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Evian - MIAT 2013
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| jph27 |
Posted on 04-02-2013 16:18
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Team Leader
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 Down Under Classic
Our season kicked off at the Down Under Classic, the HC Sprinters classic set around the Albert Park F1 track in Melbourne. With Danilo Napolitano in our ranks we were expected to win, and win well due to the strength of our sprint squad. Behind Danilo we had an incredible train, with Sonnery and Manarelli there as his final men in a sprint. We knew the other sprinter teams would want to chase, so we were happy just to relax in the pack for the first part of the race.
However with 12km to go, our train was nowhere to be seen. Danilo radioed in, and I told him to go it alone. He hooked onto Heinrich Haussler’s Sram train, and we were ready for the sprint. Meanwhile behind the big sprinters, our support staff were tumbling with Averin and Guardini going down, and leaving all our hopes of points pinned on Danilo. In the final bends, he only had Andre Greipel ahead of him but the effort of working for himself showed, and he caught Greipel only a few metres after the line. 2nd wasn’t bad, but you always want to win. Still, if he keeps this up then we can have a good season.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 04-02-2013 16:27
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Team Leader
Posts: 7374
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Tour Down Under
Our second race of the season was to be another in Australia. This time it was the Tour Down Under, a stage race for the puncheurs consisting of 6 stages, three of which were definite sprints and the other three which would prove more selective. So, as we own so many good sprinters and few good puncheurs, what did I do? Sent all my puncheurs and one good sprinter, in Adrien Petit who was borderline Top 20 ability. Not my smartest bit of race planning, but I’m sure worse will come later in the season.
We didn’t do a lot in the first few stages, Petit getting into a break on Stage 1 and Rocchetti putting in a few big efforts on Stage 2, while our other leader Martin Puusepp attacked a little less and took 11th on the stage. Stage 4 saw more fruitless Rocchetti attacks, as did Stage 5 but this time he lost time. Koretzky then capped off an anonymous race for us by getting into the break of the day on Stage 6, but our GC positions weren’t great. Puusepp 23rd, Rocchetti 34th. It’ll be a long year in the hills for us.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 04-02-2013 16:33
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Team Leader
Posts: 7374
Joined: 20-03-2010
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GP Kathmandu
After the bad result for us at the Tour Down Under, we came to Nepal for our first C2 race of the season hoping that Rocchetti and Puusepp could make amends against a weaker field. This race also saw the debut of Mongolia’s brightest new talent in Maani Altanzul, and he was raring to go and prove to everyone that MIAT were right to demand he was brought on board this season. Anuar Aziz and Koretzky came in support, plus we brought Blaise Sonnery in case we were lucky and it came down to a mass sprint.
Maani got into the early break, to my surprise but utter delight. He looked pretty strong as well, making me wonder if he could potentially become a puncheur instead of a sprinter in the future. However, with Gazelle and Iberia here there was no chance of the break making the finish and as a result the break was brought back well before the finish. In the end, Federico took home 9th place, pretty disappointing but a good point score nonetheless. Martin on the other hand, came 53rd and 6 minutes down. Typical.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 04-02-2013 16:38
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Team Leader
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Joined: 20-03-2010
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 Tour of the South China Sea
I thought after Simon Gaywood last season, we’d learned our lesson about getting sprints sorted out in races that we have a top favourite for. Ironically, at the race Gaywood finished second last season we managed to screw up in the stupidest of ways. With 10km to go, everything was under control. We started to move up, and then suddenly Vueling stopped changing. With our riders too far back to chase, the break got away. UPC came to the front but didn’t chase, and we decided not to for some weird reason.
Then, to add insult to injury we screwed up the leadout, and Danilo could only take 14th when 10th was available. This was probably down to only Blaise working for his leader, as the picture below shows. I think we may fail our Asia Tour goal now. Relegation? Don’t rule it out if this continues.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 02-06-2013 16:15
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Team Leader
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The Emerald Race
It's been a while since our last update due to things outside my control. These reviews won't be amazing, but I at least hope they are comprehendible 
Our first race in February was the Emerald Race, a race for those Sprinters who can make it over the hills. As there was an uphill finish, we sent two leaders - Blaise Sonnery for a harder finish, and Maksym Averin for an easier one.
In the finale, Maksym wasn't at his best, so he and Adrien Petit combined to leadout Blaise. Unfortunately for us, Tiziano Dall'Antonia jumped away and Blaise was blocked. He found a gap, but the Italian was gone and the win too. However, his perseverance was rewarded with an excellent second place. Credit must go to his great leadout.
Edited by jph27 on 02-06-2013 16:24
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| jph27 |
Posted on 13-08-2013 21:54
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Team Leader
Posts: 7374
Joined: 20-03-2010
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February Review
February was a quiet month for the team with 14 race days across two races. Our major results came in the C2 Tour of the Middle East. Anuar Aziz was on the attack constantly and took 5th, 7th and 7th on stages, and also wore the mountains jersey for a day. Maxime Daniel was a mini revelation with 6th, 10th and 10th in sprints, before the time limit claimed him. The big star was Andreas Landa who bounced back from a crash to win the queen stage in a day long break, plus taking the mountains classification. He ended 7th overall and 2nd in the young riders classification. A good race for our youngsters.
In the Gisborne GP, well, let's not go there. Altanzul attacked... and that's it. |
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| jph27 |
Posted on 13-08-2013 22:15
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Team Leader
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March Review - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Good
In the Tour de Langkawi, we saw the only good of the month. Jose Serpa climbed to 3rd overall on the road to Genting Highlands, but could have won had he not towed 2 stronger sprinters up the climb. Serpa can't sprint, but Carlos Manarelli showed strongly with 4th, 4th and 6th on the stages. Petit and Sonnery also showed well.
The Bad
Our top 5 goal at the Corsica International. Serpa went on the offensive but could only take 11th. Disappointing sure, but not as bad as the ugly.
The Ugly
Kenya Mountain Classic - 0 points
E3 Prijs - 2 points
Tour of Taiwan - 10 points
Average pprd: 1.33
Form: Relegation
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 14-08-2013 09:54
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Directeur Sportif
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"The Good, the Bad and The Ugly" - I've seen this before somewhere 
I guess we both will find ourselves in relegation-battle for the remainder of the season. So good luck, but stay behind Oz
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| jph27 |
Posted on 02-09-2013 14:49
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 03-09-2013 01:37
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Classics Specialist
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Oh, congratulations! Excting poject, are you going all french now? |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 03-09-2013 05:52
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World Champion
Posts: 13662
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Nice, classic name in cycling is coming back, great work from ANF once again on the jersey too. Good luck with bigger french focus, hopefully Festina, Pearl and Bouyges will not "steal" all of them from you.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 06-09-2013 21:16
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Team Leader
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Any questions or declarations of interest, feel free to post here. Bit early, but helps with planning.  |
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 06-09-2013 21:18
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World Champion
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Didn't even saw that the sponsor is changing. Brilliant work on the shirt by An_Freeman btw.
Sonnery is a really good rider, he's a going to find a team for shore. |
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| jph27 |
Posted on 06-09-2013 21:20
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Team Leader
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Miguel98 wrote:
Didn't even saw that the sponsor is changing. Brilliant work on the shirt by An_Freeman btw.
Sonnery is a really good rider, he's a going to find a team for shore.
I know, which is why I'll keep him if we're PCT. Otherwise he's going. |
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| jph27 |
Posted on 01-10-2013 16:27
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 01-10-2013 16:54
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Classics Specialist
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Either 4,5 or 7, methinks.
Personally i'd go for Option 4, he'd be good hills domestique at Pro Conti or even Pro Tour Level, and a rider that could get decent results on the Contintal Tour, as far as i can tell with my not-very-far developed knowledge of the game. (Read: i might be completely wrong )
I know i'm a bit late, but i really like the new Jersey.
Too bad though you aren't staying Mongolian. 
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| jph27 |
Posted on 01-10-2013 17:51
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Team Leader
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I wanted to stay Mongolian but it's really hard to give my Mongolians leadership opportunities at PCT level and therefore I decided it wasn't worth it. Hopefully Bjartne will snap them up. |
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 01-10-2013 18:19
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As I've said, Serpa is to us. Sarmiento might as well, but we'll see. |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 02-10-2013 06:09
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World Champion
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jph27 wrote:
I wanted to stay Mongolian but it's really hard to give my Mongolians leadership opportunities at PCT level and therefore I decided it wasn't worth it. Hopefully Bjartne will snap them up.
Not only leadership, you were without a mongolian for their designated home race. 
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| jph27 |
Posted on 09-11-2013 11:16
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Team Leader
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Let's drum up some activity with a guessing game |
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