26 races down, 27 to go - the Continental season has reached its midway point. First of all, lets take a look at the current team rankings:
1 B&O 1357
2 Champion 1286
3 Fed-Ex 1121
4 Slipstream 1085
5 LA/MSS/Pearl Jam 981
6 Wiggle - Premier Inn 951
7 Procycling-BBC 892
8 IrnBru - RBS 887
9 White Bear Steyr 778
10 British Airways - Cyclingnews 647
11 NVidia 589
12 Molteni 571
13 Nippo Corporation 497
14 Dasani - Hincapie Sportswear 486
15 Benfica 468
16 Zenmind-Evolution 423
17 Gatorade 360
18 Ernst and Young 353
19 Slipstream B 129
20 Sony Ericsson B 89
21 Virgin Media B 86
22 Magenta B 79
23 British Airways B 73
24 Nintendo B 66
25 Gatorade B 66
26 IrnBru B 56
27 La Gazetta B 54
28 LA/MSS/Pearl Jam B 50
29 American Suzuki B 38
30 Fed-Ex B 28
31 Wikipedia B 26
32 France Televisions B 13
33 White Bear Steyr B 0
34 SME Cycling 0
So, B&O and Champion are the current teams in the promotion spots, but there is still a lot to play for for the teams who are not too far behind.
B&O
The Danish team built around young talents is already starting to reap the benefits of a developing squad. Most expected them to figure at the top and that has proved to be the case. No points in 6 races may not seem good, but look for the squad to take advantage of weaker fields in some of the upcoming European races.
Best ranked riders:
4 Edvald Boasson Hagen NOR B&O 286
5 Aleksandr Pluchkin MOL B&O 284
10 Tom Veelers NED B&O 195
16 Matti Breschel DEN B&O 176
Best races so far:
Quatre Jours de Dunkerque, Tour of Hellas, E3 Prijs, Slagelse CC, Tour du Langkawi
Races to look out for:
Volta Ciclista al Leida, Tour de Slovenie, Giro dell Emellia
Champion
The dark horses of the promotion race? The team has always aimed for the top but they were probably ranked as 3rd favourites before the season began. After a strong start, they faltered, before surging back recently. Consistent high placings in the one day races has been a huge aid so far, while they have also shown promise in stage races.
Best races so far:
Vuelta al Pais Vasco, Japan Tour, Commerce Bank, Jacksonville, Sharm Sheikh, Vuelta al Tachira
Races to look out for:
Tour de Slovenie, Vuelta a Venezuela, GP Plouay
Fed-Ex
Widely tipped to bounce back to the ProTour, Fed-Ex have struggled when out of the mountains - the terrain of dominator Tom Danielson. Fed-Ex have just 3 race victories - all stage races from Danielson. The rest of their strenths such as Astarloa and Davis have yet to deliver and with just one stage race left for Tom Danielson, Fed-Ex will need to get their act together to fulfill their promise. An example is Oscar Sevilla, who gets his chance of team leadership in the Volta al Portugal.
Best riders:
1 Tom Danielson USA Fed-Ex 550
41 Pieter Jacobs BEL Fed-Ex 96
60 Oscar Sevilla ESP Fed-Ex 75
65 Allan Davis AUS Fed-Ex 68
70 Igor Astarloa ESP Fed-Ex 63
Best races so far:
Tour de Georgia, Vuelta al Tachira, Vuelta Ciclista al Peru, Vuelta al Pais Vasco
Races to look out for:
Vuelta a Venezuela, Volta al Portugal, Tour of Missouri
Slipstream
The surprise package of the season for sure! In some cases, predicted to finish as low as 18th, Slipstream have stunned us all. Last year, the surprise package got promoted and Slisptream are still well and truly in contention. The best sprinter and the best TTT team have accomodated for a perceived weakness in the mountains and hills. There is every possibility that they could be promoted, but it will be tough.
Best races:
FBD Insurance Ras, Tour d'Egypte, Bikeline 2-Day, Tour du Langkawi
Races to look out for:
Blackpool Gp, Tour of Ireland, LuK Challenge Duo TT
LA/MSS/Pearl Jam
What a turn around. Last year, they were lowly Marco Polo, now they are Pearl Jam and look assured of at least a Top 10 finish at the end of the season. They have looked strong, accumalting points in many races with some big wins also helping. Promotion may be out of the question but aiming for a Top 5 finish will keep them motivated in the latter half of the year.
Top riders:
9 Wim van Huffel BEL LA/MSS/Pearl Jam 202
23 Stuart O'Grady AUS LA/MSS/Pearl Jam 131
25 Vitor Rodrigues POR LA/MSS/Pearl Jam 122
26 Martijn Maaskant NED LA/MSS/Pearl Jam 121
53 Manuel Antonio Cardoso POR LA/MSS/Pearl Jam 80
Top races:
Tour du Langkawi, Rund um Koln, Nokere-Koers, Japan Tour
Races to come:
Volta al Portugal, Tour of Qinghai Lake, Subida a Urkiola
Wiggle - Premier Inn
To be ranked so high despite not having won a one day race or a stage race is quite an achievement. Bertagnolli has done well, while Usov has shown glimpses. The rest of the team are continually on breakaway duty and its worked well so far. Aiming for a Top 5 finish now, but they should be more than happy with Top 10.
Top races:
Tour of Hella, Giro del Capo, FBD Insurance Ras, Quatre Jours de Dunkerque
Races to look out for:
Giro dell'Emellia, Giro del Lazio, Tour of Britain
Procycling-BBC
Relying mainly on riders from the British Isles, Procycling can be very pleased with the seasons progress so far. Top 10 was their only ever aim and so far they look right on course. They are the team with the most races to do and although they are unlikely to even win any of them overall, consistent scoring is the name of the game.
Top riders:
18 Bradley Wiggins GBR Procycling-BBC 144
24 Magnus Bäckstedt SWD Procycling-BBC 125
33 Ben Swift GBR Procycling-BBC 108
38 Roger Hammond GBR Procycling-BBC 102
39 Daniel Martin IRL Procycling-BBC 98
Top races:
Omloop Het Volk, Bikeline 2-Day, FBD Insurance Ras, Isle of Man TT
Races to look out for:
Tour of Britain, Tour of Ireland, Herald Sun Tour
IrnBru - RBS
After a brilliant start, the season has started to tail off for IrnBru - although recently rejuvenated by Ben Day's big win in the Isle of Man. I called Wiggle breakaway specialists - and IrnBru also fit that category and their two best riders are 2 of the strongest breakaway riders in the continental division.
Top riders:
8 Ivan Seledkov RUS IrnBru - RBS 206
34 Niki Terpstra NED IrnBru - RBS 108
35 Erik Mohs GER IrnBru - RBS 106
37 Ben Day AUS IrnBru - RBS 104
55 Wes Sulzberger AUS IrnBru - RBS 79
Top races:
Giro del Capo, Isle of Man TT, Tour d'Egypte, Vuelta al Tachira
Races to look out for:
Tour of Belgium, Herald Sun Tour, Vuelta a Venezuela
White Bear Steyr
They may be languishing down in 9th but White Bear Steyr are not to be underestimated! Bernhard Kohl will come to the fore in his main targets of the season and Siutsou has some good races too cwhile there will be plenty of opportunities for the teams many strong sprinters. Their very strong early season hinted at what may be in store for some races to come.
Top riders:
21 Konstantin Siutsou BLR White Bear Steyr 134
30 Blaise Sonnery FRA White Bear Steyr 114
44 Bernhard Kohl AUT White Bear Steyr 88
49 Claudio Corioni ITA White Bear Steyr 82
56 Graeme Brown AUS White Bear Steyr 78
Top races:
Vuelta al Ciclista Peru, Tour de Georgia, Tour d'Egypte, Vuelta al Tachira
Races to look out for:
Volta al Portugal, Vuelta a Venezuela, Tour de Slovenie
British Airways
The first half of the season has not gone as hoped for the British Airways team with Medina, Manan, Khayabkhyrvaa Uugunbayar and Thomas, their key players, all underperforming. Sure, Medina won stages and Thomas won one of the cobbled classics, but more was hoped for. A positive note has been Jonathan Bellis though, with 2 wins so far this year. Currently 10th, but may struggle to stay there.
Top riders:
12 Geraint Thomas GBR British Airways - Cyclingnews 192
15 Manuel Medina VEN British Airways - Cyclingnews 177
36 Jonathan Bellis GBR British Airways - Cyclingnews 105
75 Anuar Manan MAS British Airways - Cyclingnews 57
134 Niels Albert BEL British Airways - Cyclingnews 32
Top races:
Gp Herning, Archer GP, Vuelta al Ciclista Peru, Vuelta al Tachira
Races to look out for:
Vuelta a Venezuela, Tour of Britain, Post Denmark Rundt
NVidia
A season so far spearheaded around breakaway victories and Heinrich Haussler. They will face a struggle to break into the Top 10 and must surely be ruing the mistake of not sending Hincapie to the European cobbled races and that Haussler could have raced much more races than he had been scheduled to ride.
Top riders:
13 Heinrich Haussler GER NVidia 188
51 George Hincapie USA NVidia 81
64 Wilmer Vasquez VEN NVidia 69
88 Gerhard Trampusch AUT NVidia 49
93 Bram Tankink NED NVidia 46
Top races:
Bikeline 2-Day, Vuelta al Tachira, Jacksonville, FBD Insurance Ras
Races to look out for:
Cougar Mountain Classic, Tour of Missouri, Tour of Ireland
Molteni
12th now but have the potential to get into the Top 10 if things go their way. Their focus on the European calendar could soon start to pay off. There are a lot of potential points to be won in the many many races they have remaining.
Top races:
Tre Valli Varesine, Tour d'Egypte, Tre Valli Varesine
Races to look out for:
Tour of Belgium, Paris-Tours, Tour of Britain
Nippo Corporation
A slow start to say the least, the rest of the season may well hinge solely on the success of sprinters Nazon and Vaitkus, plus the occasional breakaway.
Top races:
Tour du Langkawi, Japan Tour
Races to look out for:
Tour de Slovenie, Post Denmark Rundt, 3 Lander Tour
Dasani - Hincapie Sportswear
The season was always going to be tough but theyve done well so far. With no big riders they always go in as underdogs - and breakaways are their gateway to points. 4 wins so far has been a great bonus for the team.
Top races:
Down Under Classic, Tour du Langkawi, FBD Insurance Ras
Races to look out for:
Any with breakaways
Benfica
Missing out on the transfer season was a blow to the team but a Top 10 placing is still within reach with the help of breakaways and their 3 strong climbing unit of Ribeiro, Moreno and Marquez.
Top riders:
19 Nuno Ribeiro POR Benfica 143
46 Daniel Moreno ESP Benfica 87
86 Florentino Marquez ESP Benfica 52
128 Hugo Manuel VÃtor POR Benfica 34
155 Danail Petrov BUL Benfica 25
Top races:
Vuelta al Ciclista Peru, Tour of Hellas, Vuelta al Tachira
Races to look out for:
Volta al Portugal, Subida a Urkiola, Tour of Qinghai Lake
Zenmind-Evolution
Having promotion in their grasp is all but a distant memory for the former Agritubel squad. An example of how the past transfer season really strenthened the Continental division, Zenminds season will give them little to cheer for.
Top riders:
40 David Kopp GER Zenmind - Evolution 98
43 Maximiliano Richeze ARG Zenmind - Evolution 94
67 Jose Ivan Gutierrez Palacios ESP Zenmind - Evolution 65
104 Jesus del Nero ESP Zenmind - Evolution 39
114 Alexandre Pichot FRA Zenmind - Evolution 36
Top races:
Quatre Jours de Dunkerque, Japan Tour, Nokere-Koere
Races to look out for:
LuK Challenge Duo TT, Post Denmark Rundt, Tour of Belgium
Gatorade
Putting all their eggs into the hilly basket of Vicioso and Wegmann has yet to pay offf, with Wegmann being particularly disappointing. There are races for them to redeem themselves, but Gatorade will probably remain slumped at the bottom end of the table.
Top riders:
29 Angel Vicioso ESP Gatorade 115
81 Damian MartÃnez CUB Gatorade 54
109 Dario David Cioni ITA Gatorade 38
136 Fabian Wegmann GER Gatorade 31
176 Mahdi Sohrabi IRI Gatorade 20
Top races:
Japan Tour, Vuelta al Tachira, Giro del Capo
Races to look out for:
Giro del Lazio, GP Bradlo, Volta al Portugal
Ernst and Young
Notice a pattern? A 3rd team to be low down having missed the transfer season. Pereiro and Valjavec will do all they can to provide a stepping stone for a leap up the table next season. But with the least amount of races of any team, the stepping stone may not be too high.
Top races:
CSC Invitational, Tour of Hellas, Vuelta al Pais Vasco
Races to look out for:
Tour of Qinghai Lake, Vuelta a Venezuela, Tour of Ireland
Whats to come?
Expect an action packed second half to the season with twists and turns along the way, hopefully culminating in a promotion decider in the Tour du Faso - the very last race of the season. Who will find their way to the ProTour? Im going to go for the two teams currently holding the lead places, B&O and Champion.
I might end up changing strategy for 2010 and become a squad focused on developing some talent that could win in 2011, maybe focus less on the track riders as they wont win on the road. Maybe look into convincing SN to let me run with four teams (A squad, B squad, track squad, squad with U-20 riders). Maybe try to focus on just one sprinter, maybe get rid of Manuel Medina because he was more expensive than sucessful...
In preparing for next season I already have a squad of great domestiques a top notch sprinter and stage racer and a top ten may not be out of reach in the overall standings...or I could finish in last we shall see.
PS thanks for the remarks about my little upstart team.
