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[PCT] Valio - DeLaval | Award time
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 21-06-2016 18:33
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Team Leader
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Yeah, I didn't quite have the space to offer him a full contract either, so had him on hold more or less expecting you or Kayak pick him up.
Couldn't leave a Swedish L'avenir eligible talent completely without a contract though so happy to have him on board for a bit at least.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 22-06-2016 08:12
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Team Presentation
Welcome to the presentation of Valio - DeLaval 2016. The most bovine PCT team you have ever known!
The jersey is known for a while now - even only with small updates from last year so we should again this year be easily spotted for our fans. No matter if the rider wears our regular jersey or one of our 7 (!) champions-jerseys. Latvia and Egypt being the latest additions joining the team during the transfer window.
Out on Pasture
This season three of our riders are riding in the colours of some of our friends on the PT.
 Olli Kulppi was given the chance to follow Evonik-ELKO to PT after his great success assisting Boonen last year. This year he is to be "a vital help to Greg van Avermaet!". This will be another year of valuable learning for him before he rejoins our ranks for next season.
With him went our perhaps most versatile talent  Philip Lindau, who is expected to mainly be part of Evonik's hilly squad this year.
Last year we had Paajanen at vice-champions Vesuvio - Accumalux and that was such a good experience to all parties that we decided to keep the collaboration going. This year it's our young climber Sakari Lehtinen who will wear the vulcanic jersey assisting and learning from the legendary Andy Schleck.
| Name | | Key stats | OVL | Age | XP | | Olli | Kulppi | Cbl74, Fla72 | 71.75 | 25 | 4.06 | | Philip | Lindau | Hi73, Fla71 | 70.69 | 25 | 4.09 | | Sakari | Lehtinen | Mo73, Hi71 | 70.40 | 23 | 4.00 |
Mountain Moohs
Our mountain squad is pretty much unchanged from last year except for the return of Gökhan Hasta. That means we won't feature in many favourite-lists in the mountains this year, but we believe and hope that we in Anacona, Chris Anker Sørensen, Gökhan Hasta and Branislav Samoilev has a team capable of grabbing the chances where they come.
With the influx of world-class climbers into PCT we quickly realized that we wouldn't have the funds to get a top-tier rider so we'd rather have some depth going for the bold attacks aiming for stage wins, mountains jerseys and what reward may come from being brave.
| Name | | Key stats | OVL | Age | XP |  | Chris Anker | Sørensen | Mo76, Hi74 | 73.17 | 32 | 4.100 |  | Winner | Anacona | Mtn79, Hi74 | 75.46 | 28 | 4.100 | | Joonas | Henttala | Mo70, TT69 | 68,69 | 25 | 3.40 |  | Branislav | Samoilev | Mo75, Hi74 | 73.30 | 31 | 4.100 |  | Gökhan | Hasta | Mo76, Rec75 | 73.19 | 26 | 4.100 |  | Bernardo | Colex | Mo73, TT70 | 70.43 | 33 | 4.100 |
Hill-bulls
Just as our mountain squads there isn't big changes in our hilly squad apart from Paajanen returning for his first season actually wearing our jersey despite having been on contract since our first season and the departure of Cioban.
We are fully aware that we won't be able to contest the biggest hilly classics, but this team is as much about promoting Finnish cycling (and cattle in general) as about results and we want the best Fiinnish rider to be able to ride for his own chances rather than ending up as a domestique. Therefore we didn't want a hilly leader stronger than Vastaranta - even though it will cost us a few points along the way.
| Name | | Key stats | OVL | Age | XP | | Jukka | Vastaranta | Hi76, Spr75 | 75.08 | 32 | 4.100 | | Paavo | Paajanen | Hill75, Mo71 | 72.82 | 27 | 4.100 |  | Ingvar | Omarsson | Hi74. TT73 | 72.82 | 27 | 4.100 | | Ignacio | Sarabia | Hi74, Acc76 | 72.50 | 32 | 4.100 |
Cobbles-cattle
For the first time ever we have a reason to take cobbles seriously as we were so fortunate as to secure the service of a Dane with a Finnish name: Matti Breschel. We even brought in the legendary Bernhard Eisel to help Matti along with Neilands on loan from the cobbles-specialists in Evonik-ELKO.
| Name | | Key stats | OVL | Age | XP | | Matti | Breschel | Cbl77, Spr77 | 75.51 | 32 | 4.100 |  | Bernhard | Eisel | Cbl74, Fla72 | 71.83 | 35 | 4.100 |  | Krists | Neilands | Fla70, Cbl69 | 67.81 | 22 | 1.00 |
For the Flat
When the race calender was announced it was clear to us that we wanted a rider capable of challenging for the win in Baltic Chain Tour as that goes through Finland. That meant we needed a strong sprinter with a good prologue - we found one such in Lo Cicero and have focused a lot on building a team to support him as good as possible, even though we would have liked one top-leadout man for him.
As Manninen found his legs and talents during his break in the woods we are very happy to also have him as a man fir the future along with a bunch of Finnish talents, who could see us field a full-Finnish sprint train some time in the future.
This is where we have to get the big share of our points!
| Name | | Key stats | OVL | Age | XP | | Matti | Manninen | Spr/Acc76, Rec75 | 72.36 | 24 | 3.60 | | Sami | Tiainen | Spr73, Fla71 | 70.11 | 27 | 4.100 | | Roope | Nurmi | Spr71, Fla68 | 67.84 | 23 | 2.00 | | Hiski | Kanerva** | Fla69, Spr68 | 66.06 | 22 | 1.00 | | Risto | Aaltio | Fla72, Hi66 | 65.24 | 28 | 3.24 |  | Ivano | Lo Cicero | Spr84, Prl75 | 76.67 | 28 | 4.100 | | Troels | Vinther | Spr77, Fla74 | 72.95 | 29 | 4.100 | | Emils | Liepins | Spr73, Acc75 | 70.11 | 24 | 3.08 |
Cows against the Clock
Despite the departure of Renäng we have strengthened our TT-setup with the arrival of Paillot along with Samuel Halme, who will be a valuable member of our TTT-setup now and in the future.
| Name | | Key stats | OVL | Age | XP |  | Yoann | Paillot | TT/Prl80, Hi71 | 75.74 | 25 | 4.100 | | Samuel | Pökälä | TT/Prl76, Hi71 | 72.61 | 26 | 4.100 | | Samuel | Halme | TT/Prl72, Fla71 | 68,19 | 25 | 4.00 |  | Dominique | Mayho | TT69, Mo68 | 66.87 | 23 | 2.92 |
All-rounders
Every team needs someone that can solve several different tasks and go for breakaways when we have no suitable leader. We have a bunch of riders like that, though mostly they are talents for the future!
| Name | | Key stats | OVL | Age | XP | | Jesse | Kaislavuo | Acc72, Fig73 | 68.47 | 23 | 2.00 | | Oskari | Vainionpää | Fig76, Fla69 | 66.18 | 21 | 1.00 | | Gustav | Höög | Acc72, Fla67 | 66.17 | 21 | 1.00 |  | Mateusz | Taciak | Mo72, TT73 | 70.92 | 32 | 4.100 |  | Essa | Khalifa | Hi70, Fla68 | 67.71 | 23 | 3.21 |
Cowclusion
All-in-all I believe this to be a team capable of scoring points on a good day on all terrains, but also a team capable of falling through in crucial areas. Hopefully we'll be able to stay in PCT, but at least we have taken a big step when it comes to developing Finnish cycling.
Edited by Atlantius on 27-06-2016 09:26
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| Shonak |
Posted on 22-06-2016 09:14
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
PCM$: 350.00
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This is perfect.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 22-06-2016 10:04
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World Champion
Posts: 14236
Joined: 20-06-2011
PCM$: 300.00
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I always thought that Crommy has the most funny HQ in the game, but now he has some really serious competition. Loving it. 
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| knockout |
Posted on 22-06-2016 10:13
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Awesome team presentation !
I hope Lo Cicero will deliver for you as it will be difficult for you to stay up without a strong season by him.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 22-06-2016 10:16
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
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Very nice, it moo-ved me.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 27-06-2016 09:09
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Time to reveal our goals for the season to come:
TOP 15 PCT STANDINGS
We want to survive in the PCT. Nothing more, nothing less.
We feel that PCT is the best place for us at the moment to allow development of the Finnish talent pool and at the same time giving Finnish riders a chance to shine - something that would be very rare on PT level as the situation is at the moment.
WIN BALTIC CHAIN TOUR
Obviously we have to go for the win in the only race that goes through Finland - and obviously this is why we went so hard for sprinter with a solid prologue and not appalling cobbles-skills. It will be hard, but we believe Lo Cicero can do it if everything falls into place!
WIN SCANDINAVIA OPEN ROAD RACE
Just as with Baltic Chain this was largely determined by geography. With the way the transfer season went it will demand a fairly large miracle for it to happen though...
TOP 5 TOUR OF NORWAY
We always want to do well in Scandinavian races and with Lo Cicero and Paillot in the roster a top 5 in Tour of Norway feels relatively realistic
TOP 5 COURSE DE SOLIDARNOSC
For our 4th race goal we stay around the Baltic Sea. A flat stage race can only mean one thing: Lo Cicero.
A top 5 should be realistic if we get our flat-team working.
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| Shonak |
Posted on 27-06-2016 09:11
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
PCM$: 350.00
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Very, very good chances for 4 out of 5 chances. Should all be fairly well within reach with Lo Cicero definitely. Good planning.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| viking90 |
Posted on 27-06-2016 10:47
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4032
Joined: 24-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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There will be many interesting fights between Lo Cicero and Ahlstrand this season 
Nice choice of goals! |
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| weirdskyfan64 |
Posted on 27-06-2016 17:52
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Protected Rider
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I'm sure Lo Cicero will have some beef with Ahlstrand this season- neither one will want to be udderstudy. But that sprint train better get mooving- they can't be cowards. Mind you, the buck stops with the big cheese, otherwise it'll be a story of must do feta.
Disclaimer- Most of my posts are me thinking aloud. And most of what I think is rubbish.
Winner of a FIFA Prediction Fair Play Award (a phrase becoming increasingly ironic)
"... Because he (me) has a sound tactical mind in general..." jandal7, at 9:30 am GMT on 12th May 2016
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 05:12
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 28-06-2016 13:30
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Thanks all. Ahlstrand could definitely be annoying to have around for me this year, but at least it also means that in most f thee races we have at least two teams dedicated to making sure it actually does become a sprint. Then we'll see who is the stronger one in the end.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 28-06-2016 14:07
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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PRO TOUR WILDCARDS!
We are very happy to announce that we have been accepted into as many as three PT Stage Races this season. At first we were granted access to a couple of classics, but when we needed to pay an error was spotted and we were forced to pull from those of financial reasons.
While we still need a full final confirmation on the last of our C1C2-races and thus can't go into details as to who rides which races (except that our high-level talents will go to all of these if possible) we will just put a few words as to our expectations for the races:
Tour de France
The worlds biggest cycling race and the one that suits us the best as it's the most versatile, hopefully giving more chances to breakaways. As we have no C2HC races clashing we will have fairly free hands setting the team so you could get to see several of our leaders going to France to make sure that we won't always just be there for the sightseeing hopefully. Not that we expect the possibility of a wild Anacona appearing to terrify the likes of Pluchkin and Spilak.
Profile:
Of PT stage races this is the closest we get to a home race as it goes through Norway and (especially) Latvia. Again we will have fairly free hands due to no race clashes for us so we will be looking to send a team capable of doing slightly more than leading the grupetto. Obviously we'll also look forward to showing the Latvian champions jersey on home soil.
Profile:
Tirreno - Adriatico
Planning-wise this will be the hardest for us to field the strongest possible team at, but several of the stages could be interesting for a break so we will likely be looking to send someone, who could have a go at the mountains classification if everything goes just right.
Profile:
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| knockout |
Posted on 28-06-2016 14:31
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Oh yeah! Can't wait to race against Liepins in ToNE
As we have no C2HC races clashing
Surely you mean HC races? 
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 12-07-2016 16:55
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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All our riders gathered to test out our new equipment in a big friendly training ride before the season kicks of and people split up for racing ans training.
A brilliant day for getting to know the new guys and saying hi to Olli, Philip and Sakari before they join their teams for the season. Cool to see their setup for the season as well!
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 14-07-2016 19:22
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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 European Championships - B Road Race
First day in action is always interesting.
Yes,  Valio - DeLaval wasn't actually in action but the Finnish national team is pretty much the same and several of our other riders were here as well making this the race expecting to feature most of our riders this year.
We had the Finnish team close to the front putting down the hammer pretty much all day. A very strong effort from Kulppi, Paajanen, Pökälä and Nurmi especially.
Our main hope lied on Manninen and Vastaranta, but with 34 km to go Jukka found himself on the wrong end of a split along with 99 other riders incl. Ingvar Omarsson. Later Hasta got dropped as well, but seeing him hang on this long on such a flat route is promising from our young climber nonetheless!
In the end we got nothing for our massive efforts (except training) as Nurmi emptied himself (and most others) trying to bring Manninen to a bunch sprint.
Results
| 1 | René Mandri | Estonia | 6h04'09 | | 18 | Roope Nurmi | Finland | + 3'29 | | 25 | Matti Manninen | Finland | + 4'02 | | 33 | Samuel Pökälä | Finland | s.t. | | 43 | Olli Kulppi | Finland | s.t. | | 46 | Branislav Samoilev | Belarus | s.t. | | 75 | Paavo Paajanen | Finland | + 6'29 | | 77 | Jesse Kaislavuo | Finland | s.t. | | 81 | Gökhan Hasta | Turkey | + 7'55 | | 100 | Jukka Vastaranta | Finland | + 12'26 | | 104 | Ingvar Omarsson | Iceland | s.t. | | 121 | Sami Tiainen | Finland | s.t. |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 16-07-2016 20:24
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Continental Championships - Time Trials
We didn't have the highest expectations for the time trials and seeing that none of our three participants were caught on camera we were right so.
Nevertheless it was good to see Paillot put in a good result in the European race proving our faith that he will be one of the top TT'ers in the division.
Results
| 1 | Ho-Ting Kwok | Hong Kong | 1h05'00 | | 45 | Essa Khalifa | United Arab Emirates | + 6'38 | | | | | | 1 | Jacob Fiedler | Germany | 1h05'09 | | 14 | Yoann Paillot | France | + 1'22 | | | | | | 1 | Taylor Phinney | USA | 1h03'08 | | 32 | Dominique Mayho | Bermuda | + 5'38 |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 20-07-2016 21:01
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Continental Championships - Asian Road Race
Our biggest hope for the Asian road race was that Khalifa would get in the break and he did!
Obviously it didn't last to the end, but good to see that the right spirit is there!
Results
| 1 | Leigh Howard | Australia | 6h01'07 | | 127 | Essa Khalifa | United Arab Emirates | s.t. |
Continental Championships - American Road Race
Despite having more riders in America than Asia we managed to stay completely invisible throughout the race.
Not that impressive...
Results
| 1 | Dan Holloway | USA | 6h00'58 | | 100 | Ignacio Sarabia | Mexico | + 5'11 | | 148 | Dominique Mayho | Bermuda | + 8'15 | | 157 | Bernardo Colex | Mexico | s.t. |
Continental Championships - European Road Race
Here we saw our new flat-team in action for the first time.
Matti Breschel made a nice and bold move with 80 km to go, that in th end only really helped make the race harder behind.
The big winner from that was Lo Cicero, who was suddenly promoted to leader of the Italian team.
He did a good job placing himself towards the final sprint avoiding going into the wind too early.
A strong sprint from Ivano, but in the end just short of victory.
Results
| 1 | Ben Swift | Great Britain | 5h47'51 | | 3 | Ivano Lo Cicero | Italy | s.t. | | 86 | Troels Vinther | Denmark | + 5'00 | | 140 | Emils Liepins | Latvia | s.t. | | 150 | Matti Breschel | Denmark | + 9'19 | | 153 | Bernhard Eisel | Austria | s.t. |
Intercontinental Championships - Road Race
Due to his strong effort in the European race Lo Cicero qualified for the Intercontinental race as well.
That didn't go quite as well for him though as he found himself on the wrong end when the peloton split. He did win the sprint from his group though.
Results
| 1 | John Degenkolb | Europe | 5h55'43 | | 70 | Ivano Lo Cicero | Europe | + 3'39 |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 21-07-2016 20:30
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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 Down Under Classic
The first day of racing was set to bring a lot of answers as many have had doubts as to the faith we have in Lo Cicero.
A pancake flat classic should bring us a lot closer to an answer as to whether or not he will perform for us.
It was a chaotic race, where we quickly saw that plenty of teams were eager to chase so we just made sure not to crash. a task neglected by quite a lot today...
In the end Lo Cicero was delivered at the back of the Prio-Porto train from where he should take care of the rest by himself.
He rode it clever and followed the train until the last turn where Wiesenhof missed their line and had to slow down.
Ivano went strong
But perhaps to early as Ulanowski and Vanoverschelde was coming fast from behind?
Not fast enough!
Lo Cicero wins and proves that he has what it takes!
Results
| 1 | Ivano Lo Cicero | Valio - DeLaval | 1h33'31 | | 2 | Maciej Ulanowski | VisitUkraine p/b Nemiroff | s.t. | | 84 | Troels Vinther | Valio - DeLaval | s.t. | | 110 | Bernhard Eisel | Valio - DeLaval | s.t. | | 116 | Matti Manninen | Valio - DeLaval | s.t. | | 118 | Emils Liepins | Valio - DeLaval | s.t. | | 133 | Matti Breschel | Valio - DeLaval | s.t. | | 136 | Krists Neilands | Valio - DeLaval | s.t. | | 139 | Risto Aaltio | Valio - DeLaval | s.t. |
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| knockout |
Posted on 21-07-2016 20:56
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Awesome !
Congrats!
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 24-07-2016 14:14
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Sponsor drama in Finland?
Looking at team registration, sponsor nationality and history one thing stands out: No Swedes wearing the cow-dots full time this season.
Seeing as DeLaval is a Swedish company we've put together a small interview regarding the potential issue and whether it will affect future sponsorship deals.
What are your thoughts on the fact that the management of Valio-DeLaval sold Dahlberg and Renäng pretty early in the transfer window?
Obviously Linus and Viktor are good riders, who have formed the Swedish core of the team for both the previous two seasons, but we also have to recognize that Dahlberg never showed more than being a good helper in CT and while Renäng had a good 2014 last season was disappointing and he would likeely have a hard time finding his strong legs again in PCT so the best for him and thus Sweish cycling is to stay on continental level.
Furthermore we appreciate the forming of a new Swedish-based team and we will sureely be cheering for them wheneveer they're not racing against the bulls.
If you have to be honest surely you would want more Swedes than a stagiare and a loaned-out rider on your team?
Yes and no. We would love more Swedes on the team, but not to just full up numbers and get dropped as the first in races.
Guys like Ahlstrand and Löfkvist would definitely look good in our kit, but we are simply not able to put down the kind of money that would be needed for any of them to leave Spotify.
So a Swedish company are happy with no Swedish riders? Really??
It will be great to see Höög in l'Avenir and Lindau will come back nest year and really we see ourselves as more of a global company than a Swedish one.
We have a test farm in Hamra (Finland), which are in many ways the heart of our company so we enjoy the many Finnish riders as well.
The same way we have a lot of interest in the big dairy industry of Denmark so seeing more Danish riders are of great joy for us as well just as the international aspect of the team helps us using the team commercially on more markets around the world.
Still you must be a bit annoyed?
No, not really. The management cleared it with us before hand so I'm afraid we can't give you the drama you're seeking.
Not just a little bit of drama?
Nope!
Not even about future sponsorship deals?
No. We are very happy being part of a project promoting Finnish cycling and the Dairy industry in general.
Farming needs a PR project in these times when fewer and fewer people have a relation to farming and we think the cycling team does a great job at that!
I guess I'll just have to tell my editor that we have to print a positive story then...
I'm afraid so. No snakes in paradise as far aass we know...
Well thanks for you time.
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