A nice trip to the sunny Caribbean, and an opportunity for Kanter to stretch his legs. He had to hope that some of the ProContinental sprinters suffer in the heat, because it looked like all the favourites also enjoyed the idea of a few days at the beach! Unfortunately he wasn't able to manoeuvre himself into a good position, and fell outside the Top 10.

			∣		∣		∣		∣
10	Max Kanter	3h38'06	∣	17	∣	16	∣		∣	4
31	T. Halland Johannessen	s.t.	∣	36	∣		∣		∣	7
43	Georgios Kaloniatis	s.t.	∣	48	∣		∣		∣	10
45	Fatiu Abolaji	s.t.	∣	50	∣		∣		∣	12
46	Juraj Bellan	s.t.	∣	51	∣		∣		∣
105	Roger Adria	s.t.	∣	108	∣		∣		∣	35

Perhaps stinging from his failure the previous day Kanter decided to put his descending skills to the test, trying to bridge across to the break very early on. His competitors evidently had higher evaluations of his abilities, evident in their denial of any possibility of his escape. The approach to the finish recalled fears of another anonymous showing, but Kanter's small frame allowed him to navigate through the bunch for a decent sixth-placing. The sole sprinter competing in the category, that was sufficient for him to move into the white jersey.

			∣		∣		∣		∣
6	Max Kanter	3h37'33	∣	9	∣	11	∣		∣	1
25	Georgios Kaloniatis	s.t.	∣	39	∣		∣		∣	7
39	T. Halland Johannessen	s.t.	∣	41	∣		∣		∣	8
48	Fatiu Abolaji	s.t.	∣	51	∣		∣		∣	10
57	Juraj Bellan	s.t.	∣	53	∣		∣		∣
78	Roger Adria	s.t.	∣	95	∣		∣		∣	33

The third stage rapidly disintegrated into a disaster. The early climb up to Hermitage Summit (4km @ 6.4%) shouldn't have posed too many issues, but Zalgiris decided to spice things up by dragging Halvorsen up to the breakaway. Everything was brought back together by the descent, but doubtless some matches had been burnt. Another climb (3.3km @ 4.2%) meant more taken out of the legs, and as the pace rose in the run in to the finish gaps began to appear in the peloton. Kanter, along with most of his teammates, was caught on the wrong side of one major split. Not expecting to be favourites here, management had been satisfied with a weak squad; with their energy sapped by the preceding climbs nobody was able to help Kanter as he desperately tried to drag himself back into the race. It wasn't enough and he lost white to a member of the day's break.

			∣		∣		∣		∣
35	T. Halland Johannessen	3h14'05	∣	41	∣		∣		∣	8
57	Juraj Bellan	s.t.	∣	62	∣		∣		∣
60	Georgios Kaloniatis	s.t.	∣	54	∣		∣		∣	11
69	Fatiu Abolaji	s.t.	∣	63	∣		∣		∣	13
94	Max Kanter	s.t.	∣	24	∣	12	∣		∣	2
121	Roger Adria	s.t.	∣	111	∣		∣		∣	36

Kanter had arrived in the Caribbean with two goals: win the white jersey and be competitive in the sprints. Given his time loss on the previous day, the former seemed impossible, and his previous forms made the latter unlikely. The curious decision by H.A. Sam, who had taken white, to join the morning's breakaway spiced things up. Kanter just had to stick with the peloton and hope for a miracle! Once again, his domestiques failed to deliver him into a strong position in time for the bunch sprint. Instead, Kanter stayed out of the wind for as long as possible, before trying to squeeze along the barriers, sliding past those who had mistimed their launch. His charge was momentarily slowed by Asbjorn Kragh Andersen, but a cheeky elbow allowed the German to secure a decent 7th. More good news arrived when the organisers awarded the time gaps - we had won back white!

			∣		∣		∣		∣
7	Max Kanter	2h24'54	∣	16	∣	10	∣		∣	1
24	T. Halland Johannessen	s.t.	∣	27	∣		∣		∣	3
50	Fatiu Abolaji	s.t.	∣	48	∣		∣		∣	7
51	Juraj Bellan	s.t.	∣	47	∣		∣		∣
65	Georgios Kaloniatis	s.t.	∣	44	∣		∣		∣	6
91	Roger Adria	+1'08	∣	111	∣		∣		∣	37

The aim here in South East Asia was for Daniel Hoelgaard to challenge for the general classification. His strength is the hard hilly stages, not riding against the clock, so this first stage was just about minimising the losses. Instead it fell on Frederik Frison to challenge for the victory - he fell well short. The best showing came from one of the team's many youngsters instead, with Rasmus Iversen just four seconds off the pace.

			∣		∣		∣		∣
16	Rasmus Iversen	4'16	∣	16	∣		∣		∣	2
24	Ingvar Omarsson	+6	∣	24	∣		∣		∣
36	Frederik Frison	+8	∣	36	∣		∣		∣
58	Torjus Sleen	+13	∣	58	∣		∣		∣
72	Similo Nyoni	+15	∣	72	∣		∣		∣
102	Daniel Hoelgaard	+21	∣	102	∣		∣		∣

Neither of the team's sprinters had been sent along to Malaysia, which meant that we were hoping for some sort of attack for any chance at victory. Without any presence in the day's breakaway, eyes were instead turned to the bump leading into the final kilometres. Rather than taking a chance at a late charge Hoelgaard, our ostensible leader, positioned himself poorly and ended up on the wrong side of a split. The stage went to the sprinters instead, with only Omarsson and Nyoni in the front group.

∣

∣

∣

∣

13

Ingvar Omarsson

3h59'02

∣

14

∣

∣

∣

∣

41

Similo Nyoni

s.t.

∣

35

∣

∣

∣

∣

84

Daniel Hoelgaard

+45

∣

117

∣

∣

∣

∣

88

Frederik Frison

s.t.

∣

77

∣

∣

∣

∣

90

Rasmus Iversen

s.t.

∣

65

∣

∣

∣

∣

114

Torjus Sleen

s.t.

∣

93

∣

∣

∣

∣

The race organisers noted this stage as hilly, with three fourth category climbs, a third category climb, and an uncategorised ascent of the same. Hoelgaard was decently positioned coming into it, but unfortunately he lacked any support from the team. Russo led a line of puncheurs across the summit, with our Norwegian following along in the train. Everything was still together at the base of the final climb and initially it seemed that Hoelgaard was set to compete at the front. In what was fast becoming a dangerous pattern Hoelgaard couldn't stick with it when the tempo increased, and instead it was Omarsson who flooded past him. Although there most certainly is an element of disappointment regarding Hoelgaard's failure to convert, Omarsson's capabilities on the TT-bike mean that he's found his way into sixth on the GC!

∣

∣

∣

∣

15

Ingvar Omarsson

4h04'44

∣

6

∣

∣

∣

∣

20

Daniel Hoelgaard

+45

∣

34

∣

∣

∣

∣

26

Torjus Sleen

s.t.

∣

27

∣

∣

∣

3

∣

108

Frederik Frison

+3'45

∣

108

∣

∣

∣

∣

110

Rasmus Iversen

s.t.

∣

103

∣

∣

∣

∣

133

Similo Nyoni

+6'26

∣

128

∣

∣

∣

∣

Stage Four. Just under four kilometres against the clock. Nothing but a man and his bike. On the first day in Malaysia Omarsson had come in 24th, only six seconds off the pace; given the losses many of his competitors had suffered the day before, a similar peformance on the final day ought to have been sufficient to secure him the Top 10. Hoelgaard, by contrast, was expected to drop down the order. Frison, who had disappointed so far, was up early on: he secured a provisonal second with a time of 4'33". In contrast, Omarsson can only manage a turgid effort of 4'50" (worse than Hoelgaard even) that saw him fall out of the Top 10 by merely a single second.

∣

∣

∣

∣

18

Frederik Frison

+13

∣

99

∣

∣

∣

∣

47

Similo Nyoni

+20

∣

126

∣

∣

∣

∣

54

Torjus Sleen

+22

∣

26

∣

∣

∣

3

∣

64

Daniel Hoelgaard

+24

∣

31

∣

∣

∣

∣

75

Rasmus Iversen

+29

∣

107

∣

∣

∣

∣

80

Ingvar Omarsson

s.t.

∣

11

∣

∣

∣

∣

It's favourable position on the calender meant that this san marinese classic was attended by a lineup of the Continental Tour's best puncheurs. The team opted to protect our leader, Hoelgaard, rather than gaining a presence in the day's break. Zordan and Moscon attacked just before the final circuit, having determined that the peloton were not chasing hard enough Hoelgaard opted to bridge across. He would join up with the lead group, before proceeding to drop the two early attackers. Fellow countryman Dyrnes had made his move a bit later, but as he came storming through the field it momentarily looked like he would surpass Hoelgaard, but our wiley Norwegian found just enough energy to make it over the line to take an excellent victory!

1	Daniel Hoelgaard	4h19'29
18	Tobias Halland Johannnessen	+ 43
81	Torjus Sleen	+ 3'16
90	Juraj Bellan	s.t.
102	Roger Adria	s.t.
148	Rasmus Iversen	+ 5'51
172	Fatiu Abolaji	+ 10'55
173	Similo Nyoni	+ 12'45

It wasn't to be an easy jaunt to the Slovenian seaside, as the hard riding began from a long way out in Izola. Hoelgaard positioned himself well, avoiding the splits with the assistance of the Tryg domestiques. It was only once they were on the coastal plains that the more dangerous attacks began to appear, and when Alaphilippe managed to get himself clear Hoelgaard set about bridging across. He got caught between the leaders and the chasing pack, but managed to bring it home for a respectable 4th.

1	Clement Russo	3h28'34
4	Daniel Hoelgaard	s.t.
37	Ingvar Omarsson	+ 48
54	Tobias Halland Johannessen	+ 2'48
75	Roger Adria	+ 3'33
94	Juraj Bellan	s.t.
103	Rasmus Iversen	s.t.
118	Similo Nyoni	+ 5'34
125	Fatiu Abolaji	s.t.

Rider of the Month - Daniel Hoelgaard
Young Rider of the Month - Tobias Halland Johannessen

Krieger was no longer going to be the focal point of Tryg's sprinting department despite the fond memories of our previous promotion campaign. This was partially attributable to the development of Max Kanter and partially attributable to the fact that aside from Kanter and Krieger the Tyrg - Gobik sprint department was nonexistent. It was to be a year of fighting for the right wheel for them both.



Krieger was set to be primarily contesting for the points jerseys at races where mountains or timetrials meant that the sprinters wouldn't be taking the race overall. He proved moderately adept at this. There were some notable absences in Hungary and the Netherlands, and the points classification proved to be nowhere near as lucrative as might have been hoped, but Krieger was capable of competing against some ostensibly superior sprinters, albeit inconsistently. Not quite the stunning as his first outing with us but still a respectable season.

Kanter joined the team as a neo-pro three years ago. After a stint in the World Tour he's back to take up the mantle of head sprinter. Despite ostensibly being one of the better sprinters at this level, the German is hampered by his mediocrity when it comes to prologues. This severely limited the opportunities to obtain the lucrative scoring positions in the general classifications. This issue could be some what circumvented by introducing more .1 races, a need made more prevalent by Alexander Krieger's employment as a support sprinter. An added benefit of this tactic was it would give an impression of what Kanter might be capable of should the team return to the ProContinental level.



For the most part Kanter's forays into .1 races were, predictably, uninspiring. If not for Frankfurt he would have left with only a handful of youth classifications; won by virtue of the fact he was often the only sprinter eligible. However, Frankfurt happened. In the closing kilometres Kanter made the corageous decision to bridge across to the earlier escaped Hugo Houle. When they were caught under the red kite it appeared as though that had been the wrong decision but Kanter had enough left in the tank for one more acceleration. One more acceleration which carried him to victory! Despite this success, the rest of the season has made it clear that work needs to be done if Kanter is to remain the team's main sprinter in the coming campaign.

As a 24 year old Georg Zimmermann had managed to secure two white jerseys at the PTHC-level. A year older and a year stronger, it stood to reason that he would be able to repeat that feat in the 2.HC and 2.1 races Tryg would be attending. He would be needed to assist Schlegel's campaigns in the springtime but come autumn and Zimmermann would be unleashed in Andorra, America and Morocco. The German possesses capabilities more suited to operating as a superdomestique than an outright leader so this might well have been his final opportunity to take some big victories.



Considered holistically Zimmermann's season probably wasn't as fruitful as it might have been. He was unable to avert Schlegel's struggles in Tachira and Romandie; his domestique duties distracted him from the youth classifications as well. The only real positive came when he very nearly won a stage at Tachira after a day in the breakaway, only suffering defeat to the GC favourites by metres. Andorra was dreadful: the lack of helpers came to tell as Zimmermann went plummeting down the ranks in the final days; Morocco wasn't much better. The saving grace is the people's grand tour: America. After losing a significant amount of time in the opening timetrial, the German slowly clawed it back; first in the hills and then later holding on to the coattails of the favourites in the high mountains. A Top 10 in the GC and the white jersey were an excellent reward for his efforts.

tsmoha wrote:
Just really noticed it: this "layout" of both race reviews and this PCS-style riders' season results are sick! Love it.

Previously a puncheur-domestique, Schlegel was transformed into a climber over the off-season. This meant significant investment on the part of the team. Not only was marquee-signing Tim Wellens traded away but the not insignificant sum of £1.6M was spent on his training. If the Czech could score some good results in the mountains despite the somewhat lacklustre supporting cast then it would all be worth it.


Schlegel didn't quite live up to the billing. He did well with his podiums in the Middle East and Vancouver, although losing the GC to former rider Bjorn Tore Hoem in the latter was painful. Even more painful were the notable absences in Tachira and Trentino. To have â…— of his 2.2 calendar produce effectively no returns is unacceptable. Whether Schlegel will have a chance to redeem himself next year is up in the air. An acceptable performance in Romandie, including a daring day-long escapade, was marred by the fact he threw in the towel at Milano - Torino. A somewhat lacking set of credentials when it comes to .1 races then.

Daniel has enjoyed several fruitful years with us after joining in 2019. The signing of Toms Skujins last season saw him relegated to a supporting role. Even then he showed what he was capable of when he was unleashed in the Basque country - scoring a stage victory and the mountain jersey. For a moment it looked as though Hoelgaard would have to share his duties with Schlegel but the team eventually opted to go another route. Now, with Skujins gone and a litany of .2 races available, it was time for the Norwegian to be restored to his full strength.


The ostensible litany of .2 classics turned out to be a mere six as the Tour of America instead dominated Hoelgaard's schedule. He did quite well in most of them, winning in San Marino and narrowly missing out on doing the same in Gisborne. The only real disappointment was in Costa Rica; Malaysia was a mistake given the number of TTing kilometres and Italy was about par for the course. A stunning final week in America ended with Hoelgaard in the polkadots and several stage podiums, having suffered the ignomity of making the finale only to be outdone thrice. A good season from the Norwegian even if it can't quite match his best.

It is always important to recognise the efforts put in by the rest of the team. In their domestique duties - pulling at the front of the peloton, closing down attacks, fetching food and water - and in their own capacities - fighting in the breakaway, aiming at the minor placings. No full breakdown is being published, but this is what they have achieved this year.

Ingvar Omarsson

Tobias Halland Johannessen

Torjus Sleen

tsmoha (???? croatia): Thanks for the praise! I thought this was going to be the year where I finally keep the reviews up to date with the racing but alas. Format is mostly ripped from firstcycling.

jandal7: I always feel like your HQ does a great job of getting me invested in your riders so can't wait for those end-of-season writeups. Been slowly tuning mine over the years.

Laurens147: Krieger always seems to be a relatively safe bet in .2 sprints. He was stunning for me in 2020 but the results across the last two years have also been at an acceptable level.

At the end of a rather successful campaign it is important to recognise those who have made the biggest contributions to that success. The team has released overviews of our leaders' schedules so that those who haven't been following along have the opportunity to catch up. These also include a few comments on how the management feel the season has gone.

The following awards will be made this season: (i) Riders' Rider of the Year; (ii) Fans' Rider of the Year; (iii) Fans' Young Rider of the Year; (iv) Ride of the Year. The squad have already begun submitting their selections for category (i) and the management is scouring through each race day in search of something befitting category (iv). We'd like to invite you to submit your votes for categories (ii) and (iii). You just have to write in with the names of the chosen candidates.

Eligible Riders | - Youth:

liefwarrior wrote:
jandal7: I always feel like your HQ does a great job of getting me invested in your riders so can't wait for those end-of-season writeups.

Frederik Rodenberg | 25 years old | LVL4>MAX | Track-Sprint

Andreas Kron | 25 years old | LVL4>MAX | Hills

Matthias Norsgaard | 26 years old | LVL4>MAX | Time Trial

Mikkel Honore | 26 years old | LVL4>MAX | Stage Race

Tobias H. Johannessen | 24 years old | LVL3>4 | ClimberV1

Juraj Bellan | 27 years old | LVL3>4 | Stage Race

Georgios Kaloniatis | 24 years old | LVL2>3 | Stage Race

Rasmus Iversen | 26 years old | LVL3>4 | Time Trial

Similo Nyoni | 28 years old | LVL3>4 | Time Trial

Fatiu Abolaji | 25 years old | LVL1>3 | Time Trial

Perhaps next year we will find a ProTour team willing to work on his aero position.