The season previews are a traditional and greatly appreciated part of the pre-season. Once again, a few managers stepped forward to predict the CT rankings for 2014, each of them in a unique way. Let's see how the Maloja Mountain Nomads performed:

Maloja Mountain Nomads



Summary
Team name = Mountain Nomads, Team Specialty = Mountains. They litterally have two of the top 5 climbers in the whole CT division in Iglinski and Schwab. And then they have Diniz who is the third best climber on the team would be the best cimber on half of the Teams in the CT.

Best-case scenario
They kill everyone constantly in the mountains and pick up some breakaway wins which places them into the number one spot.

Worst-case scenario
They kill everyone constantly in the mountains which places them into the top 5. (Yeah that's the "worst case" scenario)

6. Maloja. Fantastic depth, Iglinski and Schwab should score well but much like ONCE in focus. Lot rests on Gajek as stage race sprinter.

— LaVieClaireMG (@LaVieClaireMG) April 5, 2014

8. Maloja



Maloja and Bonsucro are climbing outfits, I think they weigh in at the top end of those types of squads with bright managers who have the look of doing good planners.

The general consensus seems to be that we're an outside favorite for promotion, an evaluation we're very glad to hear. Only one prediction sees us narrowly missing out on our Top 10 ranking goal, which still has priority over any promotion thoughts. We agree that with hopefully consistent scoring of Schwab and Iglinski, the Top 10 should be well in reach, anything above stands or falls with the unpredictable performances of our second tier riders.

With low expectations but secret hopes of a surprising result, the Maloja Mountain Nomads entered the first race of the team's existence. With a deep squad, we travelled to the Carribean island of Cuba, knowing to have none of the top favorites but several outside shots, namely Markus Fahnert, Stefan Schafer and David Vitoria.


Despite not aiming high, the management couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, when the first splits occured and Fahnert and Schafer found themselves caught out behind. We feared a no-points start to the season, but David Vitoria, isolated in the front group, stepped up. While he could not keep up with the very front, he was quick in the sprint of the first bigger chasing group, finishing on a strong nineth place.

1	Phillip Gaimon	In-n-Out Racing p/b Auchan	5h18'19
2	Aleksandr Kolobnev	Grupo Nutresa	+ 34
3	Marcel Wyss	Team Vontobel	+ 41
4	Gracjan Lejman	FCB - Polska	+ 52
5	Vegard Robinson Bugge	Risa - Ergon	+ 58
...
9	David Vitoria	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 1'24
51	Markus Fahnert	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 5'42
65	Stefan Schafer	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 8'58
79	Manuel Fumic	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 10'23
80	Bereket Yemane	Maloja Mountain Nomads	s.t.
85	Adil Jelloul	Maloja Mountain Nomads	s.t.
102	Mathias Flückiger	Maloja Mountain Nomads	s.t.

1		Grupo Nutresa	51
2		In-n-Out Racing p/b Auchan	45
3		Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling	33
4		Team Vontobel	27
5		Risa - Ergon	21
6		Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling	16
7		Maloja Mountain Nomads	11
8		Team Nordeus	10
9		Team Ameriabank-Novatek	8
10		Bonsucro	6
11		Team Carlsberg - Danske Bank	6
12		Team Chiquita-Universal	1

The Maloja Mountain Nomads entered their first C1 race with mixed ambitions. Hubert Schwab was our undisputed leader and aimed for a Top 10 overall, a goal that he missed by 27 seconds and four places. However, beforehand, we agreed that everything within the Top 15 would still be a decent result, so it wasn't a disappointing performance, eventhough we hope for more in the future.


Our second aim was to prove our worth in this category by riding aggressively. We brought several riders capable of doing so and indeed, Jack Haig, Bereket Yemane and Viatcheslav Dyadichkin all made their appearance in the break of the day. Although none of these attempts made it to the line, we're happy with our television presence that contributed to a rather positive conclusion to our first stage race of the season.

1	Jocelin Maillet	La Vie Claire	31h16'11
2	David De la Fuente	Team CSC-Orbea	+ 52
3	Andrei Kashechkin	Repsol-Cativen	+ 1'15
4	Walter Pedraza	Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo	+ 2'04
5	Tyler Brandt	Heineken-Cal Giant	+ 2'35
...
14	Hubert Schwab	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 4'05
29	Alex Diniz	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 6'50
41	Bereket Yemane	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 7'55
43	Viatcheslav Dyadichkin	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 8'50
72	Mathias Flückiger	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 20'11
101	Jack Haig	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 43'53
121	Patrick Bercz	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 1h13'03

It has never been a secret that sprint classics wouldn't be our main source of points, but still, especially after the course of the race, the Great Ocean Road Race was rather disappointing for the Maloja Mountain Nomads. While Adil Jelloul saved at least one point for the rankings with a decent 29th place, Artur Gajek disappointed completely and finished 37th.


It was a hectic race with the breakaway riders eventually holding on to their lead by the closest possible margin. Sarawut Sirironnachai of Siam Cement scored a surprising win while Damion Drapac lead the pack over the line on a disappointing 8th. But the action had already started mid-race when splits occured under the heavy pressure of constant attacks and the relaying sprinter teams. Unfortunately, no Nomad could benefit from this situation.

1	Sarawut Sirironnachai	Siam Cement - Lenovo	4h26'53
2	Greg De Winde	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo	s.t.
3	Jean-Lou Paiani	In-n-Out Racing p/b Auchan	s.t.
4	Alexander Edmondson	Evonik - Signal Iduna	s.t.
5	Blaz Bogataj	Team Nordeus	s.t.
...
29	Adil Jelloul	Maloja Mountain Nomads	s.t.
37	Artur Gajek	Maloja Mountain Nomads	s.t.
80	Heinrich Berger	Maloja Mountain Nomads	s.t.
86	Ralf Matzka	Maloja Mountain Nomads	s.t.
87	Markus Fahnert	Maloja Mountain Nomads	s.t.
97	Stefan Schafer	Maloja Mountain Nomads	s.t.
127	Manuel Fumic	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 17'09

After a solid, but not overwhelming start to the season in the first races of the year, the Nomads enter February with hopes for better results. Two stage races should provide decent opportunity to shine and score some valuable points:

David Vitoria	Co-Leader
Markus Fahnert	Co-Leader
Adil Jelloul	Free Element
Artur Gajek	Sprinter
Ralf Matzka	Domestique
Aurélien Passeron	Domestique
Jack Haig	Domestique

The Benelux Challenge is a bit of a lottery race for us: We have neither a top cobbler, puncheur nor sprinter, but we have decent options for all of these terrains. Ralf Matzka is a good option for the cobbled stages, David Vitoria showed what he's capable of in San Cristobal and the hilly stages should suit his abilities. Fahnert, Jelloul and Passeron could all be able to do something as well, Haig showed up in numerous breaks already; only Artur Gajek needs to show that his performance in the Great Ocean Road Race was just a bad day. All in all, this could be a race full of pleasant surprise, as well as a race without any good result at all.

Happy:	A good overall finish or a Top 5 on a stage.
Disappointed:	A complete no-show.

Maxim Iglinski	Leader
Hubert Schwab	Free Element
Artur Gajek	Sprinter
Alex Diniz	Domestique
Markus Fahnert	Domestique
Aurelien Passeron	Domestique
Jack Haig	Domestique

In contrary to the Benelux Challenge, we come to the Middle East with very clear ambitions: Having our Top 3 climbers here, we expect nothing less than the overall victory. Maxim Iglinski is one of the better time trialists among the top climbers which should come in handy for the long time trial. Also, Hubert Schwab is probably the best climbing domestique of the division, and as a duo, we hope they can live up to the expectation. Furthermore, Artur Gajek will get another chance in what we hope won't be the strongest sprinting field.

Happy:	Overall win by Iglinski, Top 5-10 by Schwab, stage win
Disappointed:	No Top 3 overall, no stage win

Luis Leon Sanchez wrote:
He has no chance Cio. Looking forward to Middle East because I think all top CT climbers are going there.

Having started the season strongly with an excellent 9th place of David Vitoria in Cuba, the Maloja Mountain Nomads haven't been able to build on that eversince. Expectations were rather low for the team around Vitoria and Markus Fahnert in the Benelux countries, but Jelloul's 17th overall and his 8th place on stage 3 as the best daily result weren't enough to match them.


Now you can't say that our boys didn't try. Aurélien Passeron found himself in the BotD once, and especially Jelloul and Fahnert showed courage with a few late attacks here and there. But both didn't have the power to finish them and missed the decisive moves. Not to mention the disappointing performances of Ralf Matzka, who fell back early on both cobbled stages. Artur Gajek showed his potential when he sprinted for second place on the last stage - though only in the peloton, resulting in a 10th on that day.

All in all, we have to realize that these kinds of races just aren't ours, and that great results will keep on being the exception, which also reflects on the provisional Continental Tour rankings (see below). Therefore, we're looking all the more forward to the Tour of the Middle East, where Maxim Iglinski will give his season debut.

1	Marcel Wyss	Team Vontobel	26h15'01
2	Cedric Lebris	Team TomTom	+ 32
3	Robert Sweeting	In-n-Out Racing p/b Auchan	+ 1'28
4	Hayden Roulston	Fletcher - Garneau	s.t.
5	Bjorn Selander	Team Chiquita - Universal	+ 1'42
...
17	Adil Jelloul	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 4'38
24	Markus Fahnert	Maloja Mountain Nomads	s.t.
41	David Vitoria	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 8'25
67	Aurélien Passeron	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 11'38
114	Jack Haig	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 21'14
130	Artur Gajek	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 27'12
138	Ralf Matzka	Maloja Mountain Nomads	+ 29'44

After the Benelux Challenge, and official intermediate state of the continental rankings has been published. The result isn't too flattering for the Maloja Mountain Nomads:

Pos	Jersey	Team	Total	RD	PpRD
1		In-n-Out Racing p/b Auchan	316	15	21.067
2		Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling	245	17	14.412
3		Team Vontobel	230	15	15.333
4		Fletcher-Garneau	210	15	14.000
5		Team TomTom	144	15	9.600
6		Team ASDA-Savers	138	13	10.615
7		Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling	136	17	8.000
8		Evonik - Signal Iduna	119	15	7.933
9		Team Nordeus	115	10	11.500
10		Grupo Nutresa	113	20	5.650
11		Team Ameriabank-Novatek	105	17	6.176
12		Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team	103	10	10.300
13		Azteca-NBCSN	82	15	5.467
14		Siam Cement - Lenovo	74	10	7.400
15		Risa - Ergon	70	21	3.333
16		Wounded Warrior	64	20	3.200
17		Team Chiquita-Universal	62	10	6.200
18		Team Live Nation	47	15	3.133
19		Maloja Mountain Nomads	41	20	2.050
20		Bonsucro	36	7	5.143
21		Sauber Petronas	25	15	1.667
22		Team Carlsberg - Danske Bank	24	10	2.400
23		Dell - 361° Racing	20	12	1.667
24		Alpina - Avianca	14	19	0.737
25		ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team	4	20	0.200
26		Euskaltel - Bavaria	0	0	0

Ranking 19th, the team is well off its Top 10 goal. Now of course, it's early in the season and our races are still to come, but lots of teams that we'd planned to see behind us have scored big time, and we certainly had hoped for more in Tachira and Benelux. Still, we're far from panicking and let's look at it this way: The only way from here is up.

Hopefully.