Stage 1





Results

1	Alex Ciocan	Mobil - Castrol Cycling	4h33'39
2	Christopher Sutton	Risa - Ergon Cycling Team	s.t.
3	Francisco Lasca	Kappa-ENI	s.t.
4	Marco Guillén	Banco Nacional de Costa Rica	s.t.
5	Isaac Speirs	Magna-Ryanair	s.t.
6	Geoffroy Lequatre	FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm	s.t.
7	Rafiki Uwimana	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
...
29	Christian Mager	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
39	Alexey Lutsenko	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
71	Heiko Redecker	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
76	Ngock Yves Ngue	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
104	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 4'32

Stage 2



Results

1	Hans Dekkers	Allianz-BMW Cycling Team	3h29'01
2	Christopher Sutton	Risa - Ergon Cycling Team	s.t.
3	Saulo Lay	Iberia - Communidad Valenciana	s.t.
4	Francisco Lasca	Kappa-ENI	s.t.
5	Alex Ciocan	Mobil - Castrol Cycling	s.t.
6	Alois Kankovský	Team Credexbank	s.t.
7	Geoffroy Lequatre	FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm	s.t.
8	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
...
20	Rafiki Uwimana	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
30	Heiko Redecker	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
36	Alexey Lutsenko	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
37	Ngock Yves Ngue	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
62	Herman Fouche	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
99	Christian Mager	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.

Stage 3



Results

1	Alex Meenhorst	Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team	3h52'24
2	Alexander Porsev	Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team	s.t.
3	Marcos Crespo	Vattenfall Cycling	s.t.
4	Geoffroy Lequatre	FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm	s.t.
5	Alex Ciocan	Mobil - Castrol Cycling	s.t.
6	Francisco Lasca	Kappa-ENI	s.t.
7	Rafiki Uwimana	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
...
11	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
28	Heiko Redecker	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
47	Ngock Yves Ngue	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
51	Alexey Lutsenko	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
78	Christian Mager	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
89	Herman Fouche	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.

Stage 4





Results

1	Michele Scarponi	Kappa-ENI	5h08'49
2	Ngock Yves Ngue	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
3	Kim Kirchen	Allianz-BMW Cycling Team	s.t.
4	Pieter Weening	Team Gazelle	s.t.
5	Jordi Grau	FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm	s.t.
...
28	Alexey Lutsenko	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
39	Christian Mager	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
66	Heiko Redecker	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 15'44
80	Herman Fouche	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
84	Rafiki Uwimana	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
94	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.

Stage 5


Results

1	Alex Ciocan	Mobil - Castrol Cycling	4h01'09
2	Ngock Yves Ngue	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
3	Markus Eibegger	Magna-Ryanair	s.t.
4	Thiago Duarte Nardin	Team Gazelle	s.t.
5	Laurent Didier	Team WWE	s.t.
...
16	Alexey Lutsenko	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
39	Christian Mager	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
40	Heiko Redecker	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
68	Rafiki Uwimana	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
72	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
101	Herman Fouche	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.

Final GC

1	Alex Ciocan	Mobil - Castrol Cycling	21h04'22
2	Ngock Yves Ngue	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 16
3	Michele Scarponi	Kappa-ENI	+ 20
4	David Veilleux	Team WWE	+ 28
5	Markus Eibegger	Magna-Ryanair	+ 32
...
13	Alexey Lutsenko	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
30	Christian Mager	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
62	Heiko Redecker	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
65	Rafiki Uwimana	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
91	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 30'40
94	Herman Fouche	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 32'05

U25:

1

Ngock Yves Ngue

MTN - World Bicycle Relief

21h04'38

Summary:
What a great tour for us! We had no expectations of a great result, but walked away with a top 10 on every stage (including 2 2nd places)! We also grabbed the u25 jersey. Great riding by Ngue, we're chuffed!

Boras Runt

Results

1	Jonas Aaen Jørgensen	Risa - Ergon Cycling Team	3h51'30
2	Mattias Westling	Swedbank-PEAB	s.t.
3	Roman Maksimov	Team Privatbank	s.t.
4	Sondre Holst Enger	Risa - Ergon Cycling Team	s.t.
5	Mattia Gavazzi	Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team	s.t.
6	Hans Dekkers	Allianz-BMW Cycling Team	s.t.
7	Igor Abakoumov	Die Berg Komt Er	s.t.
8	Thor Hushovd	Swedbank-PEAB	s.t.
9	Lasse Norman Hansen	Vattenfall Cycling	s.t.
10	Tyler Day	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
...
19	Herman Fouche	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
25	Rafiki Uwimana	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
27	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
40	Dennis Van Niekerk	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
53	Christian Mager	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.

Well, we never had high expectations for this race, but we hoped for a better result than we got. Tyler managed a 10th place, but we sent Johann Rabie, Herman Fouche, Rafiki Uwimana and Abdalla Ben Youcef here to provide a decent train. Unfortunately, the team was very disorganised in the final few kilometres and Tyler never received any support. Things could've gone better, but oh well...

Turul al Romaniei

We headed into the race with the hope for a stage win and a good overall position with Rodas. However, we were surprised to see a strong climbing field lined up, with the likes of Ndbri and Marzano. Nonetheless, our leader, Julian Rodas, didn't disappoint! On the penultimate stage Rodas finished a very strong 2nd to Marco Marzano (Kappa-ENI). MTN impressed on the mountain stage after controlling things throughout the stage, mainly thanks to "Incredible Ihlenfeldt" who did a superb job on the final slope.





As for the flat stages, nothing special to report. Abdallah managed a few top-10 finishes, but no podium.

Not a bad tour for us, we didn't score on the flat days and although they felt like wasted race days, at least we finished 2nd overall. That makes it three 2nd place GC finishes for this season!

Final GC

1	Marco Marzano	Kappa-ENI	26h57'54
2	Julián Rodas	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 37
3	Edwin Parra Bustamante	Boeing-Vivacom ProCycling	+ 1'18
4	Gustav Larsson	Vattenfall Cycling	+ 1'48
5	César Rojas Villegas	Banco Nacional de Costa Rica	+ 1'50
6	Denis Menchov	FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm	+ 1'51
7	Antton Ibarguren	Die Berg Komt Er	+ 2'07
8	Zakayo Ndbri	Kenya Airways - Barclays	s.t.
9	Deiber Esquivel	Banco Nacional de Costa Rica	+ 2'16
10	Mykhaylo Kononenko	Team Privatbank	+ 2'54
...
14	Stefan Ihlenfeldt	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 4'28
25	Louis Meintjes	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 6'11
32	Alexey Lutsenko	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 9'02
86	Johannes Christofel Nel	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 24'21
91	Cherif Abdallah	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 25'01
97	Heiko Redecker	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 29'21

GP Tunis [C1]

Results

1	Óscar Avelino	Prio - Porto	4h03'48
2	Aleksandr Serebriakov	Hollister Pro Cycling	s.t.
3	Heinrich Haussler	Sram-Riboxx Cycling Team	s.t.
4	Mitch Docker	airBaltic - Endura	s.t.
5	Jurgen Roelandts	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
6	Jérome Giaux	Swedbank-PEAB	s.t.
7	Jacopo Guarnieri	Vespa-Aprilia Racing	s.t.
8	Eros Capecchi	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
9	Danilo Napolitano	Evian-MIAT	s.t.
10	Mathieu Drujon	Team BPost	s.t.
...
17	Cherif Abdallah	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
30	Tyler Day	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
53	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
85	Rafiki Uwimana	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
109	Ngock Yves Ngue	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
111	Johann Rabie	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
131	Luis Enrique Lemus Davila	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.

This was a C1 race so we never had any hopes. We sent a relatively strong squad and our only chance of getting a result was if a break containing a rider from our team made it to the line. However, this wasn't the case. Nonetheless, Abdallah managed a satisfactory result of 17th; at least we don't leave empty-handed! Another plus was seeing Ngue very active and aggressive throughout the stage.

Tour de Kumano

Well, no result for us. We didn't have any expectations either. However, in light of Ngue's great performance in Norway (2nd overall) we thought he could maybe squeeze out another podium. This wasn't the case. Tyler Day didn't exactly over-perform either.



At least Tyler got us 2 top 10's - 6th (stage 2) and 8th (stage 4)

Final GC

1	Lieuwe Westra	Team Gazelle	8h10'11
2	Phucong Sai-Udomsin	PFG-Armavia	+ 12
3	Junpei Murakami	Meiji - Cannondale	+ 13
4	Clement Koretzky	Evian-MIAT	+ 19
5	Dimitri Jiriakov	Sauber Petronas Racing	+ 23
6	Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez	Iberia - Communidad Valenciana	+ 24
7	Maani Altanzul	Evian-MIAT	s.t.
8	Martin Puusepp	Evian-MIAT	s.t.
9	Marco Minnard	Team Gazelle	+ 25
10	Jonas Vangenechten	Team Gazelle	s.t.
...
15	Christian Mager	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
18	Ngock Yves Ngue	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 28
34	Johannes Christofel Nel	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 4'14
35	Heiko Redecker	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 5'45
47	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
49	Luis Enrique Lemus Davila	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 7'19
66	Tyler Day	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 20'15

The African cellular giant, MTN, announced this morning that it no longer wishes to invest in professional cycling. It was never certain whether the company would commit to a long-term investment as it was initially stated that its sponsorship was a 'trial sponsorship'.

"Our initial plan was to invest a few Rand and see what the team's performance is like and whether or not we get a good return on our investment. The team has been under-performing in the first half of the season and we [MTN] were disappointed to see that the team failed to secure an adequate African leader. Further more, we have commitments in other sporting spheres, especially football, which we wish to further pursue," stated MTN spokesperson, Xolisa Vapi, in a letter to the press earlier today.

aidanvn13, manager of the current MTN-WBR commented on the situation earlier today:



Reports have also surfaced that the team wishes to become a fully African squad, or at least 95% African. As for possible sponsor involvement, there are no certainties. However, aidanvn13 is adamant that his plans for next year are "very unique".

aidanvn13 wrote:
Well, no result for us

cio93 wrote:


I disagree, Mager the best rider from your team in 15th is certainly a result I'm satisfied with

The "Race of the Youth" features 4 flat stages, 1 individual time trial, 2 medium mountain stages and 3 mountain stages (with 2 mountain-top finishes) - totaling 10 stages. MTN's L'Avenir squad is represented by 6 of its U23 riders with one addition to bolster up the team: none other than the promising young American, Joe Dombrowski! With WWE not being able to field a full team, we offered Joe a chance to ride the tour on our squad. Dombrowski would be given the privilege of being appointed as leader, with Louis Meintjies been given a protected role. We'll also favour our chances with Alexey Lutsenko on the hilly stages.

Full Squad:

	Joe Dombrowski (from Team WWE)
	Louis Meintjies
	Johannes Christoffel Nel
	Alexey Lutsenko
	Heiko Redecker
	Luis Enrique Lemus Davila
	Christian Mager

SportingNonsense wrote:
Some great MTN specific summaries youve put together through the season - and Aosta proved to be quite a good race for your team, and African cycling. Cool to see Niyonshuti take 7th.

Should be a monotonous racee. We don't believe we could perform well in the GC as we don't have a rider who will feature in the opening prologue. However, we've sent a strong squad to help Cherif Abdallah with Uwimana, Ben Youcef and company.

Squad

	Cherif Abdallah
	Johann Rabie
	James Lewis Perry
	Herman Fouche
	Alexey Lutsenko
	Abdalla Ben Youcef
	Rafiki Uwimana

Stage 1


Opening prologue. Not much action from our part. Rabie and Perry managed top 20s.


Results

1	Rick Flens	Die Berg Komt Er	7'27
2	Gert Joeaar	Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team	+ 5
3	Vojtech Hacecký	Kappa-ENI	+ 7
4	Alois Kankovský	Team Credexbank	s.t.
5	Aggrey Sebright	AMEX Pro Cycling	+ 9
...
15	Johann Rabie	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 14
20	James Lewis Perry	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+15
24	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+16
33	Alexey Lutsenko	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 22
56	Rafiki Uwimana	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 30
77	Herman Fouche	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 37
86	Cherif Abdallah	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+39

Stage 2


Break of the day was established early on. MTN contributed to the chase to real them back in. They were caught inside the final 10km. MTN managed to set up a brilliant sprint train for Abdallah with Uwimana and Ben Youcef leading the charge (very similar to what they did in January in Tour d'Algerie). It worked out to perfection! The big Egyptian got the jump on the bunch and took a brilliant win!



Results

1	Cherif Abdallah	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	4h34'41
2	Leonardo Duque	Die Berg Komt Er	s.t.
3	Hans Dekkers	Allianz-BMW Cycling Team	s.t.
4	Marco Guillén	Banco Nacional de Costa Rica	s.t.
5	Sébastien Chavanel	Die Berg Komt Er	s.t.
6	Anthony Giacoppo	Risa - Ergon Cycling Team	s.t.
7	Gert Steegmans	Banco Nacional de Costa Rica	s.t.
8	Geoffroy Lequatre	FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm	s.t.
9	Alois Kankovský	Team Credexbank	s.t.
10	Francisco Lasca	Kappa-ENI	s.t.
...
14	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
26	Rafiki Uwimana	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
41	Johann Rabie	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
64	Alexey Lutsenko	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
68	Herman Fouche	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
70	James Lewis Perry	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.

Stage 3


So the MTN train worked perfectly yesterday, so we hoped that if Abdallah took the stage win (with 20 sec time bonus) he could win the overall race as well. Unfortunately, Uwimana had a hard crash and Fouche took his role in the final train. Things went wrong in the final kilometre, though, but Abdallah still finished in 4th place and secured the points classification.



Stage Results

1	Gert Steegmans	Banco Nacional de Costa Rica	3h44'27
2	Jake Keough	AMEX Pro Cycling	s.t.
3	Alois Kankovský	Team Credexbank	s.t.
4	Cherif Abdallah	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
5	Sébastien Chavanel	Die Berg Komt Er	s.t.
6	Marco Guillén	Banco Nacional de Costa Rica	s.t.
7	Francisco Lasca	Kappa-ENI	s.t.
8	Hans Dekkers	Allianz-BMW Cycling Team	s.t.
9	Kevin Barclay	ANC-Halfords	s.t.
10	Mattia Gavazzi	Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team	s.t.
...
16	Abdalla Ben Youcef	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
25	Herman Fouche	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
52	Johann Rabie	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
72	James Lewis Perry	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
79	Alexey Lutsenko	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	s.t.
98	Rafiki Uwimana	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	+ 8'57

Points:

1	Cherif Abdallah	MTN - World Bicycle Relief	39
2	Alois Kankovský	Team Credexbank	37
3	Gert Steegmans	Banco Nacional de Costa Rica	34

FroomeDog99 wrote:
This is really well updated Aidan, lots of good work being put in. Two riders in the top ten was a good result for the team in Italy, continuing a decent season for you. Always good to see another African team perform well.

However, if Mwangi goes anywhere it is to my team

We caught up with the manager and perhaps caught him by surprise: he was standing on the starting line of a mountain-bike ride for charity! The race took part in the beautiful winelands of Tulbagh, about 100km away from Cape Town, where the team is based.

You've recently released a statement saying that MTN will not be renewing their sponsorship for next season. How do you feel about that?
Aidan vN: To be honest, there are no hard feelings between me and the guys at MTN. They were more than generous in helping to get the team off the ground and now that we are more established, we are more structured and organised than when we started out.

Who will be taking over the role as title sponsor for next season? World Bicycle Relief?
AvN: No, no, not WBR. World Bicycle Relief is a non-profit organisation. They aren't able to fund a cycling team on their own. We've had various sponsorship offers, but none of them are big enough for the team as a title sponsor.

Are there any doubts that you won't find an adequate sponsor for next season? And as a result, the team might fold?
AvN: That's really not a concern for me. Even though we haven't found a title sponsor for next year, I am working on combining the efforts of the minor sponsor-offers to form a team for next year. Unfortunately, that is as much as I can say at the moment, but be sure that there is a very special project in the pipeline.

Can you give us any hint of what the team's focus will be for next year? That is: nationality focus, climbing, sprinting or classic team?
AvN: That's something I'm quite keen on making public. I'm looking to create a fully African squad for next season. This will mean that we might have to release our very faithful leader, Julian Rodas, loyal domestique, Craig Lewis, as well as young talent, Luis Lemus. I'm not sure what our focus will be for next season. It really depends on who we are able to sign as team leader(s) for next season. I can assure you; we definitely won't be a team for the cobbles!

Are there any specific riders who you will look to add to your roster for next season?
AvN: As I said before, our team will try to be fully African. I'm really hoping to sign some very strong Africans in the transfer season, but nobody seems keen on releasing any of these riders. I can tell you that there are various riders who caught my eye in this season. I'll give you a list of whose signature I'd love to see, but some riders are more likely to be signed than others. I must admit, signing some riders on this list are just a dream. I'd be over the moon if we were able to sign just one of of the following.

Moving back from next season to the current date - what do you think of the team's performance this season?
AvN: I'm completely satisfied with the team's performance this year. Considering that we don't have a rider who is an absolute leader, we have performed really well. Obviously we're not the best continental team out there, but we're a very different team to all the other continental teams. Firstly, a charity organisation [WBR] is a co-sponsor of the team and we're the only team with a sole African focus. Kenya [Airways] and Jaguar are partly African, but it seems Kenya too aims to move to completely African for next season. I think that's absolutely awesome for cycling in Africa.

Do you see your team promoting to higher ranks anytime soon? Is that even an objective for your team?
AvN: We won't be promoting at the end of this season. Currently we're not in a position to hope for that. However, promotion was never a goal for this season. Our first season was mostly an experiment and a giant learning curve for the riders, staff, sponsors and myself. That being said, we've all learned a lot and I've told the riders that next year we'll give it all for promotion.

ANFreeman wrote:
If you got Hoffman or someone like Impey, you'd have a very solid squad for the next season, definitely. I'd love to see one of the top Africans spearhead what is already a great project.

Wanna add, this is one of my favourite teams - cool regional focus, great kit and gear, and incredible updates all the time