We ended last month on a down, dropping places in the rankings and edging closer to the relegation zone instead of the promotion zone. We have a lot of races this month over a wide range of levels, but mostly contained to either a hilly race where Van Niekerk can for once not disappoint us, and our most trusted source of points for now: C2 cobbles.

GP Herning

We start the month with a similar race to where we concluded the last, one of those C2 cobble races that seem to be our main source of points so far. With Boros fresh off his win in Belgium, expectations were high, but given the lack of uphill cobbles in Denmark we instead focused on De Witte. That paid off, as after a breakaway from Predatsch and a smokescreen attack from Boros, De Witte sprinted himself to third place. The Czech also managed to sneak inside the top ten after his efforts.

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1	Nipuna Shira Manamalage	Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh	4h15'01
3	Mathias De Witte	Minions	+ 31
10	Michael Boros	Minions	+ 1'42
41	Luca Dressler	Minions	+ 8'41
79	Kevin Predatsch	Minions	+ 17'35
82	Bernard Ndungu	Minions	+ 18'25
86	Cesar David Guavita	Minions	+ 19'47
123	Enzo Paleni	Minions	+ 31'57
127	Fausto Agustin Gomez	Minions	+ 37'30

Rating:

Badaling International

The Bananaling International contains a lot of climbing, but not truly delving into the mountainous, an ideal race for Van Niekerk it would seem. After a lot of unconvincing performances, the South African was determined to make the most of this race and initiated the race winning move with his attack 20 to go. The race winning move for Johannessen that was, whom rode away at the same time. Eiking was the other rider part of that attack and despite people caching up later, these three would make the podium, with Van Niekerk behind the Scandinavians. Still, a podium is a very good result and definitely his best of the season, hopefully leading to an upward trajectory.

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1	Tobias Halland Johannessen	Tryg - Eni	5h14'29
3	Aidan Van Niekerk	Minions	s.t.
48	Einer Augusto Rubio	Minions	+ 3'32
53	Jefferson Cepeda Hernandez	Minions	+ 4'48
81	Andris Vosekalns	Minions	+ 6'58
96	Salim Kipkemboi	Minions	+ 8'37
130	Dayer Quintana	Minions	+ 12'41
161	Luca Dressler	Minions	+ 19'30
165	Fausto Agustin Gomez	Minions	+ 22'15

Rating:

Tour de Pologne

A prologue, two flat stages and four hilly stages define the race in Poland. Faith in Van Niekerk has been restored since the previous race, and Kalaba is also due a good result. Our prologue specialist Jiang opened the race with a tenth place, which three riders manage to better in the uphill finish of stage two: Cepeda Hernandez sixth, Kipkemboi fourth and Van Niekerk third. Kalaba just missed the top ten on the next stage, but we were still celebrating with alumni Major winning the stage for our friends over at Podium Ambition. The Serbian bounced back with a fourth place at the next roll call. Contrary to stage two, on stage five it was only Van Niekerk in the front group, and another placing in the front group despite a failed attack on stage six had elevated him to fifth in the GC. On the final stage he once again went into the offensive, was part of the first group heading towards the line and took third place this time, the bonus seconds unfortunately not enough to gain a place in the GC. Overall, Van Niekerk's best stage race of the season and the second sign he is back in form!

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1	Neilson Powless	Colombini Kometa	26h32'35
5	Aidan Van Niekerk	Minions	+ 42
55	Dusan Kalaba	Minions	+ 26'07
60	Salim Kipkemboi	Minions	+ 32'51
62	Dayer Quintana	Minions	+ 33'11
73	Jefferson Cepeda Hernandez	Minions	+ 39'13
110	Fausto Agustin Gomez	Minions	+ 59'55
129	Zhihui Jiang	Minions	+ 1h08'32
186	Faycal Hamza	Minions	+ 1h46'45

Rating:

Tour of Slovenia

Traditionally Slovenia is a race where we can only target individual stages but not the GC, and this year is no different. Kalaba for the sprint opportunity, Van Niekerk for the slightly tougher stages and Bjerg against the clock, but with a TTT as well there is no way we'll see any of them at the top. The goal of winning a stage was already achieved after one day, with Kalaba edging out Alben on a photo finish! He lost the race lead after the team event the next day, but twelfth wasn't that bad and gave us some hope Bjerg could have a GC if he survived the hillier stages. He ws in the front group on the first one, but was dropped on the second one and losing nine minutes and all hope. Van Niekerk also failed to finish in a points-paying position, rendering his participation in this race unnecessary. But between the both of them we also had Paillot, who lost time on day one but allowed him to get into the breakaway on stage four, and with the break making it to the finish line (him taking seventh) he suddenly had a favorable position heading into the final time trial, fifteenth with a skillset better suited than many ahead of him. Even though 39th on the stage doesn't sound amazing, it was a lot better than many ahead of him and brought him to a final eighth in the GC as well as the "What the hell is a polar bear doing in the Tour de Slovenia GC top ten" award. Where the leaders (but Kalaba) disappointed, the Frenchman stepped up!

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1	Tom Wirtgen	EA Vesuvio	13h00'43
8	Yoann Paillot	Minions	+ 5'15
32	Mikkel Bjerg	Minions	+ 10'35
38	Aidan Van Niekerk	Minions	+ 11'02
63	Dusan Kalaba	Minions	+ 15'29
86	Jhonatan Casillas	Minions	+ 22'47
183	Faycal Hamza	Minions	+ 48'40
188	Bernard Ndungu	Minions	+ 56'53
189	Kevin Predatsch	Minions	+ 1h00'30

Rating:

Tour du Faso

One of the most difficult races in the world of cycling is the Tour du Faso, and we deliberately participate here for our mandatory C2 races because it contains cobbles, and Boros and De Witte have both shown to be very competent against lesser competition. In the first stage we tried to go for maximum confusion by sending Boros up in the break along with Dressler, but it only ended up sabotaging the Czech's chanches. De Witte was in the front group at the finish line, one of the few with energy to sprint and and the only allowed one to raise his hands when crossing the line. Another opening stage victory! The second stage avoided all the horrible roads and ended in a bunch sprint, but for the third one it was back to back pain and lost teeth. De Witte felt he hadn't recovered amazingly from stage one and like his teammate tried to go for confusion by attacking instead of waiting. It was super uneffective. Rolling over the line in eighteenth, nearly four minutes from winner Richardson, he lost the GC and finished outside the top ten. How much we wished this was just a one-day classic like all the other C2 outings. Boros was nowhere to be found near the top of the GC, and Gomez and Paleni where not found at all as they never crossed the line on the final stage. They might still be stuck in the jungle somewhere.

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1	Chequan Richardson	Podium Ambition	9h02'49
13	Mathias De Witte	Minions	+ 3'46
27	Michael Boros	Minions	+ 14'43
57	Luca Dressler	Minions	+ 32'22
60	Bernard Ndungu	Minions	+ 37'07
70	Cesar David Guavita	Minions	+ 43'58
87	Kevin Predatsch	Minions	+ 53'53
	Fausto Agustin Gomez	Minions	DNF
	Enzo Paleni	Minions	DNF

Rating:

GP Wallonie

The Citadelle de Namur is by no means easy, but peanuts compared to the roads in Faso. In this hilly C1 race, Casillas was part of the unsuccessful breakaway, Kipkemboi had an unsuccessful attack and Van Niekerk was unsuccessful in general. The South African never placed an attack or played a part in the final sprint, rolling over the line in fourteenth behind the favorites who did partake in the dash to the line. We had hoped to see the Van Niekerk of China or Poland but instead we got the Van Niekerk of Slovenia.

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1	Aurelien Paret-Peintre	Ekoi - Le Creuset	4h23'35
14	Aidan Van Niekerk	Minions	+ 33
26	Andris Vosekalns	Minions	+ 2'02
45	Jefferson Cepeda Hernandez	Minions	+ 2'54
79	Salim Kipkemboi	Minions	+ 5'05
128	Dayer Quintana	Minions	+ 10'06
155	Jhonatan Casillas	Minions	+ 11'33
156	Zhihui Jiang	Minions	s.t.
169	Faycal Hamza	Minions	+ 12'11

Rating:

Lincoln GP

The third of four C2 cobblestone races this month, and after a good one and a mixed one we sure want another good one, and after paying some NGOs to recover Gomez and Paleni we immediately trigger the PTSS again by selecting them for another cobblestone race. For once we shook up the tactics once more with no one in the break, Ndungu attacking mid race to create some spice and De Witte sacrificing himself to get back a bunch of escapees. This all lead to Boros being part of the cobbled uphill sprint, using all his experience from Geraardsbergen and the other teams once again having no answer. Win number two in the C2, win number two for Boros!

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1	Michael Boros	Minions	3h43'37
15	Mathias De Witte	Minions	+ 2'11
53	Cesar David Guavita	Minions	+ 7'03
65	Luca Dressler	Minions	+ 8'28
68	Bernard Ndungu	Minions	s.t.
138	Fausto Agustin Gomez	Minions	+ 14'04
147	Kevin Predatsch	Minions	+ 16'53
157	Enzo Paleni	Minions	+ 26'42

Rating:

Lisbon Classic

Normally this race clashes with the most important race in the world: Veenendaal - Veenendaal. This year we snubbed the organizers and only go to Portugal to bring our lead sprinter for the first time, which happens to be the secondary sprinter from last year and the same guy who went here before anyway: Kalaba. We decided Ndungu should be a late addition to the break, which was doomed to begin with anyway. The change in title for the Serbian did not yield a better result, as he failed to improve on his ninth from last year. Instead, he could only achieve twentieth place, the only point of light that it was sixth amongst the sprinters who were not awake to the attacks happening in the finale. We'll just go back to Veenendaal next season.

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1	Sergey Medvedev	Specialized	4h47'13
20	Dusan Kalaba	Minions	s.t.
101	Jefferson Cepeda Hernandez	Minions	+ 2'24
119	Salim Kipkemboi	Minions	s.t.
135	Cesar David Guavita	Minions	s.t.
139	Luca Dressler	Minions	s.t.
147	Bernard Ndungu	Minions	s.t.
150	Fausto Agustin Gomez	Minions	s.t.
179	Enzo Paleni	Minions	+ 7'00

Rating:

Dwars door Vlaanderen

The final race of the month is also our final C2 race of the season, and takes us back to Flanders. A lack of major hills meant we once again played the De Witte card over the Boros card. An attack with Scotson twelve kilometer out was quickly thwarted, unlike a later attack by Richardson who once again achieved the ambition of a podium and defended the pride of C2 teams by winning in their own division. Behind him it was De Witte who had not wasted all his energy in the attack and sprinted to the runner-up position, concluding a very successful C2 campaign from our two cobblestone enthusiasts. We scored a lot of points which might eventually be the difference between promoting or not promotion, or not relegating instead of relegating.

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1	Chequan Richardson	Podium Ambition	4h30'39
2	Mathias De Witte	Minions	+ 17
16	Michael Boros	Minions	+ 1'22
45	Bernard Ndungu	Minions	+ 3'03
53	Luca Dressler	Minions	+ 3'38
119	Cesar David Guavita	Minions	+ 10'45
135	Kevin Predatsch	Minions	+ 12'55
146	Fausto Agustin Gomez	Minions	+ 16'09
148	Enzo Paleni	Minions	s.t.

Rating:

Rankings

It was a good month for us. We scored a relatively huge amount in C2 races, and Van Niekerk was the tied second-highest scorer of the month despite two weaker races. Unsurprisingly it causes us to rise some places, but rising seven places back into the top at ninth is a welcome sight. We know that in PPRD some teams behind us have a better forecast, but hypothetical points are not real points. Individually Van Niekerk remains our highest scorer to no ones surprise, but also enters the top of the individual classification in fifteenth. De Witte is now our second-best scorer just outside the top thirty, and also the leader when it comes to points per wage. Boros is fifth in that classification and third amongst ours, once again showing how profitable our C2 campaign has been. Also some applause for Kalaba and Paillot entering the individual top 100 with some good results this month. Finally, we want to express our disappointment in Bjerg's current position and demand improvements in the coming month.

Pos	Last		Team	Total	RD	PpRD	Proj
1	1		Specialized	1661	77	21,57	3516
2	2		Ekoi - Le Creuset	1494	65	22,98	3746
3	3		Bolt - Eesti	1413	73	19,36	3156
4	4		Assa Abloy	1314	53	24,79	4041
5	17		Hunter Valley Cycling	1259	73	17,25	2812
6	9		Tryg - Eni	1228	64	19,19	3128
7	5		MOL Cycling Team	1227	79	15,53	2531
8	10		DK Zalgiris	1167	55	21,22	3459
9	16		Minions	1166	79	14,76	2406
10	8		Trans Looney Tunes	1134	60	18,9	3081
11	6		Bralirwa - Cegeka	1124	82	13,71	2235
12	7		Lotto-Caloi	1104	63	17,52	2856
13	12		Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team	1093	77	14,19	2313
14	11		McCormick Pro Cycling	1052	71	14,82	2416
15	15		Duvel-Tsingtao	1032	80	12,9	2103
16	14		Spark Team NZ	772	58	13,31	2170
17	19		JEWA TIROL	748	61	12,26	1998
18	13		Everesting	728	66	11,03	1798
19	18		Zwift - Newton Foundation	708	54	13,11	2137
20	21		Colombini Kometa	608	60	10,13	1651
21	20		Sauber Petronas Racing	557	64	8,7	1418
22	22		Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh	466	53	8,79	1433
23	23		IESE ProCycling Team	296	70	4,23	689
24	24		DeNA Roadstars	152	66	2,3	375

Pos	Last	Rider	Nat		Team	Total Points
1	3	Tiesj Benoot	BEL		MOL Cycling Team	529
15	44	Aidan Van Niekerk	RSA		Minions	284
32	56	Mathias De Witte	BEL		Minions	203
62	89	Michael Boros	CZE		Minions	121
68	47	Xhuliano Kamberaj	ALB		Minions	110
77	152	Dusan Kalaba	SER		Minions	98
82	193	Yoann Paillot	FRA		Minions	95
90	65	Rafael Reis	POR		Minions	88
117	88	Salim Kipkemboi	KEN		Minions	62
153	153	Mikkel Bjerg	DEN		Minions	37
179	140	Einer Augusto Rubio	COL		Minions	29
216	216	Andris Vosekalns	LAT		Minions	17
219	199	Jefferson Cepeda Hernandez	ECU		Minions	16
343	363	Jhonatan Casillas	MEX		Minions	3
371	336	Luca Dressler	GER		Minions	2
397	364	Zhihui Jiang	CHN		Minions	1