Teams & Riders NSN Cycling

[Leadbelly]

One podium so far for Vernon in UAE. The train needs a bit of work me thinks (missing Stewart?).

Disappointing stuff again today from the train.

They had numbers going into the finale and with ~3km to go they decided to switch to the other side of the road from everyone else. However the power just wasn't there from the rider on the front and they struggled to make headway against the other prong of the peloton. They got swamped and trapped against the barriers with no obvious way out. Thankfully Vernon managed to get on the end of the Modern Adventure train and thanks to them he ended up with a decent result.

Some more work and practice needed.

 

[markene2]

Anyone know whats up with Lutsenko, cant see he has any race program. his instagram does not have any training pictures since last year either. pretty strange

 

[search]

Anyone know whats up with Lutsenko, cant see he has any race program. his instagram does not have any training pictures since last year either. pretty strange

based on the posts on his wife's Instagram, he is on Tenerife with her and the kids. Looks more like holiday, but who knows

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[pastronef]

2 wins in 2 days in Rwanda.

 

[pastronef]

Einhorn wins stage 6 in Rwanda

 

[Leadbelly]

Not the team's day at Omloop. Didn't see it and the team didn't produce a race report, so I'm not sure what happened.

Final stage in Rwanda today and Kretschy has managed to maintain the large advantage he gained earlier in the race. It's not a long stage by any means, but up and down. The team's just got to be attentive and not let a large, strong break get away with too many of those guys at the 4-5 minute mark. Fingers crossed!

 

[pastronef]

podium for Hofstetter in Le Samyn today. nice showing

 

[Leadbelly]

podium for Hofstetter in Le Samyn today. nice showing

Yeah he did well. He told Direct Velo that he'd burnt a few matches earlier and that was why his sprint wasn't so good even though he was kinda on the wheel of Meeus.

It made up a little for what happened at KBK when he looked to be in prime position for a podium from the overhead shot ie. on Brennan's wheel, but when they switched back to the head-on camera, he'd disappeared and ended up back in 11th. He said it was a combination of getting pushed and then boxed - not sure who by.

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Girmay's results at the weekend were a disappointment. Only saw KBK and he looked off the pace there on the climbs. He's at PN next (provisionally). However I only see one (?) sprint stage and who knows if echelons could make that a tougher day.

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Kretschy held on easily in Rwanda. The parcour seemed a lot easier this year. I do wonder if the German could make a mid-season transfer up to the main team. Williams has his knee issues, Lutsenko is AWOL, Blackmore's only doing short rides on Strava. If they need an extra pair of dom legs for WT events.....

Obviously the rest of the team did well too in Rwanda with several stage wins. It was a good run-out from Tarling especially I thought. No real results last year for him, so it's good to see him getting involved and actually affecting the outcome of stages and the overall. Marti's GC was the only blemish. That's a few times now that he's shown this inconsistency. Maybe one-dayers and stages is all we can expect from him for the time being.

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Line-up for SB:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2029501341265985760

View: https://x.com/NSNCyclingTeam/status/2029501341265985760


Really not expecting anything from the race.

 

[Leadbelly]

Watts needs his head examined.

 

[Leadbelly]

Well there ended up being quite a few more sprints in PN than I first thought when looking at the parcour and as such it's a bit disappointing not to get a win especially when the opposition wasn't as tough as it could have been. Still, a 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7th on those four stages are okay.

Obviously there were no GC ambitions here, but I might have hoped for a bit of a better showing from Sheehan. Some break action would have been nice to see from him and he usually goes well in bad weather (?).

Lutsenko might have gone well here if he'd been available. I see he's now down to start his season at the Region Pays de la Loire Tour at the start of April.

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Pinarello continued his fine start to the season over in TA. I'm interested to see how he gets on when he gets to a bigger climb rather than just the hilly stuff so far. Maybe we'll see at Gran Camino, but I haven't looked at the profiles.

Koggy was close to a podium in the final sprint. Strong however didn't get much of a look in and I doubt in he's in the form he was in at the end of last year going into the big one this weekend.

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https://twitter.com/x/status/2033879158883766412

View: https://x.com/NSNCyclingTeam/status/2033879158883766412


Kiaan "Iron Mike" Watts also makes his comeback.

 

[Potomac]

"Iron Mike" ??? Is he from Pittsburgh? Or maybe Youngstown?

 

[Leadbelly]

"Iron Mike" ??? Is he from Pittsburgh? Or maybe Youngstown?

I was referencing his right hook.

 

[Leadbelly]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2035387303321895198

View: https://x.com/NSNCyclingTeam/status/2035387303321895198


Not quite the best result at a monument from a New Zealander as George Bennett got second at Il Lombardia several years ago. Don't think he put his nose in the wind much during the race. In fact you can hardly see him in the sprint as he's hidden behind Pedersen for most of it. Don't take that as a complaint though.

It more than makes up for the poor results/performances in the recent one-day races (both main team and devo). Sprints and the semi-classics are meant to be where the team has strength and some depth, but both Danilith Nokere Koerse and Bredene Koksijde Classic were very disappointing.

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Lutsenko is back for Catalunya this week. He joins the other veteran climbers in Bennett and Hirt. If there is any success it's more likely to come earlier in the week with Vernon or maybe Gilmore.

 

[Leadbelly]

I could probably just copy and paste a few remarks with a few adjustments from earlier races to show how this week has gone.....

Well there ended up being quite a few more sprints in Catalunya than I first thought when looking at the parcour........

.....and better results. The first two days were a bit disappointing, but the stage finishes in reality were just too tough. However they bounced back and with some luck on the shortened stage took two victories and a second. Stewart was riding himself back into form after his collarbone fracture earlier in the year and his help was crucial in the first victory keeping Vernon in a great position.

Gilmore blew himself up on the first stage finish. Again though he got better later on in the race and knew the wheel to get on in today's finale. A great win, even if had to wait quite a while for a team mate to celebrate with!

Bennett did his thing on the climbing days. He actually did a bit better than I thought he would, but still nothing amazing.

Lutsenko was a DNF on his comeback and Hirt looks a long way off his previous level. It's a fair possibility that the leg break he sustained last year will mean this is his final season.

....poor results/performances in the recent one-day races. Sprints and the semi-classics are meant to be where the team has strength and some depth, but In Flanders Fields, E3 and Ronde Van Brugge were very disappointing.

Zero results really in all three races. Girmay supposedly had a mech at E3 which took him out of contention for the sprint for 6th (?), but there didn't seem to be any excuses today with his backwards sprint in the finale.

Still a few big races to come, but it looks like the classics squad just needs a break and a battery recharge instead. Maybe we'll some different tactics and not put all the eggs in the Girmay or Hofstetter basket.

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Shout out to the devo squad for two wins in Alentejo with both coming from Verbrugghe. The second one was pretty impressive as I was sure Mesa was going to come round him. Maybe he could be an in-house replacement for Boivin if he retires at the end of the year?

Marriage snagged a top-ten in the GC and E1 Ben Morin did well too. Nice to see a real youngster make a mark and not just the older guys in the team.

 

[jmdirt]

NSN on top of the box! GilMORE!

 

[pastronef]

BANG! Gilmore! (just watched the stage now)

2 stage win for NSN, in Spain, in Catalunya! great ride for the team. I'm very happy