kandesbunzler26 wrote:

Not a big fan of the Ranaweera and APP leadership, they're probably not up to the task in PCT. Add some ageing sprinters nobody ever heard of and a German lead cobbler and you have the recipe for relegation.

I also don't like this dubious Devo Team you set up, it just seems fishy!

Fabianski wrote:

Oops, what went wrong with some of the flags?
Looks like Latvia actually annexed the U.S.
And not sure APP will race the Grand Prix Cycliste de Lima

Godoy vs. Ranaweera will be an interesting fight in ToA, and I could well imagine that the latter will be ahead for 13 days, and it could go either way on the final day... It will be 1'30"-2'00" for Godoy to make up for after the two TTs, so we'll see ^^

Facing APP in those hilly stage races was expected, but will be nasty (less so than facing Madouas I guess, which will be a pain for both of us). Rutsch definitely doesn't get an optimal schedule, I hope it's not the factor that would push you towards the bottom of the rankings...
As wj/jt mentioned in the podcast, I think sending Zabel to the classics might have made more sense given Coquard's awful stamina, but I guess you tested him and he must do OK. In stage races, both can definitely get their wins, and I don't like to see them all over the place

Good luck, and looking forward to racing against you for the first time since your comeback

Six races and 19 race days made for a busy first month of the season. Bryan Coquard was our main man in the sprints, Rick Zabel proved a more than capable partner, and Aurelien Paret-Peintre led us in the hilly stages of Tour Down Under. Luc Wirtgen and Alex Kirsch handled the C2 outings.

We are very happy with how January has gone with good results from start to finish. A one-two in the Great Ocean Road Classic on the last day of the month was a nice way to finish.

Points: 96

PpRD: 48

We opened the season with the HC sprint race Down Under Classic. A short race in good conditions ended in a close bunch sprint, where Bryan Coquard took a solid 3rd place right behind Enger and Van Poppel. We set up a good train and got a good result out if it!

Points: 45

PpRD: 7.5

Tour Down Under was a mixed bag of hills and sprints, and we brought riders for both. Aurelien Paret-Peintre gave us the highlight on stage 3, winning from the front group ahead of McCormick and Govekar, with Donovan (8th) and Wallenborn (10th) also in the Top 10. He did however lose some time on Willunga Hill and ended up 12th overall.

In the sprints, Coquard was 7th on stage 6, 7th on stage 1 and 15th on stage 4. Not the stage wins we were hoping for from the sprinters, but a stage win and a Top 15 in the GC is a decent return.

Circulo de Juarez was a pure sprinters' race and Rick Zabel made the most of it. After a quiet opening stage (25th, won by Kennett), he was 6th on stage 2, 3rd behind Ewan and Willems on stage 3, 4th on stage 4 and 5th on the final stage, which was enough to finish 3rd overall, just 36 seconds behind Ewan and Liu. Consistent racing from Zabel proved to be the recipe for a good finishing result.

The other big contributor was young Axel Kallberg. He took the mountain jersey after the very first stage and kept it all the way to the end, which was worth a full 25 points for the final classification, and he was also leading the U25 classification for a while before dropping back. Tthis was our best stage race of the month.

The best day of the month came on the last day of it. In a hectic race, Coquard and Zabel were both in the front group and finished 1st and 2nd, ahead of Jakobsen, Walls and Liu. A perfect result, and a second win for the month after Aurelien Paret-Peintre's stage in Australia.

A hilly C2 where Alex Kirsch (17th) and Luc Wirtgen (23rd) did what they could. Not a lot to write home about here

Luc Wirtgen took a good 7th place in the Hong Kong Challenge, just behind the leading group, with Alex Kirsch adding a few points in 29th. For a C2 race we can't really complain, a few points scored and we are happy

We are very happy with the month and coming in on 2nd place. We really hope we can keep this form going forward

A much quieter month with four one-day races and 8 race days, and with the sprinters getting a well-earned rest it was time for the cobbles. Jonas Rutsch was our man there, with 4th in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, 6th in Roma Maxima and 3rd in Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne. Luc Wirtgen led the C2 team in Coppa Placci.

236 points is less than we got in January, but with fewer race days used it is actually a better points per race day (29.5 against 25.5). Rutsch is now our best rider in the individual rankings, 7th in the division.

The cobbled season started with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the first mandatory PCT race ever. Christophe Laporte and Trond Hakon Trondsen made it into the 13-man breakaway, but the peloton had everything back together with a little under 50 km to go. In the end 14 riders came to the line together, and when Ovsyannikov opened the sprint Jonas Rutsch was one of the quickest to react. Spengler had the most left and won ahead of Stavrakakis and Ovsyannikov, while Rutsch took 4th, just off the podium but ahead of both Per and Girmay. A great way to start the cobbled season!

A hilly C2 where Brieuc Rolland got into the early breakaway, which was caught with 24 km to go. Luc Wirtgen survived when the peloton was reduced to 28 riders and sprinted to 9th behind winner Quita. A few points for the C2 team and that is about it, we can't complain though every PCT team will have these C2 races

Roma Maxima was our first race against the PT teams this year. We helped Rabobank bring back the breakaway with 38 km to go, and Rutsch went with Blume Levy in the first attack straight after, but nothing was allowed to go. When Siric attacked 6.4 km from the line, Rutsch was in the elite group of 12 behind him, but nobody wanted to chase and the Bosnian was gone. Rutsch sprinted to 6th in the group 46 seconds behind, with only Tediashvili, Girmay and Per ahead of him from the PCT teams. Maybe we hoped for a bit more, but 72 points against the PT teams is good.

We ended the month with Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, where Alex Kirsch represented us in the breakaway. Rutsch was very active in the finale, first following Gamper's move and then pacing the group of favourites over the cobbles while Per was up the road. Per's brave move came up just short, and in the sprint Girmay won ahead of Ovsyannikov with Rutsch 3rd. His first podium of the season and our best score of the month!

Individual rankings

Pos	Last	+/-	Rider	Total
7	70	+63	Jonas Rutsch	234
12	6	-6	Rick Zabel	184
15	9	-6	Bryan Coquard	164
57	32	-25	Aurelien Paret-Peintre	43
59	33	-26	Axel Kallberg	41
77	56	-21	Luc Wirtgen	30
107	64	-43	Samuel Welsford	14
211	119	-92	Alex Kirsch	3
212	120	-92	Mark Donovan	3
213	121	-92	Trond Hakon Trondsen	3
243	359	+116	Clement Venturini	2

We drop from 2nd to 5th, but that was always going to happen in a quiet month for us while the cobbled specialists went big. We are still in a promotion spot, only 57 points behind Tryg - Eni in 4th, and with 4352 projected points we are happy with where we are. Rutsch climbing to 7th is a good result for just the few cobble races he raced compared to some of the other cobble experts. Now we are looking forward to March where we hope APP will have a good month!