CountArach: Thanks! You're welcome to look for Finnish riders. I managed to find 2 not already in there (on the first page of the new riders thread) but you might have more luck. Preferably a huge talent
Up against the PCT teams we didn't expect much from this race, even though it's close to home.
The cobbled prologue went surprisingly well for Lovassy. His cobbles-skills really paid off there,
On stage 2 everything was set up for a bunch sprint, but crashes pulled the peloton apart and we were caugth behind.
Stage 3 saw Cioban go in the break and taking 2nd on the KOM.
He tried again on the following stage but they were caight before they reached the KOM-sprint.
He missed the break on the final day and instead the team showed the jersey by pulling the peloton a bit.
I'm happy that the guys are starting to show soem confidence, but this was perhaps a bit much...
The best thing about this race is probably the name. That and the fact that it could be a good chance for a break.
Lehtinen made sure we were represented in the early break.
The break was caught rather early and the finale turned into a chaotic mix of attackers and sprinters.
None of whom belonged to our team despite Linus and Krisztian trying to stay near the front towards the end.
On a good day this race could suit a lot of different riders from the team so we have sent both sprinters and punchers here.
Sarabia made himself noticed among the first attackers, which was obviously great to see.
His group held for a long time but in the end they were caught and for once Westling avoided to get caught behind crashes or lose contact on the hills.
Sadly he also avoided to sprint…
Here we rode on a team along with 4 Swedbank-riders. The stage results summary below will only include riders wearing our jersey in the rest of the season.
The opening TT didn't se us doing anything noteworthy, though Truels Korseth got a 29th place.
On stage 2 we helped Bertilsson to a solid 15th place
Stage 3 was not worth going into details about, while Bertilsson got another good resutls finishing 14th on stage 4.
Then on stage 5 the jersey was shown beatifully by Norwegian Blikra, who finished 5th after a nice attack.
Stage 6 would have been a good day to get in the break so we didn't and stage 7 pretty much went by without us noticing.
Stage 8 was by far our best stage with Serafin finshing up there as we had hoped he would be able to. One position after Blikra, who hangs on to a solid GC position.
On the final stage it was finally time for one of our own riders to show himself as Sakari went in the early break.
And to make things even more brilliant he held on to finish 10th on legendary Ventoux.
No matter how we twist and turn it this was a great month for us.
GC Top 10's in Burgos and Azerbaijan and 7 stage top 10's gave us enough points to finally get away from the bottom spot of the division.
It should also be of great benefit in the search for a new sponsor. We have finalized the deal with a Finnish main sponsor and we feel confident and hopefull that the generally improved enthusiasm of both riders and management after a terrible mid-season will help us secure the team for another season.
Loaned Out Riders
Samuel Pökälä, Aker - MOT
Samuel had a month of restitution after riding the Tour last month, but will be back in Deutschland Tour shortly.
Paavo Paajanen, Swedbank – PEAB
Paavo had another month of hard work where he helped Skujins to a very nice 6th place in San Sebastian and Hermans to a less impressive 21st overall in Bayern.
Paavo's Results
Clasica San Sebastian
-
104th
+ 4'38
Bayern Rundfarht
GC
93rd
+ 10'58
Bayern Rundfarht
St. 1
69th
s.t.
Bayern Rundfarht
St. 2
85th
+ 4'43
Bayern Rundfarht
St. 3
112th
s.t.
Bayern Rundfarht
St. 4
80th
+ 2'47
Bayern Rundfarht
St. 5
104th
+ 3'47
Live Nation Rider of the Month
Taciak was close with his great result in Burgos, but consistency also counts and having finally found a way to combine that with aggressiv riding the award once again goes to
Chris Anker Sørensen
Song of the Month
Things really came together for us this month. The riders looked like a team and their attempts even bore fruit.
A race that needs a lot of attacking to bring succes for us started with just that.
Reis went away at the start of the first stage, but then regretted and dropped back to invisibility before anyone had time to get him on film.
As usual on TT's we have high hopes for Viktor. This time he rewards us with a podium spot.
Colex and Taciak both put in solid rides as well.
On stage 4 we were back to invisibility, but at least Renäng, Bernardo and Mateusz avoided losing time.
Stage 5 on the other hand was amazing as Sarabia went on the attack with about 20 km to go.
He kept attacking and fighting and was only passed right on the finish line. Still a second place is great and his ride even put him in the KOM lead.
Ignacio showed himself once gain on the final stage getting the advantage in positions to get another good stage result and defend the mountain jersey.
Here he is wearing the polkadots in second position:
As earlier announced we had come to an agreement with a Finnish company that were willing to fund our contingency of Finnish riders for next year. Since then we have talked details and have realized that they probably underestimated the funds needed to run a pro cycling team.
They are still very enthusiastic though and have already come aboard as a partner supplying us with some very nice team busses. We put a lot of our success lately down to the fact that the riders are now much more well-rested for the races than before when we travelled around in a worn-out tour-bus not living up to the standards expected by medieocre rock bands. That is very low standards by the way...
Anyway Kiitokori have given us two custom-made team busses and will remain associated with the team next year with their name on the jersey, though not as name sponsor as we had previously expected.
In the end teh company is still too small to lift that.
Recent successes have however made us come closer to an agreement with some bigger companies from the area, which will be revealed once our survival is secured in terms of licence.
Well I can reveal as much that Nokia will not be in the name of the team next year
I had to do a bit of research but found a few good companies to choose from. Nokia would be to obvious
Thanks, those particular words are fairly easy for someone fluent in other Nordic languages, even though I haven't got much of a connection to Finland really.
A hilly classic means very low expetations, but much higher hopes considering our upgoing form lately.
Sakari got us a spot in the break where he was one of the riders to hold on the chasing peloton the longest.
Another good show of spirit from him.
In the end it was Sarabia and Cioban who while anonymous got us a solir result considering the opposition here.
With the good showing in Canada combined with an on paper slightly weaker startlist we were optimistic.
In stead the boys decided to go back to the old ways and only get mentioned when talking about who drops.
And then of course we are yet again not represented when the break is allowed to go.
I guess hope and luck just isn't our kind of thing...
If anything positive is to be said about this race it is that Rasim fought his way to finish in spite of being dead last all on his own.
Samuel came back to racing in Deutschland Tour. Once again he showed that he is still far from WT-level.
The highlight for him to some extent begin finishing inside the best half on the final TT.
Samuels Results
Deutschland Tour
GC
126th
+ 53'25
Deutschland Tour
St. 1
164th
s.t.
Deutschland Tour
St. 2
18th
+ 1'19
Deutschland Tour
St. 3
100th
+ 8'49
Deutschland Tour
St. 4
94th
+ 5'24
Deutschland Tour
St. 5
92nd
+ 23'48
Deutschland Tour
St. 6
151st
+ 5'41
Deutschland Tour
St. 7
163rd
+ 6'34
Deutschland Tour
St. 8
90th
+ 2'37
Paavo Paajanen, Swedbank – PEAB
In Zagbreb-Ljubljana he finished in the same group as most of his teammates. Sadly that was too far behind for anu of them to help Skujins in the finale...
In Wanze-Arenberg he was tested on the cobbles. That will not be our main use of him next year...
Paavo's Results
Zagreb-Ljublana
-
59th
+ 1'46
Wanze-Arenburg
-
97th
+ 16'50
Live Nation Rider of the Month
Yes. Cauberg was disappointing but a solid ride in Montreal and an amazing result in Herald Sun Tour makes this decision clear as the sun.
Ignacio Sarabia
Song of the Month
Coming Up
We will finish the season with Clasica RCN and Tour of Utah. On both cases Chris Anker will be our leader, so we hope for some good results.
After that it's time for World Championship and National Championships.
For the Worlds we have the great plasure of being able to nominate riders for both the A and B race. Great considering that none of our riders were eligible for the main event last year.
Also Finland will get a team in the B-race composed solely of Live Nation riders - incl. Loaned-out ones - as Vastaranta's manager have gone a-wall leaving Jukka facing free agency once again.
I don't think anyone will have trouble guessing what our main transfer target this year is?
Must be pretty frustrating that Cioban hasn't performed once all season, really. Sarabia did have a good Herald Sun Tour, really close to the GC win as well.
Chris Anker could do very well in Utah/RCN, would be a good scenario for us to have someone like Chris Anker attack with Txurruka late on.
The Rider wrote:
Must be pretty frustrating that Cioban hasn't performed once all season, really. Sarabia did have a good Herald Sun Tour, really close to the GC win as well.
Chris Anker could do very well in Utah/RCN, would be a good scenario for us to have someone like Chris Anker attack with Txurruka late on.
Cioban really has been a huge disappointment. Montreal and two stage top 10's in Bretagne and Capo just isn't good enough from him. His lack of performance really is a huge reason why we are so far down in the rankings. He should have been a rider with some solid results from late attacks mainly, but in stead he has just been completely worthless.
Think Cioban would be a good #2 hills man in CT, but lacking the characteristics/quality to lead. Still surprising that he has not sprung one decent result though. I had your team pegged as an outside top 10 selection at the start of the season, as you have decent coverage on most terrains, so season has not been overly kind to you. Good luck in the chase for your main transfer target .
Scorchio wrote:
Think Cioban would be a good #2 hills man in CT, but lacking the characteristics/quality to lead. Still surprising that he has not sprung one decent result though.
I think you're right to some extent as he's shown a great ability to not be there in the finale so I think he should be even further down in the train generally. And shouldn't be paid much more than the minimum salary.
He was - as many other of my leaders - very much a plan B as well after all my main targets went overpriced.
I had your team pegged as an outside top 10 selection at the start of the season, as you have decent coverage on most terrains, so season has not been overly kind to you.
That's what I went for. Sadly my riders have been extremely passive thus not taking advantage of the underdog role. I think I have had a rider in a succesful break twice the entire season...
Good luck in the chase for your main transfer target .
Thanks. Fortunately his team will disband and the current season have proven that he ended up way overpriced and isn't strong enough to lead in PCT. Hopefully that'll bring him within my grasp
As the plan goes we will need to make room on the team for younger Finnish riders and while we were happy that Jussi came back from retirement to join us for this season it will also be his last on the bike - at least for us.
We will go into talks with him regarding a possible role for him on the team off the bike in the future be it as trainer, coach, scout or something completely different.
Inspired by a lot of other teams I have decided to go through our talents development over the last year as well as a few thoughts about the year to come for them.
We had a lot of talent to develop, so it was quite a puzzle and several could even have done with a few more races to get even further in their development.
In the tables you will see improved stats in bold.
First up is Samuel Pökälä, who have spent the year with Aker-Mot riding big races like Paris-Roubaix, Ronde van Vlaanderen and Tour de France.
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Co
Spr
Acc
Fig
DO
Pr
XP
Age
Pot
Pökälä
70
62
70
74
74
72
71
64
60
65
62
64
74
4
0
24
4
Pökälä
70
64
71
76
75
73
73
64
60
65
62
64
76
4
100
25
4
As a result of that he is now maxed out with experience and will be a key member of our squad next year, especially in TT's.
Next our other loaned out rider Paavo Paajanen, who rode for PCT outfit Swedbank-PEAB mainly in stage races, which helped develop him in most areas.
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Co
Spr
Acc
Fig
DO
Pr
XP
Age
Pot
Paajanen
68
66
71
64
67
65
62
64
67
66
63
63
63
3
0
25
5
Paajanen
69
69
74
65
68
66
64
64
67
68
64
64
64
4
5
26
5
One one hand Paavo is strong enough to be of good use for us, on the other hand a WT-loan would be the best for his development so right now both those are options for us.
Sakari Lehtinen rode a solid season as a helper with a 10th place on l'Avenirs trip to Ventoux as the clear highlight. He have learned a lot an developed accordingly despite not being the biggest talent around.
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Co
Spr
Acc
Fig
DO
Pr
XP
Age
Pot
Lehtinen
66
68
67
60
68
64
64
60
65
64
64
70
55
1
0
21
4
Lehtinen
66
71
69
63
70
66
67
60
65
64
64
70
58
3
8
22
4
We will have to do some calculations as to find out what is possible. Most likely we'll end up looking for a loan deal with a PCT team to have him develop properly.
Olli have had a season full of attacks, but few results.
For his training we have focused on classics for him as we have very few riders capable of anything in that area.
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Co
Spr
Acc
Fig
DO
Pr
XP
Age
Pot
Kulppi
69
59
65
60
68
66
65
70
62
68
62
69
60
2
44
23
4
Kulppi
70
59
66
60
69
67
66
72
62
68
63
69
60
3
10
24
4
As for Lehtinen it seems likely that Kulppi will need a loan to develop best possibly.
Our only Swedish talent had a solid season with planty of brekaways and our first stage top 10 of the season.
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Co
Spr
Acc
Fig
DO
Pr
XP
Age
Pot
Lindau
69
65
69
63
67
69
67
52
59
62
70
62
63
2
85
23
5
Lindau
70
67
70
65
69
70
69
52
59
62
70
62
65
3
35
24
5
Compared to the two Fins above Lindau is a bit further in his development so we hope we can find a way for him to get to the next level while staying with us.
Gökhan Hasta had a solid season with his youth jersey win in Burgos as the clear highlight. By now he is developing into a fairly strong climber.
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Co
Spr
Acc
Fig
DO
Pr
XP
Age
Pot
Hasta
63
71
66
66
65
69
71
50
50
57
62
61
66
3
69
24
6
Hasta
64
74
69
67
66
71
73
50
50
59
65
62
67
4
1
25
6
Regarding his future nothing is set in stone. He is strong enough to be of value to us as it is, but the right conditions could see him leave on both loan and transfer deals. Time will tell.
Serafin was a stagiaire with us this season, but that didn't stop him developing. Main focus was on his big deficit in hily terrain, which can be quite a big disadvantage for a climber.
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Co
Spr
Acc
Fig
DO
Pr
XP
Age
Pot
Blanco
65
70
54
60
63
62
69
50
51
57
58
67
60
3
85
22
5
Blanco
66
71
57
61
66
63
70
50
52
58
60
68
61
4
9
23
5
His future is all but certain. Anything from staying with us to free agency is on the table right now. Ideally we would help him find a new home on a team interested in Mexicans.
Rasim was one of the riders hit by miscalculations and too few race days overall for the team. Nevertheless he did take one step towards becoming the flat beast we know he can be.
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Co
Spr
Acc
Fig
DO
Pr
XP
Age
Pot
Reis
68
56
57
54
67
63
63
57
60
51
61
67
54
1
0
22
6
Reis
70
56
57
54
68
64
63
57
61
52
62
67
54
2
97
23
6
Rasim is another of our headaches. He has a great future so shipping him off to free agancy would feel wrong, but he also sits on one of the last spots on the team due to our wish of a slightly more focused team for next year.
Ideally he would find his way to a team interested in Turkey/the Middle East.
Like Rasim Essa fell short of the taking the big step but will be sure to get there next year while also getting close to yet another step up the year after that.
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Co
Spr
Acc
Fig
DO
Pr
XP
Age
Pot
Khalifa
66
62
67
63
66
67
65
56
58
59
64
63
63
1
0
21
5
Khalifa
67
62
68
63
67
67
65
57
58
59
65
63
63
2
95
22
5
As one of the biggest Arab talents around we hope that he will be able to find a home appreciating his background next year so he can become the rider he has the potential to be.
Most likely it won't be with us though.
And a quick view at the total stat gains:
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Co
Spr
Acc
Fig
DO
Pr
All
8
14
15
10
13
10
13
3
2
6
9
3
10
All in all we got a long way in our talent development even though some riders fell just short of what we had hoped. Next year we will be focusing on a smaller and more local talent base, but many things are still to be decided regarding possible loans and team composition.
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