baseballlover312 wrote:

Sad to see Mestric having so much trouble. I thought he would do better at this level, but I guess the engine has changed.

kandesbunzler26 wrote:



A potential promotion has actually crossed my mind too. But that would still require quite some overperformances and fluke results as the cobbles are mostly done.

redordead wrote:

Still on track it seems

It was fun to see Katrasnik blow up the race and that actually work for him in the end.

Laurens147 wrote:

Would be awesome to see you compete in PT Fingers crossed!

Start	End	Race	Cat
12-Jun	18-Jun	Tour de Suisse	PTHC

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Sulkhan Akhmaevi	68	71	70	68	77	69	69	71	60	61	65	63	63	73	28
	Arman Garibian	70	76	74	71	73	74	75	78	55	60	71	66	70	73	25
	Alexandre Kess	66	68	69	69	65	67	68	70	57	62	64	65	66	64	22
	Stefan Kung	73	70	72	73	77	74	72	73	72	63	71	73	78	78	32
	Thibaut Pinot	68	76	73	70	61	70	73	66	54	58	63	68	63	61	35
	Alain Quispe	81	52	53	53	61	63	61	65	53	67	74	85	55	61	31
	Suranga Ranaweera	67	80	77	73	76	75	75	74	52	58	65	57	69	73	30
	Kevin Vauquelin	69	77	73	69	74	70	74	73	58	68	69	72	71	73	24

We hope for another nice GC result from Ranaweera in this PTHC stage race. All eyes are on him as we don’t send a sprinter here. Depending on the competition Küng could be in for a minor result in his home ITT. We also hope for some breakaway action from Quispe.

Start	End	Race	Cat
20-Jun		Berlin ProRace	C1

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Ewen Costiou	73	66	69	72	68	71	70	64	66	73	74	68	69	71	23
	Gasper Katrasnik	81	61	62	63	69	72	76	69	63	63	72	81	73	69	30
	Paul Lapeira	75	69	71	72	61	72	72	68	74	74	74	76	71	64	25
	Matija Mestric	73	63	67	70	63	69	70	68	76	55	65	71	75	67	28
	Alain Quispe	81	52	53	53	61	63	61	65	53	67	74	85	55	61	31
	Dusan Rajovic	72	58	61	64	59	70	76	70	55	78	82	57	57	62	28
	Timo Roosen	74	59	65	71	63	71	73	74	75	66	71	76	64	67	32
	Ruben Zepuntke	72	56	63	69	65	79	72	64	82	72	65	66	68	65	32

We weren’t on the startlist of this race very often, but with our newly acquired rouleurs we give it a go here. Apart from Katrasnik and Quispe for a late attack we have Rajovic for a sprint.

Start	End	Race	Cat
26-Jun	28-Jun	USA Pro Cycling Challenge	C1

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Alan Boileau	67	75	76	77	65	68	71	73	62	67	76	68	67	64	26
	Arman Garibian	70	76	74	71	73	74	75	78	55	60	71	66	70	73	25
	Gasper Katrasnik	81	61	62	63	69	72	76	69	63	63	72	81	73	69	30
	Alexandre Kess	66	68	69	69	65	67	68	70	57	62	64	65	66	64	22
	Lenny Martinez	65	72	71	70	65	70	72	71	57	56	72	70	70	64	22
	Aurelien Paret-Peintre	72	76	77	77	72	73	75	73	63	72	74	72	70	72	29
	Thibaut Pinot	68	76	73	70	61	70	73	66	54	58	63	68	63	61	35
	Nate Pringle	69	60	63	66	69	68	67	64	65	63	64	70	64	68	22

A hilly stage race always has APPs name written on it, so we have some hopes he’ll get another GC top 10 in this race. He has some support here to achieve this.

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
01-May	05-May	La Tropicale Amissa Bongo	-	2nd KoM

Our riders weren’t even mentioned in the coverage of the prologue, but Küng and Akhmaevi at least stayed near the minor GC placings. Stage 2 saw Roosen and Katrasnik active in the break and chasing KoM points, resulting in 4th and 2nd places in the competition. Stage 3 saw Quispes first breakaway appearance for us, but the break was pretty dysfunctional and soon over. Roosen was once again our man in the break in stage 4 but couldn’t climb in the KoM any further. The final short ITT was once again anonymous and we leave the race without any GC points.

points:	19
Gaspar Katrasnik	15
Timo Roosen	4

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
05-May	10-May	Balkans International	-	GC Top 25

Pringle was once again our man in the break in stage 1 and he gathered some KoM points on the way, apart from that everyone of importance made the first group. But the positioning was already worrying and rightly so as APP lost nearly 3 minutes in stage 2. Stage 3 saw once again Pringle in the break, but he wasn’t strong enough to stay with the others till the end which was a shame as his former companions took the win there. We were mostly inactive in stage 4 apart from some chasing in the peloton mid-stage, apparently to stay warm as no one was active later. Stage 5 saw once again Pringle in the break and nothing apart from it. The final stage was again on the anonymous side with APP losing some seconds but climbing to 24th in the GC. In total it really was an underwhelming race.

points:	20
Aurelien Paret-Peintre	17
Alan Boileau	2
Nate Pringle	1

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
19-May	25-May	Tour of Northern Europe	-	GC Top 5; GC Top 25; 3rd U25

Our riders saved energy by riding an anonymous stage one. Our potential GC options Zepuntke and Louvel lost time in a random split in stage 2, so they decided to drop their own ambitions in the cobbled stage 3 to help Küng stay with the GC favourites. He did and further improved his GC position to 4th in the cobbled TT. Stage 5 was another flat one without any action from our side. Küng was strong in the first of the two decisive hilly stages, being part of several attacks and chasing himself when needed. He was rewarded by climbing to 3rd in the GC prior to the final stage. He lost some time in the final stage, but with all the movement in the GC in that stage he finished the race in 4th. Lapeira added a 24th overall as well as a 3rd in the U25 classification, so the race was a success even without any stage results.

points:

n/a

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
27-May		Paris Tours	-	Top 25

We didn’t send anyone into the break, instead both Quispe and Katrasnik joined the late attack that included the later winner Varga. But sadly they just weren’t able or willing to follow his deciding move so Rajovic was our best finisher in 21st.

points:	10
Dusan Rajovic	5
Gaspar Katrasnik	5

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
29-May		Rheden GP	-	Top 5

We let the other teams work in the chase and put all our money on Zepuntke in the finale. He was attentive and part of some attacks, resulting in a 4th place in the final sprint. At least he salvaged our month to some extent with this result.

points:	96
Ruben Zepuntke	90
Matis Louvel	2
Paul Lapeira	2
Timo Roosen	2

Start	End	Race	Cat
01-Jul		Torshavn GP	C1

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Ewen Costiou	73	66	69	72	68	71	70	64	66	73	74	68	69	71	23
	Gasper Katrasnik	81	61	62	63	69	72	76	69	63	63	72	81	73	69	30
	Paul Lapeira	75	69	71	72	61	72	72	68	74	74	74	76	71	64	25
	Matija Mestric	73	63	67	70	63	69	70	68	76	55	65	71	75	67	28
	Thibaut Pinot	68	76	73	70	61	70	73	66	54	58	63	68	63	61	35
	Alain Quispe	81	52	53	53	61	63	61	65	53	67	74	85	55	61	31
	Dusan Rajovic	72	58	61	64	59	70	76	70	55	78	82	57	57	62	28
	Timo Roosen	74	59	65	71	63	71	73	74	75	66	71	76	64	67	32

It’s a flat classic with some undulations, so the plan has to be to be in the break, in any late attacks and prepared for a sprint as we have suiting riders for all of those scenarios.

Start	End	Race	Cat
04-Jul		Clasica San Sebastian	PTHC

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Sulkhan Akhmaevi	68	71	70	68	77	69	69	71	60	61	65	63	63	73	28
	Alan Boileau	67	75	76	77	65	68	71	73	62	67	76	68	67	64	26
	Alexandre Kess	66	68	69	69	65	67	68	70	57	62	64	65	66	64	22
	Lenny Martinez	65	72	71	70	65	70	72	71	57	56	72	70	70	64	22
	Aurelien Paret-Peintre	72	76	77	77	72	73	75	73	63	72	74	72	70	72	29
	Thibaut Pinot	68	76	73	70	61	70	73	66	54	58	63	68	63	61	35
	Nate Pringle	69	60	63	66	69	68	67	64	65	63	64	70	64	68	22

With another tough startlist anticipated in this race any top 20 result from APP would already a success for us.

Start	End	Race	Cat
08-Jul	12-Jul	Benelux Challenge	HC

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Ewen Costiou	73	66	69	72	68	71	70	64	66	73	74	68	69	71	23
	Alexandre Kess	66	68	69	69	65	67	68	70	57	62	64	65	66	64	22
	Stefan Kung	73	70	72	73	77	74	72	73	72	63	71	73	78	78	32
	Paul Lapeira	75	69	71	72	61	72	72	68	74	74	74	76	71	64	25
	Matis Louvel	77	64	68	72	73	75	78	70	76	67	67	67	66	73	26
	Matija Mestric	73	63	67	70	63	69	70	68	76	55	65	71	75	67	28
	Timo Roosen	74	59	65	71	63	71	73	74	75	66	71	76	64	67	32
	Ruben Zepuntke	72	56	63	69	65	79	72	64	82	72	65	66	68	65	32

The trip to Benelux is our highlight race of the month. We have Zepuntke for all the cobbled stages and maybe even the GC. Apart from that Küng should be a GC contender after his strong performance in ToNE and Louvels skillset could make him an option too. We really have high hopes for this race.

Start	End	Race	Cat
20-Jul	23-Jul	Tour of Lithuania	PTHC

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Sulkhan Akhmaevi	68	71	70	68	77	69	69	71	60	61	65	63	63	73	28
	Alan Boileau	67	75	76	77	65	68	71	73	62	67	76	68	67	64	26
	Ewen Costiou	73	66	69	72	68	71	70	64	66	73	74	68	69	71	23
	Arman Garibian	70	76	74	71	73	74	75	78	55	60	71	66	70	73	25
	Gasper Katrasnik	81	61	62	63	69	72	76	69	63	63	72	81	73	69	30
	Stefan Kung	73	70	72	73	77	74	72	73	72	63	71	73	78	78	32
	Matis Louvel	77	64	68	72	73	75	78	70	76	67	67	67	66	73	26
	Kevin Vauquelin	69	77	73	69	74	70	74	73	58	68	69	72	71	73	24

We have a decent TTT unit and some riders who could survive the hilly stage 3. We clearly hope for some minor GC results here.

Start	End	Race	Cat
25-Jul	29-Jul	Tour d'Andorra	HC

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Alan Boileau	67	75	76	77	65	68	71	73	62	67	76	68	67	64	26
	Arman Garibian	70	76	74	71	73	74	75	78	55	60	71	66	70	73	25
	Alexandre Kess	66	68	69	69	65	67	68	70	57	62	64	65	66	64	22
	Lenny Martinez	65	72	71	70	65	70	72	71	57	56	72	70	70	64	22
	Matija Mestric	73	63	67	70	63	69	70	68	76	55	65	71	75	67	28
	Thibaut Pinot	68	76	73	70	61	70	73	66	54	58	63	68	63	61	35
	Suranga Ranaweera	67	80	77	73	76	75	75	74	52	58	65	57	69	73	30
	Kevin Vauquelin	69	77	73	69	74	70	74	73	58	68	69	72	71	73	24

The PCT climber festival is our next goal race. A top 5 is the official goal and could be in the books as Ranaweera did well in the last MTTs, but we also expect a stacked climber field which will make it hard to actually achieve this goal.

Start	End	Race	Cat
01-Aug		GP Kigali	PT

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Ewen Costiou	73	66	69	72	68	71	70	64	66	73	74	68	69	71	23
	Stefan Kung	73	70	72	73	77	74	72	73	72	63	71	73	78	78	32
	Paul Lapeira	75	69	71	72	61	72	72	68	74	74	74	76	71	64	25
	Matis Louvel	77	64	68	72	73	75	78	70	76	67	67	67	66	73	26
	Lenny Martinez	65	72	71	70	65	70	72	71	57	56	72	70	70	64	22
	Matija Mestric	73	63	67	70	63	69	70	68	76	55	65	71	75	67	28
	Timo Roosen	74	59	65	71	63	71	73	74	75	66	71	76	64	67	32
	Ruben Zepuntke	72	56	63	69	65	79	72	64	82	72	65	66	68	65	32

The trip to Kigali is our penultimate cobbled classic of the season as well as the penultimate wildcard race of our year. It’s all about having fun and getting a nice result by Zepuntke. He has the best available support for this enterprise.

Start	End	Race	Cat
07-Aug		East Midlands Cicle Classic	PT

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Ewen Costiou	73	66	69	72	68	71	70	64	66	73	74	68	69	71	23
	Stefan Kung	73	70	72	73	77	74	72	73	72	63	71	73	78	78	32
	Paul Lapeira	75	69	71	72	61	72	72	68	74	74	74	76	71	64	25
	Matis Louvel	77	64	68	72	73	75	78	70	76	67	67	67	66	73	26
	Lenny Martinez	65	72	71	70	65	70	72	71	57	56	72	70	70	64	22
	Matija Mestric	73	63	67	70	63	69	70	68	76	55	65	71	75	67	28
	Timo Roosen	74	59	65	71	63	71	73	74	75	66	71	76	64	67	32
	Ruben Zepuntke	72	56	63	69	65	79	72	64	82	72	65	66	68	65	32

And the last cobbles race of the season immediately follows. It’s the same squad with the same expectations as in Kigali.

Start	End	Race	Cat
09-Aug	13-Aug	Post Danmark Rundt	HC

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Sulkhan Akhmaevi	68	71	70	68	77	69	69	71	60	61	65	63	63	73	28
	Gasper Katrasnik	81	61	62	63	69	72	76	69	63	63	72	81	73	69	30
	Alexandre Kess	66	68	69	69	65	67	68	70	57	62	64	65	66	64	22
	Lenny Martinez	65	72	71	70	65	70	72	71	57	56	72	70	70	64	22
	Nate Pringle	69	60	63	66	69	68	67	64	65	63	64	70	64	68	22
	Alain Quispe	81	52	53	53	61	63	61	65	53	67	74	85	55	61	31
	Dusan Rajovic	72	58	61	64	59	70	76	70	55	78	82	57	57	62	28
	Kevin Vauquelin	69	77	73	69	74	70	74	73	58	68	69	72	71	73	24

Well, we have to be here, so we send a squad. It’s hard to see us getting a GC result or sprint success here, so it will all be about getting into the breaks with our barodeurs.

Start	End	Race	Cat
13-Aug		Chrono d'Arenberg	PTHC

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Stefan Kung	73	70	72	73	77	74	72	73	72	63	71	73	78	78	32
	Matis Louvel	77	64	68	72	73	75	78	70	76	67	67	67	66	73	26
	Ruben Zepuntke	72	56	63	69	65	79	72	64	82	72	65	66	68	65	32

Our last goal race of the season is the unique cobbled ITT classic in Northern France. We aim for a top 10 and have signed Küng with exactly this race in mind for him. Louvel could get a minor result as well and Zepuntke is here as well if the cobbles prove more decisive than in past editions.

Start	End	Race	Cat
15-Aug	20-Aug	Tour of Japan	C1

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Arman Garibian	70	76	74	71	73	74	75	78	55	60	71	66	70	73	25
	Alexandre Kess	66	68	69	69	65	67	68	70	57	62	64	65	66	64	22
	Lenny Martinez	65	72	71	70	65	70	72	71	57	56	72	70	70	64	22
	Thibaut Pinot	68	76	73	70	61	70	73	66	54	58	63	68	63	61	35
	Alain Quispe	81	52	53	53	61	63	61	65	53	67	74	85	55	61	31
	Dusan Rajovic	72	58	61	64	59	70	76	70	55	78	82	57	57	62	28
	Suranga Ranaweera	67	80	77	73	76	75	75	74	52	58	65	57	69	73	30
	Kevin Vauquelin	69	77	73	69	74	70	74	73	58	68	69	72	71	73	24

Ranaweera finished in 5th here last season, especially doing well in the Mount Fuji MTT. We hope for something similar this season.

Start	End	Race	Cat
22-Aug		Milano - Torino	HC

		FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age
	Sulkhan Akhmaevi	68	71	70	68	77	69	69	71	60	61	65	63	63	73	28
	Alexandre Kess	66	68	69	69	65	67	68	70	57	62	64	65	66	64	22
	Jesse Kramer	70	57	59	61	60	65	67	66	67	68	66	69	62	63	22
	Lenny Martinez	65	72	71	70	65	70	72	71	57	56	72	70	70	64	22
	Aurelien Paret-Peintre	72	76	77	77	72	73	75	73	63	72	74	72	70	72	29
	Thibaut Pinot	68	76	73	70	61	70	73	66	54	58	63	68	63	61	35
	Nate Pringle	69	60	63	66	69	68	67	64	65	63	64	70	64	68	22
	Timo Roosen	74	59	65	71	63	71	73	74	75	66	71	76	64	67	32

Another hilly classic for APP where we hope he can profit from his good climbing.

Start	End	Race	Cat
23-Aug	31-Aug	Tour de l'Avenir	U23

TBA

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
12-Jun	18-Jun	Tour de Suisse	-	GC Top 5; GC Top 10; GC Top 25; 3 Stage Top 10s; U25 win; 2nd Teams

We came to Switzerland with some high hopes for the GC and so it wasn’t overly surprising we weren’t seen anywhere in the two flat stages at the start of the race. Ranaweera also was anonymous in the hilly stage3, but that also meant he didn’t lose any time. Stage 4 was the first mountain stage. Ranaweera finished in the second group of favourites and remained in a good GC position. Garibian and Vauquelin stayed with him until the end (or nearly the end) and put themselves in 2nd and 3rd in the U25 rankings. Stage 5 was another quiet flat one as our riders prepared for the two decisive stages. The stage 6 TT was a huge success, although the best individual result was Ranaweera in 7th. But that was enough to propel him to 4th in the GC while Garibian climbed to 9th as well while still being s.t. with the white jersey. We even were 2nd in the teams classification after the stage, so the final stage saw us start with lots to win – and much to lose. But the final stage was rather uneventful in the best possible way as both Ranaweera and Garibian finished in the first group, and though the former missed the GC podium by some seconds, the latter climbed to 6th in the GC and claimed the white jersey as well. In addition we stayed 2nd in the teams classification while our other domestiques also scored some nice depth points.

points:	281
Suranga Ranaweera	125
Arman Garibian	6th	120
Kevin Vauquelin	24
Thibault Pinot	5
Stefan Küng	5
Sulkhan Akhmaevi	2

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
20-Jun		Berlin ProRace	-	3 Top 25s

We weren’t mentioned once in the entire report, but at least we got some depth points.

points:	11
Dusan Rajovic	7
Paul Lapeira	3
Gaspar Katrasnik	1

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
26-Jun	28-Jun	USA Pro Cycling Challenge	-	GC Top 10; GC Top 25; Stage Top 5; Stage Top 10; 2nd U25

APP was attentive in the stage 1 finale, following an unsuccessful late attack and still finishing 4th in the sprint, earning some important bonus seconds. He finished anonymously in the first group in stge 2 and got another top 10 finish in the last stage, resulting in an 8th place in the final GC. Garibian also scored another U25 podium.

points:	47
Aurelien Paret-Peintre	38
Arman Garibian	6
Alan Boileau	3

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
01-Jul		Torshavn GP	-	4 Top 25s

It was another totally anonymous race in a flat classic for us, but we managed to get 4 riders scoring minor points.

points:	18
Dusan Rajovic	12
Paul Lapeira	3
Gasper Katrasnik	2
Ewen Costiou	1

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
04-Jul		Clasica San Sebastian	-	Podium

We hoped for a top 10 result by APP here and were happy when he was part of the late attacks. He did even better than hoped for in the end, finishing 3rd overall in the sprint of the first chasing group!

points:	100
Aurelien Paret-Peintre	100

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
08-Jul	12-Jul	Benelux Challenge	-	GC Podium; 3 GC Top 25s; Stage Top 5; Stage Top 10; Teams Win

We had quite some GC hopes for Küng and maybe Louvel too, so seeing them finish in 11th and 16th in the prologue was a good sign. Stage 2 was for the sprinters and for once it was good we were anonymous and didn’t lose any time before the three stages with GC implications. The hilly stage saw Küng finishing in the front group with all of our cobblers losing 1’20. The first cobbles stage went to the break so we missed out on a top stage result, but with 6 riders in the first big group we set the team up well for the GC. Küng rose to 2nd in the GC as a result and we added 4 more riders in the region 17th to 25th, also taking over the lead in the team classification. The second cobbles stage saw Louvel finishing in a strong 5th place with yet again 4 other riders finishing in the first group. Küng lost a place in the GC due to bonus seconds, but we entered the final stage with him in 3rd and 6 riders in between 14th and 34th place as well as a clear lead in the team classification, setting us up for massive depth scoring on top of a GC podium prior to the flat final stage. There weren’t any changes in the final stage, so we came out of this race with a pretty nice points haul.

points:	236
Stefan Küng	113
Ruben Zepuntke	34
Paul Lapeira	32
Matis Louvel	23
Matija Mestric	14
Timo Roosen	10
Ewen Costiou	10

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
20-Jul	23-Jul	Tour of Lithuania	-	2nd KoM

Stage 1 was uneventful for us with everyone finishing in the peloton. Stage 2 was for the sprinters and Katrasnik was in the break, but that was already reeled in after 40 km. Stage 3 saw Costiou in the break where he managed to claim 2nd in the KoM classification. In return all our riders lost time in the finale. We finished 13th in the final TTT, resulting in only some minor GC scoring.

points:	34
Ewen Costiou	22
Stefan Küng	6
Arman Garibian	2
Alan Boileau	2
Matis Louvel	2

Start	End	Race	team goal	results
25-Jul	29-Jul	Tour d'Andorra	Top 5	GC Top 25; Stage Top 10; 2nd U25

The first stage was already a mountaintop finish and Ranaweera managed to finish 9th there, but he already lost more than 2 minutes to the leaders and more than one and a half minutes to the top 5 spots. Stage 2 saw him finishing in the peloton. The following two stages saw some reshufflings of the GC, but Ranaweera kept out of any action and stayed in 9th overall. He finally got into the mix up in the last stage by dropping to 14th in the GC, thus clearly missing our team goal here. At least Garibian finished 2nd in U25 and scored some minor points as well.

points:	49
Suranga Ranaweera	29
Arman Garibian	18
Kevin Vauquelin	2

The surprising strong start to the season proved to be no exception but the new normal. With 7 months of racing already done and only 2 and a half months still to come we actually top the PCT ranking both in PpRDs as well as points actually scored. This certainly couldn’t go unnoticed by our sponsors, especially after the team management subtly pointed out that a potential (and in fact increasingly probable) promotion to the highest level of the sport would not only be a huge success for the team and certainly would give our sponsors a much bigger return of their investment, but would also put is in need of a bigger budget to be competitive in PT. This clearly was no real news for them, but it led to some thoughts nonetheless.

As a result of those thoughts there might be some restructuring of our sponsor lineup for next season. All our partners pointed out they are well willing to keep our long-term partnership up and further support our team. But it’s not clear yet if their respective roles in the team will stay the same. In fact the success of the team could lead to a change in our title sponsors as our ever-since partner Le Creuset thinks about stepping back to a minor role. Luckily we already have some partners who have both the funds and the will to take over more financial responsibility if needed. Both Renault and Lapierre have signaled they would step up to a title sponsor role which obviously is not only great news in general but also in respect to their long tradition in professional cycling. We are curious about the further developments and look forward to keep you updated as well.