I'm really curious how your plans for the future turn out and who your new sponsors are (not even talking about the jersey on top!). I just hope they're from somewhere far from France ...
Is it a clickbait title? Yes. But one with a semblance of truth. Whist Bianchi Enel romp away with the CT title, Podium Ambition has outscored them in both March & April! The gauntlet has been thrown down to the division, we are seriously in the promotion fight!
How did this happen? One man, Chequan Richardson! Not the name you were expecting, but the one dimensional Bermudan dominated the narrative of April. The GC win in Faso, followed by stunning solo success in Dwars Door Vlaanderen propels Chequan to his highest ever ranking position of 4th. Save for an unfortunate puncture he could realistically be 3rd.
This team has not experienced such cobbles success since Geraint Thomas was on the team, and we were rocking the last years of Marcus Burghardt. We imagined the 32yo desperation transfer would get 40pts maybe, just filling in squads with our interest more on Akil Campbell or the future of Nathaniel Forbes. There's a lesson to be learned, never ever underestimate a Pirate!
Not much more to review. The month was basically all about the cobbles wins, and a few points elsewhere to keep things ticking over. Up to 3rd in the table, and projected Top5. Lots of racing to come, and supposedly more that suits the team. We are in the battle and continue to press on and secure a truly special result.
Oh - we also wanted to make a small announcement! It's known Podium Ambition will be departing the peloton after the season. Today we'd like to share with the world our new registration for the 2026 season and beyond - Japan & Fiji Let the speculation on who our specific sponsors will be commence, you will not predict what's coming, but you know you want it in the PCT.
Weird sense of pride to make the title of a podium ambition post!
Japan definitely gives you much better options going forward than the self-proclaimed kamakaize mission you're on now, so hopefully it's one that starts in the PCT
It was always clear the Pirates are better than Bianchi (sorry jt), but now it's also proven by the numbers! It's cool to see the riders not only know they have to make sure this project ends on a high but are also able to contribute to this.
@jt - Bianchi very much having the last laugh on that title hahaha....
@Heine - See below!
@Caspi - Richardson doing anything is always a surprise, just proud he gets to go out on a genuine career high
@bbl - Maybe next year it'll inspire other teams to put some efforts into them
@kande - In a lot of ways the Pirates have done better than I expected, in a lot of ways not... mixed bag.
The Great Big "Wait, you're serious?" Post
Too long between updates, we know we know. But following the historic classics period it's safe to say we regressed hard back to the norm in May-June-July. That and just the usual mid-season slump. But all is not lost, nor forgotten. So let's do the quick catch-up on the current promotion race.
It's still on! Somehow. Against all the odds. We are still in the fight for a legit Top-5 finish, and the potential disband-promotion places. Scoring from Lagane and Norbert and Hennis is battling to keep us in the fight, despite a lack of marquee result in this period. Even Mayer is getting in on the act with an arguably career best ride in San Luis, which whilst not a win was visible and committed and delivered reasonable points. Jay Major continues to contribute points as well. Imagine how good this team could be with a legit leader? Haha... hahaha.... ha... I made myself sad...
Given that this is the end of Podium Ambition 3.0, who's going to be funding next years pursuit of actually good riders? (Sorry Pirates, I love you but you're just not that good). We said we were swapping Islands, from the sunny Caribbean shores to the equally world famous shores of the rising sun. And Fiji.
Well here's a shock, IMAX will continue to back the team! Why? Personal love. But they are neither Japanese nor Fijian, so who will be representing our new registrations? Tourism Fiji, hardly groundbreaking here, this team has I think in every season had a national/regional tourism board association. But crucially, this allows us to maintain a link and support for Sea Turtle Conservation. Fiji is home to five of the seven species of seas turtle, so how could we not keep showing our care for the environment?
So far so cool. But you've seen nothing yet. As we need to announce our primary benefactor, a truly revolutionary new light in cycling. I guarantee no-one saw this coming. Our new headline sponsor, hailing from Japan but with a truly unmatched global reach is
& Fiji 
Let the speculation on who our specific sponsors will be commence, you will not predict what's coming, but you know you want it in the PCT.
