If you use Popovych correctly he could keep you out of relegation alone, plus with Hoffman helping out you might be okay. Are you looking at any wild cards for Popovych this year?
Thanks guys, i am still trying to work out the best options for Popovych, but one can never know what the opposition (read Alarcon especially) will do, but focus on stage races with all that they bring is obvious, so i will certainly need that good luck.
And yeah, after evaluating all the possibilities, we applied for 2stage races and 2classics in the PT, where Popo should be the leader/co-leader, so lets see if we get invited somewhere.
Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 19-12-2012 05:52
Just reading your thread, didn't realize we had such similar goals! I will try to only send 1 or 2 80+ climbers there to give Popo a chance
Seriously though nice team, should pick up some decent HC points and a few C1 wins there. Your team looks kinda similar to mine last year and I made most of my points focusing on taking out C1 stage races in US/South America. Those sprinters will pick up many stages if you place them smart.
Thanks jack, i am honestly scared from your mountain train, but i hope to overweight it a bit with much stronger TTT in some especially HC races, i am looking forward to these battles.
And i hope you will be right that our sprinters are able to pick a stage or two. Our season will really heavily rely on Popo and his results, so i am a bit afraid i will not choose the best programme for him, but hey, it is a game, so i will wait and watch the show. Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 19-12-2012 07:03
Italian stagiare signed, transfers over for Metinvest!
Davide Martinelli - 10,000 Euros (stagiare)
The last part of our team for 2013 is puzzled in its place and it is young and very talented Italian Davide Martinelli. We signed him as stagiare, which means he will be able to show himself in our colours from August, especially at Avenir, where we can send the whole eight men team, just from our riders, if possible.
Davide is showing great potential in sprinting, so that should be the area of our focus, when thinking about his development.
Now our transfers are completly over and we start planning team building camp in Persian gulf, followed by training camps and finally start of the new season.
Hello friends of cycling and especially fans of team Metinvest - Emirates. The new 2013 season is coming fast and because of that the leading Ukrainian cycling team decided to publish their's calendar of races for new PCT challenge.
So let's look on that and maybe we will meet at some races, as i will be travelling with the team a lot and will bring you the fresh news throughout the year. So wish me and them good luck and see you in races.
And stayed tuned for my blog, because i will bring exclusive interview with the biggest star of Metinvest - Emirates very soon!
Oleksandr Pitin,
cycling freelance reporter
January
HC
Down Under Classic
February
HC
Tour of South Africa
C1
Tour de San Luis
C1
Thuringen Rundfahrt
HC
Giro del Trentino
C1
GP di Lugano
March
C1
Strade Bianche
C1
Volta ao Algarve
HC
Kenya Mountain Classic
C1
Tour of Sochi
HC
Corsica International
April
C1
Tropicale Amissa Bongo
HC
Tour of Vancouver
HC
Philadelphia International
C1
Hel van Het Mergelland
C1
Duo Differdange
May
C1
GP of Moscow
C1
Tour de l'Ain
C1
GP Tunis
HC
Tour of the Czech Republic
C1
Rogaland GP
HC
Berlin ProRace
C1
Clasica a Quetzaltenango
June
C1
Azerbaijan Tour
C1
GP Sudkarnten
HC
Eneco Tour
C1
Tour of Eritrea
C1
Tour de Slovenie
C1
Monterrey TTT
July
C1
Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt
C1
Isle of Man ITT
HC
Usa Pro Cycling Challenge
C1
Post Danmark Rundt
C1
Sibiu Tour
C1
Ulaanbaatar GP
August
C1
Vuelta a Burgos
HC
Tour of Hellas
C1
Baltic Chain Tour
U23
Tour de l'Avenir
C1
GP Plouay
C1
Race Horizon Park
September
C1
Zagreb - Ljubljana
WC
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
October
C1
Paris-Tours
C1
Tour du Faso
PT Wildcards
PT
Deutschland Tour
PT
Copenhagen-Malmo TTT
P.S. You can see this calendar also in the updated 3rd post on page 1, while also updated 2nd post there brings info about the team/goals and wages for 2013 season. Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 16-01-2013 08:31
The moment we all have been hoping for is here, as only hours remain to the start of the cycling season in 2013.
And Metinvest-Emirates is right there Down Under, to start their brand new PCT campaign at Down Under Classic. It is fairly short and pan-flat race, tailor made for the fast men. Let's look out for the starters in white, yellow and turquoise, colours of our team in 2013.
Nolan Hoffman Giorgio Brambilla Eduard Grosu Sergiy Lagkuti Oleksander Prevar Andriy Vasylyuk David Vitoria Marlen Zmorka
Our squad has a clear leader for Down Under Classic, in person of fast South african Nolan Hoffman, who should one of the top five favourites in the race, especially thanks to his great abilities to ride on the flat roads and good finishing kick.
He will be supported by domestiques like Zmorka, Grosu, Prevar (first apperance for loaned-in rider from PrivatBank) and Lagkuti, while he has a strong trio of lead-out men/sprinters to help him right there in the end. These are Brambilla, Vitoria and one of the fastest living Ukrainians Andriy Vasylyuk.
Biggest opponents:Napolitano, Cavendish, DavisEdited by Avin Wargunnson on 21-01-2013 07:51
Melbourne plays host to the start of the season. Its a short race, but the sprinters won't mind as they battle each other for the first time. from preview by SN...
Team Metinvest - Emirates Nolan Hoffman Giorgio Brambilla Eduard Grosu Sergiy Lagkuti Oleksander Prevar Andriy Vasylyuk David Vitoria Marlen Zmorka
Our team entered the season opener Down Under with clear leader, our new South African sprinter Nolan Hoffman, who was mentioned as one of the favourites for the top 5 position at the finish.
After the expected attack from especially the home grown riders, the peloton was together coming to the last kilometres of the race and three sprint trains were formed - WWE, AirBaltic and Rothaus. Unfortunately we were not able to form one and even worse, Nolan Hoffman did not choose to follow any of them and instead was roaming around the front alone!
Our best rider was in the end David Vitoria on 22nd, strong flat helper with decent sprint, signed late in the transfer period on free from Pearl - Adidas. Nolan Hoffman and Sergiy Lagkuti were closing the top 30, as they finished as 29th and 30th. Our young super-prospect Grosu hit the ground with some others, but fortunately was not hurt much.
Final placement of Team Metinvest-Emirates riders
David Vitoria : 22nd
Nolan Hoffman : 29th
Sergiy Lagkuti : 30th
Giorgio Brambilla : 51th
Andriy Vasylyuk : 81st
Oleksandr Prevar : 130th
Marlen Zmorka : 142th
Eduard Grosu : DNF
Picture of the race
Nolan Hoffman completely lost in no men land on the front of the pack preparing for the sprint .
Rating of the race by Serhiy Honchar
We can rate the season opener only as disappointment, because Nolan should be one of the favourites and he totally screwed up the sprint preparation. Although we understand that it is not only his fault, as we expected likes of Brambilla and Vasylyuk to set Nolan to much better position for the sprint.
We at least gained 15 points for the PCT rankings, but our sprinting department needs to master their tactics for the next races and Nolan Hoffman should look for the wheels better in the future.
Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 30-01-2013 08:58
After quiet month of January for our team, the next 28 days should be pretty action packed by racing. No less than 4 stage races and one classic spread over the three continents, that is pretty tough to manage and organize.
But i hope that both we management and riders are ready to proudly represent the colours of Metinvest - Emirates. So sty tuned for the reports and wish us good luck! Our fans will also finally have a chance to see our star Popovych in action in Italy.
Tour of South Africa
Metinvest - Emirates: Nolan Hoffman Anatoliy Pakthusov Tareq Esmaeli Eros Capecchi Oleksandr Prevar Ruslan Grychenko Marlen Zmorka Eduard Grosu
Manager's thoughts
The winner of Tour of South Africa will probably come from the big pool of great PCT punchers, although we dont know yet the actual startlist. Our GC leader is Anatoliy Pakthusov, who is far from the top puncher, but we hope he can achieve something with attacking and detrmined racing,maybe top 15 overall?
But our main focus in South Africa is clear and that is bringing home the stage win with the local hero and fastest South African Nolan Hoffman supported mainly by Eros Capecchi. While it it yet to be seen what opponents will come to the race, stage win for Nolan is a must for us. Stages 1,3,4 and 6 looks like the best chance to achieve that goal.
Tour de San Luis
Metinvest - Emirates: Vitaliy Popkov Ryder Hesjedal Haijun Ma David Vitoria Oleksandr Grygorenko Andriy Vasylyuk Eduardo Sepulveda
Manager's thoughts
We bring the balanced squad to Argentina, led by the combo tt/puncher rider Vitaliy Popkov, whose abilities should be ideal for two hilly stages and one flat TT, probably the three most important stages. It is hard to guess what GC position can vitaliy reach to, it will depend on the other team's leaders, but top 10 would be nice certainly.
Popkov should be mainly supported by veteran Hesjedal and very good climber Grygorenko. One of these can also jump into a break on a good day.
We also have a nice team for the several flat stages, with Vitoria, local young rider Sepulveda and especially our leading sprinter Andriy Vasylyuk, who should be able to fight for some top 5's at least.
Last rider Haijun Ma is great TTist, thus he can shine at the stage4 TT, or help in leading out Vasylyuk in the sprints.
Thuringen Rundfahrt
Metinvest - Emirates: Nolan Hoffman Vitaliy Popkov Sergiy Lagkuti Haijun Ma Oleksandr Prevar Peter Kusztor Marlen Zmorka
Manager's thoughts
Another interesting stage race Thuringer Rundfahrt takes place in Germany and it features TTT, hilly stage,uphill TT and several flat stages, so same as in Argentina, our team will be led by all-arounder Vitaliy Popkov, supported by great TTT team.
We actually aim to the highest possible placement in the team test against the clock with Lagkuti and Ma as the main powerhouses. For sprints, we are ready with Nolan Hoffman, our main sprinter this year. Speaking about goals, stage win and top 10 overall should be nice, but again it depends on level of competition.
Giro del Trentino
Metinvest - Emirates: Jaroslav Popovych Vitaliy Popkov Sergiy Lagkuti Haijun Ma Mateusz Taciak Oleksandr Sheydyk Denys Karnulin Marlen Zmorka
Manager's thoughts
Second HC stage race in the season will bring us to the Italy and this race is very important for us and our italian co-sponsor. This race should be also packed by the greatest stage racers of the division and TTT+ three tough mountain stages will certainly be great show.
Jaroslav Popovych starts his new PCT campaign here and he is our undisputed leader. In mountains he should be supported by Sheydyk, Taciak and Karnulin, while rest of the team is focused to the openening prestigious TTT, we could do very well in that.
We hope for the podium GC result, but it could prove to be extremely tough with expected top opponents like Dekker and Tarramae.
GP di Lugano
Metinvest - Emirates: Anatoliy Pakthusov David Vitoria Oleksandr Grygorenko Eros Capecchi Oleksandr Prevar Ruslan Grychenko Eduardo Sepulveda
Manager's thoughts
The last race in February and only classic of the month for our team is being raced around beautiful city of Lugano. But the riders will be there to compete, not sightseeing. Although we dont have a high expectations for the race, our riders can surprise.
Anatoliy Pakthusov is the leader for the race, as the best puncher, but we will try to attack a lot, as riders like Eros Capecchi or local man David Vitoria can surprise from the break.
Hello world! They year 2013 was tough for Ukraine, there was enough written on that, so lets skip straight to sport thematics. But be aware that Team Metinvest-Emirates as the whole supports civilized fight against opression from the East in all manners. We want to be responsible for our future!
Sorry for lack of updates througout the year, situation was really difficult and our web master quit his job to fight on the barricades. Hopefully things will get better for Ukraine in the upcoming months.
We will compensate our fans and journalists with large season ending updates during next two weeks, splited into four parts, this is the first, so lets go to the rankings part without further delay.
PCT Team Rankings 2013:
1
1
Tinkoff Bank - Rosneft OJSC
3893
2
2
ING Cycling Project
3780
3
3
Team Vueling Airlines
3738
4
4
Bouygues Telecom
3553
5
5
Rothaus - Aegon
3526
6
6
Team Bpost
3421
7
8
VolksWagen-Mapei
3413
8
7
Hollister Pro Cycling
3368
9
9
Prio - Porto
3300
10
11
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
3245
11
10
Sram - Riboxx
3234
12
12
Jaguar - Eritel
2796
13
13
HTC Nieuwsblad
2630
14
14
Metinvest-Emirates
2607
15
15
AirBaltic - Endura
2598
16
16
Meiji - Cannondale
2321
17
17
Swedbank-PEAB
2321
18
19
Oz Cycling Project
2216
19
18
Evian-MIAT
2201
20
21
Pivovarna Laško
2127
21
20
Alstom-RBC
2121
22
24
Cisco Cycling Team
2067
23
22
Amex Pro Cycling
2055
24
23
Team Bintang
2030
25
25
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
1976
26
26
Repsol-Cativen
1948
27
27
Team CSC-Orbea
1915
28
29
Team WWE
1914
29
28
LukOil-Rostelekom
1849
30
30
PFG-Armavia
1507
As you can see, our fresh new PCT team finished right there, in the middle of the pack, right behind our rivals from HTC-Nieuwsblad. And that is what? That is great, because year 2013 was all about staying in PCT for our team. With that goal achieved, we can look back and say that our plan to sign a lot of talented riders paid off, because we were competitive anyway and have great base for the future! Mixture of young talents, veterans like Jaroslav Popovych and surprise year of Nolan Hoffman helped us to achieve such a result
From rider's standings you can see what kind of a three-headed monster we was in trio of Nolan Hoffman (14th-841), Jaroslav Popovych (47th-496) and Vitaliy Popkov (89th-270). Those three finished in top100 and achieved together 1607 points from our total of 2607, that is whooping 62%! Congrats to them and others who scored less, but also were the part of the success.
That was the first and shortest part of our four summaries we would like to bring you, next part with goals is coming out tommorow, so stay tuned! Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 17-02-2014 13:43
I'm waiting for the update/news, in which Haijun Ma confirms his interest in joining an Aussie team for next year
Good to see you back with updating your HQ, it's been more than year And congrats to a great season! Of course Hoffman as the most outstanding rider, who probably had his best possible year ever. Now get rid off him and go for even more in 2014 then
Thanks mate, this eason was really much better than i expected, good that you continue in PCT too, i am looking forward to some nice battles, however we often compete on different parts of the world.
It was really a shame that this thread lacked updates for so long, i switched to commenting in every race discussion instead. At least the season ending summaries should be nice i hope, next part is coming out today!
And about Ma, he is actually one of maybe ten riders that have somewhat sure spot in our team next year (you will see in third or fourth part). We cant make our biggest TTT opponents even stronger right? Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 18-02-2014 08:00
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
We cant make our biggest TTT opponents even stronger right?
Yes, you can
And as long as one appears to be one of the most active in discussion and following all parts of the ManGame (like you did), i guess it's no big deal about the lack of updates looking forward to your reviews anyway - and... you know...
We had to reschedule which summary part will come now, so instead of goals that should come later, here is the special announcement part2 and few thoughts about roster management in part3 (coming out also today).
Season 2013 is over - part2, Sponsors and new shirt ready
We entered the year 2013 with strong duo of Metinvest and Emirates as the main sponsors of our cycling team and the goal they set us was clear - stay in the PCT. Not only that we achieved that, but Metinvest held the 14th spot in the end, which is better half of the division.
Our sponsors were so happy, that even lot of missed goals are not seen as catastrophic. Because of that, i can announce that we will continue under support of these two companies also in 2014.
Deals with minor sponsors as Harmony (South Africa) or Gruppo Luchhini are being finalised too, but small changes are still possible. Harmony made clear that they will sponsor us only if we will hold on Nolan Hoffman, which is still a question.
Gruppo Luchhini is ready to step up as the sole minor sponsor, if that would happen. We are not against increased italian influence.
Because we are now financially secured for 2014 season, work on our new shirt was started few weeks ago and now i am proud to present you the the new look, creted by the most wanted designer of nowadays, Aidan. Big thanks to him!
Yep, we are going black. At least partially. Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 19-02-2014 13:06
Davide Martinelli - 10,000 Euros (stagiare)
Tareq Esmaeli
Haijun Ma
Peter Kusztor
Mateusz Taciak
