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[EPIC] Euskaltel - Euskadi | Coming and Leaving
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 03-01-2014 10:49
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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Hey fans,
Another disappointing race from me in Dwars Door Vlaanderen. It was all going well until this McDermott guy made a weird move in a turn and we lost contact with the main group. I tried to get back, but it was hard. I got real close, but the I met Tjallingii who got dropped from the main group. He refused to work to get back, saying he had Vanmarcke and Boom there. So on my own against the group, it was impossible. But then the worst part of the day happened.
About 3 kilometres from the line, Belkin's team car came riding next to us and the manager said to Tjallingii that there were 19 riders ahead of us. a quick nod from Tjallingii and I knew what was going to happen. The last 200 metres, after sitting in my wheel for the last 25 kilometres, he decided to overtake and grab the last points. I had no energy left to stop him after all the chasing. I'm really angry at Belkin now. Again, after what they did in Nokere. I'm not a hating guy, but Belkin and their manager..
Well, best not say anytihng and focus on E3 and Gent-Wevelgem. I'll need to show my management that I'm better than what I've showed the last few weeks.
~ Rudy
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 08-01-2014 19:22
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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In many ways this is the highlight of the early season for us.
For one it's the biggest Spanish race and to top that it's a race with lots of mountains and no time trialling.
We are here to aim for the podium!
In spite of a few hills along the way things were relatively calm and in the end it became a bunch sprint.
We had a couple of guys trying to mix in, but both finished outside the top 10. How far we don't know as the organizer only released the first 10 finishers.
In every way this looked like another one for the strong sprinters.
Since our expertise is still not launching riders for a bunch sprint it's hard to spot us on the pictures from teh run-in but a lot easier on the results list with both Rubén and Samuel in the top 10!
Time for the first big mountain finish of the race.
Nieve went out in time to win the penultimate KOM, which allowed us to just follow when Sky started squeezing up the pace towards the end.
Samu puts in a decent effort finishing 4th on the stage and climbing to the same position in the GC. Just one step up and we have our sponsor goal!
Another mountain stage.
This time Contador and Porte was just on another level, but Samuel took charge of the chasing group finishing 3rd on the stage we well as moving to 3rd in the GC with a minute to Intxausti on 4th place.
One of the easier stages of the race on paper and a very quiet day for us as none of the guys wanted to try their chances in a break.
Urtasun tried to mix in for the sprint, but didn't have the needed punch today either.
The team made sure to keep things under control throughuot the stage allowing Sánchez to attack and secure another top 10 though he wasn't awarded for the attack with any significant time gain.
The most important thing today was defending Sánchez' podium.
And hed did so in the most beautiful way imagineable by attacking with 10 km to go.
Even though he was caught again right on the line he got another top 10 and made sure no on could threaten his podium.
Edited by Atlantius on 24-01-2014 21:40
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 13-01-2014 14:41
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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This is in no way a season highlight for us. That means that a bunch of riders will get to show themselves. That being said Ion is surprisingly our best ranked rider at this moment.
A break without us made it and were followed by a bunch sprint meaning no Euskaltel-riders in sight...
A stage very similar to yesterday except today we were caught on one of the photos.
By now we had figured out that the sprinter teams are completely incapeable of catching the break in time so young Pello went in there.
He had to do a lot of work to make the break survive so he didn't have much left for the sprint.
Still it's nice to see the 22-year old Basque scoring a few points!
A long flat stage ending in the only mountain Oman has to offer.
Ion Izagirre attacked right at the bottom of the climb and managed to stay in the front group right to the finish line.
He didn't quite find his sprinting legs though and has to make do with a 6th place.
This stage had a few lumps along the way.
Right from the start Miguel went away and them he pretty much dominated the intemediate sprints event hough they doesn't really count for anything.
Who knows if he had saved his energy a bit more perhaps he would have been able to follow Maté in the end to fight for the win. Still an 8th place after getting caught by a lot of the favourites is a good result for him.
Speaking of the favourites Ion had another stellar day gaining a lot of time and places in the GC along with his 2nd place on the stage.
Ion is really turning into one of our biggest names faster than expected!
The final stage looked like one for the sprinters, but this turns out to be far from a spritners dream. Peeters attacked befote the finish and Ion countered hoping to find that last half minute. He didn't gain any time, but at least he defended his podium and got another top 10 along the way.
Edited by Atlantius on 27-01-2014 16:08
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| mvhoogdalem |
Posted on 13-01-2014 20:24
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2244
Joined: 30-06-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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After a busy month of March, I am finally able to share my experiences with the Euskaltel - Euskadi followers. It was so great to finally make my debut in professional cycling. While I prefer riding in warmer weather, I was on a plane to Paris, to ride Paris - Nice. Since it was my first race, I did not have a great form, which showed in my results. It was all quite disappointing, but a great first experience.
After staying and training around Nice for a few weeks, I went to Corsica to ride the Criterium International. It was such a stressful race with Ion in yellow. My legs felt really good on stage 3, where I set the pace in the last 50 kilometers. Hinault was too strong though, while Ion did not have a good day. In the last kilometer Ion told me to just sprint to the finish and I managed to get a great 7th place, while Ion got 3rd in the General Classification. Overall it was a good race for the team.
Now I am back home and training for my midseason, which will include the Giro d'Italia.
Aio,
~ Cristiano de las Campos
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Sylvain Chavanel | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | 3'49 | | ..... | | 108 | Cristiano De las Campos | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 16 |
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | 4h40'03 | | ..... | | 55 | Cristiano De las Campos | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 3'13 |
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Chris Froome | Sky Procycling | 4h18'54 | | ..... | | 12 | Cristiano De las Campos | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 2'22 |
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Chris Froome | Sky Procycling | 18'26 | | ..... | | 34 | Cristiano De las Campos | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 1'11 |
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | 27h27'44 | | ..... | | 26 | Cristiano De las Campos | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 6'13 |
Criterium International results
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Procycling | 10'42 | | ..... | | 53 | Cristiano De las Campos | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 37 |
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Thomas Hinault | AG2R La Mondiale | 4h56'13 | | ..... | | 7 | Cristiano De las Campos | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 2'20 |
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Thomas Hinault | AG2R La Mondiale | 6h44'33 | | ..... | | 22 | Cristiano De las Campos | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 2'20 |
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 14-01-2014 13:38
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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Hey fans,
I wish I could be a bit more cheerfull in my blog, but at the moment, there's no reason to celebrate. E3 was another disaster, hit a flat just before the Muur of Geraardsbergen, and by the time I got back, every big name was gone already. Of course the team worked really hard to get me back, but I can't expect miracles from them. Can't think of much else to say, except it can only go better in Wevelgem.
I'm a bit surprised the manager selected me for the Continental Championships, I guess he still believes in me somehow.
~ Rudy
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 14-01-2014 15:34
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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We sent the same 8 as to all the other cobbled classics, so no reason to go further in depth with the squad.
There's not really a lot to tell.
We didn't get any guys in the early break and if it wasn't for Rudy getting a flat at a crucial moment in the race and claiming he had help from the team I wouldn't even be sure we were actually in the race!
Bad luck I guess, hopefully it'll go better in Gent - Wevelgem...
| 1 |  Tom Boonen | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | 5h04'12 | | 90 | Rudy Verboven | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 15'18 | | 122 |  Ioannis Tamouridis | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 18'19 | | 130 |  Jure Kocjan | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 133 |  Juan José Oroz | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 167 |  Jon Aberasturi | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 21'30 | | 180 |  Tarik Chaoufi | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 23'19 | | 181 |  Stefan Radochla | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | DNF | André Schulze | Euskaltel - Euskadi | - |
Edited by Atlantius on 23-01-2014 20:48
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 14-01-2014 15:40
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Spoiler Rudy Verboven wrote:
Hey fans,
I wish I could be a bit more cheerfull in my blog, but at the moment, there's no reason to celebrate. E3 was another disaster, hit a flat just before the Muur of Geraardsbergen, and by the time I got back, every big name was gone already. Of course the team worked really hard to get me back, but I can't expect miracles from them. Can't think of much else to say, except it can only go better in Wevelgem.
I'm a bit surprised the manager selected me for the Continental Championships, I guess he still believes in me somehow.
~ Rudy
Don't worry too much about it Rudy. I don't think a single person who have ever seen a bike knows that Euskaltel doesn't offer a lot of depth on our cobbles squad and with teh pace set by Quickstep even strong riders such as Ballan and McDermott had to give up. Hopefully it'll help motivate you even more for Gent - Wevelgem.
I chose you for the Continental championships partly due to the fact that you'll have a lot easier communicating with the local officials but mostly because your training data show that you are stong on hills and we believe it will be a good learning experience for you as well as Cristiano.
When that is said I expect you to mainly fill a helping role fetsching bottles for the captains.
~ Alaon Etxeberdea
Edited by Atlantius on 23-01-2014 20:48
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 15-01-2014 16:39
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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We sent the same 8 as to all the other cobbled classics, so no reason to go further in depth with the squad.
According to the startlist and the full results we were present in Gent - Wevelgem.
Just in case you saw the race and wondered why we didn't participate: We did. Apparently. I think. Theoretically. Perhaps...
| 1 |  Peter Sagan | Cannondale Pro Cycling | 5h16'17 | | 97 | Rudy Verboven | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 7'28 | | 149 | Jure Kocjan | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 11'26 | | 150 | Juan José Oroz | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 154 | Ioannis Tamouridis | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 165 | Jon Aberasturi | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 12'48 | | 180 | Stefan Radochla | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 14'10 | | 185 | André Schulze | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 14'56 | | 187 | Tarik Chaoufi | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
Edited by Atlantius on 23-01-2014 20:49
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 15-01-2014 18:51
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15274
Joined: 21-07-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Your riders are pretty good in playing hide-and-seek, I must say 
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 18-01-2014 13:57
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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After some disappointing shows in the last couple of cobbled classics now is the time for Rudy to redeem himself. With the final TT in mind we don't expect too much in terms of the GC, but we expect Rudy to show consistency going for some good stage results in the first three stages, though we know that a stage win would be a small miracel with guys like Greipel on the starting line.
Once again Tarik made sure to show the jersey in the break today, while the pressure was on Rudy to redeem himself after some disappointing shows lately.
And boy did he do that!
He was helped to a good position for the sprint by Kocjan and prbably started his sprint a little early as he lost a good few places near the finish, but he proved that he is still hungry with a 4th place.
The boys seem really motivated to redeem themselves and today it's Oroz who gets in the break.
The stage being pretty much flat and without cobbles they were caught and we started preparing for a bunch sprint. Unfortunaltely that wasn't what was coming as a good few of the favourites started attacking while Rudy wasn't placed well enough to go after them.
Good on him to finish 5th in the sprint behind even though it doesn't give any points it's a nice show of spirit.
You know the drill. Oroz in the break most of the day. They get caught, Rudy places himself good at the back of the Astana train.
In spite of the good positioning Rudy only gets 13th on the stage.
He is showing some good signs, but he will have to find that last bit that makes him a huarenteed top 10 in stead of a guarenteed top 20...
I'm sure this TT was mainly here to harass us...
Edited by Atlantius on 27-01-2014 11:09
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Posted on 22-11-2024 06:51
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 19-01-2014 09:49
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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Hey fans,
And here we have it, the good feeling is back! Working hard for the boss today, and it payed off. Igor said he was feeling really good, so we set a hard pace in the peloton, bringing back anyone who dared attacking.
And it payed off, Igor Anton gives us an important win! This gives me some confidence back, I hope things will go a lot better from now on.
~ Rudy
Edited by Ollfardh on 19-01-2014 09:49
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 19-01-2014 11:18
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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This is an important race for us. Not only because it's Spanish, but also because we have a tradition of performing well with 2nd places in the last two editions and a win three years ago.
With that in mind we selected a strong team with last years 2nd place Antón as the captain and a very strong team to support him with Lobato and Verboven as back up should it turn in to a sprint in the end.
The Race 
With 20 km to go Fuglsang, Valverde, Garate and some other favourites decided to attack.
We decided that they wans't supposed to do that so Rudy, Egoi and Mikel reeled them back in.
So after his main competitors had wasted a lot of energy in the first break Antón went off right as they were caught.
Garate had a gap for a long time, but just as he saw the red flame Igor and Valverde caught up with him. perfect timing!
In the end it turned in to a sprint finish between Igor and Valverde and thanks to the great effort from the team Igor had the most left in the tank.
The boys were unfortunately too tired to do much in the sprint for 13th.
Always nice to steal the win from the Spanish and their doping-convicted stars...
Edited by Atlantius on 24-01-2014 22:08
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 19-01-2014 16:03
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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Hey boss, can we talk about the next races for a minutes? If possible, I'd like to ride all World Tour classics, and a few from the CT as well if possible.
I think I like Scheldeprijs and Brabantse Pijl, and I wouldn't mind give that Philly Championship a try. I'd also like to ride one of the small 5 day stage races, whichever you think suit me best. Well, I'll see what comes up on our racelist.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 21-01-2014 15:16
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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[img-l]https://hl2mp.tsgk.com/hlstatsimg/flags/es_states/euskadi.png[/img-l] Continental Championships [img-r]https://hl2mp.tsgk.com/hlstatsimg/flags/es_states/euskadi.png[/img-r]
You all know by now that the new UCI have decided to hold continental championships and of course we're participating there as well.
The route is the same for all continents and where it wasn't very hard for us to pick Tarik Chaoufi for both the Eufrazian ITT and RR we had to consider the squads for the European championships quite a lot more!
For the ITT we asked all our riders to ride 40 km as fast as possible. The four fastest were:
For the Road Race I chose a combination of the best punchers and the best climbers. Igor and Samuel are obviously the captains on a regular day, but everyone are free to try and mix things up as we aren't really considered to be among the top favourites.
[img-l]https://hl2mp.tsgk.com/hlstatsimg/flags/es_states/euskadi.png[/img-l] Mid-Season Calendar [img-r]https://hl2mp.tsgk.com/hlstatsimg/flags/es_states/euskadi.png[/img-r]
It's also time to consider where we should go in the 2nd part of the season.
The UCI have just confirmed that we will race Giro del Trentino as preparation for the Giro. Apart from the team time trial (where we need a lot of practice) the race should suit the team very well!
Before then we will send a flat-team to Rund um Köln and we will warm up to the Ardennes by racing Brabantse Pijl.
Later in teh season Verboven will be given captaincy in his home tour, Ronde van Belgiä. He will also race Tour de Luxembourg, though he won't get as undisputed a captaincy in that one.
We are currently considereing applying for a few more races in order to give both Verboven and Lobato enough chances to prove their worth.
[img-l]https://hl2mp.tsgk.com/hlstatsimg/flags/es_states/euskadi.png[/img-l] Mid-Season Goals [img-r]https://hl2mp.tsgk.com/hlstatsimg/flags/es_states/euskadi.png[/img-r]
With that in mind it's also time to set some goals for the coming months:
| | | | | |  | Vuelta al PaÃs Vasco | GC Podium | | | | | | | |  Giro d'Italia | Stage win | | | | | | | |  Tour de Suisse | Top 10 |
Edited by Atlantius on 23-01-2014 20:51
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 21-01-2014 15:29
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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Atlantius wrote:
| | | | | | | Vuelta al PaÃs Vasco | GC Podium | | | | | | | | Giro d'Italia | Stage win | | | | | | | | Tour de Suisse | Top 10 |
Countered goals:
Easy goal: Top 10 GC Dauphiné
Medium goal: Top 10 Fleche Wallonne
Hard goal: Stage win Belgie
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 21-01-2014 16:01
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Could have been worse, but you're really putting som pressure on Rudy with that Belgium goal 
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 21-01-2014 16:12
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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I was thinking of giving you top 10 Roubaix, but that would be overly cruel
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 21-01-2014 16:30
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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That would not have been hard, but rather impossible considering our effort on the WT-cobbles so far 
Anyway it's fine for a hard goal I think. Just found it funny that you made a hard goal in one of the races where you own rider carries the responibility 
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 21-01-2014 16:43
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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I gave Cervero a chance to redeem himself as well
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 22-01-2014 11:51
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
Joined: 21-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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After some consideration we have decieded to apply for a further three races (1 classic and 2 small stage races) in order to give all our riders the chances they deserve.
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Andrew Talansky
Oreste Ghita
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
