Here it is: Our 2019 jersey!#BovineBiking pic.twitter.com/cahtGOQ7np

— Valio - DeLaval (@Atlantius_PCM) August 6, 2019

No huge changes when it comes to our appearance except a new title sponsor and a few small adjustments.

First we have the lovely logo that our deal with Viking Genetics provide, and that we have chosen to give a central role in line with the team image when looking at the helicopter shots.
Other than that the main change is a broader colour scheme to include the light blue of Viking Genetics.

Valio had a hard time letting go and with such a fitting sponsor to take their place in the title they decided to remain on board as a minor sponsor earning a spot on our shorts. Our sponsor events are turning into a real powerhouse for the Nordic dairy industry by now!

Another new small detail on the kit is the addition of a Finnish flag on the collar as a further emphasis on the main task of developing Finnish cycling. Something that have resulted in 2018 being the best season ever for Finnish Cycling (more about that later).

Kiitokori and Nokian Tyres remain on board in a deal similar to the last couple of years while the kit this season will be produced by CCN Sports Nordic.

With another season passed it's time to add another chaapter to the history of Finnish cycling as covered here: https://pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread...st_1291195

Despite a lower representation in PT/PCT than in previous years this have been the best season for Finnish cycling ever!

Despite our teams relegation the previous record of 10 Finnish riders on a team was increased to 11 but more importantly 3 names were added to the list of Finnish race winners. A list that before this season only held three names and two years ago only counted Veikkanen and Vastaranta. Kaislavuo was added last year and this year Lehtinen, Manninen and Kulppi all managed to (finally) take their first wins.

With 4 regular wins we also had a record high number of Finnish wins. The previous record was two wins in 2012.

Even though Manninens 335 pts are far from the record high 762 scored by Vastaranta in 2012 the current depth made this the season with most Finnish points scored ever with 784 compared to 774 back in 2012.

With riders like Joni Kanerva, Sasu Helme and Aleksi Hänninen already under development and all current riders except flat-beast Aaltio stilll in their 20's there is reason to believe that the records from this season might not stand as long as previous records did.

Time for the annual awards. As usual all our bovine besties (you) will get the final say through the poll: https://sv.surveymonkey.com/r/YVRTNXG

Bute before you vote lt's have a look at the nominees

The award to the best rider not on a full contract:

Aviv Yechezkel (26 pts): In on loan from Carlsberg - Danske Bank to bolster our cobbles squad a bit. While the cobbles as such didn't go as hoped this season Aviv was visible in several breaks throughout the season.

Gökhan Hasta (6 pts): Our Turkish friend who have been on contract with us since our first season back in 2014 was cut due to the restrictions of relegating and us not having a proper mountain leader. During the transfer season we brought in König and at the end Hasta was brought back without us having to pay any wage to him.
He spent most of his season supporting König, but managed to take a stage 10th in Langkawi as well as the Turkish TT championship.

Kari Brynjolfsson (4 pts): Another rider we were sad to let go and happy to let back in without paying wages. Kari was most of the season an anonymous part of the cobbles squad and his 4 pts and no top 10's reflect a season that didn't go quite as hoped even though he managed to win the Icelandic TT-championship.

Oskari Vainionpää (0 pts) got his 3rd season as a stagiare (surely that's some kind of a record). That goes to show a few things: He's still young, he's not talented enough to earn a full contract yet, he have previously shown enough racing spirit to stay on our radar.
He rode the maximum of 15 race days (+ l'Avenir) with predetermined roles but contrary to previous seasons he did not manage to how himself in breakaways.

Kristian Aasvold (0 pts) was our pick for the final 10k of wage and our first ever Norwegian rider. Riding 14 days plus l'Avenir he did nothing of significance really. Still he can be a solid domestique for the hills one day.

A reward dominated by our friends at Evonik - ELKO in the past winning all three previous editions thus earning the naming rights this year.
However a new team will take the win as we have two candidates, one at each of the bottom 2 teams in the PT-rankings.

Joni Kanerva, Volvo acc. by Spotify (47 pts) had a tough season with our Swedish friends, though giving a lot of experience. His personal highlight was probably being the teams best finisher at 22nd on stage 4 of the Tour de Suisse. His leaders however rarely performed and this Joni was never part of a team taking a top 5. At least now he knows how tough cycling can be!

Awet Gebremedhin, Berg Cycles (54 pts) had a very busy season helping him develop a lot as a rider with Berg Cycles. He was part of the team helping Gesink to 4th in Paris - Nice and 3rd in Tour de France. He vven got to test the toughest cobbles (which he didn't like) and spend a day in the break in Tour of Northern Europe.

A new award introduced as a result of the development we have seen in Finnish cycling.

Matti Manninen, Valio - DeLaval (335 pts): With 26 top 10's including 9 podiums and a single win Matti was (as expected) the highest scoring Finnish rider. Still hopes were higher and he had a tough time in the packed sprinter field of CT this season.

Jesse Kaislavuo, RBC SpiderTech (59 pts) Rode the season as an amateur, but managed to take an impressive stage win at Tour de San Luis. His 2nd year in a row taking a win making him 2nd most winning Finnish rider ever only behind Vastaranta!

Sakari Lehtinen, Valio - DeLaval (86 pts) spent the season in service of König and in July he did that so well that he pulled his leader to the finish line with Lehtinen taking the win with König staying on his heel to take 2nd place. Before that he had already taken a 6th place in Grand Prix du Midi Libre stage 6 and won the youth jersey in Cyprus.

Olli Kulppi, Valio - DeLaval (120 pts) was supposed to do great things on the cobbles so a meagre 6 top 10's with a 5th place in Dunkqerque his best cobbles result that part of the season could have gone better. Olli does have a great racing heart (and have always had) though and in Grand Prix du Midi Libre he finally managed to stay away for the stage win on stage 5 adding his name to the growing list of Finnish race winners.

The biggest award has three nominees:

Cyril Gautier (772 pts): Having followed us down from PCT we had high expectations to Gautier to help us make a swift return. While he didn't race the smartest way against CT-competition often wasting hi energy early he impressed against PCT-opposition winning in Down Under and finishing 3rd in Etoile de Bessege. Finally even taking home the win in the individual CT rankings.

Leopold König (636 pts) joined us after a bit of a puzzle saw Paillot leave opening a spot for a low-wage top leader and that really was what we got. Finishing 5th in the rankings with 4 wins including GC wins in Hong Kong and Bulgaria and a long list of other top results saw him really lift the team in an area wee were lacking!

Matti Manninen (335 pts): Our top sprinter leaving his mark. For further details I refer to the previous nomination.

Now go vote: https://sv.surveymonkey.com/r/YVRTNXG

New kit day and world championships selections announced. We'll be represented with the entire Finnish national teams in B-Race and U23 as well as:
- König in TTT
- Liepins and Hasta at B-RR
- Aasvold at U23-RR

Don't forget to vote for the awards: https://t.co/3zWX4Ay2xm pic.twitter.com/9AD7wwkQGV

— Valio - DeLaval (@Atlantius_PCM) August 27, 2019

6 riders taking NC's in 4 different nations is a great harvest for us even though the many silver medals always hurt a bit when it comes to national championships.

As for the champions jerseys Finland, Iceland and Turkey are fairly traditional while we have gone a little outside tradition with the French jersey, which have been designed similarly to the Italian jersey worn by Lo Cicero a couple of years ago.

We have no particular goals in the worlds, probably the B road race with Manninen and Liepins are our best shot at a good result.
Originally Finland was, surprisingly, on the startlist for the elite race, but ultimately we made getting an own Finnish team in the U23 a higher priority and the "grown-ups" were moved down to the B race as a result.
Honestly that suits the level of the team better anyway and all they have to do is win the race to get back in the main event if they're disappointed.