Away from cold Belgium, onto sunny Spain. Here is our startlist for a small continental race:

Sander Cordeel
Alex Fischer
Adam Hansen
Olivier Kaisen
Vicente Reynes
Dennis Vanendert
Jelle Vanendert
Tim Wellens

Kaisen managed to sneak into the break (see picture). He, unlike to some of his companions, did not make it until the end. The race was won by Anton, who beat Valverde in the final sprint. Jelle finished eight.



Results:

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Igor Antón	Euskaltel - Euskadi	4h42'45
2	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	s.t.
3	Juan Manuel Gárate	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 29
4	Jakob Fuglsang	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
5	Tom Slagter	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 52
6	Giampaolo Caruso	Katusha Team	+ 1'10
7	Nicolas Edet	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	s.t.
8	Jelle Vanendert	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
9	Thabo Jango Sithembile	Sky Procycling	+ 1'31
10	Alexandre Pliuschin	IAM Cycling	+ 3'04
42	Alex Fischer	Lotto Belisol	+ 6'43
52	Tim Wellens	Lotto Belisol	+ 8'09
56	Adam Hansen	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
66	Olivier Kaisen	Lotto Belisol	+ 8'58
69	Vicente Reynès	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
79	Dennis Vanendert	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
88	Sander Cordeel	Lotto Belisol	+ 12'54

The first part of the season is almost finished. The only races left on our calendar are the Volta a Catalunya and the Driedaagse De Panne, with both already started. However, as a result of budget cuts, we won't report stage-by-stage, but only after the final stage.

Continental Championships startlists

European Time Trial
Lars Bak
Gaetan Bille
Olivier Kaisen
Jürgen Van Den Broeck

We don't expect a medal

European Road Race
Lars Bak
Gaetan Bille
Bart De Clercq
Francis De Greef
Alex Fischer
Olivier Kaisen
Jürgen Roelandts
Jürgen Van Den Broeck
Jelle Vanendert

We hope for a medal, with some very strong riders.

Aufrazian Time Trial
Adam Hansen
Greg Henderson

We don't expect a medal.

Aufrazian Road Race
Adam Hansen
Greg Henderson

We don't expect a medal.

Calendar

Our calendar is not confirmed yet, but we will for certain ride every WT-race and 4 continental races. Those races are: Scheldeprijs, Brabantse Pijl, Rund um Koln and Ronde van Belgie. We are still applying for more races.

Goals

		Ronde van Vlaanderen	Top-10
		Critérium du Dauphiné	Top-5 GC
		Liege-Bastogne-Liege	Top-5

The first race to be reported in the new format, to reduce costs. Here is our squad:

Sander Cordeel
Alex Fischer
Adam Hansen
Olivier Kaisen
Vicente Reynes
Dennis Vanendert
Jelle Vanendert
Tim Wellens

Stage 1:

Wellens in the break (see picture). He gains some useful points for the mountains classification, the only thing we could do. He will wear it in the following stages. Bennati wins the stage in the bunch sprint. No noteworthy mentions for our other riders.



Stage 2:

Wellens in the break again. He extends his lead in the KoM classification (see picture). Bennati wins again.



Stage 3:

Nobody from us has been seen all day, except for a small attack by Hansen. Porte wins the stage. Wellens lost his jersey.

Stage 4:

Contador wins, Vanendert 77th.

Stage 5:

Are our riders sleeping or something? Bennati takes another sprint victory.

Stage 6:

Vanendert improves, finishing 29th. He even got some telly time (see picture)! Moreno wins the stage.



Stage 7:

Victory for Montaguti. No noteworthy mentionings for Lotto riders.

GC:

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Alberto Contador	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	28h37'59
2	Richie Porte	Sky Procycling	+ 57
3	Samuel Sánchez	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 2'44
4	Beñat Intxausti	Movistar Team	+ 3'44
5	Andrew Talansky	Garmin - Sharp	+ 3'49
58	Jelle Vanendert	Lotto Belisol	+ 22'27
73	Tim Wellens	Lotto Belisol	+ 30'34
87	Alex Fischer	Lotto Belisol	+ 38'27
90	Adam Hansen	Lotto Belisol	+ 39'11
157	Dennis Vanendert	Lotto Belisol	+ 1h11'39
177	Sander Cordeel	Lotto Belisol	+ 1h20'55
182	Vicente Reynès	Lotto Belisol	+ 1h24'40
183	Olivier Kaisen	Lotto Belisol	+ 1h26'40

The last race of the first part of the season, and it's a home race! 4 stages in 3 days, with a cobbled stage and a TT. Our sponsors want a stage win here, so we decided to send our traditionally strong classics squad:

Lars Bak
Gaëtan Bille
Jens Debusschere
André Greipel
Jürgen Roelandts
Marcel Sieberg
Jonas Vangenechten
Frederik Willems

Stage 1:

The cobbled stage. Unfortunately, Greipel was dropped, but others survived. Phinney won the stage, Roelandts finished in seventh.

Stage 2:

Bak managed to join a small break late in the race. He managed to finish third, only behind Vantomme and Phinney. Greipel won the sprint in the second group.

Stage 3:

The stage ended in a mass sprint. Greipel was a bit behind, but he was brought back forward by an amazing lead-out from Roelandts (see picture).



And Andre finishes it off! He takes the victory (see picture)! Antoher sponsor goal accomplished!



Stage 4:

A TT. Bak (see picture) was fourth in the GC going into the final stage. He finishes ninth in the stage, 7th in the GC. Phinney wins the stage and the general classification.



GC:

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Taylor Phinney	BMC Racing Team	11h31'36
2	Sylvain Chavanel	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team	+ 14
3	Lars Boom	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 31
4	Niki Terpstra	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team	+ 36
5	Damien Gaudin	Team Europcar	s.t.
7	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto Belisol	+ 45
16	Gaetan Bille	Lotto Belisol	+ 2'28
22	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	+ 2'38
52	Jonas Vangenechten	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'11
65	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'53
71	Jens Debusschere	Lotto Belisol	+ 5'23
88	Marcel Sieberg	Lotto Belisol	+ 8'04
114	Frederik Willems	Lotto Belisol	+ 9'44

Points:

Rank	Name	Team	Points
1	Taylor Phinney	BMC Racing Team	84
5	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	28
6	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto Belisol	28
15	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	15

As you might have notices, part 2 has already started with the Ronde van Vlaanderen and the Tour of Basque Country, but we haven't reported anything about that (although RvV will follow soon), nor have we shown the results of the Continental Championships. There are multiple reasons for that, but the main reason is illness from the main reporter. We will catch up most work now!

Continental Championships

Aufrazian Time Trial

1	Po-ding Kim	Team Europcar	1h02'01
19	Adam Hansen	Lotto Belisol	+ 3'29
27	Greg Henderson	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'13

European Time Trial

1	Bradley Wiggins	Sky Procycling	1h02'17
41	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto Belisol	+ 3'24
48	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Lotto Belisol	+ 3'31
72	Olivier Kaisen	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'31
75	Gaetan Bille	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'51

Aufrazian Road Race

1	Simon Gerrans	Orica - GreenEdge	6h04'14
18	Adam Hansen	Lotto Belisol	+ 9'58
38	Greg Henderson	Lotto Belisol	+ 11'55

European Road Race

1	Fabian Cancellara	RadioShack - Leopard	6h03'24
21	Francis De Greef	Lotto Belisol	+ 1'48
47	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Lotto Belisol	+ 3'13
100	Bart De Clercq	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'05
119	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
124	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
137	Alex Fischer	Lotto Belisol	+ 5'40
161	Gaetan Bille	Lotto Belisol	+ 9'02
171	Olivier Kaisen	Lotto Belisol	+ 11'44
DNF	Jelle Vanendert	Lotto Belisol	DNF

Highly disappointing!

Calendar

Luckily for us, all our wildcards have been accepted. Our full calendar can be viewed here.

Schedules

Alex Fischer:

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco
Brabantse Pijl
Amstel Gold Race
La Flèche Wallone
Liège - Bastogne - Liège
Rund um den Finanzplatz
Rund um Koln
Tour of Norway
Bayern Rundfahrt
Tour de Suisse

Pieter de Vries:

Amstel Gold Race
Tour de Romandie
Quatre Jours de Dunkerque
Bayern Rundfahrt
Critérium du Dauphiné

The second part of the season has kicked off with the last 3 cobbled classics. Ronde van Vlaanderen, Scheldeprijs, Paris-Roubaix. 3 iconic races, so again our strong classics squad:

Lars Bak
Gaëtan Bille
Jens Debusschere
André Greipel
Jürgen Roelandts
Marcel Sieberg
Jonas Vangenechten
Frederik Willems

Ronde van Vlaanderen:

Our goal here was a top-10, we did not achieve it. Roelandts finished 11th. We aren't going to give you the highlights, the mysterious Shonak can do that much better.

Results:

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC Racing Team	7h07'48
2	Tom Boonen	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team	+ 49
3	Peter Sagan	Cannondale Pro Cycling	+ 4'04
4	Peter Pal	FDJ	+ 5'05
5	Fabian Cancellara	RadioShack - Leopard	s.t.
11	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	+ 6'17
52	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	+ 15'28
61	Jens Debusschere	Lotto Belisol	+ 16'15
66	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto Belisol	+ 17'48
109	Jonas Vangenechten	Lotto Belisol	+ 24'08
110	Marcel Sieberg	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
113	Frederik Willems	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
88	Marcel Sieberg	Lotto Belisol	+ 8'04
DNF	Gaëtan Bille	Lotto Belisol	DNF

Scheldeprijs:

No Shonak here, so back to our own made stuff. Greipel is one of the main favourites here, together with Cavendish and Kittel. And the organizers were right about that, because they all finished in the top-5. The Brit finished second and the German finished fifth, but where did Andre finish (see picture)?



Results:

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	4h30'15
2	Mark Cavendish	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team	s.t.
3	Elia Viviani	Cannondale Pro Cycling	s.t.
4	Matthew Goss	Orica - GreenEdge	s.t.
5	Marcel Kittel	Team Argos - Shimano	s.t.
10	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
80	Frederik Willems	Lotto Belisol	+ 1'28
91	Marcel Sieberg	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
117	Gaetan Bille	Lotto Belisol	+ 9'35
118	Jens Debusschere	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
122	Jonas Vangenechten	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
129	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto Belisol	s.t.

Paris-Roubaix:

Back to Shonak. Roelandts did another great job by finishing 5th!

Results:

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Sep Vanmarcke	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	6h02'17
2	Sebastian Langeveld	Orica - GreenEdge	s.t.
3	Tom Boonen	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team	s.t.
4	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
5	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
54	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	+ 11'08
58	Jens Debusschere	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
61	Marcel Sieberg	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
115	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto Belisol	+ 16'31
128	Jonas Vangenechten	Lotto Belisol	+ 21'31
131	Frederik Willems	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
148	Gaetan Bille	Lotto Belisol	+ 25'21

The first Ardennes classi. According to the organizers, this was our startlist:

Dirk Bellemakers
Brian Bulgac
Alex Fischer
Joost van Leijen
Jürgen Roelandts
Jurgen Van Den Broeck
Jelle Vanendert
Pieter de Vries

Have you seen one of our riders? You'll probably be one of the few. We were invisible, not a single shot of our riders on the television. The race was won by Joaquim Rodriguez (see picture). Vanendert apparently finished 43th.



Results:

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	6h18'48
2	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	s.t.
3	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	+ 20
4	Sergio Henao	Sky Procycling	s.t.
5	Simon Spilak	Katusha Team	+ 36
43	Jelle Vanendert	Lotto Belisol	+ 7'55
45	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
87	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	+ 8'47
133	Alex Fischer	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
173	Brian Bulgac	Lotto Belisol	+ 11'01
176	Joost Van Leijen	Lotto Belisol	+ 11'30
186	Dirk Bellemakers	Lotto Belisol	+ 16'16
189	Pieter De Vries	Lotto Belisol	+ 17'26

First stage race in the second part, and we have to score a top-10 in the GC here. Our startlist:

Sander Cordeel
Alex Fischer
Adam Hansen
Olivier Kaisen
Vicente Reynes
Dennis Vanendert
Jelle Vanendert
Tim Wellens

Stage 1:

No sight of a Lotto-Belisol rider, but Jelle finished in the first group. Kwiatkowski won the stage.

Stage 2:

A mass sprint, and we didn't send a sprinter here. Kwiatkowski won again.

Stage 3:

The first finish uphill. The break survived, Mourey won the stage. Jelle finished 6th, and moved to 4th in the GC.

Stage 4:

Second uphill finish, and no sight of a Lotto-Belisol rider once again. Kiserlovski won the stage, Jelle finished 44th, 4 minutes back. Bye bye, top-10 GC.

Stage 5:

The usual hide-and-don't seek game. Costa won the stage, Jelle lost more time.

Stage 6:

A hilly TT, no mention at all.

GC:

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Alberto Contador	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	21h05'41
2	Rui Costa	Movistar Team	+ 21
3	Daniel Moreno	Katusha Team	+ 56
4	Robert Kiserlovski	RadioShack - Leopard	+ 58
5	Andrew Talansky	Garmin - Sharp	+ 1'16
47	Jelle Vanendert	Lotto Belisol	+ 12'26
107	Adam Hansen	Lotto Belisol	+ 29'51
108	Alex Fischer	Lotto Belisol	+ 32'38
111	Tim Wellens	Lotto Belisol	+ 34'51
168	Dennis Vanendert	Lotto Belisol	+ 57'50
169	Vicente Reynès	Lotto Belisol	+ 57'51
184	Olivier Kaisen	Lotto Belisol	+ 1h25'36
DNF	Sander Cordeel	Lotto Belisol	DNF

A continental race in Germany. The only reason why we are here, is a certain rider called Andre Greipel. Here are his companions (and himself):

Lars Bak
Sander Cordeel
Gert Dockx
Alex Fischer
Andre Greipel
Marcel Sieberg
Jurgen Van de Walle
Frederik Willems

Our main opponents here were two other German sprinters, Degenkolb and Kittel from Argos-Shimano. We decided to make an agreement to ride away from the peleton.



We got away for a second, but the peleton caught us again. It all came dow to a mass-sprint, which was suprisingly won by a German. No it's not Martens, he finished fourth. Degenkolb and Kittel are third and second. Then only 1 person could be the winner: Andre Greipel!



Results:

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	5h12'26
2	Marcel Kittel	Team Argos - Shimano	s.t.
3	John Degenkolb	Team Argos - Shimano	s.t.
4	Paul Martens	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
5	Daniele Bennati	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	s.t.
23	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
28	Alex Fischer	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
34	Marcel Sieberg	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
56	Frederik Willems	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
62	Jürgen Van de Walle	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
64	Sander Cordeel	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
75	Gert Dockx	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'33

Some have missed it, most propably haven't, but we did not report anything the last weeks. This is due to a major spam attack (see above, no cover-up), but we managed to restore everything and we'll try to cover every race which has been raced in here.

La Fleche Wallonne
Vangenechten in the break, Van den Broeck our best rider in 23th.

Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Fischer in the break, Van den Broeck our best rider in 22th.

Quatre Jours de Dunkerque
Stage 1: 1,

Stage 2: 2,

Stage 3: 3,

Stage 4: but no 4th victory in a row for Roelandts
Stage 5: And the 4th didn't came

But with 3 stage wins, a 2nd place, the points jersey and the 4th place in the GC it was surely a great race for him!

Brabantse Pijl
Roelandts finished 10th, 3 minutes behind the surprising winner, Hulsmans

Tour de Romandie
Stage 1: no sign
Stage 2: 1-2 Henderson and Dehaes

Stage 3: no sign
Stage 4: no sign
Stage 5: Are our riders even participating?
Stage 6: ..........

Bayern Rundfahrt
Stage 1: Greipel disappoints in fourth
Stage 2: Fourth place again
Stage 3: No fourth palce this time, but the first place. Although we'll have to wait some time before the picture turns up.

Stage 4: A TT, Bak 15th
Stage 5: Greipel is back!


Ronde van Belgie
Stage 1: 2nd place for Henderson
Stage 2: 9th place for Henderson
Stage 3: 22nd place for Henderson
Stage 4: 1st place for Henderson

Stage 5: 25th place by Hen... eh, De Clercq
Another goal failed

Tour of Norway
Stage 1: Roelandts third
Stage 2: Roelandts fourth, Van de Sande fifth
Stage 3: Roelandts second
Stage 4: De Clercq second, Roelandts tenth
Stage 5: De Clercq third, in the GC as well

Rund um Koln
We thought to have a big shot here with Greipel, but he disappointed. Dockx was in the break and finished ninth.

Giro d'Italia
Zero points, nothing less

Let's forget about part 2 as quickly as possible, since all our goals failed...

Goals:
Easy: Top-3 Dutch Food Valley Classic
Medium: Stage win TDF
Hard: Top-5 GC Eneco Tour

Luxembourg

Although part 2 was a complete failure for us (0 goals succeeded), we have the feeling that we might have disapoointed someone by not reporting his great achievement. I'm of course talking about Jurgen Roelandts, who take a victory in a masssprint on the second stage, and took the GC and points lead. He lost the GC to Fuglsang the next day, but he managed to win the points classification with a big margin! Well done Jurgen!

Alex and Pieter

Alex and Pieter, we are yet to decide whether or not your contracts will be extended. If you show some decent performances in the last part, we will definately offer you a new contract.

While we're at it, here are your schedules for the final part of the season:

Alex Fischer:

Danmark Rundt
Dutch Food Valley Classic
Vattenfall Cyclassics
GP Plouay
GP du Quebec
GP du Montreal
GP Wallonie

Pieter de Vries:

Clasica San Sebastian
/ Eneco Tour
Dutch Food Valley Classic
Vattenfall Cyclassics
GP Plouay
/ Paris-Bruxelles
GP de Fourmies
Il Lombardia
Tour of Beijing

The biggest race on earth, Le Tour de France. The second GT of the year, and, unlike the Giro, we expect (and will score) points here. Our 9-man squad:

Lars Bak
Bart de Clercq
Gert Dockx
Andre Greipel
Greg Henderson
Marcel Sieberg
Jurgen Van de Walle
Tosh van der Sande
Tim Wellens

Stage 1:

Yup, it didn't take long for our first points in a GT. A flat stage, a bunch sprint. Who wins? Greipel of course! He also wears the yellow jersey for the next stage.



Stage 2:

As expected, we lost the yellow jersey in the second, hilly stage won by a solo from Gerrans. Greipel did manage to stay in the peleton and finished in 12th position.

Stage 3:

Again a hilly stage, with De Gendt taking the victory.

Stage 4:

A TTT, nothing was expected, nothing was achieved. But hey, we beat Vacansoleil and Euskaltel!



Stage 5:

Finally a flat stage, and the expected battle between Greipel and Kittel came. Unfortunately for us, the latter won.



Stage 6:

Another flat stage, another victory for Kittel. André disappointed with a 6th place and lost his green jersey.



Stage 7:

Sagan takes the victory, Greipel fifth.



GC:

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Simon Gerrans	Orica - GreenEdge	20h56'04
2	Rinaldo Nocentini	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 1'46
3	Sylvain Chavanel	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team	+ 1'51
4	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	+ 1'54
5	Tanel Kangert	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
121	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	+ 6'41
122	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
123	Bart De Clercq	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
144	Gert Dockx	Lotto Belisol	+ 9'48
146	Tim Wellens	Lotto Belisol	+ 11'05
150	Tosh Van der Sande	Lotto Belisol	+ 11'32
160	Greg Henderson	Lotto Belisol	+ 12'52
172	Marcel Sieberg	Lotto Belisol	+ 15'25
176	Jürgen Van de Walle	Lotto Belisol	+ 17'01