The Eagle-Eyed members might have already noticed that the season has begun, but that is not going to stop Sodexo ProCycling Management finally posting a much delayed Calendar reveal with the full confirmed C1/C2 races schedule.

As previously released, we were delighted to find out that all race applications were successful, with the team racing a predominately C2 Calendar season, with the addition of a single nationally-focused C1 race.

Date	Race	Country	Status
Jan
10	Clasico San Cristobal	Cuba	C2
.
Feb
17-28	Tour de Middle East	Middle East	C2
.
Mar
3-9	Tour de San Luis	Argentina	C2
25	GP Tokyo	Japan	C2
.
Apr
11	Cauberg Claasic	Netherlands	C2
22-25	Tour de Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	C2
.
May
15-19	Tour de Taiwan	Taiwan	C2
.
Jun
6	Lincoln GP	Great Britain	C2
17-22	Giro del Capo	South Africa
22	Hanko Classic	Finland
.
Jul
25-29	Tour de Slovenie	Slovenia	C2
.
Aug
16	Cigar City Twilight Brewing GP	United States	C2
.
Sep
1-5	Herald Sun Tour	Australia	C2
26	GP Plouay	France	C1
.
Oct
4-6	Tour de Faso	Burkina Faso	C2

A full combined schedule, with the C2HC races, can be found on the first page.

In the blink of eye, January come and gone for the Man Game teams, and the new season has started at a high pace with lots of exciting racing.


First up was the African Championships, with Baz, Chaabane, Thaouta, Ait El Abdia and Homrani all taking to the Road Race for their respective countries.

Our young Gabonese stagaire, Cedric Thaouta, found himself in the days break, attacking early in the race and holding out before the big named riders made their moves towards the end. The Best Placed finisher for the team was Wajdi Homrani, sprinting to 22nd place, 3'23" down on the new African Champion, Dan Craven.



Sodexo's first official race came at the Clasico San Cristobal. Hilly in profile, we came here with Chérel and Gougeard gunning for glory on the line. Mikael showed his intentions with 12km remaining, attacking the other favourites and causing a select group of 16 to form on the run in to the finish. His efforts sadly resulted in a weakened final sprint, as Jose Mendes took the victory in the first CT race of the season. Our man finished just outside the Top 10, in 11th, 1'40" down on the Portuguese winner.


The month of January finished with the Great Ocean Road Classic, where flat, open roads greeted a very strong start list in Port Campbell, and a bunch sprint was expected at the finish. Thire and Haddou were the best hope of a good result for the team, however, as echelons formed towards the end of the stage, both riders were caught the wrong side of the splits. Argentine Maximiliano Richeze showed why he will be the man to beat this season in the CT, comfortably taking the win. Thire was our best placed finsher in 62nd, as all the team finished 14'38" down on the World B Champion.


February will see the team travel the globe and face our first Goal of the Season, with racing taking part at the Benelux Challenge, Tour of the Middle East, Geraardsbergen-Bosberg and GP Sallanches.

After a lacklustre start in January, there was the small glimmer of hope that February might be where the team could come into their own and look to prove the early doubter's wrong about their pre-season prediction being the CT's whipping boys.


Sadly, the first race at Benelux Challenge passed by without a sighting from our Sodexo boys. Punctures and crashes marred the opening stages for Turgot and Coyot, whilst the combinations of hills and cobbles meant there was no stand out performer from the team. An attack from Gougeard and Antomarchi on Stage 5 showed promise, but it was too little too late. A podium from Pineau on the final stage lightened the mood in the camp slightly, but it was a long week as Marc de Maar took the overall victory, with Gougeard over 18'00� back in 59th place.




The Tour of the Middle East came next and it looked like the race would follow the same trend as in the Benelux. Nothing from the first three stages, not even a day in the break, was all changed around when Chaabane made himself into the BotD on the first Mountain stage, and ultimately finishing the stage just after the main group of the favourites. This was almost the change in fortune the team needed, as the next stages saw Jonathon Thire take three Top 10 finishes(including one Top 5 result) in a row, as well as a days in the break for the likes of Homrani, Gallopin and Kern.

Our time in the Middle East ended with two more Top 10 finishes, both for Gallopin, following the fantastic ride in the ITT on Stage 11, and other day in the break on Stage 12. GC honours went to the Australian Trent Lowe after a great battle with Gian Piero Signorini in the Mountains, as Nabil Baz was our best placed rider on GC, in 41th place over 42'51� down.


The One-Day Classics of Geraardsbergen – Bosberg and Sallaches GP fell during the Tour of the Middle East, with the latter of the two being our first goal of the season. The less said about either of these races the better to be honest! Geraardsbergen – Bosberg went by with nothing to show for the team, as Sebastian Langeveld took the victory on the cobbles, whilst both Chérel and Gougeard missed the key moves in Sallaches and finished just inside the Top 50, over 4'03� behind the winner Jukka Vastaranta. We had targeted a Top 5...


So onwards to March, which is very short in terms of racing for the team. Just the two races, with the Tour of San Luis in Argentina at the start of the month, and ending it in Japan at the Tokyo GP.

March was a short and sweet month for the Sodexo team. Two races in total, with one at the start of the month in Argentina, and another at the end of the month in Japan. Two completely different races, but with two identical outcomes.


First up was the Tour de San Luis, where Nabil Baz was looking to improve on his last outing in the Middle East. Said Haddou was also our leader in the Sprints, hoping to generally just improve and finish highly on a profile that didn't contain a single metre of climbing.

The first two stages came and went with no showing at all from a rider in the team. Stage Three provide the team with a Top 10 finish, however it was in the form of Hichem Chaabane, and not Baz, who continued to perform above and beyond our expectations this season.



Tony Gallopin missed out on another Top 10 this season in the ITT on Stage 4, before Nabil finally showed why we took a chance on him with a 6th place on Stage 5 and then 9th on Stage 6, to rise to 26th on GC. It is just a pity that he lost time on those around him in the TT. If not, he could have placed very well in the Overall Standing.

The race ended with another game of hide-and-seek for Haddou, as Mauricio Soler finished safely in the peleton to take the 2015 Title. Nabil Baz was our highest finisher, 3'30" down on the Colombian, in 26th place.


From Argentina, we jetted off to Japan at the end of the month for the Tokyo GP, where the management began to question whether sending our Where's Wally Impersonator Said Haddou as Leader was a good idea or not. Like in San Luis, it was the latter. Not a Hill in sight on the route, but he is one of the riders to lose contact with 15km to go.


Just 3km later, our race was all but over, when back-up Sebastian Turgot also was blown out the back. A late attack from Andy Tennant give the Sprinter's Teams to think about with 10km to go, but he would be caught as the Aussie Michael Matthews paid back his team for the great work in the final kilometres to take the win. The first of our guys to finish was Julien Antomarchi, over 2'32" down on the day's winner.


Shortly before the Tokyo GP, the current CT Standings were released, and it did not make for pretty reading for our Management Team. sits in 25th place (out of 26 teams) on 22 points, 421 points behind the Division Leaders Strava.

We will continue to strive on through this season, and already plans have been put in place for next season, in terms of Riders possibly leaving the team, as well as Transfer Targets to come in and significantly improve the squad on a whole.

The release of the March Rankings had a real effect on the confidence of the Sodexo boys. Whilst we were never going to be setting the CT division alight before the opener, but we had hoped for more. April was the first opportunity to bounce back.


The first chance came at the Zimnyanya GP in Belarus. The stage was flat, and looked certain to end in a bunch sprint, where we had Said Haddou and Jonathan Thire as our main riders. Sadly however, Haddou continued his season-long game of Sprinters Hide & Seek, finishing a lowly 112th place, whilst Thire faired no better in 98th.

Aleksandr Serebriakov sprinted to the victory, with Corioni and World B Champion Richeze rounded out the podium.


One of the early season highlights for the team was in the Clasico San Cristobel, the Man Game season opener. Mikael Cherel rode to a creditable 11th, so when it came to the Cauberg Classic. Cherel would be our leader here, with Alexis Gougeard a more than suitable Plan B.

In the end, the race didn't go as hoped - a strong breakaway formed early in the stage, and despite a fightback from the favourites, would go on to take the victory. Matthias Wengelin attacked late in the stage for a great victory, 27" ahead of Eros Capecchi and Frantisek Rabon, who acceleration with 25km to go was only enough for a podium place. Cherel was the best placed of the Sodexo riders, sprinting to 22nd place, 2'27 behind the winner.


From Europe to Malaysia, as we jetted off to the Tour de Langkawi, where we targeted the Mountains and a Top 10 on GC. Nabil Baz led the team, and was offered support in the form of Wadji Homrani, Hichem Chaabane, Nicolas Rousseau and Tony Hurel.

The opening stages were quiet affairs, as the Sprinters took control. Anthony Lavoine continued a great season for Fablok by taking the first two stages, before it was time for the GC men to show themselves on Stage 3. As Gilanipoor took the victory and Yellow, Baz came home with the other favourites, and sat just outside the Top 10, 1'35" down.




Stage 4 was a day for the sprinters, before the GC battle started back up on Stage 5. The final climb saw attack after attack from the big names of the peleton, and Darwin Atapuma was the strongest on the day. Nabil rode within himself, responding to the main attacks before riding a great 7th place on the stage, and 9th on GC.

Stage 6 was a day for the breakaway, as Jonathan Millan held off his escapee companions for the win. A GC shake up happened on Stage 7 & 8, as first Maurico Soler and then Maky Roman suffered from incidents that ruled them out of the Top 10 on GC. Nabil moved up to 7th in the Overall Standings, but really needed to be attentive and not lose any time to his rivals.




As other around him continued to lose time, our Algerian Climber kept himself out of trouble in the final two Stages. Stage 9 went to the breakaway (just!), as Adam Pierzga held off the peleton in the last 20 metres, before Michael Matthews rounded off the race with victory on Stage 10.

The race in Langkawi was fantastic for the team. It was an all great performance by everyone, and it ended with Nabil Baz finishing 7th on the Overall Standings, 2'17" down on the Winner, Darwin Atapuma.


With our A-Team in Malaysia, our Second Team flow out to the Tour of Azerbaijan, targeting the breakaways. In truth, it as a quiet race, with Tony Gallopin infiltrating the day's break on Stage 2. Víctor Hugo Orozco took the Overall Crown, ahead of Sorensen and team-mate [img]Víctor Hugo Orozco[/img] Weber. Gallopin was our best placed man, way down the standings in 38th (+ 8'55".


Just two races lay ahead in May, in the form of Tour of Scotland and Tour of Taiwan. Thanks to Nabil, confidence was back up heading into the month and it showed that we were willing to fight on, and prove that we can win the battle at the wrong end of the CT Standings.

Upon the latest release of the CT Standings, an announcement has been made by the Lead Sponsors, Sodexo SA, that they will not be extending their current contract at the end of the season.

The French Company, based in Paris, initially signed a 1-year contract at the beginning of year with the team, however after a difficult start to the season, a decision was made by the Company's Board not to continue their association with the sport of Cycling.

A number of Minor Sponsors, in the form of Look Cycle International, Ekoi Helmets and AccorHotels, has also made the decision not to continue their connection with the French CT team once the 2015 draws to a close.

Whilst it is a big shock to the Management Team at Sodexo ProCycling to hear the news, efforts will be made to find the right sponsors in order to take the team forward from 2016 and beyond.

Onwards to May, and with talks underway for a new sponsor for 2016, two races took the focus of the Sodexo Management.


The Tour de Taiwan was up first in Asia, where our Puncheurs had their chance to shine with little or no pressure on their backs to gain a result.

With a small chance of a Top 10 result on GC, we looked to the breakways as our main priority. On Stage 1, Antomarchi attacks early in the stage, and formed the escaping trio. Sadly missing out on the KoM, he would be pulled back with 10km to go, when Frantisek Rabon jumped away to shock the Sprinters and take the win.

Stage 2 went to the day's break, missed by our guys, but Steve Morabito took the win and Yellow on the short climb in Tainan City.




The Queen Stage came on Stage 3, and our focus turned to Cherel, who was lying just outside the Top 20. As the attacks began on the run into the finish, Mikael was fighting to stay on the back, and ended with him taking 14th place, '14" behind stage winner Ethan Weiss.

The final stage was flat, and Alexis Gougeard found himself part of a large 11 man break, and it almost made it to the finish. 4km to go, the Sprint Team decided enough was enough, and Michael Matthews was the fastest on the line.

Morabito's victory on Stage 2 was enough to take the Overall Crown, with Queen-stage winner Weiss and opener-winner Rabon then completing the podium. Cherel was our highest placed man, finishing 16th on GC, 3'00" down on the Actavis winner.


Away from the humidity of the Taiwan, our main Climbing team headed to the UK for the inaugural Tour of Scotland - a race that will live long in the memory of the Sodexo Management, and deserves it's own special report.

Part Deux of our May Review, and a race that we thought was worthy of its own Special Report. So here it is - the inaugural Tour of Scotland!


Our main Climbing Team headed to the North of the UK, gunning for our Second Goal of the Season - Top 10 finish on GC. Nabil Baz led the team, hoping to back up his results in San Luis and Langkai over recent months. A repeat of either of them would see a successful goal. Support was offered in the form of Bonnafond, Homrani and Chaabane, who had all been loyal domestiques so far this season.

The opening stages favoured the Sprinters, but we still needed to be attentive. As Aleksandr Serebriakov took the first stage by less than a tyre's width, a number of GC men lost over 2 minutes, ultimately taking them out of the running on Stage One. A City Criterium around Motherwell made up Stage Two and Serebriakov took his 2nd win of the race in a row.




The hilly Stage 3 was more about making sure time was not lost to the other Race Favourites, and as Christoph Pfingsten, Nabil lost just 16" to a small group which attacked towards the finish. Job done on the first potential race defining stage.

Stage 4 and Anthony Lavoine finally got his win in Scotland after two podium places, and the break had it's day on Stage 5, with Matej Jurco taking the victory at Dlumnarig Castle, with the main peleton just 32" behind him and his fellow breakaway companions.




The Queen Stage came on the final day in Scotland, as the peleton hit the 22% climbs of Bealach Na Ba. The short stage, and terrible weather, caused havoc in the peleton. With 13km to go, Nabil was part of the final selection, with Bonnafond for added support heading to the final climb. Our Algerian climber was riding well, and showed his hand with 3.5km to go.

The gap opened quickly, and riding hard, he was provisionally in Yellow with less than 2km to go. The tarmac turned to dirt, but that was not stopping our man - our first Man Game victory was in sight, and the GC victory in tow. 1'00" later Tyler Brandt took second place, with Richard Ochoa Quintero, winning the battle for the final podium place.

It was an outstanding stage for Sodexo, and one that will live on in the memory of the entire Management Team.

Last month, it was revealed that Sodexo SA would end its association with the team after one-year at the close of this season. Today, following a rise in fortune on the road in May, we can happily reveal some of the sponsors for 2016 and beyond.

Current minor sponsor Mavic will step up to become one of the team's main sponsors, whilst Peugeot Cycles and Louis Garneau will replace Look and Ekoi as Bike and Helmet Supplier respectively.

Whilst Mavic and Peugeot will continue the team's French focus in the Transfer Market, Louis Garneau gives us a presence in Canada, an area that will be looked at once the 2016 Transfer Season opens.

The Management Team are delighted with the quick progress to replace the outgoing sponsorship deals, and will soon be able to reveal the second Main Sponsor and one final minor sponsor after the end of this month's racing.