Our train was in a good position. Aidis sprinted to 3rd, and we also got Seb Langeveld through in 7th.
Stage 2
The team powered ahead well into the last corner.
The Lampre train was very good, but we still had a decent position.
Eventually Bennati took a runaway win with Langeveld a surprising 3rd and Aidis nowhere to be seen.
Stage 3
Pieter attacked with 105km to go, and was the last of these 3 to be caught. The best he could manage was a peloton finish in 34th.
Stage 4
Another mid-stage attack from Weening for KoM points. Again a bad stage result though - almost 11 minutes back in 36th.
Stage 5
Our train was in the perfect position here. Could this be our day?
Surely now! Easy lead for leadout man and sprinter and the flamme rouge. Surely a win from here.
The others are coming fast but Aidis can still hold on.
He has the lead it the last few metres! Yes!
Wait what!?!?!?!?!?!?!? How did that happen! 4th is not fair!
Stage 6
Another mid stage attack from Weening. He went again at 13 kilometres, but faded badly again and finish 45th - in the peloton.
Stage 7
Pieter AGAIN goes with a mid-stage attack. This time it went better though, his group caught the breakaway. When the other favourites attacked our boy stayed with them, and got 7th.
With the first part of the season over, let's have a look at OGE in the rankings.
Rider
Gossy is our best placed rider all the way back in 57th, with 165 points. Pieter is next best with 134, followed by Leigh who is an age back on just 75, and Alba on 70. Then Aidis 58 and Gerro 55. Michael Matthews has 41 and while Seb Langeveld has 28. Daryl is on 24 and Luke is on 17. Cam and Brett are on 12 while Allan has 11 points. Finally, Mathieu is on 5.
Team
We rank 15th, just 2 points behind Astana. We are the 6th worst placed WT team, so are quite safe. The gap between us and relegation is 247 points.
Unfortunately despite our great results, they were all in lower category races, so our success doesn't really show.
Cam set the early time to beat, but the rest were disappointing. Not even a podium - Cam 4th, Durbo 8th and Brett 9th were our Top 10's, while Travis finished 11th.
Americas
We were hoping for a Podium with Svein, but the Canadian champ cruely missed out by just 2 seconds.
Europe
Expectedly nothing of note, however a surprising performance from Seb saw us pick up 13th, missing out on 12th by 2 seconds.
We will of course give you the Road Race reviews, but first there is something else
That's right! No cycling for a while? No worries, we have you covered. Because our riders are such well-rounded sportsmen, we challenged all 28 of them to a tennis tournament. Here are all the results up until the semi-finals.
Round 1
Pieter Weening def. Christian Meier 6-4, 6-2
Matthew Goss def. Thomas Vaitkus 6-3, 6-0
Sebastian Langeveld def. Daniel Teklehaimanot 6-2, 6-0
So Orica-GreenEDGE's best tennis player is Brett Lancaster! What does he win? Nothing. We will also have a doubles tournament, where players will team up with whoever they played in the first round.
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Pais Vasco
Paris-Roubaix
Amstel Gold Race
La Fleche Wallone
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Tour de Romandie
Giro d'Italia
Criterium du Dauphine
Tour de Suisse
Scheldeprijs
Philly
Edited by Ollfardh on 11-02-2014 08:52
I'm back from the Continental Championships now. It was loads of fun!
I've ridden both the TT & RR. Orica didn't have big hopes for the TT, but Albasini at least has a decent chance of something in the RR.
The TT was the Wiggins show. Amazing performance there. Suspicious though, but I won't care about that, I'll focus on my own performance.
I actually felt pretty good that day.
I started slow, because I knew the Cauberg was coming. I couldn't wait riding that famous hill, though it'd happen pretty often later that week. I might have saved too much energy for the Cauberg though it's actual
I finished 49th in the end, which is okay. A Top 50 is nice and at least something.
Then there was the RR.
I did a lot for Albasini today. I think I was really useful, even though I'm a bad protection for the wind, since I'm not that huge. I got a lot of experience from a race of this length.
For the team, it was a day to forget, though. A big split happened at some point. Albasini was not part of it, nor was Weening or I. I think Albasini had a bad day. This was disappointing though, he got 41th... Keukeleire was in the break and managed 17th in the end.
I got 144th, having trouble with the distance. It doesn't really matter though.
Looking forward to Part 2 and hearing about my schedule
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Pais Vasco
Paris-Roubaix
Amstel Gold Race
La Fleche Wallone
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Tour de Romandie
Giro d'Italia
Criterium du Dauphine
Tour de Suisse
Philly
Not, I'm aware of that. You wildcard application was just poor compared to the others. It was a lot harder to refuse Jaxika's decent application then this one, even though it was a goal.
I mean… hello. My name is Nieve but before you get ahead of yourselves and think “Yes, the rocking Oger has finally signed an awesome climber” I must tell you that I am Mikel’s distant cousin. So, my full name is Gorka Nieve Etxepare. I’m a young basque climber, I’m really young. I come fresh from the basque roads and if you believe that the surfer lifestyle wouldn’t suit me, you should know that San Sebastian has beautiful beaches too. I definitely know how to impress girls. I’m looking forward to tanning my body a bit along the way.
As we agreed in the contract, I will mostly attend and fulfill my domestique duties. I realize that many races, especially World Tour races, are a bit out of my league. I still want to try my best of course, but one has to be realistic too. It might be the stages where I suffer the most but will also learn more than I may be able to realize yet. In any case, I am happy to help the team at every opportunitiy that offers to me, each time I can. I am a proud basque and the thing about stereotypes is: They are mostly true. So I love cycling, I was born with it. There was no other option ever. So I appreciate the chance Orica – Green Edge hands to me. I'm sure I won’t disappoint.
My new home, lots of cyclists and kangaroos.
"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them." - Ernest Hemingway
If you are a real big cycling enthusiast and basically watching every race or if you are in (totally non-creepy way) into basque cycling in particular, than you might have seen me at the basque race series in my hometown San Sebastian a few days ago. I was riding in the jersey of Team NetApp – Endura because they allowed me to train with them.
The race in San Sebastian showed me though, that even if I’m still very young, I can already hold up for some time with the best basque cyclists. My cousin Mikel was impressive at the race, and I really hope I will be able to compete at such a level too in a few years. It’s also the type of race I really appreciate it, so I’ll be honest: I would love to ride in my home country, meaning the Vuelta Ciclista a País Vasco and later on Clasica San Sebastian. It would mean a lot to me if my manager at Orica GreenEdge would already allow me that, although I am missing a bit the training so far. Otherwise, I don’t have many race wishes but obviously the more mountains I can take on, the happier I’ll be. Oh, and I kinda would like to get to know this new home of mine as well and there's no better way of learning a country by riding through it with the bicycle (that's what Hemingway said!), so I'd appreciate it if I could race one or two australian races at some point in the season.
Can’t wait to meet you all over time and once again thank you. Luckily I have signed the contract after the tennis tournament.
Gorka Nieve looks like his distant cousin Mikel Nieve except for a big, freaking moustache. Nicknamed The Moustache, This guy lives and breathes the basque country more than anyone. However, due to the set-backs he couldn’t resign with the Euskadi continental Team Orbea Cycling. However, be aware, this guy will jump at the first opportunitiy to sign with Euskaltel – Euskadi that presents itself to him. He now looks for a Pro Continental Team where he can prove himself, be of domestique duties and improve on his career, until one day he can sign with the big orange boys.
He was born and raised in San Sebastian. When he didn’t impress chicks at the beach with his half-tanned body, he spent most of his time on the bicycle. Inspired by the likes of Roberto Laiseka, Iban Mayo, Joseba Beloki and his distant cousin Mikel Nieve, he joined one of the youth teams and was then spotted by Orbea Cycling Team. Naturally he is interested in fighting and conquering any mountain that is ahead of him. Though he made decent appearances, Gorka Nieve wants to see other cultures too and thus is eager to sign for the time being with any forgein team that wants him. He packs his bags for the adventure of the Pro Cycling EPIC Circuit. Though with the hopes that one day he can return to the place he belongs too.
Volta a Catalunya 
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