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Bianchi Factory Team
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 07-05-2014 00:08
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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Totally bad news about Rapha withdrawing there sponsorship  |
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 07-05-2014 00:20
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
Joined: 28-05-2009
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Season Review - WorldTour
And so the season has come to a close. It was an eventful season for all involved!
The season opened with Alexandr Kolobnev won the first WorldTour race of the season in Australia, whilst Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali showed their early season form at Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.
Fabian Cancellara gave a warning to his Cobbled rivals by winning Milan-San Remo and E3-Harelbeke comfortably, but was given a reminder of his competition when Tom Boonen won Gent-Wevelgem and walked away with the Ronde van Vlaanderen title! Amongst all the Cobbled action, Ryder Hesjedal showed some form before the Ardennes Races and Giro d'Italia by winning in the Volta a Catalunya.
April began with Alejandro Valverde proving he was the King of the Basque Country, whilst Tom Boonen confirmed that he was the King of the Cobbles with dominating victory in Paris-Roubaix. Philippe Gilbert and Peter Sagan took to battle in the Ardennes Classics, where Igor Anton pulled off a shock to win La Fleche Wallonne.
In the build up to the Giro, Vincenzo Nibali won the Tour de Romandie, but it would be Chris Froome who would became the first British winner of the Maglia Rosa. Froome would carry his form from the Giro into the Criterium du Dauphine, as Valverde finalised his Tour de France preparation by winning the Tour de Suisse.
All eyes were on Le Tour in July, as Alberto Contador was victorious once again in the Grand Boucle, whilst Joaquim Rodriguez (KAT) finished the month strongly by taking the win in San Sebastian.
August brought about victories in Poland for Andrey Amador, Cancellara at the Eneco Tour and a big win for Ramon Sinkeldam at the Vattenfall Cyclassics. However, the big news came from Spain, as Roman Kreuziger won his Grand Tour at the Vuelta a Espana, making history by being the first every Czech rider to win a Grand Tour in the process.
Nacer Bouhanni scored a big win at GP Ouest France-Plouay, before Gilbert signed off his year in the Rainbow Stripes with a win at GP de Quebec. Juan Antonio Flecha would rolled back the years in GP de Montreal to take a win that almost seal Vacansoleil's survival in the WorldTour for next season.
It was the 'Martin' show in the World Championship in Tuscany, as Tony Martin won the ITT and Dan Martin emulated his uncle, Stephen Roche, to win the Men's Road Race Title for Ireland.
The season ended with Chris Froome dominating in Il Lombardia to take the win, and Peter Sagan looking untouchable in Beijing to seal the overall victory in the last WT race of the season.
After a season like that, fans are already counting down to the 2014 Season curtain riser in Australia.
 Season Review - Rapha-Bianchi Racing Team
The first season in the Cycling Peleton was not exactly the smoothest for the team, but my god, it was an exciting one! The team took 20 victories (10 stage win // 10 Classification wins) over the course of the season, with a further 31 podium placings (22 stage podiums // 9 Classification podiums).
Without any real big Leader in the Continental standings, Rapha-Bianchi Racing Team ended the season in 3rd Place in the Overall Standings, showing what a fantantic team effort it really was.
Sadly however, without an Wildcard entries to the WorldTour events, we unable to gain promotion to the WorldTour this time.
The team, currently without a Sponsor or a Name for the 2014 season, have grown in both size and stature, and Promotion will be the main target for next season. Entries to all WorldTour races will be applied for, with the hope that we now have a team that can challenge the Big Teams in the peleton.
Season Review - Rapha-Bianchi Ins/Outs
| ....... | Riders In | Riders Out | | | Marco Canola | Jonathan Bellis | | Eros Capecchi | Dan Fleeman | |  Esteban Chaves |  Trent Lowe | | Sonny Colbrelli |  Rene Mandri | | Marco Frapporti | Tom Southam | |  Matej Mohoric | | Moreno Moser | |  Nelson Oliveira | | Luke Rowe | | |  Tobais Ludvigsson | |
Season Review - Promotions/Relegations
WorldTour | ....... | Promoted | Relegated | | Bardiani Valvole-CSF |  Euskatel-Euskadi | |  Team Europcar | Orica-GreenEdge | | |  Vacansoleil-DCM ProCycling |
ProContinental | ....... | Promoted | Relegated | | Bretange Seche |  CCC-Polsat | | Jamis-Hagen Berman |  Champion Systems | | La Pomme Marseille |  MTN-Qhubeka | |  Team Gourmetfein |  RusVelo | |  Team Nippo-De Rosa |  Team Novo-Nordisk | | | UnitedHealthCare ProCycling |
As with every season, the Top Cycling Journalists have their chance to vote for the prestigious Velo d'Or award for the Best Rider of the Season.
The 2013 Nominations
 Philippe Gilbert, Alberto Contador, Chris Froome, Simon Gerrans, Vincenzo Nibali, Tom Boonen,  Roman Kreuziger,  Fabian Cancellara, Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Qunitana.
The 2013 Velo d'Or Winner
Spoiler 1.  Chris Froome // 2. Tom Boonen // 3. Alberto Contador
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 07-05-2014 00:25
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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Lets hope the new in-coming riders can continue the winning trend in the next season  |
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 07-05-2014 00:37
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
Joined: 28-05-2009
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@mvh: Villella finishing 5th in Piemonte was the highlight of the final month Yeah... Froome winning Lombardia made me like that as well.
@sutty: I am happy with the new bunch of riders 
@sutty & mvh: Rapha pulling out has been on the cards since April really... I will explain all about it below
*****
I feel now that the season is over, that I shall explain the reason for the 'sudden withdrawl' of Rapha as a sponsor in my story. From literally day one, when my story about a Mystery British team was announced, I knew I made the wrong choice. It was a lot like so many things I have done in the past, and I don't think the story took off like I wanted it to. Some peoples reactions to 'another British team' showed that.
I wanted to think of a good way of getting rid of Rapha, so I came up with a number of story lines (fighting at races/discipline hearings, failed non-Italian goals, suspicious results from other teams/UCI investigations) but none of them really seemed to fit with where I wanted the story to go. The team was performing above all expectations, and an upset sponsor just didn't work. I did not want to follow a 'doping scandal' storyline, as I see that coming into a lot of stories, and it seemed a bit of cop-out to what I had built the story up to.
In the end, I just got myself to the end of the season, and had them walk away to concentrate on other projects (like they have considered in real life with RaphaCondor last season). Some of the reports towards the end of the season were a little rushed and sloppy and I can only apologise for that. I really hope that this has not taken anything away from people's enjoyment when reading my story.
I had thought of taking a break from this, but after my nomination for SotM I am going to be continue, with a new sponsor (all will be revealed later this week), and I am going to be bring a bit of follower interaction into my story, so watch out for that!
I hope this explains it all
Phil
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 07-05-2014 00:49
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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Don't take a break, i really enjoy reading this and the twists and turns are a nice part of it too  |
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 07-05-2014 00:53
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
Joined: 28-05-2009
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@sutty: Don't worry - This is not the end! I want this to be better my best story yet! Better than my Cavendish story  Sponsor rumours and build up to the new season will continue this week
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 07-05-2014 01:15
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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Thats nice to hear |
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| mvhoogdalem |
Posted on 07-05-2014 08:34
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2244
Joined: 30-06-2010
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Rapha pulling out because of other projects was maybe the best way to do it. The results were too good for them to pull out otherwise.
Glad to see this continue, the reports are always nice to read and I loved the Rapha story lines, so looking forward to see new story lines next season. |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 07-05-2014 08:57
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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A new sponsor. Curious to see who will pick up the slab and especially if we'll see an increase in budget! |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 14:40
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Bot Agent
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| VoetsT |
Posted on 07-05-2014 09:35
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 851
Joined: 29-06-2013
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Nice summary of the season, the team for next season is definitely strong so that's really promising.
Curious to see who the new sponsor will be
Again, congratulations for your fantasic story and good luck next season
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 07-05-2014 09:44
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Team Leader
Posts: 6690
Joined: 11-10-2010
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Will be hard to make a better story than Breaking the Curse, really. But good luck, this is on a good way, already!
Curious to see the jersey and the new sponsor of the team.
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 07-05-2014 12:46
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
Joined: 28-05-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Wow, it is comments like those that really keep you motivated to carry on! Thanks to everyone
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 08-05-2014 00:27
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
Joined: 28-05-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Bianchi Headquarters, Milan, Italy
28th October 2013
The Search for New Sponsor Begins
After a short end of season break, Phil Hoyle was back at Bianchi HQ as the search began for the New Sponsor for the 2014 season.
Currently operating under the name 'Squadra Bianca' (Blank Team in reference to Team Blanco in 2012), Hoyle is keen to organise a new backer before the start of the season, with rumours already flying around of to whom is going to be replacing the now departed Rapha.
Names from Rai Sport to VirginMedia, as well Samsung and even the Discovery Channel, have all been mentioned by different sources close to the Team's manager, with Phil unable to confirm any details at this moment.
'Talks are in the early stages, and are still ongoing. There are a number of different offers on the table, and it is a case of trying to find the best one that will better the team going forward.'
One thing Hoyle could confirm is that the proposed sponsorship deal with Selev for next season will no longer be going ahead. The Italian company had provisionally signed a deal to provide the Team's Helmets for 2014 and 2015, but believe to have backed out of the deal following the withdrawl of Rapha. A replacement will be announced soon.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 08-05-2014 00:58
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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Don't go with the Discovery Channel, we all know where that will end |
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 08-05-2014 18:06
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
Joined: 28-05-2009
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@sutty: It is all rumours so far
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 08-05-2014 18:08
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Team Leader
Posts: 6690
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To be honest, I'd really love to see Discovery Channel as the sponsor of this team. Your decision at the end, but good luck in searching your new sponsor. It can definitely make a big difference later in the season (harder/easier goals, more/less budget and stuff like that), so good luck!
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 08-05-2014 18:24
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
Joined: 28-05-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Earlier in the season, before the start of the National Championships, a Question & Answer session was held with Rapha-Bianchi Racing Team manager Phil Hoyle.
With the season over, and in preparation for 2014, the feature is going to make a return, so here is your chance to pose a question to Phil.
Do you want to know what is next for the team, what were Phil's view on the Rapha situation or what are the targets for 2014 season? These questions, plus many more, will be answered.
Deadline for questions is Sunday 22:00GMT, and need to be submitted by PM.
Edited by the_hoyle on 09-05-2014 21:50
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| baia |
Posted on 08-05-2014 18:24
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Slopy or not, i liked to read it and to see a new twist in the story, just wish it will not be DC as a sponsor.. only because i don´t feel its so related to the team.. i´m sure you will find the best way for Bianchi team.. Great season review... really like the new signings.. the team will be for sure on top..
Edited by baia on 08-05-2014 18:25
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 08-05-2014 18:30
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
Joined: 28-05-2009
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@admir: Well a few jersey designs are in production, so all will be revealed soon
@baia: glad you like it. I just felt like the end was rushed and could have been better, but everyone seems happy. Looking forward to 2014
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 08-05-2014 21:04
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
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Bianchi Headquarters, Milan, UK
5th November 2013
*** BREAKING NEWS ***
Hoyle strikes deal with Kask
La Squadra Bianca team manager Phil Hoyle today announced a deal with Kask, who become the Team's helmet provider for the 2014 season.
Coming just a week after Selev pulled out of a deal with Hoyle, the ambitious British manager was quick to replace them with the Italian Helmet brand.
Hoyle was also proud to announce an agreement with UK Cancer Charity, Prostate Cancer UK. The Charity's logo will appear on the back of the new jerseys for next season, and help raise the awareness of Men's Health on a Global scale.
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