A new edition is here. No races at all took place, at least races we participated in. We decided to make the magazine a bit different therefore, since we couldn’t do our regular ‘review’ and ‘awards’, although we can give the team of the week awards. We will give you guys a Paris – Nice preview though, and of course, an interview.
Part 1: Latest news
Part 2: Rankings
Part 3: Paris – Nice preview
Part 4: Team of the Week
Part 5: Interview with…
Qatar summary: Booooring
Qatar was rather boring. Summary: A lot of different sprinters won a stage, Veelers was a surprise, Petacchi took the GC win, while Kittel took points + youth.
Langkawi comes closer
Langkawi is just a few nights away right now. Our GC guy will be Gadret, though he will lose a lot of time in the TT we fear. We estimate a weak start list, so you never know what happens. The flat stages might be interesting too, since we know a lot of sprinters who don’t want to ‘waste’ race days on Langkawi. Stefan van Dijk was okay with it though, hoping for at least few Top 10’s…
Update: Latest news is that Sagan enters. Well, that sucks…
Omloop comes closer
Omloop is just a few nights away right now. We took a strong team with us. A very strong team. A nearly unbeatable team. Only a certain Swiss guy can stop us. That’s all we can say.
We’re looking forward to the first cobbled race of the season!
Rankings
Updated WT ranking: 5th
After some CT races, the WT ranking got updated. Things look a bit brighter for us now, we’re 5th.
Poor In-n-Out hasn’t got a single point yet. That will change soon though, Sagan goes to Langkawi, we’ve heard.
CT ranking: Bulgari steadily leading
Bulgari
13965
Pervyj
11147
Cymru
8653
CSC
6812
Nintendo
6698
Sony
5199
TAP
4300
Red Bull
3756
TCS
3031
Magners
3021
AXA
2814
Dominos
873
There isn’t just a WT ranking, there’s also a CT one. In the CT ranking, Bulgari is steadily leading the rankings. Pervyj is the runner up, and CYMRU is third. Poor Domino’s is dead last. Pizza is probably sad
Paris - Nice
We decided to do a preview. It’s a very important race for us, and the startlist is beastly. Since there isn’t spoken a lot about the profiles and startlists yet, a lot of teams will most likely find it interesting.
Team-Mates Bert-Jan Lindeman Barry Markus Daniele Pietropolli Alex Rasmussen
The Route
A very interesting route. The route starts with a prologue, it’s just 4.6km. Still, seconds can be won here. We fear that it’s seconds on Voeckler, by Gilbert. It’s not something that can’t be overcome though.
The following 3 stages are flat. Both stage 2&3 are mostly flat, but finishing slightly uphill. This is very, very interesting for Veenhof. He has an advantage on Greipel, Cav and Kittel here, and maybe slightly on Goss. The question is: ‘Will Sagan enter?’ It seems very likely, unfortunately. Stage 4 is different. Way more climbs here, although it’s all the way downhill to the finish from 10 km to go. Maybe a little weaker point for Veenhof, although he has a low chance to drop on the earlier climbs, compared to Cav & Greipel. In Stage 5, we encounter the first hilly stage. A steep climb up to Mende covers the last kms, Voeckler can be considered as a favourite here, no matter what the startlist is. Stage 6 has a lot of hills in it, but no hill really close to the end. A small bunch sprint might be expected here, although an attack on the hill 15km from the finish has a good chance to survive too. Stage 7 has the same thing, although the difference is that there’s even more climbing. Yeah, a huge part of the peloton will drop, that’s a sure thing. Stage 8 can make the final difference in the GC. The climbing part of the stage seems more mountain-like than hills-like, although the last part of the stage is a very long downhill, followed by flat roads. The stage is just 123km long.
Our expectations:
- We want to finish in the Top 3 of the GC. The win would be great of course. We won’t complain too much if Voeckler/Schleck finishes 4th of 5th in the GC either.
- 1 or 2 stage top 3’s of Johan Veenhof. He proved that he’s very good in finishing in the Top 3. Stage 2 & 3 seem perfect for him, while he can possibly do something in stage 4 if he stays in the grupetto.
- Top 5 Team classification. It’s not very important, but with both Voeckler & Schleck here, it shouldn’t be a huge problem for us.
Team of the Week
Here’s the Team of the Week award again. The part of the magazine where the other teams get a little credit.
A new edition is here. Not a lot of races took place, but we had to give you the magazine. A bit smaller at some points though, 3 Langkawi stage isn’t really that much. Man, when do Omloop & Paris – Nice finally start?
Part 1: Latest News
Part 2: Weekly review
Part 3: Weekly awards
Part 4: Team of the Week
Part 5: (Short) Interview with…
Part 6: Next up on the calendar
Latest News
There isn’t a lot of news, to be honest. Omloop delayed. Again.
We reported 2 weeks ago that Omloop was almost going to start. We did the same last week. But guess? No Omloop, still not! Sources say that it’s almost going to start this week. Finally. Or will it be delayed again?
In-N-out domination makes Langkawi lame
Team In-N-out, desperate for points, sent Sagan to Malaysia. What a waste of race days. Anyway, he’s totally dominating. He got 4th in the TT, and won both other sprints.
This was totally expected though.
Weekly Review
A quiet week for us. Only some Langkawi stages.
Tour of Langkawi Stage 1
A 20km TT. Gadret finishes 62th, at 1’13. Karpets really disappoints here, he got 36th, even far behind Lindeman. Thomas takes the win, just a second before Wilco Kelderman.
1. Thomas(CYMRU)
2. Kelderman(Fastweb)
3. Moser(Bulgari)
62. Gadret(ING)
Stage 2
The Sagan-show starts. Sagan wins the stage, in front of Bos and Kruopis. Van Dijk gets us a 8th position. Lindeman takes the KoM(somewhat controversional, but hey, we don’t care)
1. Sagan(IN-N-Out)
2. Bos(Sony Ericsson)
3. Kruopis(Fastweb)
8. Van Dijk(ING)
Stage 3
The Sagan-show continues. Gallopin even makes it an 1-3 for In-N-out. 2nd place goes to LS Haedo. Van Dijk gets a 9th place. We keep the KoM.
1. Sagan(In-N-out)
2. LS Haedo(Globant)
3. Gallopin(In-N-out)
9. Van Dijk(ING)
Stage ranking rating: 6,5/10 Not bad. We didn’t really expected huge things, and Van Dijk gives us some nice points with Top 10 rankings.
Classifications ranking: 7/10 For guys with sharp eyes: Yes, it’s changed to Classifications ranking. It’s still mainly the GC, but now we can up it if we have other jerseys in possession. And at this moment, we have. Bert-Jan still wears the KoM. That’s why we have a 7. Gadret still positioned bad in the GC, but as one of the best climbers, he can get a lot of time on the others.
Overall ranking:7/10: Mwah. An okay week. We couldn’t hope for much better. Now, let’s hope that Van Dijk gets us a few Top 10’s and that Lindeman can hold the KoM.
Weekly Awards
Not a lot of races for us, but still, here are the weekly awards.
Rider of the Week
Just 2 nominees. Van Dijk and Lindeman(both ) both did good.
The winner is…
Spoiler
Bert-Jan Lindeman
Surprise of the Week
This one is easy now.
It’s
Spoiler
Stefan van Dijk
Disappointment of the week
This one was a bit obvious. He should have been way better in the TT. A Top 10 was really realistic, but in the end, he got 36th. Even Lindeman finished in front of him, while he’s no TTist.
The ‘winner’ is…
Spoiler
Vladimir Karpets
Rider
Nationality
Points this week/total points
Bert-Jan Lindeman
2/5
Johan Veenhof
0/2
Koen de Kort
0/2
Thomas Voeckler
0/1
Stefan van Dijk
1/1
24 riders
/
0/0
Alex Rasmussen
0/-1
Vladimir Karpets
-1/-1
Yes, a surprising name dominating in the rankings. BERT-JAN LINDEMAN!!! But he will ride a lot less in the future, the pre-season is already a peak of his. But for now, he can enjoy this.
Team of the Week
Of course, we’re not the only team out there. We will award the ‘Team of the Week’ and the team who just missed out of that, some points for the ranking again this week.
No ‘Top teams this week’ part, since there were only two. In-N-Out is dominating the sprints in Langkawi, while Thomas won the Langkawi TT for CYMRU.
The winner is…
Spoiler
Team In-N-Out Original Joe’s
The runner up(therefore) is…
[spoiler]Team CYMRU Wales
Team CYMRU Wales
1
4
Triks Custom Season
0
3
Nintendo
0
3
In-N-out
3
3
SGL – Magix
0
2
Pervyj
0
1
Others
0
0
Yes, team CYMRU is leading the rankings now.
Interview with Tom Boonen
Today, we had a small interview with giant Tom Boonen. He was a bit busy, but since he’s a really nice guy, he was okay with a small interview.
Thijs Zonneveld: Hi Tom. We really can’t wait for Omloop het Nieuwsblad. You can’t wait for Omloop either, can you?
Tom Boonen: Yes, I really, really can’t wait for it. TZ: What are your expectations?
TB: Obviously, I want to win. Fabian looks strong too though, it won’t be easy to beat him. TZ: Is your form good?
TB: Yes, I’ve been training really hard for the cobbled classics, which are starting soon. TZ: Do you have enough support
TB: Oh yeah, for sure. Boom is awesome, while Wynants is really good too. Spartacus has some fine support too, I admit. TZ: If you’re for example riding RvV, and you don’t feel at your best, would you let Boom go for the victory?
TB: Yes. I know he’s able to win it too. If he tells me that he feels good, I believe him. TZ: What can this team do, also apart from the cobbles?
TB: A lot. And I’m serious. Voeckler can win every hilly classic, Veenhof is a great sprinter, he proved that in Australia, Ruiter & Schleck are great climbers, but we have some talent too, with Quintana being the best example. Yes, this team is great. TZ: It’s nice to hear that you’re so positive about your team mates. What do you think about Voeckler’s attitude?
TB: Well, you know, it’s Voeckler, you have to live with it. But he is rather nice, not as bad as the media says about him. TZ: Okay, thanks for your time!
Next up on our calendar
1. Omloop het Nieuwsblad
Our next race. Boom & Boonen are going to show our power on the cobbles. It’s going to be a great battle!
2. Strade Bianche
Always a great race. It’s an uphill sprint. We’re able to send one of the best uphill sprinters of the world, Johan Veenhof. No Sagan, that’s good news.
3. Paris – Nice
An amazing line-up for us in this hilly race, with Voeckler, Schleck and Veenhof. Sadly enough, we´re not the only one with such a strong line-up.
Next up in ING Cycling Magazine
- Latest news
- Weekly review
- Weekly awards
- Team of the Week
- An interview
- And more!
Edited by Jesleyh on 17-03-2013 18:32
@Marcovdw Yes, it's going to be very hard to best Pate. But Boonen is a favourite for the second place at least @Jezemekoule Thanks a lot! It's nice to hear that you like it, even though you're not even part of the UCPCL game. @Sutty68 Yeah, CYMRU is doing great at the moment.
Something fantastic happened today. One of the most important races of the year, Omloop het Nieuwsblad was raced today. Well, after all the delaying of the race, that's already fantastic. But the most fantastic thing is that Boonen won the race! That's a major blow for guys like Cancellara, who hoped to outclass Boonen here. But they didn't. Boom got 6th, and Wynants got 14th, to make it even better!
We've got a nice picture of Boonen winning. But before you look, we have to tell you something. Something shocking happened the night before Omloop. We were all in an hotel in Brussels that night. When we woke up, all our jerseys were stolen?! Of course, we had a lot of them still in our HQ, but there was no time to get it before Omloop started.
Luckily, we knew a (strange) guy in Antwerp who likes to collect non-existent(Fantasy) jerseys. He had an ING jersey too. A odd one, but an ING jersey, and that was enough for us.
After Omloop, we had an arguement with the secondary sponsor, InBev, who was angry that he wasn't on the jersey that won Omloop. We told them what happened, and they understood it.
Anyway, the photo:
As you can see, the croud went wild!
It turns out that the team is doing real good lately. Stefan van Dijk won a nice Langkawi stage yesterday too!
Our next race is Strade Bianche, where we've got some nice expectations of. Of course Langkawi is still busy, but with guys like Sagan there, we don't think we can grab an amazing GC result. We hope to continue with winning anyway
!
but the team is actually german, the main sponsor is danish 
.
