A flat day, all about saving the legs for the next mountain days. No times losses occured nonetheless.
Stage 4
A very attacked and hard day on the bike for everyone. Although with nobody in the break, Rujano and Baltazar attacked alongside a group of six, and in the midst of the clombs the peloton was shattered leaving them in a good position. In the end no excelent result but a good performance overall from the team.
Stage 5
Another day of pure climbing suffering, with humongous gaps. Baltazar entered the break and showed great legs, finishing 14th amongst a group with many GC contenders. Rujano and Sólis showed solid legs but didn't get to play an important role.
I had problems with my computer and so I wasn't able to do this sooner
It wasn't a good race overall. Although with a time-trial, the long mountains should favour a bit our climbers but the GC hopes were shattered immediately on stage 2. Rujano appeared to be ill or injured or something, but Sólis had no excuse. Baltazar stepped up and climbed to 20th in the GC, wich is a very nice surprise, and he was very agressive in the last two stages so it doesn't leave us empty-handed, but it doesn't reach our goals in any way.
A very hard day of racing. Our Andorran Miguel Afonso joined the early break, he was dropped soon but he did good in representing the team although he would obviously struggle in this terrain. In the end, it proved a race to hard for Andzs Flaksis, as when the attacks started he couldn't keep up with the front. Best placed was surprisingly Albert Kireva, confirming a great form but unfortunately he wasn't able to give the team any points. Richard Laningo Laizer crashed and abandoned, and Omer Goldstein, Daniel Rinner, Michal Schlegel and Adria Urcelay provided some support throughout the race.
Results 1 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck Goldcorp - Nordstrom Rack 5h09'26
33 Albert Kireva + 4'09
37 Andzs Flaksis + 4'33
89 Omer Goldstein + 12'22
97 Daniel Rinner + 14'39
124 Miguel Afonso + 16'37
135 Adria Urcelay s.t.
162 Michal Schlegel + 23'16
DNF Richard Laningo Laizer
It wasn't a good race for us, nowhere near the goal, and didn't even make it to the points zone. It's not a main race, the expectations aren't very high but there is some concern about Andzs Flaksis so far. Albert Kireva has been riding great so far this season, and seems able to step up to deliver a stand-out performance.
The day started of right, Lituanian Flaksis able to get into the initial break and showing off the team colours for most of the day. But he struggled in the final hills, and in the peloton nothing appeared to be in sync, nobody really appeared to be in the front part of the peloton, only in the finish line we saw our riders coming in, Alberigo Passalacqua was the first one coming in at 51st thus scoring no points.
Expected zero pointer. These are the races where it hurts to have no good puncheur. Sending Rujano was an interesting and understandable gamble with the short calendar but the race wasn't hard enough for him. Nice to see Latvian Flaksis in the break though
With a route favourable for the time-trialists to fight it out for overall victory, we have a strong team here wich can safely target a top 10. The goal is a podium with one of the strongest time-trialists in the startlist Hugues Mottin, but the best time-trialists in the division are present so it'll be hard. With also Richard Laningo Laizer and Albert Kireva present, a top10 overall (and obviously in the TT) is the least to expect. Our sprinter Nazir Jaser is here, although he will face a very hard competition and so is gonna struggle to get a good result in the flat stages. Although expected to support and enter breakaways, Bonaventure Uwizeyimana, Miguel Afonso and especially Daniel Rinner are riders that in a good day can place very well in the TT, and as arouleur with a fast finish he's always a dangeorus man to consider. Rounding out the squad is our loanee Michal Schlegel, who will also suport and possibly enter a break.
Stage 1
First stage in Germany, as a flat one our expectations were just to get someone in the break (and obviously not loosing time with anybody) and that was done, Michal Schlegel entered the day's break of 4, won some mountain points (but no jersey) and also got some seconds of bonification. In the end everybody arrived safely in the peloton.
Spoiler
38 Nazir Jaser s.t.
46 Albert Kireva s.t.
54 Richard Laningo Laizer s.t.
69 Daniel Rinner s.t.
78 Hugues Mottin s.t.
128 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana s.t.
138 Miguel Afonso s.t.
150 Michal Schlegel s.t. GC
6 Michal Schlegel s.t. KOM
3 Michal Schlegel 14 U25
2 Michal Schlegel + 0 (2)
Spoiler
Schlegel powers on the break
Stage 2
The big day for the GC. The pressure is big but so are the hopes. We are glad to say that in the end, Hugues Mottin didn't have his best day and managed a still good 6th place, but Laizer stepped up and performed brilliantly into a 2nd on the stage, thus also moving to 2nd on GC. Adding to that, Kireva also pulled of a good 13th on the road.
Spoiler
2 Richard Laningo Laizer + 9
6 Hugues Mottin + 24
13 Albert Kireva + 44
30 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 1'09
34 Daniel Rinner + 1'17
56 Miguel Afonso + 1'45
143 Michal Schlegel s.t.
175 Nazir Jaser + 3'31 GC
2 Richard Laningo Laizer + 9
6 Hugues Mottin + 24
13 Albert Kireva + 44 POINTS
4 Richard Laningo Laizer 20 KOM
3 Michal Schlegel 14
U25
2 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 44 TEAMS
2 Andorra Cycling Project + 7
Spoiler
Mottin on his way to 6th in his first time-trial of the season
Spoiler
Laizer powering his way to a mega TT
Stage 3
The stress is on our shoulders, our current GC placings mean a lot of much needed points and all the efforts have to be made to stay in that position. Short-lived but Miguel Afonso joined an early break, but with the hilly route he got dropped and returned to the peloton (although he did capture some KOM points). Although with wind in the end, all of our riders arrived safely in the peloton.
Spoiler
23 Nazir Jaser s.t.
24 Albert Kireva s.t.
59 Richard Laningo Laizer s.t.
90 Daniel Rinner s.t.
97 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana s.t.
124 Hugues Mottin s.t.
139 Miguel Afonso s.t.
170 Michal Schlegel s.t. GC
2 Richard Laningo Laizer + 9
6 Hugues Mottin + 24
13 Albert Kireva + 44 POINTS
6 Richard Laningo Laizer 20 KOM
3 Michal Schlegel 14 U25
2 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 44 TEAMS
2 Andorra Cycling Project + 7
Spoiler
Although struggling, Afonso has been a regular presence in breaks this season
Stage 4
Another windy day, today it took a tol on us as Hugues Mottin was dropped in the midst of crosswinds. Laizer and Kireva managed to finish in the peloton thus saving their GC positions and Uwizeyimana and Rinner also moved up into the top25.
Spoiler
18 Albert Kireva s.t.
40 Richard Laningo Laizer s.t.
43 Nazir Jaser s.t.
65 Daniel Rinner s.t.
79 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana s.t.
117 Michal Schlegel + 4'53
144 Hugues Mottin + 9'13 GC
2 Richard Laningo Laizer + 9
13 Albert Kireva + 44
23 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 1'09
25 Daniel Rinner + 1'17 KOM 6 Michal Schlegel 0 14 U25
2 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 44 TEAMS
2 Andorra Cycling Project + 7
Spoiler
Mottin suffered in the corsswinds
Stage 5
Following yesterday´s harsh ride for Mottin, today he infiltrated the early break. With a hilly and very windy parcours throughout the stage it ended up a hard one. The win came out of the break, with Mottin hanging on to a solid place in the stage, but the real drama came in the final kilometers. There was a crash involving the Yellow Jersey (Uwizeyimana and Rinner involved) and there was a severe time gap between his group and the peloton, in wich Laizer came in and thus conquering the Yellow Jersey on the final stage.
Spoiler
8 Hugues Mottin s.t.
44 Albert Kireva s.t.
47 Richard Laningo Laizer s.t.
49 Michal Schlegel s.t.
55 Nazir Jaser s.t.
59 Miguel Afonso s.t.
91 Daniel Rinner + 1'53
108 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana s.t. GC
1 Richard Laningo Laizer 18h58'34
10 Albert Kireva + 35
37 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 2'31
41 Daniel Rinner + 2'39
61 Nazir Jaser + 3'22
108 Hugues Mottin + 6'42
109 Michal Schlegel s.t.
133 Miguel Afonso + 9'57 KOM
7 Michal Schlegel 14 TEAMS
2 Andorra Cycling Project + 7
Spoiler
Mottin climbing strongly...
Spoiler
Much of the break was caught on the line, Mottin still managed an 8th place
Spoiler
Shocked but over the roof! If there is a way of describing this amazing victory
We are definetely focusing on breaks in this race as the PCT contigent is high, we do have some hopes of a top 20 final GC placing, but Rujano and Sólis have been totally on a roller-coster of a season so it's hard to predict.
Not completely flat, but should be one for the sprinters. Despite some attempts from Ivan Vila we didn't have representation from the team in front. Nothing special happened, Óscar Solis lost over 8 minutes today confirming his current bad shape (maybe illness), whilst other than Vila, the rest of our squad came home safely in the bunch.
Another flat-ish day, nothing big expected to happen. Following yesterday's attempt, today Ivan Vila was in the break of the day, collected some KOM points and was caught in the latter part of the race. Aside Solis, all the team arrived in the peloton thus mantaining their GC places.
A bit of uncertainty coming into today. Solis clearly out of form, Rujano left behind by the team in the TTT and Claerebout suffering yesterday on the flat. Motivating news early in the day as Óscar Solis attacked the day's first climb to join the break. He didn't perform a miracle though as he suffered there but showing solid legs. In the peloton the race was attacked soon and the 1st CAT climb left only Rujano infront, who suffered later. In the end he finished 24th still leading a group of 34 alongside our Andorrans Vila and Groiller. Claerebout confirmed his sudden decrease of shape (maybe ilness) and lost almost 15 minutes. With this, very surprisingly Guy Diaz Groiller will start tomorrow's stage as the team's best placed in the GC ,with Rujano not far behind, but with low GC hopes.
Baltazar has been showing himself a lot in breakaways
Spoiler
The tiny Venezuelan climbing in the right-edge of the road
Stage 6
There wasn't much to expect from today, just Rujano trying to keep his place in the GC. He defended himself well but came down to 20th but there wasn't any stress about it.
As a result of a late crash affecting the Yellow Jersey in the final stage of the Bayern Rudfahrt, our Tanzanian rider Richard Lainingo Laizer secured the team's first ever Stage Race victory!!
It wasn't a positive moment, but it seems as though all the stars have aligned, this victory is very important to us, it's a huge result by any standards and the huge satisfaction is obvious within our team, it passed every expectation that we had.
This race also secured a big amount of (much needed) points and should catapult us into about halfway of the CT standings.
@Booker thanks! Yes it caught me completely by surprise, I never thought Laizer could step up that high, it's good to know that even with Mottin's struggles we have a co-leader. And I hope so too
@Croatia Yes that's the same thing I thought, TT squad good but i never expected the wins to come from there. Thanks!
As a mostly PCT startlist we knew that we were gonna have a hard time here. We set out a goal of a top15, with the minimum acceptable a top20.
The race started out badly in the TTT, Solis lost minutes and Rujano lost half a minute to his teammates and we assumed that Claerebout would step up for the leadership.
In the final flat stage he arrived at the end of the peloton and we quickly realized he was gonna suffer.
A mediocre display on the hills, but a strong showing in the mountains lifted Rujano into the top20, and he was able to keep it in the final TT.
Breakaway presences in 3/4 road stages, by Vila, Solis and Baltazar also represented us well.
In the end, a solid display by the team, the acceptable goal was achieved and we got a bit of protagonism. Nothing compared to the other race of March (Bayern Rundfahrt), but some points will be added to the score and here every point counts.
This finishes the month of March, the most successful one by far! Next month we will only attend the San Marino Hill Classic and the Tour of Langkawi so another slow month, but we will surely climb in the CT standings and starting May we'll try to move up again.
- Moving to 14th in the standings is unbelievable for us, and the current PpRD standings put us in 15th place so we will fight to keep it.. It is our season goal to finish inside top15
April will only see our Jerseys in action in the San Marino Hill classic where a climber team will try their luck again, and later in the month the Tour of Langkawi for our first appearance in Asia. Óscar Solis will lead the team in an attempt to bring home some good points.
As a C2 race, we opted to leave Rujano out, in order to save him for future races. The team leadership will be on Óscar Solis' shoulders, it's very uncertain what he can do.. the prologue is definately a weak spot but due to it's lenght it shouldn't be a big issue. The first mountain stage is also not very suited to him probably but the queen stage is, a mountain slog is his specialty and we hope to see him perform well. Bonaventure Uwizeyimana is set to have a protected place, specially cause of his slight chances of fighting for the white jersey. All the others have breakaway availability, Dimitri Jiriakov, Ivan Vila and Guy Diaz Groiller for the main support in the mountains, Michal Schlegel for all-round support and Omer Goldstein for flat protection, especially for Nazir Jaser who will target sprint stages.
Top 10 is the goal, it will much depend on Solis' form, also a top 20/25 and top3 in U25 classification for Uwizeyimana. Other than that, being present in the breaks cause it's certain at least one will succeed.
Stage 1
Opener here in Malaysia. As expected Oscar Solis didn't have the power for a good prologue, but the loss wasn't big and won't prevent him for the fight overall. Uwizeyimana did ok finishing in the top30.
Spoiler
28 Guy Diaz Groiller + 26
29 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 27
68 Dimitri Jiriakov + 35
70 Nazir Jaser s.t.
97 Omer Goldstein + 41
120 Michal Schlegel + 46
139 Ivan Vila + 50
147 Óscar Solis + 54
Stage 2
First (and hardest) of he flat stages.. Although Vila tried to join the break, he wasn't succesfull. Nothing really happened during the day, Nazir Jaser was the best placed at the finish with a hope-giving 17th and Solis finished well positioned with Uwizeyimana.
Spoiler
17 Nazir Jaser s.t.
43 Omer Goldstein s.t.
51 Óscar Solis s.t.
52 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana s.t.
62 Guy Diaz Groiller s.t.
68 Dimitri Jiriakov s.t.
70 Michal Schlegel s.t.
78 Ivan Vila s.t.
Spoiler
Although badly placed, first time we're seeing Jaser in a sprint finish
Stage 3
Up Cameron Highlands was the way... the first part of the race saw no action from us, and the same is said about the first two climbs of the day. Only in the final climb attacks and gaps occured. In the end with many bridges made in the final sprint resulting in the junction of many different groups, Solis was able to finish inside the first chasing group on the road, and Uwizeyimana in the second, thus keeping both of them in contention of their goals.
Spoiler
17 Óscar Solis + 31
45 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 2'25
67 Dimitri Jiriakov + 5'37
69 Ivan Vila s.t.
70 Guy Diaz Groiller s.t.
86 Michal Schlegel + 8'58
105 Omer Goldstein + 14'44
116 Nazir Jaser + 16'03 GC
21 Óscar Solis + 1'15
23 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 2'42 U25
2 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 1'57
Spoiler
Solis looking to start the climb in front
Stage 4
An uneventful day in general for the race. The break was victorius and our own Ivan Vila was a part of it.. but sadly aswell as much of the break he was caught in the closing Km and couldn't finish in an honourable position. The rest of the team arrived safely in the bunch.
Ivan Vila once again showcasing the Andorran colours
Stage 5
Everybody expected a soft run-in to the final climb today for the GC men to battle it out. In a way it was, but Solis, alongside Romain Bardet and 13 others decided to go on the day's break. It was doomed from the begining but it got nerves on the peloton, Solis began the final climb in front, and alongside Bardet they created a gap on the others but were eventually caught by a fast-moving peloton. Solis still hanged on to a top-15 placing aswell as Uwizeyimana, who had a good day on the road. Although both climbed overall, Solis left a very sour taste out of this stage.. it looked like he finally hit good form and was ready to fight for an honourable GC placing, but his opportunity to lead the team was wasted. Uwizeyimana on the bright side climbed to the top 20 and kept his top in the U25 standings.
Spoiler
13 Óscar Solis + 1'05
15 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana s.t.
63 Dimitri Jiriakov + 7'09
67 Guy Diaz Groiller + 7'51
75 Ivan Vila + 13'19
100 Omer Goldstein + 18'57
105 Nazir Jaser s.t.
116 Michal Schlegel + 22'20 GC
16 Óscar Solis + 2'40
20 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 4'07 U25
3 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 1'36
Spoiler
Solis integrated the day's break
Spoiler
His colaboration with Bardet was vital
Spoiler
Uwizeyimana making an accelaration of his own
Spoiler
Our guys crossing the line
Stage 6
We weren't expecting anything out of today and we were right. The break almost contested the win but it came down to a bunch sprint. All riders came safely in the peloton.
Spoiler
55 Nazir Jaser s.t.
91 Ivan Vila s.t.
92 Óscar Solis s.t.
108 Dimitri Jiriakov s.t.
135 Michal Schlegel s.t.
137 Omer Goldstein s.t.
144 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana s.t.
154 Guy Diaz Groiller s.t. GC
16 Óscar Solis + 2'40
20 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 4'07 U25
3 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 1'36
Stage 7
Another pan-flat stage, our Ivan Vila once again went into the break, made up of 8 riders. A sudden deaccelaration in the last Km in the peloton allowed the break to contest the win and surprisingly Vila took a dominant win in a sprint! Both Solis and Uwizeyimana arrived safely in the peloton and won a place overall.
Spoiler
1 Ivan Vila 3h07'47
27 Nazir Jaser + 1'41
73 Dimitri Jiriakov s.t.
74 Óscar Solis s.t.
93 Michal Schlegel s.t.
101 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana s.t.
116 Guy Diaz Groiller s.t.
145 Omer Goldstein + 4'59 GC
15 Óscar Solis + 2'40
19 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 4'07 U25
3 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 1'36
After a promising start to the race with Solis and Uwizeyimana riding well in the first flat stages and the climb up to Cameron Highlands, the queen stage left a bitter taste as Solis entered the break and in the end didn't have the power to do better than a top 15, Uwizeyimana au contraire rode surprisingly well and managed to climb into the top 20 (and also 3rd in the U25 standings).
But it was today's stage win that saved the race, Ivan Vila entered the break for the second time this race but this time he rode perfectly, and provided with some valuable points for our team's goal.
With this result we can't be disapointed with the team's performance here. Solis didn't fulfill his goal but Uwizeyimana did, so at least it's not a disaster of a month. BRING ON MAY
Spoiler
GC 1 Rafael Valls Repsol - Honda 21h45'46
15 Óscar Solis + 2'40
19 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 4'07
62 Dimitri Jiriakov + 13'31
63 Guy Diaz Groiller + 14'04
73 Ivan Vila + 17'47
97 Michal Schlegel + 32'14
109 Nazir Jaser + 35'45
114 Omer Goldstein + 37'50 POINTS
9 Ivan Vila 33 KOM
17 Óscar Solis 8 U25
3 Bonaventure Uwizeyimana + 1'36
In May we start off very early with a trip to Namibia for the Windhoek TT. Only Hugues Mottin, Richard Lainingo Laizer and Albert Kireva will be at the start line but the expectations are high. And the only other race of the month will be the C2HC Tour of Faso, where Andzs Flaksis will lead the squad in an attempt of getting some important points.
