In deed it seems I've mad a cock-up forgetting Dunkerque in my calculations. Guess thats just wishful thinking with the race being so disastrous for me with several crashes and all...
Anyway out of all races it's probably USAPCC that suits me the least with a mountain and two TT's but you're the boss and as long as I get Denmark and Eneco I won't make a fuss about it since you know best where you need me to make the team as strong as possible in every race...
The Tour recently got underway in Corsica just a few days ago with a spectacular Grand Depart, and now that the riders are transferring over to Nice for the important Team Time Trial, it's a good time to take a look at how the Tour is shaping up.
The squad:
Manuele Boaro Alberto Contador Roman Kreuziger Michael Morkov Sergio Paulinho Evgeni Petrov Michael Rogers Chris Anker Sorensen Matteo Tosatto
We believe this to be a very good squad hoping to challenge for the overall classification in this the 100th Tour. We have gone all-in with a double-leader strategy in two of the finest stage-racers in the peloton: Alberto Contador and Roman Kreuziger. To back them up, super-domestiques Mick Rogers and Chris Anker Sorensen, and domestiques Sergio Paulinho and Evgeni Petrov will provide great support in the mountains, as well as Matteo Tosatto and Michael Morkov, powerhouses on the flat, and Manuele Boaro to assist in the TTT.
The route this year is very mountainous and we can expect some spectacular showdowns between the likes of Froome, Nibali, Quintana, Valverde and of course our very own duo on the famed mountains of Ventoux and Alpe d'Huez (oh and... umm... Semnoz) And that's just picking out a few names from a packed startlist and not even mentioning the sprints (well I mean honestly who even cares about sprints?).
Matteo Tosatto put in a nice dig on the first stage to become the first wearer of the KoM jersey in the 100th Tour; quite an honour indeed for the veteran Italian domestique
We promise to keep you updated on events later on in the Tour; rest assured that our lack of updates during the rest of the season is due to the fact that the Tour is the only race Oleg Tinkov cares even the slightest bit about.
Right now I'm focused on Clasica San Sebastian where I really want to make a good result, but I have come to realise that I need to start thinking on next year as well...
At this moment I have made no decision and I won't be making any before we get closer to the actual season finish either. Unless of course I get an offer I can't refuse.
Now you might be thinking: "What is an offer he can't refuse" so I'll try and draw a picture of my dream situation for you.
I would really like a team with some good cobbles depth. Breschel and Tossato have been great, but I often flt very alone towards the finish this year. At least one more decent cobbler to support me would be amazing!
Secondly I want a team that can/will get me in to as many races featuring cobbles as possible. Again I was disappointed about the amount of CT-cobbles I saw this year.
In return for that I don't mind being a domestique wherever there is a race without cobbles.
Once again I would like to emphasize that I generally have been happy here at Saxo-Tinkoff and it is still very likely that we could come to an agreement. I'm just not in any hurry just yet.
I am the newest signing for the Saxo team, and it is a dream come true for me to be able to say that. If I was a suck up I would say that I used to watch cycling on TV and pretend to be Alberto Contador, but I'm not and I didn't have a TV, however since I have come to Europe I have looked up to Alberto as he is the greets cyclist in history after winning every grand tour and the tour de France twice, which I'm sure must be a record.
Anyway I am very much looking forward to riding with Bertie, although I plan to stay away from Beef as Alberto has had some bad experiences before with beef, so I will stay clear. I think that I will be able to learn from the team, and progress as a rider, meaning that I will be a GC contender in the future.
I'm now living a dream and I don't want to ever wake up.
Thanks
JJ
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Since last you heard from me I have been racing around a bit as well as talking with people about my future. More about that later in this piece.
Clásica San Sebastián is a race I hope to be able to do well in one day. Today is not that day and sadly enough no one else on the team seem to be able to teach me how to race this exact race with Nicki on 39th our best placed rider 3 spots ahead of me.
From there I went home to race Post Danmark Rundt. A race where I at best could be a wildcard but a race where we as a Danish based team should show the jersey and go for the win.
Even though Manuel kind of saved our honour in the TT I think it was obvious for anyone watching Post Danmark Rundt that it didn’t go as well for Saxo-Tinkoff as we would have liked.
This simply wasn’t a good enough effort from us and I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to our fans!
Now I have to start packing for the upcoming USA Pro Cycling Challenge. A race where I will work for our captains, but have no high hopes of making a result myself.
It will however give me the opportunity to sign the contract with my new team based in the USA and meet some of the guys I will call teammates in 2015. Not mistaking this time I want to beat them…
That team is Garmin – Sharp, who have offered me full leadership in the cobbled classics, some good support and a lot of influence on the race program including the wildcards we will apply for.
I feel confident that it will be a great experience for me, and hopefully it’ll help me achieve better than this season as I feel we only rarely have gotten the clockwork to tick properly this season.
Since the last time you heard from me I’ve ben busy, though I also have to admit that I’m generally disappointed with the results.
To be honest all the confusion surrounding my calendar this fall made it so that I completely forgot that Eneco Tour was around the corner, so I wasn’t quite ready on the first couple of stages, but on the third flat stage I tried to mix in the sprint. It’s hard though with limited experience and no help…
On stage 4 I lost all chances of a decent GC when the peloton cracked and our team was spread all over the place thus failing to keep things under control.
On stage 6 I really have no excuses: My legs were crappier than almost ever before and that is punished in the Ardennes…
I didn’t manage to get the bad feeling out of my legs and all in all the results here were simply not good enough, but everyone has a race now and then when the legs just won’t listen.
From there I went to USA, where I was not only determined to redeem myself after a disappointing Eneco Tour but also to meet up with some of the guys at Garmin.
Obviously with two TT’s and some mountains I had to focus on the flat stages where Miyazawa was designated as my leadout-man.
For some reason none of the mountain stages were ridden very hard so that was good for me at least even though my future team set a hard pace that was a bit too much for me on the biggest mountains.
For the flat stages the team really did a good job to help reel in the break so I could get a chance to sprint.
I was lead to the front by Miyazawa as planned, but then on both stage 5 and 7 he rode like a maniac swirling all over the road and I had to drop following him if we shouldn’t take down the entire peloton in a very ugly crash. He got some decent results, but with less of a kamikaze-style leadout I really think we could have done something here!
On stage 6 I showed myself well with some aggressive riding in the finale along with Oget. We took turns in attacking, but in the end he was the one that got away while I was caught by the chasers in the last few km.
I was happy that the team showed they still believe in me and annoyed that a crazy Japanese prevented me from giving the team the results they deserve!
General Classification: 92nd / + 7'39
Points: 43rd / 10
Young Riders: 38th / + 7’39
Oh yeah, I almost forgot that we raced in Plouay as well where we hoped that Daniele could do something big. I worked hard and finished 40th while Bennati finished 13th. Within the points but disappointing nonetheless…
Now I only have a few days left to race this year. I'm one of the possibly very few riders that look forward to Tour of Beijing. It will be interesting to see a very different culture to the one I know from home.
~ Erik McDermottEdited by Atlantius on 01-11-2014 11:10
Today we witness the drawing to a close of the 2013 season, with its ups and downs (although perhaps rather more of the latter). Saxo-Tinkoff finished 12th in the Team Rankings, a credible finish for many, but perhaps rather disappointing given the quality and depth of the squad. Not to take anything away from their truly outstanding performance this season, it was rather embarrassing to finish behind Europcar, a PCT team.
Team Rankings:
Spoiler
1
Sky
14212
2
Movistar
9965
3
Belkin
8523
4
BMC
7950
5
Omega Pharma
6962
6
Astana
6676
7
Cannondale
5984
8
RadioShack
5908
9
Katusha
5860
10
Europcar
5591
11
Garmin
5412
12
Saxo-Tinkoff
5358
13
Lotto
4135
14
Argos
4022
15
Orica-GreenEdge
3594
16
Euskaltel
3217
17
AG2R
3214
18
Champion System
1974
19
Androni
1788
20
Vacansoleil
1642
21
Lampre
1592
22
NetApp
1510
23
MTN
1459
24
FDJ
1339
25
Cofidis
1149
26
Bardiani
1033
27
Colombia
975
28
Topsport
921
29
Crelan
793
30
Bretagne
747
31
IAM
665
32
Vini Fantini
597
33
CCC
540
34
RusVelo
422
35
UHC
318
36
Accent Jobs
154
37
Novo Nordisk
52
38
Sojasun
49
39
Caja Rural
7
Individual Rankings:
Contador was our highest point scorer, but he finished a rather disappointing 14th, the decision to only send him to one GT perhaps did not pay off (although he won handsomely in Catalunya and Pais Vasco. Elsewhere, Kreuziger finished 30th, again rather disappointing considered his statistical parity to Contador, and it was Bennati, the pleasant surprise of the season, who was the best of the rest.
Internal Rankings:
1
Alberto Contador
1798
2
Roman Kreuziger
1012
3
Daniele Bennati
509
4
Nicolas Roche
476
5
Erik McDermott
418
6
Michael Rogers
309
7
Rafal Majka
174
8
Matti Breschel
127
9
Matteo Tosatto
100
10
Michael Morkov
64
11
Manuele Boaro
58
12
Nicki Sorensen
48
13
Chris Anker Sorensen
32
14
Bruno Pires
24
15
Sergio Paulinho
20
16
Oliver Zaugg
16
17
Takashi Miyazawa
14
18
Jonathan Cantwell
12
=
Karsten Kroon
12
20
Jonas Aaen Jorgensen
11
21
Marko Kump
8
Overall rankings:
Spoiler
1
P. Sagan
4537
2
C. Froome
3920
3
V. Nibali
3466
4
N. Quintana
3197
5
A. Valverde
3028
6
J. Rodriguez
2858
7
P. Gilbert
2786
8
R. Uran
2066
9
C. Betancur
1986
10
R. Porte
1841
11
M. Kwiatkowski
1818
12
R. Costa
1811
13
A. Greipel
1801
14
A. Contador
1798
15
T. Boonen
1684
16
F. Cancellara
1681
17
W. Brouwer
1489
18
S. Vanmarcke
1437
19
C. Horner
1406
20
G. Van Avermaet
1307
21
A. Hanzen
1274
22
A. Kristoff
1241
23
D. Martin
1210
24
P. Kim
1195
25
E. Boasson Hagen
1167
26
T. Van Garderen
1146
27
R. Hesjedal
1125
28
J. Degenkolb
1124
29
M. Kittel
1093
30
R. Kreuziger
1012
31
O. Ghita
995
32
S. Spilak
992
33
J. Roelandts
936
34
S. Sanchez
913
35
D. Moreno
900
36
A. Talansky
893
37
B. Mollema
889
38
F. Pellizotti
834
39
G. Ciolek
810
40
M. Goss
799
41
C. De Vries
790
42
B. Wiggins
780
43
R. Kakhi
779
44
M. Scarponi
778
45
S. Chavanel
772
46
T. Kangert
769
47
M. Cavendish
747
48
T. Voeckler
708
49
R. Bardet
681
50
F. Duarte
654
In the spotlight: The 3 GT's
Being a stage-race orientated team (with that focus looking likely to become more pronounced next year), the main targets of the team are the 3 GTs. We look briefly at how each one panned out for the team.
Giro d'Italia
1
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana Pro Team
84h44'43
2
Carlos Betancur
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 6'34
3
Richie Porte
Sky Procycling
+ 8'38
4
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
+ 10'31
5
Roman Kreuziger
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 12'01
6
Ryder Hesjedal
Garmin - Sharp
+ 12'45
7
Michele Scarponi
Lampre - Merida
+ 16'53
8
Robert Kiserlovski
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 22'00
9
Cadel Evans
BMC Racing Team
+ 22'18
10
Franco Pellizotti
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
+ 22'55
The Giro d'Italia was perhaps the most succesful GT, in terms of the fulfillment of our expectations. We came into the Giro with a goal of a Top 5 finish, and after seeing the strong field were a little nervous about the fulfillment of this goal. Going into the last few stages, it was very close for 5th spot between Kreuziger and Hesjedal, but a wonderful ride on the penultimate stage to the Tre Cime di Lavaredo paid dividends for Roman and he finished in 5th place. Rafal Majka was also present, but after losing time in the first week he finished a rather disappointing 21st.
Tour de France
1
Chris Froome
Sky Procycling
81h00'58
2
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
+ 1'19
3
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana Pro Team
+ 5'50
4
Alberto Contador
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 7'42
5
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+ 7'49
6
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 11'51
7
Michał Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 12'13
8
Tejay Van Garderen
BMC Racing Team
+ 16'10
9
Roman Kreuziger
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 18'05
10
Cameron Meyer
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 18'17
With a 4th place and a 9th place finish, statistically our best result in any of the 3 GTs, in the world's biggest cyling race, we should really have been happy. But this Tour de France was perhaps the weirdest ever seen; with a break winning on the Champs-Elysees and unlikely faces getting in to the top 10. Perhaps it was asking too much of Kreuizger, who had come off a tough Giro, to do well in the Tour, but finishing more than 18 minutes down on the winner is a major disappointment. Similarly, Contador, with this as his main goal of the season, was almost completely invisible, only being mentioned two or three times in the entire race, despite finishing fourth.
Vuelta a Espana
1
Chris Froome
Sky Procycling
82h18'37
2
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+ 10'07
3
Rigoberto Urán
Sky Procycling
+ 14'01
4
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 16'46
5
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Sharp
+ 22'54
6
Leopold König
Team NetApp - Endura
+ 30'48
7
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Lotto Belisol
+ 32'46
8
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 34'13
9
Nicolas Roche
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 36'18
10
Oreste Ghita
Team Argos - Shimano
+ 36'56
We went into the Vuelta with the lowest expectations out of all the GTs, a top 10 goal clear evidence of this. With Nicolas Roche and Rafal Majka as leaders, we were never realistically going to achieve much more than that, but it was pleasing to see Roche in the top 10, even if Majka just missed out (capping a disappointing season for him, without a GT top 10). However, both were, like the Tour, largely invisible throughout the race, something we will need to work on next season to attract the sponsor attention.
Overall: the term best suited to Team Saxo-Tinkoff's performance in 2013 is middling success. Success yes, but not really to the extent that we had hoped for at the start of the season, where we targeted at least one GT podium, something that was never to materialise. We also failed to win a single stage in any of the GT attempts (that's 63 failed attempts) despite having riders for all terrains, another slight disappointment. However, we look towards next season with renewed hope, in the knowledge that our climbing department has been strengthened by the signing of new U-23 riders, and that Kreuziger and Majka will have matured another year's worth of abilities.
Edited by Stromeon on 08-12-2014 17:56
Hello Mr Team Manager,
As I finish the season I aim to move forward and grow as a rider ready for joining your team.
I'd just like to tell you that I am riding the Ghent, Amsterdam and Rotterdam 6 Day as part of my preparation for next year, my partner shall be my brother Diego Johnson as we hope that a strong winter on the track will make us better riders for next year. I am looking forward to racing with my brother as we are very close and I haven't seen him much since we became pros.
Looking forward to Next Year
JJ
Edited by JoeArmstrong13 on 08-12-2014 17:49
My Stories
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I am the newest member of this awesome team and I can surely say I am on cloud nine It's always been my dream to be a pro, but if someone told me I would ride for such a strong team a year ago, I'd probably hit him for joking with my ambitions
I am so glad I'm gonna get first hand experience from the world's greatest in this sport–Alberto Contador. I really like the rest of the team as well and I can hardly wait to ride side by side with some of the most hopeful riders in the peleton like Majka, Kreuziger, etc.
I am currently working hard in the mountains near my home town Sofia in the harsh conditions of the forthcoming winter in order to accustom myself to riding in cold and foggy climate.
Ollfardh wrote: Contador tells you: I want to ride another GT, with good support
Kreuziger tells you: I want leadership in a GT as well!
Please reassure your riders.
Alberto: I'm not quite sure what you mean here. Either you just want to ride another GT full stop in which case sure thing, we have you down to lead us in the Tour and you will be supported by the likes of Nicolas Roche, Chris Anker Sorensen, and Nikola Langov: guys who could finish in the top 20 themselves without challenging your leadership and are excellent mountain support in their own right. We would also send Matti Breschel to guide you through the difficult cobbled stage. If you mean another GT as in you want to lead two GTs next year, then that can also be accommodated and we can give you leadership in the Vuelta with similarly excellent support.
Roman: You will be leading the team in the Giro. We believe that you will be able to gain a high placing here and you will also have good support, both in the mountains and also for the TTT with the likes of Rafal Majka and Michael Rogers.
The forthcoming weeks promise to be a busy time for the team as we not only reflect on the season gone by, and the highs and lows that were endured, but also look forward to the 2014 season and the excitements that it may bring. However the time has come to say goodbye to some of our valued riders, as they seek retirement or look elsewhere. Thus we sadly announce the immediate departure of the following riders from our team:
Karsten Kroon Takashi Miyazawa Timothy Duggan Anders Lund Benjamin Noval
We are also looking towards the new season with an eye to improving the overall quality of the squad and focusing somewhat on depth. The following riders either have expressed an interest in leaving, or have had the that interest expressed to them by the management, and are effectively 'for sale' (at a reasonable price of course):
Jonathan Cantwell (Sp 74, Acc 74) Bruno Pires (Mo 72, Hil 72) Evgeni Petrov (Mo 73, Hil 72, TT 70, Prl 70) Rory Sutherland (Mo 71, Hil 72, TT 70, Prl 71)
So as you can see we are looking towards some fairly drastic change at the team, being rather disappointed with our 12th place finish, with less than half the points of our owner's arch-nemeses at Team Sky. Anyway, bring on 2014!
Ollfardh wrote: Rodriguez tells you: I want revenge in the Vuelta this year!
Please reassure your riders.
Very urgent reminder or he will become FA
You posted it in the wrong HQ hence why I didn't see it.
Of course we will be very happy to have Purito lead the Vuelta, Contador has no plans to lead there so Purito will be our undisputed leader with a solid back-up team of climbers, likely including his best friend Dani Moreno.
Manuele Boaro
Alberto Contador
Roman Kreuziger
Michael Morkov
Sergio Paulinho
Evgeni Petrov
Michael Rogers
Chris Froome
Chris Horner
It's always been my dream to be a pro, but if someone told me I would ride for such a strong team a year ago, I'd probably hit him for joking with my ambitions 
