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From zero to Giro - The CCC Polsat Polkowice story
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| wroblitz |
Posted on 24-04-2013 23:31
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Stage 2 - Flat
On day two my first decision was to withdraw Michal Kwiatkowski from the race, as I want him to take part in Chrono des Nations on 13/10.
With very early mountain premium (9,5 km from the start line), I only came 3rd with Barton, however he managed to win last one and one intermediate sprint, what gave him 4 mountain and 3 sprint points.
Alone against the rest - Chris Barton wins mountain premium just 5 km before the finish line.
Due to mountain premium just 5 km before the finish line I couldn't form a proper train, so instead of that I only pushed Krivenco and Ciolek forward. They were later joined by Pawilowski. Despite all that confusion I managed to win (barely), and Krivenco came 4th (Pawilowski also finished top 10 - 9th).
So - so far so good, but most important is yet to come, as next stage is decisive 145 km hilly stage. |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 24-04-2013 23:32
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Super Ciolek strikes again  |
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| Pinktay3 |
Posted on 25-04-2013 07:50
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Just been reading back through. Ciolek seems to always be in super form! And a few pages back you said you considered stopping again. I'm glad you haven't  |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 25-04-2013 08:40
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Hope Kwiatek will win that Chrono des Nations  |
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| wroblitz |
Posted on 25-04-2013 11:01
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Decisive stage took place on 12. October. It was a 145 km stage classified as hilly.
It started well as Barton after 3 unsuccessful breakaways finally managed to grab a mountain premium win.
On second one he was 3rd after very close battle. That gave him 4 points, and after 3 days of racing he's leading with 8 - 5 points clear.
After second mountain premium it was only one rider in the breakaway - George Bennett.
Solitary rider - George Bennett.
So I decided to go for the intermediate sprint with Ciolek. He got his 2 points and 2 seconds.
Bennett was eventually caught 11 km before the finish line. None of the puncheurs managed to get clear of the peloton, and race ended with massive sprint, which was won by Denis Galimzyanov.
Ciolek came only 7th, but his in very good position, as with 2 flat stages to go he's only 11" behind Lieuwe Westra, so with some chances for a yellow jersey.
My favourite for the race - Peter Kennaugh finished 15th.
Edited by wroblitz on 25-04-2013 11:02
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 25-04-2013 11:37
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Ciolek can do this  |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 25-04-2013 14:59
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Ciolek certainly has some good form at the moment |
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| wroblitz |
Posted on 25-04-2013 16:22
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Then it was short break from Tour of Beijing. A break for Chrono des Nations (1.1) and Michal Kwiatkowski aka Kwiatek.
On 48 km long time trial in rain he did pretty well... but there were other good time trial specialists on the start list including: Jesse Sergent and Taylor Phinney... and it was these two, who got better times. Win, alongside with €10.000 went to Jesse Sergent.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 25-04-2013 16:24
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Michal put in a really strong performance in France, pity he didn't get the win though |
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| wroblitz |
Posted on 26-04-2013 07:34
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On the same day Gerald Ciolek was fighting in China for a yellow jersey (3rd of the season), and Chris Barton was trying to get another Polka dot for the team.
The second one didn't do very well as all the breakaways with him were quickly chased down, and he ended up with no points (however he managed to keep his 1st place). After few unsuccessful breakaways Barton was exhausted, so I decided to launch McArther in order to move him up in young riders classification, and prevent the others from snatching Polka dot from Barton. However he only managed to be 2nd on one intermediate sprint, and 2nd on last mountain premium, so he stayed on 3rd place, and didn't really help Barton much.
There was a massive crash just 11 km before the finish line, and 3 riders withdrew. Luckily non of my riders were included.
9 km before the finish line last breakaway rider was caught and final battle started. Ciolek wasn't strong enough to win... but he came 2nd, and with only one stage to go he's 5" away from yellow jersey, and 4 points away from the green one. Stage was won by Jurgen Roelands from Dexia - Belisol.
Edited by wroblitz on 26-04-2013 07:37
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| Cycleman123 |
Posted on 26-04-2013 11:35
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Hi I've spent the last 3 days reading this story from the start, amazing to see how far you've come, I'm relatively new to PCMDaily and this is my favourite story out of all the ones I've read so far, keep up the good work and bring home the yellow with Ciolek! |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 26-04-2013 13:44
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Ciolek was oh so close to adding another victory to his growing collection |
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| wroblitz |
Posted on 26-04-2013 20:39
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Thanks for that devotion Cycleman123, not many people would do that... including myself . It's been a long time and now another season is nearly over.
Last stage of Tour of Beijing, so crucial for Ciolek and Coca-Cola.
With only one - 3 point worth mountain premium - it was only one rider, who could take Polka dot away from Barton - Vyacheslav Shirshov, but he wasn't interested in it, so I also kept Barton in peloton, and got him another red dotted jersey. Instead of that I used him and McArther to set peloton pace in order to chase a 9 man breakaway, as it was much more important to lead to a mass sprint and get the yellow jersey (well, red really) for Ciolek.
Peloton managed to catch the breakaway just 11 km away from the finish line, and yet again there was some falling there.
Sprint went very well for me, Ciolek was above the rest, and he got his both red and green jersey in great style.
His team-mate - Oleg Krivenco came 5th.
Tour of Beijing (WT)
Overall: 1st Ciolek, 4th King
Points: 1st Ciolek
Mountain: 1st Barton
Young: 3rd Mc Arther, 4th Pawilowski
Team: 1st
So, good end of the season for me. There's only one minor race in my calendar. Speaking of end of the season I've decided to get rid of few of not very promising youngsters.
Instead of them I went for two future great Amereican riders (hopefully that will make my sponsors a little bit happier).
Hard to tell if they're any good without seeing their potential, but that James Boswell with 3-4 stars on HIL could be great puncheur in the future.
Igor Anton and Gerald Ciolek got a golden bike nominations. Well, we'll see.
Edited by wroblitz on 26-04-2013 20:44
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 27-04-2013 00:01
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Great race victory for Ciolek |
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| wroblitz |
Posted on 27-04-2013 18:08
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Thanks Sutty for constant support.
So last race of the season - Japan Cup (1.HC) is done and dusted. It was down to 6 rider breakaway which attacked on final km, and wasn't chased by the peloton. Peter Kennaugh was among them. He did pretty well, however Lieuwe Westra did a little bit better.
So on last race of the season I got 2nd place. In the meantime I got my former rider (didn't realized I had him before, so probably his potential isn't very good, as I decided to get rid of him).
After all the transfers I still had one slot avaiable, so I decided to go for another future great youngster. I was actually hesistating between 21-year old Spanish climber, and 20 years old Italian climber (both not reviewed by the scouts). I eventually went for a younger one, so called future no 1, but doesn't look like future no 1 at all, unless he has some great potential.
Golden bike went to Peter Sagan - well deservedly. Mine newest signing - Andy Schleck came 2nd, and my Vuelta nightmare - Thibaut Pinot got 3rd.
Big season wrap up coming shortly.
Edited by wroblitz on 27-04-2013 18:10
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 27-04-2013 18:33
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Not the strongest signing, but may grow up to be a strong domestique!
Next season CCC will be incredibly strong, though! |
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| Cycleman123 |
Posted on 27-04-2013 22:56
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Can't wait to see Schleck in action! |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 27-04-2013 23:16
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A second place was a nice way to finish off the season |
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| ruben |
Posted on 27-04-2013 23:55
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just read through the whole story in about an hour (i'm a fast reader normally, read through 600 pages books in a day  )
cool story, keep it up. |
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| Pinktay3 |
Posted on 28-04-2013 08:06
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Some strong signings you got. Worst comes to worst, you've still got Ciolek |
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