Team Olympus AirAsia - Presented by Petronas had it's first season in 2010, and had a great debut season. We proved to be a good team that you always have to keep an eye on, and in 2011 we are going to be even stronger. The team's license is Malaysian and therefore the two Malaysian races is very important for us, but also the Asian tour which we totally dominated last year.
Last year we only managed to archive 2/5 goals, which AirAsia thouht was very unacceptable and therefore pulled out as main sponsor. With nomain sponsor, our budget will be really low. but Olympus and especially Petronas were after all satisfied with their sponsorship, and terefore Petronas decided to contribute more money to save the team. We have also got a few new minor sponsors, which secured that the team will have enough money to continue in 2011, but with a slightly lower budget. The new sponsors is the Japanese bike equipment manufacturer Shimano, who will provide the team with the Shimano Dura Ace Di2 gear group, wheels and other equipment. We have also signed a contract with the Italian cycle clothing manufacturer SMS Santini.
Not much will change in 2011, and we are still aiming for all the Asian races and the Asian Tour. Most important will be The two Malaysian races Tour de Langkawi and Jelajah Malaysia. The major change to the team, is that we are also giving the mass sprints a high priority. Last season it was our weak spot, but it will change in 2011.
Budget: €3,984,000
The 2011 team kit
A great thanks to Will007 for making this wonderful jersey
Team Goals
Top 10 Team Rankings
Last year Cadel Evans secured the 10th place in the team rankings by winning the last race of the season Herald Sun Tour. With new teams who had got some good riders during the transfer period it will definitely be a hard goal. But the team is confident that we can find our selves in the top 10 after the season. We have not signed any new captains for the stage races, so Lloret have to perform as god as he did last year, while Carrara and Evans have to ride very well too. Last year we had Enrico Gasparotto who had 6 wins and got 292 points so he will be missed a lot.
15 Stage Wins in 2011
In the team's first season we could celebrate exactly 15 stage wins, and in 2011 is going to be even more successful. This year we are much stronger in the sprints, and got 4 young sprinters. Lars Croket will be our main sprinter as well as Romain Feillu. We also got the only sprinter form last year, the Malaysian TT champion and track rider Azizulhasni Awang. Furthermore we have signed a new track rider this year, Roman Maksimov from Russia. By upgrading our sprinter squad we are aiming to take more wins, so this goal was a pretty obvious goal to pick.
Top 10 Tour Down Under
Last year Enrico Gasparotto was 6th, and yet again the meam comes with a good squad aiming for a top 10. Gerrans and Pasamontes will be our team leaders, but Croket, Feillu, Awang and Maksimov will also be in the line up. So we are really coming to make a big result and dominate the race.
Top 5 Tour de Langkawi
This is the biggest race in the team's home country, so we are very eager to get a top result. Last year Cadel Evans crashed twice in the last stage, and lost a great 2nd place. This year we will probably also bring our three team leaders, so we got a lot of opportunities to get a top 5 in the overall.
Win Jelajah Malaysia
The 2nd and last race in Malaysia, the little brother to Tour de Langkawi. Here we had a absolutely amazing race last year, getting a 1-2 stage win in the mountain stage. In the overall it gave us the 1-2 but also 3 other riders in top 10. It will be hard to make it a greater success in 2011, but one is for sure. Carrara is on the starting line with a strong squad to defend his title.
2011 Riders
Team Leaders Cadel Evans Matteo Carrara Manuel Lloret
Lieutenants Ricardo Van der Velde Moises Dueñas Mauricio Ortega
Sprinters Lars Croket Romain Feillu Igor Abakoumov Roman Maksimov Azizulhasni Awang
Puncheurs - Hilly Riders Simon Gerrans Luis Pasamontes Ronny Scholz Grega Bole
Time Trial Specialists Jack Bobridge
Helpers Tom Stubbe Anthony Colby Milton Ramos Gamez Tareq Esmaeli Muradjan Khalmuratov
Edited by Romme1 on 22-03-2010 07:57
Manager of Petronas - Olympus Professional Cycling Team - HQ
This is the preliminary racing calender and will be updated when we know exactly which races the team is participating in. January Down Under Classic - C1 Asia Tour Down Under - HC Asia China - Criterium Series Tour of Qatar - ProTour Tour of Wellington - C1 Asia
February Turkey - Criterium Series
March Tour de Langkawi - HC Asia
April Jelajah Malaysia - C1 Asia
May Tour of Japan - C1 Asia
June
July
August Badaling International - ProTour Tour de l'Avenir - Under 23
September World Championships
October Herald Sun Tour - C1 Asia Japan Cup - HC Asia National Championships
Catch Up
Total wins: Stage Race wins: Classics wins: Points Jerseys: KOM Jerseys Under 25 Wins:Edited by Romme1 on 21-03-2010 21:29
Manager of Petronas - Olympus Professional Cycling Team - HQ
Jack Bobridge and Igor Abakoumov joins Petronas - Olympus
Spoiler
Petronas - Olympus Professional Cycling Team has signed the Australian track rider and time trial specialist Jack Bobridge. With him in the team, we will strengthen the team's abilities in the time trials. We don't ecpect him to make any big results this year, but be a good helper.
Spoiler
We have also signed the experienced Belgian sprinter Igor Abakoumov, who will be a great addition to the team and make us stronger in the mass sprints. He got our interest when we signed Lars Croket, who wanted another Belgian sprinter as his wingman.
