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[PCT] Team Kenya Airways 2015
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| fintas |
Posted on 11-06-2015 20:10
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cio93 wrote:
The Schleck Fan wrote:
Yeah,Kwiatek is racing for 2nd in Portugal because Machado is there.
That's actually the big question mark, will Prio risk using more than a third of his race days on a race with only one mountain stage?
Reis will be the leader in Portugal that I'm pretty sure
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| Forever the Best |
Posted on 11-06-2015 20:13
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Hasn't Prio-Porto said that Portugal is their win goal?
If so,then Machado would be definitely here. |
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| fintas |
Posted on 11-06-2015 20:17
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The Schleck Fan wrote:
Hasn't Prio-Porto said that Portugal is their win goal?
If so,then Machado would be definitely here.
Risk 11 race days with only one mountain stage ??? no way
and Reis It has every chance of winning the race since many of the best avoid this race precisely because of 11 days
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| Forever the Best |
Posted on 11-06-2015 20:20
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fintas wrote:
The Schleck Fan wrote:
Hasn't Prio-Porto said that Portugal is their win goal?
If so,then Machado would be definitely here.
Risk 11 race days with only one mountain stage ??? no way
and Reis It has every chance of winning the race since many of the best avoid this race precisely because of 11 days I think he might send Costa afer all.
Costa,Reis or Machado at Portugal?That's the question |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 11-06-2015 20:22
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I say Costa.
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 19-06-2015 17:09
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 Barcelona Classic
 / 3rd Feb
Our second race of the season was the Barcelona Classic in Spain, a flat classic with plenty of climbing along the route. We sent Daryl Impey to lead a strong team which we hoped could get a strong result.
What happened though was more than we ever expected. With many favourites left behind on the hills, the race was to be decided as a selective bunch sprint. We formed a sprint train, with both Pirmin Lang and Marco Marcato putting Impey in the perfect position to sprint to an easy victory.
That wasn't our only good result though, as Marcato managed to hang onto 5th place after a very impressive leadout. Lang also finished in 11th despite launching his sprint from very far out, making this an extremely successful race for us.
Only the team's second ever classic win after another flat Spanish race, the Trofeo Luis Puig in January 2013, we collect a very good 128 points from this race which combined with the TDU puts us at over 30 points per raceday. Next up are mountainous stage races in Eritrea and Catalunya, where we will see if our form can continue with our new stage-racing squad on show.
Result
| 1 |  Daryl Impey | Team Kenya Airways | 4h28'29 | | 2 |  Giacomo Nizzolo | AMEX-Navigon | s.t. | | 3 |  Alexandr Nepomnyachsniy | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. | | ..... | | 5 | Marco Marcato | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. | | 11 |  Pirmin Lang | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. |
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 21-06-2015 20:09
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Posted on 23-11-2024 04:34
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 21-06-2015 20:08
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 Tour of Eritrea
Kwiatkowski and Kamzong sprinting to 3rd and 4th place on stage 4
Off the back of victory in Barcelona, the team went to Eritrea in the hope of continuing our incredible early season form. Michal Kwiatkowski, on his debut for the team, lead a team focusing on the overall, who backed up by Mwangi Samwel was hoping to use his all-round climbing ability to gain a top-10 or even top-5 GC finish.
After two flat stages, the GC fight began on the mountainous stage 3. Against all expectations, Kwiatek managed to beat many better climbers to finish 3rd on the stage, 1 minute behind stage winner Rujano. Then, on stage 4, the Pole seized control of the race with a long-range attack which saw him distance the rest of the GC contenders and move within 16 seconds of the GC lead, with another 3rd place finish.
The GC was to be decided on the final hilly stage then, and things were not looking good with 3 kilometres to go as Valverde threatened Kwiatek's GC position and Rujano had also attacked. But our new signing remained calm and with a huge finishing kick managed to catch and pass Rujano to finish fifth and take the GC, in his first race for the team!
He also managed to clinch the points jersey and young riders classification, making this race another hugely successful one for the team. With 310 points accumulated here, our current points per raceday is up at 41.5, in a great start to the season for the team. Kwiatkowski now goes to Catalunya to try and replicate his form.
Results
| Stage 3 |  Michal Kwiatkowski | 3rd | | Stage 4 | Michal Kwiatkowski | 3rd | | Stage 4 |  Clovis Kamzong | 4th | | Stage 6 | Michal Kwiatkowski | 5th | | Points | Michal Kwiatkowski | 1st | | Youth | Michal Kwiatkowski | 1st |
GC
| 1 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Kenya Airways | 24h15'41 | | 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Pendleton's | + 15 | | 3 |  José Rujano | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | + 51 | | ..... | | 14 |  Mwangi Samwel | Team Kenya Airways | + 7'32 |
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 26-06-2015 22:36
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 21-06-2015 20:20
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Huge, simple like that.
Kwiatek really overperformed on the mountain stage. A key to his later success. Adding his strong rides in the hilly stages, this is truly deserved. Season could have started worse for Kenya 
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 21-06-2015 20:28
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tsmoha wrote:
Huge, simple like that.
Kwiatek really overperformed on the mountain stage. A key to his later success. Adding his strong rides in the hilly stages, this is truly deserved. Season could have started worse for Kenya
Yeah, similar race to South Africa last year for us, which basically kept us up... not sure why he did so well on the mountain stage and better climbers struggled, mustn't have been as hard many expected. But he still had to make up the minute on Rujano on the hills, so not a complete fluke.
We definitely have overperformed so far, 40+ PPRD for any team is ridiculous. I think we're due a low-scoring race in Catalunya though. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 26-06-2015 22:34
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Volta a Catalunya
Kudus celebrating his first career win on stage 6
February continued for the team with another mountainous stage race, although we had much lower hopes than in Eritrea due to a packed startlist and a long ITT meaning that leader Kwiatkowski was likely to be less effective and a top-10 overall would be considered a success. The likes of Samwel and Bookwalter provided support, as riders who could also go for individual results.
The race started well with Bookwalter picking up 2nd in the opening prologue. However, in the following mountain stage both of our mountainous leaders struggled, with Kwiatkowski our best rider down in 22nd, putting him out of the top 20 GC. On the third hilly stage though, the Pole showed why he took the race in Eritrea with a great aggressive ride on the way to 3rd place on a hilly route to put him back into GC contention.
A surprising 5th place for Kwiatek on the flat stage 4 was a nice bonus before the GC battle began once again. The 43 kilometre ITT was first, with time-trial specialist Bookwalter claiming another impressive podium. More importantly though Kwiatkowski managed to remain in the top-10 GC, a strong ride from him. Then came the final stage of the race. Firstly, talented climber Kudus got in the early break, and he managed to beat his fellow attackers to claim his first career victory! Kwiatkowski continued his great form to attack with the top favourites and finish 10th, which managed to elevate him to 6th overall, another great result for the Pole.
With the youth classification also secured, that meant Catalunya finished as another great race for us, with over 20 points per raceday once again after being active at the front of the race on almost every stage. We'll hope to continue our great early-season form into two hilly classics - Gisborne GP and win goal Strade Bianche - which are our last races of the month.
Results
| Stage 1 |  Brent Bookwalter | 2nd | | Stage 2 | Michal Kwiatkowski | 22nd | | Stage 3 | Michal Kwiatkowski | 3rd | | Stage 4 | Michal Kwiatkowski | 5th | | Stage 5 | Brent Bookwalter | 3rd | | Stage 6 | Merhawi Kudus | 1st | | Mountain | Merhawi Kudus | 3rd | | Youth | Michal Kwiatkowski | 1st | | Youth | Merhawi Kudus | 2nd |
GC
| 1 | Alberto Contador | Bonsucro | 16h54'42 | | 2 |  Tiago Machado | Prio - Porto | + 4 | | 3 |  Martijn Keizer | Aegon - Lavazza | + 15 | | ..... | | 6 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Kenya Airways | + 3'02 | | 15 | Merhawi Kudus | Team Kenya Airways | + 8'56 |
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 01-07-2015 20:23
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 26-06-2015 22:42
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Impressive numbers, impressive Kwiatek! I mean seriously, if he can continues like that, he will be a real Top-10 contender for the final individual rankings. But more important, Kenya looks set to go for a top-spot in the early rankings. Always a great position to be in, for obvious reasons
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 26-06-2015 22:53
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Now you'll never let go off Kwiatek <.<
Gratz on the win and hopefully you can fight for Top 5 ^^
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 26-06-2015 23:02
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tsmoha - Yeah, he's doing well beyond my expectations. Liking how he's always attacking and at the front, even on the flat stages. Top-10 individual for would be great, as would be being in promotion contention at the next rankings update. We'll have to see
sgdanny - I wasn't planning to anyway, he looks like a great option for training in the coming seasons. Never say never though  |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 01-07-2015 20:22
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Strade Bianche
 / 25th Feb
Ben Nasser sprinting through the leading group in Siena
The Strade Bianche was our first goal race of the season, where a win was required to please our sponsors. Ben Nasser and Impey both attended to try and achieve that goal, but unfortunately the team could only manage 3rd place. Ben Nasser did well to outsprint several other top puncheurs in Siena out of a select group which attacked away late on, to claim another podium here like last year. Unfortunately he wasn't strong enough to stay with McCarthy and Kelderman, with the latter of which taking an impressive win.
Result
| 1 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Puma - SAP | 4h14'34 | | 2 | Jay McCarthy | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. | | 3 |  Hassen Ben Nasser | Team Kenya Airways | + 13 |
 Gisborne GP
/ 25th Feb
Kwiatkowski crossing the line in 3rd
On the same day we also had another hilly classic, the Gisborne GP in New Zealand. After a strong month, we sent Kwiatkowski along to look for another good result. The Pole delivered with another 3rd place in a similar way to in Italy, with the race coming down to a sprint between a select group of the best puncheurs in the race. That meant we got another good points boots from both races with two podiums, carrying on our good form.
Result
| 1 |  Maxime Monfort | Gazelle | 5h32'57 | | 2 |  Domenik Klemme | Grupo Nutresa | s.t. | | 3 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. |
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 01-07-2015 20:22
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| cio93 |
Posted on 01-07-2015 20:23
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You're going to promote.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 01-07-2015 20:25
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Gazelle and Kenya both going strong towards a great looking first rankings update
Two more nice results/podiums there, while especially Gazelle with Furdi did extraordinary well in Italy. I think Ben Nasser did pretty well, too: yap, missing a goal. But let's be honest, a 3rd place ain't disastrous against this competition!
Kwiatek is just Kwiatek. Nuff said.
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 01-07-2015 22:03
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cio - Let's hope so! 
tsmoha - Yeah Gazelle have had a nice start as well, and look like having a great season once again. Would be good if we can keep pace with them, as I had them down to promote comfortably in my preview.
In hindsight the startlist was tough and 3rd is indeed a good result. Got to be a bit disappointed whenever you miss a goal though. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 02-07-2015 18:33
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Kenya Mountain Classic
 / 7th Mar
| Rider | MO | Role | | Mwangi Samwel | 79 | Leader | | Merhawi Kudus | 75 | Domestique | | Simon Kimeli | 74 | Domestique | | Clovis Kamzong | 73 | Domestique | | Daniel Njoroge | 72 | Domestique |  Bonaventure Uwizeyimana | 69 | Domestique | | Hussein Manfred | 69 | Domestique | | Hillary Kiprotich | 64 | Domestique |
An all-African team goes to the team's home race in the hope of pleasing our home fans in Kenya. Our best Kenyan, Mwangi Samwel, gets a rare opportunity to lead on a profile suited to his climbing ability. He'll struggle to repeat his 7th placee from last year though, with a strong startlist expected. However, he has a strong support team so another top-10 will be the target.
 Duo Differdange
 / 13th Mar
| Rider | TT | Role | | Brent Bookwalter | 79 | Leader | | Maciej Bodnar | 77 | Leader |
We then travel to Luxembourg for an unusual race, the Duo Differdange which will see our two best time-trialists ride together against the clock in a C1 classic which should see the best time-trialists in the division in attendance. New signings Maciej Bodnar and Brent Bookwalter are our representatives, and they should be in contention for a top-5 finish if they ride well.
E3 Prijs
 / 27th Mar
| Rider | CO | SP | Role | | Marco Marcato | 73 | 75 | Leader | | Hillary Kiprotich | 66 | 59 | Domestique | | Clovis Kamzong | 65 | 65 | Domestique |  Bassirou Konte | 64 | 62 | Domestique |  Jörgen Matt | 62 | 58 | Domestique | | Daniel Njoroge | 53 | 64 | Domestique | | Hussein Manfred | 50 | 62 | Domestique | | Bonaventure Uwizeyimana | 50 | 56 | Domestique |
Despite not being our favourite terrain, we go to Belgium for a cobbled classic in the hope of claiming some points. The E3 Prijs is one of two cobbled races we will ride this year, which will both be lead by Marco Marcato. The Italian will be looking to use decent cobbled ability and a strong sprint to gain a few points for the team, while the other riders look for experience.
 Seskin Classic
/ 29th Mar
| Rider | HI | SP | Role | | Hassen Ben Nasser | 79 | 70 | Leader |  Tarik Chaoufi | 75 | 61 | Domestique | | Bassirou Konte | 74 | 62 | Domestique |  Stéphane Rossetto | 73 | 64 | Domestique | | Hillary Kiprotich | 73 | 59 | Domestique |  Redouane Chaabane | 73 | 58 | Domestique | | Pirmin Lang | 70 | 75 | Domestique |  Lotto Petrus | 69 | 63 | Domestique |
Our final race in March is the Seskin Classic in Ireland, a hilly race where we are lead by Hassen Ben Nasser. The Tunisian will look to build on a podium at Strade Bianche against a hopefully weaker field due to the race's C1 status. His sprint should give him an advantage on a hilly circuit, and with plenty of support we are hopeful of a good result. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 20-07-2015 20:58
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Kenya Mountain Classic
/ 7th Mar
Samwel finishing down in 38th
We came to our home race with hopes of continuing our good start to the season on home soil in front of our fans. However, things did not go to plan, with Kenyn leader Mwangi Samwel having an off-day and finishing down in 38th place, a big contrast to his 7th place finish last year. Eritrean talent Merhawi Kudus was our best finish in the end in 26th place.
Result
| 1 | Alberto Contador | Bonsucro | 4h44'07 | | 2 | Martijn Keizer | Aegon - Lavazza | + 39 | | 3 | Ryan Eastman | Project: Africa | + 1'45 | | ..... | | 26 | Merhawi Kudus | Team Kenya Airways | + 6'41" |
Duo Differdange
/ 13th Mar
Bodnar and Bookwalter riding to a disappointing 9th
We then travelled to Luxembourg for the Duo Differdange which saw our two best time-trialists ride together against the clock. Maciej Bodnar and Brent Bookwalter were billed as top-5 candidates beforehand but unfortunately they couldn't deliver, finishing down in a disappointing 9th place, 53" down on the winners Karcher - Adira.
Result
| 1 | Karcher-Adira | 1h04'41 | | 2 |  RBC Pro Cycling | + 3 | | 3 |  cycleYorkshire s/b ASDA - Savers | + 5 | | ..... | | 9 | Team Kenya Airways | + 53 |
E3 Prijs
/ 27th Mar
Kiprotich riding in the early breakaway
Cobbles aren't our favourite terrain by any means, and it showed at E3 Prijs as we scored 0 points on our trip to Belgium. Leader Marco Marcato wasn't strong enough to stay at the front of the race and use his sprint to his advantage, and finished over 7 minutes down in 42nd. The highlight of our race was Hillary Kiprotich showing our colours to the cameras in the breakaway.
Result
| 1 |  Martin Grashev | Lululemon/Bulgaria Blackfish | 4h54'45 | | 2 | Pieter Vanspeybrouck | Team BPost | s.t. | | 3 | Danny Summerhill | Azteca-NBCSN | + 1'14 | | ..... | | 42 | Marco Marcato | Team Kenya Airways | + 7'38" |
Seskin Classic
/ 29th Mar
Ben Nasser on the attack early on
Our final race in March was the Seskin Classic in Ireland, where Hassen Ben Nasser lead a team hoping for a top-5 as a minimum. However, it was once again a poor race for the team, with Ben Nasser spending his energy on a couple of unsuccessful early attacks and being unable to finish in the top-10, eventually sprinting to 15th. That ended a month of four poor races for the team, none of which went to expectations. We hope our good fortunes return in April.
Result
| 1 | Maxime Monfort | Gazelle | - | | 2 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. | | 3 | Jonathan Bellis | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | | ..... | | 15 | Hassen Ben Nasser | Team Kenya Airways | + 51 |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 26-07-2015 22:53
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Tour of South Africa
| Rider | HI | Role | | Hassen Ben Nasser | 79 | Leader | | Daryl Impey | 73 | Leader | | Marco Marcato | 73 | Domestique | | Stéphane Rossetto | 73 | Domestique | | Brent Bookwalter | 72 | Domestique | | Pirmin Lang | 70 | Domestique | | Lotto Petrus | 69 | Domestique | | Maciej Bodnar | 68 | Domestique |
We have good memories of this race after winning it last year. Defending champion Ben Nasser returns to try and replicate last year's win. We also have Impey riding his home race and we hope he can pick up a couple of stages. For the TTT we have also brought Bookwalter and Bodnar, so hopefully we can pick up more good results in South Africa.
 Tour d'Azerbaijan
| Rider | MO | Role | | Merhawi Kudus | 75 | Leader | | Simon Kimeli | 74 | Free Role | | Clovis Kamzong | 73 | Domestique | | Daniel Njoroge | 72 | Domestique | | Redouane Chaabane | 70 | Domestique | | Hillary Kiprotich | 64 | Domestique | | Tarik Chaoufi | 62 | Domestique | | Lotto Petrus | 54 | Domestique |
Next up is our only venture into C2 races this year as we race the Tour d'Azerbaijan for the first time. After winning a stage of Catalunya, Kudus gets a chance to lead the team with Kimeli also here as support. We hope the young Eritrean will get a top 10 in what should be a packed startlist at Continental level.
Tour de Romandie
| Rider | MO | Role | | Mwangi Samwel | 79 | Free Role | | Michał Kwiatkowski | 77 | Leader | | Brent Bookwalter | 72 | Domestique | | Stéphane Rossetto | 71 | Domestique | | Bonaventure Uwizeyimana | 69 | Domestique | | Pirmin Lang | 65 | Domestique | | Bassirou Konte | 64 | Domestique | | Maciej Bodnar | 59 | Domestique |
Our third race of the month is another stage race, this time where Kwiatkowski gets a chance to continue his good season so far. We hope he can benefit from the hilly stage in the race and his good mountain and prologue skills to get a good overall position. Samwel is also here for the mountain stage.
Dutch Food Valley Classic
/ 30th Apr
| Rider | SP | Role | | Daryl Impey | 80 | Leader | | Marco Marcato | 75 | Domestique | | Maciej Bodnar | 67 | Domestique | | Clovis Kamzong | 65 | Domestique | | Stéphane Rossetto | 64 | Domestique | | Bassirou Konte | 62 | Domestique | | Tarik Chaoufi | 61 | Domestique | | Bonaventure Uwizeyimana | 56 | Domestique |
Of the two flat classics closing the month we chose to send Impey to the Netherlands due to it being a bit tougher than the profile in Brazil. Leadout man Marcato is also here, but we expect a tough startlist and as the South African isn't the fastest sprinter we would be happy with a top 10.
 Interlagos GP
/ 30th Apr
| Rider | SP | Role | | Pirmin Lang | 75 | Leader | | Daniel Njoroge | 64 | Domestique | | Lotto Petrus | 63 | Domestique | | Hussein Manfred | 62 | Domestique | | Hillary Kiprotich | 59 | Domestique | | Redouane Chaabane | 58 | Domestique | | Jörgen Matt | 58 | Domestique | | Simon Kimeli | 56 | Domestique |
Impey going to the Dutch Food Valley Classic means we have to send a weak startlist here to Brazil. Lang does get a chance to go for some minor points but we don't expect anything and would consider a breakaway a success.
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 29-07-2015 21:44
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