The Great Big "Slightly After Mid-Season Gif-Off" Post
The slightly after mid-season is slower time for the team. Things are settled down and grinding away towards the back end of the year when racing gets real serious. So how do you pass the time in an entertaining manner? You complie all of the team-related gifs you used thus far in the year!
Yes we are rather bored and out of ideas at T3A HQ....
We kicked off in the HQ with a soon-to-be-regular Anna Kendrick. Swiftly followed by the ever present and unsurpassable Cobie Smulders. And the first dude of the year Andy Samberg making an appearance. Anna K making another pre-season appearence before a minor break in the gif-ing.
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The delicious Margot Robie made an appearance next. Our first in-race thread gif? Zak Effron! And it was perfect. Agent Carter, Hayley Attwell, not far behind. Marvel theme continued with Emily VanCamp. Elisha Cuthbert popped up in the HQ. As did Lucy Hale. Brie Larsson also offering some glamour.
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The Euskal Bizikleta offered one of my favorite moments of the season, via Emma Stone. Definitive proof i spend too much time finding gifs...
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Charlize Theron was back at HQ. Olivia Wilde gaver her views on the Rankings. Emma Watson stole the show celebrating our first ever successful goal! Minka Kelly graced Lincoln. Kristen Bell then helped us start off in Juarez.
Spoiler
Things went a bit mad on the penultimate Juarez stage... Emma Stone, Beaker and Robert Hays all stopping by. Winning the race lead to a double of Kirsten Dunst and Cobie Smulders. Mila Kunis was in Denmark, appearing in 4 different posts.
Spoiler
The delightful Aubrey Plaza was also in Denmark. Hayden Panettiere was our most recent HQ gif. Kristen Stewart helped out our "home" race. And JLaw was out last gif post of the season so far.
Spoiler
So in conclusion? Clearly we need to post more gifs!
This is the latest Rankings. T3A sit in second place, 127 points off the top spot. The top spot being the divisional title, and our Goal. Look down the ranking a bit, and we are streets ahead of the lower Top10 places. This is key, as our analysts predict the Promotion cut-off at around 9th-10th place.
Obviously ahead of us is Kraftwerk, the german team have had a brilliant season. So have we, but a couple of races could have delivered slightly more to us and we havn't had that big suprise race a few teams booked. Ferrero are close on the heels as well as Chiquita. And frankly a Top4 is a must, just to bag as many Goal points as we can.
Team
Total
Rd
PpRD
Proj
1
1
Kraftwerk Man Machine
1544
92
16,78
2014
2
3
Ferrero - Samruk
1360
84
16,19
1943
3
2
Podium Ambition
1417
88
16,1
1932
4
4
Chiquita - Universal
1114
90
12,38
1486
5
5
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
1107
94
11,78
1414
6
6
Isostar - Adriatic
1047
93
11,26
1351
7
7
La Poste - Mavic
925
84
11,01
1321
8
8
MOL - OMV Petrom
919
98
9,38
1126
9
15
World Cycling Centre
630
69
9,13
1096
10
9
Xero Racing p/b Octagon
867
96
9,03
1084
The Projection drops us to 3rd. Still comfortably inside the promtion, and comfortably in the Top3. Small margins though, just 82 from the win and 11 from Ferrero. It is looking like the CT will go to the wire.
What has Podium Ambition got left in the chase for the title?
Well, "G" is in action at the Cigar City Brewing Twilight GP. A cobbles race suited nicely to him. And with Hristov, Grashev and Bridges also attending, this has to be a big scoring race. G also leads at Faso in a mixed opportunity, but never count out the Welshman.
Ricki joins forces with Souper and Caleb at the Herald Sun Tour for some show off sprinting. And then again at the GP de la Ville d'Oran. Good chance for points in big races.
Simon headlines at Acropolis and Yekaterinburg and Ruta America. A continuation of his recent form will do very nicely in these closing races and keep the pressure up on the surrounding teams.
Our closing months have a similar pattern to out first ones. Points should keep coming in at a similar rate. Keep putting them on the board and we will keep out chances alive. Tack in a surprise result or two, the title is still very much a real possibility.
A big part of our success this year has been our leaders individual scoring. It has always been a big weakness for the team historically, always lacking those headline scorers that provide such a big base to the squad. Now we've got two of them!
Ricki's 5 Stage wins, 1 GC win and 2 Podiums earn him 6th place. It also makes up half of our target Goal of 10 Stage wins. A huge rider for us. Ricki was proven at a PCT level and has relished the freedom in the CT. Fantastic value for money.
Geraint's 2 Wins and 1 Podium are not half bad either. He has really delivered on the cobbles this year, as we needed. Could have been a bit better still, but when he's faltered someone else has been there to step in. And we cannot overlook his work for the sprinters either.
Simon's 2 Wins and 7 Podiums have him in 16th. This is ahead of a lot of "better" punchers, showing just how important his backup skills are. Allowing Simon to challenge when many can't. A great season giving the team a whole new dimension and area to fight on.
Souper has himself 2 Wins and 1 Podium, a good return on a low wage. And he's had a hand in several other results.
Nardin and Ewan each have a podium as well, just to chip in some good scoring of their own. Nardin hasn't found that 2013 form but he's been worth the investment, whilst Ewan continues to show why he's a huge future talent.
The whole team has now racked up 15 Wins. 13 Podiums. 35 Top10's. An awesome performance, and they deserve to be in the Title fight. It's on them to finish it off now.
That time of year as the season draws towards it's close, that we find out how our boys are progressing. From the off we knew it wouldn't be brilliant at Podium Ambition, with 3 of 7 unmaxed riders unable to gain XP at all this year. Still, that's 4 riders growing up and whilst progress was stunted for some the title fight made it worthwhile.
Name
XP
FL
MT
HL
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
De Boss
2.00
67
69
69
66
72
70
70
59
62
63
66
72
68
De Boss
3.36
67
71
71
66
72
71
71
59
62
65
68
72
68
Ewan
3.99
71
61
69
60
69
69
68
67
78
77
63
70
73
Ewan
4.19
73
62
70
60
71
70
71
69
81
79
63
71
73
Wolverine
1.00
68
65
65
62
67
68
69
70
63
71
64
73
64
Wolverine
2.78
69
65
65
62
68
68
69
71
63
71
64
73
64
Robov
3.90
69
70
71
65
68
71
69
50
68
68
73
65
65
Robov
4.00
70
71
74
66
70
72
70
50
69
70
75
66
66
De Boss slowly becoming a climber. He had a good showing at Avenir and has been in a couple of breaks this season. Not stellar but it is nice to grow our own domestique here and there. Ultimatly he'll be an ok climbing helper but nothing particularly special or unique.
Ewan contiues his work to be a superstar. A great season for him in support of Ricki and next year will be on a level field with his fellow Aussie. Even then he'll be of great use to the team as a sprint leader, can't wait to get him max'd and then we can think about training.
Wolverine has played his role on the cobbles this year, with good team work for G and a break or two. More of the same will come next year as he grows. Ultimately can become a solid classics rider, and some thoughout training could make him really useful even if he won't become a star.
Robov continues to grow and should get a lot more chances for himself next year. He's got a good skill set on him and if he can get into breakaways could slowly become a real threat from them. Never going to be a big scoring puncher, but a good team player and foil.
Yates, Alaphilippe and Stoenchev obviously don't grow. No chances to get them lvl4 XP in the CT as they are not Avenir eligible. But we knew that and the decision to keep was a consious one for Yates. They'll get there in the end, don't you worry.
Could do with another 1 or two young riders next season to keep building our own core of riders, can't wait to see what the scouts turn up!
@Viking - Alaphilippe should end up very nice, although what/if training he gets will shift his usefulness. Wouldn't cost a ton to get him to something like 77HL given enough resources and time, rather than down a more sprint friendly route his 77SP/ACC might suggest.
Although if it comes to it, funds are more likely to go to Ewan and get his max'd 83 to 85 and probably get his HL more towards 73
Whilst a trained Yates will be my secret weapon as we've got some interesting plans for him
@sgdanny - Always nice to see the gif's appreciated
It's finished! The season is done and dusted. Just fantastic for Podium Ambition, and i really couldn't be happier with how it went. "But you didn't win the Title?" So what, we were in the fight and got promotion. Title from a sponsor goal view sure, but we just wanted to promote so contesting the title is more than good enough.
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How did we do over the year? Beyond expecation.
21 First Place results. 21! Ten of those were Stage Wins; five from Ricki, three from Souper, one from Simon and one from G. Four were Classics wins; three from G and one from Simon. Two GC wins; one from Ricki and one from Simon. And Two Points and Three U25's. Just mind blowing.
19 further Podium results. This is where Caleb and Nardin pop-in alongside Ricki, Souper, G and Simon. And i'm not going to coun the Top10 results, but it'll be pushing 30 or more.
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Two Goals were secured. Saachsen-Anhalt and 10 Stage Wins. Brings our total up to 2-20, a whopping 10% success rate. Then we only missed the Title Ranking and Geraadsbergen goals by one, which will deliver more good Goal Points and funding to the team. The only let down, unsurprisingly, was Benelux Challenge.
Will this mean a change of Goal plan going forwards? Hell no! Go big, or go home. It will always be that way as long as i am in charge of the team. And now we're being successful with it i'm definitely not going backwards.
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PCT 2017. It's gonna be a riot! We can confirm that all 15 riders will be renewed going forwards. Will lock in a good core of riders to build around. Caleb and Ricki providing sprint options, whilst G has shown before he can fight well in the PCT. We will need to add 5 riders to reach the 20 minimum. We're thinking hard about how best to do this. There should be an added Hills or Stage Race leader, another Classics leader added, then whatever takes our fancy to pad out with talent.
No need to Loan out, we are confident we can Max the needed riders and continue the growth of our youngsters. Perhaps even manage some training in there as well. The goal will be to get as high up the table as possible, naturally. Can't wait to get stuck in.
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Thank you to all the CT managers for such a great fun season. Thanks to all the team fans for following us and dropping by the HQ. See you in the PCT
Signing off from HQ Posts with some the expected, gifs.
The season ended with Podium Ambition in 2nd place in the CT. Great season and a top end result that satisfied us greatly. But how did that match up against the pre-season predictions? Were other managers right about Podium Ambition?
The Rider - 4th
The weakness is a reliance on the flat with hills and mountains passed over. It's a fair comment, as the most succesful teams tend to compete on the steeper roads.
+2 on The Rider's guess. The reliance on flat was not a weakness, providing such a large portion of our results. Historically yes hills and mountains (stage races) are the way to go, but switching it really worked out for us.
Croatia14 - 1st
Hopefully it's that all-round consistency that can lift us to a title!
-1 on Croatia's guess. The all-round ability did shine through, with our Puncher, Cobbler and Sprinter at the top end.
matt17br - 3rd
Then again, he predicted Carlsberg to Win the division, so this isn't the most convincing of predictions
+1 on Matt's guess. Although as we said, this wasn't the most convincing prediction. Carlsberg indeed way off the title, but still promoting so hardly the worst prediction.
jph27 - 2nd
Putting MOL at #1 is unique so perhaps it may be best to temper expecations of this prediction, or is going against the grain a sign of his experience?
Nailed it! Jph got it spot on for Podium Ambition. Ok he was off on MOL, but not hugely. Great shout from the experience manager that we have excellent relations with. Now, if you'll just predict us Top10 next season....
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Just a short glance at the predictions we'd looked at here pre-season. The average prediction was 2.5th, with all Top4 places covered. So no-one was really that far out, and especially as the Top3 was a close fight right up to the final day of the season.
Shows that we built up a good team, but more importantly a reliable one. No need to wait for a big break win or lucky AI. Over a season when it came down to it the whole team was consistently putting points on the board and performing in the races they needed to.
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There will be another couple of HQ posts both looking back at the season and looking ahead to the PCT. So come back by for some interesting stuff and discussion.
So now what? We've got promotion back into the PCT and do we try this again. What have we learned from our previous two PCT attempts and our triumphant reboot in the CT? Let us dive into some of these future plans and ideas.
Big Points Scorer
It was what we lacked previously and what we tripled on this season. That Big Points Scorer. The rider who will push on and deliver a ton of points by themself. "G" was never up to this task in the PCT before and whilst we ended with decent results it was the lack of standout scorer that doomed us.
In the CT we had three of them! "G" finally got to dominate. Ricki shone like a diamond. Simon puncheured above his weight. Going forwards we know that Simon and G won't be upto the task.
So we need to find someone new to lead the team and be the star. We've got some ideas in mind for this role and it may surprise you to see who we target some Transfers. But the majority of the new wage budget is already set aside with "Big Scorer" written on it, we're going to double down on this plan.
Specialized
No, not the bike company. But focusing on doing one or two things really well. Previously in the PCT we tried to Classics, Sprints and Stage Races and ultimately compromised all three. In CT we focused hard on the Cobbles and Sprints, letting Simon free-reign on hills we had to attend. The focus really worked as we almost stole the title, and the title winners Ferrero were all-in on the Hills as a focus.
So going up we will be heavily working around our Sprint team. Ricki has proven himself at PCT level before and Caleb should be able to match him next year. That's two good options. Building two good support units makes sense.
Then working behind "G", or someone new, is an obvious continuation of the Podium Ambition team. It works for us and has done for our entire existance.
Focus there, and just pick up one or two guys to cover the uphill events we have to attend. Very similar idea to our CT campaign. It won't put us in the title fight but should get us away from relegation.
In a worst case scenario, it'll leave us very ready for the CT again.
Youth
"G" only has two years at the top left. Stefan just the one. Martin, Ricki, Souper and Nardin are all edging on 30 shortly. We need to start planning for change.
Caleb, Robov, De Boss and Wolverine are four young riders still up and coming, and even Simon and Julian are far from old. That said adding two more talents to the squad would be a good move.
Who is an unkown. What type of rider is an unkown. Just known that we want to add some more young blood and start getting ready for replacements. Probably we'll look at some of our sponsor nations first for this, and there's always some talent coming out of Australia, Britain and the USA to pick up.
Take a punt on someone from the Carribbean or Mauritius? If we see the right kind of rider, yes. If we can bag a bigger talent from a traditional area then we will be more likely to risk it on a unique rider. But we won't compromise our future for novelty just yet. Give us a year to stabilise in the PCT first.
jt1109 wrote:
Nice plans there mate I'm sure with the base you've got a top 10/15 season is well within reach next season especially with a top leader added
I don't think two 81 sprinters and no-hills Cobbler is a great Top10 base, especially with our best uphill being 76's.
But having around 1.3mil new wage cap to spend on just 5 riders, or 1.1mil to spend on "big scorer", certainly gives room to look upwards from relegation spaces. (although i doubt we'll spend 1.1mil on a single rider unless Pluchkin comes well under our prediction )
Basically we've got plenty of time at Podium Ambition HQ so we're filling the time before Worlds and NC's with whatever we can. And hopefully generate some discussion and/or team buzz in the process.
Today we'll look at how we performed on our Goals and how our sponsors feel about the season.
The Ranking Goal
WIN CT Team Standings Failed-ish = 2nd
Mandated by the MGUCI that every team must have a Rankings Goal. To us this means a "Win Goal" because if we're not here to win what are we doing?
Boy did we come close though! Second place is a brilliant result. More than secured promotion and then we took the fight right to the last race and forced Ferrero to perform in Zurich.
Really there wasn't much more we could have done. There were a few crashes early in the year that might have cost us the needed points to win, but every team crashes at some point so it will balance out.
-1 Goal Point, but far far above our previous years.
WIN Saachsen-Anhalt Classic
ACHIEVED = 1st Geraint Thomas
WIN Benelux Challenge Failed = 21st (Jyme)
Geraardsbergen was a cobbled classic, but it was a hilly one. However we got two riders onto the podium, just not in the position we needed. Nardin was great on the attack, coming just short of the race win. Whilst G was impressive for 3rd behind. Scored great points, and the -1 Goal Point is still a very solid pick up on not our best terrain.
Saachsen provided a defining moment for the team. Part of the "Magic Week" that really powered our title fight this was the teams first ever complete Goal. A historic moment as G dominated the race to win alone when he didn't have to go for it. All the Goal Points sown up as well. Beautiful!
Benelux was the strange pick really. We felt a stage race goal was needed and though G might be able to do something unexpected. He didn't and Jyme couldn't even crack the Top20. Complete failure here was much more on par with previous seasons.
The Win A Lot Goal
WIN 10 Stages ACHIEVED = 10 Wins (Ricki x5 + Souper x3 + Simon x1 + G x1)
10 Stage Wins. Tricky because only stages count. Not Classics. Not Jerseys. Not GC's. Just stages inside a stage race. So really it relies on being able to sprint and having one or two breakaway possiblities.
Thus our big sprinter Ricki delivered 5 Stage wins, most notably Stage 1 + 2 in Juarez to set-up his GC win their. Souper was excellent here as well, hoovering up two wins in Poland to show our depth in this department.
Simon grabed a win in Capo to help his GC race there, and G bagged the finale in Faso to steal his GC win.
We had 8 other Stage podiums this year, so we were hugely strong in this department. It provided a great points scoring base. Awesome stuff.
2/5 Goals Achieved, might not sound great but as we entered the season 0/15 it's astonashing. Plus two goals were just one-place off achieving, it's a brilliant season. It will give us a very ncie budget going forwards.
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Antofagasta PLC Another American rider or two couldn't go amiss to keep them happy.
We brought in two North American's, a Central American and a South American rider this year. So Antofagasta is happy with that and the marketing options it opened up.
Avanti No major requirements from them, apart from to ride fast.
We rode very fast. Having their bikes being so often at the front really satisfied Avanti and they are more than happy to invest more into the team and keep our riders at the front.
Bulgaria Though i bet they are slightly rueing the decision now!
I bet they are! Ok Bulgarians have played a less important role this year but they have still been visible, especially with an appearence at the Worlds coming up. They leave the team knowing Bulgarian cycling is thriving.
Jumeirah Group Any big name rider is good for them but also it couldn't hurt to try and get a local name.
No local rider came in, and probably won't this coming year either. There isn't really a lot of talent coming out of the UAE. But with three Top10 ranked riders we certainly provided "big name" to the project.
Lululemon Athletica We failed to bag any big name riders from their focus regions and we've failed to mount a decent campaign on the road
We got an American and a Canadian and ran a very strong title campaign, so that was a real turnaround. Not quick enough as they are still leaving the team, but in a happy mood.
Mauritius Commercial Bank That said we will need an African ride for them to market with.
Missed out on that front, we couldn't compete with the African focused teams this time around. But bigger budget going to PCT we will try hard to get someone in and keep them happy.
Mount Gay Rum For them growing brand awareness against other Carribean companies is key, doing this on a platform of local riders could be fun.
Well the team was certainly visible this year so brand awareness was at a high. And Jyme Bridges flew the flag proudly for the Carribean! A happy sponsor is what we like.
Shimano they want us to pick up an Asian rider or two.
Another one we didn't do. But again larger PCT budget will allow us to pursue an Asian rider next year. And as long as we keep winning and being visible they will be satisfied.
Whooshh Innovations It's not a huge investment for them as we really want to promote the Salmon Cannon in any way we can.
We didn't have a National Champion this year.... so that was a good move... We will have the Antiguan NC guaranteed so next year they'll be back visible and happy.
Canucks They drop out of the sponsorship side, but they will continue to help manage the team on a day-to-day basis
They have been hugely supportive this year. They've kept the team on course and focused through the entire campaign. We wouldn't trade that assistance for anything.
Hincapie Sportswear
They will joins us in PCT. Hincapie is very excited to get involved with a team on the up, and one that cares so much about the Classics and hard racing. What they will want from us, keep up our end in the Americas and keep being towards the front.
McLaren Technology Group
They will join us in the PCT. McLaren have already begun work with Avanti on upgrading their bikes and will get some of our riders into their wind tunnels. If we keep some good British riders McLaren will be happy.
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Summary: Happy sponsors after a good year. Excited new sponsors to come in with the PCT. The team is rocking and rolling right now and the positivity will flow right into the final races and off-season.
As the season draws towards it ultimate finale at the end of Nationals there is not a better time to have a glance back and pick out Podium Ambitions Top5 Moments of the 2016 Season!
Going in reverse order, so 5 down to 1 at the end. We'll kick off with...
5. Tour du Faso
The African cobbles race has a real history with the team, coming from our 2014 debut PCT season. Martin Grashev was simply sensational in trying to save the team from relegation. It was a heartbreaking 10 Stages...
Then we returned in 2016 to the revamped event. "G" was on it from the off with 2nd place on Stage 1, and Hristov and Grashev made the key selection. However the breakaway rider Kasperkiewicz took a 44" GC lead!
Stalemate in the Stage 2 sprint set-up a final day where "G" would have to come out and attack. Another heartbreak in this race wouldn't be fun, and would put our Title fight in jeopardy at the same time...
"G" didn't make it easy, or rather the other teams brought the fight. Only getting up to Drucker with 5km to go was not comfortable, but luckily good team work had set-up a sizable gap to Kasperkiewicz. He then easily sprinted around Drucker to win the day.... and 1'47 later it was confirmed he'd won the race!
The memories of 2014, erased. Replaced by new, better memories or a classic "G" style victory. In claiming the GC, Points, Team and getting Stefan into the Top10 we really pressed on for the title as well. An awesome moment for Team History.
4. World Championships + National Championships
Ok a slight cop-out to combine them i know, but whatever. When a cobbles Worlds route was voted in we were excited. "G" was having the season of his life and could Bulgaria get a team into the Elite race?
In 2013 when the team founded we set out our own goal to get a Bulgarian team to the Worlds. They'd been in a B-Race before, but that doesn't count. Luckily in having riders of the calibre of Hristov and Grashev the MGUCI deemed the nation worthy of an Elite place. The final year of relation with Bulgaria and it could not have ended sweeter!
Then Caleb Ewan blew all expectations out of the water in the U23 race to claim and shock Silver Medal! No-one saw that coming. Not many would have seen "G" being GB's best rider either, but in a tactically excellent race he out did team favorite Blythe to claim a 4th place. One of the highest results ever for a CT rider in a World Championship!
So Worlds went beyond expectation. Then Ricki capped his year with a victory in the Australian NC, the man can't stop winning in 2016. Then Valentin Stoenchev overcame his own demons to win the Bulgarian NC having previously podium'd the race twice! And we have decent attempts at both the French and British titles as well.
The Championships just capped a season of brilliant team riding. Our participating riders bringing together all the tactical knowledge and fighting spirit the CT Title campaing gave them. So proud of the team and how they had completely changed from 2015 to 2016.
3. Circulo Juarez
Part of "Week + 1", we'll get to the +1 in a moment, the Circulo Juarez was a truly defining moment for Podium Ambition. The 5-Day Sprintfest in Mexico was marked as a key race for Ricki Nelson. The Aussie had been going well and already racked up some wins in the season, but this was a real shot at something more.
Dominant in Victory on Stage 1, and then edging title rivals on Stage 2, Ricki had set-up the perfect race. Clear GC lead and looking imperious in his form. Poor positioning on Stage 3 was not a good sign. Even worse positioning on Stage 4 was beginning to worry the team. But he had a decent GC lead still, why would we worry?
Cross-winds! They tore up the race on the final day. Other teams quickly took advantage and Nelson was really struggling, at one point he was in a group about to lose real time and with that the race... Luckily the Aussie found something deep down, pulled his socks up and pushed to the line.
Podium Ambition's first GC Victory in over 3 years of existence, by a margin of just 4". A real testement to the re-structure in the off-season and the new focus in the team. A real historic moment, no-one forgets that first GC win!
2. Promotion
This one is nice and simple. Pre-season we had one target above anything: Get back to the PCT! Nothing would come ahead of that goal and anything less would be pure failure. And so the season long campaign was launched.
Early pace setting was a good sign, but we'd started well before. Mid-season we were going well, but not as well as Kraftwerk. But to even compare to them was great at that stage, it meant we were in a title fight and not just looking for promotion.
A strong finish kept things very calm in the HQ, with promotion looking well sealed with several race days to spare. We were in the title fight, falling short on that bonus, but having nailed Promotion. Straight back to the PCT, and this time we're going to do better!
1
Ferrero - Samruk
1996
2
Podium Ambition
1907
3
Kraftwerk Man Machine
1783
4
Chiquita - Universal
1515
5
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
1439
1. Sachsen-Anhalt Classic
The +1 of the Week+1. The 8 days of pure elation that began in Germany and concluded in Mexico. The Sachsen-Anhalt Classic is a German cobbled race, and one that is almost entirely flat. Clearly a race "G" would target, and a perfect fit to the "Go Big, or Go Home" Goal philosophy. So we picked it as a Win.
Three seasons of racing and 0 Goals before, we'd even failed two already in 2016. So there was an air of fear in the team, were we cursed to never achieve a Goal? "G" was feeling the pressure, so he did what "G" would do... he decided to attack a sprint!
Raising the pace himself with 20km to go, using Hristov as a foil with 12km to go. Finally he struck with less than 9km to go! An all-or-nothing move. Either it would stick or he'd have nothing to sprint and fade to obscurity. When "G" gets nervous, he just goes for it. And boy did he go for it!
55". That was the final gap. 55" between a historic story and more failure. Geraint Thomas finally delivered a Goal. 1-17. 1. Not 0. History in binary.
Yep, Ricki won the Aussie RR as already covered and known. But now we can show off his all-new NC jersey! Avanti already declared their appreciation of the jersey that will provide great marketing for them, and Whooshh Innovations are extatic to get their logo back on some of our riders.
The soon-to-be 29 year old sprinter was one of the standout riders of the 2016 Continental Tour. With Stage Wins in Tour of Southland, Circulo Juarez, Post Danmark Rundt, Tour de Slovenie, and a General Classification win in Circulo Juarez setting up a Top10 Individual Ranking the Aussie RR was the icing on the cake of a brilliant season.
With Caleb Ewan coming on strong, the 23 year old will be on par with Ricki in 2017, it's a Jersey that may well return to the team in future years.
So here it is, the all-new Fish NC style from the_hoyle
ABB? That would be Antigua & Barbuda and Bulgaria, so ABB! We're really very clever at Podium Ambition. Ricki won the Aussie RR and you can see his NC above. But we have the Antiguan double via Jyme and the Bulgarian RR via Stoenchev. How would they look?
Credits, as previously, to the_hoyle for his great work. We just had to make life difficult with wanting a unique NC jersey. But we love them! So distinct and visually impactful. Hopefully we'll get to see them a lot in the PCT.
And as this will be our last HQ post, we better end it with a classic gif! Thank you all, and see you in a PCT HQ!
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
Avanti
Shimano
