A race where we had high hopes for Vastarantas GC though the cobbles will get tricky.

On the prologue we were off to a very good start.

Pökälä spent some time in the hot seat and ultimately finished just off teh podium while Jukka proved to be in good form by taking 16th on the stage.

Dahlberg took a tumble on the wet roads on stage 2, which left us a bit shorthanded for the sprint preperations but thankfully Jukka managed a solid 6th place nonetheless

Stage 3 was even more hilly and we spent a lot of the day at the front of the peloton alongside In-n-out.
It cost us a bit in the end as Jukka was left very alone for the sprint and started far to far back.

Still he managed to put in a very strong finish taking 3rd and a few bonus seconds along the way.


Jukka did well to stay calm and well placed on the feared cobbles allowing him to go into the final hilly stage in a good position. Could probably have been even better had Linus not crashed.

Sadly his effort on the cobbles left him a bit tired for hills and suddenly we were caught in the wrong place.

The boys did a great job to bring things together again it was too late and too much work and Vastaranta didn't have the kick needed on the final hill.

On the final day Samuel decided to go in the break even though everyone deemed it chanceless.

He felt great so when the peloton had almost caught the group he gave it another push.
That extended the break life just long enough for them to take the stage with Samuel on 2nd place, but the one rider that made it happen.


While it would have been great to have had the margins just a bit more on our side it's hard to complain about a GC 5th and stage top 6 on every single stage.

	Best Rider	Place	Time
Stage 1	Samuel Pökälä	4th	+ 4
Stage 2	Jukka Vastaranta	6th	s.t.
Stage 3	Jukka Vastaranta	3rd	s.t.
Stage 4	Jukka Vastaranta	4th	+ 37
Stage 5	Jukka Vastaranta	4th	+ 40
Stage 6	Samuel Pökälä	2nd	s.t.

1	Marc De Maar	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	22h58'48
5	Jukka Vastaranta	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 52
36	Ignacio Sarabia	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 14'42
38	Sergiu Cioban	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 14'48
42	Samuel Pökälä	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 15'08
122	Risto Aaltio	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 32'38
142	Mattias Westling	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 41'45
155	Linus Dahlberg	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 57'47
158	Viktor Renäng	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 1h07'30

In the cobbled races this year we have pretty much nothing to bring to the table with Olli off to learn the trade from Boonen.

So the only time anyone saw our cow-spotted jersey were at the start…

1	Sebastian Langeveld	Strava	5h07'49
56	Sergiu Cioban	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 13'08
74	Linus Dahlberg	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 16'50
83	Risto Aaltio	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 17'30
97	Sakari Lehtinen	DeLaval - Kiitokori	s.t.
98	Matti Manninen	DeLaval - Kiitokori	s.t.
118	Mattias Westling	DeLaval - Kiitokori	s.t.
148	Sami Tiainen	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 22'50
155	Viktor Renäng	DeLaval - Kiitokori	s.t.

The team were highly motivated for GP Sallanches coming with a dual leadership between Anacona and Vastaranta not quite sure how hard the hill will prove to be.

Anyway Risto Aaltio went in the early break putting maximum pressure on the other teams to do the chasing.

However that group didn't last long so we changed tactics and made the race hard from the front.



We took it all the way to the line where Vastaranta took care of the sprinting part with Winner setting a more steady pace in case the hill would end up to hard for the real punchers.

No cracking for Jukka today as he proves to be the by far strongest!

A big ride by Winner as well almost getting us a 1-2

Anyway this is the most succesful race in the history of the team so that's nice.

1	Jukka Vastaranta	DeLaval - Kiitokori	5h00'20
2	Andrey Zeits	Netia - Norske Skog	+ 19
3	Winner Anacona	DeLaval - Kiitokori	s.t.
17	Chris Anker Sørensen	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 1'16
18	Ignacio Sarabia	DeLaval - Kiitokori	s.t.
28	Sergiu Cioban	DeLaval - Kiitokori	s.t.
89	Sakari Lehtinen	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 8'29
100	Risto Aaltio	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 9'46
133	Matti Manninen	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 18'04

This month we'll give you a classic blues song originally written in 1930 and recorded in an almost infinite number of versions since then by names like Elvis Presley and Aerosmith: Milk Cow Blues.

Here in a version by Willie Nelson.

Barcelona classic ended in a bunch sprint where neither Kulppi nor his team mates did much, though finishing in the first group of a hard race is well done by him.

In Gisborne the team sent Flaksis in the break. That was the only that was seen of Evonik in that race as Siskevicius didn't qutie live up to what was hoped from him.

	Race		Result	Team
C1	Barcelona Classic	-	42nd	13th
C1	Gisborne GP		110th	66th

Paavo was thrown in the fire at the cobbles-heavy Het Volk. In short it was way too much for him even though he did do his bit in the TTT.
He continued his campaign in Germany where he didn't impress that much either.

Back on the highest level in Grand-Duche he was back to his usual focused self helping Gastauer to save energe and be in the right place for the decisive split.
Gastauer finished on the podium so a good days work for Paavo, who finished in the first big group in the same time as Vichot on 19th place.

From there he went to the first of his five monuments this season: Milan - San Remo.
In that race Vesuvio and Paajanen didn't make themselves noticed much.

	Race		Result	Team
PT	Omloop Het Volk	GC
	Omloop Het Volk	St. 1	130th	3rd
	Omloop Het Volk	St. 2	95th	34th
	Omloop Het Volk	St. 3	146th	21st
HC	Bayern Rundfahrt	GC
	Bayern Rundfahrt	St. 1	96th	43rd
	Bayern Rundfahrt	St. 2	103rd	21st
	Bayern Rundfahrt	St. 3	112th	4th
	Bayern Rundfahrt	St. 4	116th	25th
	Bayern Rundfahrt	St. 5
PT	Classique du Grand-Duché		56th	3rd
MON	Milan San Remo		166th	48th

In Paris - Nice the team was splint in two: A sprinting department around Holloway and a part around Skujins. Gökhan was obviously part of the latter, so he didn't get much action before stage 4.
That included a lot of drama though as Skujins crashed on the wet roads and the entire team had to dig deep to get him back into action.
Luckily the Latvian wasn't hurt too bad. Well lucky might not be the right word for Gökhan as that meant a lot of hard work for him through the final stages.
Seeing his leader on the final GC podium wearing the U25 jersey will have made all the hard work worthwhile though.

Gökhan have been assigned a full set of monuments for his year at Red Bull. It will be good experience though his result in Milan - San Remo shows that he has A LOT to learn when it comes to riding classics.

	Race		Result	Team
PT	Paris-Nice	GC	108th	3rd
	Paris-Nice	St. 1	123rd	68th
	Paris-Nice	St. 2	143rd	8th
	Paris-Nice	St. 3	165th	4th
	Paris-Nice	St. 4	120th	11th
	Paris-Nice	St. 5	149th	4th
	Paris-Nice	St. 6	132nd	8th
	Paris-Nice	St. 7	93rd	4th
	Paris-Nice	St. 8	141st	18th
	Paris-Nice	U25	?	WIN
MON	Milano San Remo		173rd	5th

Lindau was also in Paris - Nice where the team had high hopes for both Löfkvist and Ahlstrand. However on the first real stage all focus was on the sprinter resulting in a massive timeloss for Löfkvist after he crashed and were left without help to get back.
Overall the team managed to bring a bit of colour to the race through breakaways but with the strength of their lineup they have every reason to be disappointed with the results.

Things were much better back on C1-level where focus was on Hoogerland in Gisborne. Lindau rode a strong race able to be by his captain far into the race thus helping him preserve the energy needed for a 5th place.

	Race		Result	Team
PT	Paris - Nice	GC	143rd	26th
	Paris-Nice	St. 1	138th	30th
	Paris-Nice	St. 2	59th	5th
	Paris-Nice	St. 3	161st	21st
	Paris-Nice	St. 4	161st	26th
	Paris-Nice	St. 5	172nd	40th
	Paris-Nice	St. 6	142nd	4th
	Paris-Nice	St. 7	114th	28th
	Paris-Nice	St. 8	116th	2nd
C1	Gisborne GP		59th	5th

I could say that it was a tricky one but I would be lying. A good effort overall in Benelux crowned by a brilliant win in Sallanches makes a very obvious Bull of the Month:

A group of Finnish Ayrshire, the most common cow race in Finland, in Finnish February-weather.

Giro del Trentino was a much anticipated race for us. Not only because it's our only race in March but also because it's Winner Anacona's stage race debut for us.

We had sent some strong TT'ers to help avoid dumb time losses on the opening TTT.
A 5th place on the stage is very much approved, though dropping Winner towards the end wasn't the smartest move.

On the first big mountain stage we rode a bit defensive as Anacona wanted to gauge the competition a bit to decide on his strategy further on and allow the others to waste energy on wave after wave of attacks.
All that while Winner held his own comfortable pace to a stage 3rd.

Stage 3 was a pretty boring transfer stage both on paper and in reality.

On stage 4 it was time to start showing who's boss. Anacona put in a strong attack and held on to the finish line where he was beaten in the spring while taking the yellow jersey.

On the final stage he showed the jersey beautifully by taking things in his own hands 5 km from the finish line proving why he was named top favourite for this race.

Also a shared win in the points competition is a nice bonus.

	Best Rider	Place	Time
Stage 1	Team Time Trial	5th	+ 8
Stage 2	Winner Anacona	3rd	+ 56
Stage 3	Winner Anacona	46th	s.t.
Stage 4	Winner Anacona	2nd	s.t.
Stage 5	Winner Anacona	6th	+ 4'38

1	Winner Anacona	DeLaval - Kiitokori	19h10'53
2	Jakub Novak	In-n-Out C.T. P. By Carrefour	+ 1'07
38	Branislav Samoilev	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 12'10
59	Bernardo Colex	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 21'24
60	Sakari Lehtinen	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 21'26
61	Mateusz Taciak	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 21'37
69	Ignacio Sarabia	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 24'47
106	Samuel Pökälä	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 49'25
181	Viktor Renäng	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 1h54'39

Once again we have gone rather deep down in the archive to give you Cow Cow Boogie by Ella Mae Morse.

Paavo had a month of tough experiences being a part of the Vesuvio cobbles squad, which in fact have bo leader.
Sadly none of the other took that as an invitiation to go chase the impossible. Apart from Gastauer in the cobbles-free Lisbon Classic that is.

	Race		Result	Team
PT	East Midlands Cicle Classic		DNF	29th
PT	Lisbon Classic		134th	67th
MON	Ronde van Vlaanderen		119th	73rd
MON	Paris - Roubaix		DNF	42nd

Gökhan had a unique chance to chase his own luck in the lumpy bits of Vuelta al País Vasco, but unfortunately his legs hadn't quite heard the news.
Needless to say that his effort in the following two monuments wasn't much more impressive despite being a helper for one of the biggest names on the cobbles.

	Race		Result	Team
PT	Vuelta al Pais Vasco	GC	155th	60th
	Vuelta al Pais Vasco	St. 1	125th	18th
	Vuelta al Pais Vasco	St. 2	190th	2nd
	Vuelta al Pais Vasco	St. 3	154th	58th
	Vuelta al Pais Vasco	St. 4	150th	55th
	Vuelta al Pais Vasco	St. 5	159th	58th
	Vuelta al Pais Vasco	St. 6	113th	6th
MON	Ronde van Vlaanderen		182nd	6th
MON	Paris - Roubaix		DNF	5th

Olli made a good show of himself in Dwaars door Vlaanderen where he went in the early break in order to be there for Boonen later on in the race.

We really enjoyed seeing him show his wonderful attacking spirit for Evonik as well.

From there he was sent to Kenya to ride a mountain classic. Olli is no climber nor where his teammates so the result wasn't that surprising…
Back in Belgium he helped Boonen get to the final parts of the cobbled races in good shape to take a row of strong results.
Boonens 2nd place and Ollis 22nd place finish in Paris - Roubaix being teh obvious highlight. Really amazing to seeKulppi ride like that in a monument already at this point of his career.

	Race		Result	Team
C1	Dwars Door Vlaanderen		34th	4th
HC	Kenya Mountain Classic		175th	67th
C1	Gent - Wevelgem		75th	2nd
HC	E3 Prijs		72nd	6th
C1	Seskin Classic		DNF	43rd
MON	Paris - Roubaix		22nd	2nd

Lindaus month was relatively quiet riding two classics with limited success for both him and his team

	Race		Result	Team
PT	East Midlands Cicle Classic		DNF	76th
PT	Lisbon Classic		96th	17th

With only one race in march and having the winner of that race it's another month with an obvious winner:

From the management we didn't have much focus on this flat classic - and even less hopes and expectations…

For some unexplainable reason the ruys decided that Linus should be the leader instead of Westling.
I'm not saying Westling would have done much, but I think at least a top 100 would have been possible if they had ridden for him instead.

We had high hopes for Jukka to do well here even though he is not among the absolute top favourites.

Unfortunately the big teams allowed the break to drift away so with three laps to go Vastaranta had to try an attack to get away from the bunch.

He wasn't allowed the gap znd the earlier attackers was allowed to take thw win with the big favourites fighting for leftovers.
A fight where Jukka's attempt on a win cost him som positions due to less energy than the more conservative riders.

Still we want to try going for it so we think he did the right thing attacking nonetheless.

1	Matthias Wengelin	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	4h33'55
11	Jukka Vastaranta	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 2'27
47	Ignacio Sarabia	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 3'57
61	Sergiu Cioban	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 4'30
122	Sakari Lehtinen	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 7'13
123	Mateusz Taciak	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 7'37
132	Risto Aaltio	DeLaval - Kiitokori	s.t.
134	Sami Tiainen	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 8'20

Our ambition in this mountanous and TT-free stage race was clear from the start: To bring Winner Anacona to victory.

Stage 1 went as planned as we saved energy and the boys made sure Winner didn't get caught up in anything by accident.


Stage 2 was the first taste of climbs but with the flat finish hardly teh stage to decide it all. However Anacona put on the pressure on the final climb forcing a massive selection and gaining time on most of the competition thus putting himself in perfect position before the queen stage.

In the queen stage we sent Samoilev in the early break as an outpost.
When yellow jersey-wearer Orozco attacked we were first pulling the peloton trying to reel back his group, but then Winner said that his legs were completely dead for some reason.

Chris Anker had brilliant legs and attacked over and over again for the rest of the stage.
He couldn't get away alone but took the stage in brilliant way saving our race after Winner's catastrophic effort on the day.


We have nothing to dwell on in the final flat stage except the lack of bad luck for CAS.

	Best Rider	Place	Time
Stage 1	Linus Dahlberg	12th	s.t.
Stage 2	Winner Anacona	4th	s.t.
Stage 3	Chris Anker Sørensen	1st	s.t.
Stage 4	Linus Dahlberg	20th	s.t.

1	Víctor Hugo Orozco	Alpina - Avianca	14h08'20
2	Chris Anker Sørensen	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 25
12	Winner Anacona	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 4'26
13	Branislav Samoilev	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 5'19
37	Bernardo Colex	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 8'24
50	Mateusz Taciak	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 14'37
90	Risto Aaltio	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 29'20
91	Sakari Lehtinen	DeLaval - Kiitokori	+ 30'25