Aker Solutions sits 5th in the team ranking for the Continental Division
We've just finished a hectic period of racing, where we took part in many races, and especially our captain, Jose Alarcon, had several opportunities to shine. He used some of them good, especially his win in Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt was absolutely great, where he outclimbed most world class climbers in the Continental Division. An exceptional race, were our team showed remarkable strength on the mountains.
Stunning display from the team in Austria.
The team put in another great performance on the Queen stage in Brixia Tour, which resulted in a 3rd place overall for Alarcon, 9th for Agudelo, and 17th for Vasquez. Larsson also finally got a chance to shine, in the Isle of Man TT. He has been very unlucky so far this season, but this time it was only one time trial, with no chance to crash or be on the wrong side in the peloton. He grabbed the opportunity, and won the race 40 seconds ahead of the Russian wonderboy, Ignatiev.
Larsson brings home a huge victory in the time trial on Isle of Man.
Admittedly, we don't think the overall performance in June and July is good enough to promote. But it has no doubts been two nice months of racing for us, which is underlined by the fact that we were the team with most points in this period. We've used most of our race days now, and we hope to hang on to a place in the top 10, but even that will prove though, as many of the teams behind look to have focused on the second half of the season. Nonetheless, we're keeping the faith!
We wish the other teams in the Continental Division good luck for the rest of the season, hopefully it will include lots of interesting racing.
The current season is about to end, and we've started planning for 2013. First, Aker and Aker Solutions have been extremely pleased with the publicity we've given them during the season, and as a result, Aker, the main company, will take over the deal we signed with Aker Solutions this year. We're happy to announce Aker as our main sponsor the next 2 years!
Bergans will unfortunately pull out from our team. We only signed a one-year long contract with them, and they feel there isn't enough money to make in cycling, meaning they'll stop sponsor us when the current season comes to an end.
On the other hand, we're extremely pleased to announce MOT joining us, they'll be our second big sponsor for the next season, and our team name will be Aker - MOT. MOT is a Norwegian organization which focuses on youth activities, and they see a Norwegian cycling team as a perfect ambassador for their project. With MOT joining, we'll definitely look to make a more nationalistic team, and there should be a couple of great Norwegian talents licensed to race in 2013, and we'll definitely do everything possible to have them join Aker - MOT.
All this means a new jersey for the next season. We're extremely proud to present you the jersey, so no more talking here, you can see the jersey below.
We're extremely pleased with the jersey, and we think it has all it needs to satisfy the fans. What do you think about it?
We'll also come with transfer comments and transfer rumours in the coming days, there's no doubt we're planning on taking a huge turn. More on that on a later occasion!
Very nice jersey, and glad to see you are at least keeping Aker. I guess it's that time of year again, now that you have started it I will be posting our new jersey later today as well
Nice to see you like the jersey, it's a big thank you to Sykkel_Freak, who took his time making it.
SportingNonsense wrote:
Nice jersey! Probably the best season yet to turn into a Norwegian focused team aswell
That's great to hear!
We'll definitely make a huge turn, and I only hope a couple of the Norwegian talents you decide to add is as good as they're in real life
The headline says it all. Aker Solutions - Bergans has been Alarcon's home in 2012, and he's reported to have been very comfortable in the Norwegian team, but his manager has apparently told him he'll most likely be for sale in the coming transfer season. Though, there are no hard feelings between Alarcon and his manager, and both has agreed on Alarcon to negotiate and hopefully sign a contract with the Norwegian team, then the team will get paid if he decides to leave the team. Both Alarcon and ember are reported happy doing it that way.
"It's been an absolute pleasure to have Alarcon in the team this season. His performances have been outstanding, time after time after time. Unfortunately, it looks like we might separate in the coming transfer window, as we're planning to rebuild our team, but having said that, it's not like Alarcon has to be sold. If we don't feel the offers are good enough, both we and Alarcon himself will be happy with him riding another season for us."
This means Alarcon will be for sale if the right offer comes up, as the Norwegian team are looking towards talents in general, and especially Norwegians. Their manager, ember, is from the very same county as Bystrøm, Galta and the Hoelgaard brothers, with the Hoelgaard brothers living at the same place as ember. They're all strongly rumoured to sign for Aker - MOT, and given the press release ember just gave, it looks like we can be sure he hopes to sign them all!
We're looking to sign a couple of young, Norwegian talents in the transfer season. MOT is our new sponsor, and having a "pure" Norwegian sponsor also see us focus a lot more on Norwegian riders. Those 4 talents mentioned will definitely be targeted, and the same goes for Edvald Boasson Hagen, currently riding for Team B&O. We can only hope Team B&O and niconico at least want to talk with us, and it would be a dream come true if we can have Boasson Hagen lead our Norwegian team in 2013.
Alarcon will be an attractive proposition to many teams as his wage should be lower, and his low average will guarantee many race days. You should get a hefty fee if you sell.
If Alarcon got a lower wage I think nearly all CT teams will be interested, and some Pro Tour. But in theory he's worth way more in CT, so he will prolly end up there again. Hell, I might be interested if I got the wage cap for it...
It definitely does. If we manage to hang on to a promotion spot, which I seriously doubt, the chance for him staying is a lot higher than if we don't promote, due to the bigger wage budget. Though, I base my planning on staying in the Continental Division, but of course, it would be very nice to promote and see what he can do at the highest level.
Edited by ember on 22-06-2012 18:25
Minor change on the jersey, huge success in Spain!
Our new sponsor for the next season, MOT, came with valuable input on the design of our jersey for the next season, we listened, and we've now come up with the final result. It has a couple of small changes, and with the new jersey there's no doubt we're a Norwegian team. We hope to ride the next season with mostly Norwegian blood in our team, and we think the stripes suits us well. Though, we hope to hear what fans and other managers say about them, and we'll listen to your opinions, like we've listened to MOT.
Over to the racing, and the recent days have been great for our team. Our strong Swede, Larsson, which might be for sale in the coming transfer season, delivered a good result in Volta a Portugal, with a stage win on the individual time trial and 6th overall. No time for relaxing, as we went straight onto Vuelta a Burgos, were we had a team to hunt a stage win, with no overall ambitions. Nordhaug did very, very well on the 2nd stage, after crashing on the first stage. He outsprinted his breakaway companions, and took our first "Norwegian" win this season. Below you can read what team manager ember had to say about Nordhaug's performance.
It was absolutely thrilling, and very emotional. We're a Norwegian team, and to watch Nordhaug win stage 2 of Vuelta a Burgos was just huge. He was our first signing in the transfer season, due to his nationality, and he has been strong all season long. It was fantastic to see him finally get paid. He was unfortunate on the opening stage, crashing and coming home way behind the peloton, but he turned the tables, rode aggressive, and got the best possible reward.
But we weren't done in Spain. The mountainous .HC classic Urkiola Igoera was next, and we brought our big man Alarcon to lead the team. The team were fully commited to the task, and sent Rovira in the breakaway, but still being able to fully control things back in the peloton. The team executed the plan excellent, and delivered Alarcon perfectly with 12 kilometers to go, still on the flat. From then, it was a one man show, Alarcon attacked again and again, and he arrived the finish line solo, taking the win in a superb way.
Nordhaug and Alarcon celebrates huge wins in Spain.
Alarcon's win was magnificent, we had our team working the whole day, and we were paid off the best possible way. Alarcon delivered a stunning display on the final climb, giving all our riders a big smile to their face, eventhough the weather was dreadful. Brilliant performance by the team, and Alarcon caught the other climbers a little bit off guard when he attacked just before the climb started, on the flat. Now both the team and I cross fingers we can build on this, and continue to deliver strong performances in the final part of the season.
There's only one month left of racing, and Aker Solutions - Bergans still sits pretty in 5th overall on the continental ranking, with a gap of more than 500 points down to 8th place, which is likely to be the first that doesn't promote. We spoke to Aker Solutions - Bergans key rider this season, the Venezuelan climber Jose Alarcon.
I'm thrilled to have won the Individual Ranking for the Continental Division 2012, it really is something I'm proud of. I couldn't have done it without the team though, we've been riding brilliant in the races where I've been captain. Latest in Swaziland, where our team, according to experts, weren't strong enough to take the overall win. Well, we did it, on the very last day of racing.
As mentioned, Aker Solutions - Bergans now sits 5th on the overall ranking, with a decent shot at holding on to a promotion spot. Though, the manager of the team, ember, tells us he's far from sure about promotion. Aker Solutions - Bergans only got 3 one day classics left, and they're not mentioned as favourites/outsiders for any of them. It will surely be a nervous month for everyone who's involved in the team, to not mention the fans. Jose Alarcon has given us his view on the fight for promotion.
It's incredibly close. We've had a brilliant season from the very beginning in Venezuela, and hopefully we can do what no one thought we were capable of ahead of the season; to promote. It will be decisive that we make the most out of all 3 races we've got left, and keep fighting. I've only got Emillia left, where Anthony (Roux) and I will share leadership. But we've got an overall strong team there, meaning we'll try to take advantage of that, covering dangerous breakaways with Rojas, Duenas Nevado, Rovira, Jaramillo, Zrimsek and Castroviejo. I can only cross fingers we're strong enough to secure enough points for promotion, it would be really big to promote with a new team, where I've been the sole leader.
Alarcon also points out that eventhough his future at the team isn't certain, he'll do everything possible to promote with Aker Solutions - Bergans, and as team manager ember pointed out earlier, if the team actually promote, the chance of Alarcon staying is also a lot bigger. Alarcon sums it up this way:
I would love to stay on the team, and that's obviously also a reason why I'll give it everything in Emillia, and speak to the others on the team to give it their very best in the remaining races. I want us to promote, and I want to continue on this team. It has been a pleasure this year, and I really hope it can continue next year.
Two riders in top 20 in Japan Cup, but none of them in the top 15 was more than enough to secure promotion for Aker Solutions - Bergans. We spoke to team manager ember just a couple of hours after the promotion was secured:
"It's just sensational. To promote was never our intentions this season, but after the flying start in Venezuela we were always in the mix. To pull it off in style, with an important win in Swaziland, was brilliant. After Alarcon's win there promotion seemed somewhat safe, but I was never sure before our final race in Japan."
Ember has already planned 2013 for quite som time, and it looks like he isn't planning to stay in the Pro Tour.
"The promotion is definitely a delight, but also a big challenge for us. It feels like the promotion comes a year too early for us, and we'll focus on signing Norwegian and Scandinavian talents. Though, Pro Tour will most likely not be the best place for them to develop, meaning, if everything goes as planned in the transfer window, we hope to loan them out to Continental teams, and we'll happily take on their talents if they need Pro Tour experience to develop."
But the team won't be all about young talents next season.
"Having said all that, we won't relegate straight back to the Continental Division without a fight. I've already expressed my interest in Boasson Hagen, and we really hope to have him as a leader in our team next season. Being a Norwegian team he's the perfect leader. Alarcon has also told me he really wants to ride next to Taaramäe again, which he successfully did in Team IKEA - Bianchi. Though, I haven't spoken to Crommy or niconico, so I've really no idea whether they're actually realistic targets. Alarcon staying on the team is another story though, if we get the right offer we might have to sell him, due to the changes we plan for the team."
Ember also told us that there will be a lot of changes when it comes to the riders on the team.
"Nordhaug, Lund, Jørgensen, Alarcon, Roux, Larsson, Jaramillo, Duenas Nevado, Zeits and Rojas will definitely get a contract offer for 2013, while we're still considering whether Agudelo, Vasquez and Haedo will get an offer. The other riders I can only thank for the season, and wish them all the best for the next season, as they will most likely not get a contract offer from us. Hopefully all these changes will make it possible for us to make much more of an Norwegian and Scandinavian team."
Only the national championships are left of an amazing 2012 speaking of cycling, and we on Aker Solutions - Bergans feel we've contributed to make it a pleasant season for all cycling fans. We'll soon launch our new team, with a new design and a new main sponsor, but for now, we would like to thank all of you. Especially the fans, but obviously also Kjell Inge Røkke, who kept his confidence in our team, and never doubted us in any race. Below we'll give you some of our highlights in an eventful 2012. We hope you've all enjoyed it, and had a good time cheering for Aker Solutions - Bergans. We'll see you next year, cheering for Aker - MOT!
Jose Alarcon started a magnificent season for both him and the team with two stage wins and the overall victory in Vuelta al Tachira in January. It was an amazing tour for us, as Jørgensen won two sprint stages, and Haedo grabbed the penultimate stage.
Alarcon continued on Napoleon's iceland, taking a dominant win on the opening stage of Corsica International, which was good enough for the overall win there aswell. He really proved himself to be one of the worlds best climbers in first months of the season.
Cape Argus Cycle Tour was a one day classic in South Africa, and there we proved our team was a lot more than Alarcon. We raced aggressive all day long, and we ended the race with two riders on the podium. Rovira got second and Nordhaug went third.
We continued the racing in May, including the only Norwegian race on the calendar: Rogaland GP. The crowd was absolutely amazing, and it was a massive experience for all our riders only to ride the race. We rode aggressive once again, with Jørgensen covering the early breakaway.
A brilliant team performance saw Alarcon win another stage and another race, as he won Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt, after nailing the stage win on Grossglockner.
Nordhaug's stage win in Vuelta a Burgos was probably the most emotional win through the whole season. He crashed on the opening stage, but found the attacking spirit the day after, and went into the early breakaway. He proved strongest in the sprint for the line, and could celebrate a huge win.
Alarcon's stage win on the last day of racing in Tour of Swaziland was a crucial win for us as it also secured him the overall win. He did what he became known for this year, attacked on the climb and held on to the finish line.
We would also like to say a huge thank you to all other managers and to those who has made this game and season run smoothly. A big thank you!
Aker Solutions - Bergans
emberEdited by ember on 10-10-2012 21:05
