fair wage as well
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 21-03-2014 19:03
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Nice to see this team taking shape! It looks awesome 
I hope you just plan Kudus's season properly in order to make him jump from level 1-->3. That means him and Meintjes will max out in the same season I maxed out both their stats today and they're gonna turn out so similar!
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 21-03-2014 22:18
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Admir - I hope they do well too! Noticed today that Martinez has he 4th best average in the CT, I hope you enjoy his all-round strength, his top tens on flat stages for example
Alex - It was really great to get Kudus, and I couldn't pay a penny more so it was good that he could sign for a decent amount! The FA market treated us nicely this year, apart from Nasser.
Aidan - No mistakes will be made, the race days will be checked and doubl checked to avoid him doing a Meintjes At least it means they can max out together, hopefully they can become great rivals. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 26-03-2014 09:38
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Kenya Airways Get Giro Wildcard!
This morning the year's ProTour wildcards were announced, and Kenya Airways featured heavily. In our first eligible year, we managed to gain five wildcards which is the most of any team! Certainly the biggest and most important of these is the Giro d'Italia!
One of the three grand tours, the Giro is a race steeped in history and we are extremely pleased to gain entry as the only new pro continental team to gain a grand tour wildcard. We hope we can prove this to be a worthy selection, with us sending an almost full-strength team to Italy in the hope of results. We were one of two lucky teams to get chosen, along with Metinvest - Emirates.
No lineup has been decided yet, but it is almost certain that our new signings Mwangi Samwel and Hassen Ben Nasser will lead an all-african team, the first of these to ride a grand tour (and a PT race?).
Taylor Phinney winning the 2013 edition
As said, this wasn't the only wildcard we got. We also gained entry to our first ever monument,  Liege-Bastogne-Liege, where our best hilly squad will ride the last of the Ardennes classics.
Another of these classics where we will race next year is also held in Belgium, which is La Fleche Wallone. The same team will go here that goes to Liege, lead by lead puncheur Hassen Ben Nasser.
In the run up to the Giro, we'll also get a crack at another big Italian stage race in the form of Tirreno - Adriatico. This year's hilly route looked ideal again for Hassen Ben Nasser, who will also lead us here in a year that gives him the chance to shine at the highest level.
Finally, we also got accepted to race the  GP Liechtenstein which is regarded by most as the toughest mountainous race in the world. Ideal, for Mwangi Samwel then who is one of the few mountain goats who can't do much on the other terrains. Another chance for our Kenyan leader to ride for himself in the ProTour.
As you can see that's a lot of wildcards! With 34 race days, that is the most of any Pro Continental team. We hope we can justify our inclusion is some of cycling's biggest races. |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 26-03-2014 09:43
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That's a nice bunch of wildcards for Kenya Congrats, mate! Guess you will end up with at least one nice result or a stage-win at least!
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 26-03-2014 09:56
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You were well rewarded for being the only team to apply for races in all PT categories. At least one reality has recognised that 2014 is the year to have an African team at the Giro!
The 2012 Giro is probably Samwel's best Grand Tour to date. He was very visible on the front of the peloton, often forcing selections while working for Frank Schleck, and still he managed to take 15th overall. He would have ridden the Giro for Vesuvio too if he had stayed, so it will be very interesting to watch how he does.
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 26-03-2014 10:02
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tsmoha - Thanks, I always liked the wildcard idea and seems we were one of only a couple to apply for quite a few, which got us into plenty of races. I hope we can bring back something other that XP, but we'll have to see. A stage win would be brilliant.
I'll be supporting Oz at Cali and Copenhagen, so good luck to you there!
SN - Would be great if Samwel could replicate that 15th but I think I'd be more content with him going stage hunting or going for the King of the Mountains jersey, but that's probably unlikely.
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 26-03-2014 10:06
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