North American Devo: Axeon Hagens Berman

This article could sound a lot like a press release if I wanted it to. It was another banner season for Axeon Hagens Berman with huge wins like Greg Daniel winning the Elite Men’s National Championship & Tour de Beauce, Neilson Powless and Adrien Costa emerging as a GC threat, Logan Owen winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the list could keep going for 3 more paragraphs. Axel Merckx’s team just seems to keep finding another level year after year and after shipping a team-record 6 riders to World Tour and Pro Continental teams for 2017, the team is restocking half of their team with 3 American juniors as well as 5 foreign U23 riders around their returning core.

The returning core is based around Adrien Costa, Neilson Powless and Logan Owen. 

Costa’s talent is well documented after one of the most impressive first year U23 seasons this side of Caleb Ewan in 2013 and easily one of the best on record for a GC rider. Most likely this will be his last year as a U23 rider so I am certain he will be going out with a bang with the Tour de l’Avenir certainly in his sights.

Powless explosion of results was much in thanks to his time trailing ability, which saw him win Joe Martin, a time trial podium in the Tour of the Gila and then the head-turning 9th place overall in the Tour of California, where he finished 5th on the Gibraltar Road stage after attacking late in the stage. There are some areas of Powless’ riding that need some polishing so with the help of Axeon Hagens Berman and the U23 National Team, Powless could be bringing a marquee result to the team.

The recently married Owen (to Olympic medalist Chloe Dygert) has been trying to handle cyclocross and road over the past few years with good results including a Tour of Utah stage in 2015 and winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege U23 this season in a late attack. All of this is quite draining and with a choice to come soon between the road and cyclocross, Owen has taken this season off from the dirt to rest and build his base for this upcoming year. Owen will be looking to make his mark on one-day races and sprint stages.


Also coming back again is Will Barta, Johnny Brown, Geoffrey Curran, Eddie Dunbar and Chad Young.

Barta seems to get his best results while in France but this year he will be trying to take his time trial and climbing abilities to a new level to help become a more rounded GC rider. 

After a rough 1st year, Brown will be wanting to settle down and get some solid race days in to live up to his double junior road race national championship.  Geoffrey Curran’s time trial went to a new level this past year that culminated in a 7th place in the Doha U23 TT Worlds. If Curran can continue the progress with his TT, he could become a weapon in shorter stage races and could put himself down as an early medal favorite for the Worlds in Bergen.  Dunbar showed his versatility by going in the top 20 in both the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Tour of Utah and Tour of Alberta along with his 9th place in the U23 TT Worlds; will Dunbar reach a point where he will have to sacrifice versatility to get a career-defining result?  Young is another all-around rider that tends to end up in the 20’s when it comes to GC performances so if he continues to add race days and make progress in Europe, it will be a win.

The new crop joining the team include Edward Anderson, Chris Blevins, Ian Garrison (all three juniors), Chris Lawless, Jhonnatan Narvaez, Ivo & Rui Oliveira and Michael Rice.

With first year U23s, it is never good to expect any results as even the most talented riders need  a year to adjust to the new level usually.

In my time following cycling, I have never seen a more unprecedented signing by any professional team, including a development team, than Axeon Hagens Berman signing Edward Anderson. To my knowledge, Anderson only began racing this season in the Virginia High School MTB Series, where he won a round in the spring series and has won twice this fall as well in the same series. On the road, his best results he got when he was racing as a Category 4. Let me repeat, a rider that was racing in the Cat. 4 groups and not obliterating everyone will be riding with Axeon Hagens Berman. He did get an upgrade to Category 3 before season’s end. An interesting result was his 14th place in the Green Mountain Stage Race in the junior category albeit that was just short of a minute off of winner Matteo Jorgensen. Axel Merckx must have gotten some power files that are mind blowing to make a decision like this but even then, it is a stunning move to use a roster spot for Anderson at this stage in his development.

Chris Blevins is one of the brightest talents on both the road as well as in MTB, where Americans have been lacking in the Men’s XC department for a few years now (though Howard Grotts is helping). Blevins has won the National Championship in his age category in XC discipline each year for the last seven years and won the Albstadt World Cup this year, just two weeks after he won the Junior Peace Race (Zavod Miru) overall. Blevins has a good time trial, climbing and wheelie abilities so he should be a great helper for Costa and Powless while finding his own way. Blevins, a Durango, Colorado native, is attending Cal Poly for school.

After getting the bronze medal in the Junior Men’s ITT at the Doha Worlds, Garrison’s name should be familiar to many people. Behind Brandon McNulty, Garrison is the best American time trialist talent. He was top 10 in both the Trofeo Karlsberg (3rd) and the Tour de l’Abitibi (8th) mainly thanks to his time trial abilities. If you can time trial as a junior, you can time trial as a U23; it is just everything else involved that will need to be figured out.

The foreign contingent have been around the block before with some of them being huge talents that I know will turn many American heads after they see them perform.

I have so wanted Chris Lawless to come to America to race criteriums after his past couple of season where he was won multiple stages of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series. Lawless & a British contingent v. Australians in Scott Law and Jesse Kerrison v. Americans in Dan Holloway, Ty Magner and Brad Huff…throw in Ryan Aitcheson, Aldo Ino Ilesic…and now I need to stop before I get a hot flash thinking about a World Criterium League. Anyways, Lawless has gotten his best results in criteriums with six wins in Britain alone this past year with JLT-Condor but he isn’t a criterium rider alone. Lawless was only 19 when he went 6th in GP Pino Cerami in 2015, which is an immense result. This past year, he was 3rd in the Rutland (basically a race run over old farm roads), 13th in the Ride London Classic and also 9th in the British Championships, where he was one of three U23 riders to make the front group of 13. Lawless will certainly be a sprint option for Axeon Hagens Berman but hopefully with another year under his belt, his endurance level will rise so he is able to be competitive in longer and hillier tours.

While barely talked about at the time, Espoirs Central was one of the first, if not the first, English  language sites to talk about the Ecuadorian phenom Jhonnatan Narvaez. I talked about his background in last year’s Klein Constantia preview but for more depth on Narvaez, go to this article from Ciclismo Internacional. The only change from those articles was that his Junior World Record in the 3km pursuit was broken by Swiss Stefan Bisseger this year. In his first U23 season, Narvaez showed big potential in the mountains after winning the KOM and finishing 5th in the Tour des Pays de Savoie. With a full year under his belt, Narvaez could have some fun with Costa and Powless if and when they are teamed up together.

The Oliveira twins are Portuguese track talents that are dabbling in the road side of things. Rui and Ivo were both Worlds medalists in 2014 when Ivo won the 3km Individual Pursuit over Regan Gough, Ivo was 3rd in the Omnium, Rui was 3rd in the Scratch and the pair went 3rd in the Madison. As Elites, they have ridden nearly every track event in Western Europe with Ivo getting the slightly better results in pursuit events and the omnium while Rui had good results in the Scratch and Points. Ivo was 2nd in the European Championships in the Individual Pursuit to World Champion Filippo Ganna after riding a losing but still scorching time of 4’17”. Rui lost the majority of his season after fracturing his femur at the Tour de Gironde. If he recovers well and doesn’t lose a step or two, Rui seems to be more consistent on the road than his brother with a few top 10 results in UCI events, mainly in sprints. Ivo did well at the Worlds in Doha after making the front split so perhaps if his concentration goes to the road after the track season is done, Ivo could turn some heads somewhere.

The last new rider is Michael Rice, a Australian who came from the Canadian Garneau-Quebecor. Rice is a former Junior Australian RR Champion (2013) who left the Australian system for the New World. He has a good year last year too. He had three top 10 stage finishes in Joe Martin and later on, he won a stage in the Tour de Beauce in a late escape. His resume isn’t quite as deep as others but a stage win in Beauce is no joke so he will be looking for more of that.

The only other addition to the team will be a new European DS, Koos Moerenhout. The long time pro with Rabobank and Lotto was a DS with Rabo Liv for the past 5 year since retirement from the peloton. With Moerenhout on the ground in Europe, he will be key in making the day to day life a bit easier and trying to snag a few other invites to fill calendar holes.

With the big crop of talent leaving the coop, Axeon Hagens Berman will have to find an answer as over half of their podiums from 2016 were from departing riders but with the new riders joining and old ones hitting another level, it will be no surprise to see them gelling and excelling soon enough. 

North American Devo: CCB Velotooler

With the 2nd installment of this coupling, one of the oldest cycling clubs in America is making the move towards the continental level while working on a tight budget. Based out of Boston, CCB has been a club for nearly 40 years and will face a test trying to compete on the continental level while managing a budget of under $100,000 for the whole season. For 2017, the team will be known as CCB Velotooler and like Aevolo, the U23 riders will be either in college or graduate school but unlike Aevolo, the team is not strictly a U23 squad. As the riders will receive no salary, it is basically an elite amateur team with a UCI license. For more of the details about the project, Fred Dreier from VeloNews had a good article.

With many riders in college, the bulk of the team’s schedule will be done between May and August while riders will obviously target collegiate and amateur races across the Eastern seaboard of the US throughout the season. I am interested to see how well they are able to compete with other continental teams in American UCI races because they are a development team but they definitely should be able to mix it up in regional races as well as on the criterium circuit.

The UCI roster will feature 13 riders while there will be a few other first year U23 “development riders” that will be on the club level that will most likely join the pro team at different points. 

The UCI roster will include: Cameron Beard, Patrick Collins, Ansel Dickey, Noah Granigan, John Harris, Jonah Mead-VanCort, Nate Morse, Spencer Petrov, Sam Rosenholtz, Jake Sitler, Antti Sizko, Cory Small and Cooper Willsley. Josh Anderson, Ian Clarke and Wyatt Goral are the said “development riders” that are on the club team and will join the pro team at various points.

Cameron Beard is more known for his cyclocross with top rides across his junior and now senior career with a smattering of top 10 finishes in elite races and U23 races this year. He isn’t just a dirt monger either as he finished high in the Junior Peace Race (Zavod Miru) where teammate Chris Blevins won the overall while also finishing 6th overall in the Driedaagse van Axel behind Swiss Stefan Bisseger, who is the junior world record holder in the 3km individual pursuit. A good all-around rider that is a good time trialist, a good climber as well as having that short burst power that top cyclocross riders possess.

Patrick Collins has been on a diet of New England races the past few years and will be looking to move up to the next level on the road side of things. He is also a strong cyclocross rider with majority of his finishes in UCI races coming between 15th and 20th. 

The Kombucha-loving Ansel Dickey is another that is looking to hit a new level in his final U23 season. Dickey has gotten some of his best results in criteriums as he was 2nd in the U23 National Criterium in 2015 while with Cal Giant but he doesn't have a resume-making result quite yet. Also a coach, Dickey could benefit from the bolstered crit squad that CCB Velotooler will be bringing. 

New Jersey native Noah Granigan is another rider that has had success in criteriums, mainly ones in stage races, however he seems to have the endurance for longer one-day races that is stronger than some of the other U23s on the team. Races like Winston-Salem, U23 Nationals and Reading could be targets especially with a stronger team. 

Connecticut’s John Harris has been another rider kicking it around New England as well as some choice criteriums the past few seasons. He was never on the National team but he has plugged away including top 15 places in Wilmington, Iron Hill and a 5th in Chris Thater. He will be a good part of the crit squad as well as getting some opportunities in other one days.

Lupus was a disjointed team from the moment that they signed Chris Horner. Jonah Mead-VanCort did get a couple of races with the big boys including Joe Martin however the winner of the collegiate D1 criterium in 2016 didn’t get a huge amount of support from his “professional” team. Mead-VanCort will most likely be another one of the crit squad train.

Splitting his time between Furman University and the Northeast, Nathaniel Morse has seen some of his best results come in criteriums including 3rd in the U23 National Criterium this past year. Morse also gets around on a ‘cross bike as well so he should be shooting for a good result at U23 Nationals.

My hometown of Mason, Ohio finally has a pro cyclist to their name with Spencer Petrov. Move over George Clooney and Dan Patrick, you now have company. Brought up in the local Lionhearts and ProChain programs, Spencer has continued to improve every year, especially in cyclocross. On the road, Petrov rode for Holowesko-Citadel’s junior program as well as with the national squad a bit. He is a top 10 to 15 rider in cyclocross on the national circuit and one of the top U23 ‘cross riders in the country so how will he continue to develop on the road? Go the way of Logan Owen, who skipped cyclocross this year to rest up for the road season, or the way of Curtis White, who has exploded on the national ‘cross circuit this year with 9 wins while trying to continue to slowly expose himself to the road? An interesting question that will eventually need to be answered.

The scourge of the New England criterium scene joins CCB Velotooler as a mentor to the young crit squad. Sam Rosenholtz has come around in the last few seasons as a hell of a sprinter in New England that included a 4-race win streak this summer where he beat out future teammates in Dickey, Nate Morse, John Harris and Pat Collins. Rosenholtz’s highlight was a 2nd place in one race of the Memorial Day Gateway Cup in St. Louis where he was nipped on the line by Ty Magner but did beat out National Champion Dan Holloway and Aldo Ilesic. Rosenholtz will be the glue that will hold this young team together in bigger races plus his sprint could deliver some much-needed results.

Jake Sitler is just looking for the opportunities to show his talents. Former steeplechaser turned cyclist from Astellas that had a good year in 2015, had a big block of training in Tasmania and came into 2016 on very good form. He got through a trifecta of Redlands, Joe Martin and Gila, which set him up for a good late spring that saw him go 15th in Winston-Salem, 20th in Philly and then a 3rd overall in the Air Force weekend behind Ty Magner and Bobby Lea. Going into summer with great form, right? Except Astellas as a team more or less imploded and with very limited funds, the crit squad got the majority of the remaining budget as there is more bang for the buck. He DNFed Saguenay and the team didn’t start North Star GP nor Cascade. Sitler raced only a handful of times in July and August. With his age, Sitler will be a road captain this year but if he brings the form, it seems like he will get the opportunities he needs to shine.

Finnish Antti Sizko seems to be a bit of a rider/manager after coming over from CMI Cycling last year, a team that briefly including one of Espoirs Central’s favorite riders, Dmitri Grabovskyy.

Cory Small is one of the few current CCB riders that will be joining the club on their rise to the professional ranks. Small was the team's best finisher in the AnPost Ras this year with 24th overall. Comparatively, Small hasn't raced a large number of race days over the past few years so with some opportunities at high level events perhaps he will be able to have a breakthrough. 

Speaking of another strong cyclocross rider on the team, Cooper Willsey has taken a big step up in his 2nd season on the elite 'cross circuit. Willsey's best finish last year was an 11th in the late season C2 in Kingsport, TN but this season with Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com, he already has eight top 10 finishes in UCI cross races including the U23 Pan-Am Championships. Like Nate Morse, Willsey splits his time between Furman University in South Carolina and the Northeast. Willsey was the Division 2 Cyclocross National Champion last year for the Paladins while on the road, he was the first non-Axeon Hagens Berman rider to finish in the U23 National RR in Lousville after breaking away from the field for 8th place. Depending on how many opportunities he gets, Willsey is definitely a strong piece of the road team that is just beginning to find his feet while still needing to balance his cyclocross priorities. 

Josh Anderson, Ian Clarke and Wyatt Goral are the three development riders. Anderson won a stage in l’Abitibi while doing well in a lot of junior criteriums. Goral is a good time trial rider including a solo win in the Junior Tour de Somerville. Clarke rode well in l’Abitibi however he didn’t have a ton of other results to back that up.

It will be interesting to see what CCB Velotooler will be capable of doing on a shoe-string budget. It is refreshing to see that the team has no illusions of what they are. They aren’t putting on a façade that they are a big-time "pro" team with "paid" professionals nor going the route of having one marquee rider with a bunch of pack fodder to fill in. They are just trying to get as many opportunities as they can and for a development team, it could pay off.

North American Devo: Team Aevolo

While it seems that every year there is the pessimistic wave during the transfer season of job losses in cycling and there just aren’t enough spots for pro-caliber riders, there are always a few bright spots. This year, the American development scene is getting some good news with the creating of Aevolo Development along with CCB moving up from the continental level. While more teams is usually always better, it certainly helps that other young riders are getting a good home and trying to topple the Axeon Hagens Berman leviathan.

This first post will be dedicated to Aevolo’s new team.

Aevolo hasn’t really divulged where the money is actually coming from as there are no obvious companies with the Aevolo name but it does see Mike Creed return to the professional ranks, after a bitter end with Smartstop at the end of the 2015 season. After a successful stint with the US Paralympic cycling team, Creed will now be running a U23 development team that is set for a full NRC calendar with hopes of getting berths for the Tour of Utah along with the new Tour of Colorado and Tour of the Commonwealth (Virginia) with an unconfirmed roster of 9 riders so far though in interviews, Creed has said he will have a roster of 10 riders.

A roster flashed briefly on the team’s Facebook page but has since been taken down so while unconfirmed, there were nine names that showed up with riders coming from the USA, Canada and Mexico. According to VeloNews, the riders will have to be in either university or graduate school.

Unconfirmed for next year include Jack Burke, Laurent Gervais, Lance Haidet, Gage Hecht, Michael Hernandez, Zeke Mostov, Jason Saltzman, Tyler Stites, and Luis Villalobos.

Before last year, Canadian Jack Burke might be better known to some for his positive doping test at the 2013 Tour de l’Abitibi after winning the stage 3 time trial. After a lengthy process, Burke was cleared of any wrong doing after the trace amounts of a diuretic named HCTZ was deemed to be ingested from the local town of Malartic’s water source, where Burke has filled his water bottles after running late that morning. Read this much more in-depth article on the situation from The Star. The most interesting bit from that article might be this description of his daily routine at the time, which was taken from Jack’s university video that was presented during the defense.

“Get up at 4 a.m. Down eight raw eggs. Ride from his north Toronto home down to the lake and back for a “short” 75 km ride. Go to high school. Sandwich in an hour-long ride. Go to work at Sporting Life to pay for the bike. Ice bath. Bed. And repeat.”

Sounds like Creed’s type of rider. Since this episode, Burke had quieter results until this past year with H&R Block where his time trial skills finally came through and propelled him to strong overall results including top 15 places in the Redlands Classic, Joe Martin Stage Race and Tour of Alberta. With Creed’s history with time trials and as a GC rider, Burke could be one to excel in this program.

On the other hand. Laurent Gervais is a bit of an unknown commodity. Originally from Quebec, Gervais rode for the Miller School in Virginia as well. He doesn’t have a ton of results to go off of so fingers crossed.

Both Lance Haidet and Gage Hecht are more known for their results on the dirt than the road but both have upside, especially with Hecht’s big results from the junior ranks.

Haidet hangs around the top 20 in Elite Men’s cyclocross races while he is a podium threat in the U23 races. On the road, his results are a lot less sparse however he did well on some stages at Cascade Classic including a top 10. So while he is no GC threat, he could be a one day or stage threat.

Hecht is a small animal on a bike with what seems to be boundless energy. On the ‘cross bike, he is one of the most promising talents for the USA after challenging for World Cup podiums as a junior along with bagging 5 junior cyclocross championships including last year’s junior title in Asheville. As a first year U23, Hecht is already a top 10 finisher on the American CX circuit but he is more than that. Hecht is also the reigning Junior Men’s RR champion after pulling away in the final stages with World Junior TT Champion Brandon McNulty while he was also 3rd in the National TT. Hecht is also the Junior Point Race Champion on the track. As long as he isn’t thrown into the deep end, Hecht could turn heads in a massive way next year in some bigger races on the road as his jack of all trades style gives him options. 

After a year with CCB, Michael Hernandez takes his sprint talents to Aevolo. He lacked a bit of endurance with the step up from the junior ranks this past year but did get a few good results after venturing over to Belgium with the Kingsnorth Wheelers (think Jack Bauer) with a few top 10 finishes in some kermesses. Hernandez will probably find success in criteriums however Creed would like to see him get up in the bunch kicks in some of the team’s stage races.

Three years ago, Zeke Mostov won the bronze medal in the World Junior TT behind the late Igor DeCraene. Then with the arrival of Adrien Costa, Mostov went to the background slightly even though he followed up his bronze in 2013 with a 5th place in the 2014 World Junior TT. Mostov even went 2nd overall in the Tour de l’Abitibi as a junior but once he hit the U23 ranks, Mostov went quiet. Riding for both Cal Giant and then BMC Development over the past two years, Mostov has not put up a large amount of racing days so if he gets a steady schedule with Aevolo and the U23 National Team, it will be interesting to see how he handles it.

Its all about the watts these days and Jason Saltzman seems to a diamond in the rough. Saltzman only weighs 115 pounds but with a power to weight ratio that is over 6 w/kg in 20 minutes, he packs a punch. (figures courtesy of  Saltzman now has to deal with the issue that many smaller riders deal with with: pack skills, not wasting too much energy before the climbs, getting blown around like a trash bag in the wind during a time trial. Being led along by ex-pro Scott Moninger, who was himself another lithe rider, Saltzman can crush a hillclimb but will need to use this year to try and round himself as a rider to continue to trend upwards. It’ll be interesting to see in any case.

The other two, Tyler Stites and Luis Villalobos, are both coming out of the junior ranks. 

Stites is a good all-around rider with a Tour de l’Abitibi stage win to his name and has been to Europe a handful of times with pretty good results. He hasn’t raced much with Elite men so this upcoming season could be a bit of an adjustment but judging by his Strava, Stites has a huge base to work off of.

Villalobos is currently the only Mexican rider on the squad however he rode for the LUX Development team while in Europe, the same team that included World Champion Brandon McNulty and is run by former pro Roy Knickman. Villalobos had a great season in Europe as he was top 10 in three separate stage races including a stage win in the St. Martinusprijs Juniors as well as winning the Mexican & PanAm Junior Time Trial. Villalobos might be one of the most ready talents on the team as he was 3rd in the Cat 1/2 Tour of the Gila this year, a race known for its climbing and one of the races that is close to Creed’s heart, as well as riding with the pros in some American races that will be on the team calendar including Redlands and San Dimas.

It will be interesting to see how the team does as a foil to Axeon Hagens Berman even though they most likely won’t race them much outside of Nationals but to get another strong development team will be nothing but a positive for the American scene. Once the roster is actually confirmed, an update will be issued.

Next up will be a run down of CCB, the long time Northeast club team that is now a budget pro team that will be hoping to make a splash on the market with their new model.

Olympia's Tour: Rabobank bow out in style

From 2002 to 2009, Rabobank Continental won 9 consecutive Olympia's Tour. It should have been renamed the Rabobank Invitational at some point because they took out 16 of the 21 overall podium places during that time. While Taylor Phinney interrupted that run in 2010, Jetse Bol and Dylan van Baarle kept the name going through 2013. The talent that Rabobank put out year after year was loading the pro peloton (and the big Rabobank team) and seemed like a never ending pipeline.

Yet with all of the success and the huge amount of talent still present, Rabobank Development will cease to exist after this year. The orange kits that have been present for nearly 20 years will not be found in 2017. With many riders still figuring out their 2017 plans (or at least not announcing them yet), why not go out with a bang?

After taking some precious bonus seconds finishing 2nd on stage 5, Cees Bol (who is joining SEG Racing Academy for 2017) was finally in the yellow jersey after multiple days of chasing Pavel Sivakov. With the hilliest stage on tap for the final day, Bol was in defense mode as only a handful of riders could challenge his lead.

Riding from Margraten, multiple breakaways tried to get away from peloton including a move that included 3rd-place Harthijs De Vries (Rabobank Devo) along with Michael Storer (Australia) and Geoffrey Curran (USA) but was shut down in favor of a two-man move with Remi Cavagna (Klein Constantia) and Ole Forfang (Norway), which got a couple of minutes lead. Racing was fast with the first couple of hours around 41 km/h.

Rabobank went to the front to tap out tempo as another move went up the road with Julius Jelmer, Fridtjof Røinaas and Julien Van Den Brande making the junction but the freedom was short lived as the speed was picking up fast. Soon enough, it was in with the old and out with the new, who took off with about 20km to go.

The breakaway 2 Hamilton 11 Allegaert 51 @GroendahlJansen 62 @GeoffreyCurran 95 @PascalEenkhoorn 101 De Wulf 122 @BuddingMartijn. #OT2016

— Olympia's Tour (@OlympiasTour) October 2, 2016

Dewulf was the highest on GC but was over three minutes back and with only 20 kilometers, there wasn't enough road left unless Bol, Sivakov and the others pulled over and had lunch.

Going into the finish, another move of 10 riders split off the front of the GC-controlled peloton, again none of the fighting over GC. The groups were splintering on the uphill finish and after 170 kilometers in cold, rainy weather, everyone was ready for the end.

It is @BuddingMartijn @RaboDevTeam who wins the final stage Margraten-Noorbeek. #OT2016 pic.twitter.com/7kqsrYhpAu

— Olympia's Tour (@OlympiasTour) October 2, 2016

To make it a fitting end to a fitting run, Martijn Budding took the final win in the Olympia's Tour for Rabobank Development in a tight sprint over Piet Allegaert and Stan Dewulf. Dewulf and Curran jumped 4 places each to finish 8th and 9th overall, which made them the biggest movers on the GC board for the places that mattered.

To make it an even more sweet end to the bittersweet departure, Cees Bol hung onto the overall GC after coming across the line with Sivakov and 3rd place De Vries, which was the status quo from before. While the finish was a little anti-climactic as the previous stages were filled with tight racing, it capped off a great weekend of racing before heading off to Doha.

-This is by far Bol's biggest win as a U23 after coming close in races like the Paris-Arras Tour and the Ronde de l'Oise. Going to SEG next year is a big signal that he is on track for a big contract as they tend to move a lot of riders up if they do relatively well.

-This was also the final race for Klein Constantia, which started off life as Etixx-iHNed back in 2013 and was actually the subject of Espoirs Central's first ever article. Patrick Lefevere forever bitched about having to carve out money from his budget to support a healthy development team but this is a team that actually worked so it is a shame that it isn't continuing.

-Pavel Sivakov is the most versatile U23 rider at this time

-Edward Planckaert is quite deserving of his Topsport Vlaanderen contract after SO MANY top 10 finishes from February to October. Pretty incredible.

-For not being a Nations Cup and it being October now, the talent level here at the Olympia's Tour was pretty impressive. Sprints, breakaways and time trials...what is there not to like??

On to Doha...

Olympia's Tour: Stages 1-4

The Olympia's Tour is halfway over and I have to say, the Olympia's Tour social media has been on-point for a U23 race. With no live video, they have provided a ton of updates, some small videos and  detailed previews on their website so kudos to them. Oh yes and the racing has been good too.

Stage 1 - TTT - Hardenberg

The Axeon-Hagens Berman filled American team put their team cohesion to good use by taking the opening team time trial ahead of some very strong teams from Australia, which was a mix of world class track talent and all arounders, home favorites Rabobank Development along with continental juggernauts in Klein Constantia, BMC Development and Lotto-Soudal. The USA was also unique out of the top 5 finishers as they finished with their whole team in tact.

Colin Joyce took the initial overall lead before the GC race exploded.

Stage 2 - Assen Loop

True to the Olympia's Tour, a windy day brought out a breakaway that ended up going to the line. To break up the monotony of twisting roads and crosswinds, a stretch of cobbles was used twice that shook everything up.

A large group of 22 got away from the peloton early and got nearly 2 minutes on the peloton. The breakaway had a large contingent of Dutch riders from Metec, Jo Piels, Rabobank as well as some composite teams plus overnight leader Colin Joyce, Mads Pedersen and BMC riders Lukas Spengler & Pavel Sivakov, among others. The first stretch of cobbles at Exloo saw some of the riders from the breakaway get splintered off and after the 2nd pass, they only had 11 riders left. Pavel Sivakov attacked in the final kilometers coming into the finish and only Jan Willem Van Schip, a U23 who was apart of the Dutch Team Pursuit team in Rio, was able to follow. Van Schip took the sprint from Sivakov but due to taking time from the rest of the breakaway, Sivakov slid into the 3M Yellow Jersey.

I have said it before but even as a first year, Pavel Sivakov is the most versatile rider in the U23 ranks. He was 2nd in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, he was in sprints in the Tour de Berlin, competed in the mountains in Aosta and l'Avenir and now attacking through the windy roads of Holland.

Stage 3a - TT - Herenberg to Elten TT

Miles Scotson shot to the podium in the Espoirs Cetral virtual U23 World Championship TT after stomping on an otherwise tight top 10. Geoffrey Curran, who turned in a very fast time, was beating Mads Pedersen by a second and Espoirs Central pick for the win Remi Cavagna by another two while Neilson Powless and Nathan Van Hooydonck were close behind. Scotson proceeded to come in and beat Curran's time by 27 seconds.

Scotson has been bouncing around all year with road events and team pursuit commitments but has started to build form over the last month with this being an exclamation point before Doha.

Curran has been up and down the last few years but this year has by far been his best in the U23 ranks. His time trial game has been on point this year with top ten rides all over the place but this is by far his best ride. Definitely shooting for a top 10 ride at Worlds, with this current form.

Sivakov rode well for 15th however he lost time to Cees Bol and Harthijs De Vries (both Rabobank Development) to pull the GC within 8 seconds.

Stage 3b - Ulft to Gendringen

Due to starting too late, the stage had to be shortened due to the waining sunlight and even then, the stage didn't finish until early twilight.

Espoirs Central called a Kristoffer Halvorsen win and by god, did that Norwegian eat some herring. Obviously one of the best U23 sprinters this year after winning a fucking professional 1.1 race, the GP Isbergues, which wasn't stacked with talent but hell, it was a 1.1 event. He nearly won the Nokere Koerse only to be denied by continental wonder Timothy Dupont but beat out Dylan Groenewegen. A favorite for Doha, Halvorsen beat out Chris Latham by a nose, which could be a possible result in Doha as well.

Cees Bol grabbed a few bonus seconds to bring the lead down to 5 seconds overall on Sivakov

Stage 4 - Zutphen loop

I said it in my preview but because this stage was front loaded, there was nothing special about this except for Markus Faglum getting the KOM jersey before being sucked back into the breakaway along with his break mates. Not to make the race sound easy as it never is in the Olympia's Tour. If you feel like shit, good luck holding onto a peloton that is going 50km/h in a crosswind while you are riding in the gutter. Feeling good? You could miss a split in the peloton.

Once out of the hills, the race came back together as Rabobank Development leading the charge for the bonus sprints. Cees Bol came through on both of them and taking 1st and 2nd for 5 bonus seconds while Sivakov snagged 2nd one of the sprints. Bol finished up 2 seconds behind Sivakov at the end of the stage.

Coming into the finale, it was a familiar sight with Halvorsen again leading the sprint out and just barely holding off 2nd place Fabio Jakobsen, who was a tire length or two behind the Norwegian across the line while Van Schip finished up in a close 3rd. The tight finish didn't give anyone a ton of room so some other favorites like Latham, Lecrocq, Christopher Noppe didn't have the room to contend.

With two stages to go, Rabobank Development is ravenous to get their final Olympia's Tour win while Sivakov will not go down without a fight. Stage 5 should end in a sprint as the last two kilometers are more or less a runway for a fast sprint. I picked Ivan Garcia however if Halvorsen or Latham are around, it won't be a contest. Stage 6...well that is where the real fun begins.

Olympia's Tour Preview: Prelude to Doha

With the Doha World's being pushed back to beginning of October, the Olympia's Tour decided to make the move to the late season and serve as a tune-up race for the U23 ranks. Normally a race that was just a 2.2 that featured some big time non-U23 talent from the Netherlands (i.e. Wim Stroetinga, Jetse Bol, etc.), this year's event if going to a full U23 format that shuts out older riders but brings nearly all of the big teams for some hard nose, gutter-filled racing. Always hosted in Mid- to Late- May, the wind will still be a factor in the calendar switch however the chance of rain might subside slightly.

This race has been a staple of development racing for the last 60 years with Rabobank Continental using it as their training grounds for the last 15 years. Thomas Dekker, Thomas Berkhout, Lars Boom, Jetse Bol, Dylan van Baarle, Joost Poosthuma, Stef Clement...need I go on? In the 00s, Taylor Phinney is the only racer to break up the Dutch hegemony but this year looks as good as any to bring down the Dutch dominance. Seeing as Rabobank Development is ending its run as the leader in Dutch development this year, they will be hungry to get one last win here for the boys in Orange.

The 7-stage, 6-day race starts in Hardenberg with a team time trial. The course itself is fairly straight forward with nothing more than a handful of turns and no more than a 10 meter difference in elevation. It wouldn't be an Olympia's Tour without a team time trial.

Espoirs Central favorite: BMC Development


(I did write this before the TTT finished so being true to my word, I won't put in the USA just to save face. BMC didn't do too bad with a top 5 placing and only 22 seconds backs.)

Stage 2 begins and ends in Assen but does a big loop around Drenthe that has a few up and downs along with the ever present Dutch wind. Espoirs Central is thinking a reduced sprint or perhaps a small breakaway followed by a bigger peloton. If it plays out like the l'Avenir sprints, the smaller teams will not be able to hold the race together unless there is a very cohesive effort.

Espoirs Central favorite: Gabs Cullaigh



Stage 3 is a split day that features a morning time trial that finishes in Germany and an afternoon split stage, which should end in a sprint. The time trial is 15 kilometers, which isn't too long but for many U23 riders, this could be one of their only time trials of the season. It is also unique as it has a few kickers that are rather sharp that go up about 50 to 60 meters in elevation.

Espoirs Central favorite: Remi Cavagna



The afternoon stage is another loop circuit that finishes in Gendringen that is another prototypical Olympia's Tour stage with a mainly flat parcours filled with road furniture and a bit of a technical finish. Full blown sprint should be on tap.

Espoirs Central favorite: Kristofer Halvorsen



I'm a little dissappointed that Stage 4 has all of its hills in the first half of the race while the final half involves two laps around Zutphen, which are more or less flat. However, flat doesn't mean sprint in the U23 ranks so while I think it will come together as a sprint, it certainly could explode due to wind or tactics. If it does come to a sprint, the final kilometer is very tight with multiple turns and a 100 degree turn with less than 300 meters to go.

Espoirs Central favorite: Cees Bol over Chris Latham & Enzo Wouters



The Reuver stage has been a sprint stage in the Olympia's Tours of recent past but this year's stage 5, it looks to be the first key road stage for those with any GC ambitions. Wim Stroetinga won the last three Reuver stages but the old man won't be present. The first two big loops are bumpy but the final loops are going to be where any cracks appear. I don't think the race will go to bits but a reduced sprint should be in order. The last two kilometers are a dead straight shot into the finish line so any teams that can stay together will be whipping the pace up.

Espoirs Central favorite: Ivan Garcia


Smoke 'em if you get 'em. A twisty loop around the Dutch countryside that features climbs and descents at nearly every turn. The winner of this stage either be some no-name from a breakaway or more likely, will be on the GC podium as everything that comes before this will be baby steps compared to this. The finish itself is not an uphill one however there are some short, sharp climbs just before it that could serve as a launchpad for a sizzling attack.

Espoirs Central favorite: Michael Storer


Overall Prediction:


1. Neilson Powless (USA)
2. Michael Storer (Australia)
3. Lennard Hofstede (Rabobank Development)

Thoughts on the Tour de l'Avenir

It's been two weeks since the Tour de l'Avenir has ended and I am just getting around to writing this. I have been trying to think of something meaningful to say. With social media these days, it seems like many people only really care about the information that is slapped together and sent out rather than stuff that has some actual thought behind it.




The mountains really make the race at l'Avenir and they certainly didn't disappoint this year. David Gaudu and Edward Ravasi separated themselves with the attack on stage 6 and they seemed fairly even through the rest of the race, with Gaudu having a little bit more top end at the end of the climbs. It seems that Adrian Costa was just a little bit off his best form but in only his first U23 season that has been fairly big in terms of racing days, a podium here is exceptional as he separated himself from the others behind him.




Tao Geoghegan Hart was good but was another that didn't seem to be on his best form as he wasn't as sharp. Perhaps a chink in the armor that he could be limited in the higher mountains compared to some others like Gaudu, Costa and Ravasi? SKY will turn him into a robot next year and their track record with developing young talent is so-so at best really compared with some teams like Movistar and Etixx-OPQS. Geoghegan Hart should be put on a one-day/Ardennes track but seeing as SKY's focus on those races is middling at best, it is a shame he might not shine in those races doing forward.




Hot take - Pavel Sivakov is the most versatile rider in the U23 ranks. He can ride the classics very well as he was a contender in the Paris-Roubaix and was 2nd in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He was up there in sprint stages in the Tour de Berlin. Now in both Valle d'Aosta and l'Avenir, he has shown that he is able to climb some big mountains fairly consistently for a rider that can also do the above as well. With a year under his belt, next year could be very interesting for Sivakov.




It was also announced that l'Avenir will again expand with a 9th stage being added, which will make it the first time since 2009 that the race will be this long. The race course is not finalized as a start in Bretagne is being tossed around, which would certainly be a nice change of pace. I am all in favor of adding some legitimate sprint stages to this race and see teams bring in their best sprinters along with their best climbers. Obviously with small teams, selections are pretty tight but if there were say, 4 stages that could be designated for sprinters and 2 or 3 big stages for climbers, we could see a rounded roster as opposed to the teams in recent years which have been more or less all climbers and perhaps a big engine time trial rider.




It just comes down to my point that sprinters need their chances too and that includes on the biggest stages. While some people might salivate for climbers showdowns, I really would love to see Pascal Ackermann go up against Enzo Wouters, Chris Latham, Kristoffer Halvorsen, Cees Bol, Consonni/Minali/Maronese along with some other pros that are still U23. Well that would basically be a preview for this year's Worlds in Doha but one or two stages in the U23 circuits biggest event doesn't seem like enough.


Anyways, I think it is high time that I start writing more on here...