[t-72]

I assume they will need at least a few Israelis for the giro? and at least one Italian, in which case Sbaragli is in?

In-shape version of the cube-shaped bouncing ball Sondre Holst Enger can be a threat for almost everyone. High risk, high potential! 


 

[Leadbelly]

I assume they will need at least a few Israelis for the giro? and at least one Italian, in which case Sbaragli is in?

Just the one Israeli for the Giro barring some miraculous form from more than one of them. Roy Goldstein is in prime position with the Nats jersey. Sagiv is his main rival, but if he's carrying an injury, then the decision could be even easier.

I think all the riders who stepped down from WT will be there including Sbaragli. Unless they're injured of course or have shown absolutely no form in the next couple of months.

[Leadbelly]

Giro Watch

There's been a few races since the last update, but no major performances to get excited about.

↑Hermans, Neilands and Sagiv - 10th on the queen stage at Valenciana for Hermans. Didn't feel great at the bottom of the climb (and was nowhere to be seen), but fought hard and had a really strong finish to the stage. At Laigueglia he had to bridge across the gap to the front grp and didn't have any energy left to do any more. Sagiv looks to be over his knee pain.

↓Everyone in Colombia! Crashes didn't help, but nobody there will be thinking their Giro chances are looking rosy. Raim was already facing an uphill battle to get ahead of Sbaragli and SHE, but a possible wrist injury and poor performances by him and his train surely means Italy will not be on the menu for him. Also Edwin Avila is not a guy for the sprint train. Too small and lightweight. The team should be using him in other ways ie. breaks or slightly more selective group finishes.

Up next for the team Ruta del Sol (Hermans and Sbaragli) and Haut Var (SHE and Jensen).

[Leadbelly]

https://www.facebook.com/IsraelCyclingAcademy/posts/1162226460547577

It was time for a frank reflection .

It is obvious a month into our breakthrough grand tour season , we seem to still having problems in kicking into gear.

What is missing ?

The results obviously not there, nor are our performance in critical moments overboard in most of the races so far.

We asked our sports director in Andalucia Oscar Guerrero to give us his views and he was direct and sincere as you can expect in this team.

“Is not easy to say. I think first, that maybe we are not in the shape that we thought we will be at the start of the season. We are not in a bad shape, far from it, but, in the real hard moments of the races, we are not strong enough .

Sometimes it just a matter of timing and luck. Here in Andalucia, for example, Ben Hermans wasn't 100% healthy, and in the hard moments, he needed to be 100%, because the finishes here were very steep.

I think also, that we need to be more AGGRESSIVE in the races. We Were not able to get to breakaways, and this is something we need to do even if we need to protect our leader.

But it’s only the start of the season and we need stay CALM . because the results will come.

I'm sure the exact same things were being said a year ago. Let's hope we don't have to wait till Azerbaidjan and Tro Bro Leon again for a turn around in fortunes.

[LukasCPH]

It's February.
The real season hasn't even started yet.[1]

If they've still underperformed by the start of April, there may be some cause for getting worried - but until now, everything has been nothing more than glorified training races: Nice to get a win in, but not really something anyone will remember in the long run.

1.	yes, I'm a European snob

[Leadbelly]

https://www.facebook.com/Einhorn11/posts/1821024484577074

Last (!) Day before the first #uci race in my #2018 season!
Super excited! Feeling super good and strong, even started to beat the cold 😎🤩
...... @ Umag

We don't even know 100% who is on the team, but Itamar should be it's leader, to begin with anyway.

I think they said that the Devo team would have three batches of races through the season. So batch 1 starts with Trofej Umag and presumably will continue then with Porec, Istrian Spring Trophy and then the non-UCI Tour of Arad to finish off with.

[Leadbelly]

We don't even know 100% who is on the team

Poulton is the only new name.

https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider.php?id=193754

South African and probably came to the teams attention when he won the Maccabiah Games (the third-largest international sporting event in the world, but i have to hold my hands up and say I've never heard of it before) TT last year.

[t-72]

Inflamed left knee + saddles sores for August Jensen. Should be back for Tirreno-Adriatico. 

[Leadbelly]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1822291077783748&set=p.1822291077783748&type=3&theater

Not all the things go as you want, not always at least.

I had a great feeling, great legs and great mood, i was there in the front and 13 km to the end i got stuck behind a big crash, i just fell in zero speed, didn't got any problems and started chasing the first group of 40+- riders... With no success, finished 1:15 minutes behind the winner and 37 by place.

I will race again Saturday in porac trophy race!

Ben Moshe and Poulton finished in the next group at 2 minutes. Avitan the only DNF.

[Leadbelly]

Giro Watch

↑Neilands and Boivin - Krists was right up in the action yesterday. Looked one of the more aggressive riders in that select group of 7(?). The Cannonball was the team's best rider last year in the Spring Classics, but had zero luck. So nice to see him get a good result at KBK this time round. Of course there might not be to much correlation between doing well in classics and a GT, but the Giro can get nasty weather.

↓Raim and the Norwegian contingent - My fears about Raim's injury came true. Broken scaphoid almost 100% means no Giro. The Norwegians have been suffering too. "Inflamed left knee + saddles sores for August Jensen" and a cold for SHE meant there were no results forthcoming at Haut Var.

The team has mentioned that a long list for the Giro will appear some time in March (after TA?), so now is the time to shine.

[Leadbelly]

SHE still suffering from the cold?

[t-72]

That would be a valid interpretation, yes.
Also, he is a rider without a tradition for being in shape in the spring. Typically starts working around May. The overlapping competences between Sbaragli, Jensen and Holst Enger must also be considered, you can't have a team with only chiefs, and I think they already are a bit low on indians in that setup.
 

[Leadbelly]

https://www.facebook.com/IsraelCyclingAcademy/posts/1177775962325960

7 km to the finish we felt that we were in great shape. Israeli Guy sagiv just completed his task magnificently - leading the almost full day breakaway. His teammates were fresh and ready in line for the sprint.

But then that horrifying sound of metal. “There was that rider in front of me that went down and I crashed,” described Kristian Sbaragli, revealing his frustration. Almost all of the team came down after him. Latvian Krists Neilands, Norwegian August Jensen, Canadian Guillaume Boivin and Belgian Ben Hermans. Jensen seemed to have got the worst of it, injuring his elbow. He was sent later to the local hospital for checkups and nobody is sure if he can start tomorrow.

Jensen and Neilands had x-rays this morning and it showed no problems, so all five crashees will start the next stage.

Anyway not the most auspicious of starts, but as long as any injuries don't affect the riders going forward, then it really doesn't mean much as the TTT and TT made GC a rather unrealistic target for Hermans.

[Leadbelly]

https://twitter.com/HamishSchreurs/status/975840241176203264

Giro Watch

↑Neilands and Hermans - The Belgian was actually ill and on antibiotics at TA. He said he almost didn't bother on the MTF, but I'm sure he's glad he made the effort. Good couple of (very long) days in a row for Krists at TA. Struggled a bit then on the third tough day.

↑Dempster and Avila - Picking up some decent results. Haven't seen the Drenthe finish, but on paper I think Zak should have beaten those other riders for the win. Over in Taiwan we finally see Edwin racing how he should be used. Getting in breaks and riding aggressively. Probably given himself a snifter of a chance of making the team.

↓Sbaragli and SHE - Enger has had the one good result between the pair of them, on reflection though finishing second to Der John isn't looking so impressive now. Kristian's best result from 23 race days is a 14th. We know SHE has been ill, but these lack of results from the pair of them doesn't make it easy to make a selection for the Giro.

[t-72]

I think Neilandts clearly is the man of the hour in , but the hour doesn't necessarily stretch into May.
Actually, in the MSR, the whole team, with one notable exception,  was pretty much punching above their weight class, I think they were 5-strong before the Cavendish crash near the base of the Poggio.

Somone crashed into August Jensen's rear derailleur, probably in the chaos caused by the flying Manx missile. The derailleur was bent and skipped gears, only working on some. On the climb of the Poggio he couldn't get the best gear for his climbing working. Nevertheless, he managed to get over in the first group but lacked the gears to follow in the high speed chase on the flat section into the Via Roma.
Although the results doesn't show it -it is probably recognized internally as a good day out.
(source: procycling.no)   

The one rider who did not go quite to expectatations was the intended captain? Kristian Sbaragli was clearly struggling at the back and dropped before the start of the Poggio. However, I guess he's a guaranteed man on the Giro squad, he'll play the part of "the Italian guy" in this spaghetti eastern movie...

EDIT: damn !#¤!#¤ procyclingstats - that was supposedly the team results widget....will see if I can fix it.

[Leadbelly]

http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/2018/03/22/110178/radiocorsa-i-segreti-della-sanremo-raisport-amarcord-indiscreto-tuttobiciweb

Get your large pinch of Beppe salt ready: Bike Geeeeks to take over the BMC WT licence for 2019.

However isn't the WT shrinking to 17 teams next year?

On the other hand I did read an article earlier this year (or at the tail end of last) saying that the infrastructure of the team (all the staff in the background, the facilities, the non-white leather seats on the bus etc) were of a WT level already. The riders are obviously mainly not at that level (they're a mixture of all three "classes" really), but WT and the guaranteed invites must be on Sylvan Adams mind at some point.

I think Neilandts clearly is the man of the hour in , but the hour doesn't necessarily stretch into May.

True, but I'd rather performances in 2018 weighed more in the selection reckoning than results from last year or even earlier. For me, him and Hermans should be the only guaranteed picks so far.

[t-72]

(..the non-white leather seats on the bus etc)

Marginal gains   
but definetly one step ahead of uno-x ok get it  

[LukasCPH]

http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/2018/03/22/110178/radiocorsa-i-segreti-della-sanremo-raisport-amarcord-indiscreto-tuttobiciweb

Get your large pinch of Beppe salt ready: Bike Geeeeks to take over the BMC WT licence for 2019.

Now I have enough salt for the next couple of years!

However isn't the WT shrinking to 17 teams next year?

Possibly. Information on this is conspicuously unforthcoming. I think the last we heard was this from November 2016:
http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/18-teams-2017-uci-worldtour-including-dimension-data-298663

“Since the commencement of the WorldTeam registration process for 2017, it has become clear that there are 18 candidates for WorldTeam licences,” said the UCI in a press release. “With this in mind, the PCC has decided that for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, a maximum of 18 UCI WorldTeam licences may be issued.”

The UCI said: “the ambition is to strengthen the competitiveness of elite level and therefore to set the maximum number of UCI WorldTeams to 17 in 2019 and 16 from 2020 onwards, with a working group tasked to study this and a number of other topics.”

So it's "the ambition" to reduce the number of teams ... that could mean everything and nothing.
I think that if there are 18 or more candidates for 2019 again, they won't reduce the number.

On the other hand I did read an article earlier this year (or at the tail end of last) saying that the infrastructure of the team (all the staff in the background, the facilities, the non-white leather seats on the bus etc) were of a WT level already.

The bus is the one we had at , so it's obviously the bestest bus ever.

[search]

from Instagram:



Full Text is available for free via pressreader.com

Battle for Israeli Giro berth heating up

Only one blue-and-white cyclist is set to be part of Israel Cycling Academy’s squad for Grand Tour

The start of the Giro d’Italia in Jerusalem in five weeks will undoubtedly be the greatest moment in Israeli cycling history, one that was unimaginable not that long ago.

The race will see 176 of the world’s top cyclists begin the competition with a time trial against the backdrop of the Old City.

Among all the elite riders waiting at the start line there will also be one Israeli, preparing to make history and become the first blue-and-white cyclist to ever compete in one of the three Grand Tours (Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana).

While the Giro will get under way in just over a month, the battle for what is expected to be the lone berth for an Israeli rider on the squad of Team Israel Cycling Academy is still wide open.

Guy Sagiv, Roy Goldstein and Guy Niv are set to be the three Israeli finalists for a place on the team’s eight-man squad for the Giro.

While in theory more than one Israeli could make the team, in all likelihood there will only be room for a single local rider in the monumental race, which will continue with road stages between Haifa and Tel Aviv (167 km) and Beersheba and Eilat (226 km) before heading to southern Italy.

“This 101st edition of the Giro d’Italia will be historic in many ways,” Israel Cycling Academy team owner Sylvan Adams told The Jerusalem Post. “The first time a Grand Tour will race outside of Europe it will happen in Israel. And, our Israel Cycling Academy team, the country’s first professional bicycle team, is participating in the Giro on home soil, which also means that an Israeli athlete will be competing in a Grand Tour for the first time. Each of these is a remarkable first, unimaginable just a couple of years ago, and announces Israel’s arrival as a true cycling nation on the World stage.”

Sagiv, Goldstein and Niv all live in the city of Girona in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region, and are good friends away from training and racing. They often meet for Friday night meals and go out for coffee when they are all in town.

But they are all well aware that only one of them is set to take part in the Giro, which will obviously leave the two other riders bitterly disappointed.

“This is our career and this is our life, but we also all undoubtedly want the best for each other,” said the 23-year-old Sagiv, a native of Givat Nili, a moshav near Zikhron Ya’akov. “There is no IN A heated race, (from left) Guy Sagiv, Roy Goldstein and Guy Niv are battling for what is expected to be the lone berth for an Israeli rider on the Israel Cycling Academy’s squad at the upcoming Giro d’Italia. doubt that this is a very special race but there will be more races.”

Sagiv is coming off a remarkable performance at the Milan-San Remo “Monument” classic two weeks ago, being among the nine riders in the early break. Sagiv and teammate Dennis Van Winden were part of the lead group for 250 kilometers before it was pulled in by the peloton, with Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali ultimately claiming the win after 291km.

“I’m happy to see Guy Sagiv do well in the Milan-San Remo. I don’t want someone else to fail, I want to do well myself,” explained the 24-yearold Goldstein, a native of Gilon in the Lower Galilee. “I’m happy when the other riders do well, but even happier when I succeed.

At the end of the day we are friends and teammates who will always work for each other. The bottom line is that this battle will help us progress and make us stronger.

“This Giro really is historic, but our path only passes through the Giro. It isn’t our ultimate goal. Our goal is bigger than this Giro or next year’s Giro.”

The 24-year-old Niv, a native of kibbutz Misgav Am in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, echoed a similar sentiment.

“At the beginning of the year there was a race in which Guy Sagiv was injured but he had no problem riding in front of me, blocking the wind for me and helping me out,” noted Niv, who has surprised everyone with his form after only making the switch from mountain biking to road racing last year. “We are pros and we are all doing our job.

Eventually the team will make its choice. We live in the same city, far from our families, and we also meet away from cycling. We will be happy for whoever makes it.”

While Sagiv, Goldstein and Niv are genuinely rooting for each other, they each also have little doubt that they should be the one racing in the Giro.

“I for example have more experience than Guy Niv. He has made amazing progress this year and has closed the gap from a physical standpoint, but you can’t discount years of experience and the understanding of racing in a peloton, which I have,” said Sagiv. “Regarding Roy, I think that I have an advantage over him in experience, as well as knowing how to work for the team.”

Goldstein, whose brother Omer is also a member of Israel Cycling Academy, is extremely confident.

“I think my chances of making the team are really high,” he stated.

“I’m the current Israel national champion and that says a lot. We are all being tested in competitions across the world and it will ultimately come down not to who is the better or stronger rider, but on which rider will adapt himself to the team at the Giro and help the team to win.”

Niv understands he has the disadvantage of having focused on mountain biking up until a year ago, but he still believes he will make the team.

“I really believe in my abilities. Obviously, I lack experience. I still need to learn a lot about racing in a peloton, but I try to learn from every race in which I compete and not make the same mistake twice,” he explained. “I have no qualms about saying that I’m the best Israeli climber and ultimately the Giro is a race with many climbs. A rider who can overcome the climbs and stay with the leaders can be a great asset to the team and that is what I’m counting on.”

Niv became a professional road cyclist almost by coincidence, taking part in a race in France last April to prepare for a mountain bike competition, only to discover that his passion for cycling wasn’t limited to rough terrain.

“Fortunately the transition was smooth,” said Niv. “One of the things that crossed my mind when I decided to make the change was that there was talk that the Giro might be coming to Israel. It seemed unrealistic for me at the time as I hadn’t even competed in top road races. It was a dream, but I’m happy that I’m one of the candidates to make the squad one month be-fore the Giro.”

One of the things on which Sagiv, Goldstein and Niv all agree on is their good fortune to be racing at a time when Israel’s first professional cycling team is rising to prominence. Only one of them is set to be at the start line in Jerusalem on May 4, but the future of all three under the stewardship of Israel Cycling Academy looks to be brilliantly bright.

“It really is a gift from heaven,” said Goldstein on having the opportunity to race for ICA. “Sometimes you have to be at the right place at the right time to get your chance. A few years ago the path to success was much tougher, not that it is easy and simple now. I didn’t know that the team would exist when I was a young rider. I always believed I would be able to make it regardless, but now the Israeli riders are extremely lucky to have a much clearer horizon for the future.”

[Leadbelly]

Just a little bit of tension there between Roy and Sagiv.

Even with the national champs jersey on Roy's back, the chances of him being selected are definitely fading. Sagiv finished both MSR and a lengthy, tough TA whilst Goldstein was a DNF at Catalunya. Final chances to impress will be at Trentino or Croatia/Castilla y Leon if the team races there.

Niv doesn't have a chance imo, but all three will be part of the long list - soon to be announced and now expanded to 15 (!) riders.

[Leadbelly]

https://twitter.com/yallaACADEMY/status/983264798191374336

Confirmed:

Ben Hermans (Belgium)
Krists Neilands (Latvia)
Rubén Plaza (Spain)

Fighting over the other spots:

Edwin Avila (Colombia)
Guillaume Boivin (Canada)
Zak Dempster (Australia)
Nathan Earle (Australia)
Sondre Holst Enger (Norway)
Roy Goldstein (Israel)
August Jensen (Norway)
Guy Niv (Israel)
Guy Sagiv (Israel)
Kristian Sbaragli (Italy)
Daniel Turek (Czech Republic)
Dennis van Winden (Netherlands)

[LukasCPH]

Fighting over the other spots:

So the MexiCAN is out.
Oh well. Not a surprise if we're honest.

Great news for Neilands!

[t-72]

Great news for Neilands!

Dude, with a modest to modest+ squad to pick from you don't forget the guy who  made the Milano - Sanremo?  All the tifosi will love him already! + if he's back up in shape again for May, he might actually be good enough to steal a stage when no-one is watching 

[LukasCPH]

Dude, with a modest to modest+ squad to pick from you don't forget the guy who  made the Milano - Sanremo?  All the tifosi will love him already! + if he's back up in shape again for May, he might actually be good enough to steal a stage when no-one is watching 

Oh, totally. He belongs in that Giro squad.

[Leadbelly]

https://www.facebook.com/IsraelCyclingAcademy/posts/1211458972290992

Israel cycling Academy has chosen its Canadian rider Guillaume Boivin as it’s 4th rider to secure a place in the ICA lineup to the historic Giro d'Italia.

At the same time, the team professional staff has decided to narrow its list of candidates to the Giro . Israeli champion Roy Goldstein and Dutch Dennis van Winden will no longer be considered .

Team manager Kjell Carlström: “ We decided to secure G’s place in the Giro since he proved once and again his dedication to the team and his willing to put the team good before his own ambitions. He is an experienced and strong rider that we need in the critical and decisive moments in Giro stages. I really wanted to Let him know he is IN so he can relax his mind and prepare to the challenge”.

As for the painful decision regarding Goldstein and Van Winden he said: “ Dennis was injured in his last race and needed multiple stitches. Unfortunately the injury will prevent him to prepare for the Giro. Roy is a rider who made a significant progress but we feel he is not yet ready to the demands of 21 Days grand tour. He will race and further develop , reaching this level in the future”.

The writing was on the wall for Goldstein when he DNF-ed on Sunday before they reached the halfway point of the race.

That leaves 9 riders fighting for 4 spots. Sagiv must be a gimme over Niv, so realistically 7 fighting over 3.

SHE
Sbaragli
Dempster
Avila
Jensen
Earle
Turek

Some combination of the first four (or five) in that list seems likely. They are experimenting with the sprints in Croatia, so that might help (or hinder) their final choices.

[t-72]

High activity for the Academy riders now....with a GC win for Ruben Plaza in Vuelta Castilla y Leon, and (finally) a decent sprint from Sondre Holst Enger in Croatia.
Meanwhile, I spotted August Jensen on a training ride here in Bergen today. I look into the crystal ball and think this means that Jensen will not race the Giro. There's a few races here in Norway on their calendar (Tour of Norway, Tour des Fjords and the Hammer series) and I guess he's wanted there. The same could be the case for Sondre Holst Enger, although it doesn't make a lot of sense to put these guys on the same team given their overlapping skill sets.
If, and that is always a big if, Sondre Holst Enger is on his way back in shape again, he could still be in contention. There are few others on that team that have raced Peter Sagan to the line on a TdF stage, so he remains one of the riders with the highest potential - if only!   

[Leadbelly]

https://twitter.com/yallaACADEMY/status/989159454762504192

Well there we go.

I think taking Niv is a mistake, but hey ho. Dempster was almost a shoe in after Van Winden got injured. Him and the Cannonball (along with Sagiv) will be the workhorses for the team. Sbaragli has shown absolutely nada since he joined, but with those Italian sponsors onboard he was always going to have a big chance of riding.

[Leadbelly]

Non-Giro Watch

https://www.facebook.com/omergoldy/videos/1954329294587018/

I was watching this (Aragon Stage 1) yesterday and like the commentator I wasn't sure who it was, but I assumed it was SHE channelling some Giro non-selection rage, just riding off the front of the front of the peloton in the last km and showing the team what they were missing out on. Turns out it was Omer Goldstein. Pretty impressive effort from the youngster. Of course if he'd waited a a little bit and properly led out Van Winden it would have been even better. Let's see how he gets on with tomorrow's MTF of Cerler.

[Leadbelly]

https://www.facebook.com/IsraelCyclingAcademy/videos/1239888132781409/

The team waits (live at the mo) at the finish line to see if Dempster, Boivin and Sagiv make the time cut. Sagiv was struggling earlier to feed.

[search]

they don't seem to be waiting anymore. All guys made it comfortably

is bringing them home to Rome the only goal left though?