Teams & Riders Polti-Kometa

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Who was the Polartec rider who hit the front to bring back the CCC attacker in the last Km for Moschetti? Very strong from him. Moschetti was very strong too, but at this point that is hardly a surprise.

That was Stefano Oldani, who is with Polartec as a trainee. That was very strong indeed. I think we'll definitely see him with Polartec next year unless another team signs him instead.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

What the hell was that about with CCC? The guy just swung right out of the line to bodycheck a Polartec rider who was moving the team up to the front. Stupid and genuinely dangerous. Then Moschetti arrived and started having what looked like less than polite words with the CCC rider. He was giving him the Italian hand gesture repertoire.

 

[Narce_]

Re:

Well yes, Moschetti is quite a weak climber but if the climb isn't that hard, he could survive. Think the pace will be high though.

I look forward to today's stage. Moschetti himself said that the climb seems too hard for him, and he's going for points. He also said that stage 1 finish was indeed rising, and it was very hard. I managed to talk to him yesterday before the start of the stage (I know these aren't the most creative questions, but wanted to ask something other than 'Do you like Hungary?' but not too personal.)
I also noticed that one of the guys is using a Merida bike instead of Trek, as it turned out, it was Oldani's, because he's just a stagiaire.

I watched the end of the stage on TV - I couldn't believe what was happening! Polartec-Kometa had to chase practically alone - are the other teams so afraid of them (especially Moschetti) already? These are just some random young guys (ok, talented ones, under Alberto's guidance) against half-pros like CCC and Androni (with a past Giro stage winner in their line-up)!

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

What the hell was that about with CCC? The guy just swung right out of the line to bodycheck a Polartec rider who was moving the team up to the front. Stupid and genuinely dangerous. Then Moschetti arrived and started having what looked like less than polite words with the CCC rider. He was giving him the Italian hand gesture repertoire.

Just saw that. No clue. Perhaps the CCC guys think the Polarteckies are getting too confident. It was cool to see Moschetti standing up for his teammate.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Well yes, Moschetti is quite a weak climber but if the climb isn't that hard, he could survive. Think the pace will be high though.

I look forward to today's stage. Moschetti himself said that the climb seems too hard for him, and he's going for points. He also said that stage 1 finish was indeed rising, and it was very hard. I managed to talk to him yesterday before the start of the stage (I know these aren't the most creative questions, but wanted to ask something other than 'Do you like Hungary?' but not too personal.)
I also noticed that one of the guys is using a Merida bike instead of Trek, as it turned out, it was Oldani's, because he's just a stagiaire.

I watched the end of the stage on TV - I couldn't believe what was happening! Polartec-Kometa had to chase practically alone - are the other teams so afraid of them (especially Moschetti) already? These are just some random young guys (ok, talented ones, under Alberto's guidance) against half-pros like CCC and Androni (with a past Giro stage winner in their line-up)!

So cool that you got to talk to him. So indeed he is not bothered about the final victory (he is honestly quite a poor climber). Yeah, also surprising to me that they got so little help. You'd think especially Androni would want to bring back the break as well, as Belletti is surely as big a favorite for the sprints as Moschetti.

 

[LaFlorecita]

José Antonio García will move up to the Continental team in 2019. This season he got 5 victories: 3 stage wins, one one-day race win and a GC victory. He seems to be a climby sprinter type.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Interesting new signing for the U23 team: Italian Alessandro Fancellu, bronze medalist in yesterday's junior road race.

http://sub23.fundacioncontadorteam.com/10370-2/

 

[LaFlorecita]

Two new Italian signings for the continental team: Stefano Oldani (1998) who raced as a trainee for the team in Hungary, and Antonio Puppio (1999) who was 2nd in the junior time trial at the 2017 World championships.

DS Dario Andriotto:
"Puppio has a very fast sprint and he is very good in a discipline like time trial. He has that double facet, because in small groups his top speed is very interesting. And when he’s in good condition he can defend himself in the climbs"
"Stefano is a very complete rider. We loved how well he performed. He’s a good time trial cyclist, he’s fast, he’s not out of tune going up and we think he has an immovable margin for improvement"

http://polarteckometateam.com/en/antonio-puppio-and-stefano-oldani-polartec-kometa-riders-for-next-season/

 

[LaFlorecita]

Junior Italian champion Samuel Rubino joins the continental team next year, he also won Trofeo Buffoni a few weeks ago.

 

[LaFlorecita]

2019 roster for the Continental team, 12 riders. Definitely a bit more South European-centred this year.

Staying:
Michel Ries, Luxembourg, 1998
Diego Pablo Sevilla, Spain, 1996
Awet Habtom, Eritrea, 1998
Isaac Canton, Spain, 1996
Juan Camacho, Spain, 1995
Michele Gazzoli, Italy, 1999
Juan Pedro Lopez, Spain, 1997

New arrivals:
Samuele Rubino, Italy, 2000
Daniel Viegas, Portugal, 1998
Stefano Oldani, Italy, 1998
Juan Antonio Garcia, Spain, 1996
Antonio Puppio, Italy, 1999

Leaving the team:
Patrick Gamper (back to Tirol)
Kevin Inkelaar (to Groupama U23)
Wilson Estiben Peña (unknown)
Miguel Angel Ballesteros (unknown)
Matteo Moschetti (to Trek-Segafredo)

 

[JoeD1997]

Re:

2019 roster for the Continental team, 12 riders. Definitely a bit more South European-centred this year.

Staying:
Michel Ries, Luxembourg, 1998
Diego Pablo Sevilla, Spain, 1996
Awet Habtom, Eritrea, 1998
Isaac Canton, Spain, 1996
Juan Camacho, Spain, 1995
Michele Gazzoli, Italy, 1999
Juan Pedro Lopez, Spain, 1997

New arrivals:
Samuele Rubino, Italy, 2000
Daniel Viegas, Portugal, 1998
Stefano Oldani, Italy, 1998
Juan Antonio Garcia, Spain, 1996
Antonio Puppio, Italy, 1999

Leaving the team:
Patrick Gamper (back to Tirol)
Kevin Inkelaar (to Groupama U23)
Wilson Estiben Peña (unknown)
Miguel Angel Ballesteros (unknown)
Matteo Moschetti (to Trek-Segafredo)

I presume the focus will remain U23s and young guys racing pro events, since they will only have 7 riders eligible for U23 races in 2019? Makes sense, I think the team only did Giro Valle d'Aosta and Baby Giro in 2018 anyway. Guys like Ries and JuanPe Lopez can race Nations Cup with national teams to supplement their calendar.

 

[LaFlorecita]

The junior, U23 and Continental teams will be called Kometa Cycling Team next year as Polartec will stop sponsoring.

 

[Tim Booth]

Re: Polartec-Kometa

Gruppo Uvet (Italian company based in Milan, employs more than a thousand people and in has [2017] a turnover of 2,900 million euros) is new sponsor.

 

[Nirvana]

There was an article on yesterday Gazzetta about the team, the new sponsor is not the only one, in january they are going to announce another one, apparently very big (the article say "una multinazionale"), and they plan to step up to professional level in 2020 and even to WT in the future.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Another big sponsor would be amazing. But I am not sure I want them to move up to professional level. The team was set up originally to provide an opportunity for young Spanish riders to step up and I am afraid that would be lost.

I saw that the Italian junior national championship, Alessio Acco, will be racing for the U23 team next year. CQ ranking has four Hungarian riders listed on the Continental team's page but I didn't see any announcement. Not surprised, it was to be expected with Kometa as the sole title sponsor.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Polartec-Kometa

New kit for 2019, made by the same Spanish brand as the beautiful new Caja Rural kit.

I am not a huge fan of the color and hoped they would go for blue and green like in their logo. The design itself is decent and the sleeves remind me of the Trek-Segafredo kit.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Our boys for the Volta Comunitat Valenciana

Michel Ries and Juanpe Lopez are probably our cards for the GC, and Michele Gazzoli for the single flat stage.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Diego Sevilla and Joan Bou (who raced with the Fundacion for 4 years before joining Nippo) in the break today. Happy days

 

[LaFlorecita]

Edit: looks like this result missed some names so our boys are pushed back a few places. Still a great performance

Two Kometa boys in the top-30 - Juanpe Lopez 22nd and Michel Ries 30th! Excellent result!
Anxious to see where Lopez ends up overall, Ries lost a lot of time yesterday after a mechanical

 

[LaFlorecita]

6th place for Gazzoli in today's sprint, although quite a bit behind the first 5, still an amazing result. He is the youngest rider in the race.

 

[perico]

I've been impressed with Lopez since he moved up to the team in the middle of last season. He seems to be rapidly improving. He will make it as a pro.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I've been impressed with Lopez since he moved up to the team in the middle of last season. He seems to be rapidly improving. He will make it as a pro.

Agree. Also Maté and Lobato who are from the same region in Spain are talking him up on social media. I think he could make the jump next season, but perhaps a season at ProConti could also work for him. Maybe if Kometa move up to ProConti as has been rumored.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Our best and only finisher in Murcia was Juanpe Lopez. 32nd overall, looking at the pictures seems he showed himself as well.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Tour of Antalya is coming up, let's have a look at our team. Last year this race was very successful for the team with two stage wins for Moschetti and a third place overall for Awet Habtom. This year's team again looks promising with Gazzoli for the sprint stages and Juanpe Lopez and Michel Ries for the mountains, all three showed pretty good shape in Valencia so it'll be interesting to see how they perform here.

 

[LaFlorecita]

2nd on stage 3's MTF for Juan Pedro Lopez, behind Szymon Rekita and ahead of Ruben Plaza. Not further information available yet.

Edit: Stefano Oldani finished 8th, Michel Ries finished 15th. Lopez is 4th on GC. Tomorrow is the last stage, a sprint stage, but unfortunately Gazzoli crashed yesterday and hurt his shoulder and was a DNS today.