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One in a Billion | Rise to the Summit
AbhishekLFC
That's the aim, although no more improvements in stats will happen!
 
AbhishekLFC
2022 Season Recap

A historic year! I became a Grand Tour champion for the first time. Italy seems to be a happy hunting ground, this win following up my first ever Monument win at Il Lombardia in 2018.

I ended up with less points and a lower ranking than last year. The year petered out after the Giro with just a small uptick at the National Championships. Champion at the first attempt! Seems ironic I won the GT after changing nationalities.

Another off-season accolade was that for the first time, I was nominated for the Velo d'Or award, awarding the best cyclist of the year. I received top 5 votes from 13 of the 15 journalists in attendance. I didn't get into the top 3 however.

Statistics
World Tour Rankings CQ Rankings
Me 12th - 330 points 10th - 1839 points
Duvel 5th - 916 points 3rd - 7621 points


Wins
Giro d'Italia GC and Two Stages
National Championship Road Race

 
Croatia14
This season had less results depth, but instead an incredible peak with the Giro GC. All eyes on Le Tour now?
pcmdaily.com/files/Awards2019/moty.png
 
AbhishekLFC
Yeah sure thing
 
AbhishekLFC
2023

I'm into the final year of my contract, signed at the time with Duvel, and now seeing it out with Bonsucro. Yes, we've changed colours this year, the first time that has happened to a team while I'm under contract. this should be interesting!

When I arrived back, there were a lot of new faces in the team's training camp. I guess this is the right team to introduce them.

Team Presentation

i.imgur.com/oFsqFHo.png


As you can see, there have been wholesale changes in the lineup. Formolo is the big acquisition with Dumoulin having moved on. Barguil remains and I was somewhat relieved to know that he wouldn't a part of the clear-out. We have a good rapport when riding together. Another big name signing is Ania, who will lead our Ardennes campaign, among other hilly races.

Rider Presentation

i.imgur.com/RhcZq74.png


Like I mentioned before, no more improvements to come for me. Just some of the figures have changed. These are my weapons till age catches up with me.
 
AbhishekLFC
Upon New Shores

A new year begins with a lot of new faces to get to know. The changes were not just in terms of the riders, but many of the support staff had changed as well. The off-season was a great big getting to know exercise, similar to the ones I've faced when I changed teams in the past.

The biggest change was the change in locale. The switch to Bonsucro meant that the team shifted its base to England. The training rides and camps were now held in unfamiliar territories, with the profiles of the roads in the UK differing from those back in Europe. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it took getting used to. I didn't shift base out of Amsterdam, and preferred to fly-in and out when required. Some things are best with (second) home comforts.

I charted out a different approach to the 2023 season than what I've done previously. I chose to start my season much later, in March, not riding the early season races which I've grown fond of. This was a conscious decision to shorten the duration of my 'active' season and remain fresh for September and October, something which wasn't the case last year.

Coming to the GTs, I'm back to riding in the Tour and the Vuelta this year. The Giro and Tour double proved too much to cope. Also, having won the Giro last year, there was more motivation to have a go at the other GTs. I also ride the entirety of the Ardennes week this time, something I had kept myself away from all these years. My skill-set should prove to be useful in those races. I'm excited about the prospect. I ride only three non-GT stage races all year, starting with Tirreno-Adriatico, which is also my season opener. The NCs and the WCs feature heavily while I end the season with Il Lombardia, as has become customary.

The full calender is available below.

Race Month Type
Tirreno - Adriatico March Stage Race
Vuelta al Pais Vasco April Stage Race
Amstel Gold Race April Classic
La Fleche Wallone April Classic
Liege - Bastogne - Liege April Monument
Criterium Dauphine June Stage Race
National Championship - Individual Time Trial June
National Championship - Road Race June
Tour de France July Grand Tour
Vuelta a Espana August - September Grand Tour
Tre Valli Varesine October Classic
Il Lombardia October Monument

 
jandal7
Like the calendar for the most part, looking slim but could be a good thing. Not sure how the TDF-Vuelta gap will do for your race fitness but surely a break won't do much harm Pfft Also not sure about the lack of more Italian classics as Lombardia build-up but again the break after the TDF-Vuelta double will get his tiredness down I guess.

Couple of other things I could see panning out better with a slightly fuller calendar but we'll have to wait and see, the focus on the big races could prove very fruitful, who knows? Best of luck Grin
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."

[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] i.imgur.com/c85NSl6.png Xero Racing

i.imgur.com/PdCbs9I.png
i.imgur.com/RPIlJYr.png
5x i.imgur.com/wM6Wok5.png x5
i.imgur.com/olRsxdu.png
2x pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2021/funniest21.png x2
2x i.imgur.com/TUidkLG.png x2
 
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AbhishekLFC
jandal7 wrote:
Like the calendar for the most part, looking slim but could be a good thing. Not sure how the TDF-Vuelta gap will do for your race fitness but surely a break won't do much harm Pfft Also not sure about the lack of more Italian classics as Lombardia build-up but again the break after the TDF-Vuelta double will get his tiredness down I guess.

Couple of other things I could see panning out better with a slightly fuller calendar but we'll have to wait and see, the focus on the big races could prove very fruitful, who knows? Best of luck Grin

Interestingly, I have 5 more RDs in my calendar than last season! I agree that the break before the Vuelta is not ideal but I didn't want to increase the RDs any more. I'll have the World Championships as preparation before Il Lombardia, so that shouldn't be too bad a preparation.

Thanks Smile
 
AbhishekLFC
March

After an extended early season, I finally get back onto my bike for a race in March. Tirreno-Adriatico is my chosen race to start the season. The team have decently well in the first couple of months.

Tirreno-Adriatico

The management sent an incredibly strong team to this race. This meant that the startlist in the clashing Paris - Nice was quite weak. I was co-leader with Formolo also on the startlist. Barguil, Ania and van Garderen were also starting, among others.

Stage 1

i.imgur.com/BJtRFNs.png


The first stage as a Bonsucro rider went like a dream! We finished 1st in the TTT. I was the first over the line and will start tomorrow's stage with the leader's jersey. What a way to start the new season!

Stage 2

i.imgur.com/BvYQ2fV.png


i.imgur.com/EziRvrD.png

(In the leader's jersey)

Me and Ania were among the favourites for the stage. The three man early break increased in size to six rides on the first climb. Two were caught on the descent. We set the pace for most of the stage. The peloton was down to fifty riders on top of the second climb. The break were still just over a minute ahead. I went away from the pack with Lopez, 3 km from the top of the final climb. We were caught 1 km from the top of he climb. I attacked again at the top of the climb. Again, it Lopez on my wheel. With 10 km to go, we had a 30 second lead with the break a further 90 seconds in front. The gap to the break was down to a minute with 5 km left. We were caught by a group of six to make it eight riders chasing the break. That's how it finished with ... winning from the break winning the stage. I finished 8th. I lost my lead and now trailed ... by 7 seconds in the GC.

Stage 3 was a mostly flat one. I had a scary moment when both Barguil and I fell, among others after the first climb. We recovered and did not suffer any lasting damages. The break was caught 2 km from the line and the sprinters won the day.

Stage 4

i.imgur.com/JgJSeX1.png


We chased the early break of 11 riders for a while but then gave up. They were kept on a tight leash, never extending the gap beyond three minutes. Sagan and Barguil were dropped from the group among the GC toppers. Gallopin, Lopez, Dayer Quintana and Kwiatkowski attcked on the fourth climb. With 8 km to go, Lopez and Gallopin led with Dayer chasing them. The break was already caught and dropped. I was in the fourth group on the road with Ania. It ended in this order, as I took 5th. Ania got 7th. I dropped to 4th in the GC.

Another flat route on Stage 5 saw a four man break not get caught and take the win.

Stage 6

i.imgur.com/6GJm8PI.png


Formolo was top favourite for this stage. Me and Barguil were also favoured for a high finish. Ulissi was in the thirteen man break. Power was the first big name attacker, on the fifth climb. Formolo chased. He had a 30 second lead on top of the climb. He was finally caught on the descent. Ulissi was caught from the break at the base of the 6th climb. The peloton was down to 50 riders. I went away from the pack on that climb. At the top, I was in E3, behind two of the early break and 30 seconds ahead of a five man group, including Barguil. I was caught by Yates and Lopez. Lopez attacked with 20 km to go. Then Yates attacked 6 km later. I was caught by the peloton, who then caught Yates and a recently attacking Oomen. Lopez and a rider from the early break were out in front with a 1'45" lead. I dropped Yates with 8 km to go and caught Lopez with 4.5 km to go. At the time, the lead group consisted of Lopez, Ravasi, Courteille (from the early break) and myself. I didn't have any energy left to sprint and finished 3rd on the stage. I moved up to 2nd in the GC behind Lopez.

Stage 7

i.imgur.com/LH26mF7.png


The early break consisted of nine riders. Four of my teammates fell in a 20 man crash but thankfully they all recovered. There was pack split on the third climb. Jungels, Pinot, Barguil and Formolo were on the wrong side of the split. The peloton had just twenty riders after the last climb. It was down to 15 with 6 km left. I finished in amongst the sprinters, on Lopez's shoulder. There dropped riders lost huge amounts of time!

General Classification

1Miguel Angel LopezSwissair24h30'56
2Abhishek SinhaBonsucro+ 1'52
3Tony GallopinGazprom+ 5'20
4Dayer QuintanaBasler Zeitung+ 7'39
5Michał KwiatkowskiGazprom+ 8'55
6Maxime Le LavandierTeam Europcar+ 10'15
7Edward RavasiOrange+ 10'16
8Simon YatesSwissair+ 11'01
9Robert PowerFly Emirates+ 11'27
10Sam OomenSwissair+ 12'28

Spoiler


Points Classification

1Miguel Angel LopezSwissair33
2Wout van AertMTN-Qhubeka28
3Peter SaganSwissair21
4Tony GallopinGazprom20
5Abhishek SinhaBonsucro17


Mountain Classification

1Arnaud CourteilleOrange33
2Miguel Angel LopezSwissair30
3Donato De IesoAndroni Giocattoli - Sidermec30
4Nelso PoliniGerolsteiner27
5Loïc VliegenDe Koninck21


Team Classification

1Swissair72h55'21
2Bonsucro+ 10'10
3Gazprom+ 10'55
4Fly Emirates+ 20'07
5Orange+ 27'36

 
AbhishekLFC
Thank You for the Votes
One in a Billion | Rise to the Summit has been voted jointly as the best 'One Rider Story' for 2017 in the PCM.Daily awards concluded yesterday. I would like to take time out to say Thank You to everyone who voted, and more so to everyone who comment and/or follow this story. It is from the encouragement received from you guys that I've got the motivation to keep this going. Always feels good to be recognized for the efforts put into writing this story.

Would also like to congratulate my fellow winner zuff for his 'Be a Pro in the 80s' story. Well deserved mate Smile

Edited by AbhishekLFC on 11-01-2018 05:52
 
Aquarius97
Really deserved award! Congrats! Grin

And great start of the season in Tirreno, being the first leader and finishing 2nd in GC. Hopefully the "at-first-glance" easier calendar helps you to be in great condition for both Tour and Vuelta Smile
Manager of [MG] Repsol - Netflix


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AbhishekLFC
Thank you Aquarius Smile

As for the racing, was a good start for sure. A little disappointed that I couldn't use the advantage gained in the TTT to win the race. But it's only the first race of the season...
 
Kiserlovski01
Congratulations on a truly deserved award Abhishek, you've definitely grown a lot as a story writer. Also, a very good result for the first of the year. Smile
i.imgur.com/whwk8g9.png


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AbhishekLFC
Thanks Kiser Smile

First race went well. Hoping this is a sign for the rest of the season!
 
AbhishekLFC
April

Onto April then. Some riders were already making their preparations for the Giro. I wasn't one of them, so I decided to tackle the hills instead in preparation for Ardennes week.

Vuelta al Pais Vasco

I was the sole leader for the team here with Formolo going to Romandie as his final preparation for the Giro.

Stage 1

i.imgur.com/Apr0zFl.png

The six man early break was down to four on the first climb. Their lead was kept in check throughout. Another rider was caught on the second climb. Their lead was down to two minutes on the fifth climb. Aru and Oomen attacked at the base of the last climb. Oomen was caught with 5 km to go. The rbeak was then caught with 3 km left, having already been left behind by Aru. The latter's lead was 30 seconds. Duteill and I quickly got onto his wheel. We finished together, and I settled for 3rd here and in the GC.

Stage 2

i.imgur.com/RJxNwKR.png

The break was halved on the second climb as two riders were caught. The pack split in half on the climb. The break was eventually caught on the fifth climb. The peloton was down to fifty riders. Simon Yates and Duteil attacked with 10 km to go. They were followed by Kelderman and Aru, and then by me and Meintjes. I attacked again 2 km from the top. I caught and passed Kelderman and Aru. I finished a minute down to the lead duo, finishing 3rd again but lost a GC position to Yates.

Stage 3

i.imgur.com/vLjP4lL.png

Four riders attacked out of the pack just after the last intermediate climb, in chase of the early break of four riders. Three of them were caught very soon and all but one rider from the break and the later attackers were caught at the base of the last climb. I attacked 1 km fromt he top of the climb. Only Simon Yates followed. With 10 km to go, we had caught up to the break and Meintjes had caught up to us on the descent. Aru and Duteil were chasing 30 seconds back. All of us were together with 5 km to go. I attacked again, getting a 20 second lead to the chasers. With 2 km to go, and only Duteil having made the gap, I accelerated again and managed to drop Duteil. I rode solo to the line to take my first solo win of the season. No time gaps were awarded, where perhaps there should've been!

i.imgur.com/gD6zigS.png


i.imgur.com/q4QstAn.png


Stage 4

i.imgur.com/1ygi4QD.png

Hermanski joined the break for us. On the fifth climb, a group of nine riders, including my GC rivals went away. I missed the move and had to chase. All but two of the break were at this point. Kelderman was dropped and was the big loser of the day. I made my way back to my rivals before the sixth climb. The remaining break was caught with 13 km to go. Four riders attacked after the intermediate sprint. I didn't have the energy to catch them again and finished 6th eventually. I slipped to 5th in the GC.

Stage 5

Hermanski joined the break again. I attacked on top of the last climb. Duteil managed to stay with me and then we were caught by Simon Yates on the desecnt. The peloton eventually reeled us in. The break had a minute's lead at 10 km to go, but were caught just 4 km later. Ania finished 9th in the reduced bunch sprint for us.

Stage 6

i.imgur.com/nno0JR4.png

I was one of the favourites for the win in the ITT, as was Van Garderen. At the first time check, I was 23 seconds up on the previous best time, that of former teammate Dumoulin. I finished 14 seconds faster than my compatriot. No rider starting after me could go faster and I won another stage! I couldn't improve my GC position though.

i.imgur.com/zypRHd8.png


General Classification

1Fabio AruGazprom21h29'24
2Simon YatesSwissair+ 17
3Arnaud DuteilContinental+ 26
4Louis MeintjesFly Emirates+ 1'34
5Abhishek SinhaBonsucro+ 1'53
6Adam YatesSwissair+ 6'16
7Michał KwiatkowskiGazprom+ 6'48
8Sam OomenSwissair+ 10'07
9Andrew TalanskySwissair+ 11'06
10Bob JungelsFly Emirates+ 12'22

Spoiler


Points Classification

1Fabio AruGazprom84
2Arnaud DuteilContinental84
3Louis MeintjesFly Emirates83
4Abhishek SinhaBonsucro82
5Simon YatesSwissair74


Mountain Classification

1Milton WallopMTN-Qhubeka65
2Pello BilbaoSkydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club52
3Ander ArranzIberdrola28
4Samuel SpokesOrica-GreenEDGE24
5Alberto GallegoSkydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club23


Team Classification

1Gazprom64h41'16
2Swissair+ 32
3Fly Emirates+ 10'16
4MTN-Qhubeka+ 47'09
5Bonsucro+ 49'49

 
Ripley
Impressive stage wins, well done. Good luck for your first full Ardennes week, go exhaust yourself, you'll have a nice long break afterwards.
 
jandal7
No time gaps were awarded, where perhaps there should've been!

grrr

Great start with second in Tirreno and the stage win in Pais Vasco, now go knock 'em dead in the Ardennes! Well done on the award win, very much deserved!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."

[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] i.imgur.com/c85NSl6.png Xero Racing

i.imgur.com/PdCbs9I.png
i.imgur.com/RPIlJYr.png
5x i.imgur.com/wM6Wok5.png x5
i.imgur.com/olRsxdu.png
2x pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2021/funniest21.png x2
2x i.imgur.com/TUidkLG.png x2
 
AbhishekLFC
@Ripley: I've started loving winning ITTs Grin Not that the other one was any less special! Ardennes, here I come.

@Jandal: These officials need to loosen up a bit Wink
Thanks Smile
 
AbhishekLFC
Ardennes Week

A new experience. Even after nine years in the cycling circuit, new things happen. I'll be riding the whole Ardennes week for the first time in my career. I didn't ride any of these races for the past two years but am back this time. Why? Well, I think my skill-set now allows me to get the best out of these races. The preparation has almost been like preparing for three GTs in the year - peaking in April, then again in July, and finally in August/September. Let's see how well I do...

Amstel Gold Race

First up, it was my 'home' race, so to say. I was assigned a free role as Ania was our leader. He was recruited for these kinds of races specifically, so this was not a surprise. Ania was also the top favourite for the race! I was also listed as one of the favourites.

i.imgur.com/Skn3omx.png


Four riders were the early break. There was a pack split with 125 km to go with me in the front group of forty riders. Everyone was back together with 105 km to go. Duteil was the first of the big names wot attack with 30 km to go. He caught up to the break but they were all reeled in with 23 km to go. Two more riders attacked with 20 km to go. They were not successful. I started to struggle to keep up soon. With 10 km left, I was dropped from the pack of the favourites. There was no chance that I was getting back now. Not good enough preparations perhaps?!

I rolled past the line in 17th place, not very happy with this outing, especially after the good preparation in Pais Vasco.

1Julian AlaphilippeGazprom6h14'55
2Mathieu van der PoelSwissair+ 15
3Simon YatesSwissairs.t.
4Fabio AruGazprom+ 21
5Sam OomenSwissair+ 27
6Wilco KeldermanGazproms.t.
7Michał KwiatkowskiGazprom+ 35
8Tom DumoulinGazprom+ 55
9Jay McCarthyFly Emirates+ 1'28
10Odd Christian EikingFly Emiratess.t.

Spoiler

 
jandal7
Three teams in the top 10 and 5x one of the most suspicious high level teams. Seems like you were facing a group on another level, if you catch my drift Wink Not Yatesy though Pfft

Tough first Ardennes race for you, but certainly the quality is there for the more suited FW and LBL. Channel your inner Valverde!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."

[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] i.imgur.com/c85NSl6.png Xero Racing

i.imgur.com/PdCbs9I.png
i.imgur.com/RPIlJYr.png
5x i.imgur.com/wM6Wok5.png x5
i.imgur.com/olRsxdu.png
2x pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2021/funniest21.png x2
2x i.imgur.com/TUidkLG.png x2
 
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