Vali wrote:
Wow Valverde really had an amazing season. Has anyone ever managed to get over 1200 WT Points?
With the departure of Sagan and the 3 great new signings being all some kind of stage racers, does that mean that Raphael will get more opportunities to lead next year?
Good luck for Raphael and Citigroup in 2015
Thanks. Yeah, it may just seem like a good set-up for Raphael to take on higher duties. But there'll be also more pressure.
@Ian: Yeah, it's about time, however still not quite there yet. Kittel winning Tirreno was just the weirdest in a long-time. At least guys like Freire won it in the past so it's not entirely, 100% unrealistic. ^^
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
After the official season review, allow me to give a personal review of my season too. It's somehow necessary, maybe because I’m a wonderful narcissist.
Road Season 2014
GP Costa Etruschi
55th
Italian Championships
30th
Omloop
40th
Clasica San Sebastian
38th
K-B-K
53rd
Trofeo Matteotti
11th
GP de Camaiore
12th
RideLondon-Surrey Classic
15th
Strade Bianche
45th
Eneco Tour
6th
2 Stage wins
Roma Maxima
18th
Giro del Veneto
10th
Tirreno-Adriatico
65th
GP Ouest Plouay
23rd
Nokere Koerse
66th
Tour of Britain
3rd
1 Stage Win
Dwaars door Vlaanderen
1st
Milano-Torino
12th
E3 Prijs Harelbeke
33th
Il Lombardia
21th
Gent-Wevelgem
32th
Coppa Sabatini
7th
Ronde van Vlaanderen
23th
Giro dell'Emilia
7th
Gran Prix de Cermai
5th
Giro della Romagna
2nd
Paris-Roubaix
22th
Coppa Placci
6th
De Brabantse Pijl
15th
Amstel Gold Race
44th
Fleche Wallone
84th
L-B-L
33rd
You may see, I was very lucky to have had such a first season. Highlights of course include my first win in Flanders at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, my daring solo-run at Eneco Tour up the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Tour of Britain, where I finished my stage race on a podium. But every race was an experience for me, one I cherish and hold dear. I’m thankful for having ridden all five Monuments this season. I couldn’t say which one I loved the most, which one I hone the most respect. They all feel like a part of me by now. I’ve watched and studied them for so long. Racing them was the most I could ask for. And I’m now more confident than ever that I want to win them all.
Before I depart to the Cyclo-Cross pits of Europe, let me share with you a few nice words from the famous bike analysis-site INRNG.COM, who wrote about me in their review section of “Hottest talents to watch”. I was chosen as the fourth great talent, right behind Kwiatkowski and ahead of Moser.
Number 4: Raphael Visconti
Although recently come into criticism for selfish riding at the World Championships and continued failure on his home turf in Italy, Raphael Visconti (21, Cannondale) had a great first season coming from the Cyclo-Cross trails. The young domestique became known as a reliable domestique in the early part of a season and through a constant wave of attacks in the second half.
Notably his first performance of the potential was his selfless, sacrificing riding in the end of the second stage of Tirreno - Adriatico, where he brought back Peter Sagan. Sagan crashed merely kilometers from the finish and Visconti was quick enough to react. Aganst the wind and the peloton, Sagan then managed.
Visconti himself first went into serious contention with his breakaway victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen, where he was the only rider to be able to hang onto Zdenek Stybar in the race’s finale, after he spent the entire race in the breakaway earlier on. He apparently knew Stybar quite well from the CX scene and may have taken advantage of that by cleverly outplaying him.
With a breakaway at Paris-Roubaix after Sagan’s injury in April, he underlined his ambitions. He played a key role in helping Moreno Moser to some fantastic results in the Ardennes.
After a season break, he combined training for CX and road racing in the late campaign. At Eneco Tour, we found him in stellar form and with a hungry lust for wins. On stage 2, he snugged away the victory from his teammate Fabio Sabatini, which caused some controversy, however he later paid back Fabio with great domestique helps. This is surely a sign of his sportmanship and camaraderie. Raphael Visconti then went on to really justify this ranking at the Muur van Geraardsbergen. With unbroken spirit and unforgiving riding, he shook off Edvald Boasson Hagen, who was unwilling to help him, and in a thrilling finish he prevailed against the Norwegian and Philippe Gilbert just by centimeters after a daring 20 kilometer solo.
What could have been a flawless season finish, saw a domination by Joaquim Rodriguez, which the young talent Raphael didn’t stand much. However, he found luck in the Tour of Britain, where a stage win and the youth rider jersey, were a just reward for some brave riding. The World Championships seemed to have broken his form, a 31st is still a worthy result for a young rider such as him. Considering however that Kwiatkowski went home with two bronze medals, the young Italian squad built around Ulissi and Moser, and thereby Visconti too, fell incredibly short of success.
With Visconti contesting in the CX season, the talent will face a tough split of time & training in the coming years. Either he fully commits to one discipline or it’ll be tough for him to fulfill his true potential in later years. For now however, Visconti is one of Italy’s most promising talents, capable of winning Flanders & Ardennes classics as much as becoming a multiple World Champion.
Some nice words of them, ain’t they? However I disagree. I don’t have to choose between the road and CX. I feel like I can contest in both and I can score victories on both sides. Of course, for that to happen, I have to improve and stop talking and start racing again!
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
A great season for the team and Raphael has shown great improvement. He is on his way to be capable of winning in the Ardennes and in Flanders, but he could have a nervous breakdown/ car crash or he could be abducted. Who knows?
With Cannondale's star rider departing if Raphael doesn't perform well the team could have some difficulties and may be candidates for relegation!
@baia: Yeah, it's my unofficial list of Shonak hyping.
@Ian Butler: Thanks Ian. I might use this one day as an advertisement line for the story.
@sutty68: Thanks sutty. You sure know about it. It was really a good first season on the road, now off to his third CX season.
@The Rider: I have some story elements planned that should keep it fun. Yes, there's some pressure now on the squad next season but I'm confident that they'll manage.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
You’d think some things don’t change, but I can assure you that old measurements no longer fit. In fact, I grew quite a bit since August and got a late growth boom. Typical for our family, my dad explained. I gained weight too, and I got a bit of extra punch. I feel like I can say goodbye to the notion of me becoming ever a man for the high mountains, but I feel more and more welcomed by the hills around my neighborhood. And of course, by the trails of those CX hosts.
I also have some more official news concering the CX World Cup: The UCI has changed its reglement and now longer awards points to the Top 50 but just the 20 best placed riders. This is apparently to ensure a tougher fight for the points around those mid-tables of the races, while also awarding a greater reward for the top finishes.
Starting the new season, you may wonder about the riders who to look out for most? CXmagazine has compiled a list of them. I am featured on #10. An honour if you ask me. I want to justify this in my first race of the season too.
Top 15 of Cyclo-Cross Riders 2014/2015
Rank
Country
Name
AVG
Team
1
Sven Nys
83
Crelan-Euphony
2
Niels Albert
82
BKCP-Powerplus
3
Lars Van der Haar
82
Argos Shimano
4
Kevin Pauwels
81
Sunweb - Napoleon Games
5
Zdenek Stybar
81
Omega Pharma
6
Tom Meeusen
80
Telenet - Fidea
7
Francis Mourey
80
FDJ - BigMat
8
Philipp Walsleben
80
BMC Mountainbike Racing Team
9
Klaat Vantornout
79
Sunweb - Napoleon Games
10
Raphael Visconti
78
Cannondale Cyclocross World
11
Thijs Van Amerongen
77
AA Drink - Leontien.nl
12
Wout Van Aert
75
Enertherm - BKCP
13
Mathieu Van der Poel
75
Rabobank Giant Offroad
14
Michael Vanthourenhout
72
Sunweb - Napoleon Games
15
Julien Alaphilippe
72
Omega Pharma
World Cup Valkenburg Niels Albert continues where he left off
It was my first CX race of the season. It’s good to be back in the mud. And if you thought things would have changed, you are mistaken. Here in Valkenburg, Niels Albert took the first World Cup race of the season. Sven Nys and Kevin Pauwels completed the all-belgian podium, while I came in 6th.
I had hoped for a better result, secretly. After all, different than many of the other guys, I have the racing legs and I aimed to have a head-start towards them. To collect a few wins early on. But it didn’t work out. Instead, I feel the exhaustion from a tough second part of road racing season. When young gun Mathieu Van der Poel attacked with Simunek and Van Amerongen early on, I wasn’t able to react at first and was just happy to be able to keep the pace steady.
Later on, I got better into the race though. I placed two attacks. One of them was in order to try to bridge the gap to the Group Van der Poel upfront. The other one was at a tactical crucial point, when the riders got caught by Nys and Albert, and I tried to slip out and profit from the confusion. But it didn’t work out. I wasted my spare energy and need to recover fast in order to stay competitive. Tomorrow is already the next race in Kalmthout. Cylo-Cross is back, bitches!
Cyclo-cross is back, bitches, indeed!
Awesome. A 6th place is a good place to start. You can't expect too much too soon. Get used to the field again and that victory will be there soon!
Yup, let's hope Raphael can finally get that long wanted CX win this year.
World Cup Kalmthout
Walsleben – Snatching first win for New Team!
With an early attack, Philipp Walsleben, now riding for BMC, came out victories of this year’s sudden chosen World Cup race Kalmthout.
Initially Heeren should take the spot this year from Plzen and Tabor, who in turn got the World Championships later in the year, but some issues with the organization meant that Kalmthout had to take over. Not a bad thing for them, although the Belgian audience might not have been too happy with the german winner.
For me, the race was pure hecticsm. There were lots of position fights going on, more than usual. I am missing a bit the elbow quality I have accustomed myself with and I need to get used to it again. At one of the worst points, Van der Haar crashed. Last year’s overall World Cup winner then was left to the chasing side of things. Luckily for him, I got dropped a bit later when my chain bonked and made life hard for me. This ended in both of us working together and we did good. Sadly, only Van der Haar managed to get back into the group of leaders, while I just narrowly missed out before they went gun-blazing into the finale. I would have needed some seconds of recovery and I could have been there in the finale.
However, since none of them was actually riding for the win, due to Walsleben’s impressive solo-run, I didn’t mind so much. I spoke some words (in german) later with Walsleben. My mother from Austria raised me bilingual and it rarely comes in handy since I'm mostly surrounded by Italian, American or Belgian people. So, it’s always nice to spare some time in another lingual world before or after the races. What he tells makes me most curious though: He told me that BMC is interested in signing me after my contract with Citigroup/Cannondale is up.
World Cup Kalmthout, Results
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Philipp Walsleben
BMC Mountainbike Racing Team
3h28'47
2
Niels Albert
BKCP - Powerplus
+ 1'54
3
Sven Nys
Crelan- Euphony
s.t.
4
Tom Meeusen
Telenet - Fidea
s.t.
5
Kevin Pauwels
Sunweb - Napoleon Games
s.t.
6
Lars Van Der Haar
Argos Shimano
s.t.
7
Francis Mourey
FDJ - BigMat
s.t.
8
Bart Aernouts
AA Drink - Leontien.nl
+ 3'21
9
Bart Wellens
Telenet - Fidea
s.t.
10
Raphael Visconti
Cannondale Cyclocross World
+ 4'03
Spoiler
11
Angelo De Clerq
Sunweb - Napoleon Games
+ 8'07
12
Jonathan Page
Planet Bike
s.t.
13
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Rabobank Giant Offroad
+ 8'43
14
Dieter Vanthourenhout
BKCP - Powerplus
s.t.
15
Sven Vanthourenhout
Crelan- Euphony
s.t.
16
Julien Alaphilppe
Omega Pharma
s.t.
17
Patrick Van Leeuwen
Orange Babies
+ 10'50
18
Steve Chainel
FDJ - BigMat
s.t.
19
Gert-Jan Bosman
Rabobank Giant Offroad
s.t.
20
Mariusz Gil
Kwadro - Stannah
+ 11'35
21
Michael Vanthourenhout
Sunweb - Napoleon Games
+ 12'24
22
Martin Zlamalik
Crelan- Euphony
s.t.
23
Wietse Bosmans
BKCP - Powerplus
s.t.
24
Klaas Vantornout
Sunweb - Napoleon Games
+ 14'06
25
Thijs Van Amerongen
AA Drink - Leontien.nl
+ 14'30
26
Rob Peeters
Telenet - Fidea
s.t.
27
Radomir Simunek
Kwadro - Stannah
+ 15'07
28
Joeri Hofman
Crelan- Euphony
+ 16'39
29
Wout Van Aert
Enertherm - BKCP
+ 17'05
30
Marcel Meisen
Kwadro - Stannah
+ 18'32
Top 25 World Cup Standings After 2 Out of 10 Races
@sutty68: Yeah, he started season great. Thanks to Tour of Britain and Italian Fall classics.
@sammyt: That's certainly a long term goal to make him in both regaining World Champion, however before we can get to that he will have to win a CX race first.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
I really like the path of this story so far, you basically hit the perfect balance of rider developement (not OP, not weak at all) , which makes it so enjoyable, alongside (of course) your great reports, unique style and what not. I am being 100% honest here, this is one of the rare stories that I follow at the moment.
This always makes me want to continue Marko (it still didn't die!), as the idea of that story was something more or less the same as this, but I just don't want to lost motivation for Trek, so that won't probably happen in near future. Gone too much off-topic now. All in all - please keep up this!
I'm glad you found your winning formula with Trek, cherish it. That story is going great. You can make the story with Marko at a later point, especially because the fella appears to be immortal.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
I might use this one day as an advertisement line for the story. 
