Everything started with an e-mail. The Cycling Union of Finland was thinking about creating a continental team, and called for this project one of the best finnish of the last decade : Kjell Carlström. After less than one year in the staff of IAM Cycling, the 4-times Finland champion between 2000 and 2011 came back in his natal country to search about fifteen finnish riders. Like Carlström, the two finnish professionnals Joonas Henttala and Jussi Veikkanen separated amicably from their respective formations to join their new national team. The time-trial Finland champion Samuel Pokäla will also take part of this project, like the mountain bikers Juha Kangaskokko et Jaakko Toppari. The team will be completed by around ten young finnish cyclists. There is some stuff to adjust, but the jersey of this new team has already been announced ! Elisa and Stora Enso will become the head sponsors, while others brands like Finnair will also appear on the shirt.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Croatia14 wrote:
This is really interesting, good luck. It´s amazing to see a start-up with a team from Finland, with mostly less popular riders. Good Luck!
I think i will suceed in winning some .2 races
GP Izola - Butan Plin » Izola › Izola (141,7 km)
Team : S.Halme, I.Ahtisaari, J.Henttala, A.Jallinoja, P.Paajanen, J.Toppari
After many rejections from race organizers, Kjell Carlström finally found a race to start the 2014 season. Six of our riders will appear on the slovenian roads, for the GP Izola. We expect a massive sprint after the 140 km of race, where Jacobe Keough (5-Hour Energy), Eric Young (Optum) or Alex Rasmussen (Riwal) could win. Our best element today will be Ilmari Ahtisaari, who can finish in the Top 10 if he had good legs.
The first attack is the good one, with nine riders inside : Flavio Valsecchi (Ukyo), Botond Hollo (Utensilnord), Fethullah Kose (Torku), Konstantin Klimiankou (Amore & Vita), Matic Kolar (Radenska), Juan Diego Quintero (4-72 Colombia), Ildar Arslanov (Itera), Rutger Schellevis (Park Hotel) and Isaac Carbonell (Ecuador). The sprinters teams control the gap, with no more than 4 minutes of advantage for the breakaway. Because of a fall, the outsider Matej Marin (Gourmetfein) is forced to leave the race, leaving his team without a leader. Little by little, the time gap stabilizes between the peloton and the breakaway, giving back some hope to the fugitives. the pack suddenly stops pacing. The breakaway sees her lead rising above 1'30'', while we entered the last 20 km. Gorik Gardeyn (Veranclassic) and Matej Mugerli (Adria) try to anticipate the sprint. Only the slovenian manages to extricate himself from the pack, which takes the chase immediately. Without good riders in the head of the big group, it become impossible to come back on the breakaway, that we can see competing for victory. The belarusian Konstantin Klimiankou (Amore & Vita) was probably the freshest rider because he easily wins while having launched his sprint first. 25 secondes after, Jacobe Keough (5-Hour Energy) closes the Top 10, just ahead of Aulis Jallinoja, who benefited of an average shape of the best sprinter ofElisa – Stora Enso to be seen. With 3 riders in the Top 20, we can expect great things in the Tour du Haut-Var, where our sponsor requested a stage win, facing several WorldTour formations !
1 Konstantin KLIMIANKOU (Amore & Vita) in 3h11'27'' 2 Fethullah KOSE (Torku) s.t. 3 Isaac CARBONELL (Ecuador) s.t. 4 Ildar ARSLANOV (Itera) s.t. 5 Juan Diego QUINTERO (4-72 Colombia) s.t. 6 Flavio VALSECCHI (Ukyo) s.t. 7 Botond HOLLO (Utensilnord) s.t. 8 Matic KOLAR (Radenska) s.t. 9 Rutger SCHELLEVIS (Park Hotel) s.t. 10 Jacobe KEOUGH (5-Hour Energy) at 25''
... 11 Aulis JALLINOJA (Elisa) s.t. 14 Ilmari AHTISAARI (Elisa) s.t. 18 Samuel HALME (Elisa) s.t.
1st stage » Le Cannet des Maures › La Croix Valmer (157,8 km)
Team : J.Veikkanen, L.Hietaniemi, J.Kangaskokko, R.Kivilovski, T.Kohvakka, E.Koskinen, J.Maykkymaki, S.Pokala
While a part of the team was at the GP Izola, the 8 others riders were driving to the south of France for le Tour du Haut-Var. With cyclists like Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Fränk Schleck (Trek) or Tejay van Garderen (BMC), we look forward to a good show during the two stages that compose this race.
We thought we would have stars at the top of the overall, but it's second fiddles who are leading after the first stage. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) should had protected Chris Horner, but the italian is wearing the yellow jersey in Draguignan. At Elisa – Stora Enso, we would appreciate a good performance of Risto Kivikoski, who is our best rider in the hills.
Points Classification : 1 Damiano CUNEGO (Lampre) with 33 points Mountain Classification : 1 Juha KANGASKOKKO (Elisa) with 38 points U25 Classification : 1 Ion IZAGIRRE (Movistar) in 9h05'25'' Teams Classification : 1 Movistar Team in 27h14'31''
the_hoyle wrote:
Great start to life with the team I like the report, and despite the lack of tables for the result, they are really easy to read Keep it up!
Cool to hear that I'm not really eased with tables, so I only used them when it's necessary
Istrian Spring Trophy
Prologue » Umag › Umag (2 km)
Team : J.Veikkanen, S.Halme, L.Hietaniemi, J.Kangaskokko, R.Kivikoski, E.Koskinen, S.Pokala
Because of the small number of riders inscribed on this tour, the first and the second wave of riders are not complete. So after the passage of about fifteen riders, it's Luke Roberts (Stölting) which is in the lead. Our time trial champion Samuel Pokala was not in a great day and cuts the line more than 6 seconds behind the current leader. The time of the Australian holds a long time, surpassed only by the French Matthew Boulo (Raleigh), which is ahead for 4 seconds. For a few hundredths, Samuel Halme fails behind Boulo, while we already approach the start of the favorites. The New Zealander Myron Simpson (B.Forklifts) grabs the provisional first place, but the talented Silvio Herklotz (Stölting) almost immediately removes the leader of the head. The last 3 riders are Ioannis Tamouridis (SP Tableware), Alex Rasmussen (Riwal) and Jussi Veikkanen. The greek is logically the new leader, for two seconds. Rasmussen is not able to improve the best toùe, and finishs at less than a second from first place. Jussi Veikkanen, which is not the best of the team on the exercise of the prologue, takes the 13th place at 5 seconds. The gaps are minimal and ranking may move with tomorrow's stage will close in the hill of Labin.
Points Classification : 1 Ioannis TAMOURIDIS (SP Tableware) with 25 points U25 Classification : 1 Silvio HERKLOTZ (Stölting) in 2'50'' Teams Classification : 1 Team Stölting in 8'40''
I expected more from Pokala than Halme, so it was a good surprise
Istrian Spring Trophy
1st stage » Porec › Labin (159,7 km)
After a prologue with minimal gaps domined by the greek Ioannis Tamouridis (SP Tableware), the 106 riders of the Istrian Spring Trophy are now taking part to a quite hilly stage, where we could see a new leader. The bookmakers are mostly thinking at Silvio Herklotz (Stölting) and Jussi Veikkanen for this role, but a lot of riders are able to beat those two riders in Labin, croatian city of 12 000 inhabitants.
Without a big resistance of the pack, a breakaway suceed to take some time. It is composed of 4 cyclists : Christopher Lisson (D.Kokken), Kasper Linde Jørgensen (Riwal), Gianfranco Visconti (Utensilnord) and Endi Sirol (Meridiana). After about 40 kilometers, there is the only KOM sprint of the day. Christopher Lisson (D.Kokken) passes first at the top, but he will have to win the stage if he wants to keep the polka dot jersey. Michael Cupitt (B.Forklifts) got out the peloton briefly to take some points too. The intermediaite sprint competed below is very tight, and it's the croatian Endi Sirol (Meridiana) who takes 6 points, in front of Visconti (Utensilnord) and Jørgensen (Riwal). The greeks of SP Tableware manage very well the time gap, which doesn't get over 4 minutes. At about 25 kilometers from Labin, several riders attacked. We thus find Konstantin Klimiankou (Amore & Vita), Kristian Juel (B.Forklifts), Rino Gasparrini (Mg.Kvis) and Ji Wen Low (OCBC) a few hundred meters in front of the pack. This quartet is an extra motivation for the peloton to speed up. Indeed, with a 2-minute lead for the breakaway, it was time to get serious about it ! Les Elisa - Stora Enso are well placed, but do not want more than that to run out when the teammates Ioannis Tamouridis (SP Tableware) make a breakneck pace. All the riders who were ahead of the peloton are caught in extremis at the foot of the hill, and there is no moment of hesitation. The kazakh Maxat Ayazbayev (Astana Conti) accelerates, with Jussi Veikkanen and Risto Kivikoski just behind his back wheel. The finnish guys seems to be in a great day, because they overtake the kazakh we he slows down a bit. Kivikoski is victim of his lack of experience, and misses some forces to overtake Ayazbayev (Astana Conti). Jussi Veikkanen gots no problem to take the lead, which he will keep till the finish line ! It's our first win of the season, accompanied by the yellow jersey ! Silvio Herklotz (Stölting) and Daniel Whitehouse (Rapha Condor) have managed to get back, and will not lose time on the first three riders of the stage.
Corton wrote:
Well done! First win out of many
Keep it up!
I hope you're right on this point
Thanks
the_hoyle wrote:
Great win!
Thank you for your regular comments
Croatia14 wrote:
Great victory for Jussi and his teammates who protected him
Leaving FDJ was a quite good move for him
Istrian Spring Trophy
2nd stage » Vsrar › Motovun (156,2 km)
After the effusion of joy that followed our first win, it's time to get back to work! With a new difficult stage made up of several climbs, we will have to put the heart into it to keep the yellow jersey on the shoulders of Jussi Veikkanen. The riders that will be supervised more than the others will be Silvio Herklotz (Stölting), Daniel Whitehouse (R.Condor) and Maxat Ayazbayev (Astana Conti), who were in a good shape yesterday.
No team is opposed to the first breakaway attempt, quite cosmopolitan. Indeed, we find a greek, a singaporean and a mexican: Vasileios Simantirakis (SP Tableware), Yun Jie Lemuel Lee (OCBC) and Uri Martins Sandoval (Amore & Vita). The first KOM sprint quickly comes to the riders. Simantirakis (SP Tableware) wis it easily, while Michael Cupitt (B.Forklifts) attacks like yesterday to get some extra points. The australian's gap is growing, and the time the time the breakaway has on him reduces rapidly. He joins the breakaway at the intermediate sprint of the day, but did not participate : it's Yun Jie Lemuel Lee (OCBC) which is the fastest of the fugitives, who are now four. To ensure the continuation of the head group, we are relying upon two young teammates, who are Luukas Hietaniemi and Eemeli Koskinen. But soon Stölting and Astana Continental show signs of annoyance and take over the manhunt. Indeed, these two teams are better provided on rouleurs than Elisa - Stora Enso. The combined efforts of Maxat Ayazbayev and Silvio Herklotz's teammates have an immediate effect on the advantage of the breakaway. It sags quickly, dropping to one minute and 50 seconds at about fifty kilometers from the finish line. Despite the fact that the breakaway cyclists gives all of them, they got caught at 25 kilometers from Motovun. The peloton then suddenly slow down. Outisders attack, leaving it to teammates of Jussi Veikkanen to leader the chase. Koskinen and Hietaniemi get tired rapidly, forcing the Finland time-trial champion Samuel Pokala to hunt all the outsiders attacks. Fortunately for us, he perfectly fulfills his task, and any attempt of attack is annihilated. The final climb arrives very quickly, and could be the justice shall of this 2014 Istrian Spring Trophy. The danish Dennis Herforth (D.Kokken) launches hostilities and Jussi Veikkanen decides to follow the attack. The yellow jersey overtakes his rival immediately, but face to the young talents like Silvio Herklotz (Stölting) and Daniel Whitehouse (R.Condor), Veikkanen shows signs of weakness. Dressed of the best sprinter green jersey, Silvio Herklotz (Stölting) won relatively easily in front of Whitehouse (R.Condor) and Jussi Veikkanen, who threw his last strengths in the battle to get four bonus seconds. If Risto Kivikoski - who finished 4th - had overtake him, he could have said goodbye to his leading tunic. Veikkanen retains the lead by the narrowest of margins : one second ! If he wants to win, Herklotz (Stölting) will have to jostle in the sprint tomorrow to take time. With his beautiful end of stage Risto Kivikoski goes back to the 4th place overall, 18 seconds behind his leader. At the gates of top 10 of the stage Samuel Halme is our third rider in the first 10 overall, in 8th place.
the_hoyle wrote:
Another good result Jussi just holds onto Yellow!
It might our first model race of the season
Istrian Spring Trophy
3rd stage » Pazin › Umag (170,3 km)
Unless a terrible reversal of situation, the general classification of the Istrian Spring Trophy should go to Jussi Veikkanen, although Silvio Herklotz (Stölting) is right behind at one second. There's still a stage, which will probably be won by one of the sprinters present among the 106 riders at the start of the race. Alex Rasmussen (Riwal) monopolizes the odds, but the danish must be wary of riders like Yuri Metlushenko (Torku) or Ioannis Tamouridis (SP Tableware) that have a good top speed. Riders of Elisa - Stora Enso will play safety, trying to avoid an unfortunate accident of Veikkanen.
Georgios Karatzios (SP Tableware), who is at the origin of the first attack, passes several kilometers alone in front, joined a little later by Mateo Frankovic (Meridiana). The team leaders are not worried by these two quidams of the continental peloton, and lets the duo go in breakaway. We arrive quickly at the intermediate sprint of the day, that the two riders both want to win. Karatzios (SP Tableware) took the lead easily in front Frankovic (Meridiana), while Luukas Hietaniemi, who leads the pack in the company of Eemeli Koskinen, takes the two remaining points. As the peloton continues his forward march behind the breakaway, a rider loses his balance and fell on the ground : Joshua Prete (B.Forklifts). The Australian takes time to start again, and crosses on his way a pretender to stage victory, Alex Rasmussen (Riwal) ! Indeed, the danish sprinter wheel hit the bike a rider in front of him. Several of his teammates cut their effort to help him, unlike Jussi Veikkanen's teammates, who take pleasure to increase the pace of the peloton, to make tired Rasmussen (Riwal). Although the former Garmin got back in the bunch, the net acceleration caused a loss of gap for the two leading riders, who have only a 2 minute-gap while we still have about 70 kilometers to browse on the final circuit. The gap finally stabilizes, but the sprinters teammates stand ready to catch the breakaway at any moment. The machine takes time to engage seriously, so Frankovic (Meridiana) and Karatzios (SP Tableware) are still leading the race at 15 kilometers from the finish line, with a little more than one minute of advantage. Budget Forklifts for Alex Wohler and Riwal for Alex Rasmussen form two trains, while Samuel Pokala drops unintentionally of his wheel Jussi Veikkanen as he was taking the yellow jersey to a new place of honor ! The breakaway is swallowed by the sprinters at high speed. 4 of them come off with ease, and will compete for victory : Miraç Kal (Torku), Morten Øllegaard (Riwal), Ioannis Tamouridis (SP Tableware) and Alex Rasmussen (Riwal). The last two cyclists mentioned are shoulder to shoulder, but the Greek Ioannis Tamouridis (SP Tableware) was slightly fresher and won with a very little advance in front of Rasmussen (Riwal) and Øllegaard (Riwal). Miraç Kal (Torku) and Rolf Broge (D.Kokken) complete the Top 5. 13th of this scrappy sprint, Jussi Veikkanen can savor his final victory, his first since a stage of the Tour of Germany in 2008 (if whe omit his championships wins in Finland). The german Silvio Herklotz (Stölting) can be disappointed, because the yellow jersey escapes him for one second only. With two other riders in the final Top 10 - Risto Kivikoski 4th and Samuel Halme 8th - we can say that this Istrian Spring Trophy was quite successful for Elisa - Stora Enso.
Stage Classification :
1 Ioannis TAMOURIDIS (SP Tableware) in 3h51'43'' 2 Alex RASMUSSEN (Riwal) s.t. 3 Morten ØLLEGAARD (Riwal) s.t. 4 Miraç KAL (Torku) s.t. 5 Rolf BROGE (D.Kokken) s.t. 6 Alex WOHLER (B.Forklifts) s.t. 7 Maxat AYAZBAYEV (Astana Conti) s.t. 8 Jan OELERICH (Stölting) s.t. 9 Anders EGSVANG (Riwal) s.t. 10 Jan DIETEREN (Stölting) s.t.
... 13 Jussi VEIKKANEN (Elisa) s.t. 14 Samuel HALME (Elisa) s.t.
