Romain Maksimov Finally Delivers!

May.10-15

Tour de l'Ain (S6)

Media:Results

Abal held his own on the hilly stages and the team was average in the TTT, but it was the stage 5 mountain the saw Abal take control of the race by following Dekker up the climb to finish 2nd on the stage and get on the GC podium.

May.17-21

Tour of the Czech Republic (S5)

Media:Results

Time trialing and hills, the perfect tour of Rui Costa. He stayed out of trouble
and had an typical Costa like tour. Not sticking out to much but is good enough
to get a top 5 in a HC race. As long as the points keep coming in
we don't care if Costa isn't attacking all over the place.
Barrio was a nice asset in achieving the top 5.

May.23

Barcelona Classic

Media:Results

The home race didn't play out to our liking and we leave empty handed.

May.29-31

Clasica a Quetzaltenango (S3)

Media:Results

An epic start list filled with the best climbers in the division and our second tier leader is able to sneak away on stage 1 to get a stage podium and hold onto 7th overall after the MTT. Anton gets some unexpected points in the mountains
without Abal which looks promising for when he will spend 3 weeks
leading the team at the Tour of America again this year.

Oh the relief, it has finally come. A drought of 289 days between
our last victory at the Tour of America by Mauricio Soler.

We are glad this achievement is finally over
so we can focus on staying in the division.

Jun.7

GP Sudkarnten

Media:Results

One of the toughest mountain classics of the season match by an epic field.
Abal battled with the best climbers in the PCT but after failing on an attack
attempt up the final climb resulted in him being dropped from the lead group
of 5 about a kilometer from the finish and ultimately came home in 8th.

Jun.9

GP Onda-Boavista

Media:Results

Another fail in a C2 hilly race with Barrio here. Not only did we do most of the pace making this time, Sergio didn't care to counter when the favourites made their moves. Just a waste of 2 race days as he pedals into the finish for 14th.

Jun.17-21

Tour of Eritrea (S5)

Media:Results

Having already been documented here, nothing else really to summarize.
Except David Abal had an awful tour and wasted his chance to win
a stage race as all the best climbers in the division didn't show up to
compete against our top Spaniard for the 1st time this season.

Jun.25-28

Tour de Slovenie (S4)

Media:Results

The young gun Fraile and old vet Gil outraced our leader Costa
as it turned out the stage 3 hill was more like a mountain.
Very happy that Fraile is getting in a lot of breakaway this season
and Gil just seems to attack whenever he feels like but
whenever he does I hold my breath as it could turn into a victory.
Costa on the other hand was a bit of a disappointment in this race but
he did over-perform at the beginning of the season so I can't be too mad.

Jun.26-28

Oberosterreichrundfahrt (S3)

Media:Results

Sergio did the usually in another C2 race but this time looked exceptionable
strong doing so this time by taking charge and trying to crack the other punchuers himself but in the end it was the same below expected result.

CSC is welcomed back to biggest race in cycling after a 5 year absence by
leading off the Tour as the first team out on the road, what an honor.
But today wasn't just a feel good moment as most of the spectators thought
it was going to be as we also posted a rather solid time
even though we had one of the weakest TTT squad present
(mostly luck though due to a favourable wind for the early starters).
At the end of the day we finish 16th out of the 22 teams
and 1'12" behind the winners Pendleton's.

Having just Eloy Teruel as our sprinter we really have nothing to fight for
on flat stage so just staying out of trouble is an accomplishment.
Which is exactly what we do here on stage 2. No problems. Teruel takes 28th.

Another flat stage with no problems even though it included a rainy finish.
But the rain didn't fall on our parade as Teruel marvelously managed to
sneak into the top 10 by finish 10th in a chaotic bunch sprint.
Couldn't have asked for anything better from our sprinter.

The longest stage of the Tour with even a slight incline towards the finish.
It's a long day to keep your concentration and sadly our captains had a lapse of judgement both getting dropped off the main peloton climbing to the finish.
Abal and Anton take a tough lost of 1'41" due to poor positioning.

The first real test comes on stage 5 with the climb up Toulon Mont Faron.
Anton was all over the place leading up to the climb trying to set up Abal,
but the real contenders weren't going to let our tag-team approach beat them.
So when the big dogs started attacking on the final climb Anton was wiped out.
Leaving Abal to chase and just hold onto the attackers which didn't turn out
very well as he isn't the best on the hills and his result proved that.
He loses time to most of his rivals by finish 1'28" behind the winner Cunego.
And even more bad news as Teruel doesn't make the time limit and abandons.

And just like yesterday we put the same tactic into place as Anton goes on the attack halfway through the stage to try and set up a launching pad for Abal.
Even though Anton was super strong today nothing comes of it as once again
the top favourites take out his advantage before Abal is able to make his move.
But this time the finish flattens out so the stage finishes in a selective
bunch sprint in which both Anton and Abal are in the lead group.

The first week finishes up with a stage that finally suits our leader!
Too bad his competition is a lot better then what he faces back in the PCT.
Abal gives his all and takes 16th which allows him to gain some time back
against fellow GC rivals also fighting for a top 10 finish in two weeks time.

The first mountain stage of the 100th edition of the Tour de France
finally sees the team in the breakaway with Spanish RR Champ Koldo Gil.
But from there on out it was all panic mode as Abal continues his
streak of bad luck by suffering a flat on the cat. 2 climb, Geyre Vielle.
But in stunning fashion Abal was able to drag himself back up to favourites
on the Col du Minier to finish 14th and save a huge chunk of time.

Back to back days in mountains and we come out and try our signature
tag-team attack with Anton attacking on the cat. 1 climb, Col de Chalsio
with the hope that Abal joins him on the summit climb of Col de Finiels.
But just like previous attempts the peloton doesn't let Anton go free.
This doesn't discourage Abal however as he still tries to attack on the summit climb but he too gets the same result as his teammate and is dragged back.
From there it was just trying to hang on to the back of the main group,
which they did so nothing gained and nothing really lost to their closest rivals.

The first of two transition stages, so the goal is too stay out of trouble.
And we failed... The Smiling Assassin Basso crashes and again
Abal and Anton get dropped off the back during the sprint losing 1'25".
Which now totals a total lose of 3'06" due to bad positioning.

Let's try this again, stay out of trouble... please ... It's not that hard.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaa we did it! Not a single picture of a CSC rider today.
So instead here is picture of the stage winner, Oscar Guerao of Festina-Canal+.

The Tour de France heads into Spain! Home crowd support is well appreciated after 11 days on the bike, our riders are certainly not use to racing this long.
It shows as Abal gets dropped on the first of the five back to back climbs near the finish, the team drops back to support him trying to save the top 15 in GC.
And the team does there job by bringing him back in time for him to even get his second wind and attack later in the stage! But everything comes back together at the finish so after a quick scare nothing is lost in the end. Well, not quite true as we do lose Verona and Kaisen as they abandon after the stage
leaving us with 6 riders over the last 9 days of racing.

Back into the Pyrenees. The team really had no say in the outcome today is the race leader Pluchkin suffered a crucial flat at the wrong time and from that point on it was the Cunego and Schleck show trying to make sure he didn't comeback.
And they succeed as Pluchkin loses yellow in heartbreaking fashion while A&A basically had to ride their own tempo up the final climb. Abal did rather well to limit his loses whereas Anton really needed to be in a favourites group
as he lost close to 9 minutes to his leader, David Abal.

Go big or go home as Anton had his mind set on revenge as he
attacked away on the first climb of the day, the Col d’Aspin with the famous
Col du Tourmalet and the Col de Tentes staring him directly the face.
But wait, it's another tag-team attack effort for Abal as our captain tries
again and again to get away on the slopes of Tourmalet but can't do it.
Hearing this over the race radio, Anton is given the green light to go for glory with 6.7kms to go! He has over a minute's lead with 5kms to go, could it be...
No, he is caught by the top GC contenders with 2000 meters to go.
We are getting closer to that stage win, but time is running out. 1 Week Left!

Huge crash! Abal, Barrio, Fraile, and Gil are all affected.
No one is seriously hurt but we certainly have no luck here in France.

This time we are able to stay out of trouble, drinks all around.
It's been that kind of race. Here's a picture of the winner, Mr. Bennati.

Abal is a great time trialist, and he proves that by get us our second top 10.
He finishes 10th, one minute behind the winner Jacob Fiedler.
A great result to add to his accolades because who knows when he
is going to be back to race in the TdF again.

The first of three mountain stages to close out the Tour.
Abal and Anton keep each other company as the favourites took turns
ripping each other apart. Our duo came in 37 seconds after winner.

Abal and Anton attacked away but the favourites still wouldn't give in.
A few kilometers later after they attack they disappear from the lead group.

Really our last chance steal a stage win.
But you already know what I'm going to say.
We were to Fraile and not Abal.
Omar got into the breakaway (that succeed. but he got dropped),
and Abal had nothing to fight for with the breakaway making it to the finish.

The victory laps on the Champs Elysees. It's all over!
6 CSC-Orbea riders finish the race: Abal, Anton, Gil, Fraile, Barrio, and ...
Ivan Basso basically ending his career as tears fall from his face.

Overall, it was a great experience and we came away with a top 15 in GC.
No stage wins, but that was going to be extremely hard so I'm not that upset.

Jul.1

Rund um Bad Harzburg

Media:Results

With the rest of the team taking part in the Tour de France,
Rui Costa was left behind to take on full leadership of a few one-day races;
starting with this one in Germany. He was very quiet and was only seen
in a photo as he crossed the line to take 18th.
We had hoped for better but he didn't have Barrio to help him which
usually triggers better results from the Portuguese punchuer.

Jul.5

Isle of Man ITT

Media:Results

Next up was the hilly ITT in Great Britain. A perfect course for Costa on paper.
But he just wasn't up to challenge and stumbled to 14th, but on the bright side
we got this cool picture of Costa in his Portuguese National TT jersey.

Jul.7

Manx International

Media:Results

Two days later Costa was back on the same roads for the
Manx Interntional to defend his podium place from last season.
He missed the decisive move late in the race and had to settle for 12th.

Jul.23-27

Sibiu Tour (S5)

Media:Results

David Abal returned from the TDF to win his first stage of the season on the opening prologue, yeah not a mountain stage who would have guessed.
This was a win goal, just wish it would have been a stage win goal.
David collapsed on the following mountain stage and finished 12th overall.

Jul.29

Taldykorgan GP

Media:Results

Rui Costa ends the month on a terrific high by winning the Taldykorgan GP!
He waited until the very end and sprinted his way to his first win of the season.
Not only a great victory for morale but well needed in terms of the standings.

Aug.2

Clasica San Sebastian

Media:Results

A HC rated hilly classic that came down to a sprint.
Usually Costa is a nice surprise in this situation but no win this time.
A good 8th place and that's about the best we could ask for anyways.

Aug.5-15

Volta a Portugal (S11)

Media:Results

A stage win was a season goal after Costa won the prologue last season.
And in his home race, Costa delivered once again with a win on stage 4!
Although the mountains played a key factor leaving Costa with 7th overall.

Aug.5-9

Vuelta a Burgos (S5)

Media:Results

Management had a tough decision here to send either Anton or Abal.
We went with Anton but turns out all we need was Koldo Gil.
A successful late attack on stage 4 catapulted Gil to finish 4th overall.

Aug.12-18

Tour of Hellas (S7)

Media:Results

Again it was Anton or Abal, and again we went with Anton.
A sloppy race where time gaps were hard to come by left Anton 13th overall.
So, perhaps it's best we left Abal to race in the Tour de Vineyards?

Aug.18

Tre Valli Varesine

Media:Results

Back to the C2 hilly classics for our million dollar signing Barrio.
Some would call these race days wastefully considering Sergio didn't win one of these yet this season but point are still points. Barrio takes 3rd.

Aug.23-27

Tour de Vineyards (S5)

Media:Results

David Abal's last race of the season. Yes, you read that right.
What should have been his only stage race win of the season
went bad on the queen mountain stage to a few late attacks.

Italics and Red = Season is Finished