aidanvn13 wrote:
Solid start for your team. I really like this team. Firstly, because they have an awesome jersey and, secondly, because you've really kept this a 'national' team.
Thanks mate, it's great to hear that sort of things
CountArach wrote:
I always enjoy watching and reporting on Nicacio. He's a very odd sort of rider but he usually gets good performances like this one.
Yeah he's a great dark horse, since he usually rides that way, that's why I've kept him with me since the beginning . His major weakness is the hills where he typically is caught asleep, but other than that he is a very helpful rider to have around.
Sorry I never got to answer your post jph. Thanks for the compliment I believe my team's depth will be very nice in a few year's too, I just hope that may won't take that much long. About Nascimento you'll find out he won't be that much of an advantage since he'll only last 2-3 seasons as a good TTist. Mendes on the other hand seems like a nice catch.
Comment: This race was important for us since we decided to bring our absolute leader here for his season debut. We were hoping to grab a stage win with either our sprinter Avelino or our puncheur Mendes but that didn't happen, since our fastman failed to live up to the expectations and Mendes got too busy working for Plaza. In the end we were lucky to score a top5, mainly due to Plaza's weak TT, which we hope he'll improve come the rest of the season. Mendes' 7th in the final GC was probably the most pleasant result we got in Argentina. We wish we can keep scoring like this in the America Tour.
Volta a Galicia [C2]
Squad: Bruno Pires - leader Bruno Borges Carlos Baltazar Ricardo Ferreira Luis Afonso Rodrigo Nascimento Rui Pedro Vinhas - free role
Goal: TV time, top20 GC
Result: Rui Pedro Vinhas - 15th (GC)
Comment: We wanted to compete in Galicia mainly because of commercial interest and regional proximity, but also to give some race days to some of our more inexperienced riders. Pires, the veteran, was supposed to instruct some aggressive racing to the youngsters and he did that by example, attacking in the first 2 stages. Afonso was also in the mix in Stage 1 but none of them actually won anything. Vinhas on the other hand made a magnificent attack alongside Quintana and fell just a little short of granting us a magnificent result. Still his 15th placing is a stunning result which leaves us excited to know what's in store for his next years.
GP di Lugano [C1]
Squad: Jose Mendes - leader Bruno Pires - free role Bruno Borges Luis Afonso Ricardo Ferreira Bruno Silva Rui Pedro Vinhas
Goal: Top10
Result: Jose Mendes - 5th
Comment: Mendes came to this race with a nice amount of race days in his legs already, which led us to think he'd have a good chance against other Continental puncheurs. Also this was a good opportunity to test him as a sole leader in a one-day race with a full squad in his support. And he really lived up to the role. He wasn't much active throughout the race but he did put in a decisive attack at a very sensible moment which saw him conquer a very interesting 5th place. Lugano also confirmed Afonso's positive style of racing with another presence of our young prospect in the BOTD where he endured till its end despite a fall midway through the race. Bravo Luis
Comment: Ventoso was supposed to be the leader here, but just in case the race was ridden slowly enough we have Avelino to finish it off. This was Ventoso's season debut and we wanted to see how good he would fare with his rivals in this sort of terrain. In the end the race proved to be more suitable to fast puncheurs than for hilly sprinters than we anticipated and so our Spaniard result fell a bit short of our goal here. But with such a tough startlist we can't be unhappy with his performance and a top10 as a season debut is really not that bad.
Volta ao Algarve [C2]
Squad: Pedro Nicácio - leader Rodrigo Nascimento Jose Mendes - free role Nelson Oliveira Luis Afonso Bruno Santos - sprinter Rui Pedro Vinhas
Goal: GC Top5, stage podium.
Result: Jose Mendes - 1st (Stage 3), 10 (GC)
Pedro Nicácio - 5th (Stage 5)
Comment: The idea in Corsica was to take the most out of the 3 race days in this Mediterranean Isle, and boy did we do that! In the flat stage Caldeira surprised everyone even his leader Avelino and snatched the win to take the yellow to the TT. Next day it was Plaza's time to score big and take the prologue! However in the stage to the Col de L'Ospedale, despite arriving with the major contenders, he dropped to 4th place in the GC. A brilliant effort nontheless, which inspires great expectations for the next HC commitments.
E3 Prijs [HC]
Squad: Marc Machado - leader Daniel Allonca Bruno Borges Luis Afonso Ricardo Ferreira Antonio Carvalho Rui Pedro Vinhas Lionel Coutinho
Goal: Top15
Result: Ricardo Ferreira - 39th
Comment: The big showdown for Continental cobblers was never going to be too much lucrative for our side. But Dani Allonca decided he wasn't lining up for another anonymous day in the pack, and took part in a valiant effort to join the breakaway. That's all we could do with the massive startlist. In the end all 3 of our cobblers finished 5 min after the victor.
Results: Bruno Santos - 1st (GC, Points and Stage 4), 2nd (Stage 3), 4th (Stage 1) and 6th (Stage 2)
Comment: We treated Volta ao Alentejo just like we usually treat any other portuguese race: we sent our best men for the event. Though, unlike Algarve, we had a squad for the GC with Santos as the edge of our spear. Our train wasn't quite well tuned at first, with the joint effort of Carvalho, Martins and our leader falling short of a podium in the first 2 stages. However our fast men persevered and were able to land a 2nd and a 1st place in stages 3 and 4, which saw Santos conquer a sensational home victory both in the GC and the Points classification to the joy of our fans.
Comment: Important race for us for the American continental ranks, so we had Plaza here for the GC with Nicácio, and Avelino for the flats with Santos. Things didn't go well in the GC since Plaza never really found his form finishing 11th overall. However Nicácio performed above expectations to salvage the race for us with a top10. In the sprints Santos was close on stage 2 but it was Avelino who took the vitory the next day for the team. Not a success, but in the end we were able to secure some points.
Tro Bro Leon [C2]
Squad: Marc Machado - leader Daniel Allonca Bruno Borges Carlos Baltazar Ricardo Ferreira Bruno Silva Antonio Carvalho
Goal: Top10
Result: Marc Machado - 8th
Comment: Probably one of Machado's best hopes of a good result in the whole season. This race was all about giving him the conditions to go for the top places, and the biys did just that. Machado showed everyone why we hired him and despite with a strong and aggressive performance, which just didn't pay off in the final sprint. But an 8th place suits us well.
Philadelphia International [HC]
Squad: Francisco Ventoso - leader Óscar Avelino - sprinter Samuel Caldeira Carlos Baltazar Antonio Carvalho Marc Machado Rui Pedro Vinhas Luis Afonso
Goal: Top5
Result: Óscar Avelino - 6th
Comment: Another american HC race where we had some expectations. Ventoso to lead the team if the hills were strong enough for the pure sprinters, and Avelino for the opposite scenario. In the end the climbs didn't particularly bother the peloton and so it was to Avelino to take care of this, which he did selecting a good wheel in the end and missing our goal by just one position.
Comment: While the rest of the sprinters were in Philly, Santos had the responsibility of leading the team in the Netherlands. He was on good form but this race was a tough test, with a rough route and fierce competition. In the final sprint he wasn't able to compete with the fastest men and failed our goal. A reasonable result nonetheless.
Giro dell'Apellenio [C1]
Squad: Jose Mendes - leader Bruno Pires Bruno Borges Carlos Baltazar Ricardo Ferreira Bruno Silva Rui Pedro Vinhas
Goal: Top10
Result: Jose Mendes - 7th
Comment: Returning to the road after a busy start to the season, Mendes had the leading role on this tough one-day race. The hills suited him well but the steep ascents and the downhill run-in to the finish could make this a tough race for him, especially with competition such Bellis, Roche, Flugel, Efimkin and many others. But the hills proved to be too smooth for the punchers and so it went down to a peloton sprint where Mendes maintained his regularity with a very good 7th place.
Comment: May started with Ventoso's first solo mission. This was a hilly cobbled one-day event which took place in his home nation, so the odds favoured him in terms of support. Fran took the gamble of a long-range attack trying to catch his opponents off-guard, but the effort didn't return in the form of a good result. He was 12th on the line which disappointed us really, even considering that the win objective was too demanding.
Comment: The russian capital invited us to put our sprint train to test against the sprinters Continental elite. We answered with our best possible line-up to lead Avelino to a good position in the final sprint. And matching our best expectations for this race, the lads led Óscar as best as they could, providing him the chance to grab a brilliant 4th place only losing terrain to Napolitano, Roelandts and Vantomme.
Tour de l'Ain [C1]
Squad: Ruben Plaza - leader Pedro Nicácio Nelson Oliveira Jose Mendes - free role Daniel Allonca Antonio Carvalho Rodrigo Nascimento
Goal: Top10, stage win
Result: Team - 3rd (Stage 3 - TTT)
Jose Mendes - 3rd (Stage 4), 9th (GC)
Pedro Nicácio - 10th (Stage 5), 12th (GC)
Ruben Plaza - 12th (Stage 5), 11th (GC)
Comment: Tour de l'Ain is like a TdF in 6 days where you'll find sprints, punchy stages, mountain-top finishes and some TT kilometers. The idea was to support Plaza to a top10 Overall but things didn't go as planned. We even started with a great result in the TTT being 3rd and gaining time on the opposition. But the stage 4 hills
were too much for both Plaza and Nicácio, which led Mendes to inherit team leadership with his 3rd place on the stage, and 2nd overall. From there on it was downward spiral with all three of our best riders losing time in the last 2 stages. Nevertheless Mendes was still able to secure a 9th place in the GC which kind of saved the race for us.
Comment: After Moscow it was the tunisian capital's time to host the following sprinters meeting in the Continental circuit. But for us it wasn't just another race - a victory was demanded from our sponsors. No sprinter was saved this time, Avelino needed to have the best possible lead-out he could to reach the finish line ahead of everyone. The opposition wasn't the most friendly but the boys work was great, especially Ventoso who most humbly acted like the perfect corckscrew in the final km to place Avelino in the best position possible to deliver the desired first place. A perfect job, a race to remember.
Rogaland GP [C1]
Squad: Francisco Ventos - leader Óscar Avelino - sprinter Samuel Caldeira Bruno Borges Bruno Silva Ricardo Ferreira Rui Pedro Vinhas
Goal: Top5
Result: Óscar Avelino - 29th
Comment: Fran had sort of redeemed himself of his poor season with his job in Tunis, but he was yet to prove himself as a leader. The norwegian roads provided him with yet another chance to do just that. Avelino was there in case the hills weren't very selective. But this wasn't our day. Ventoso failed to follow the decisive move and didn't have the confidence to launch himself after the leaders later, which led us to a zero-pointer in Scandinavia.
Comment: Santos is a valuable part of our sprint train but he copes well with C2 flat races where he already got as a victory in Volta ao Alentejo. This time he was up for a one-day job in Catalunya's capital to try a make some points. The race was set to finish in a mass sprint but in a sudden turn of events the last lap through Montjuic led to a surprise breakaway victory. The peloton left 3 men to catch before the finish line and as such, Santos' 3rd place in the mass sprint only secured him the 6th place.
Comment: As a pancake flat one day HC race, this event was always going to have a massive startlist, and as such we had no other option than to bring our fastest men Santos and Avelino. But our sprint train ideas and the German capital didn't simpathize, which forced Avelino to follow Kennaugh's wheel and snatch another great result this month, conquering the last step of the podium and another nice haul of points.
Comment: Guatemala's debut in the Man-Game was sure to be a success among the Continental managers, with three little stages with three massive climbs. So no point in participating right? Yeah unfortunately Guatemala is located in America and as such counts for our American Tour Top5 goal, which led us to bring Nicácio here in looking to follow the right breakaway and then survive in the last stage MTT. Nontheless the predictable outcome took place, which means that our valiant brazilian was overpowered by the PCT climbing superstars, who relegated him outside the top20. His effort was apreciated though.
General Classification
1 Joost Posthuma Project 1t4i 4h49'06
2 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil Project 1t4i + 1
3 Justo Tenorio Santander + 3
4 Jelle Vanendert Project 1t4i + 4
5 Vincenzo Nibali UBS - BMC s.t.
6 Frank Schleck Vesuvio - Accumalux + 7
7 Alberto Contador Festina-Canal+ s.t.
8 Alejandro Valverde Koenigsegg + 8
9 Damiano Caruso Wiggle Professional Cycling Team s.t.
10 Domenik Klemme Team B&O + 9
Stage 3:
This time it was Jose Mendes who got to take part in the break of the day. His efforts were highly rewarding, giving him the leadership in the KoM classification. However he fell short of a stage win within the final km, which saw Van Stayen win the sprint where Plaza was tenth. Valverde was the new leader.
And finally some respite for the overall contenders. A stage for the sprinters. Machado even tried to catch the right break but he just couldn't. In the end it didn't really matter since the stage ended in a mass sprint won by Matthew Goss.
Stage 5 leads us to yet another important day to all GC candidates. And once more Plaza showed he can be counted on, by delivering a solid 6th, moving to 4th Overall. Let's see if he can keep this consistency in the mountains though. Rigoberto Úran took stage honours and Justo Tenorio becomes the new red jersey after today.
Mountain Classification: 1 Jose Mendes Prio - Porto 28
2 Vegard Robinson Bugge Aker - MOT 28
3 Wilco Kelderman Team Puma - SAP 18
4 Justo Tenorio Santander 16
5 Vincenzo Nibali UBS - BMC 12
Stage 7
This was a great chance for a breakaway win, and as such we wanted to make sure our men were among the escapees. And after Vital and Mendes having missed the right move, Oliveira took his chances in a joined effort with Kelderman, catching up with the earlier break midway through the stage. Later, in the final climb, he played his cards well and finished 3rd, behind Albasini and Kennaugh. In the GC Plaza keeps his tenth place, despite seeing Ricco. Similarly, Mendes maintains his KoM jersey with a new contender to deal with, the dutch youngster Kelderman.
Mountain Classification: 1 Jose Mendes Prio - Porto 28
2 Vegard Robinson Bugge Aker - MOT 28
3 Wilco Kelderman Team Puma - SAP 24
4 Justo Tenorio Santander 16
5 Vincenzo Nibali UBS - BMC 12
Stage 9:
This seemed to us like a difficult stage for the breakaway and so we restraining ourselves from sending anyone up the road. However the peloton wasn't able to catch the early escapees which gave the chance for van der Hugenhaben to take the victory. As to the GC fight, the Les Tapiades climb evoked an aggresive attitude from the strongest puncheurs, which saw Schleck, Valverde, LLS, Martin and Riccò gaining valuable seconds on the rest of the favourites. Plaza was well positioned in the pack but couldn't help dropping two more places down in the GC.
Spoiler
Stage Results:
General Classification:
Mountain Classification:
Stage 10:
This could be yet another opportunity for a breakaway win. Mendes decided to give it a try and even got to win the 1st KoM prime but his efforts were not carried furtherly. The stage ended in a sprint won by the surprising Daryl Impey. But the biggest news of this day concerned Alejandro Valverde, who crashed giving away more than 5min, losing not only his GC aspirations but also the Points' jersey leadership.
Mountain Classification: 1 Jose Mendes Prio - Porto 34
2 Vegard Robinson Bugge Aker - MOT 28
3 Wilco Kelderman Team Puma - SAP 28
4 Justo Tenorio Santander 16
5 Nathan Haas Aker - MOT 16
Stage 12:
And finally another mountain stage to shake the GC. This was a tough one with the peloton breaking in 2 right from the first climb. Things got together later but the final mountain was tackled in a very serious fashion and led to some small differences. The winner was Tenorio who grabbed a few more seconds on his rivals and even got hold of all the classification excep for the KoM. Plaza finished in the 3rd group losing 1'16 on him, securing his 12th place. But unfortunately we received the news that Marc Machado couldn't finish within the time cut. Anyway the shown must go on.
Mountain Classification: 1 Jose Mendes Prio - Porto 34
2 Justo Tenorio Santander 32
3 Vegard Robinson Bugge Aker - MOT 28
4 Wilco Kelderman Team Puma - SAP 28
5 Alberto Contador Festina-Canal+ 20
Stage 13
This stage was a horror story for many riders. Plaza got to work right from the start after getting caught in a peloton split in the very first climb. Later he rejoined the group of favourites, and when things started to heat up he was also in the mix. But he obviously wasn't a match for the top GC candidates and eventually lost terrain, arriving two and a half minutes down on stage winner Kern. Nevertheless Plaza was able to rise one place in the GC and keeps his top15 goal well within range. Unfortunately however Mendes couldn't keep his jersey and now sits fifth in that classification.
This third week started with a good chance for Mendes to try and claw back some terrain in the KoM department. But we weren't fortunate on that account, as he couldn't join the BOTD. The group of escapees got a very strong gap during the stage and reclaimed the right to dispute the win. The final victor was Dan Craven, who held off Maillet to conquer a terrific win. The french gets to wear the KoM jersey as a consolation prize.
Decisive day for the GC guys, and on paper a good day for Plaza. The up and down profile of this TT could provide him the edge he needed to distance himself from his opponents. And he was competitive finishing on a provisionally fourth at the time, which translated in a final 11th, 1'51 behind winner Tiago Machado, who got himself back into podium contention. As to Plaza, he loses his 11th place to Rujano who put in the best TT of his career to pass our leader in the table. No TTs from now onwards so it's going to be tough but we are confident in Ruben.
Another profile favouring wither a break or a sprint. It was our obligation to send someone up the road to try and make something out of this stage. The man was once again Nelson Oliveira, who had already been close to a stage win earlier in the race. The racing favoured the escapees as the bunch let them have a nice gap. Oliveira even tried to break from the rest of his companions, but the group arrived together at the end where he was only able to take 9th, unable to compete with the prowess of the winner Sagan. Great effort by Nelson nonetheless.
One of the most decisive stages on paper of this Vuelta. The GC contenders needed to be in their peak to secure their positions or to try and make an assault for higher placings. We sent Mendes to the BOTD in the hope he could still challenge for the KoM, but due to his fatigue he never really could threaten anyone. As to the GC fight, it turned out to be a big blow as nobody really tried anything before the last 2 climbs. And even there nobody was able to construct gaps to main group. Rujano was the only one gaining time, but only some mere seconds. The breakaway was able to resist the superior climbers, with Kulhavy the best among them. On our end, things complicated a little bit with our leader losing 46'' in the final dash to the line. It seems the race is starting to take a toll on Plaza.
Stage 19 was the final mountainous stage of the race, and consecutively the last opportunity make something out of this race for some. This time the GC contenders really made it a show worth watching with Nibali pressing the race leader Tenorio in the final climb. However the spaniard fought back to assert once more his power over everyone else. Stage honours were credited to van der Hugenhaben, who became a 2nd-time stage winner here. Plaza took over 12th place after cashing in on our beloved LLS's bad day today
Penultimate stage planned to be a sprinters day, but the breakaway proved to be more dominant yet again. Our breakaway specialist was there for another brave attempt at a good result. He even tried to take things into his own hands in the final 6km but was unfortunately caught with less than 3km for the finish line, being relegated to the last place of the group, where Pavarin was the strongest in the final sprint.
Last stage to seal things up, with a nice stretch along some mostly plain roads. A final chance for the sprinters! Only that this time they made sure the break was properly controled. Between the fast men, Holloway was the fastest. The last winner of this years' Vuelta a España
Comment: Despite the beginning of the summer Ventoso's performances haven't goT any brighter. Hainleite was a the reason Fran didn't make the Vuelta squad. Being a punchy sprinter with a suitability for the cobblestones, he should be able to make a good result here as the race was supposed to end in a small group sprint. However, due to his great positioning, he wasn't able to break into the top10. Another disappointment by Ventoso.
Comment: The next C2 commitment on our calendar brought us back to our home land, to take part in a hilly one-day event. Race rules didn't let us bring our best puncheurs but, Pires, our captain here, was more than enough for us to get a top10, after managing to hold on with the best after the last climb and sprinting to 6th place. Very enjoyable display from Pires who continues to show himself as a very trustful rider despite his age.
Comment: Our second HC race of the month was sure to be packed with the best sprinters of the division, but with the
results Avelino had shown so far this season, we had confidence he could be trusted to make a good use of this short and pancake flat stage race. As it's typical by now our sprint train didn't start on the right foot and took the first two stages to get used to Benelux. But on the third stage the boys made us proud working perfectly to catch the break and later to set up Avelino's
triumphant sprint. On the 4th and last stage, however, things went horribly as Avelino crashed, ruining all our chances of a
good point haul here. We'll have to settle for the stage win.
Schwarzwald Classic [C1]
Squad: Jose Mendes Luis Afonso Carlos Baltazar Bruno Borges Ricardo Ferreira Bruno Silva Rui Pedro Vinhas
Goal: Top10
Result: Luis Afonso - 13th
Jose Mendes - 18th
Comment: By this time we were used to Mendes' tendency to pleasant result in one-day races. This time we was assigned to germany in order to make himslef useful in the Schwarzwald Classic. But this race wasn't an ordinary C1 hilly classic with most of the teams participating featuring their leaders, which made Mendes an absolute underdog. Indeed he really wasn't as powerful as some other riders and struggled when the favourites turned the engines on, having finished 18th. The surprise was Afonso, who got himself on the early break and managed to hang on to take the 13th place. Promising ride from our youngster there.
Comment: Mexico brings us this unique event to let us battle amongst the best TT teams of the continental divisions. Our roster isn't particularly suited to this sort of challenge, with only Plaza, Nicácio and Oliveira as notable timetrialists. As such, the 6th place was our only reasonable objective. Unfortunately though our raw TT routines just weren't enough to take that place as we saw WWE and Adira relegate us to 8th place. A bad result finishing off an awful month for us.
Squad: Francisco Ventoso - co-leader Jose Mendes - co-leader Bruno Borges Bruno Silva Rui Pedro Vinhas Carlos Baltazar Ricardo Ferreira
Goal: Top10
Result: Jose Mendes - 6th
Comment: Last rehearsal for our 2nd goal of the season. Our Mendes + Ventoso combo was sent to germany in order to perfect their race tactics ahead of Manx International. Ventoso was meant to be on reserve in case things didn't get too selective, and Mendes our aggressive card. But with the field present in Germany things were always going to be crazy. In the end Mendes was able to get a hold of the favourites wheel and finish 6th within our expectations. A good premonition for the Manx event.
Manx International [HC]
Squad: Francisco Ventoso - co-leader Jose Mendes - co-leader Rui Pedro Vinhas Luis Afonso Carlos Baltazar Bruno Borges Ricardo Ferreira Marc Machado
Goal: Top10 - Season Goal
Result: Francisco Ventoso - 1st
Comment: This race was on our schedule since we got a hold of Ventoso in the off-season. Having had a good experience with Pires' 6th place last season, there was little doubt that with Ventoso and Mendes' on board a top10 shouldn't be that big of a deal. But the startlist was much more fierce than last year. Mendes was our biggest hope obviously, but strangely it was Ventoso who made the cut when the final hill was ridden. It was unbelievable but for the 1st time this season Fran was in the main final group of a one-day hill event. And guess what, he won the sprint! What a shock. Could this be Ventoso's wake up call? We sure hope so.
USA Pro Cycling Challenge [HC]
Squad: Ruben Plaza - leader Jose Mendes - free role Carlos Baltazar Bruno Silva Rui Pedro Vinhas Bruno Borges Luis Afonso Rodrigo Nascimento
Comment: This was probably the last chance for us to make a good point haul for our classification in the America Tour, before the Tour of America where we won't be able to present ourselves in full strength. This 7 stage event with plenty mountains and hills which was finished off with a ~20km ITT, enjoyed the presence of only a couple of top GC riders, and few high-quality puncheurs, so it shouldn't be too difficult for Plaza and Mendes to work out a strategy for a good final result. Things start good with Mendes winning stage 2. But from then on none of our leaders dared to do a thing. In fact if it wasn't for the final TT we wouldn't even have a rider in the top20. However there was a man who took the responsibility of saving this race for us. Bruno Borges overwhelmed everyone with his attacking style which saw him conquer many TV hours for our sponsors and more importantly the dotted jersey. Well done boy, well done.
Squad: Francisco Ventoso Jose Mendes Bruno Borges Luis Afonso Carlos Baltazar Bruno Silva Rui Pedro Vinhas Rodrigo Nascimento
Goal: SEASON GOAL - Top10
Result: Francisco Ventoso - 2nd
Comment: After weeks of preparation, the biggest one day-race on our calendar arrived. Our bicephalous lead of Ventoso and Mendes came here with their tag team tactics oiled and up and ready to pounce. The profile was also on our side: hilly, but with a flat finish, which gave opportunity for Mendes to have the green light to attack at will knowing Ventoso would cover the possibility of a group sprint. Our portuguese lieutenant gave the other teams some tremendous leg pains, but the pace of the peloton was high from start to finish, which led to a selective group sprint finish where Ventoso left everyone behind but Roche. Great result nonetheless.
Results: Ruben Plaza - 1st (Stage 1), 2nd (Stage 2,5), 3rd (GC)
Francisco Ventoso - 1st (Stage 3, 11), 2nd (Stage 4,8)
Jose Mendes - 3rd (Stage 2)
Comment: As our traditional top goal of the season, Volta a Portugal deserved no less than our A team. Plaza being our team leader, and Ventoso and Mendes as stage seekers. This combination couldn't have worked any better. Plaza took the yellow right at the start winning the stage 1 prologue. He cruised through the following transitional stages seeing Ventoso win stage 3. Eventually we lost the GC lead, only to recapture it atop Monte Farinha. We then lead through the hillier stages up to the queen-stage. There Plaza faltered a bit, but not enough to be kicked out of the final podium. On the last stage he could even enjoy another Ventoso win. Near perfection performance on home ground.
Comment: Another C2 mission for Santos. Once again with Martins as his leadout things were expected to work smoothly. But they didn't. All because of a group of six men who were to upset the sprinters taking the discussion of the race away from them. Unfortunate for our squad, in especially given the fact Santos was the fastest men in the peloton that day, grabbing the first position after the escapees which only led to a 6th place.
Comment: Our top sprinters were spared from Volta a Portugal to make this trip to the Baltic nations. A pancake flat 5-day C1 stage-race which was to attract most of the top sprinters in the Continental scene. Stage 1 went to Napolitano which led everyone to believe he could dominate the race. However stage 2 went to an even better sprinter! Avelino triumphed making himself noticeable as a GC candidate. Stage 3 went to Cavendish, and stage 4 for the inevitable Napolitano, leaving the GC to be decided in the last day. And guess what happened? Oscar took one the biggest results this season by finishing second, but out-sprinting Napo to take the overall and points win. What a thrilling race!
Tour of the Battenkill [C1]
Squad: Marc Machado Daniel Allonca Ricardo Ferreira Carlos Baltazar Bruno Silva Lionel Coutinho Antonio Carvalho
Goal: Top10
Result: Marc Machado - 15th
Comment: As every other C1 cobbled classic, this was to be heavily contested. Lots of talented cobblers showed up in the States, which relegated our sub-par team to a secondary plan. Nevertheless our boys weren't going to give up on this event just because of that. Our hot prospect Ricardo Ferreira inserted himself on the break, and at some point led us to believe he could snatch something there. But it wasn't meant to be. The group was caught by the favourites on the later stages of the race. Machado was amongst them, but the sinuous terrain took a lot from him throughout the day, which led him to be placed 15th in the final sprint. Not bad though given the opposition.
Tour do Rio [C2]
Squad: Bruno Pires Bruno Santos Rui Pedro Vinhas Bruno Silva Luis Afonso Antonio Carvalho Rodrigo Nascimento
Comment: We entered this race with the intent of catching a stage win and maybe a top10 with Pires. We didn't even imagine what was in store for us. Santos won stage and then went on to win the next stage, taking obviously the yellow with him. But stage 3 with a cat.2 climb not far from the finish was surely to much for a guy like him to handle. Or was it? Sensationally Santos was able to just marginally re-enter the pack during the descent and finish within the favourites. Not only that but he went on to triumph again on stage making a hat-trick of stage wins which were much more than sufficient to grant the overall and points jerseys.
GP Plouay [C1]
Squad: Francisco Ventoso Samuel Caldeira Lionel Coutinho Antonio Carvalho Luis Afonso Bruno Borges Ricardo Ferreira
Goal: Top5
Result: Francisco Ventoso - 15th
Comment: Plouay is by now a very traditional one-day classic of the last third of the season. With Ventoso here we knew we had a good chance at victory, but names like Feillu, Kennaugh, Geschke and Haussler were more than enough to lower our expectations. The race went great for us. The breakaway was caught fairly early, and all of our main riders were able to avoid the major crash later in the race. With Borges, Caldeira and Ventoso we could even have made a train. But this wasn't Fran's day. He started feeling cramps and suddenly the sprint started. Tough luck since Caldeira couldn't be properly advised to go for himself. 15th will have to do.
Comment: With some of our sprinters gone to France, Avelino was to be seconded by Santos and Martins. A very reasonable support you'll have to reckon. Although this ukrainian route wouldn't prove to be any more helpful than the french one. In the final kms with the sprint being set up amongst the favourites (Napolitano, Vantomme, Roelandts) Avelino got gear locked, and thus gave up on the sprint. Luckily though, Santos had asked for a free-role here, instead of serving as leadout. That decision proved to be vital as he was able to place himself 7th and consequently saving the day
Thanks jph. It's been a good battle between our fast men this season. Hopefully you'll finish securely in the table and develop the team around Napolitano in the next couple of years. That or something completely different
