Manzana Postobon discussion thread

[DNP-Old]

No, not the drink. We're talking about the team with the best kit in the peloton here. With the – gracias a Dios – disappearance of Team Colombia several years ago they are, and likely will be for a while, Colombia’s sole team with a PCT-license. Manzana Postobon is an interesting team to keep an eye on, hence why they’re my faves. With Luis Saldarriaga, the man behind Quintana, Chaves, Henao, Duarte, Atapuma, Pantano and many, many others, running the show they’ll be good.

Their PCT-license allows them to get a pretty nice calendar throughout the year. They will kick off their season in a week or two in the Algarve and even managed to get a wildcard for Catalunya. Of course, they will be looking for much more in the future, a wildcard for the Vuelta for instance.

With Manzana starting in all these big races, we will see the very first glimpses or all their talent setting their first (serious) steps in Europe. Hernan Aguirre for one is a rider to keep an eye on. I’ve always believed in him, despite bad results. It’s no question however the talent is certainly there. Jhojan Garcia is very interesting as well. He is the most recent winner of the Vuelta del Porvenir, as well as a winner of the Vuelta del Futuro. Sebastian Molano is their main guy for the sprints. He’s pretty quick and already managed to grab a win in Madrid just last year. Not a big fan of their foreign signings however, but can't win them all.

Calendar
15.02 Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta
22.02 Le Tour de Langkawi
22.02 Volta ao Alentejo
20.03 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
01.04 Gran Premio Miguel Indurain
02.04 Vuelta Ciclista a La Rioja
09.04 Klasika Primavera de Amorebieta
17.04 Tour of the Alps
18.04 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey
14.06 Tour de Costa Rica

 

[Valv.Piti]

I have Sergio Higuita and Aldemar Reyes in the CQ-game. I probably should have picked Aguirre instead of Higuita, shouldn't I? Particularly looking forward to watching them in Trentino, I assume Catalunya will be a bit too hard. What do you reckon their chances are of a wild card in the Vuelta if they are doing well?

I really love their kit as well, it reminds of Beloki attacking on Alpe d' Huez in 2003.

 

[DNP-Old]

Re:

I have Sergio Higuita and Aldemar Reyes in the CQ-game. I probably should have picked Aguirre instead of Higuita, shouldn't I? Particularly looking forward to watching them in Trentino, I assume Catalunya will be a bit too hard. What do you reckon their chances are of a wild card in the Vuelta if they are doing well?

I really love their kit as well, it reminds of Beloki attacking on Alpe d' Huez in 2003.

You should have, Higuita is a nice rider, who made some decent noise last year, but I wouldn't expect him to be a point machine for you. Though he's still very, very young. Aguirre however is the man to watch on this team. I said he had bad results in post #1, but maybe I was a bit too harsh. Underwhelming would be a better word to describe him. But when he's on, he's really on.

In 2015 he made a huge leap and finished 5th (or 6th, can't remember) in the Vuelta a Colombia. He was expected to improve from thereon, but as I said, was a tad underwhelming. Though 6th in Valle d'Aosta and 10th in Alsace aren't the worst of results. Then he somehow came back to live again in Clásico RCN - Colombia's second biggest stage race - where he finished 5th.

If he can get back to that level, he's in for some pretty big things this season. Not that I see him going toe to toe with Contador in Catalunya this season, but a similar race like Bernal had in Trentino last year isn't unthinkable.

What do you reckon their chances are of a wild card in the Vuelta if they are doing well?

Might sound weird, but I sincerely hope they don't get it, for now at least, don't think they will get one either. They aren't ready, their squad isn't ready. A grand tour wild card should be a long term thing, say a year or two. The riders will have more experience, they will be better and they've grown accustomed to Europe by then.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Thanks for the answers!

I actually thought Reyes was the most talented of them just looking at results and age and my very little knowledge om them. And yes, its probably too early considering they are so young, the many Italian one day races might be a good alternative instead.

 

[Arredondo]

Aguirre is the biggest prospect, but he's a little bit lazy. He needs to develope in the mental aspect to utilize his full potential.

Reyes is maybe the most consistent rider of the 'big three'. But Higuita is still really young, but he already rode well last year. I'm most curious about his development in the future.

 

[DNP-Old]

Their confirmed roster for Algarve:
Hernán Aguirre
Aldemar Reyes
Hernando Bohórquez
Sebastián Molano
Jetse Bol
Ricardo Vilela
Antonio Piedra

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

I think signing Bol was a great idea. The guy has experience on WT-level and he could be a helpful guide for more eastern oriented European races (if they would ever ride some). And if iirc his wife is Mexican so he speaks Spanish.

 

[hfer07]

Who's behind the whole project & who's on board as far as DS? - Is Saldarriaga acting as both an DS as well?

 

[search]

Re:

who's on board as far as DS? - Is Saldarriaga acting as both an DS as well?

yes, him and Oscar Vargas

 

[Escarabajo]

Can somebody with better knowledge of the team give us feedback on what happened yesterday?

That was some serious disappointment yesterday in Algarve! well, except for Vilela!

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

What happened yesterday?

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

What happened yesterday?

It was the mountains in Algarve and the first Colombian came in 44th. If they are not good in the flats and TT and we don't perform good in the mountains. Then I consider that not to be good IMHO. Maybe it was the first race for them. Maybe we have to wait until they adjust to European cycling.

http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Volta_ao_Algarve_em_Bicicleta_2017_Stage_2

 

[staubsauger]

No wildcard requested for the ToA by Manzana Postobon!

 

[janraaskalt3]

Re:

No wildcard requested for the ToA by Manzana Postobon!

Tour of Austria?

 

[staubsauger]

Tour of the Alps. It was originally reported by cyclingnews as early season goal.

 

[DNP-Old]

Good showing by Aguirre today on Malhão. Nothing special, but not bad either. It's only his - and the entire teams - first race of the year, and it's certainly much better than his 68th place on Fóia. We should see him in front in Alentejo, where the team will be the same as in Algarve.

 

[DNP-Old]

Molano wins in Alentejo!

 

[proffz]

great achievement for molano and manzana.
they are already performing better than team colombia....

molano proved that he can be strong in stages with a selective finish.
last year he won over lobato in the last stage of a cold rainy day in vuelta madrid
.
he is quickly improving and he has the right ds, saldarriaga.

also aguirre and reyes are performing well.

 

[DNP-Old]

Ricardo Vilela, Jetse Bol, Hernando Bohórquez, Hernan Aguirre, Sebastian Molano, Juan Felipe Osorio, Antonio Piedra, Aldemar Reyes

Their team for the Vuelta a Catalunya. It's the same as in Algarve and Alentejo, where they won two stages with Molano. The chance of Manzana having a guy way up in the GC is next to nothing with the 40k CRE. There are also barely (read: none) any stages for sprinters, meaning Molano has pretty much nothing to ride for.

Their goal as a team for Catalunya seems pretty simple: attack and see where it ends. Automatically the mountain classification could become a target - they won both the mountain classification in Algarve (with Osorio) and Alentejo (with Reyes). Aguirre and Reyes however really need to be on the top of their game, this will be their biggest race to date and they couldn't wish for a better platform to show themselves to the big world.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Ricardo Vilela, Jetse Bol, Hernando Bohórquez, Hernan Aguirre, Sebastian Molano, Juan Felipe Osorio, Antonio Piedra, Aldemar Reyes

Their team for the Vuelta a Catalunya. It's the same as in Algarve and Alentejo, where they won two stages with Molano. The chance of Manzana having a guy way up in the GC is next to nothing with the 40k CRE. There are also barely (read: none) any stages for sprinters, meaning Molano has pretty much nothing to ride for.

Their goal as a team for Catalunya seems pretty simple: attack and see where it ends. Automatically the mountain classification could become a target - they won both the mountain classification in Algarve (with Osorio) and Alentejo (with Reyes). Aguirre and Reyes however really need to be on the top of their game, this will be their biggest race to date and they couldn't wish for a better platform to show themselves to the big world.

Probably a good thing that they will all lose big time in the TTT. More leeway.

 

[Escarabajo]

Manzana Postobon can beef up their roster for next year if they get Betancur.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Manzana Postobon can beef up their roster for next year if they get Betancur.

There really should be a drumroll sound effect on forums

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Which bikes are they riding?

 

[DNP-Old]

Re:

Which bikes are they riding?

They used to ride on Scott, but these days they use Gios.

 

[DNP-Old]

Just like that, they're in the Vuelta. How I don't know, but just a few months as a PCT seem to be enough.