Stage 1
Stage 1 was a 2km prologue around Castelo Branco.
Our young loanee Carlos Verona was the first to take off and held on to the lead until Westra crossed the finish line. He ended up finishing the stage in 46th but he got the team some TV time.
Stage 2
A somewhat difficult start to the race with 5 categorized climbs!
In the end the stage was won by Johnny Hoogerland. Tamayo Martinez (34th), Infantino, Arredondo, Sabido and R.Fernandez all lost just 1'09.
Stage 3
With 10kms to go a massive crash took place in the Peloton and down went a bunch of riders. This unfortunately included Arredondo, Sabido and Verona.
Luckily Arredondo managed to get on his feet quickly enough to finish with the Peloton who all lost 4'06 to stage winner Konrad of Gazelle. Sabido and Verona lost massive chunks of time.
Stage 4
A relatively hilly stage greets the riders on stage 4 and young race leader Konrad will have some work to do.
At the top of the first KOM a couple of riders attack, this includes Tamayo Martinez.
11km to go for the breakaway group of 4 and Tamao Martinez attacks his companions with the gap to the hard chasing peloton at 1'45.
2km to go and he is alone but riders are coming up hard and fast.
Hatanake of Meiji comes through as well.
He takes the win while Tamayo Martinez takes 4th place for us. Most our riders finish in the Peloton 26 seconds back.
Stage 5
'The first real test for the GC guys', the stage is hilly in the middle and ends with a lovely summit climb.
Arredondo joins the BOTD with a couple of other riders.
30kms to go and the group is down to 3 as Di Maggio is dropped.
With 5km to go Taborre has already been dropped but now Arredondo works to drop Cardoso as well and he is the lone leader at this stage.
Arredondo is suffering on this final climb as Cataldo races away from Uran.
Only meters from the line and Arredondo is being caught.
And Arredondo has to settle for 2nd after a valiant ride which deserved victory in my mind. He will however gain a lot of time in the GC. Infantino finishes 20th losing 4'14 to Cataldo.
In the GC Arredondo jumps up to 5th! Tamayo Martinez is in 16th and Infantino 19th. Looking good for us thanks to the breakaway.
Stage 6
The breakaway won this stage as well but none of our riders joined it today. Our 3 riders finished in the Peloton which lost 20 seconds to the top favourites Bibby, Hooerland and Cataldo.
Stage 7
Stage 7 was similar to those before it with 1 breakaway rider winning the stage less than a minute ahead of the charging Peloton where everyone stayed safe.
Stage 8
A flat rated stage that isn't overly flat.
Sabido is one of 5 riders to join the breakaway today alongside Wang, Dahlberg, Formolo and Warbasse.
With 5kms to go it is Warbasse in the lead by 15 seconds.
Dalhberg decides to go as well.
Formolo also goes with 3km to go.
The sprint starts and they are all very close to each other.
Sabido and Wang come through very quickly.
But Wang is too fast and takes the stage win by 13 seconds to Sabido who manages to finish in 2nd place.
The GC changes slightly with Tamayo Martinez down to 20th and Infantino 23rd because of the breakaway riders involved.
Stage 9
The Queen stage of the race before tomorrow's deciding TT.
There is a 4 man break but none of our riders were included.
15km to go and Infantino launched an attak with only the one breakaway rider still out front.
10km to go and Beatncourt/Infantino have a one minute gap to the top few favourites, it isn't looking too good for the duo.
The group is back together with 5km to go.
With only a couple of kilometres remaining Uran powers ahead and somehow only Infantino is managing to follow him. The Colombian is on fire today!
Uran wins the stage by 8 seconds to Infantino and they have a comfortable 30+ second gap to 3rd place and 3'27 to the group that contains Arredondo.
In the GC with a TT and 1 other stage remaining it is Arredondo in 6th and Infantino 8th!
Stage 10
The dreaded 32.9km TT.
Infantino finished won in 28th while Arredondo finished down in 79th so time lost there. With 1 stage to go it is Infantino and Arredondo holding 8th and 9th in the GC.
Stage 11
The final stage was one we didn't get involved in and just protected our two leaders.
Tour de Azerbaijan Review 
Arnold Jeannesson
Julian David Arredondo
Delio Fernandez
Vassilis Adamou
Denis Menchov
Hugo Sabido
Tour of Utah 
Zuri Metzgete 
I've not been able to find the time to follow the lower divisions this year, so great to read pieces like this
GP de Montreal 
Cauberg Classic 
Our first classic win and from the rider who probably deserves it most after being in many breakaways throughout the season. 
At least someone is interested in Cayentano, might persuade me to fit him into renewals if a sale might be on the cards.
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
