Selection Team ABUS: Silvio Herklotz, David Hesselbarth, Fredrik Ludvigsson, Marcel Meisen, Kevin Predatsch, Brian Takacs, Kersten Thiele, Frank Wagner.
This midweek Belgian race is the first of five cobble classics on our spring program. A great test for what’s coming. In the team camper, our DS warns the guys: an early breakaway could make a chance here. While Meisen gets the support of the helpers in the team, half of the squad is free to try and do something. Things get serious right away when a group of sixteen is allowed to go away. Frank Wagner is one of them, but also David Hesselbarth sees a chance. With a strong solo effort, he’s the last to join the bulky breakaway.
There’s music in the break, the collaboration is great. The favorites' teams allow the front group to take more than six minutes. A mistake? We hope so, although with 70k to go, the gap declined to three minutes. Thirty kilometers later, there’s only 1’45” let. At the same time, Yannick Eijssen does an effort in order to conquer the ‘Prick of the Day’-award. After being sat all day long in the back of the break, he suddenly found the guts to attack. But his effort doesn’t last long, as all riders in the break do everything to get him back.
With half an hour of racing left, the gap dwindled to a poor one minute in the meantime, the favorites think it’s time to shake the trees. Hushovd, Oss, Vansummeren, Wynants, Commeyne and Meersman are some of the daredevils trying to close the gap on their own. In the front, Ben King is the next to try something.
But on the last cobblestone section of the day, his attempt is finished. While the break is reeling in the attacker from RadioShack, they also get the company of some of the fresh pursuers. These guys immediately move to the front to put the pressure high. David Hesselbarth and Frank Wagner are having quite a hard time, but keep on hanging on. In the meantime, entering the last five kilometers of the day, a second group formed between the attackers and the bunch.
The guys in front will survive though, and sprint for the win. Gianni Meersman is the favorite to take the flowers home. Too bad, Hesselbarth and Wagner can’t get in his slipstream, tired as they are. They manage to start the sprint in the front of the group, but have used their last acceleration to do so and fall back rather heavily. They still manage a steady 15th and 23d place, but we hoped for more. Meersman secures the win, Meisen gets third in the sprint of the losers' bunch.
Spoiler
Result
1 Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team) 4h37'57
2 Wesley Kreder (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
3 Yukiya Arashiro (Team Europcar)
4 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Sky Procycling)
5 Maarten Wynants (Belkin Pro Cycling Team)
6 Mats Boeve (Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks)
7 Alphonse Vermote (An Post - Chainreaction)
8 Sjef De Wilde (Team Differdange - Losch)
9 Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing Team)
10 Eugenio Alafaci (Leopard - Trek Continental Team)
11 Patrick Gretsch (Team Argos - Shimano)
12 Davy Commeyne (Accent Jobs - Wanty)
13 Johan Vansummeren (Garmin - Sharp)
14 Kenny De Ketele (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise) 15 David Hesselbarth (Team ABUS)
16 Daan Olivier (Rabobank Development Team)
17 Boris Vallée (ColorCode - Biowanze)
18 Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
19 Sven Vandousselaere (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise)
20 David Millar (Garmin - Sharp) 23 Frank Wagner (Team ABUS)
39 Marcel Meisen (Team ABUS) + 1'29
65 Silvio Herklotz (Team ABUS)
107 Fredrik Ludvigsson (Team ABUS) + 3'34
113 Kevin Predatsch (Team ABUS) + 4'30
114 Brian Takacs (Team ABUS)
123 Kersten Thiele (Team ABUS)
Teams
1 Garmin - Sharp 13h53'51
2 BMC Racing Team
3 Accent Jobs - Wanty 7 Team ABUS + 1'29
Yeah, I'm quite happy with every top-20 result in these 1.1-races With these youngsters, I can't expect to beat riders like Gianni Meersman a lot. But indeed, hilly races will suit my guys better!
28/2/2013 Hunting for objectives
Two months have passed, things are getting serious for 2013. As from tomorrow, we’ll be hunting our first sponsor objective in the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, three days of 2.1-racing on the flat roads in the western part of Belgium. On the few pimples to be found there, we have to try to hunt the climber’s jersey. At the same time, the real climbers of Team ABUS are traveling to Italy, where we’re aiming for a top three result in the hilly Trofeo Zssdi (1.2). Curious to see if it will work out!
Next episode: 1/3/2013 Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, stage 1/3
Thx! No update yesterday, so you guys get two today:
1/3/2013 Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, stage 1/3
Selection Team ABUS: Silvio Herklotz, David Hesselbarth, Damien Howson, Fredrik Ludvigsson, Marcel Meisen, Kevin Predatsch, Kersten Thiele, Frank Wagner.
A pancake flat prologue traditionally opens up business in West-Vlaanderen. Specialists Fredrik Ludvigsson and Damien Howson can’t wait for the start. ‘Ludo’ does pretty well with his 27th place, Damien doesn’t survive the pressure and fails badly with losing 2’22”. Marcel Meisen and Silvio Herklotz limit their losses, David Hesselbarth is already more than two minutes behind and can hope to get some freedom from the bunch tomorrow. Kristof Vandewalle is the first leader, one second in front of… Fredrik Ludvigsson’s brother Tobias.
Teams
1 Lotto Belisol 41'33
2 Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team s.t.
3 BMC Racing Team + 9 11 Team ABUS + 1'35
Young guys
1 Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Argos - Shimano) 13'43
2 Danny Van Poppel (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) + 4
3 Ronan Van Zandbeek (Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks) + 5 10 Fredrik Ludvigsson Team ABUS + 27
Next episode: 2/3/2013 Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, stage 2/3Edited by sisse on 13-08-2013 20:13
A bit disappointing is an understatement Btw, thx for the hint about removing the circles in the screenshots, am doing that in the races I'm in now (but for the moment I'm still posting previously written reports)
2/3/2013 Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, stage 2/3
Some hills, some cobbles and some crosswinds: Team ABUS prepares for another typical day of Flemish racing. The start is typically Flemish too, with some furious attacks. Fredrik Ludvigsson is the first of our guys to jump, David Hesselbarth does the same later. But both are too late to cash some points on the first hill of the day.
One hill later, ‘Hessel’ is recovered right in time after his efforts. He sprints to second place and takes some important points – don’t forget: the mountain jersey is a sponsor objective here. No more climbing later this day for the lead group. Hesselbarth and Ludvigsson are accompanied by Ratcliff, Helven, Molard, Teuns and Friedemann.
Following his steady prologue, Ludvigsson snatches two and four seconds in the bonussprints in an attempt to gain some places in the gc. Winning today seems out of the question for our duo, since the advantage never grows over four minutes. With forty kilometers to go, the adventure is already over. First Jurgen Van de Walle, then the rest of the pack comes back.
The sprinters teams were way too early in getting the break back, since hell breaks loose with one attack after the other. The Team ABUS’ talents stay calm, gathering in the front of the pack. A good decision: with 5k to go, everything is back together once again. During a short moment of doubt in the pack, a determined Silvio Herklotz even takes the front, motorpacing our sprinter Marcel Meisen.
Will enthusiastic Silvio overestimate himself, just like in the Beverbeek Classic?
No he doesn’t. He’s the perfect leadout man for Marcel today, starting his acceleration right in time.
1k left. The other sprinters come closer, but Marcel timed his jump perfectly. Without looking back, he passes Silvio and starts the sprint. Can he surprise everybody and take an unexpected win?
AAARGH, SCHEISSE!!! No he can’t, Gianni Meersman ruins the party. Nevertheless, Marcel is a very strong second. The public is surprised to see the little German of that unknown development team climbing the podium next to the local hero.
Spoiler
Result
1 Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team) 3h14'31 2 Marcel Meisen (Team ABUS)
3 Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team)
4 Roger Kluge (Team NetApp - Endura)
5 Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
6 Bobbie Traksel (Champion System Pro Cycling Team)
7 Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol)
8 Tom Van Asbroeck (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise)
9 Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits)
10 Danny Van Poppel (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
11 Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing Team)
12 Dominique Cornu (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise)
13 Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol)
14 Ben Jacques-Maynes (Jamis - Hagens Berman)
15 Nikolai Trussov (Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks) 16 Silvio Herklotz (Team ABUS)
17 Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing Team)
18 Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team)
19 Stephen Cummings (BMC Racing Team)
20 Ronan Van Zandbeek (Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks) 28 Frank Wagner (Team ABUS)
39 Damien Howson (Team ABUS)
56 David Hesselbarth (Team ABUS)
58 Fredrik Ludvigsson (Team ABUS)
88 Kevin Predatsch (Team ABUS)
127 Kersten Thiele (Team ABUS)
GC
1 Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team) 3h28'13
2 Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Argos - Shimano) + 1
3 Dominique Cornu (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise) + 4
4 Danny Van Poppel (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) + 5
5 Ronan Van Zandbeek (Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks) + 6
6 Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol) + 7
7 Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol)
8 Stephen Cummings (BMC Racing Team) + 10
9 Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing Team) + 12
10 Ben Jacques-Maynes (Jamis - Hagens Berman)
11 Sander Cordeel (Lotto Belisol) + 13
12 Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team)
13 Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing Team) + 14
14 Bert Grabsch (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team)
15 Sébastien Delfosse (Crelan - Euphony) + 15
16 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team) + 17
17 Roger Kluge (Team NetApp - Endura) + 18
18 Tom Stamsnijder (Team Argos - Shimano)
19 Kevin De Jonghe (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise) + 19
20 Jonathan Breyne (Crelan - Euphony) + 20 23 Fredrik Ludvigsson (Team ABUS) + 22
33 Marcel Meisen (Team ABUS) + 36
43 Silvio Herklotz (Team ABUS) + 46
59 Kersten Thiele (Team ABUS) + 1'10
96 Kevin Predatsch (Team ABUS) + 1'49
122 David Hesselbarth (Team ABUS) + 2'10
133 Damien Howson (Team ABUS) + 2'22
184 Frank Wagner (Team ABUS) + 3'15
3/3/2013 Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, stage 3/3
A lot of opportunities for Team ABUS in the final stage of this Driedaagse. Two climbs that will decide the mountain classification, three sprints to gain some seconds and a finish line favoring the sprinters. No need to motivate our guys today. David Hesselbarth and Tobias Ludvigsson, both in the long break yesterday, did a good warm-up on the rollers before the start and attack like madmen right away. Only the American Carson Miller dares to follow them.
The right break away left right from the start. Too sad, our American fellow traveler decides to be passive today. All the work is waiting for ‘Hessel’ and ‘Ludo’. But our guys never doubt, since they left with a clear goal: while Hesselbarth will concentrate on the mountain classification, Ludvigsson must try to get time back during the sprints. Miller however is also interested in the climber’s shirt. On both hills, he fights a hard battle with David Hesselbarth. The acceleration of our German wins it in both occasions. He claims the number one spot in the climber’s classification.
Ludvigsson doesn’t interfere in the battles on the hills and concentrates on the sprints. But things don’t work out well there. After a misunderstanding, Hesselbarth is first at sprint number one, while ‘Ludo’ only takes two seconds back. One sprint later our Swede takes second place behind the American. So only six bonification seconds in the pocket after the long effort for Ludvigsson. Since the third sprint is too close to the finish to survive, we await the bunch.
Ludvigsson isn’t out of energy yet though. The bunch doesn’t seem to want to waste forces getting near the third intermediate sprint, our young Swede attacks again and takes the full bonus. A smart and strong move from Ludvigsson, who climbs to a fine ninth place in the final gc. All he has to do now is survive in the pack till the finish line. Not an easy task, with the high speeds imposed by the sprinters’ teams.
After yesterday’s surprise, Team ABUS does a first try to set up a sprint train for our goal getter Marcel Meisen. We fail quite badly however, since Marcel never finds his lead-out men Wagner, Howson and Herklotz, and so our fast guy has to search his own way. No problem for our clever leader, he chooses the wheel of fellow countryman Roger Kluge. Too bad, he can’t count on the same pair of legs as yesterday. While Danny van Poppel wins, Marcel has to settle with an okayish ninth place.
And David Hesselbarth? He’s enjoying a pair of kisses from the podium girls while getting his mountain shirt. Mission accomplished!
Spoiler
Result
1 Danny Van Poppel (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) 3h44'09
2 Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team)
3 Roger Kluge (Team NetApp - Endura)
4 Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team)
5 Bobbie Traksel (Champion System Pro Cycling Team)
6 Tom Veelers (Team Argos - Shimano)
7 Stefan Van Dijk (Accent Jobs - Wanty)
8 Davy Commeyne (Accent Jobs - Wanty) 9 Marcel Meisen (Team ABUS)
10 Iljo Keisse (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team)
11 Nikolai Trussov (Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks)
12 Roy Jans (Accent Jobs - Wanty)
13 Daniel Schorn (Team NetApp - Endura)
14 François Parisien (Team Argos - Shimano)
15 Dylan Groenewegen (Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks)
16 Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
17 Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
18 Tom Van Asbroeck (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise) 19 Silvio Herklotz (Team ABUS)
20 Sam Bennett (An Post - Chainreaction) 26 Frank Wagner (Team ABUS)
52 Damien Howson (Team ABUS)
66 Fredrik Ludvigsson (Team ABUS)
86 Kersten Thiele (Team ABUS)
126 David Hesselbarth (Team ABUS)
129 Kevin Predatsch (Team ABUS)
GC
1 Danny Van Poppel (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) 7h12'07
2 Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team) + 15
3 Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Argos - Shimano) + 16
4 Dominique Cornu (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise) + 19
5 Ronan Van Zandbeek (Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks) + 21
6 Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol) + 22
7 Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol)
8 Roger Kluge (Team NetApp - Endura) + 25 9 Fredrik Ludvigsson (Team ABUS)
10 Stephen Cummings (BMC Racing Team)
11 Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing Team) + 27
12 Ben Jacques-Maynes (Jamis - Hagens Berman)
13 Sander Cordeel (Lotto Belisol) + 28
14 Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team)
15 Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing Team) + 29
16 Bert Grabsch (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team)
17 Sébastien Delfosse (Crelan - Euphony) + 30
18 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team) + 32
19 Tom Stamsnijder (Team Argos - Shimano) + 33
20 Kevin De Jonghe (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise) + 34 34 Marcel Meisen (Team ABUS) + 51
43 Silvio Herklotz (Team ABUS) + 1'01
58 Kersten Thiele (Team ABUS) + 1'23
96 Kevin Predatsch (Team ABUS) + 2'04
109 David Hesselbarth (Team ABUS) + 2'13
132 Damien Howson (Team ABUS) + 2'37
181 Frank Wagner (Team ABUS) + 3'30
Points
1 Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team) 45
2 Danny Van Poppel (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) 45
3 Roger Kluge (Team NetApp - Endura) 30 5 Marcel Meisen (Team ABUS) 27
Mountains 1 David Hesselbarth (Team ABUS) 15
2 Carson Miller (Jamis - Hagens Berman) 8
3 Sander Helven (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise) 6 4 Fredrik Ludvigsson (Team ABUS) 5
Teams
1 Lotto Belisol 21h37'33
2 Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team + 0
3 BMC Racing Team + 9 11 Team ABUS + 1'35
Young guys
1 Danny Van Poppel (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) 7h12'07
2 Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Argos - Shimano) + 16
3 Ronan Van Zandbeek (Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks) + 21 5 Fredrik Ludvigsson (Team ABUS) + 25
Selection Team ABUS: David Bartl, Bastian Bürgel, Robin Eckmann, Kajetan Fricke, Jan Keller, Patrick Konrad, Jakob Steigmiller, Maximilian Werda.
Our sponsors want to see us doing a top three here, but looking at the teams surrounding us on the car park at the starting line, that will be quite an impossible task. The Italian ProContinental outfits bring several candidate winners to Trieste, so we’ll have to try to anticipate. With the flat run-up next to the gorgeous coastline, there are possibilities.
But, like expected, teams like Bardiani, Androni and Vini Fantini never loosen their grip on the race. Only after a lot of efforts, a group of twelve manages to gain a three minute gap. Bastian Bürgel is our man in the BOTD, but also Robin Eckmann wants to start the final climbs with some advantage. In risk of beginning a pure ‘chasse-patate’, he tries to close the gap with the leaders on his own. After a fifteen kilometers solo effort, he reaches Bürgel and co.
It won’t help him a lot, though. At the foot of the first of two final climbs, the advantage of the break dwindled to a forty seconds gap. With 10k to go, Eckmann and a Slovenian from the Adria Mobil are the only attackers left in front, with a marginal advantage.
While the favorites start their winning acceleration flying over Robin and while the remaining Team ABUS riders are content to be able to hang on to the big bunch, an exhausted Eckmann desperately tries to score a top twenty. But he’s not allowed to do so: he misses his target with two places and finishes 22d. Top three was far, far away today…
Pascheck1990 wrote:
he can remove the circle under the pictures which will make them even more beautiful
Btw, thx for the hint about removing the circles in the screenshots, am doing that in the races I'm in now (but for the moment I'm still posting previously written reports)
So he'll do that when he ends his line of written reports
Sponsors won't be happy in that last race Edited by Jesleyh on 15-08-2013 20:34
Like Jesleyh says
The sponsors however are still fairly happy!
7/3/2013 Aiming for the win
Close but no cigar is the conclusion after two months of racing for Team ABUS. Although several of our young guns have shown their qualities yet by racing very aggressive and earning some prizes, we have missed the jackpot every time so far. Let’s aim for the win now… With Paris - Troyes, Deinze - Ieper, Nokere Koerse, the Istrian Spring Trophy and the Handzame Classic coming up, there are plenty of chances ahead.
Next episode: 10/3/2013 Paris - TroyesEdited by sisse on 16-08-2013 16:27
Selection Team ABUS: David Bartl, Bastian Bürgel, Robin Eckmann, Caleb Ewan, Damien Howson, Jan Keller, Jakob Steigmiller, Maximilian Werda.
The French 1.2-race between Paris and Troyes is a nice occasion for the climbers in our squad to obtain some additional race rhythm. In the meantime, they can try to show their selves or aid sprinter Caleb Ewan. The battle to be in the BOTD seems to be over rather quickly, with the peloton seeming to let go a first group of five rather easily.
An impression couldn’t be more wrong. Spectators get to see an amazing race, with fierce attacks all day long. For Team ABUS Damien Howson, Robin Eckmann and Jakob Steigmiller are very active, but a strong Cofidis-team chases down each and every try. A bunch sprint is inevitable.
The preparation for the sprint doesn’t go like we wanted it to go. Jan Keller and Damien Howson try to guide Caleb Ewan to the front of the bunch, but somehow all of our guys get boxed in. Caleb never gets the opportunity to fire his acceleration and has to settle with 16th place. Keller follows him as 18th. After Beverbeek the second missed opportunity for our Australian sprint bomb, but he’ll get many more this season…
Cofidis takes a deserved 1-2-5 home, Adrien Petit is the winner of the day.
Spoiler
Result
1 Adrien Petit (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) 3h39'10
2 Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits)
3 Jimmy Engoulvent (Sojasun)
4 Steven Tronet (BigMat - Auber 93)
5 Egoitz García (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits)
6 Yukiya Arashiro (Team Europcar)
7 Benoit Drujon (BigMat - Auber 93)
8 Yohann Gène (Team Europcar)
9 Julien El Fares (Sojasun)
10 Edgar Pinto (LA Alumínios - Antarte)
11 Mathieu Drujon (BigMat - Auber 93)
12 Christophe Laborie (Sojasun)
13 Sébastien Chavanel (Team Europcar)
14 Juan José Haedo (Jamis - Hagens Berman)
15 Justin Jules (La Pomme Marseille) 16 Caleb Ewan (Team ABUS)
17 Gaël Malacarne (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) 18 Jan Keller (Team ABUS)
19 Dirk Müller (Nutrixxion - Abus)
20 Benjamin Giraud (La Pomme Marseille) 42 Damien Howson (Team ABUS)
43 Robin Eckmann (Team ABUS)
44 David Bartl (Team ABUS)
55 Maximilian Werda (Team ABUS) + 1'37
82 Bastian Bürgel (Team ABUS) + 8'09
164 Jakob Steigmiller (Team ABUS)
Teams
1 Cofidis, Solutions Crédits 10h57'30
2 BigMat - Auber 93
3 Sojasun 7 Team ABUS
. 
With these youngsters, I can't expect to beat riders like Gianni Meersman a lot. But indeed, hilly races will suit my guys better!
)
