Goals 1. Win, GP Torres Vedras - Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio 6th 2. Top 5, GP Llodio - Angel Vicioso 5th 3. Stage Win, Volta a Portugal - crap 4. Top 10, Team Rankings - #5 Team Rankings 5. Top 10, Subida al Naranco - Antonio Colom Mas 3rd
Goals 1. Win Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Domenico Pozzovivo 5th 2. KoM jersey in Tour de France - Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio 20th 3. Top10 in Giro d'Itália - Domenico Pozzovivo 4th 4. Top3 Vuelta a Asturias - Domenico Pozzovivo 6th 5. Avoid Relegation - Team 17th
Major results
4 Stage Victories + 9 podium places
17th in the Final ProTour Team Rankings (relegated)
2 KoM jerseys won
1 green jersey won
Victory in Rund um Koln + 5 top-10 places in one-day races
4th in the Giro d'Italia + 4 top-10 places in stage-races
NCs: Brazilian TT + RR
2012
Spoiler
Cerne Continental Tour
Goals 1. Top10 Volta a Portugal (Luis Leon Sanchez Gil -1st) 2. Win Volta ao Algarve (Luis Leon Sanchez Gil - 1st) 3. Win Vuelta a Mallorca(Luis Leon Sanchez Gil - 3rd) 4. Top5 Clasica San Sebastian (Luis Leon Sanchez Gil - 12th) 5. Top10 Team Standings (Team - 27th)
Target Races 1. Tour de Luxembourg (Luis Leon Sanchez Gil - 5th) 2. Giro del Capo (Luis Leon Sanchez Gil - 4th) 3. GP di Lugano (Bruno Pires - 26th) 4. GP Montreal (Bruno Pires - 33rd) 5. GP Plouay (Luis Leon Sanchez Gil - 5th)
Loaned In Amaro Antunes Nelson Oliveira Jon Ander Insausti
Loaned Out Samuel Caldeira Marc Machado Daniel Allonca
Major results
8 stage victories
18 appearances on the podium
1 Green jersey
27th in the Final Continental Team Rankings
Overall Victory in Volta ao Algarve and Volta a Portugal
NCs: Brazil (TT)
Major results
20 stage victories
29 appearances on the podium
3 Green jerseys
1 KoM jersey
9th in the Final Continental Team Rankings (promoted to ProTour)
Overall victory in Tour of Britain, GP Montreal, Manx International, GP Tunis, Baltic Chain Tour, Volta ao Alentejo and Tour do Rio
NCs: Portugal, Brazil (TT)
2014
Spoiler
Prio - Porto Pro Tour
Goals
1. Top 3 - Vuelta a España: Tiago Machado - 4th
2. Top 5 - Tour de France: Markus Fothen - 18th
3. Win - Vuelta a Colombia: Tiago Machado - 2nd
4. Win - GP Liechtenstein: Tiago Machado - 7th
5. Avoid Relegation: not even close
Loaned Out Rodrigo Nascimento Lluis Mas Rui Pedro Vinhas Bruno Borges Dario Antonio
Major results
3 stage victories
8 appearances on the podium
1 KoM jersey
23rd in the Final PT Team Rankings (relegated to Pro Continental Tour)
NCs: Angola (RR & TT) and Brazil (TT)
2015
Spoiler
Prio - Porto Pro Continental Tour
Goals 1. Win Volta a Portugal - Tiago Machado: 1st 2. Win Tour of Ukraine - Rui Costa: 2nd
3. Top 5 Tour of South Africa - Rui Costa: 44th
4. Top 5 Tour of Britain - Rui Costa: 9th
5. Top 5 PCT Team Standings - Team: 11th
Squad Tiago Machado Rui Costa Óscar Avelino Nelson Oliveira Rafael Reis Samuel Caldeira Domingos Gonçalves Carlos Baltazar Daniel Allonca Bruno Silva Ricardo Ferreira Frederico Figueiredo Luis Afonso Lionel Coutinho Antonio Carvalho Jaoa Costa Rodrigo Nascimento Lluis Mas Rui Pedro Vinhas Dario Antonio Ramon Domene
Loaned Out Bruno Borges
Major results
10 stage victories
22 appearances on the podium
2 Points jerseys, 1 KoM jersey and 1 U25 jersey
Overall victory in Volta a Portugal
11th in the Final PCT Team Rankings
NCs: Angola (RR & TT) and Portugal (TT)
2016
Spoiler
Porto - Prio Pro Continental Tour
Goals 1. Win Volta a Portugal - Rafael Reis: 2nd 2. Win Tour d'Andorra - Tiago Machado: 6th
3. Win Giro del Trentino - Rafael Reis: 5th 4. Win Colombian Venteaux - Tiago Machado: 1st
5. Top 5 PCT Team Standings - Team: 2nd
Squad Tiago Machado Ruben Guerreiro Óscar Avelino Nelson Oliveira Rafael Reis Samuel Caldeira Domingos Gonçalves Carlos Baltazar Daniel Allonca Bruno Silva Ricardo Ferreira Frederico Figueiredo Luis Afonso Lionel Coutinho Antonio Carvalho Jaoa Costa Rodrigo Nascimento Lluis Mas Rui Pedro Vinhas Dario Antonio Manuel Betilson Bruno Borges
Major results
Countless stage victories
So many appearances on the podium that I can't be bothered to count
Various Points jerseys, numerous KoM jersey and maybe even a few U25 jerseys
Overall victory in Colombian Venteaux and perhaps other races too
2nd in the Final PCT Team Rankings
NCs: Angola (RR & TT)
2017
Spoiler
Porto - Prio Pro Tour
Goals
1. WinVolta a Portugal:14th
2. PodiumVuelta a España:5th
3. Stage winsevery Grand Tour: 2nd (TTT - Giro)
4. PodiumCopenhagen - Malmo TTT:4th
5. Top10Pro Tour Team Standings:16th
Squad Tiago Machado Ruben Guerreiro Óscar Avelino Nelson Oliveira Rafael Reis Jacob Fiedler Domingos Gonçalves Marlen Zmorka Daniel Allonca Bruno Silva Ricardo Ferreira Frederico Figueiredo Luis Afonso Lionel Coutinho Antonio Carvalho Jaoa Costa Rodrigo Nascimento Lluis Mas Rui Pedro Vinhas João Gaspar Christian Egidio Roy Goldstein Krzystof MArchewka Manuel Betilson Bruno Borges
Major results
Sorry didn't count this year
16th in the Final PCT Team Rankings
NCs: Angola (RR & TT), Portugal (RR & TT), Ukraine (TT), Germany (TT), Israel (TT)
Energie-Diesel has left the cycling world, leaving now an open slot for another team to step-in. As it has been anounced a few days ago, a portuguese project has been waiting in the backstage to reveal itself to the Continental division. The disclosure moment has now arrived:
It's Cerne. No, it's not a misspell of that European Nuclear Megatomic Intergalactic Research Center. It's a young portuguese wood-based furniture company trying to make a name for itself. The major goal for this 1st season will be to build a team around a solid portuguese block and to be at our very best in domestic races, in order to bring the Eco-Home design to every furniture-consuming citizen.
So about the contract renewals:
[spoiler]For this 2012 season, the only riders who can stop worrying about a contract renewal are the portuguese ones obviously: Jos� Carlos Rodrigues Silva Andr� Vital Andr� Cardoso Bruno Pires Marco Alexandre Ferreira Cunha Paulo Lucas Martins
The following ones, may or may not be resigned but are not a top priority. Some of them, if resigned will likely be transfer listed: Luis L�on Sanchez Gil Gustavo Veloso Constantino Zaballa Eloy Teruel Daniel Allonca Domenico Pozzovivo Claudio Corioni Maurizio Biondo Elia Viviani Leonardo Duque Mauricio Soler Pedro Nic�cio Fredy Colop
This last group is composed of the ones who will be joining Free Agency: Antonio Colom Mas Jos� Joaquin Rojas Gil Angel Vicioso Jorge Nogaledo Jesus Tendero Davide Vigan� Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio Pa�l Torres C�sar Rojas Villegas
On the other hand our sponsors would like to bring some more horsepower to our roster, preferably of lusitanian origin. We shall scam, voodoo and curse every manager who owns the following men: S�rgio Paulinho Ricardo Mestre Vitor Rodrigues �scar Avelino Manuel Antonio Cardoso Bruno Lima Hern�ni Br�co Jo�o Cabreira Hugo Sabido Tiago Machado Rui Costa Bruno Neves Ricardo Martins Jos� Martins Nuno Ribeiro
So if you own a portuguese rider, you've been warned
We are happy to anounce the following riders have signed a contract with Cerne for the 2012 season. The foreign contingent has substancially been reduced and can be reduced even more in the transfer season:
Roster Jos� Carlos Rodrigues Silva Andr� Vital Andr� Cardoso Bruno Pires Marco Alexandre Ferreira Cunha Paulo Lucas Martins Luis L�on Sanchez Gil Gustavo Veloso Daniel Allonca Domenico Pozzovivo Claudio Corioni Maurizio Biondo Elia Viviani Pedro Nic�cio
So, this means the following riders now belong to free agency:
Angel Vicioso Antonio Colom Mas Eloy Teruel Constantino Zaballa Jesus Tendero Jorge Nogaledo Jos� Joaquin Rojas Gil Leonardo Duque Mauricio Soler Pa�l Torres Davide Vigan� Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio C�sar Rojas Villegas Fredy Colop
Word has come in that Domenico Pozzovivo, may be looking to continue his career away from his current team. The italian has recently renewed his contract with the CT team Cerne, however his mind may already be thinking to pursue other endeavours. In a recent interview with Gazzeta dello Sport the 30 year-old told said he wants to keep competing with the best and this new project doesn't really fit his ambitions:
"I'm a Giro d'Italia top 5'er, I don't belong in a team with such low standards. I may be keep receiveing a big paycheck, but I want more than that. I want to compete with the best."
When asked about where would he want to be racing, his words were clear as crystal:
"ProTour. That's where the big guns are and where te competition is the toughest so there's little choice for me to do. However, if there's a CT team with a captivating project and with a winning attitude, interested in my services I'd gladly consider it."
Pozzovivo isn't alone. There are rumours that other riders in his side may be looking to sign for other teams. These rumours include Claudio Corioni and Gustavo Veloso.
When asked about whether he would let go of these assets or would make them carry out their contracts, Cerne's DS, Gustavovskiy said he wouldn't impose anything to anyone as long as his team gets a satisfying gratification for any potential negotiation.
"Against the managers will has a staff member of Pirelli - Alfa Romeo told a local newspaper, that the team is making Pozzovivo a priority during the upcoming transfer window. With him on the team would they stand a fine chance in the hunt for a wild card in the Giro"
The Vespa - Aprilia - De Rosa Racing Team leader Francesco Ginanni told reporters earlier today that he knows the names of the riders the team are targetting transfer wise. Domenico Pozzovivo is top of the list of those that are known to be available.
A member of Cerne's administration board has conceded some words to the portuguese site Jornal Ciclismo in which he stated the following:
Pozzovivo is an ambitious rider and we respect his decision to leave. We also understand there are several teams interested in him so we will try to pick the most lucrative offer and let go of his 600.000� salary.
About L�on Sanchez, well I have to admit even though he is a top priority for at least 2 teams, he is most likely staying with us. Luis likes his role as the absolute team leader here at Cerne and is focused on achieving the goals we have set for him. That said I wouldn't say a deal isn't a possible scenario but I have to caution the interested teams, he won't leave unless the payment involves a way of replacing the results Luis L�on Sanchez would be able to materialize for us.
With the end of the transfer season and the nearing of the racing, the new ProContinental team, Cerne, has decided to make a formal presentation of their new members to the local press. With a squad full of young talents the portuguese side has shown a real commitment to the development of the sport in its country by only signing riders of their own nation:
[img-l]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/rr.png[/img-l]Rafael Reis
Having already been considered the team's most interesting sign of the off-season, this young man has great expectations upon his shoulders. Critics say he has the potential to reach Tiago Machado's level and become the finest portuguese stage-racer. We have set one first career goal for him to reach - Win Volta a Portugal. But that won't be possible until a couple of years so for now we just want him to get some kilometers on his legs and gain some experience. His role will be of a mere mountain helper, but he will definitely enjoy some chances to take part in breakaways in hilly stages.
[img-r]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/bb.png[/img-r]Bruno Borges
Bruno is another young rider with a great future ahead of him. We really wished to sign him so we could be able to monitor his development through the years. We want him to learn a lot with his team captains in order to become one to look out for in the hilly classics. In the meantime he is expected to ride for his team leaders, and take his chances when the breakaway oportunities appear.
[img-l]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/lc.png[/img-l]Lionel Coutinho
As the 2 previous colleague, Lionel is a wonderful prospect. We think he may one day become the main leader of our sprint contingent, and be faced as a powerhouse in the peloton. This season, however we don't expect much of him, we simply want him to gather some experience and help the sprint captains achieve some victories through the year.
[img-r]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/rv.png[/img-r]Ricardo Vilela
Ricardo is a valuabe signing as well. We payed a high wage to grant his services for the following year. We don't expect him to turn into a huge stage-racer, but we certainly want him to become a useful rider able to be a small race contender and especially a nice helper for our leaders. This year, however, riding and learning are his only tasks.
[img-l]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/ac.png[/img-l]Antonio Carvalho
Another rider who catched our scouts eyes, with great performances in the youth categories, Antonio, comes to our team with the objective of becoming a notable rider. We welcome him with open arms and with the notion he has the potential to be a very useful rider in the future, either on time-trials or in the field sprints. Let's see what the future will bring for him.
[img-r]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/bs.png[/img-r]Bruno Silva
On the climbing side of the new acquisitions we have Bruno, a very talented young rider, with a good future in front of him in the steeper roads. Having showed he's not that bad in the time-trials he can give a hand in stage-races and maybe even lead the team in some smaller events in 2-3 years time. In 2012 though he'll be backing up Leon Sanchez and Nic�cio in the mountainous terrain.
[img-l]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/am.png[/img-l]Andr� Mourato
Andr� is another gifted youngster, who we see as a future contender for stages and one-day races. He has shown he has the power to become a great addition to our sprint train in a couple of years. On the other side think we can expect him to develop into an hilly classic kind of rider. Either way we hope to be counting with a multiple stage-winner in a few years. For now he'll have to explore his luck in early breakaways to savour the taste of victory
[img-r]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/cb.png[/img-r]Carlos Baltazar
Continuing with our new roster, we present you Carlos. He is a rider pretty much like Bruno Silva: already a promising value in the mountains but who can also handle himself in the race against the clock, so we expect a stage-racer out of him who can be a close supporter to our main men.
[img-l]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/rm.png[/img-l]Ricardo Martins
Let's skip the rookies a bit now, and present you Ricardo, one of our latest signings. He's a fine rider with some experience and with a lot of will to help the team, where he'll be working as a rolleur. Nevertteless as his main field are the Time-Trials, we will be looking for good perfomances in this genre of races.
[img-r]https://cqranking.com/men/images/Riders/2007/CQM2007002751.jpg[/img-r]Jos� Martins
Jos� is another good addition to our sprint group. He's role is a bit unclear by now since we consider he is as qualified as other fast men in our squad, so we'll be deciding that during the team training camps.
Bruno Santos
As Jos�, Bruno is also a sprinter with good chances of being one of our leaders in that field. However the decision as to who will be our main sprint leader won't be an easy one given the similar quality of our finishers.
Marcio Portela
Returning to our rookies, we have Marcio. We have been following him since two years now since he sensationally robbed Energie-Diesel of the portuguese RR title in 2010. We define him as a youngster who has some talent in the hilly races and who may become and interesting rider. He's at a reasonable level already and we hope he can become a breakaway specialist and deliver some reasonable results, maybe even repeat his success in the portuguese championships.
Luis Afonso
Pretty much as Marcio, Luis may become a very talented rider in the future. The difference between them is that Luis is younger and perhaps a even a more interesting prospect. It's his first year as a pro so even though he can represent a respectful rider in breakaways, we just want him to gain experience in 2012.
Gabriel Cerveira
Finalising our roster we have Gabriel, another youngster who is seen as a nice addition to Cerne's climbing section. He's probably not the most gifted rider but we're sure he is commited to help the team achieving its goals.
Marco Cunha
And before you go away we just want to introduce you Marco. His transfer has just been confirmed hence his late presentation. He's not the younger rider on the team but he is still in a learning age so we hope we can see more from his sprinting skills. Also it's imperative for him to improve his climbing in a near future otherwise we'll be relegated to the function of team mascot
Some riders of the extinct Energie-Diesel have agreed to continue their careers under the command of their old manager, which means they will be racing for Cerne in 2012.
[img-l]https://cqranking.com/men/images/Riders/2009/CQM2009000333.jpg[/img-l] Luis Leon Sanchez Gil
We're extremely happy to count with Luis for the upcoming season. It wasn't easy to maintain him during the transfer season given that there were a handful of teams highly determined to sign him. However we had defined previously that Luis' would be the team leader, and that the roster would be built around him. That's what we did and now we expect him to fulfill our expectations and deliver results, especially in the races we have set as our goals for the season.
[img-r]https://cqranking.com/men/images/Riders/2007/CQM2007001213.jpg[/img-r] Pedro Nic�cio
The only national champion on our roster comes from the other side of the Atlantic, but speaks the same language as us. Pedro is not only the brazilian RR champion but also the sovereign in the TT there. He will play a leading role in our team as well, but only in smaller races, where we won't bring LLS. We're counting on him to achieve some points which may prove important for our top10 goal in the Overall Team Standings in the end of the season.
Andr� Vital, Andr� Cardoso, Marco A. F. Cunha, Paulo L. Martins, Bruno Pires, Jos� Carlos R. Silva
As to our portuguese contingent, they all remain with the team as promised before the renewals. Some of them have been with our DS since his first year with Energie-Diesel, so it's only natural they're here. They're main role will be to support our 2 leaders in our key races. We're also counting on them to get in breakawys and fight for KoM jersey and stage wins as some of them are used to.
Maurizio Biondo, Elia Viviani
[img-l]https://cqranking.com/men/images/Riders/2009/CQM2009003157.jpg[/img-l] [img-r]https://cqranking.com/men/images/Riders/2011/CQM2011013240.jpg[/img-r] To finish this presentation we have two italian riders. In all honesty we weren't counting on them for this season, given that there were a couple of teams interested in their services. However this siege wasn't really intense, so in the end we all decided to keep them for at least one more season. And we'll happily welcome them in our 2012 roster since they are two interesting riders. Maurizio is going to be one of our main sprinters, as Elia will keep learning his ways to become a future star in the sprints or in TTs.
@CountArach: Thanks mate. It isn't easy to resist the tentation of going all out for the win, but in the end building a regional team makes you really proud
The Loanees
As any other team, we at Cerne have hired riders, which we think may benefit more from riding at another level. As so we have decided to let go of three of our riders for one year, in order for them to enhance their attributes, and return to our roster in 2013 better, faster and stronger.
Samuel Caldeira <--> Nelson Oliveira
[img-l]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/sc.png[/img-l][img-r]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/no.png[/img-r]As one of the most interesting sprinters on the portuguese market this year, we couldn't allow ourselves to not offer a Samuel a place in our squad. However we didn't think his full potential was totally exploited so we decided to loan him to our former rivals Nestl�, even though he would absolutely have a spot in this years' squad. In exchange we'll get one of Portugal's future stars: Nelson Oliveira. We'll happilly help him develop and reach his potential as he helps us in the TTs through this year in the CT.
Marc Machado <--> Amaro Antunes
[img-l]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/mm.png[/img-l][img-r]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/aa.png[/img-r]As we really like Nestl� we couldn't just make one deal with them and as so we agreed to make another one-season trade. This time we loaned them a very talented young cobbler named from France. Marc wouldn't be a candidate for acquisition in normal conditions, given that he's a foreigner, but since he has a portguese surname we decided to make an exception and hired the man who can one day become the first cobbler riding for a portuguese team! On the other side of the deal comes Amaro Antunes, a very young climber whom we think might become a really useful helper in the mountains in the peak of his career. We're counting on him to help with bottle carrying obligations and breakaway duties.
Daniel Allonca <--> Jon Ander Insausti
[img-l]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/da.png[/img-l][img-r]https://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq112/Gustavovskiy/jai.png[/img-r]And the last but not the least loan deal we closed in the transfer season involves two spaniards, in a transaction agreed with our neighbours Santander. From our side goes Daniel Allonca, a young rider who can already ride very fast in the flat terrain and who can play a very helpful role in a number of diferent profiles, albeit his main terrain may be the northern classics. Furthermore he can prove to be a very agressive rider on any kind of race. We hope Santander can continue the work they did last eyar with him and help him progress as time passes. In the other direction comes Jon Ander Insausti an even younger rider who is very much like Allonca but whose potiential is much higher. We want to contribute as much as we can in the development of Spain's future cobble leading rider.
The season opener, wasn't seen as more than warm-up, since we couldn't bother sending our leaders to South Africa. However we were pleasently surprised by a very strong ride by Marcio Portela who got himself into the early breakaway and went all the way to the end with the favourites, being still able to conserve enough strength to secure a very honourable 11th place.
Vuelta al Tachira
A couple of days later, we to Venezuela to take part in our first stage race of the season. We sent a focused exclusively in the sprints, in order to try and collect the points on offer in the flat stages and maybe even win the green jersey. However things didn't work out as planed right fromm the beggining, given our performance in the TTT was catastrophic to say the least. In the following stages, besides having the strongest sprint train we collected failure after failure. In stage 5, however, Bruno Santos was finally able to conquer the much wanted stage win. We hope to have learned form our mistakes in Venezuela, so we can improve our results whenever the course is flat enough for our sprinters.
2012 was a tough year for the most portuguese team of the Continental Tour. With lots of ups and downs, Cerne managed to shine on some races, having reached a total of 11 victories throughout the season, including triumphs in the GC of the only two portuguese races of the calendar - Volta ao Algarve and Volta a Portugal. These outstanding results weren't unfortunately propagated to the rest of our race schedule, and so we end 2012 season among the last teams of our division, which wasn't an acceptable result from our main sponsor. So the first season as Cerne is also our last season as Cerne. We'd like to thank the company for all its support even though they're leaving.
On the other hand, given the fact that the team performed so well on home soil, we'd like to announce that we've found a group of portuguese sponsors that is willing to back this project for the next season. We can't really say much more than this before the actual end of the season, so you'll have to wait for the end of the national champs to know the name of these sponsors.
The 2012 was not a particularly good season for the portuguese team Cerne, and so it was expected that they were not to renew their sponsorship, given the costs it would take and the financial framework they're merged in.
However this was not to be the end of one of the most promising squads from portuguese cycling, as the administration had already gathered a handful of sponsorship offers, before the end of the of last season, due to some outstanding performances within home soil in 2012.
So without further ado, we present you the 2013 title sponsors:
Prio is a company who produces renewable fuels. As we also like to ride clean, this comes as a perfect match for our side, and we intend to share this philosophy with our racing throughout the season.
The other title sponsor is CM Porto, the 2nd most important portuguese city, famous for its wine and its football club. The aim now is to make it famous because of its cycling as well.
For this season we will bring another ambition and we'll try to keep ourselves away from the bottom of the table. Nevertheless the focus will remain in building a team around a strong block of portuguese riders. Although, the new sponsors have granted permission to hire 2-3 foreign riders in order to become more competitive. The goal is to maintain our identity, but without compromising the team status among the ProContinental teams.
Budget: Enough to train Theo Bos so he can win the Giro
Apparently, Elia Viviani would love to get a new chance in the Pro Tour, and Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi is one of the teams who is interested in signing the Italian. Is Prio - Porto willing to release Viviani?
