After a disappointing 14th place in 2010, probably caused by the absence of manager Crommy, Unicef have abandoned their disastrous venture into the world of cycling.
With the team looking like it was about to fold, Crommy returned to spearhead a fund raising campaign, and eventually, a main sponsor was found.
Carmeuse, a Belgian mining company has put forward significant funds in order to stabilise the team in the ProTour, and help them progress.
It will also see the team shift it's focus onto Belgian riders and the April classics, led by current team leader Fabian Cancellara.
The roster will increase beyond the current 20, with a definitely Belgian flavour to the squad, whilst retaining some ability in the GT's. However, in a nod to the team's French history (donated by the fact Cyclisme is French), the team will also have a strong French contingent too.
2011 Roster Theo Bos (2007-11) Aureliene Clerc (2007-11) Oscar Solis (2007-11) Clement Lhotellerie (2008-11) Jaime Suaza (2008-11) Fabian Cancellara (2007, 2010-11) Christophe Brandt (2009-11) Yaroslav Popovych (2011) Jurgen Roelandts (2010-11) Pieter Jacobs (2010-11) Kevin Ista (2011) Jens Debusschere (2011) Wouter Weylandt (2011) Jean-François Camier (2011) Morgan Kneisky (2011) Julien El Fares (2011 - loaned out) Remy Di Gregorio (2011) Steven Caethoven (2011) Sandy Casar (2011) Alexandre Aulas (2011) Gorik Gardeyn (2011) Tony Gallopin (2011) Joeri Adams (2011) Willem Van Den Eynde (2011) Dries Beatse (2011) Andrew Fenn (2011 - on loan)
Edited by Crommy on 31-01-2011 19:28
1. Top 10 Tour de France
2. Top 10 Team Standings
3. Win Ronde van Vlaanderen
4. Win Paris - Roubaix
5. Win Gent - Wevelgem
Edited by Crommy on 07-01-2011 14:56
2007 - Bouygues Telecom Not the actual jersey!!!
The Bouygues Telecom team had by far it's best year in 2007. The team took the strong team leader of Fabian Cancellara out of the rider draft, who had a great season, finishing 15th overall in the team standings.
The season started well, with top 10s in many of the early season classics, but it was in Le Tour where Bouygues really left their mark, sending the French into raptures as they delivered Christophe Moreau to a stunning and unexpected overall win, remaining as the teams biggest achievement to date!
2008 - Cycling24 - Honda
Despite the success of the team, Bouygues Telecom pulled sponsorship. The team was fortunate to have Cycling24 and Honda take over, but the team had a season to forget. With the exit of Cancellara and Moreau, the team were lacking a really strong team leader, but still managed to produce some surprisingly good results. Piepoli rolled back the years with 4th at the Giro, and Magnus Backstedt did the same with two top 10s in the cobbled classics.
2010 Unicef Racing Team
A year dominated by the abscence of manager Crommy, the team still managed a surpisngly good season, with the return of Fabian Cancellara seen as the key to this. The Swiss powerhouse took a key win in Wevelgem and Yaroslav Popovych also showed what he could do with a top 10 in Le Tour
Current Riders (Sorted by Years of Service) Theo Bos (2007-11) Aureliene Clerc (2007-11) Oscar Solis (2007-11) Clement Lhotellerie (2008-11) Jaime Suaza (2008-11) Fabian Cancellara (2007, 2010-11) Christophe Brandt (2009-11) Yaroslav Popovych (2011) Jurgen Roelandts (2010-11) Pieter Jacobs (2010-11) Kevin Ista (2011) Jens Debusschere (2011) Wouter Weylandt (2011) Jean-François Camier (2011) Morgan Kneisky (2011) Julien El Fares (2011) Remy Di Gregorio (2011) Steven Caethoven (2011) Sandy Casar (2011) Alexandre Aulas (2011) Gorik Gardeyn (2011) Tony Gallopin (2011) Joeri Adams (2011) Willem Van Den Eynde (2011) Dries Beatse (2011) Andrew Fenn (2011 - on loan)
Former Riders Fabio Sabatini (2008-10) Juan Jose Cobo (2008-10) Kirk O'Bee (2009-10) Jairo Agudelo (2009-10) Fredy Montaña (2009-10) Victor Hugo Orozco (2009-10) Marco Marzano (2010) Patxi Vila (2010) Baden Cooke (2010) Sean Finning (2010) Jay Thomson (2010) Yukihiro Doi (2010) Koldo Gil (2009) Raffaele Illiano (2009) Mario Aerts (2009) David Talbott (2009) Alain Van Katwijk (2009) Ashley Hutchinson (2009) Juan Mora (2009) Eduard Vorganov (2009) Johan Coenen (2009) Eddy Mazzoleni (2008-09) Santiago Perez Fernandez (2008-09) David Rebellin (2008) Fredy González MartÃnez (2008) Leonardo Piepoli (2008) Magnus Bäckstedt (2008) Luciano Pagliarini (2008-09) David De la Fuente (2008-09) Christophe Moreau (2007) Jose Rujano (2007-08) Ruben Plaza (2007) Patrik Sinkewitz (2007) Erik Putsep (2007) Said Haddou (2007) Bart Wellens (2007, 2009) Xavier Florencio (2007-08) Jerome Pineau (2007-08) Anthony Geslin (2007-08) Pierrick Fedrigo (2007-09) Thomas Voeckler (2007) Stef Clement (2007-09) Yoann Le Boulanger (2007) Andy Flickinger (2007) Matthieu Sprick (2007-08) Johann Tschopp (2007-08) Laurent Lefevre (2007) Dimitri Champion (2007-08) Vincent Jerome (2007) Rony Martias (2007)
Edited by Crommy on 28-03-2010 15:32
1st
Jurgen Roelandts, Vuelta a Espana, Points;
Jurgen Roelandts, Vuelta a Espana, stage 15 and 17;
Fabian Cancellara, Tour de Romandie, Points;
Fabian Cancellara, Tour de Romandie, stage 1 and 2;
Jurgen Roelandts, Tour of California, stage 2 and 6;
Jurgen Roelandts, Tour de Suisse, stage 8;
Wouter Weylandt, Criterium du Dauphine Libere, stage 2;
2nd
Jurgen Roelandts, Vuelta a Espana, stage 5 and 6;
Jurgen Roelandts, Tour of Qatar, stage 3 and 6;
Fabian Cancellara, Tour de Romandie, stage 6;
3rd
Fabian Cancellara, Omloop Het Nieuwsbald;
Fabian Cancellara, Strade Bianche;
Fabian Cancellara, Gent - Wevelgem;
Fabian Cancellara, Paris - Roubaix;
Jurgen Roelandts, Vuelta a Espana, stage 4, 11 and 16;
Yaroslav Popovych, Paris - Nice, stage 4;
Steven Caethoven, FBD Éire Tour, stage 6;
Fabian Cancellara, Tour de Suisse, stage 9;
Jurgen Roelandts, Tour of California, Points;
Jurgen Roelandts, Tour de Suisse, Points;
4th
Jurgen Roelandts, Vuelta a Espana, stage 21;
5th - 10th
5th Jurgen Roelandts, Vuelta a Espana, stage 2 and 10;
5th Jurgen Roelandts, Tour of Qatar, stage 2;
5th Fabian Cancellara, Criterium International, stage 3;
5th Fabian Cancellara, Tour de Suisse, stage 2;
6th Fabian Cancellara, Ronde van Vlaanderen;
6th Jurgen Roelandts, Tour of Qatar, GC;
6th Yaroslav Popovych, Paris - Nice, GC;
6th Andrew Fenn, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, stage 7;
6th Fabian Cancellara, Tour de Suisse stage 1;
7th Yaroslav Popovych, Paris - Nice, stage 1;
7th Kevin Ista, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, stage 6;
7th Fabian Cancellara, Tour de Romandie, stage 3;
7th Sandy Casar, FBD Éire Tour, stage 5;
7th Jurgen Roelandts, Tour de Suisse, stage 5;
7th Wouter Weylandt, Criterium du Dauphine Libere, Points;
8th Yaroslav Popovych, Criterium du Dauphine Libere, GC;
8th Jurgen Roelandts, Vuelta a Espana, stage 3;
8th Steven Caethoven, Tirreno - Adriatico, stage 3;
8th Yaroslav Popovych, Paris - Nice, stage 6 and 8;
8th Wouter Weylandt, Criterium du Dauphine Libere, stage 3;
8th Yaroslav Popovych, Criterium du Dauphine Libere, stage 5;
9th Sandy Casar, FBD Éire Tour, GC;
9th Alexandre Aulas, Tour of Qatar, stage 3;
9th Gorik Gardeyn, Paris - Nice, stage 2;
9th Yaroslav Popovych, Paris - Nice, stage 7;
9th Jurgen Roelandts, Tour of California, stage 4;
9th Yaroslav Popovych, Criterium du Dauphine Libere, stage 4 and 6;
10th Fabian Cancellara, Tour de Romandie, GC;
10th Alexandre Aulas, Tirreno - Adriatico, stage 7;
10th Sandy Casar, FBD Éire Tour, stage 7;
10th Jurgen Roelandts, Tour de Suisse, stage 3;
10th Tony Gallopin, Tour of California, KOM;
Bos Watch
Tirreno - Adriatico:
Stage 1: 133rd @ 5'01
Stage 2: 140th @ 15'25
Stage 3: 141st @ 9'49
Stage 4: 141st @ 19'25
Stage 5: 115th @ 4'19
Stage 6: 141st @ 48'17
Stage 7: 139th @ 16'25
GC: 140th @ 1h57'58
Not last as beaten by Bakari of Vesuvio. Not good enough.
Edited by Crommy on 04-01-2011 17:59
Carmeuse Cyclisme are pleased to announce a highly successful negotiation period, with 19 out of 20 riders being re-signed.
Patxi Vila is the rider who has been dropped.
However, this does not mean all riders will continue with the team next year, as riders like Marzano, Cobo and Cooke are rumored to be transfer-listed
Carmeuse Cyclisme Team Presentation 2010 (Part One: The Leaders) (Or: The Only Ones Who Are Likely to get us any points and actually mean we'll be saved from relegation. Come to think of it, that's unfortunately true. Well, at least they're pretty good. I mean, imagine if we were led by Yannick Talabardon. That would mean certain relegation. And I was thinking of putting in Theo Bos as one of our two leaders, but maybe that's going a little too far. I mean, I know he can sprint well, but he's only ever made a couple of finishes - still, at least he's got some points. Although he's unlikely to do that this year, I've not got him riding a lot of races. Which is a shame, because he's been in the team since 2007, only him, Clerc and Solis can lay claim to that. In fact, I'm not giving Clerc a lot of race days either. I mean, he's a good sprinter, but he's a bit like Bos - he just doesn't have the endurance, and guys like Caethoven and Weylandt are just as good if not better sprinters, and they CAN get to a finish line with the bunch. Anyway, here's the presentation.)
Our team will bring in many glorious win(s), and here are the riders who will make Belgium (and France) great again.
Our first of two co-leaders is a monster of a rider, and should excel on both the cobbles and on time trials. Fabian Cancellara is neither Belgian nor French, but is Swiss. Which is basically French. So he's fine. Anyway, he's in his second season for us in his second spell with the team, and will be targetting wins in Paris-Roubaix and Ronde van Vlaanderen in order to fulfil our team goals. Best Skills: COBBLE 84, TIME TRIAL 83, FLAT 84 Best Results: 1st Gent - Wevelgem (2010, Unicef); 1st Paris - Roubaix (2008, Accumalux)
Our second co-leader is a fantastic stage racer, and is, erm, not Belgian nor French. He's Ukranian, which is basically Belgian (my geography was never great), and he is Yaroslav Popovych. Best Skills: MOUNTAIN 81; HILL 77; TT 76.
The Carmeuse Cyslime team has begun the first stage of the first race of the 2011 season with a stunning team time trial. They finished in a fantastic 1st place, had all the other teams not raced.
Instead they came in 20th, but they definitely had the moral win, as none of the team are Theo Bos, thus a shocking 2 minute deficit was only 50 odd seconds.
[Crommy nervously sits outside the board room, waiting to be called to enter. He tries to decapitate the secretary at the desk using a paper clip in order to relieve his boredom. He is called to enter, just as he breaks through the C3 cervical verterbrae. The secretary wishes him good luck, and continues smiling]
Crommy: Welcome dear sponsors!
Now, I'm sure you've heard rumours that our cycling team is not doing particularly well. Let me say that these are not true in the slightest. We are doing fantastically well, it's all going well, and really well. I mean, if you look at our results, our position in the ProTour, the motivation of the riders, I mean, yes, you may think we're not doing great and I'm not doing a good job at all, but you've got to look beyond the numbers! [Crommy wildly flails a broadsword about during this opening, decapitating half of the board and amputating most of the rest, accompanied by wild celebrations from the board as someone had slipped cough syrup into their water, so they were all high as a kite]
Random board member (actually generated pseudo-randomly): But that's just as bad as everything else! [Passing computer scientists proceed to burn this board member at the stake for trying to pass off something pseudo-random as random)
Crommy: Yes, well, erm... Look at how much extra business the company has drummed up by investing in the team! [Enthusiastically dances to pounding techno to emphasise his point]
Another random board member (chosen using random numbers generated by white noise): To be honest, we haven't made much business. Actually, we've experienced the biggest loss our company has ever made. [Carried aloft to wildly cheering by the same computer scientists, but then also burned at the stake for suggesting net neutrality is not a fundamental part of the internet]
Crommy: But that's because of the economic climate! [Crommy now wildly performing lunges, destroying the majority of the board room and causing the tea and coffee making facilities to spontaneously combust out of boredom]
A third random board member, this time chosen so he can say something before he falls out of a window: In part. But your cycling team is so dismal, it's actually generating negative advertising - we're losing customers because of youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu........ [board member falls out of window, and is given a mark of 5.7 by the board members - perhaps he shall do better next time]
Crommy: [After observing an inappropriately short amount of silence for the fallen board member] I'm going to pretend he didn't say that, as it makes me look bad. But here's a short video explaining why you should continue to invest, and why I should keep my job
[Video turns out to be Die Hard. Board members watch and agree Crommy is doing great work, cycling is good for the company and to carry on investing]Edited by Crommy on 04-01-2011 18:38
With many teams hinting at changes in sponsorship, the media attention has turned to Carmeuse Cyclisme and their boss Crommy, who have changed sponsor every single year since Crommy took over.
When asked for any word on a change or perhaps even a retention of sponsor, Crommy told the waiting journalists to "fuck off", and added that he "hoped your houses burn down with you on the inside." When pressed further, he took out a machete and started counting downwards from 10. The awaiting media fought viciously to get out of his sight. A number of fatalities occurred.
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