It was the first test for our cobblers - and as expected, the result wasn't too exciting.
We did however get some TV time. The plan was for one of our cobblers duo to try something - preferrably to get into the break of the day. Or to attempt a late move.
Well, we then made another rookie mistake: to put all of our eggs in one basket. Not one, but both of Jake Stewart and Jan Sommer joined one of those mid-range attacks which never, absolutely never succeed, and whose sole reason is - getting TV time. We would have preferred some more promising moves, but to be honest - a top result was never realistically on the table in this race.
Jan Sommer chasing the front group that already included Jake Stewart.
They were obviously caught and neither was able to follow the decisive moves (we'll never know if they would have been without spending too much energy prematurely), and we were expecting a zero-pointer. But while Sommer indeed ran out of gas, Jake Stewart saved enough energy to hold onto 21st place, scoring the expected 5 points. Even after his extra-effort.
So while we didn't quite follow our game plan, the result was satisfying enough - and the way we got those points (missing out on an even higher score by just one spot) gives us some hopes for the upcoming cobbled races!
It's always fun when other people are telling you how you should feel about your team
It's fine - I guess I really overreacted because of that final TDU stage (which I still think is a shame for an otherwise great race by Paez). Let's hope we learnt our lessons then
Sometimes it makes the frustrations more nuanced though...
Awesome team for the Tirreno! I think a "top" result is very likely there. Also fun to see if Larsen can actually get a good result or two here. The prologue could be fun for him atleast.
Indeed, very happy with Tirreno so far
Frustrations are just part of the game - but starting a season with two frustrating races (even though TDU was nice apart from the last stage) after an already very frustrating season just isn't that motivating...
Have to agree that Tirreno will probably be the most fun to watch! Basically every stage should give you some fun dynamics to watch.
Please take as many points away from our CT counterparts in GW!
Looks like the sprint stages might be the only ones we don't really care about, but indeed fun to see the team so far If only they did that last year (tbf Schmid wasn't trained, guess that really makes a difference in PT races).
Will see what we can do in GW, won't refuse some points
January wasn't really kind to you, but as long as Schmid shows some of his PT magic in his ranking races as well you should have a strong season ahead of you!
The 2nd out of 4 cobbled HC classics on our calendar was another one where we didn't have big hopes. Too many cobbles, too little difficulties - not the greatest terrain for our best cobbler.
But we still wanted to light up the race, and we did! This time, we sticked to the initial strategy, so it was only Jan Sommer attacking. First, he attacked to join the early breakaway - the group was however caught with 60km left.
He then tried again, even initiating the move this time:
Jan Sommer having some fun in Belgium
This move lasted even less time than the first one, but alas, we got our TV time. All eyes now on Jake Stewart for the finale!
What a shocker for us then when Jake wasn't even in the front group of 33 with 35km to go! He was just awfully positioned when the split happened - another throwaway race, and the season's first zero-pointer for us...
...but wait! Unlike the DS, Jake didn't throw in the towel yet, and passed one exhausted rider after the other! He actually finished 16th - which is worth 10 points, twice as many as we expected!
What a great fight by Jake - he just leaves us wondering what could have been had he simply paid a little more attention in the decisive moments of the race... But we happily take these points anyway.
Race Review | Tirreno - Adriatico | PT
Unlike the cobbled races, this one was a sure zero-pointer. Just because it was a wildcard race. We were here just for fun - and we did indeed expect to have some fun!
And indeed, the fun started right on day 1 - as one of our riders really had some redemption to do for last year's bad results:
Niklas Larsen on his way to the hot seat in the prologue.
Larsen led the race for quite some time, before eventually slipping down to 4th. As much as we would have loved a podium - the top 3 simply were stronger, both on paper and on the road. So this part of his redemption tour was just fine. And by the way, Fabio Christen finished 11th, taking the white jersey on day 1!
But what we were mostly here for anyway was the hills! We really wanted to see how Mauro Schmid performs against a PT competition after his intense training camps. He did pretty well!
An stage 2, Andres Paez stayed with him even on the final kilometer, bringing Mauro into a fantastic position - and the latter rounded off the great team work in the best possible way:
Mauro Schmid winning stage 2 of the Tirreno - Adriatico!
After Paez got his first win on stage 2 of the Tour Down Under, Schmid now did the same in Italy, edging out Evenepoel on the line! First PT stage win for Mauro (and only his 2nd career stage win), what a way to kick off his season! And by the way, Paez finished 7th, so a really great result for the team - accounting for... zero points, sadly.
Sadly, the stage was surprisingly unselective, and so Mauro still had a lot of time (and ranks) to make up in order to get a Top 10. The next stage, ending on a fast downhill, would have be a perfect chance to double down - sadly Mauro wasn't positioned well enough and "only" took 8th on day 3. But this stage was much more selective (with Paez and Aebersold making the front group as well), so our two puncheurs were 10th and 17th after 2/4 hilly stages.
Mauro then changed his strategy for the final two days - instead of risking to miss out due to bad positioning, he decided to control things right from the front - which made things look pretty similar on days 6 and 7:
Mauro Schmid leading the peloton on the final 500m both on stage 6...
...and stage 7.
However, it wasn't the winning strategy, either. Maybe he could pull this through with another little bit of training - but this year it was just other riders capitalizing on his work.
On stage 6, Schmid dropped all the way down to 13th, so that really was a bad move. He did much better on the final day, though, taking 3rd place and another stage podium - and moving up to 6th place overall! Just 2 seconds short of 4th place, though, so what could have been had he timed his stage 6 move a bit better...
But we don't want to complain. We were here to have fun, and to learn. We achieved both. We got a stage win, a 3rd place, a Top 10 GC result (plus Paez in 14th place!) - and Mauro did learn a lot about how to spend - and not to spend - his energy.
Furthermore, Mauro ended up 4th in the points standings, tied for 2nd in the KoM standings (with Roman Holzer taking 4th, just 2 points behind Mauro!), so it was a really good race overall. One of those races we would have needed last year to stay up - but also a race that gives us hope that we could be in for a pretty fun season in the PCT hills!
January wasn't really kind to you, but as long as Schmid shows some of his PT magic in his ranking races as well you should have a strong season ahead of you!
Yeah, Tirreno definitely gives me some hopes He will surely have his weaker races as well - in particular the long classics, where he could be hit or miss - but I'm hoping for some really good results for sure
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | 
Jake Stewart and 
Jan Sommer joined one of those mid-range attacks which never, absolutely never succeed, and whose sole reason is - getting TV time. We would have preferred some more promising moves, but to be honest - a top result was never realistically on the table in this race.
Tirreno - Adriatico | 
Niklas Larsen on his way to the hot seat in the prologue.
Andres Paez stayed with him even on the final kilometer, bringing Mauro into a fantastic position - and the latter rounded off the great team work in the best possible way:
