G'Day I am Smowz the general manager of Jayco - Red Bull.
The is the second year in I have held a cycling team licence, I would like to start by telling you of our sponsors and a little more about them.
Red Bull are in their second year with me, last year they stepped in at the 11th hour after issues with other sponsorships. Red Bull is the most popular energy drink in the world and has been in the mainstream market for some 15 years. They have been involved heavily in sports sponsorship in recent times sponsoring a number of soccer teams and also sponsoring a successful formula one racing team.
Jayco Australia makes camping and outdoor vehicles and has been heavily involved in Australian cycling since 1992. Jayco also have supported a number of Australian cycle races, this year they decided to join up with Red Bull cycling to go a bit more global.
We have secured Dodge as a secondary sponsor this year, this automobile manufacturing company from the states was interested in getting its name out there. We made contact during the Tour of America in our first season.
Our clothing sponsor is Nike, one of the world's leading sportswear brands. Our global outreach program last year reaping dividends once more.Edited by Smowz on 09-10-2012 20:57
Our first year got off to an explosive start as we stormed to victory through Yukiya Arashiro in the Tour Down Under. As the year wore on the early season boost began to fade as we settled into a middle of the road sort of team. John-Lee Augustyn, Arashiro, CJ Sutton, Adam Hanson and Roman Kilun kept things going with some useful results. But our star rider was Konstantin Siutsou who after podiuming at the Spanish and American Tours finished the season off in style with victory at the Japan Cup.
The team were not disgraced in finishing 15th in our first season, however our lack of star quality left us only able to gain one of the pre-season goals.
On the youth development side of things Australians Adam Semple and Michael Matthews developed well and Chinese climber Jianhua Ji managed a victory in the short lived Criterium Series. The team sponsored an U23 team starring sprinter Damian Drapac and a fairly low key Tour de L'Avenir team.
Red Bull Results 2011
Team Ranking: 15th 2873 points
Individual Rankings:
21st Konstantin Siutsou 663 points
48th Yuki Arashiro 485 points
59th JL Augustyn 389 points
113th Roman Kilun 240 points
162nd Adam Hansen 158 points
170th Julian Rodas 148 points
198th Jose Chacon 115 points
202nd CJ Sutton 111 points
205th Edwin Parra Bustamante 109 points
223rd Ahmed Haider Anuawar 94 points
12 wins (1 classic win and 11 stage wins)
Konstantin Siutsou: Japan Cup, Stage 7 Volta a Portugal
CJ Sutton: Stage 5 Vuelta Castille y Leon, Stage 3 Jayco Sun Tour
Yuki Arashiro: Stage 2 and 5 Tour Down Under
JL Augustyn: Stage 1 Giro del Capo
A Hansen: Stage 5 Vuelta a Burgos
A Haider: Stage 2 Vuelta a Tachira
J Chacon: Stage 4 Vuelta a Columbia
V Orozco: Stage 11 Vuelta a Columbia
Team Trial: Stage 2 Tour of Japan
Full results:
Spoiler
Bloemfontain Classic[HC]: 10th John Lee Augustyn, 26th Adam Hansen Winner: Filipo Pozzato (Mercedes Benz)
Vuelta a Tachira [c1]
4th Julian Rodas, 5th Jose Chacon, 13th Franklin Chacon, 14th Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez Winner: Richard Ochoa Quintero (Youtube-Twitter)
Stage 1: 6th Ahmad Haider Anauwar Winner: Damien Martinez (Quiksilver)
Stage 2: 1st Ahmad Haider Anauwar, 2nd Franklin Chacon, 3rd Arthur Garcia Rincon
Stage 3: 4th Ahmad Haider Anauwar Winner: Alexander Gottfried (Bbox)
Stage 4: 4th Julian Rodas Winner: Yeison Delgado (Quiksilver)
Stage 5: 6th Luis Felipe Laverde Winner: Laurent Didier(Bbox)
Stage 6: 3rd Julian Rodas Winner: Oliver Zaugg (Youtube)
Stage 7: 3rd Jose Chacon Winner: Richard Ochoa (Youtube)
Stage 8: 6th Jose Chacon Winner: Francisco Colorado(Sport Lisboa)
Stage 9: 4th Arthur Garcia Rincon Winner Damien Martinez (Quiksilver)
Stage 10: 3rd Julian Rodas Winner: Egoitz Murgoitio (Sport Lisboa)
Stage 11: 4th Julian Rodas Winner: Mikel Asterloza (Bbox)
Stage 12: 9th Ahmad Haider Anauwar Winner: Kevin Barclay (Youtube)
Tour Down Under [HC] 1st Yukiya Arashiro 21st Adam Hansen, 22nd John-Lee Augustyn, 31st Jamie Ball
Stage 1: 10th Yukiya Arashiro Winner: Mark Cavendish (100% Me)
Stage 2: 1st Yukiya Arashiro
Stage 3: 42nd Yukiya Arashiro takes leaders jerseyWinner: Alex Flugal (Ikea)
Stage 4: 3rd Yukiya Arashiro Winner: Luke Rowe (Wiggle)
Stage 5: 1st Yukiya Arashiro
Stage 6: 36th Jamie Ball Winner: Jimmy Casper (Milka)
Tour de San Luis [HC]
7th John Lee Augustyn, 34th Edwin Parra, 35th Roman Kilun, 39th Julian Rodas Winner: Rein Taaramae (IKEA)
Stage 1: 4th Yukiya Arashiro Winner: Max Richeze (UBS)
Stage 2: 7th JL Augustyn Winner: Florentino Marquez (Sport Lisboa)
Stage 3: 19th JL Augustyn Winner: Dimitri Grabovski (Intesa)
Stage 4: 6th Julian Rodas Winner: Jose Serpa (Pirelli)
Stage 5: 3rd JL Augustyn Winner: Rein Taaramae (IKEA)
Stage 6: 19th Yukiya Arashiro Winner: Max Richeze (UBS)
Stage 7: 8th Adil Jelloul Winner: Rui Costa (Sport Lisboa)
Volta a Catalunya [ProTour]
7th Konstantin Siutsou, 27th Edwin Parra, 34th Victor Orozco, 37th Jianhau Ji Winner: Alejandro Valverde (Cafe du Columbia)
Stage 1: 30th Konstantin Siutsou Winner: Martijn Keizer (Nespresso)
Stage 2: 28th Victor Hugo Orozco Winner: Sam Bewley (Festina)
Stage 3: 5th Konstantin Siutsou Winner: Alejandro Valverde (Columbia)
Stage 4: 9th Konstantin Siutsou Winner: Alejandro Valverde (Columbia)
Stage 5: 67th Carlos Manarelli Winner: Jesus Tendero (Energie Diesal)
Stage 6: 13th Carlos Manarelli Winner: Hector Duenes (Domina Vacanze)
Stage 7: 4th Fumiyaki Beppu Winner: Rafael Rodriguez(La Gazzetta)
Mt Hood Cycling Classic [c1]
3rd JL Augustyn. 17th Roman Kilun Winner: Jose Alarcon (IKEA)
Stage 1: 15th Roman Kilun Winner: David Abal (Santander)
Stage 2: 4th Yukiya Arashiro Winner: Robert Forster (UBS)
Stage 3: 5th JL Augustyn Winner Jose Alarcon (IKEA)
Stage 4: 4th Red Bull Winners: IKEA
Stage 5: 3rd JL Augustyn Winner: Jose Alarcon (IKEA)
Stage 6: 3rd Yukiya Arashiro Winner: Tomas Viatkus (Telenor)
Giro de Capo [c1]
4th JL Augustyn, 15th Adil Jelloul, 16th Yukiya Arashiro, 20th Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez Winner: Hassan Ben Nasser (Cillit Bang)
Stage 1:1st JL Augustyn
Stage 2: 3rd JL Augustyn Winner: Hassan Ben Nasser(Cillit Bang)
Stage 3: 2nd JL Augustyn Winner: David Abal (Santander)
Stage 4: 2nd Adil Jelloul Winner: Taylor Tolleson (Mercedes)
Stage 5: 9th JL Augustyn Winner: Ignas Konovalinos (El Al)
Tour de Langkawi [HC]
19th Konstantin Siutsou Winner: Bernard Kohl (UBS)
Stage 1: 15th Ahmad Haider Anuawar Winner: Juan Jose Haedo (Mercedes)
Stage 2: 16th Christopher Sutton Winner: Danilo Napilitano (Unicredit)
Stage 3: 3rd Ahmad Haider Anuawar Winner: Greg Van Avermart(Bimbo Nutella)
Stage 4: 7th Ahmad Haider Anuawar Winner: Danilo Napilitano (Unicredit)
Stage 5: 25th KOnstantin Siutsou Winner: Bernard Kohl (UBS)
Stage 6: 8th Ahmad Haider Anauwar Winner: Oscar Guereo (Santander)
Stage 7: 11th Ahmad Haider Anauwar Winner: Oscar Guereo (Santander)
Cape Argus Cycle Tour (c1): 2nd Yukiya Arashiro, 5th Adil Jelloul, 7th CJ Sutton Winner: Lasse Bochmann (Telenor)
Vuelta Castille y Leon (c1)
3rd Konstantin Siutsou, 9th Roman Kilun, 25th Adil Jelloul Winner: Kim Kirchen (Bacardi)
Stage 1: 12th Konstantin Siutsou Winner: Rui Costa (Sport Lisboa)
Stage 2: 8th Roman Kilun Winner: Kim Kirchen (Bacardi)
Stage 3: 2nd Konstantin Siutsou Winner: Kim Kirchen (Bacardi)
Stage 4: 2nd Konstantin Siutsou Winner: Kim Kirchen (Bacardi) Stage 5: 1st Christopher Sutton
Worlds View Challenge(HC)
11th Yukiya Arashiro 21st Adam Hansen, 23rd Jamie Ball Winner: Simon Gerrans (Petronas)
Stage 1: 4th Yukiya Arashiro Winner: Thomas Ziegler (Yamaha)
Stage 2: 4th CJ Sutton Winner: Galdos (Santander)
Stage 3: 6th Yukiya Arashiro Winner: Max Richeze(UBS)
Stage 4: 20th Adam Hansen Winner: Simon Gerrans (Petronas)
Stage 5: 11th Yukiya Arashiro Winner: Stefan Schumacher (UBS)
Jelejah Malaysia (c1)
8th Julian Rodas 15th Kin-San Wu Winner: David Lopez Garcia (Santander)
Stage 1: 3rd CJ Sutton Winner: Greg Van Avermart (Bimbo Nutella)
Stage 2: 7th CJ Sutton Winner: Lars Crocket (Petronas)
Stage 3: 2nd Haider Anuawar Winner:Max Richeze(UBS)
Stage 4: 11th Haider Anauwar Winner: Greg Van Avermart (Bimbo Nutella)
Stage 5: 4th Haider Anauwar Winner: Eric Mohs (Pokerstars)
Stage 6: 7th Julian Rodas Winner: Jose Alarcon (Ikea)
Stage 7: 4th Haider Anauwar Winner: Borghesi (Unicredit)
Tour of Japan (c1)
5th Adam Hansen, 7th Arashiro, 16th Kilun, 24th Beppu, 25th Parra B Winner: Sylvian Chavenal (El Al)
Stage 1: 4th Fumi Beppu Winner: Priamo (Yamaha) Stage 2: 1st Red Bull Cycling
Stage 3: 4th Hansen Winner: Van de Velde (Petronas)
Stage 4: 7th Hansen Winner: Hesjedal (Pirelli)
Stage 5: 8th Kilun Winner: Nazaret (Benfica)
Stage 6: 2nd Hansen Winner: Chavenal (El Al)
Stage 7: 2nd Kilun Winner: Chavenal (El Al)
Vuelta a Columbia (c1)
5th Parra Bustamante 12th Jose Chacon 16th Victor Orozco 18th Luis Laverde Winner: Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Sport Lisboa)
Stage 1: 3rd Parra Bustamante Winner: Krasnoperov (Benfica)
Stage 2: 14th Parra Bustamante Winner: Mayo (Pirelli)
Stage 3: 15th Parra Bustamante Winner: Rui Costa (Benfica) Stage 4: 1st Jose Chacon
Stage 5: 11th Orozco Winner: Carduso (Yamaha)
Stage 6: 4th Manarelli Winner: Bajadali (Yamaha)
Stage 7: 6th Parra Bustamante Winner: Gil (Lego)
Stage 8: 8th Parra Bustamante Winner: Betencourt (Quiksilver)
Stage 9: 5th Parra Bustamante Winner: Van den Broeck (Benfica)
Stage 10: 6th Parra Bustamante Winner: Rodrigues (Bimbo Nut) Stage 11: 1st Victor Orozco
Stage 12: 5th Jose Chacon Winner: Gil (Lego)
Stage 13: 2nd Parra Bustamante Winner: Beraud (Bimbo Nut)
Stage 14: 7th Manarelli Winner: Grau (Unicredit)
Stage 15: 5th Manarelli Winner: Van den Broeck
Urkola Igoera (HC)
11th Konstantin Siutsou 28th Julian Rodas 36th Edwin Parra Bustamante 41st Luis Felipe Laverde 48th Victor Hugo Orozco Winner: Riccardo Ricco (Bacardi-Colt)
Vuelta a Burgos (HC)
13th John-Lee Augustyn 20th Victor Hugo Orozco Winner: Rein Taaramae (IKEA)
Stage 1: 13th Fumi Beppu Winner: Jean-Patrick Nazon (Bacardi)
Stage 2: 13th JL Augustyn Winner:Ruben Elvira Lobato (Bimbo)
Stage 3: 13th Adam Hansen Winner: Gustav Larsson (IKEA)
Stage 4: 9th JL Augustyn Winner: Rein Taaramae (IKEA) Stage 5: 1st Adam Hansen, 4th Jamie Ball
Volta a Portugal (HC)
4th Konstantin Siutsou 27th Edwin Parra B 33rd Luis Felipe Laverde 34th Kin San Wu 50th Adil Jelloul Winner: Franco Pellizotti (Youtube)
Stage 1: 9th Adil Jelloul Winner: Miles Olman (Bimbo Nutella)
Stage 2: 4th CJ Sutton Winner:Jordi Grau(Unicredit)
Stage 3: 7th Adil Jelloul Winner:Franco Pellizotti (Youtube)
Stage 4: 16th Adil Jelloul Winner:Franco Pellizotti (Youtube)
Stage 5:3rd Konstantin SiutsouWinner: Jose Serpa (Pirelli)
Stage 6: 10th Adil Jelloul Winner: Theo Eltink (Falcon) Stage 7: 1st Konstantin Siutsou
Stage 8: 13th Adil Jelloul Winner: Cieran Cassidy (Vespa)
Stage 9: 19th Adil Jelloul Winner: Paulo Bettini (Vespa)
Stage 10: 3rd Konstantin Siutsou Winner: Bernhard Kohl (UBS)
Stage 11: 10th KOnstantin Siutsou Winner: Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Benfica)
Tour of Missouri (HC)
13th Roman Kilun 28th Adil Jelloul 30th John-Lee Augustyn 32nd Scot Zwizanski Winner: Mikhial Ignatiev (Wiggle)
Stage 1: 3rd Yukiya Arishiro Winner: Peter Kennaugh (100% Me)
Stage 2: 20th Adil Jelloul Winner:Vasili Kirylenka (Tinkoff)
Stage 3: 15th Roman Kilun Winner: Ian Stannard (100% Me)
Stage 4: 11th Roman Kilun Winner: Thor Hushovd (Milka)
Stage 5: 13th Roman Kilun Winner:Enrico Gasparotto (Intesa)
Vattenfalls Classic (HC)
45th Yukiya Arashiro Winner: Matthew Goss (Bacardi)
Vuelta Chihuahua International (c1)
2nd Roman Kilun, 10th Julian Rodas, 12th Scott Zwizanski, 24th Adam Semple Winner: Mwangi Samwel (Bimbo Nutella)
Stage 1: 9th Roman Kilun Winner: Lopez Garcia (Santander)
Stage 2: 2nd Roman Kilun Winner: Mwangi Samwel (Bimbo Nutella)
Stage 3: 3rd Roman Kilun Winner: Lopez Garcia (Santander)
Stage 4: 5th Roman Kilun Winner: Vitor Rodrigues (Bimbo Nutella)
Stage 5: 2nd Manarelli Winner: D Martinez (Quiksilver)
Stage 6: 12th Zwizanski Winner: Iker Camano(Bimbo Nutellal)
Stage 7: 2nd CJ Sutton Winner: D Martinez (Quiksilver)
Jayco Herald Sun Tour (c1)
18th JL Augustyn, 22nd Kin San Wu Winner: Jose Alarcon (Ikea)
Stage 1: 2nd CJ Sutton Winner: Impey (Yamaha)
Stage 2: 14th Fumi Beppu Winner: Pineau (Bbox) Stage 3: 1st CJ Sutton
Stage 4: 18th JL Augustyn Winner: Ricardo Van der Velde
Stage 5: 11th JL Augustyn Winner: J Alarcon (Ikea)
Stage 6: 12th Hansen Winner: Chavenal (El-Al)
Stage 7: 10th Kin San Wu Winner: Griepel (Bbox)
Japan Cup[HC]: 1st Konstantin Siutsou
20th Adam Semple
2012 Promotion!
We went into the season with some optimism of a top 10 finish, however as the season went on we became a shoo in for promotion with a high level of team consistency the key. We knew we would be strong in Asian races and so it proved following yet another sparkling Tour Down Under. We managed to keep the momentum going this year deep into April building a really important buffer. Excellent performances at races like the Tour of South Africa and Tour of Langkawi helped keep us in position but also solid performances in the classics.
Mid Season when promotion looked apparent focus shifted towards our first Tour de France assault. Ultimately we narrowly failed to take a stage but battling perfomances from Moinard, Gadret and Calzati will long be remembered.
It cam down to securing promotion really, which stage wins in Swaziland and Great Britain and continued presence in classics enabled our diverse squad to finish 3rd on the team classification.
Despite a fairly cold logistical approach to gathering points the team were able to experiment with cobbles, with Giaux snatching a victory from admittedly a weakened Herning field. The whole team looked a bit tired going into the seasons end after a busy and highly succesful year
Jayco - Red Bull Results 2012
Team Ranking: 3rd 4461 points
Individual Rankings:
34th Daryl Impey 532 points
50th Daniel Moreno 446 points
60th Manuele Mori 408 points
66th Simon Gerrans 366 points
70th Kim Kirchen 345 points
96th Gustavo Veloso 271 points
102nd John Gadret 257 points
104th Amael Moinard 255 points
107th Eduard Vorganov 250 points
138th Sylvian Calzati 195 points
155th Jerome Giaux 182 points
166th Mikael Cherel 166 points
182nd Adil Jelloul 149 points
213rd Blaise Sonnery 126 points
226th Greame Brown 110 points
11 wins (1 classic and 10 stage wins)
Jerome Giaux: GP Herning
Simon Gerrans: Stage 3 Tour Down Under and Stage 6 Tour of South Africa
Amael Moinard: Stage 3 Tour of Britain and Stage 4 Tour of Swaziland
Daniel Moreno: Stage 10 Tour of Langkawi
Romain Kilun: Stage 9 Tour of Langkawi
John Gadret: Mount Fuji Time Trial at the Tour of Japan
Gustavo Veloso: Stage 3 Tour of Japan
Eduard Vorganov: Stage 6 Tour of Southland
Blaise Sonnery: Stage 3 Tour of Swaziland
Full Results
Spoiler
MTN Cycling Classic (HC)
16th Simon Gerrans, 19th Manuele Mori, 20th Mikael Cherel, 29th Kim Kirchen 30th Daryl Impey Winner: Francesco Ginanni (Vespa)
Down Under Classic (HC)
3rd Graeme Brown Winner: Allan Davis (Hollister)
Tour Down Under (c1)
2nd Daryl Impey, 5th Simon Gerrans, 15th Blaise Sonnery, 18th Manuele Mori, 22nd Adam Hansen. Simon Gerrans wins stage 3 Winner: Allan Davis (Hollister)
Tour of Wellington (c1)
4th KIm Kirchen, 5th Manuele Mori, 22nd Adil Jelloul Winner: Alexander Flugal(VolksWagen)
Mumbai Cyclothon I (c1)
8th Georgos Tzortzakis, 13th CJ Sutton, 18th Adil Jelloul Winner: Daniele Bennati (Puma-SAP)
Mumbai Cyclothon II (c1)
3rd CJ Sutton, 8th Joseph Cooper Winner: Daniele Bennati (Puma-SAP)
Vuelta a Mallorca (c1)
17th Sylvian Calzati, 24th Eduard Vorganov Winner: Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez(CalBerry)
Tour of South Africa (c1)
3rd Manuele Mori, 4th Simon Gerrans, 6th Eduard Vorganov, 8th Kim Kirchen, 12th Daryl Impey 23rd Sylvian Calzati Simon Gerrans wins stage 6 Winner: Jonathan Bellis (Rapha Condor - Qhubeka)
GP di Lugano (c1)
10th Sylvian Calzati, 20th Amaël Moinard, 21st Manuele Mori, 22nd John Gadret Winner: Alexander Flugal (VolksWagen)
Tour de Langkawi (HC)
2nd Daniel Moreno, 12th John Gadret, 18th Kin-San Wu, 19th Amael Moinard Daniel Moreno wins Stage 10 and Roman Kilun wins stage 9 Winner: Marco Marzano (VolksWagen)
Tour of Boland (c1)
9th Manuele Mori, 11th Sylvian Calzati, 12th Mikael Cherel, 13th Simon Gerrans Winner: Jonathan Bellis
Nokere Koerse (c1)
17th Carlos Alexandre Manarelli Winner: Gaudin (Focused)
Cape Argus Cycle Tour (c1)
9th Manuele Mori 15th Adil Jelloul 17th Eduard Vorganov Winner: Sambris (Hollister)
Dwars Door Vlaanderen (c1)
15th Jerome Giaux Winner: Veelers (Koppert)
Tour of Taiwan(c1)
2nd Gustavo Veloso, 7th John Gadret, 8th Sylvian Calzati 10th Daniel Moreno Winner: Krasnoperov (Emu export)
Paris-Roubaix(Monument)
46th: Sven Vanthourenhout Winner: Tom Boonen(Nestle)
Tour of the Battenkill(c1)
18th Roman Kilun Winner:Staf Scheirlinckx (Hollister)
Profende de Drenthe(c1)
37th Georgos Tzortzakis Winner: Veelers (Koppert)
Tour of Japan(c1)
4th Daniel Moreno, 8th John Gadret, 11th Ameal Moinard 16th + KoM: Eduard Vorganov John Gadret wins Mt Fuji time trial and Gustavo Veloso wins stage 3 Winner: David De la Fuente (Bianchi)
Rund um-eischborn Frankfort(c1)
3rd Manuelle Mori, 17th Adil Jelloul, 20th Mikael Cherel Winner: Fabian Wegmann(Trilux)
GP Herning(c1) Winner: Jerome Giaux 6th Sven Vanthourenhout
Gp of Moscow(c1)
10th Matteo Priamo Winner: Danielle Bennati (Puma)
Lincoln GP(c1)
32nd Jerome Giaux Winner: Pieter VanSpreybrouk(Bpost)[/b]
Rogaland GP(c1)
17th Carlos Manarelli
[i]Winner: Danielle Bennati (Puma)
Tour of Southland(c1)
4th Daryl Impey, 11th Gustavo Veloso, 13th + KoM Eduard Vorganov, 19th Kim Kirchen Vorganov wins stage 6 Winner: Chris Froome (Rapha Condor)
Barcelona Classic(c1)
2nd Adil Jelloul, 7th Daryl Impey, 21st Daniel Moreno Winner: Valentin Iglinski (Rothaus)
ProRace Berlin(HC)
43rd Carlos Manarelli Winner: Daniele Bennati (Puma)
Tour of Luxembourg(c1)
18th Adil Jelloul, 20th: Mekael Cherel Winner: Francesco Ginanni (Vespa)
Gp of Wales(c1)
10th Sylvian Calzati, 13th Mikael Cherel, 14th Manuelle Mori, 16th Simon Gerrans Winner: Cesere Di Maggio (Venchi)
Air Force Cycling Classic(c1)
12th Blaise Sonnery Winner: Daniele Bennati (Puma)
Tour de France (Grand Tour)
15th John Gadret 27th Daniel Moreno
Podiums on stage 9, 14, 17 and 19 Winner: Damieno Cunego (Cafe de Colombia)
Vuelta a Colombia (ProTour)
13th John Gadret 18th Daniel Moreno
Podiums on stage 8 and 9 Winner: Damieno Cunego (Cafe de Colombia)
Clasica San Sebastian(c1)
5th Daniel Moreno 8th Kim Kirchen Winner: Alejandro Valverde (Proximus-Trek)
GP Ploauy(c1)
8th Sylivian Calzati, 10th Simon Gerrans, 16th Mikael Cherel, 17th Eduard Vorganov, 18th Amael Moinard, 19th Blaise Sonnery Winner: Mikael Delage (Puma)
Tour de Delhi(c1)
10th Graeme Brown Winner: William Ford (Oz Cycling)
Tour of Swaziland(c1)
3rd Amael Moinard Ameal Moinard wins stage 4
Balise Sonnery wins stage 3 Winner: Jose Alarcon (Aker Solutions)
Tour of Britain (HC)
4th Daryl Impey 11th Jerome Giaux Ameal Moinard wins stage 3 Winner: Jonathan Bellis (Rapha Condor - Qhubeka)
Gp Quebec(c1)
15th Manuele Mori, 16th Eduard Vorganov, 17th Kim Kirchen Winner: Ryder Hesjedal (Rothaus)
GP Montreal(c1)
4th Kim Kirchen, 7th Manuele Mori, 16th Mikael Cherel Winner: Hassan Ben Nasser (Proximus Trek)
Circuit Franco-Belge(HC)
24th Carlos Manarelli Winneraniele Bennatti (Puma-SAP)
Milano Torino(c1)
3rd Mikael Cherel 10th Jon Gadret, 12th Kim Kirchen Winner: Massimo Iannetti (Pirelli-Alfa Romaro)
I don't think I will ever forget stage six of the Tour Down Under, I could not possibly have expected to be in that position. We had entered a sort of composite team in the then HC rated six stage race, John-Lee Augustyn and CJ Sutton were supposed to be the co-leaders. But Yuki stole away on stage two and sneaked into yellow a day later. He rode like a man possessed on the queen Willunga hill stage and survived the last stage crash filled finale to win the 2011 Tour Down Under.
A team in unity?
We had an eclectic group of riders at Red Bull Cycling in our first year and there was a general lack of team spirit amongst the guys. This led to cliques and some major underperformances particularly from the Columbian riders. However on occasion we could pull something special out of the bag, the team time trial at the Tour of Japan was one such occasion with a stunning win setting up a memorable race for Red Bull
Siutsou comes to the fore
Belerussian Konstantin Siustou was not on any of my pre-season to sign shortlists, he was rather drafted in at the last minute. This rider has gained a reputation of a somewhat aloof mercenary and his response after a bitterly disappointing Tour of Langkawi was to simply say that Genting highlands is not really his thing. As the end of the season approached Konstantin found a new gear, probably thinking of getting a big money protour contract for the next year. This was our gain also however, here he is at the front of the Volta a Portugal where he would finish 4th overall.
New jersey given a decisive airing
The foundations for 2012 were put in the summer of 2011. A six man U23 squad was sent on an enterprising European based series. Our team was based on four Aussie youngsters and two Kiwi young lads, we raced well with Damian Drapac winning a race here in the new colours.
Japan cup season ending victory
We didn't really expect it to succeed, but Konstantin still had some form in his legs so we gave him license to try a bridging to the breakaway move. It was a sort of 1 in 20 type of chance but we reasoned with all the classics experts in the peleton, that this was the only chance of doing something really big. Konstantin was putting himself out there in the shop window again with a classy win from the group sprint to win the Japan Cup 2011.
Wall of fame 2012
Gezza strikes in Red Bull's lucky charm race
Tour Down Under 2012 didn't bring the victory of the year before, but it proved impossible to stop a determined Allan Davis. That said the team had another spectacular race in the light of media pressue Simon Gerrans attacked clear in the lumpy stage 3 finish with Italian Alessandro Proni. The plucky Australian landed a home victory roared on by friends and family proving again that Red Bull's heart lies in Australia
Mori is the man of the first half of the season
The squad showed a one for all and all for one mentality in the first half of the season. The balanced nature of the squad meant that results were shared around, though some riders i truth used this as an excuse to take a day off. Not experienced Italian Manuele Mori who seemed to always be battling for every position. The former Sony Ericsson rider produced a brilliant solo win in South Africa, another nation which piled huge media pressure on Red Bull. A highly successful race followed this stage 2 victory.
Moreno shows Panache in Langkawi
Never was this all rounds squads resolve tested more in the HC rate Tour of Langkawi. We went into the race with high hopes of a podium through John Gadret. However he was caught up in a nasty crash following the key mountain stages. But following a morale boosting win by Romain Kilun, Danny Moreno launched an audacious attack on the final stage to sieze second overall after he had battled well for a high GC place in the mountains. This pick ourselves up off the floor scrapping has helped accumalate some hefty points totals
Gadret shows glimpses of the past
John Gadret suffered the ignomy of being sat at home watching his favourite races in 2011. It was always going to be tough on his return to the saddle and the French former two time Dauphine winner couldn't shake off the race rust in the first half of the season. That said the Mount Fuji TT in the Tour of Japan inspired Gadret who walloped the opposition by a over half a minute. This gave the team an indication that come Tour de France Gadret could pull something fantastic off.
Moinard takes three podiums at the Tour de France
We targetted four or five stages that looked good for a breakaway win and Amael Moinard proved to be our go to man on most of those key days. He unfortunately came up against one rider who was stronger than he on each of the three days he came runner up. But the French love a gallent runner up and certainly it proved popular with sponsors. It was a huge highlight to be there, John Gadret just squeaked inside the top 15, whilst Impey tested himself in the sprints. We barely saw a day without a Jayco Red Bull rider in a break, just a wonderful 21 days
Moinard takes stage at Tour of Blighty as promotion is sealed
It was beginning to become obvious that just a couple of half decent performances late on in the season and we were going to make it to the ProTour. Moinard had been so active in the Tour and was able to hold some form for the big HC race in Great Britain. It's great to get some success in Europe and Moinard showed excellent race guile to take the third stage. We ended the Tour of Britain pretty much confirmed as promoted!Edited by Smowz on 06-10-2012 12:34
When one signs a rider, I initially think it's going to be forever alas time moves on priorities change and inevitably riders come and go. They are not forgotten though here we will run through some of the best of our former riders and continue to track their careers
[IMG-r]https://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x62/Smowz/Saxobank%20pcm%20story/Siutsou.jpg[/IMG-r] Konstantin Siutsou
(2011 - Red Bull Cycling leader)
Winner of the 2011 Japan Cup
Winner stage 6 2012 Dauphine Libere and 2nd overall Team history
2009: White horse Steyr - 26th
2010: White Bear - Wild Horse - 146th ProTour
2011: Red Bull Cycling - 21st
2012: Pendleton's Twicer - 61st ProTour
I will be honest it took me a long time to appreciate Konstantin, he sort of came in to the squad as an overpaid stage racer but his early season results were underwhelming. He finished 25th on the Genting Highlands stage in the Tour of Langkawi - that was a real lowpoint for the whole team. However Konstantin came really good at the end of the season, when much of the early season stars had started to fade. Second at the Tour of America, third at the Vuelta Castille y Leon, fourth at the Volta a Portugal and eleventh in the Urkola Classic built up to that pinnacle in the season finale win at the Japan Cup.
He left to join new Protour squad Pendleton's Twicer, this was obvious in renewels that he wanted out refusing to allow his pay to drop to that of the other leaders in the squad. We reluctantly agreed to his new contract but started talks immiediately with several protour squads about securing his role there.
Konstantin rode the 2012 Tour de France, though his best ride was in the Dauphine where he produced one of those nuggety rides mixing it with the very best. He was allowed some leeway winning the 6th stage only narrowly denied the GC win on the final day by defending champion Spilak.
[IMG-r]https://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x62/Smowz/Saxobank%20pcm%20story/Arashiro.jpg[/IMG-r] Yukiya Arashiro
(2011 - Red Bull cycling team leader)
Winner of 2011Tour Down Under Team history
2008 -9: Nippo Corperation
2011: Red Bull Cycling
2012: Team Meiji - Fuji
I had a feeling about Yuki as soon as we secured his signature that the popular Japanese star would surprise a few people. He is a sprinter by trade, but somehow is a little more than that also. Still it stunned even me with his form at the Tour Down Under, much has been written about that landmark moment for the franchise, it will always rank highly in the team's history. Yukiya's fighting spirit came out over and again in the season. He came a plucky 7th at his home tour of Japan, 11th in the high class World's View challenge and finished 2nd in the Cape Argus Cycle Tour.
His performances surely raised the profile of cycle racing in Japan to such an extent a new team from Japan was formed. It may as well been called Team Arashiro, there was no way though I was going to sell him without a fight! We secured a very decent price for Yuki that was then spent on new leaders, but we knew he would be difficult to replace.
Unfortunately for Yuki, his 2012 season was one that had to categorised as a bit of a failure from an individual cyclist point of view. He gains just 85 points over the course of the season unable to find much sprint speed and his climbing form seemed off. I think a lot was expected and it proved hard to live up to being team leader.
[IMG-r]https://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x62/Smowz/Saxobank%20pcm%20story/Augustyn.jpg[/IMG-r] John-Lee Augustyn
(2011 - Red Bull cycling team leader)
Winner stage 1 and points jersey of 2011 Giro del Capo Team history
2008: Barloworld - 129th
2009: White Bear Steyr - 407th
2010: White Bear Wild horse - 198th Protour
2011: Red Bull Cycling - 59th
2012: Team Emu Export -43rd
You know if you had of asked me mid season who was Red Bull Cycling's star rider, in a flash I was have said JL. We felt we had got a good deal in our first transfer season with JL priced at 150,000 and he soon proved that by mixing it up with much higher earners at the Tour deSan Luis (7th), Mt Hood Cycling Classic (3rd) and the Giro del Capo (4th). John-Lee season began to turn though at the World's View Challange a big HC rated race in his home country of South Africa. He had a horrible first stage crashing three times and lost his mojo.
Some disappointing performances followed World's View and by the end of the season JL and myself were not seeing eye to eye. We seemed to patch things up at renewels but in truth I knew if the right offer came for him I would take it. I think he needed a change and I hope his new surroundings at the climber focussed Team Emu Export suits him. We hear rumours that JL has been working really hard in the mountains.
Another good solid year for Augustyn in Emu colours, no doubt JRB's move away from focussing on stage races would not have suited John but he had a good year for Emu with some notable results particularly in South Africa.
[IMG-r]https://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x62/Smowz/Saxobank%20pcm%20story/Rodas.jpg[/IMG-r] Julian Rodas, Edwin Parra Bustamante and Victor Hugo Orozco
(2011 - Red Bull Colombian climbers)
Rodas - 4th overall 2011 Vuelta a Tachira Team history
2008: Une Orbital - 137th
2009: Ernst and Young - 398th
2011: Red Bull Cycling - 170th
2012: Team CSC - Orbea
[IMG-r]https://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x62/Smowz/Saxobank%20pcm%20story/ParraBusta.jpg[/IMG-r]
Parra Bustamante - 5th overall 2011 Vuelta a Colombia Team history
2009: Nippo Corperation - 176th
2010: M&M Cycling - 159th
2011: Red Bull Cycling - 205th
2012: Team CSC - Orbea
[IMG-r]https://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x62/Smowz/Saxobank%20pcm%20story/Orozco.jpg[/IMG-r]
Orozco - Winner stage 11 Vuelta a Colombia Team history
2010: Unicef RC - 187th ProTour
2011: Red Bull Cycling - 318th
2012: Team Emu Export
I fancied a core group of Colombian climbers in my first professional cycling team and I got more than I bargained for with the temperamental trio! The frustration with these guys is also for many spectators their allure - the lack of consistency. Unsurprisingly the best results for these riders came in their home continent, when racing outside of South America good results were pretty sparse.
Still these sorts of riders are always in demand and following renewels it didn't take me long to find a number of interested parties. My comments may have an effect on these guys having a storming season, though my words made little difference in their season with us.
[IMG-r]https://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x62/Smowz/Saxobank%20pcm%20story/Matthews.jpg[/IMG-r] Michael Matthews
(2011 - Red Bull young sprinter in development)
Rode in 2011 Tour de L'Avenir Team history
2011: Red Bull Cycling
2012: The Oz Cycling project (on loan from Festina - Conec)
This was a hard sale to make, I was delighted to secure Matthews signature as I had heard some great things about him. Though the reality was that last season he rarely showed himself at the front of the peleton and indeed was found wanting when leader of a sprint train.
Winter training though indicated this young man's strength and speed had improved although not yet to devastating effect. In our desperation to secure a new sprinter of note we decided to make Matthews a full sale as opposed to the usual Loan situation. We heard however that Festina were unimpressed by Matthews on closer examination of his talents and he will be riding for the Oz cycling project in the CTour again this year. At this stage the question is whether Mikey can step up and fulfill his huge promise.Edited by Smowz on 11-10-2012 12:24
Team Leaders
[IMG-r]https://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x62/Smowz/Saxobank%20pcm%20story/Gadret.jpg[/IMG-r] John Gadret -
Former TdF podium
Twice winner of the Dauphine Libere
We are delighted to introduce French champion and one of the best climbers in the world John Gadret as one of Jayco Red Bull's team leaders for 2012. John was forced to sit out of the 2011 season following financial problems for the now defunct Lafarge cycling team. John is really looking forward to tackling a number of races he has not tried before, though is hoping the team recieve a wild card to a big Protour race or two.
[IMG-r]https://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x62/Smowz/Saxobank%20pcm%20story/Kirchen.jpg[/IMG-r] Kim Kirchen -
2011 winner of Subida al Naranco
2011 winner of the Vuelta Castille y Leon
History:
2010: Jack Wolfskin - 16th
2011: Bacardi - Colt - 6th
2012: Jayco Red Bull
Last season saw Kim very prominent in Bacardi Colt's promotion push and we are hoping that this experience proves invaluable as we try to do the same in 2012. Kim finished 6th overall in the final CTour individual standings last year and he will be aiming for the top twenty once again this season. One of the riders we purchased using the finances from the big money Arashiro sale, Kim is looking at leading the team over various hilly races this season.
[IMG-r]https://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x62/Smowz/Saxobank%20pcm%20story/Impey.jpg[/IMG-r] Daryl Impey - Sprinter who can climb hills
2011 stage winner at Herald Sun Tour
History:
2011: Yamaha - Greenpeace - 65th
2012: Jayco Red Bull
It was a frustrating season for Daryl last year who just couldn't seem to get onto the winners step until towards the end of the season when he edged out our own CJ Sutton in the Sun Tour. I knew then that this was a rider we would be pursuing with some interest in the transfer season. Impey is an excellent sprinter and is more than capable of surviving medium hill climbs, we are hopeful he can improve on the rather paltry one win he managed last season.
The Aussies
Simon Gerrans, Adam Hansen, Christopher Sutton and Graeme Brown
Contrary to pre-season press reports I believe heart of this team is still Australia, if you add our four experienced Australians to young Adam Semple on loan to Wikipedia we have a strong antipodean connection. No competition for me in terms of value for money Simon Gerrans was one of our strongest signings at a wage of 75,000. The World's View champion 2011 is a quality punchaer capable of delivering a victory on any given day. Graeme Brown was a more personal thing after the tough season he had last year I felt it was important to give the sprinter a chance to show what he can do. Both CJ Sutton and Adam Hansen scored some excellent victories for is last year, more of the same this year will be expected especially as they no longer have the burden of mentoring youngsters.
One great flaw of our work last year was our refusal to raid European talent. With such a wealth of talent available there this proved a fools venture, we saw that there was a lack of French teams this year and pushed hard for their talents. Calzati and Sonnery came at high expense, we do value their services very highly either as high level support or as team leaders in their own right. Moinard is that key support rider comfortable over any terrain, meanwhile young Cherel could possibly become a future star in the making. This certainly should give us some sway in our Tour de France application that we are preparing for this year.
The Mediterranean connection
Daniel Moreno, Gustavo Veloso, Manuelle Mori and Matteo Priamo
If you haven't guessed by now the theme of our roster this year is strength in depth, I felt it was better that then waste a huge amount of our wage cap chasing the biggest stars. Also we have several races planned in both Italy and Spain this year so it is always good to get some local knowledge.
Danny Moreno is a luxury mountain domestique who has a good finish in him, he rode for a nemesis of ours last year Sport Lisboa a Benfica. Veloso came through from Cerne and I think is worth every cent of the 450,000 Euros we spent on him. Here is a rider with Protour experience who is good against the clock and climbs very decently indeed.
The two Italians were transferred in, firstly Mori from last years Protour champions Sony Ericsson. He brings of course that great experience and adds yet more legs to our hill climbers squad. Priamo is recruited more for his knowledge of sprinting we are hopeful that he could be a very good lead out man for a team of sprinters but could perhaps land one or two wins of his own
The cobbled experiment
Jerome Giaux, Sven Vanthourenhout, Adil Jelloul
Compared to other cobbled powerhouses we may look lightweight, but after avoiding the cobbled stuff like the plague last year we feel it is important to get the experience of riding on this terrain. Giaux is a two dimensional rider in that he has a really good sprint as well as a fairly strong ability on rough terrain. The former Ikea man has that winning squad mentality and will likely lead the team on the cobbles. We have drafted in 31 year old Belgian Vanthourenhout and a top domestique of ourd last year in Moroccan Adil Jelloul gives us at least some cover on the pave. It's an experiment so we will try a few races this season and see how it goes, all three riders will be useful in flatter classics also.
The loyal domestiques
Roman Kilun, KIn-San Wu, Eduard Vorganov, Carlos Manarelli, Joseph Cooper and Georgos Tzortzakis
Some say domestique like it is a dirty word, but in our squad of strength even these riders will fancy their chances of delivering results in the next season. Kilun led the line well in a couple of stage races last year, though as an excellent all round rider will fit into a support role well. As will decent punchaer Vorganov. He was often seen in a helper role for Gilbert last year for Pendleton's and I suspect can drift into some decent lower placings. Manarelli, Cooper and the on loan Greek Tzortzakis are expected to give top notch support to our sprinters though may have chances to ride for their own ambitions also. Finally Hong Kong champion Kin-San Wu has been retained and he previded some exemplery climbing domestique duties in the season past! Edited by Smowz on 04-07-2011 20:40
2011:
Top 10 of the team standings - FAIL - 15th
Win at least 15 stages - FAIL - 11 wins
Win in the Tour of Langkawi- FAIL - 19th
Top 5 in the Worlds view challenge - FAIL - 11th
Top 10 at Volta Portugal - SUCCESS
2012:
Win the Tour of Southland - FAIL - 4th
Win the Asian Tour. - SUCCESS
Top 5 in Team Standings _ SUCCESS
Top 5 at the Tour of South Africa - SUCCESS 3rd
Top 10 in the Down Under Classic - SUCCESS 3rd
RT1: Tour Down Under - Stage win and 2nd Overall.
RT2: Tour of Wellington - 4th and 5th Overall.
RT3: Tour de Beuace - 3rd and stage win
RT4: Tour of Taiwan - 2nd Overall
RT5: Vuelta a Mallorca - Not much to report
2012 Calendar January
3rd: MTN Cycling Classic (HC)
12th: Down Under Classic (HC)
14th - > 19th: Tour Down Under (c1)
26th - > 30th: Tour of Wellington (c1)
February
11th and 13th: Mumbai cyclathons (c1)
12th - > 16th: Vuelta a Mallorca (c1)
20th - > 26th: Tour of South Africa (c1)
28th: GP di Lugano (c1)
March
5th: Strade Bianchi (c1)
7th - > 16th: Le Tour de Langkawi (HC)
8th - > 11th: Tour of Boland (c1)
14th: Nokere - Koerse (c1)
18th: Cape Argus Cycle Tour (c1)
21st - > 30th: Tour of Taiwan (c1)
22nd: Dwars Door Vlaandareren (c1)
April
1st: Paris - Roubaix (Protour - Monument)
9th: Hel van Het Margelland (c1)
12th - > 16th: Tour of the Czech Republic (c1)
18th: Tour of the Battenkill (c1)
20th: Profende van Drenthe (HC)
23rd - > 29th: Tour of Japan (c1)
May
1st: Rund um end Eischborn-Frankfurt (c1)
3rd: GP Herning (c1)
9th: Gp Moscow (c1)
13th - > 21st: Tour of Southland (c1)
15th: Lincoln GP (c1)
18th: Rogaland GP (c1)
23rd: Barcelona Classic (c1)
27th - > 31st: Tour of Luxembourg
28th: Berlin ProRace (HC)
June
5th: Philadelphia International (HC)
9th - > 14th: Giro del Capo (HC)
19th - > 25th: Tour de Beauce (c1)
26th: Criterium Hainlate (c1)
29th: GP of Wales (c1)
July
4th - > 24th: Le Tour de France (ProTour - Grand Tour)
15th: Air Force Cycling Classic (c1)
28th: Olympics - Road Race
31st: Olympics - Time trial
August
2nd: Clasica San Sebastion (HC)
5th - > 16th: Vuelta a Colombia (ProTour - Stage race)
24th: GP Ploauy (c1)
30th: Tour de Delhi (c1)
September
1st _ > 6th: Tour of Swaziland (c1)
10th - > 17th: Tour of Britain (HC)
20th: GP Quebec (c1)
22nd: GP Montreal (c1)
26th - > 30th: World championships
October
2nd - > 5th: Circuit Franco - Belge (HC)
2nd: Milano - Torino (c1)
5th: Giro del Emillia (HC)
7th: Paris- Tours (c1)
11th - > 16th: Herald Sun Tour (c1)
19th: Tour of Taihu (c1)
23rd: Japan Cup (HC)
25th - > 31st: National championships
Edited by Smowz on 11-10-2012 12:25
Pre-Season interview (part 1) - Gadret, departed riders and Le Tour
In Smowz' luxury penthouse apartment in Sydney. Smowz has invited Kingston one of his fellow TdFrance commentators from last year to come and speak to him at his home.
Kingston Welcome to this exclusive interview with Jayco Red Bull team manager Smowz. Smowz how the devil are you?
Smowz Great and great to see you out in Australia, Kingston.
Kingston It seems you need friends out here at this time, let's get to the heart of the matter. The outcry is over the changes made to Jayco Red Bull, admittedly as news has filtered in over some of the riders you have signed some of those doubters have disappeared.
Smowz Yes, Kingston I think we have a pretty decent squad to go into this season with. I am delighted with it, we could have tried to get a crowd pleaser like Docker, Rogers or Matty Lloyd but I wanted to try for something a little different.
Kingston John Gadret certainly stands out, but Smowz did you really have to lose the likes of Arashiro and Siutsou? Two of the Red Bull heroes of last season.
Smowz You know at first I baulked at the idea of losing these two, but then I started to think about what I could get for those sorts of riders. Pendletons' badly needed a rider for stage races with mountains so I decided to trade Siutsou for some good solid riders like Moinard, Cherel and Vorganov.
Kingston Indeed signing two Frenchmen in addition to free agents Gadret and Calzati seem to have spearheaded the surprise news this morning that Jayco Red Bull have recieved a wildcard to the Tour de France.
Smowz I am ecstatic at this news Kingston, I know we commentated jointly on last years and this years with the addition of Cunego, is sure to go down in history. I am so happy to be a part of it and in Gadret we do have a decent shot at the GC.
Kingston Isn't Gadret a bit old really for a decent GC tilt?
Smowz I disagree, early training suggests that Gadret is still a force going up and downhills. He has never really been a Chrono man, but on the climbs in France he can surprise as he has done in the past.
Kingston Who else will make the Tour team?
Smowz Danny Moreno and Gus Veloso will serve John as luxury domestiques, both have good climbing ability and should make the top 50 on GC themselves. Moinard and Calzati also make the cut, both riders are good on lumpy terrain and have the freedom to try for stage wins from breakaways. Meanwhile Impey, Giaux and Priamo will try and get involved in the sprints, it will be tough for them but we just might nick a win from somewhere.
Kingston That would be tremendous, both wildcards failed to manage that in the Tour last year.
Smowz Yes, Ikea seemed below par there and Bbox whilst going close with Greipal did not have enough class. I mustn't forget to mention that Hong Kong's Kin-San Wu will also ride in support of the climbers.
Kingston Three national champions will certainly add colour, no place for any Australians though?
Smowz sighs
Smowz No, I guess CJ Sutton, Adam Hansen and Simon Gerrans had solid claims but I don't feel they would have played a role any better than the riders I had selected. None can support John Gadret which is the main aim of the squad. Besides we will see them in action aplenty in the CTour.
Kingston We'll wrap it up there for now, in part two
Pre-Season interview (part 2) - Colombia, cobbles and crowd trouble
We return to see Kingston and Smowz watching videos of last year's Paris Roubaix, a third win for Tom Boonan though perhaps his last under Warner Brothers colours
Smowz You know Kingston we saw a fair bit of Tommake at last year's tour, though he didn't quite seem his majestic self, he has a new chapter on his career here
Kingston It does bring us onto the fairly surprising situation in which Jayco Red Bull have been given the wild card to Paris Roubaix. This from a team that have never ridden on cobblestones before.
Smowz Yeah, we were surprised but given that we bought some experimental cobbled riders in such as Jerome Giaux and Sven Vanthourenhourt, we decided to give it a shot with the Tour application.
Kingston Surely though they are small fry compared to the guys like Boonan, Burghardt, Bewley, Ballan. Berti Belgian may cut it in small time CTour races but you need to be a bit more special to make an impact.
Smowz Berti Belgian? Do you mean Pieter VanSpreybrouk? Well, yeah if we had someone like him we may be a bit more competitive but the cobblestones are a bit of a new adventure for the team this year. We will be present at a few CTour ones like Profende de Drenthe for example, and the experience of going there will be great. Besides Gadret says that everyone should ride the 'Hell of the North' at least once in their career and this year he will.
Kingston On the subject of wildcards I see Jayco-Red Bull, despite offloading all their Colombians have received a wild card for the Vuelta a Colombia.
Smowz Again, Gadret inspired he wanted new challenges and I think the route suits him. Yes we don't have any more Colombians but the tour didn't get into the Protour by being Xenophobic and I am delighted our application was accepted there.
Kingston Who else is part of that squad?
Smowz Well it will be mainly the Tour squad who will have been together the previous month in July. The more short mountainous profile will suit Blaise Sonnery more than Jerome Giaux.
Kingston Sonnery... I am surprised you mention his name, you realise that he and you are just about the least popular men in Australia right now.
Smowz ... with the fickle press. They may not rate Blaise, but I feel he is a decent enough purchase. No doubt I probably overspent on several of my purchases this year but I feel really pleased with the squad I have this year compared to last.
Kingston It's not just the press, I am afriad Smowz. Everywhere I have been in Australia I see the Oz cycling project shirts.
Smowz Yes, a nice new team for sure but I have seen less outside Australia and in fact we have huge international fanbase that I am receiving overwhelming positive feedback. Bottom line for me is squads looking for high placings can rarely afford to be too one dimensional in their squad building ways otherwise teams will look to take advantage.
Kingston As you did with Meiji Fuji for example, 850,000 seemed a lot of money.
Smowz Old news Kingston, to me that was a fair price for Arashiro and Beppu.
Seeing that he has annoyed Smowz a little Kingston offers to put the next DvD in, it is of last years Bloemfontain Classic and Smowz keenly takes notes.Edited by Smowz on 27-07-2011 15:19
MTN Classic - Jayco stars edged out in choatic finish
The season started today in South Africa, huge anticipation and media attention as the 2012 cycling season began
South African champion Daryl Impey looked one of six riders who could potentially get a high finish here. I gave the guys a bit of a free hand for this opening race, more of a pep talk of see what you can do. We had to get to the finish first and I asked them to look after each other. Predictably Vespa did a lot of the chasing and whilst other riders attacked we waited for the finale. However as you can see it was a crowded finish.
However it seems some information did not come our way as unbeknownst to us the real finish was some 400m onwards. Unfortunately Cherel was out of gas and faded badly.
Simon Gerrans proved our highest finisher in 16th, with Manuelle Mori in 19th ahead of Cherel in 20th. KIm Kirchen coasted home in 29th with Dayrl Impey both will be in action later in the month in New Zealand and Australia, so used this as a training run.
We gained a slightly underwhelming 33 points for our troubles in the season opener, but it was a valuable team building exercise nonetheless. More will be demanded in the other three races this month as our sponsors are particular keen for us to do well
Our season having kicked off in a solid but unspectacular way in South Africa now moves to Australia and New Zealnd for an important part of the season for Jayco Red Bull
Down Under Classic
Our first race in the Asian Tour is also a team goal to place inside the top 10, it is a short 49km kilometer criterium and I expect the racing to frantic and hectic. CJ Sutton and Graeme Brown are experienced in said races and I believe that Brazialian Carlos Manarelli can on day be a danger in these types of races.
The importance of have good roulers in what is likely to be a high class field can not be understated. That is why Jerome Giaux, Adam Hansen, Adil Jelloul, Joseph Cooper and Matteo Priamo have been working with the sprinters to set this up.
Tour Down Under
The team will attempt to defend its title here though without departed champion Yukiya Arashiro, instead our leader here will be South African champion Daryl Impey. It is important in a race such as this to have numerous threats I think and whilst CJ Sutton struggled last year I am backing him to improve in sprints this time. Frenchman Blaise Sonnery is determined to show his detractors in the Australian press wrong and Italian lead out man Matteo Priamo is hoping to be around to set sprints up.
Let's not pretend the parcours are completely flat stage 3 has a hilly ending and there is still the short steep Willunga Hill to negotiate twice on stage 5. Australian punchaer Simon Gerrans looked a threat there last year and he has Manuelle Mori who looked good in the MTN Classic for company. The always useful Adam Hansen will once again look to support.
Tour of Wellington
Two stages shorter this year and this I suspect will attract a stronger field. I fancy a decent punchaer will win this, with stage 2's romp up Signal Hill likely to be key. These sorts of finishes seemed to suit Kim Kirchen last time out and after taking it easy in the MTN Classic will be expected to go full gas here.
Jerome Giaux a fairly tough man sprinter along with Kiwi Joseph Cooper and loanee Georges Tzortzakis will be looking to do well on stages 1,3, and 5. Meanwhile Adil Jelloul is as ever the excellent all rounder offering his excellent support.
February line-ups will be announced later, we are certainly going to India and making our European season openings in this month
This is a strong team for Wellington. And I thought I would have a realistic chance for a top5-10 overall and some good sprint results. But you have 3 riders there as strong as my leader.
Giaux will be very interesting as I also wanted him.
Jayco - Red Bull's sprinter Graeme Brown put a year of misery behind him snatching a third place in the hotly contested Down Under Classic sprint. Brown finished behind the defending champion Allan Davis (Hollister) and Daniele Bennati (Puma - SAP) but tellingly ahead of former team-mate Tomas Vaitkus (now of Cyclevox) and rival teams Oz Cycling's Baden Cooke.
Greame was delighted with the performance crediting the team boss with his extra motivation. You know before the start he said to everyone 'Graeme's our man for this race, this is quite a statement with Giaux and Sutton in the team here'. On the race he explained 'I knew I had to be up there almost from the start, Bennati is the best sprinter here and I had to get on his wheel. At the end it was close between me and Tomas, I kinda threw my bike forward track style whereas he seemed to lean over'.
It was an action packed hour with plenty of early attacks bought back by the sprinters teams. But then a second attack by CJ Sutton kept things strecthed out.
Team Boss Smowz explained 'We could see a number of sprinters were not in a great position and we wanted to put a little more pressure on the domestiques to keep the pace high. Also we were concerned about bunching up causing crashes'.
CJ Sutton was inevitably caught, but then went again in a second four man move which ultimately allowed Traksel to try a determined break move.
'It didn't really matter who was clear as long as someone was there Pokerstars, Hollister and Puma were going to have to chase. CJ's job was to stretch it out by attacking and this helped Graeme find a decent position in the gaps.'
The fight for the right wheels started to get frantic, but coming out of the final turn Brown had got himself onto Bennati's wheel.
At this point it looked like a battle between Eric Mohs of Pokerstars and Bennati, but Allan Davis made his move on the outside and Brown, following Bennati past Mohs held Vaitkus off for third.
It's a fantastic result for Greame, he can now rest up. I felt the Tour Down Under was a bit hilly for him this year and he'll be looking for a similar result in the Mumbai races next month.
Last year proved a highly successful one for us at the Tour Down Under and once again we found our morale sky high following a very strong all round performance. The highlight of course was Simon Gerrans' excellent win on the tough stage 3 finish.
It was clear that day that Hassan Ben Nasser was going to need to be marked and we had Impey, Mori and Gezza up there with him. But the Proximus rider didn't have that difference making acceleration and it was a move by Unicredit's itchy Italian Visconti that dragged Simon and a couple of others away.
It was a real booster for the guys after Daryl Impey had gone oh so close on stages 1 and 2 looking one of the fastest at the sprint in finishes of 4th and 2nd. Impressively the South African was there again in 6th on stage 3 and we decided to work together on the Old Willunga stage.
Again Simon was used to mark the punchaers, but behind Sonnery and Mori were fantastic in pulling things back together. It sort of handed the race to Allan Davis of Hollister but made sense with Impey moving forward. Today he managed a 3rd place to Gasparotto.
Both Gerrans and Impey in the GC top five at the end of the race was very pleasing, no qualms about the winner Davis and his Hollister team were pretty dominent.
Jayco - Red Bull top CTour rankings after solid Wellington showing
Once again Red Bull are top of the rankings, after a hard Wellington stage race to finish off our first month in marriage with new sponsor Jayco. Excellent battling performances from Kim Kirchen and Manuele Mori on the queen stage helped them both to top 5's on the general classification.
We also topped the team classification and a special mention must go out to Joseph Cooper. who got into a decisive early breakaway on stage four which pretty much secured that ranking.
We survived some disappointments and once again surely one of ill fortune came the way of Mikel Cherel whose Stage 3 crash robbed him of a top 10 on classification.
Overall this leaves us on top of the CTour rackings after January and with quite a healthy amount of points in the Asian Tour standings. Regarding the Overall team situation, I think things are a lot closer this season and I think we have shown how strong we can be in this early part of the season. The only races we will be sending guys for experience is the small amount of cobbled races, everywhere else we hope to be at the front.
February line ups revealed - good performance in South Africa key
We topped the team standings at the end of January as we did last year, but I indicated that I felt we had more legs to hold onto a high placing this year. This I think is proved with our decent line ups for the five races we have planned in February. Let's start with the Mumbai double header.
The two races here are very much expected to end in sprints and with the Down Under Classic still in mind Graeme Brown will lead the team in both races. CJ Sutton supported him nicely there and he along with Adil Jelloul and Joseph Cooper give us a fair chance of forming a sprint train. I am more confident that it will be a case of following wheels for other trains however. A wild card will be held with Brazilian Carlos Manarelli who could be used as a sprint train man or a sprinter in his own right. Greek rider Tzortzakis and Belgian Vanthourenhourt will be on water duty in this humid city.
We will also be in Mallorca.
This is a tough hilly one which will be hard to predict, I enjoy this style of parcours but I suspect we will get a pretty tough startlist here. Sylvian Calzati gets a chance to lead the team with Simon Gerrans both climb these sorts of hills well. Blaise Sonnery proved his worth at the Tour Down Under and will be the teams lead sprinter. Moinard, Hansan, Wu and Vorganov make a group of good quality domestiques. Though I am sort of hoping one of these get involved in a break or two.
We have a hilly classic in Switzerland towards the end of the month
John Gadret opens his season here, getting a race in his legs before Langkawi. The climbs here though are not super hard so it may suit Calzati, Krichen and Gerrans more than the Frenchman. Whatever happens we have a number of options here with Mori, Hansen and Moinard also selected. I am intrigued to see how well the squad get on.
The big race for us in February is the tour of South Africa which we have targeted a top 5
It's a seven stage race with plenty of hilly parcours, however it is hard to pick one decisive stage really. Daryl Impey leads our sprinting but we wonder whether he can go well on GC also. He has some great hill climbing backup in Kirchen, Gerrans, Calzati, and Mori as well as decent lead out hopes with Vorganov and Priamo. I am optimistic following top 5's in our last three races in January that we can achieve our target here.
February is busy, but March even more so with six races including one of Gadrets big target races
CJ Sutton traditionally a slow starter in the season found is sprinting legs to take a podium place in the second of the two Mumbai races. This followed a difficult first race in which team sponsors Red Bull expressed some open disgust at the teams apathy.
The first race, dominated by Proximus Trek, Rapha Condor and Puma SAP saw George Tzortzakis the highest finisher in 8th place. Nominated team leader Graeme Brown offers an explanation for his own and his teams poor performance.
When we got to Mumbai there was a mix-up with our booking, it seems the hotel double booked us with the teams of Cavendish and Bennati. We drew the short straws and had to find some last minute accomadation down the road. The food seemed okay but on the morning of the race I think almost the whole team where have issues with what they call Delhi Belly
Team boss Smowz was not in India and was furious with the fiasco.
When I was watching the race unfold I wondered what an earth was wrong with the riders. Happily we managed to improve in the second race, though the guys deserve a lot of credit for battling hard to take what they could in the opener
In the second race Tzortzakis and Cooper were in early breaks.
Also in a late break was debutant Sven Vanthourenhout.
The Belgian was pleased to lend a hand I was relieved to do something noteworthy, the first race was really tough for everyone involved. We thought we had to put Puma under pressure after Bennati dominated the first and I think we did
Indeed Bennati won both the Mumbai Cyclothons ahead of Cooke and Cavendish in the first and Manan/Sutton in the second. The second race was much closer:
Barren opening in Europe - Crashes and a strong field hurt Jayco Red Bull
Sammy Sanchez of the American California Giant Berry Farms team took a hard fought victory over his two superstar Spanish rivals Alejandro Valverde and Luis Leon Sanchez in very high quality Vuelta a Mallorca.
It proved a pretty low key European opener for Jayco Red Bull and has seen some open criticism over their unambitious transfer policy from an unnamed source within the squad. The source name Blaise Sonnery, Kim Kirchen and Manuelle Mori as a 'waste of money' and wondered why more talented younger riders were not targetted.
The race proved difficult for the seven man Jayco team to get into after seeing a nasty crash on day one put paid to Simon Gerrans' chances.
Team Boss Smowz said
Nothing to panic about but some bad bruising meant that there was no way that Simon could make it to the finish. We decided to get it checked out, it was a shame as I think Simon a decent descender could have done something here
The key stage of the race was the third one which saw the gaps appear all over the general classification. Sylvian Calzati fought to stay with the best climbers.
Calzati had this to say on the race
I did okay, when Simon went out it was clear ,me and Moinard would have to take responsiblity to try and ride for GC. I wasn't really feeling super on day three whereas on day four I felt better. Nothing really could stick then though, I cannot be satisfied with 17th really
On the final day Adam Hansen got in the break which yielded a share of 2nd position in the king of the mountains.
Smowz was in a fairly defensive mood following the race
Mallorca was like back to the future as we had seen last year, but in reality it was an insanely strong field here. Some really strong riders didn't make the top 10 on GC here and for million pound man Valverde not to win or take multiple stages speaks volumes. I spoke to the guys at the start of the last stage and we saw a pretty big improvement, they really struggled when we lost Simon Gerrans on day one. It's a race to learn from look at what T.CS Bank did here, thats what we should be aiming for.
aniele Bennatti (Puma-SAP)
