EBH in PCT will be nice to follow, even if I would have had him in my team
Grøndahl Jansen was high on my shortlist aswell dont remember why I did not put in a little bid on him, cobbel guys from Norway/Sweden are there not many of.
Congrats on those signings and good luck in the season!
Fingers crossed EBH can perform according to his stats for you. At least he can't blame the team behind him, as your depth for the hills looks very nice. Will also be interesting to see what Wisniowski does now that he's maxed, his allround stats could see him be a PCT Van Avermaet, I think. Though, especially Burghardt might do something about that.
As a Norwegian team, I'm obviously hoping you promote, but a lot comes down to EBH and his performance, I guess. If he does according to his stats, I think you should promote, eventhough winning PCT could prove difficult with so much of the budget spent on him. Anyway, good luck!
Boasson Hagen ends January in style for Grieg-Eftel
It's been a hectic few days for the team, with four races already done. For the season opener, Grieg were lucky enough to get a wildcard for Badaling International, as well as going to the Down Under Classic.
The Chinese PT race was a first opportunity to see Edvald Boasson Hagen in the Grieg-jersey, and he could also ride with out any big pressure, knowing that we couldn't score any points. The Norwegian did a solid race, and won the sprint in the bunch, eventually finishing fourth, in the race won by Peter Sagan.
In the Down Under Classic our main man was Luke Rowe. In a race that is known for being quite unpredictable, Rowe managed a decent sprint, finishing 11th in the end.
As always, Grieg-Eftel participated in the Tour Down Under. After selling Christopher Juul-Jensen and releasing Travis Meyer (damn you) and Guillaume Levarlet, we went with Calvin Watson and Kristoffer Skjerping as our captains. On home soil, Watson did a good race. After finishing 7th on the stage to Willunga Hill, he secured a 11th place in the GC, and ended the race as number to in the U25 rankings, on the same time as winner Matej Mohoric.
While there is still a few races left in January, our month racing wise ended with the Colombo Classic. As the first race in the PTHC category, we went to Sri Lanka hoping for a podium for Boasson Hagen. And in his first "real" race for Grieg, he really delivered. With an early attack on the last climb, he managed to go solo all the way to the finishing line, taking his first win for Grieg-Eftel.
– I'm very proud to be on the top of the podium here today. The team showed a lot of faith in me in the transfer window, with the fee that they paid. It's been a huge pressure for me as well, so I'm very glad to get the first win here already, he said afterwards.
February, here we come!
Next month we'll see Grieg-Eftel in six races. First up is the Tour de Pologne.
A stage race with four hilly stages and three flat stages. On paper it's very well suited to Boasson Hagen, but the Norwegian made it clear to the management before the season that he wanted to aim for the classics. Therefore he is only riding stages races in Pais Vasco and Tour of Ukraine, and he won't be present in Poland. Instead it's a team very similar to the team in Tour Down Under.
Calvin Watson (78 hill) and Kristoffer Skjerping (77 hill) enter the race as leaders, with the hope that they manage a place in the top 20. The management is other wise hoping for an offensive display, sending the ever attacking Michael Olsson, Michael Vink, Rhys Gillett, Samuel Caldeira, Sindre Lunke and Truls Korsaeth.
While we have Tour de Pologne, the team will also participate in two cobbled classics. First up is Gent-Wevelgem.
Lukasz Wisniowski is heading into the race as our captain, aiming for a top five. He will be supported by our main sprinter, Luke Rowe, who finished 2nd in this race in 2014.
Josh Atkins, Johan Lindgren, Mads Würtz, Øystein Stake Laengen, Søren Kragh Andersen and Amund Grøndahl Jansen will be at their service.
After Gent-Wevelgem, seven of those eight riders travel to Portugal and the Viana do Castelo.
After looking at the profile, Luke Rowe decided that it was to hilly for him. Coming in for him is Shane Archbold. Given Wisniowski also climbs decently on the hills, this is a good chance for him, and we'll enter the race with the hope of getting a place on the podium.
While we can't score any ranking points, the race should be a good chance for Edvald Boasson Hagen to build on his win in Colombo. A podium is yet again the goal for Eddy, and he'll be supported by Calvin Watson, Kristoffer Skjerping, Michael Vink, Rhys Gillett, Sindre Lunke, Truls Korsaeth and Amund Grøndahl Jansen.
Our last two races of the month is a double-header. First up is the Strade Bianche.
The HC-rated classic will see Boasson Hagen in action yet again. The Italian classic might not be the most selective, but we are hoping for a tough race, where Boasson Hagen can prove to be amongst the very best.
For support he has Kristoffer Skjerping, Rasmus Sterobo, Michael Vink, Rhys Gillett, Sindre Lunke, Amund Grøndahl Jansen and Søren Kragh Andersen.
Concluding February for Grieg-Eftel is the Tour of Almaty.
Calvin Watson will for the third time this season be given leadership, where he hopefully can get a place amongst the top 15 riders. The Aussie will be supported by Michael Olsson, Shane Arcbhold, Johan Lindgren, Mads Würtz, Ken Sebastian Våssdal, Øystein Stake Laengen and Truls Korsaeth.
Great month for you! EBH with the dominant showing in Sri Lanka and also a 11th place in Down Under by Watson is good.
I don't like the two PTHC races for EBH. Bad announcement for me when I'm in both stage races, too. Was curious whether you would go for the higher available points or the weaker startlists of HC races but had to be expected
Probably the month's most interesting race from your team's perspective is Viana do Castelo as it's the moment for Wisniowski to prove he's as good as I think.
Looking forward to Castelo gonna be an absolute blast! See you guys there Also massive congreatulations on EBH's win. Marquee signing paying off in the first classic of the season is always great.
@knockout Yeah, happy with how January went. Wasn't sure about how Watson would be as a leader, given he maxed before the season, but he looks pretty decent.
Wasn't all sure about EBHs calendar, but opted for classics. So that also means a couple of C1 races actually. Might have been smarter to drop Ukraine for Poland, given the more hilly stages in Poland, and a C1 classic, but we'll see how it turns out
Very excited about Castelo. Remember Trentin doing a good race back in the first edition, and it certainly would've been perfect for him, but should suit Wisniowski as well. Excited to see him as well as a maxed rider.
@wj Looking forward to it too! Hopefully it will be a good one. Yeah, very happy to get that first win already. Thanks!
The season is flying by, and February is already behind us. After a good start in January, it was a more mixed month for Grieg-Eftel in February. Tour de Pologne started well with a 8th place for Calvin Watson on the first stage, but it was mostly downwards from there.
During the seven day long stage race, we also had two cobbled classics. That also meant a season debut for Lukasz Wisniowski. The big Pole seemed to be in good shape, but unfortunately both Gent-Wevelgem and Viana do Castelo proved to be quite non-selective, ending in a 5th and 8th place for Wisniowski, while Mads Würtz also got amongst the point scorers with his 16th place in Gent-Wevelgem.
The Norwegian was again the big favourite for Strade Bianche a few days later. Unfortunately he couldn't get away before the final, where he was just edged out in a sprint head to head with Aleksandar Flügel.
February concluded with the Tour of Almaty. There we got a positive surprise, with Mads Würtz finishing all the way up in 10th place.
So a month without a win, but with a couple of solid results. March is already well underway, and our first race of the month was the GP Herning. As one of the few races in Scandinavia, it was of course an important race for us.
Wisniowski was one of 15 riders entering the last kilometer in the first group, and in the sprint he got a 3rd place. That also meant the first podium place for Wisniowski in his career, and hopefully something he can build even further on.
Wisniowski will also have a central role in some of the upcoming races in March, but he won't be present at our next race.
That race is the Qatar Oil Mountain Classic, a race we are brutally forced to race by MGUCI. At Grieg-Eftel we are strongly against mountains, and mean it's dangerous for riders to be exposed to the thin air at the top of these races. Still, we've sent Kristoffer Skjerping, Rasmus Sterobo, Sindre Lunke, Mads Würtz, Amund Grøndahl Jansen, Søren Kragh Andersen, Michael Olsson and Rhys Gillett.
Goal: Have a rider that finish the race.
Next up is a much more important race for us. The Vuelta al Pais Vasco will be one of our key races, with Edvald Boasson Hagen leading our team. The race have been an important on in his career, and he won a stage in the inagural edition of the race back in 2007. Only 20 years of age, he joined the right break away, and after Contador came up to a group of three over the last hill, he survived all the way in to win the sprint from a group of four.
A great win for him, and of eventually many in the race. 2010 saw him win the first stage and take the lead in the race. He eventually held on to a 14th place overall, something he also managed in 2011. The following year he got a 15th place in GC. After transfering to Aker-MOT ahead of the 2013 season, he's produced very steady showings in the race. 6th place in 2013 was followed up by a 3rd place in 2014, and the last two seasons have given him two 2nd places overall, two stage wins and the points jersey in 2015.
We are hopeful that he can get on the podium yet again, with the possibility of getting his first overall win in the race. With an opening TTT, we've sent a team that should limit his losses. Zakkari Dempster, Josh Atkins, Rasmus Sterobo, Johan Lindgren and Mads Würtz are all present, while Calvin Watson and Michael Vink are here to provide support for Boasson Hagen on the hills.
The next race is another PTHC race. E3 Prijs means cobbles, and cobbles means Wisniowski. Going up against the PT guys it will be tougher to get a good result, but we certainly aim for a place amongst the top 10.
Raced as a HC race last year, it will be a new experience for Wisniowski, who'll be joined by Luke Rowe, Rasmus Sterobo, Shane Archbold, Johan Lindgren, Mads Würtz, Øystein Stake Laengen and Amund Grøndahl Jansen.
Our last race of the month is the Corsica International, where we are again forced to race in the mountains. Luckily we'll also have the a couple of other stages, where we are hoping for a good result from the ITT on the second stage.
Zakkari Dempster, Kristoffer Skjerping, Josh Atkins, Samuel Caldeira, Rhys Gillett, Michael Olsson, Sindre Lunke and Søren Kragh Andersen are our eight chosen ones.
Boasson Hagen finally gets his first GC win in Pais Vasco
The Vuelta al Pais Vasco is a race of huge significance for Edvald Boasson Hagen. His first ever race in the MGUCI world came in the race back in 2007, in the first edition of the race. The Norwegian was only allowed to participate because of other teams failing to send in their team lists, but even as a Continental rider for Maxbo-Bianchi he managed to stun the worlds best.
He won the 2nd stage after a breakaway, winning a sprint between four riders. Only 20 years of age, but he showed the class and talent that would later make him a world champion.
Unfortunately our digital archive man managed to delete the pictures from the win, but that participation was only the first of many.
2008 is the only year where he hasn't raced the race, and in 2009 Boasson Hagen impressed yet again. Then as a Continental Tour race, he managed a couple of stage podiums and finished 2nd in GC, only behind Alexandre Efimkin.
Both the race and Boasson Hagen stepped up to the ProTour the following year. Yet again he did well in his favourite race, winning the first stage before finishing 14th in the GC. The following years gave him another 14th place and a 15th place, before he got his second top 10 in the race in 2013.
In his first season for Aker-MOT he finished 6th, and followed it up by three consectutive GC podiums. 3rd in 2014, 2nd in 2015 - including a points jersey and a stage win, and 2nd in 2016 - including winning the 6th stage.
On his way: Boasson won the fourth stage in the 2015 edition of Vuelta al Pais Vasco. This is just after he launched his winning attack.
In his 10th participation in the race, he showed great consistency. Grieg-Eftel managed a 6th place in the opening team time trial, and Boasson Hagen followed up with 5th place and 2x 4th place on the next three stages.
That gave him a 3rd place before the indivdual time trial. An impressive performance from the Norwegian gave him another 5th place, and also meant a move up to 2nd place in GC, 24 seconds behind Yuri Trofimov - a three times winner of the race - before the final stage.
That was also the stage he won last season, when he moved up from 6th to 2nd overall after an impressive win. And as last season, he was on the offensive from the start of the final hill. Joining the attack of Simone Ponzi (a duo also Tejay Van Garderen later bridged up to), he did enough to distance the race leader. While he couldn't beat Ponzi in the fight for the stage win, the 2nd was enough to secure him the GC win.
Decisive move: Boasson Hagen with Van Garderen and Ponzi on the last hill.
His 35th professional victory, and finally that first GC win in Vuelta al Pais Vasco after 10 participations and four podium placings from earlier years.
– I'm over the moon now. This a race I truly love, and I'd say it's most important stage race for us puncheurs. Obviously this is now a PTHC race, but the quality in this race was as good as any other ProTour race. To finally get the overall win here, after being close so many times... It's just a great feeling now, Boasson Hagen said in an interview after the race.
On top: Boasson Hagen celebrating on the podium after the last stage.
– I'm well aware that some have been disappointed with some of my results the last two years, but taking the step down to PCT and getting a new team around me, that was the kick behind I needed to get back to my best. For me, one of the best parts about this race was to see Calvin Watson fighting his way to winning the youth classification. I love the spirit in the team.
The race also more or less concluded the first half of the season for Boasson Hagen. He will now go to Teide for some altitude training in well over one month. He'll return to racing briefly in the wildcard race Liège-Bastogne-Liège, before returning to normal training back in Norway and eventually back to racing again in the Nelspruit Classic in June.
Unfortunately our digital archive man managed to delete the pictures from the win, but that participation was only the first of many.
Aye
Boasson Hagen had a brilliant start to the season. Colombo - Strade Bianche - Pais Vasco - hard to imagine a better start to a season. Definitely good for your promotion ambitions
@knockout Yeah, I think he stored the pictures on PhotoBucket or something, and then they just disappeared. He's now fired
Brilliant start to the season indeed. Obviously could have hoped to get the win in Strade and a couple of better placings on the stages in Pais Vasco, but I'm really not in a position to complain 550 points already over 10 race days by my calculations so far, so he's been truly phenomenal. He probably can't keep ut that pprd all through the season, as he's racing a couple of C1 classics later on. He's of course our main man, and our promotion hope is very much dependent on his success, so very happy with how he have done so far.
@trek Thanks! A long journey indeed! Also speaks much about this game, and how long it has run. Big kudos to all those organizing.
A great month has just been concluded. GC win in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco for Edvald Boasson Hagen, a couple of good performances on the cobbles from Lukasz Wisniowski and some aggressive racing have given the team over 500 points in March.
– We're very happy with our results this month. Both our two big captains has performed well in key races, and it's a very good sign for the rest of the season. While these results should lead us back in the area around the promotion zone, we now enter a couple of months without much racing for Boasson Hagen. That means Wisniowski and Luke Rowe will have a big pressure on their shoulders the coming months, with a couple of very important races coming up, tastasol said in a statement.
We start April with a bang. Already on the first day the team will participate in two events. We've been lucky enough to get a wildcard for Paris-Roubaix. After seeing Wisniowski race brilliantly all the way to a 6th place in the PTHC event E3 Prijs, we are hoping that he can sneak inside the top 10. The Pole finished 16th here last year, and with another year of development, we believe that he's able to do that.
The French monument was a huge success for Grieg-Eftel last year, with Matteo Trentin in 5th place, Wisniowski in 16th, Rowe in 20th and Øystein Stake Laengen with a surprising 27th place.
With Trentin being sold to Aker-MOT and Rowe racing elsewhere, we certainly can't expect a similar strong team performance. To support Wisniowski in this race, we have brought Josh Atkins, Sindre Lunke, Mads Würtz, Øystein Stake Laengen, Truls Engen Korsæth, Amund Grøndahl Jansen and Søren Kragh Andersen.
Can Bewley win his fifth in a row? Yeah, probably.
At the same time we're racing in Thailand and the Nakhon Ratchasima Trophy. For Luke Rowe that means his second chance to test his abilities against the best sprinters this season, having finished 11th in the season opener Down Under Classic.
In Thailand we're hoping for a less competitive field than in Australia, and that Rowe can get inside the top 10 this time. Rowe have a crucial two months coming up, and we hope he can find his sprinting legs straight away.
To support him and to look for a breakaway we have Zakkari Dempster, Samuel Caldeira, Rasmus Sterobo, Rhys Gillett, Shane Archbold, Johan Lindgren and Ken Sebastian Vassdål.
Even if Rowe should get on the podium, it's not much time to celebrate. Already three days later we're back in Europe again for KBC De Panne Tour.
The first goal race this season, and we have a win goal. So no pressure, guys!
As always on the cobbles, Lukasz Wisniowski is the main man. With his abilities on the cobbles and his relatively good TT, the race is a very good fit for him. The goal seems quite obvious.
Luke Rowe will also fancy his chances in the race, and especially on the flat third stage.
Risa-Ergon participated in the race back in 2015, where Øystein Stake Laengen finished in 15th place. The highlight in the race that time was the concluding time trial, where Zakkari Dempster and Michael Faerk Christensen were only beaten by Lars Boom.
Faerk Christensen was sold before the season, and Dempster had to travel home for the birth of his third child, but Stake Laengen is a part of the Grieg lineup. A roster that's completed by Josh Atkins, Johan Lindgren, Mads Würtz, Amund Grøndahl Jansen and Søren Kragh Andersen.
For the last two races of the month we are back to sprinting. First up is the Betonexpressz GP. Never raced by Grieg-Eftel before, but actually a race where Søren Kragh Andersen impressed with a 13th place last season.
Now, obviously the young Dane won't be our captain here. As always when we're sprinting, that responsibility lays on Luke Rowe. Top 10 should be a natural goal in the Hungarian race, where Rowe is supported by Samuel Caldeira, Rhys Gillett, Michael Olsson, Shane Archbold, Ken Sebastian Vassdål, Amund Grøndahl Jansen and Søren Kragh Andersen.
Our only non C1 race (except the wildcard race Paris-Roubaix) the coming month is the Philadelphia International Championship. Given the last three-four editions of the American race, a good punchy uphill sprinter might be the best fit for the race. While Rowe can't be called a world class climber, he holds a decent speed on the hills. Hopefully enough to fight for a position amongst the top 10.
Our favourite Brit will enjoy the support from Zakkari Dempster, Josh Atkins, Samuel Caldeira, Shane Archbold, Mads Würtz, Truls Engen Korsæth, Amund Grøndahl Jansen and Søren Kragh Andersen.
Very nice review - Watson has shown that he may be my most painful opponent this season besides Modolo and van Asbroeck. But looking at how your team is build I can't be mad on that, take the points and win the division!
@viking Thanks, very happy with his performances so far! Looking forward to meeting you in Roubaix, should be a great race.
@Croatia For sure some nice battles between Mohoric and Watson so far, s.t. in both TDU and Pais Vasco. At least Mohoric will get the better of him every time in the coming years
I'll take all the points we can take, hopefully we can be close to doing that
A month without EBH and a month with eight of the ten racedays in C1 races. April wasn't supposed to be our big month of the season, and it turned out to be a month with up and downs.
Luke Rowe was the main man for us this month, with captaincy in three flat classics and a co-leader role in the win goal race KBC De Panne Tour.
The first race of the month, the Nakhon Ratchasima Trophy, turned out to be a windy one. On paper something that really should suit Rowe. Therefore we also did a good amount of work in front of the peloton, but in the sprint Rowe went missing. 14th place ment a disappointing start to April.
Our next race was our only stage race of the month. De Panne Tour was marked as a win goal by the management before the season, but it never really looked like happening. Sloppy work in the peloton and a crash from Wisniowski meant we were very happy to still be somewhat close to the lead of breakaway rider Lebris.
The gap was never bridged on the coming two stages, and that meant second place was all we could hope for before the final TT. Wisniowski showed his best there, getting fourth place on the stage and securing 2nd place overall. An anonymous showing by the team, but still a 100 points scored and Wisniowski reaching 300 points for the season. A near miss on the goal, but at least some positives to take with us.
The final two races of the month was the two sprint classics Betonexpressz GP and Philadelphia International Championship. After the disappointing sprint in Thailand, Rowe went for another tactic in these races. In both races he launched an attack inside the final 15 kilometers, only to be reeled in.
We are always encouraging offensive riding, but we can't help feeling that better results could have been achieved by riding more conservatively. Still, the Betonexpressz GP turned out to be a great race for the team. Despite Rowe's attack, he managed to be in a good position for the sprint. He ended up in seventh place, but the big surprise was the Portugese fast man Samuel Caldeira coming extremly fast at the end. Just narrowingly losing out to Oscar Gueraro for the third place, he got a pleasantly surprising fourth place.
TIGHT: Caldeira just losing out to Gueraro, while Rowe takes the 7th place just behind.
As mentioned, Rowe was also on the attack in Philly. After missing out as the sprint trains formed, he did a good sprint to come back to the group of sprinters. Unfortunately the finishing line came just a bit to early, meaning he had to settle for 13th place.
That finally brought Rowe over the 100 points mark for the season, and a month of 195 points over the ten race days. Nothing spectacular, but it keeps our season going.
Hopefully it will be a more spectacular start to May. 5 Jours de Dunkerque is first out, a race where we have a top five goal. The race is one of huge significance for Grieg-Eftel. Matteo Trentin won the race back in 2015, kick-starting a run that surprisingly led to promotion (due to disbanding teams).
HAMMER TIME: Trentin opening a gap to the field, after having been placed very well by Geert Steurs at the bottom of the final climb.
This year Lukasz Wisniowski looks to be our main man in the race, which is so often determined on the first stage, a hilly cobbled stage.
Luke Rowe will also be an important man in this race, where hopefully he can gain some time on the flatter stages that most likely will end in a sprint.
Also participating for Grieg-Eftel: Josh Atkins, Johan Lindgren, Øystein Stake Laengen, Truls Korsæth, Amund Grøndahl Jansen and Søren Kragh Andersen.
Next up is our final wildcard race of the season. The Liège-Bastogne-Liège will prove to be a good test for Edvald Boasson Hagen. 2-7-7-2-3-5-6 is his results in the race since 2010. That means the big win, in arguably the most important hilly classic of the season, still lacks for the Norwegian. Still at his peak of his career, this another shot to finally get that win.
He'll enjoy the support from Calvin Watson, Kristoffer Skjerping, Michael Vink, Rhys Gillett, Michael Olsson, Sindre Lunke and Truls Korsæth.
Moving on the next one! Did we mention a kick-start of the season with Trentin's win in Dunkerque? Well, it continued with Michael Vink winning the Berlin ProRace! After attacking from the break of five, he managed to hold on all the way to the finishing line, winning sole ahead of the sprinters.
We'll enjoy another little memory time.
Sadly Vink won't be present this time around. Instead Rowe is again given the leader role. The Welshman will be supported by Zakkari Dempster, Samuel Caldeira, Michael Olsson, Shane Archbold, Mads Würtz, Amund Grøndahl Jansen and Søren Kragh Andersen.
Hopefully Rowe will be able to get inside the top 10.
Final race of the month for Grieg-Eftel is the Olympia's Tour. Another race that went really well in 2015, with Zakkari Dempster finishing fourth and Michael Faerk Christensen seventh.
Dempster will also be back this year. The race opens with a 17,3 kilometer long individual time trial. After three flat stages, the fifth stage is a 16,5 kilometer long team time trial.
The sixth and final stage is a flat. Despite having four stages for the sprinters, we're not sending any. Instead it's all about them time trials. Wisniowski does a rare apperance outside the cobbles. That being said, he will be our weakest, on paper, time trialist in this race with his 74 stat.
The other joining him will be the aforementioned Dempster (79 TT), Josh Atkins (78 TT), Rasmus Sterobo (78 TT), Shane Archbold (77 TT), Ken Sebastian Vassdål (76 TT), Johan Lindgren (75 TT) and Mads Würtz (75 TT).
Hopefully that will be a team capable of competing for the win in the TTT, which should mean that they could get some good results in the GC.
As we mentioned in our preview for this month, May has previously been a very good month for us. From last time in the PCT we had a GC win in 5 Jours de Dunkerque, a win in Berlin ProRace and a couple of top 10s from the Olympia's Tour to live up, and the boys really did a great effort in trying to copy that.
First out was the 5 Jours de Dunkerque, and while we couldn't get a reprise of Matteo Trentin's win at the opening stage two years ago, Lukasz Wisniowski and Luke Rowe made the first split.
This time around it was the third stage that turned out to be the decisive one. A late attack by Wisniowski saw him drive straight away from the competitors and holding all the way to the line. His first career win, and he also held on to the GC win. On top of that Luke Rowe also finished all the way up in 6th place, making it a great race for the team. Also a goal completed (top 5).
WINNING: Wisniowski celebrating the stage win on the third stage
On to the Berlin ProRace, taking the win was always going to be hard. In a highly competitive field, Luke Rowe managed to sprint to 11th place, with Mads Würtz also continuing his good season with a 21th place.
In between Dunkerque and Berlin we also had the U23 puncheur classic and U23 cobbled classic. Würtz and Søren Kragh Andersen participated in both, with Würtz taking an impressive fifth place in the hilly race and Kragh Andersen a solid 12th place in the cobbled race.
For Würtz the season continued with the Olympia's Tour. Despite having all our TT guys bar Truls Korsaeth present, we couldn't get anyone inside the top 10 on the opening time trial. With Zakkari Dempster crashing and losing time on the second stage, and then Würtz getting dropped on the third stage, the race wasn't quite going the way we hoped. Luckily Würtz managed to strike back on the fourth stage. After getting in the break, he ended the stage in fourth place, while also securing some KoM points along the way.
Now, the TTT was where it all mattered for us in this race. And what a ride the boys put in! A dominant win, with a winning margin of 17 seconds. Most unfortunately, Lukasz Wisniowski couldn't follow the rest and Josh Atkins also got dropped with eight seconds on the last kilometeres. Combined with the crash and lost time for Zakkari Dempster, we could have a race with first, second and third/fourth place for those three, but unfortunately we didn't quite have the luck with the guys that did the best on the opening stage.
TEAM: The Grieg-Eftel TTT machine short time after the start.
Still, the race was a very good one. 4-5-6-10 and 30rd place means May ended in the best way possible for us. Close to 600 points over the 13 race days, and a long step in the right direction in our hunt for promotion.
So what's next for Grieg-Eftel? There's plenty of races coming, though it has to be said that our expectations vary a lot between them.
First out is our third goal race this season. After narrowingly missing out on the win goal in De Panne (Wisniowski in second place), we achieved our top five goal in Dunkerque. And yet again it's Wisniowski we are hoping to see shine in Lincoln GP.
With both hills and cobbles on the route, the one day race looks a good fit for our Polish rider. While he didn't score any points in the Olympia's Tour, he still showed promising form. Hopefully he can continue to build on a very good season so far on the cobbles, and yet again fight for victory.
Grieg-Eftel has raced here two times prior, with Johan Lindgren's 8th place in 2014 as the best result. Lindgren will also be present this time around. The other six riders on our team will be Luke Rowe, Josh Atkins, Mads Würtz, Øystein Stake Laengen, Amund Grøndahl Jansen and Søren Kragh Andersen.
A couple of days later we have the double header Post Danmark Rundt and Tour de Slovenie - both stage races with five stages and a similar formula, a ITT, hilly stage(s) and flat stages. We have a lack of TT riders that also can ride good on the hills, and therefore we can't have the biggest GC ambitions. Instead offensive riding and some stage glory will be our goals for these races.
Lining up in Denmark: Calvin Watson, Zakkari Dempster, Josh Atkins, Rasmus Sterobo, Rhys Gillett, Michael Olsson, Sindre Lunke and Søren Kragh Andersen.
In Slovenia we will have the following eight riders present: Kristoffer Skjerping, Samuel Caldeira, Michael Vink, Shane Archbold, Johan Lindgren, Mads Würtz, Ken Sebastian Vassdål and Truls Korsæth.
While we have good memories from Post Danmark Rundt, the Tour de Slovenie will be a totally new experience for us. That being said, Mads Würtz did race here for Ferrero-Samruk last season, finishing 14th on the TT and 32nd overall in his first season as a pro. Hopefully he will have some tips on what to expect.
20th of June marks the day Edvald Boasson Hagen finally gets back in the PCT. After only competing in PT events since his win in Vuelta al Pais Vasco in March, we are very much looking forward to see the Norwegian shine again in the PCT division.
Nelspruit Classic will be the arena for that, and as always when "Eddy" steps up a race, we are going for the win. He will have the support from Kristoffer Skjerping, Josh Atkins, Michael Vink, Rhys Gillett, Michael Olsson, Amund Grøndahl Jansen and Søren Kragh Andersen.
Last, but not least, is the Monterrey TTT. After our success in Olympia's Tour, we have big hopes for another great result in that discipline.
The team will also be the same as in the Netherlands: Zakkari Dempster, Rasmus Sterobo, Josh Atkins, Shane Archbold, Ken Sebastian Vassdål, Mads Würtz, Johan Lindgren and Lukasz Wisniowski.
Shouldn't be a surprise, that I have some love for Grieg. Some great results most recently, especially the TTT and of course Wisniowski 's great winning move. A bit unlucky with Dempster and Atkins indeed. The final result though should make it still a happy day.
Also massive congreatulations on EBH's win. Marquee signing paying off in the first classic of the season is always great.
