"Time to Owniak" | Message from the Dessert - Part 2#10
Dzien dobry, Hello fans and I just wanted to drop by and show my latest result, which also gave me my first points of the season. Oman is not rated high on the point standings, but getting a result in any race your riding is mandatory and I think that today reflected that desire, as have the last couple of days riding in pure Evans Style!
Pirazzi told me that he couldn't help me for much more long and pleaded him to test the waters before dropping back. He swiftly told me that the wind was quiet in the open and that it wasn't hard to get a small gap to the rest.
I wasn't the only one having the same idea and I wasn't alone in starting the attacking with assistance from Acevedo and Riblon. Me and Acevedo never got into the big gear and Riblon was clearly superior.
As reflected on this screen from the helicopter.
The last guys are looking for an attack and we're mainly split into 3 groups. Now I only had to help the others breaking down the gap to Riblon.
But the heat was really immense and the favorite group couldn't do anything about Riblon taking the stage win. None of the others fought for the secondary places and I decided to safe my energy for tomorrow.
Stage win in Oman! Day 3 went perfectly. Few bumps, some high speeds and the win was convincing and easy in the end. I got an incredible launch from the lead-out and won by at least 100meters! The fact i wasn't given a time gap and the GC lead was a disgrace though.
The rest of the race went fine. I was matching the other top sprinters at every attempt and the lead-out continued to show good signs of improving. Overall it was a good race for the team and i have no complaints. Form continues to grow and build very nicely, and a real chance to podium MSR is in sight.
Brief bit of a rest before the final push towards MSR in a few weeks time. I'm looking forwards to recovering a bit and spending some time at home. Team is going better than they were last year, could still be better.
"Time to Owniak" | Message from the Desert - Part 3#11
Damian Owniak
[IMG-r]https://i.imgur.com/ejjt3gH.png[/IMG-r]
Age
23
Role
Stage Racer
Rider Type
Climber
Birthday
19th October 1991
Goals
Vuelta a Espana
2013 Team
BMC Racing
2014 Team
BMC Racing
Stage
Race
Placement
Category
Points Gained
4
Tour of Oman
6th
Stage
5 pts
6
Tour of Oman
6th
GC
40 pts
-
-
-
-
-
Dzien dobry, Instead of making a long set of highlights, I've decided to show my updated Rider Tab and I'm glad to have 45 points after my first race. I share my disappointment with my manager and time bonfications are a pain to deal with at times. That said here Ãs the final Top 10 GC and I can only say it's some strong guys I lost and won over.
Well, this race has already finished for some obscure reason, so there's no point doing a preview. Which is a good thing considering how badly it went and there's no point wasting any more time on it. Our leader Albasini, making his debut, didn't feel up to it on the day and left Van Avermaet to do all of the aggressive work. Neither of them even made the top 20. Considering our incredibly strong team here, this was nowhere near good enough.
Roma Maxima
9 March
CT.6
Leader
Michael Albasini
Free Element
Greg Van Avermaet
Team Mate
Dario Cataldo
Team Mate
Silvan Dillier
Team Mate
Fabio Felline
Team Mate
Chad Haga
Team Mate
Daniel Oss
Team Mate
Simon Yates
Team Goal(s):
Top 5
After Strade Bianche, the majority of the team stay for Roma Maxima the next day. A slightly different race with longer climbs further from the end, this one could end in a reduced sprint. Our plan stays the same. Hopefully Albasini has better legs and can put in the attacks on the climbs while Van Avermaet can sit back and wait for a potential sprint. Once again, our team is very strong and we expect a result this time.
Paris - Nice
9 - 16 March
WT.3
Leader
Philippe Gilbert
Sprinter
Andrew Fenn
Team Mate
Marcus Burghardt
Team Mate
Dries Devenyns
Team Mate
Thor Hushovd
Team Mate
Stefan Küng
Team Mate
Michael Schar
Team Mate
Danilo Wyss
Team Goal(s):
Stage Win
Top 5 GC
The first big stage race of the season is the first chance for Gilbert to really show off his new jersey, that of the Belgian Champion. With no Time Trials or mountains, this is a race made for Philippe, and he will look to take advantage and get at least one stage win. This will hopefully put him in contention for the GC as well, though with our recent luck, I'm not expecting it.
The rest of the team is almost all reduced to domestique work but Fenn will be able to go for the sprints on the first few stages with the help of Hushovd. The competition will be fierce but hopefully young Andy can pick up a top 10 or two. As will be the case for a lot of this season, Devenyns will hopefully stick with Gilbert for as long as possible in the hills and be a good right-hand man.
Tirreno - Adriatico
12 - 18 March
WT.3
Leader
Tejay Van Garderen
Sprinter
Adrien Hanzen
Team Mate
Dario Cataldo
Team Mate
Fabio Felline
Team Mate
Daniel Oss
Team Mate
Damian Owniak
Team Mate
Taylor Phinney
Team Mate
Manuel Quinziato
UCI Goal:
Top 10 GC
Team Goal(s):
Stage Win
Top 10 GC
As always, Tirreno - Adriatico runs at the same time as Paris - Nice. This year, however, due to the relatively easy route in France, 90% of the top GC riders will be in Italy for the usual brutal slugfest over the mountains of central Italy. The race opens with a TTT and finishes with an ITT, so you need to be able to Time Trial to a decent standard if you want a good result here.
Our team is led by Van Garderen with the aim of securing a top 10. It would normally be simple enough as he's one of the ten best stage racers in the world but the startlist here will make the race extremely intense from the go. He has strong support from Owniak and Cataldo to help him. We also have Hanzen for the sprints at the start of the race. With a strong leadout of Oss, Felline and Phinney, we expect Adrien to really challenge for a stage win, especially with no Cavendish, Kittel, Greipel, Sagan, Kristoff or perennial rivals Bouhanni or Demare on the startlist.
With a group of strong rouleurs, we also hope to be very competitive in the TTT and picking up the leader's jersey would be a great way to start the week.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
The Italian adventure continues! Tirreno-Adriatico fits nicely in between Strade and MSR. The team is primarily here to go for the GC, whilst i'm here to polish off form ahead of the big one. The opening TTT went well, the team finishing high up as a group and setting a great base for the race.
The second stage was fast and had. Big split in the peloton seemed to shift all the other sprinters bar myself. BMC didn't have the power to generate a lead-out but there were enough teams pushing the pace it wasn't nessesary. When i opened my sprint no-one could even come close to me!
Comfortable win in the bag and i can chill a bit for the rest of the race. Leaders Jersey on my back and i can really set about attacking the Points Jersey win. No time gap was frustrating, just like in Oman, but i have to get on with things. 2 Wins already is a huge improvement on last year and i am very excited about what MSR could bring.
The good form continues into MSR! The weather wasn't great but the result certainly was. It was a relatively neutralised Cipressa/Poggio finish allowing the peloton to mostly stick together. This opened it up to the fast ment who dueled it out for the win.
Cannondale set-up Sagan brilliantly whilst Kittel used his power to charge for the line. I delayed relatively late to back a cheeky burst. But it was Marcel on top ahead of Peter. Third place in a Monument cannot be lightly taken though. It was one of my best rides, meeting my personal goal and securing the Team Goal.
Next year will also be the flat route so i've got at least one more chance to really go for the win. Progression makes that a real possibility. But for now i can relax safe in the knowledge of a job well done. Turn my attentions forwards to the Giro as my next target race and a GT stage win.
"Time to Owniak" | The Race of the Two Seas Part 1#12
Dzien dobry, Hello fans and it's Damian that is back on the blog and ready to report to you live from Tirreno Adriatico, where I'm helping Tejay getting a good result and eventually trying to get a stage win for myself. Having looked at Paris - Nice the following days I still question, that if I was there instead of Gilbert things might be different, but that remains speculation and I'm glad for my current schedule.
I think to belive that I made some important pushes in the opening Team Time Trial and the team ended 2nd with just a two second margin to Quickstep. Overall the race didn't start for me until 4th stage, but I did see Adrien getting a stage win! I scrolled through the screenshots and there were no picture of me except for my head, so I can just explain that I sat with Tejay protecting him from the wind and this gave me a good chance to know the guy, which I've only been training with. The end result was a 3rd place for Tejay alongside the big guys, which is an fantastic result. See you tomorrow for another Mountain stage!
"Time to Owniak" | The Race of the Two Seas Part 2#13
Dzien dobry, Hello fans and it's Damian, that is back to tell you about our recent adventure at "The Race of the Two Seas" and after a tough week we achieved our goal, but it wasn't victory in that sense and we left Italy with a sense of not being victorious. We were controlling the pace and we were the ones to set the agenda, but when it got too tough we didn't got what it takes.
Conclusion is that we must go back and prepare ourselves for the Giro, but since I won't be racing there, I will get an optimal way of training toward my big goal in the Vuelta. This is the year where I must make my stand and I hope to come back stronger than ever!
Giro training is going well. Took some time to head out and ride some of the race routes to get them into my head a bit more. Will do so again with some teammates and at greater speed nearer the time. Not rushing into anything. My training is going well with lots of long rides of the type i'd do pre-season to boost base level fitness. Aiming at improving my stamina and resistance on long hard stages.
Continentals are up next taking place in Geelong. It's an interesting and open route. Enough climbing for a puncher to chance their luck but flat enough for us sprinters to survive. The BMC team is a strong one covering all possibilities. Gilbert and Albasini can attack the hills. GVA and myself for more of a sprint finish. Blythe, Felline and Oss to support. I guess Hushovd will be the road captain having the Words on this course in 2010, handy guy to have around!
Personally i'd have liked more of clear leadership role but it's such an open route i understand the managers decisions to cover all possiblities, in fact most managers went that way. For Season Part 2 it's obvious where my goal is, the Giro. All prep is for that and then we'll reasses after the GT finishes.
Our season began in San Luis, Argentina in the middle of January, as the team made use of the Southern Hemisphere sun. Our season almost started disastrously, with team leader Tejay Van Garderen suffering a puncture minutes into his season. Fortunately, his American team mates got him back in but it was, sadly, a foreshadowing of the terrible week that was to come in South America.
Thousands of miles away, another group of riders were starting their season in Australia. Stefan Küng launched the very first attack of the 2014 WorldTour season on the first morning but the 20-year-old debutant didn't get very far. Our riders were pretty rusty on the first day, especially considering they'd never ridden together before, but new signing Hanzen just missed out on the podium on his BMC debut.
The next day was much better for the team, in Australia at least, as an unbelievable ride by every member of the squad almost took Hanzen to a stage win. Unfortunately, the young sprinter just left it too late and was narrowly beaten by Kristoff and Bennati.
The less said about San Luis, the better, as Van Garderen blew any chances he had with a tired looking sub-standard performance in the mountains and then being beaten by four team mates in the ITT where he should have excelled.
Stage four Down Under saw Hanzen winning the bunch sprint...behind the successful breakaway, before the stage to Willunga killed any GC chances for our young team. Back in Argentina, ex-BMC rider Steve Cummings took a win from the breakaway on the tough stage 5, while Tejay continued to haemorrhage seconds and minutes in an abysmal performance. The next day, Bookwalter got into the breakaway and helped Tejay later on when he attacked from the peloton. It was way too little, too late, but it was good to finally see some fight from the American Time Trial Champ as he took 6th place.
On the final day of the respective races, Hanzen took another 4th place finish to clinch 15th overall and in San Luis, Tejay came home with the bunch to finish 8th.
It's fair to say this wasn't the start of the season we'd been hoping for. Our two goals (Stage win in Australia and GC win in San Luis) were failed although Hanzen came extremely close to getting the first. Still, there were a lot of youngsters on show and they didn't disgrace themselves at all. And it was certainly better than we managed in January last year when we scored 0 points. We definitely laid down a solid platform to build on in the Middle East in February.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
After a short break, we headed off to the Middle East for the Tours of Qatar and Oman. Qatar was first and, as always, the race was a sprinter's paradise. We were hoping Taylor Phinney's power and Time-trialling ability would get him into contention for the overall win despite the presence of much quicker sprinters. And he proved it would be possible on stage 1, coming home in 7th position, ahead of supposedly quicker finishers.
Another top 10 followed on Stage 2 before the key stage, the ITT. Taylor went out towards the end of the day and upon crossing the line, took a comfortable lead, eleven seconds ahead of the previous leader. Sadly, it wasn't to be, as Sky's Boasson Hagen had great form at this early-season race and lowered the best time by another four seconds. The second place meant that it was likely to be between EBH and Taylor for the overall win.
After the breakaway took Stage 4, the battle resumed for the final two days. Despite Boasson Hagen having to put all his effort into setting his teammate Mark Cavendish up for the stage win, he was still able to comfortably finish inside the top 10 on both days, just ahead of Phinney, meaning he took the win. Phinney clinched second place overall and the white jersey as well. Bookwalter also missed out on the top ten by one second due to bonus seconds on the last day.
Then, it was off to Oman for a very different race in the desert. Still hunting for our first win of the season when we arrived, we had to be patient as the breakaway took the opening stage, with Hanzen finishing 2nd in the bunch sprint for 4th on the day. The Brit also took 4th on Stage 2 but just when we were getting worried that he enjoyed 4th place too much, he came up with the goods the next day, trouncing the field by metres to get our first win of the season.
He didn't have long to enjoy his win as the next day we were into the mountains so the team's focus switched from Adrien to fellow youngster Damian Owniak. Haga got into the breakaway early on to take pressure of the team and as soon as we hit the final climb, Pirazzi also went on the attack to try to allow Damian to save energy. It didn't really work as the favourites attacked instantly afterwards, with Owniak deciding, correctly, to follow the attacks of Riblon and Acevedo before being joined by none other than Alberto Contador.
Unfortunately, Damian didn't have the legs to stick with early attacker Riblon, but neither did anyone else, as the Frenchman rode off into the distance for a stunning win. It was a sixth-place finish in the end for the young Pole but with no time lost to the other favourites behind Riblon. The next day, a superb team performance moved Damian up to fifth as Küng, Felline, Dillier and Haga rode hard to keep their team leaders in the much-reduced main bunch.
A bizarre final stage saw Contador attacking on the flat to move up to second overall, while Hanzen once again finished 4th. Owniak moved back down to 6th in the GC but it was still a solid enough start to his 2014 season.
Next up was the first of the cobbled classics, Omloop het Nieuwsblad, as our cobbles team got some practice in. The race didn't go to plan for the team as, oddly, a big group came to the finish all together. With no top sprinter, Van Avermaet was our best finisher in 9th place, with Phinney and Oss also in the top 20.
The final 'preparation races', Strade Bianche and Roma Maxima went dreadfully for the team. No BMC riders made the top 20 in Siena despite our strong team, while in Rome, Albasini at least made the front group to finish 14th but the team was completely inactive over the course of the weekend.
We went into Paris - Nice and Tirreno - Adriatico needing results.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
Next up was Paris - Nice, always a big highlight of the early season but not the most important focus for BMC. Nevertheless, we sent our leader Gilbert to France as with numerous hilly stages and no mountains, he had a real chance of a top result. The race started with three flat stages however and our young sprinter Andrew Fenn couldn't make any impact against some of the world's best. Wyss got into the breakaway on Stage 3 but it didn't come to anything.
Stage 4 was the start of the decisive stages with Gilbert following late attacks to take a 4th place finish, with Hushovd also finishing in the top 10. However, no real gaps meant that the GC was still sprinter-heavy. At the same time, Tirreno - Adriatico kicked off with a TTT as usual. BMC's strong team went off the ramp very early and held the lead for a while but Omega Pharma knocked us off the top by two seconds. The second place finish for the team put Van Garderen into a prime position for later in the week.
Back to France and the team was just about to have a great day. Dries Devenyns got into the early breakaway and scored enough points on the climbs to claim the polka dot jersey. He wasn't finished there and attacked his companions on the final climb to take a fantastic stage win, holding off the peloton by just 22 seconds.
On the same day, the team took control of the bunch sprint in Italy to allow Hanzen to obliterate the field and take the leader's jersey.
While the rest of Paris - Nice was an absolute nightmare, Tirreno was only just getting started with big goals for Tejay. The team completely gave up in Southern France with nothing to mention at all from the last three stages, Gilbert being a massive disappointment. Hanzen went too early in the sprint on Stage 3 in Italy before the mountains came along. Van Garderen was magnificent on Stage 4, sticking with the big guns all the way to the summit finish to finish 3rd, just behind Froome and Nibali as all three moved to joint 1st in the GC.
Unfortunately, Tejay missed the key move the next day, choosing to stick with his team mates and try to catch them. He ended up 9th on the stage, moving down to 5th overall, still comfortably within reach of our goal of a top 10.
Stage 6 took us back to the flat but Hanzen once again went too early to ruin a perfect leadout, finishing down in 7th. The Brit lacks a bit of experience and tactical nous at this point but the power is evident. The final stage TT was where we hoped for a stage win but the hard week had caught up with Tejay and he could only manage 11th to clinch a 5th place finish overall as we successfully completed our first goal of the season.
A couple of days later, the team took part in Nokere Koerse in Belgium. Van Avermaet suffered a puncture as the race entered its closing stages but the team did well to get him back in the right position. Unfortunately, there was no organisation in the bunch and after letting a group that was way too big up the road, the top 10 was full of breakaway riders. Van Avermaet finished third in the bunch to claim 13th position. Not a great race with Milano - San Remo around the corner.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
So, here came the first monument of the season and the first big test for our new sprint prodigy Adrien Hanzen. Milan - San Remo is always a fine balance between a small bunch sprint or a successful late attack so we decided to put all our eggs in one basket and send a team fully committed to delivering Adrien to the line.
And the team were superb. All of them knew their job, with no interest in personal glory as they kept Adrien out of trouble all day. In the final sprint in San Remo, Adrien was one of the quickest but was just pipped to the line by Kittel and Sagan to claim a superb podium finish. Maybe as soon as next year, that top step may be within reach.
Next up, we were off to Spain for the Volta a Catalunya, for Leopold König's BMC debut. The startlist was very strong but we hoped for a top 5. The first stage was a disaster, Swiss champion Michael Albasini crashing out on a descent and going to the local hospital, and none of our riders making the top 20 in the sprint finish. Though with no sprinter present, that wasn't too much of a disappointment.
The next stage saw a remarkable performance from young Swiss rider Silvan Dillier, as he stormed to 5th place on a tough stage with a nasty climb not far from the end. But the next day, it was over to Leopold and the climbers as the race hit the Pyrenees. The Czech rider certainly did not disappoint as he stuck with all of the big guns and then attacked them at the end. Unfortunately, he just missed out on the stage win as Pinot had attacked earlier and held on by millimetres but the performance showed that he was capable of big things.
Meanwhile, in Belgium, a big couple of weeks was getting underway with the Dwars door Vlaanderen. The race was a shambles for the team as, despite having five riders in the front group of 38, none of them were in the top 30, which must be some kind of unwanted record. But the team was looking ahead to the WT classics at the end of the week.
But König was still the centre of attention with another great performance on stage 4 in Catalunya. He finished 4th on the stage, 2nd of the GC contenders and took the overall race lead with a small gap to Rodriguez and Uran. Unfortunately, due to a poor decision with timings by the organisers, Leopold lost the jersey the next day to Valverde by 11 seconds.
E3 Prijs marked the start of the WT cobbled classics season and we needed an urgent upturn in form from our classics team, who had been pretty average to this point. Daniel Oss tried an early attack but was scuppered by Demare and then our riders missed a key split later on. While Boonen took the win, Van Avermaet rolled in to an unacceptable 15th place finish. The team had failed extremely badly and had one more chance to get things right at Gent - Wevelgem.
The final two stages in Catalunya were both won by breakaways as the race settled down on the flatter terrain. König rode very sensibly on the final stage to stay with the other GC contenders and clinch a fantastic second place finish. What a brilliant start to his BMC career.
Now, it was back to Belgium for Gent - Wevelgem. Youngster Fabio Felline got into the early breakaway to take the pressure of his teammates, though, given the last couple of races, there was monumental pressure on them regardless. And sure enough, Van Avermaet missed a split again. But fortunately for him today, Andrew Fenn rode himself into the ground to get Greg back into contention. In the end, after Cancellara and Sagan broke free of the group, Van Avermaet ended up in 6th position, a marked improvement on the previous races as the form builds for the big races.
Finally, we went to De Panne to try and defend the title that Taylor Phinney won last year. Phinney was present again but Van Avermaet was also here to try to get the last bit of form necessary for De Ronde. It worked:
Greg took a great solo win on stage 1 and held the lead until the final Time Trial. Gilbert also sat in the top 10 on the opening stage while on stage 3, GVA and Phinney were both in the top 6. Going into the TT with both the leader and the favourite, we were left frustrated and gutted as Greg lost the lead to Boasson Hagen by three seconds. Phinney also rode one of the worst TTs of his life as he barely squeezed into the top 10. The teams' classification was little consolation.
Definitely a better start than last season when we had managed 2 wins up to this point - both by Phinney in De Panne - and our goals reflect that. Superb performances by Hanzen in San Remo, Van Garderen in Tirreno and König in Catalunya showed our improved competitiveness in multiple terrains but our classics team have so far disappointed, with just a 6th place in Gent - Wevelgem to show so far. But then again, at least that was the race with the goal!
Our failed goals were of course disappointing. San Luis was an abysmal performance from Van Garderen who was nowhere near the win that he should have been able to cruise to. The Tour Down Under was full of near misses and Hanzen only missed out on the stage win due to a combination of bad timing, bad luck and Andre Greipel.
In terms of actual victories, Hanzen kicked us off in Oman, Devenyns and Hanzen both won on the same day in Paris - Nice and Tirreno - Adriatico respectively, and then Van Avermaet secured our fourth win in De Panne. Nothing historic but a solid improvement on last season. The only thing we're lacking is a GC win but with three 2nd place finishes (Phinney in Qatar, König in Catalunya and Van Avermaet in De Panne), at least we're not far off.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
It's been a good opening few months to the season for the team then! Hitting the TDU goal would have been good but meeting that Hard MSR Podium goal is in contention for a teams season highlight.
I am loving life here at BMC. We're really coming together as a team. Ok we are a bit behind where the ultimate target is for the rankings but there's a loooong way to go for that yet. I'm just looking forwards to contributing again in the Giro as i go after some stage wins.
Not really much to add after the last update. Conti's could be great for me and should be good the for the team. My training is going well and i should hit the Giro better than ever. Still not giving huge thoughts beyond the Giro with Nationals being the first target afterwards. 2 Wins is two more than this time last year so i'm happy. Things are great for me, can't complain at all!
Here are BMC's goals for the middle part of the season:
Easy Goal: Top 5, Tour de Suisse Medium Goal: Stage Win, Tour de Romandie Hard Goal: Top 3, Giro d'Italia
The two big Swiss races are logical targets for the team and strong lineups in both will hopefully give the home fans something to cheer. The Giro is an unknown but a podium in the first Grand Tour of the year could be possible with the right startlist. As with last year, this part of the season is huge for the team, with the cobbled classics, the hilly classics and Tour of California also being huge targets for the management. But... we can only name three official goals.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
Here are BMC's goals for the middle part of the season:
Easy Goal: Top 5, Tour de Suisse Medium Goal: Stage Win, Tour de Romandie Hard Goal: Top 3, Giro d'Italia
The two big Swiss races are logical targets for the team and strong lineups in both will hopefully give the home fans something to cheer. The Giro is an unknown but a podium in the first Grand Tour of the year could be possible with the right startlist. As with last year, this part of the season is huge for the team, with the cobbled classics, the hilly classics and Tour of California also being huge targets for the management. But... we can only name three official goals.
Countered goals:
Easy goal: Top 10 Ronde
Medium goal: Top 5 Trentino
Hard goal: Win LBL
While some of his team mates were busy taking part in the Continental Championships, young Pole Damian Owniak was proving his fantastic determination to make it to the very top in cycling, spending hours training, particularly on the flat. He knows that to challenge in a Grand Tour, he has to be able to save energy on the flatter stages.
Damian Owniak - FL 65 => 66
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
Due to our awesome Swiss timing, we are half a month late. But, as they say, better late than never.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Leader
Greg Van Avermaet
Team Mate
Marcus Burghardt
Team Mate
Philippe Gilbert
Team Mate
Thor Hushovd
Team Mate
Daniel Oss
Team Mate
Taylor Phinney
Team Mate
Manuel Quinziato
Team Mate
Michael Schar
UCI Goal:
Top 10
Team Goal(s):
Top 3
After what happened here last year, we were hoping to see Greg defend his title or at least get on the podium. However, as usual, we must have pissed off the cycling gods, so duly Greg got a puncture at the key moment. Cheers. He battled back as hard as he could with the help of fellow Belgian Gilbert, who has looked very strong on the cobbles this year, but couldn't get near the front groups. He finished 10th, completing our goal, just, but this was our worst monument so far under the EPIC management.
Vuelta al Pais Vasco
Leader
Leopold König
Free Element
Philippe Gilbert
Team Mate
Dries Devenyns
Team Mate
Chad Haga
Team Mate
Stefano Pirazzi
Team Mate
Georg Preidler
Team Mate
Danilo Wyss
Team Mate
Simon Yates
Team Goal(s):
Top 3
Stage Win
Unlike De Ronde, this race went arguably better than expected. Even though Gilbert was very disappointing and got nowhere near the stage win we were hoping for, Leopold continued where he left off in Catalunya, proving he's one of the best stage racers around. A superb stage win on the Queen stage gave him the leader's jersey by quite some margin but, of course, the gods intervened again and decided that he would lose it in the final ITT to a rider no better than him against the clock by a ridiculous margin. Anyway, goals achieved for us here.
Paris Roubaix
Leader
Greg Van Avermaet
Team Mate
Marcus Burghardt
Team Mate
Fabio Felline
Team Mate
Thor Hushovd
Team Mate
Daniel Oss
Team Mate
Taylor Phinney
Team Mate
Manuel Quinziato
Team Mate
Michael Schär
Team Goal(s):
Top 5
A race that suits Greg less than De Ronde but a race that he still finished in the top 5 of last year, the Belgian will be hoping to repeat that result again this time, if not better it. With some extremely strong rouleurs behind him including the fast-improving Taylor Phinney, we have no fears in our ability to challenge for the podium. All we fear is bad luck. Continually.
De Brabantse Pijl
Leader
Philippe Gilbert
Free Element
Greg van Avermaet
Team Mate
Dries Devenyns
Team Mate
Silvan Dillier
Team Mate
Fabio Felline
Team Mate
Stefan Küng
Team Mate
George Preidler
Team Mate
Danilo Wyss
Team Goal(s):
Win
I give up with this race. A waste of time. Gilbert came 10th. Yay.
The Ardennes are always a huge target for the team with ex-triple winner Gilbert making these his main targets of the season. After helping compatriot Van Avermaet over the cobbles, Greg will get the chance to repay the favour in these races. Albasini will also be a key figure for Philippe, whilst strong all rounders like Oss, Devenyns and Burghardt will be extremely useful in keeping the race under control. Youngster Yates gets his first taste of races he hopes to challenge for one day, while Frank adds some genuine climbing punch if needed.
A tough goal has been set by the UCI for us in Liège but we have a good chance and we will try to win anyway.
Giro del Trentino
Leader
Damian Owniak
Luxury Team Mate
Dario Cataldo
Team Mate
Lawson Craddock
Team Mate
Chad Haga
Team Mate
Stefan Küng
Team Mate
Stefano Pirazzi
Team Mate
George Preidler
Team Mate
Larry Warbasse
UCI Goal:
Top 5 GC
Team Goal(s):
Top 3 GC
Stage Win
We return to Italy for the Giro del Trentino, a four-day race in some of the hardest terrain in Europe. A lot of teams use this for Giro preparation but we are using it to give talented youngster Damian Owniak a chance to show what he can do. With support from strong Italian climbers Cataldo and Pirazzi, as well as promising American Lawson Craddock, plus a strong lineup for the opening TTT, Damian should be in the right place come the key moments. Whether he can reach the podium will depend largely on the startlist but the young Pole's climbing has improved and a top 5 should definitely be within reach.
Tour de Romandie
Leader
Tejay Van Garderen
Free Element
Michael Albasini
Free Element
Leopold König
Sprinter
Adam Blythe
Team Mate
Silvan Dillier
Team Mate
Mathias Frank
Team Mate
Steve Morabito
Team Mate
Danilo Wyss
UCI Goal:
Stage Win
Team Goal(s):
Top 3 GC
Stage Win(s)
The first big Swiss race of the season will see arguably our strongest lineup of the year take to the start line. Naturally, this race is extremely important to us and we want to see our jersey crossing the line in first place, whether it be from a late attack by Albasini, a time trial win for Tejay or something in the mountains by one of our two top climbers. A strong Swiss core will provide plenty of support, while Blythe will try to mix it in the sprints if the occasion arises.
A GC push is demanded with this team at this race and it remains to be seen how Leopold and Tejay will work together to achieve at the very least a place on the podium.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
Shindigs
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
Omloop het Nieuwsblad
Taylor Phinney
Marcus Burghardt
Daniel Oss
Michael Schar
Georg Preidler
Paris - Nice
Thor Hushovd
Vuelta al Pais Vasco
Leopold König
Amstel Gold Race
