Team Adecco ethos:
To represent Switzerland at the highest level of professional road cycling for years to come.
Although the team will strive to sign the best Swiss talent, this is by no means an exclusive Swiss team. The very best riders (affordable to the budget), regardless of nationality, will be targeted.
The team wants a winner of a Grand Tour within 3-5 years time.
Specific goals for the season ahead:
1st - Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Top 10 - Paris-Nice
Stage win(s) - Tirreno-Adriatico
Top 10 - Milano-San Remo
Top 5 - Ronde Vlaanderen
2012 roster:
Michael Albasini (SWI)
Rubens Bertogliati (SWI)
John Degenkolb (GER)
Andreas Dietziker (SWI)
Martin Elmiger (SWI)
Mathias Frank (SWI)
Bert Grabsch (GER)
Benat Intxuasti (ESP)
Peter Kennaugh (GBR)
Roger Kluge (GER)
Sebastian Langeveld (NED)
Steve Morabito (SWI)
Thibaut Pinot (FRA)
Richie Porte (AUS)
Nairo Quintana (COL)
Gregory Rast (SWI)
Patrick Schelling (SWI)
Michael Schar (SWI)
Florian Stalder (SWI)
Rein Taaramae (EST)
Johann Tschopp (SWI)
Greg Van Avermaet (BEL)
Tom Veelers (NED)
Marcel Wyss (SWI)
Oliver Zaugg (SWI)
13 of the 25 riders are Swiss. Although the team could have just about afforded Fabian Cancellara, team management felt they could achieve a more more balanced squad without his understandably high wages. No one rider is considered an absolute leader of the whole squad yet.
Edited by danto194 on 17-07-2012 16:10
Australian National Championships (Porte)
1) Gerrans
2) Clarke +0’00 3) Porte +0’00
Didn't get accepted for Tour de San Luis which was disappointing so first proper race was:
GP de Marseille (Albasini, Langeveld, Pinot, Quintana, Taaramae, Van Avermaet, Zaugg) 1) Van Avermaet
2) Sutton +0’00
3) Roux +0’00
Great sprint from Van Avermaet; Quintana and Albasini set it up reasonably but he still had work to do
[Will strive to improve quality of pictures as I go through]Edited by danto194 on 15-07-2012 18:10
Coppa Costa Degli Etruschi (Albasini, Bertogliati, Elmiger, Frank, Kennaugh, Rast, Stalder, Van Avermaet)
1) Modolo 2) Van Avermaet +0’00
3) Appollonio +0’00
Reasonably good leadout (leadout man Albasini got 6th) but Modolo had a little more left in the tank
Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca (Dietziker, Frank, Intxausti, Morabito, Pinot, Quintana, Tschopp, Zaugg)
Stage 1 (Pan-flat):
1) Oss
2) Reynes +0’00
3) Fernandez +0’00
With a team full of climbers, we just laid low and let the sprint commence.
Stage 2 (Flat, two cat 4s):
1) Fernandez +0’00
2) Nizzolo +0’00
3) Favilli +0’00
Uneventful. Tschopp made the breakaway but it was doomed. Another sprint.
Stage 3 (Mountainous, five cat 2s)
1) S.Sanchez
2) J.Rodriguez +1’12
3) Florencio +1’12
Intxausti made the breakaway and took enough mountain points for the polka-dot jersey. Sanchez leapt over to the breakaway and rode away for a solo win.
Intxausti now 4th in GC, Quintana 2nd in young GC
Stage 4 (Mountainous, three cat 3s and one large uncategorised climb)
1) J.Rodriguez
2) F.Schleck +3’04
3) Mederel +3’04 5) Quintana +3’04
Frank and Zaugg attacked from the flag and they launched an epic breakaway together. Rodriguez spoiled their chances with an attack on the large uncategorised climb 20km from the finish. Rodriguez won the overall GC.
Quintana rode a great race; winning the young GC and finishing 6th in the overall GC.
Intxausti won the mountains classification.
Team Adecco won the team classification.
Tour of Qatar (Degenkolb, Grabsch, Kluge, Langeveld, Rast, Schar, Veelers)
Stage 1 (Pan-flat):
1) Sagan
2) Hutarovich +0’00
3) Thomas +0’00 4) Degenkolb +0’00
Team gained control of the peloton for the last 15km, but Sagan was far too strong
Stage 2 (Team Time Trial, pan-flat, 10km)
1) BMC
2) Sky +0’04
3) Garmin +0’04
Joint last on the day for Team Adecco, disappointing
Stage 3 (Pan-flat)
1) Hushovd
2) Sagan +0’00
3) Pichot +0’00
Pace of the race was too quick for us, Langeveld was near the front and sprinted for a good 7th
Stage 4 (Pan-flat)
1) Sagan
2) Cavendish +0’00
3) Hutarovich +0’00
Managed to get organised but Veelers and Degenkolb didn’t have the legs to contest the sprint
Stage 5 (Pan-flat)
1) Farrar
2) Cavendish +0’00
3) Goss +0’00
Schar went in the breakaway which inevitably failed. We organised a leadout train but faded in the sprint.
Stage 6 (Pan-flat)
1) Farrar
2) Hushovd
3) Goss
Decided to forgo creating a leadout train and left Veelers and Degenkolb to their own devices. Outclassed yet again.
Farrar won the overall GC, Team Adecco made no impact whatsoever.Edited by danto194 on 15-07-2012 18:14
Gp de Mediterraneen (Albasini, Kennaugh, Porte, Schelling, Stalder, Taaramae, Van Avermaet, Wyss)
Stage 1 (Rolling, a short cat 1 and a cat 2)
1) Boeckmans
2) Belletti +0’00 3) Van Avermaet +0’00
We got to the front a little too early, promising organisation though
Stage 2 (Flat(ish), two cat 2s and a cat 3)
1) Gavazzi
2) Kostyuk +0’00
3) Belletti +0’00
Really disappointing, we got swamped with 2km to go, Van Avermaet only 12th
Stage 3 (Medium mountain, a cat 1, a cat 2, and a cat 3) 1) Van Avermaet
2) Goddaert +0’00
3) Wegmann +0’00
Kennaugh went in the breakaway but it never stood a chance. Van Avermaet swooped late to pick off Goddaert in a strong return to form. Yellow jersey Boeckmans strangely crashed alone with 500m to go. Van Avermaet now leads the overall GC and is in a joint lead in points classification!
Stage 4 (Medium mountain, one cat 2 and a summit finish at Mont Faron)
1) Le Lay
2) Roche
3) Samoilau
All the action kicked off on the Mont Faron and Le Lay took a brilliant win. Van Avermaet lost his yellow jersey.
Le Lay won the overall GC. Albasini best for Adecco in 7th.
Van Avermaet remained joint first of overall points classification.
Taaramae 3rd in young riders GC.
Giro della Calabria (Bertogliati, Dietziker, Elmiger, Intxausti, Kluge, Morabito, Quintana)
Stage 1 (Rolling terrain, two cat 3s) 1) Elmiger
2) Ponzi +4’51
3) Vorganov +4’51
Elmiger went on a solo breakaway all day and secured an amazing victory. A fantastic ride completely unaided!
Stage 2 (Rolling terrain, one cat 3)
1) Ponzi
2) Richeze +0’00
3) Kump +0’00
Adecco and Astana worked hard to bring it to a sprint. Kluge took 7th.
Elmiger won the overall GC and the mountains classification.
Team Adecco won the teams classification.Edited by danto194 on 15-07-2012 18:19
Volta a regiao do Algarve (Albasini, Bertogliati, Pinot, Taaramae, Tschopp, Van Avermaet, Zaugg)
Stage 1 (Rolling terrain, lumpy with two cat 3s) 1) Van Avermaet 2) Albasini +0’00
3) J.Rodriguez +0’00
A groundbreaking double for the team. This was a hard mans stage which we turned into a sprint, but not many sprinters could handle the terrain. Van Avermaet leads both the overall GC and the points classification.
Stage 2 (Rolling terrain, lumpy with two cat 3s) 1) Van Avermaet
2) Paolini +0’00
3) Ponzi +0’00
Once again we handed it down to the rest of the field. A dominant team performance on tough terrain. Van Avermaet strengthens his GC and points classification leads.
Stage 3 (Medium mountain, three cat 3s and a small summit finish)
1) J.Rodriguez
2) R.Feillu +0’00
3) Ribeiro +0’00 6) Albasini +0’00
With the best rider in the breakaway over 9 mins down, we decided to control rather than chase. Come the last 20km, attacks came from the peloton and on a hectic final climb, Rodriguez shot ahead to win amongst the breakaway riders. Albasini rode superbly to take 6th on the stage. Rodriguez leads the overall GC, with Van Avermaet (+0’15) and Albasini (+0’16) 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Stage 4 (Rolling terrain, lumpy with one cat 3) 1) Van Avermaet
2) Ponzi +0’00
3) J.Rodriguez +0’00
Albasini worth his weight in gold, his excellent leadout served it on a plate for Van Avermaet. Time bonuses put Van Avermaet in 2nd on the overall GC, 3 seconds behind Rodriguez. Van Avermaet regains the lead in the points classification from Rodriguez.
Stage 5 (25.4km individual time trial, pan-flat)
1) Gusev
2) Monfort +0’07
3) Voigt +0’14
The time gaps forged by this time-trial shaped the overall classification. Taaramae best on the stage for Adecco in 23rd.
Gusev won the overall GC. Van Avermaet slipped to 16th, but retained his points classification lead. Taaramae finished 3rd in young riders GC. With 3 stage wins out of 5, this was a very successful week for Team Adecco.
Tour of Oman (Degenkolb, Elmiger, Grabsch, Langeveld, Rast, Schar, Veelers)
Stage 1 (Pan-flat)
1) Farrar
2) Goss +0’00
3) Bozic +0’00 6) Degenkolb +0’00
Couldn’t live with Farrar and Goss but Degenkolb showing better legs than in Qatar.
Stage 2 (Flat(ish), with a few small lumps)
1) Lastras 2) Langeveld +0’00
3) Burghardt +0’00
Elmiger made the breakaway but was caught. The final was too tough for the sprinters, so 4 riders escaped a slow peloton, Langeveld for Adecco. Langeveld moves into 2nd in the overall GC.
Stage 3 (Downhill for 90km then flat)
1) Goss
2) Farrar +0’00
3) JJ.Rojas +0’00
The winds took their toll, only Langeveld was strong enough in the final and took 10th. Langeveld maintains 2nd in overall GC.
Stage 4 (A few nasty lumps that are uncategorised)
1) Goss
2) JJ.Rojas +0’00
3) Gatto +0’00
Schar made the breakaway which failed. Goss dominated the sprint....again. Race was too hard for Degenkolb to sprint.
Stage 5 (Mountain, steep climb to a summit finish)
1) Betancourt
2) Gilbert +0’00
3) Anton +0’00
All about survival for Langeveld who stuck with GC leader Lastras and maintained his 2nd place overall with a courageous ride.
Stage 6 (Cat 3 in first few km but flat thereafter)
1) Farrar
2) Goss +0'00
3) JJ.Rojas +0'00
We had good organisation but we missed Veelers (crash) and Degenkolb didn’t have the legs. Langeveld was strong and took 7th.
Lastras won the overall GC, with Langeveld 8 seconds behind in 2nd for Adecco.
Tour du Var (Dietziker, Frank, Intxausti, Kennaugh, Morabito, Quintana, Stalder, Wyss)
Stage 1 (Mountain, three cat 2s, no flat at all)
1) Le Lay
2) Thomas +0’16
3) Kroon +0’16
Quintana attacked from the flag, scored some KoM points and got reeled in. Morabito was part of a second breakaway which failed. Le Lay took a nice win. Quintana leads KoM.
Stage 2 (Mountain, one HC climb, two cat 1s, one cat 2)
1) Le Lay
2) Martens +0’11
3) Vichot +0’22 4) Quintana +0’22
Frank made the day’s breakaway. With 10km to go, about 15 riders attacked from the peloton and contested victory. Le Lay was dominant, Quintana a good 4th.
Le Lay deservedly won the overall GC. Quintana was impressive for 7th in overall GC and 3rd in young riders GC.
Giro di Laigueglia (Kluge, Porte, Schelling)
1) Westra
2) Serpa +0’00
3) Rubiano +0’00
No exertions for Porte, just a bit of climbing practice.
