Date: 21st June 2010
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Subject: Route du Sud
Hope everything's going well with the board Allan! Things not going as well here, but that's to be expected when we're up against the likes of Juan José Cobo and David de la Fuente
Stage 1: Tough mountain stage to get things rolling – Dan was our best rider in 43rd, not bad
Stage 2: Another tough climb, Dan really worked hard to take another top 50 finish.
Stage 3: Another tough mountain stage, by far Dan's best day, coming in 29th to move 23rd overall! Incredible riding.
Stage 4: Finally, the flat stage, we just sat in the pack, let the sprinters battle it out. Dan moved up one place in the GC to finish the stage race in 22nd! Awesome result. De La Fuente won the overall, a minute ahead of Cobo, with Vogondy upsetting the Spanish podium by coming in 3rd.
Bloody good stuff from Dan, this boy's got potential – climbing well above his weight against ProTour guys in their best form. Mark my words, he's going to win the British champs!
---
Well, we've had a couple of weeks of very, very intense negotiations, and I've finally won over the board. They didn't warm to it at first, and many wanted to stay with the first plan of progressing slowly, but whilst they not like my new plan for the team, they saw that it was something that was necessary. The only problem is money – there will be a budget increase at the end of the year, but they simply cannot afford the necessary budget increase – this means we're going to need to get a hell of a lot of money through race winnings, which puts a lot of pressure on me and the riders. I don't mind this pressure, but I don't want the riders to be put under the pressure where they feel overly pressured into getting results. We'll see.
Wales Open Criterium
The field here was surprisingly strong, so much so that we were being written off as making up the numbers.
And that turned out to be right, as our best rider was Liam Holohan in 80th! Not looking great for the British RR Champs.
Hans Dekkers took the win.
British RR Championships
This is a huge race for us. This could make our season if we take a win here, and it's also a chance to get one over on the Sky boys. They've brought riders in Tour de France form, making Bradley Wiggins the heavy favourite to take the crown. Oh, and Cav's here too. This means the team has to win through a breakaway.
With that in mind, Dale Appleby slipt into the initial break with Jonny Bellis, Adam Blythe, Tom Southam and Andrew Tennant, who gained a minute but were quickly brought in by Team Sky.
So Tom Barras had a go, but he had no luck too.
It was with 78km to go that Sky made their move, as Wiggins attacked, with only 7 others able to go with him, including Dan Fleeman.
From then on in it became a battle of attrition, as Wiggins sought to shake off everyone else. He achieved this, except for one rider, who remained glued to his wheel
DAN FLEEMAN!
So it would come down to a sprint, with Bradley leading out Dan. Brad started early, Dan made his move, drew alongside, and then...
He takes the win!
What a brilliant result. Brad was in his usual dark mood after the race, complaining about Dan being a “wheel sucker”, but who cares – Dan is the new British Road Race Champion!
A celebration night ensued, with some very freely flowing champagne. The team was over the moon, and deserved to enjoy it.
Team Raleigh June Update Posted online at teamraleigh.co.uk, direct from the laptop of DS Allan Smile!
What an incredible month for the team. We started off in our first mountainous stage race of the year, with some brilliant performances from the riders against some really tough opposition, and we finished with an incredible win in the British road race championships, meaning Dan will be wearing the red white and blue of the British champion for the next year. Fantastic!
Meanwhile the Tour de France preparations were fascinating to watch. In the Tour de Suisse, Alberto Contador beat off Kloden and Armstrong of the Shack to confirm his status as Tour favourit, whilst Cadel Evans kept another Shack rider, Levi Leipheimer, off the top step in the Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré
Results:
-- Route du Sud: Dan Fleeman 22nd in GC.
-- Wales Open Criterium: Liam Holohan 80th.
-- British Road Race Championships: Dan Fleeman 1st, Liam Holohan 5th.
Rankings:
Continental Individual Rankings:
1. Coen Vermeltfoort RABOBANK CT 788
2. Bobbie Traksel VACANSOLEIL PRO CYCLING TEAM 707
3. Sébastiwn Joly SAUR - SOJASUN 592
88. Daniel Fleeman 85
318. Tom Barras 12
408. Liam Holohan 4
413. James Stewart 4
Continental Team Rankings:
1. Skil – Shimano 2043
2. Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator 1664
3. Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 1645
53. Team Raleigh 105
Physio's Report: Dr. Mike Jensen reports yet another injury free month!
Rider of the Month: Dan Fleeman
For the second month in a row, Dan has showed off his talent. His performance in the Route du Sud was a great display of consistency and strength, but it was in the National Champs where he really was incredible, beating Bradley Wiggins in a two man sprint when the Sky rider is approaching Tour de France form!
Next Month:
We'll be having a whole month off of racing, so we can start preparing for a second assault on the world of cycling in the second part of the year. However, whilst the riders have a quiet month, the management team will be busy signing riders for next years team. We'll hopefully have some exciting signings to announce, so watch this space.
Negotiations have been going surprisingly well p to this point. We've already got three riders signed up for the team at this point, and a few more who we're hoping will join them soon. And they're some big names where we're making great progress, especially Dave Zabriskie, who'd be a huge boost to this team. He's being very positive about negotiations, so fingers crossed.
The three riders we've signed are 3 very promising Brits: Andrew Tennant has been a really promising member of the GB Cycling set up. He's had a good season with Motorpoint, but was delighted to sign with us. He's a great sprinting prospect, as is Adam Blyhte, out second signing. Adam turned pro last year with Omega Pharma – Lotto, but for some strange reason they didn't renew with him – bad move by them, great news for us. Finally, we managed to get Tom Faiers, who's ridden for Footon for a year. Tom's a classy rider, really good prospects as an all-rounder.
So a good team starting to form up, let's wait and see how everything else plays out.
www.cycling24.co.uk/latest_news 20/7/2010
Team Raleigh Announce Plethora of New Signings
Team Raleigh seems to be boldly expanding it's roster for 2011, with a boat load of signings and a move beyond the anticipated British focused squad expected.
Five new riders have been added for next year, in addition to the 3 Brits already signed, and feature some very promising youngsters, which seems to be the focus of the squad. Confirmed riders are David Veilleux (CAN, Kelly Benefit Strategies), Cameron Meyer (AUS, Garmin - Transitions), Rory Sutherland (AUS, United Healthcare), Wesley Sulzberger (AUS, Francaise des Jeux) and Cyril Gautier (FRA, Bbox Bouygues Telecom).
Team DS Allan Smile was delighted when we spoke to him: C24: So, Allan, how do you feel about your new signings? AS: I'm absolutely delighted. We've got 4 great, young prospects as well as the very talented and highly experienced Rory, who we hope will take the team to the next level C24: You seem to have gone for young riders – is this your focus? AS: I certainly had that in mind when I signed them. We've now got a team that is not only going to perform well next year, but will just keep on getting better and better. I feel we've got some of the most exciting riders in the peloton, I couldn't be happier with the way the team's shaping up. C24: You also seem to have reneged on your original team philosophy. AS: Not entirely – we've still got a solid core of British riders, but we've decided a stronger team will help them develop into better riders C24: Any more signings? AS: We've got some exciting riders we're talking to, but nothing concrete.
The negotiations with Dave Zabriskie had been protracted, but he still seemed interested, and he came into my office, with his agent, to talk over a possible deal some more. 5 minutes in though, the door burst open, with Dave Jones storming in, his expression stony, his face livid with rage.
“Would you like to tell me what the hell you think you're doing, Allan?”
“Huh”
He produced a print-out of the signings news.
“What the hell is this?”
“Our new signings Dave. What's the problem?”
“I'll tell you what the bloody problem is Allan. When we joined this team, we decided to build it up in the proper way, by taking our time, keeping it low key and developing slowly. And now I see you've completely forgotten that!”
I was stunned.
“But it's better...” I started.
“I've already heard about your plan from our board,” he interjected. “Why didn't you even discuss this with me? I started off this project with you because I believed in the philosophy, the team's future – and you've gone behind my back and changed everything.”
“I saved you Allan – AGAIN, and here's how you repay me.”
“You've broken my trust, Allan. That's it, I'm through. I'm done with you.”
And he was gone.
As was Dave Zabriskie, he sidled out halfway through. Don't think I'll be hearing from him again.
Team Raleigh July Update Posted online at teamraleigh.co.uk, direct from the laptop of DS Allan Smile!
This month is overshadowed by the sad news that Dave Jones has decided to leave the team. He has been a faithful servant and a titan for this team, and it saddens us all that he has left. We wish him well.
With no racing for us, this month's update is a bit different, as I give you an overview of a small race that goes around France for a bit.
Tour de France Round-up
A hugely entertaining Tour, the build up and anticipation has never been greater, with all the focus on a Contador versus Armstrong grudge match. Not forgetting the British interests of course, as Bradley Wiggins aims for yellow, and Mark Cavendish being his usual quiet, reserved, modest self, as he has promised to win the green jersey. Here's how it panned out:
Stage 1: Contador opens with a prologue win to take yellow, with Kirchen second and Jens Voigt third
Stage 2: Boonen outsprints Cav!
Stage 3-5: Cav gets back on top to take his first stage, then his second, then his third...
Stage 6: Jens Voigt takes a stunning solo win, and moves into yellow!
Stage 7: Cyril Dessel outsprints Sandy Casar in a two man break to take the first French stage win
Stage 8: Contador opens up his mountain account, with a stage win over Menchov then Wiggins – Contador re-takes yellow, Voigt goes second, Wiggins third
Stage 9: Contador takes another win, with Andy Schleck second. Menchov moves into second, Wiggins falls to third
Stage 10: A break makes it, with Remi Pauriol taking the win – however, Sandy Casar, also in the break, gains enough time to go second in the GC!
Stage 11: Brett Lancaster wins in the sprint from a breakaway
Stage 12: Cav back on form, taking another stage
Stage 13: Sylvain Chavanel takes a stage win
Stage 14: Cav wins again (5 stages now)
Stage 15: Contador takes another win (4 stages now), with Andy Schleck then Lance completing the podium. Menchov moves into 2nd overall, Casar hangs in 3rd
Stage 16: Voeckler goes on a suicide break and just holds off Contador. Casar loses a boatload of time, so Andy Schleck moves into third
Stage 17: Heinrich Haussler wins from a breakaway
Stage 18: Contador wins again, going level on stage wins with Cav. Top 3 unchanged
Stage 19: Haussler takes a second stage, this time in an unorganised sprint
Stage 20: Bradley Wiggins takes a huge TT win, and moves into 3rd overall.
Stage 21: Philippe Gilbert breaks away and takes an incredible win on the Champs Elysees
Final GC:
1. Alberto Contador ASTANA 83h26'23
2. Denis Menchov RABOBANK + 3'43
3. Bradley Wiggins TEAM SKY + 6'05
4. Lance Armstrong RADIOSHACK + 6'50
5. Andreas Kloden RADIOSHACK + 7'08
6. Andy Schleck SAXO BANK +7'45
7. Alejandro Valverde CAISSE – D'EPARGNE + 10'17
8. Vincenzo Nibali LIQUIGAS + 10'48
9. Levi Leipheimer RADIOSHACK + 10'48
10. Christian Vande Velde GARMIN – TRANSITIONS + 12'55
Maillot Vert (sprinter): Mark Cavendish Maillot Pois a Rouge (KOM): Alejandro Valverde Maillot Blanc (U25): Andy Schleck Team: Team Radioshack
What a Tour! Contador showed his truly astonishing Grand Tour prowess, but Denis Menchov rode fantastically to stay near him. Of course, all the focus was on Lance, who did well, but just doesn't have the legs anymore.
However, what a Tour for us Brits! Cav got that green jersey he so deserved, taking five stage wins too, a fantastic performance, capping off a fantastic season (so far). And Bradley Wiggins was fantastic to get a podium spot, as well as being Contador in the final time trial.
Post Danmark Rundt
The team was still in shock over the departure of Dave Jones. He was a huge presence, a huge motivator and an integral part of the team, and everyone was down after his departure. But the team has to be professional, so back to racing. I'm still finishing off the signings for next season, so I sent one of our trainers, Simon Jones (no relation to Dave by the way), to the event.
Date: 9th August 2010
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Subject: Post Danmark Rundt
Stage 1: Marko Kump of Adria Mobil takes the sprint, Liam Holohan comes in fifteenth
Stage 2: 3 riders stay clear in a break, taking 36 seconds on the next group of 7 and 54 seconds on the bunch. Richard Handley our only rider in the bunch, placed 21st, but 20th in the GC
Stage 3: Bumpy stage, five riders went clear as the peloton broke up. Richard Handley took 63rd, nearly two minutes back, falls to 25th in the GC.
Stage 4: Sprint stage – all safe in the pack
Stage 5: Time trial was won by Casper Jorgenson, who also took the overall for Designa Kokken. Richard Handley lost a bucket load of time to fall to 43rd overall.
Stage 6: Final stage ends in a sprint, no change.
Not great.
Simon
Fyen Rundt
The team finalised for next year, and a disappointing result in Denmark, I rejoined the team, focused on getting a performance to help re-build confidence and show good bouncebackability.
The team here would be led by the in form Liam Holohan, whilst Dan Fleeman would begin re-building race fitness in preparation for the Tour of Britain. This would also be Dan's first outing in his new champions jersey.
Rule Britannia - or at least Rule Dan Fleeman
Dale Appleby as our man covering the break, but he missed the right attack, so 11 riders got clear.
The gap kept growing and growing, until with 66km to go, it was over 8 minutes, so we put two riders up front going flat out – this was very dangerous. 16Km later though, and the attacks started, but our rapid pacing meant they never got a gap.
30km to go, and the gap was down to 4'20 – manageable with the lumpy terrain in the closing kilometres.
10km to go, and the gap was now just 40 seconds – Liam said he felt good, and with none of the favourites attacking, I let him unleash an attack. He bridged up to the break, then started going tempo, all alone.
Liam flies past the last rider in the BOTD
8km to go, and his gap was only 26 seconds. 2km later, and the gap was down to 10 seconds – Liam still felt strong, and went again – and boy did he go.
The pack were suffering from the hills, and Liam still looked fresh, meaning with 2.6km to go, he had a very healthy 55 second lead. He took this to the line to take a fantastic win and boost the team's spirit immensely. What a ride, what a win!
A Quality Win!
Result:
1. Liam Holohan TEAM RALEIGH 4h30'16
2. Oleg Chuzhda CAJA RURAL + 51”
3. Jose Herreda CAJA RURAL s.t.
AND – a word on the new signings: I'm really excited about the squad next year, but I've decided to go for secrecy, and will only reveal my final team at the team presentation in 2010. I'm doing it because I want the media to be interested in us, I want lots of rumours going around. It gets our sponsor attention and by being in the news more, elevates the teams prestige. I'll be dropping hints to help that.
Tour of Ireland
After the triumph of the Fyen Rundt, Liam Holohan will lead the team here, as well as be our team's sprinter, although Dan Fleeman is also here to go for overall, so we've got a good two pronged attack.
Stage 1
Dale Appleby goes with the break on this flat stage, but doesn't have the strength to stay with it. However, it all comes together for a sprint. Liam gets into a good position, but an unwelcome turn of events for us as Dan Fleeman as he crashes with 2700m to go – fortunately he just suffers a bit of road rash, and loses no time. In the sprint, Jezowski, the Polish RR champ is too strong and takes a win by a few bike lengths from Liam, a good start from him.
Dan gets flattened
Stage 2
Dale Appleby again gets into the break, but he soon gets into serious trouble, as his heartrate rockets – I pull up to him, and he looks terrible, and decide there and then to pull him out – something's not quite right with his health.
The stage comes down to a sprint, Liam got onto the wheel of the leader, Jezowski, with Dan on Liam's wheel, but Jezowski proved too strong and took back-to-back wins. Dan pipped Liam for third. Liam is now third overall, but leads the U25 classification, whilst Dan is in fourth.
Continued domination by Jezowski
Stage 3
The break goes, the break is caught, Jezowski sprints to a third consecutive win. Dan top finishes for us in sixth
Looking forward to the transfer season too, will be interesting 
