Teams & Riders Polti-Kometa

[May0maniac]

Habtom has a big engine, finished 7th in the Doha MJ ITT with minimal training on a TT bike, so I don't knoe if he's a proper cllimber or more of a big engine who can climb and has a decent sprint like Debesay or Berhane.
From what I've heard he was a bit hard to deal with, that's the reason why the Bike Aid team didn't want to resign him, but he seems to do just fine riding for his new team, maybe it was just the mentality and the language barrier (as far as I know he doesn't speek english/only knows a few words).
Moschetti seems to be an interesting guy, he loves reading and hates computers, apparently he only uses a computer when he has to use it for work (whereabouts and similar stuff).

 

[LaFlorecita]

I don't know about Habtom, but you may be right. It seems he got into the break, so it wasn't really a 4th place in a sprint. But I'm glad to see him doing well and hope the language barrier isn't too bad. I know the Spanish don't really speak English all that well either (I saw a U23 Polartec rider making fun of Diego Sevilla for attempting some tweets in English ) but they can at least easily communicate with each other.
Interesting about Moschetti, that makes him pretty likeable to me. I noticed he hardly ever posts anything on social media which is rare for someone his age

 

[May0maniac]

Yes, I hope that riding for a Spanish team will be easier for him.
Here's a short article about him doing well durning the last Giro del Trentino despite the cold weather (on stage 3 we had -10°C in the morning).
http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/hes-never-seen-snow-doesnt-know-deal-cold-326123

 

[LaFlorecita]

Some news in Gazzetta, apparently Moschetti has an agreement with Trek-Segafredo for 2019 and 2020. Not too surprising considering the fact he was a trainee for them last year and he's riding for their feeder team, but still nice to see his impressive start of the season rewarded.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Another sprint win for Moschetti today next race for the boys is 1.1 GP Miguel Indurain

 

[Salvarani]

Re: Polartec-Kometa

Moschetti will be riding for Trek-Segafredo in 2019 and 2020.

Wonder if Contador might have had something to do with that

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Polartec-Kometa

Moschetti will be riding for Trek-Segafredo in 2019 and 2020.

Wonder if Contador might have had something to do with that

Well Contador provided him with the platform to show his ability, but I very much doubt if Alberto had to do much persuading on his behalf. When your stagiare from last year takes six UCI ranked wins in just over a month [!] riding for your feeder team it doesn’t take much cycling knowledge to realise that signing him is a good idea. It’s just a question of how quickly they can get his name on a pro contract before other WT teams start making offers. A young guy winning like that can basically pick a team of his choice.

When does he move to Trek? Do Polartec still have him for the rest of this season? Or will he be a stagiare again?

 

[JoeD1997]

Re: Polartec-Kometa

Moschetti will be riding for Trek-Segafredo in 2019 and 2020.

Wonder if Contador might have had something to do with that

When does he move to Trek? Do Polartec still have him for the rest of this season? Or will he be a stagiare again?

He officially joins Trek January 1 2019. Polartec keep him for the rest of this season. He may ride as a stagiaire for the team, although to me that doesn't make much sense since he will target l'Avenir sprints (Spain didn't take part last year but their participation at Gent-Wevelgem U23 last Sunday indicates they will take the Nations Cup seriously this year to make it into l'Avenir) and Trek already have him signed, so may prefer to use the stagiaire spot on another young rider they may wish to evaluate. Probably find out if they have re-recruited him as a stagiaire around June/July.

Completely agree that Contador probably had little/nothing to do with this deal being done. While its very likely no one had to vouch for him to Trek, if anyone did it is more likely to be Basso than Bertie.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Kevin Inkelaar was the team's best finisher in Klasika Amorebieta, he finished 21st. Isaac Canton and Diego Sevilla DNF'ed after spending the whole night on the road after racing U23 RVV yesterday
Meanwhile, Carlos Rodriguez, of the Polartec-Kometa junior team, finished 6th in Paris-Roubaix Espoirs.

The team has been invited to Tour de l'Ain (2.1) at the end of May, where Alberto will be guest of honor

 

[Ruudz0r]

Re:

Kevin Inkelaar was the team's best finisher in Klasika Amorebieta, he finished 21st. Isaac Canton and Diego Sevilla DNF'ed after spending the whole night on the road after racing U23 RVV yesterday
Meanwhile, Carlos Rodriguez, of the Polartec-Kometa junior team, finished 6th in Paris-Roubaix Espoirs.

The team has been invited to Tour de l'Ain (2.1) at the end of May, where Alberto will be guest of honor

Carlos Rodriguez was in the U19 (junior race, not espoirs), but a very nice race by him, he was also good in GW 2 weeks ago (14th) + did very well in some Spanish races where he basically was best 1st year junior in all races. From what I have seen of him in the u17 category I think he is a very versatile rider, but this is impressive as a 1st year junior from Spain (they dont normally perform that well in U19 cat) and as I think Rodriguez is suited much better to different races. Guess he also made his decision as he was doing Road Racing, BMX and Sailing at a high level last year.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Kevin Inkelaar was the team's best finisher in Klasika Amorebieta, he finished 21st. Isaac Canton and Diego Sevilla DNF'ed after spending the whole night on the road after racing U23 RVV yesterday
Meanwhile, Carlos Rodriguez, of the Polartec-Kometa junior team, finished 6th in Paris-Roubaix Espoirs.

The team has been invited to Tour de l'Ain (2.1) at the end of May, where Alberto will be guest of honor

Carlos Rodriguez was in the U19 (junior race, not espoirs), but a very nice race by him, he was also good in GW 2 weeks ago (14th) + did very well in some Spanish races where he basically was best 1st year junior in all races. From what I have seen of him in the u17 category I think he is a very versatile rider, but this is impressive as a 1st year junior from Spain (they dont normally perform that well in U19 cat) and as I think Rodriguez is suited much better to different races. Guess he also made his decision as he was doing Road Racing, BMX and Sailing at a high level last year.

You're right I typed that without thinking For such a young rider his performances have been amazing.
I am wondering if he will ride for a Belgian team next year, if I recall correctly there was some sort of 'exchange program' between the Fundacion Contador team and some Belgian youth teams a couple years ago which saw some Spanish riders race (part of) a season in Belgium.

 

[Ruudz0r]

It was with Tieltse Rennerclub, but I dont think they still do that, though I am not sure.

 

[LaFlorecita]

From June 1st, Juan Pedro Lopez will join the continental team after an impressive start of the season in the U23 ranks.

http://sub23.fundacioncontadorteam.com/juan-pedro-lopez-se-incorpora-al-polartec-kometa-continental/

 

[LaFlorecita]

Nice, Michel Ries finished 11th on today's tough MTF in Tour de l'Ain, ahead of Calmejane he is also in 11th place overall

 

[LaFlorecita]

And in the junior ranks, Carlos Rodriguez won stage 2b of the Trophée Centre Morbihan. He might just be the most exciting prospect of all 3 teams. This is his first year at junior level and his results are pretty amazing https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/carlos-rodriguez-cano

 

[DNP-Old]

John Stiven Ramírez, a former mountain biker, will join the U23 team. Another Colombian for Bert.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

John Stiven Ramírez, a former mountain biker, will join the U23 team. Another Colombian for Bert.

I guess with Juanpe Lopez moving up to the continental team, there is a free spot available.
I don't know anything about him, I'll have to read a bit there is some info here http://sub23.fundacioncontadorteam.com/el-colombiano-john-stiven-ramirez-munoz-a-prueba-con-el-polartec-kometa-sub23/

I think it's cool they are also giving foreigners a chance in the junior and U23 teams

 

[DNP-Old]

Re: Re:

John Stiven Ramírez, a former mountain biker, will join the U23 team. Another Colombian for Bert.

I guess with Juanpe Lopez moving up to the continental team, there is a free spot available.
I don't know anything about him, I'll have to read a bit there is some info here http://sub23.fundacioncontadorteam.com/el-colombiano-john-stiven-ramirez-munoz-a-prueba-con-el-polartec-kometa-sub23/

I think it's cool they are also giving foreigners a chance in the junior and U23 teams

Jhon Gutiérrez, one of the sponsors of Fundacion has interests in Colombia, so it is likely we'll see more in the team in the future. I like it.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Polartec-Kometa

Cool kit, but why does Moschetti get a kit in his national colors but not Canton, while both are U23 champions of their country as far as I can see? maybe that is why poor Isaac looks a little lost in thought.

Or perhaps, in true Spanish fashion, there is a flag on there somewhere that I cannot spot

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Polartec-Kometa

Cool kit, but why does Moschetti get a kit in his national colors but not Canton, while both are U23 champions of their country as far as I can see? maybe that is why poor Isaac looks a little lost in thought.

Or perhaps, in true Spanish fashion, there is a flag on there somewhere that I cannot spot

As far as i know Moschetti got his jersey mainly for the U23 Giro, they want to emphasisethe fact that he's riding the race as the Italian u23 NC.
Source: http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/2018/05/29/112576/moschetti-un-tricolore-tutto-nuovo-polartec-kometa

 

[LaFlorecita]

Cool, that makes sense, I suppose

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Polartec-Kometa

These are our 6 aces for the Baby Giro. Lots of climbing in this race, a prologue and a final TT - with a very interesting format, the riders will start according to their GC gaps, no drafting allowed. First to the finish is the overall victor.
We are of course going to be looking for Moschetti in the sprints, and I think Michel Ries should be the best rider in the mountains, considering the form he showed recently in Tour de l'Ain. Juanpe Lopez is being thrown in at the deep end, expectations for him shouldn't be too high. Personally I would have liked to see Awet Habtom here as in my eyes he is one of the strongest climbers on the team.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Polartec-Kometa

These are our 6 aces for the Baby Giro. Lots of climbing in this race, a prologue and a final TT - with a very interesting format, the riders will start according to their GC gaps, no drafting allowed. First to the finish is the overall victor.
We are of course going to be looking for Moschetti in the sprints, and I think Michel Ries should be the best rider in the mountains, considering the form he showed recently in Tour de l'Ain. Juanpe Lopez is being thrown in at the deep end, expectations for him shouldn't be too high. Personally I would have liked to see Awet Habtom here as in my eyes he is one of the strongest climbers on the team.

I thought the same about Habtom, but then I saw that he DNF the Tour de l'Ain, maybe he crashed/has some health problems?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Polartec-Kometa

These are the results for the prologue, all guys nicely inside the top60, although I can't find Diego Sevilla's time anywhere.
Obviously a good result for Moschetti, I expected maybe a little more from Gamper and Canton, but maybe it was too short for them. Ries limited the damage with his GC options in mind. Nice time also for Lopez in his first race for the team.
7 MOSCHETTI Matteo 52.105 0:06
26 LOPEZ Juan Pedro 51.097 0:12
27 GAMPER Patrick 51.097 ,,
44 RIES Michel 50.446 0:16
59 CANTÓN Isaac 50.127 0:18

Edit: found Diego he was 40th at 15s

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Polartec-Kometa

I thought the same about Habtom, but then I saw that he DNF the Tour de l'Ain, maybe he crashed/has some health problems?

I don't know anything about that, but I kinda hope it's something like that, and not visa troubles again.