//Bearclaw Cycling// Eat Pasta - Ride Fasta

[Bear]

Three starts in March.
Racing was not boring.
Results more or less ok.
So maybe I start at some of the big races.
It just depends...

[Bear]

I made some more starts because I really like the Spring Classics.
Although my riders refuse to train now, my team is good and strong enough.
I only have some problems with the new sprint system because I dont have much experience in it.

MSR - first race since 2013. Unfortunately ended up in group B. Jonass got 3rd with following EPOs classics.
E3 - I came with a strong team, brought Meo in a good position and limped to 2nd in the sprint.
Gent Wevelgem - Karro followed the decisive attack, 5th.

April with form settings:
RVV - Actually did just one mistake, but that cost me the win with Meo (2nd), Karro 5th
Schelde - no sprinter
Roubaix - Pootjes 12th, could have skipped this race
Fleche - no chance against Gavaggio and his team, Jonass 3rd
LBL - 4 man escape gets through, would have been easy to reel in, but Maurice refused to do sth. It became a nice race in the end, at least for me.

That's it so far.

I start at Romandie too. Just to see how life works with stage races.
If things are clicking, I consider a start at the Giro.
Just because of some nice stages and good memories.

[Bear]

Giro 2015 GTs make this game special. That's why I came back for Giro 2015. This year the parcours suited my team around Antoine Meo very well. Besides the lack of regeneration, I would say the team was perfect. Pauls Jonass, the climber who is strong on 4-6% and good flat skill to keep him fresh very easy. Mikkel Haarup, the youngest of the classics with 52reg to ride a lot after the first big siebs. Kim Savaste, a good and very cheap classic to limit gaps after attacks. PierreAlex Renet, the classic with very good flat skills, was perfect to keep the bunch together. And if there was someone else attacking, Meo took over himself. The flat riders, Coldenhoff, Leok, Tonus and Vlaanderen made their job very good, although just Coldenhoff made it to Milano.

My goals: Points classement, winning stage 7 (Fiuggi) and one mountain stage. It seemed to be difficult to reach these goals because there was Aripov, Senghor and a lot of good climbers plus teams with two climbers in the 23h group. With my early form settings (Meo, Renet and Savaste between stage 4 and 7) I made the right decision. Not only that I won the long stage to Fiuggi, I also won stage 4 to La Spezia. This one is also my highlight of the Giro because the team worked a lot during that day and the finish seemed too hard for a classic. But the strength of the team was on point at this time. Week 1 also was a big step towards the maglia rossa. Some mistakes in week 2 and 3 almost cost me my third goal. I wasn't able to bring Jonass in a good position for a stage win. He should have won the Mortirolo-stage with topform but I was too vain to let him follow anybody. So I decided to go for a mountain stage with a classic in an escape group. On the way to Sestriere Mikkel Haarup made it happen. So it was a really successful Giro for me with a little more than planned. A little bummer because of the mistakes but a big highlight with stage 4.

The next months I will be less active for sure. I plan on riding the big one day races if possible (the fall is packed with my own real races) and some short stage races. Weekends will be the problem. But somehow I need to build the team for the future. I dont know if I will ride next year again. But the team should be there at least.

[Bear]

No races at the moment for me. But changes in the team.
Matiss Karro (bust, just 6 races), Pela Renet (best classic helper) and Meo ("this" Meo) are gone.

Nicolas Pellegrinelli (IT) and Jeffrey Herlings (NL) are in.
Both climbers. Because I was buying the best riders available.
Great duo... looking forward to Giro 16.

For those who dont know JH...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwoA3r8cV14

[Bear]

First race since months. Costa degli Etruschi. It's not the most exciting race (course) of the year. But it was a good possibility to race again. Nicolas Pellegrinelli made the best out of it and won his first race in his first start for the team.
For 2016 there is kind of a plan although it depends on a lot of private stuff. I would like to compete in some of the world tour races especially the Giro.

[Bear]

Unfortunately no Giro for me. I built the team for it so its sad that I cant start.
Anyway, April was good. Actually started at 11 days. One stage win at Leon, 3rd at La Doyenne which should have been a win, but I was stupid enough to believe in Nik's strength instead of hanging at the 3% with 2km to go.

Romandie, which I wanted to win for a long time, was very good. I benefited of SM's too strong climbers and Jeffrey was on point. The team was close to collapse but made it till the end. Now May off and then I check what is possible...

[Bear]

I started to buy some young riders. In winter time the team will be ready to start again. Maybe I start to play again...beware of the bear!

[Bear]

Back with 9 riders now...

[Hansa]

Welcome back

[Bear]

Well, it wont be much of my team at the races but I hope to take part at some events.

[Robyklebt]

Just cheerleading the Donkeys is enough!

Not many leaders right now... Hamish for the future, otherwise you look more like a canon fodder/escape team right now!
Ride and let them escape!

[Bear]

Thats the plan. In Div 7 it's hard to get any really good riders to build a winning team. So I decided to take the most convenient 21y old available each month.

[Bear]

Team presentation // Bearclaw Cycling

The team will be back in Div5 in 2020 although the squad is still shitty and not riding much. It's planned to buy some youth riders to improve the team. In Janauray the team will most likely participate at 5-10 races.

Tim Gajser – Slovenia
Name: Professional Motocross rider Tim Gajser from Ptuj, Slovenia
Starting skills (age 21): 50-70-76-47-43, 50
Current skills (12/19 at age 25): 56-86-76-47-43
Role/Goal: Tim should be kind of a 60-80 to help in hilly terrain. Hopefully he will take some more mountain trainings.

Gautier Paulin – France
Name: Professional Motocross rider Gautier Paulin from Draguignan, France
Starting skills (age 21): 48-65-78-48-47, 35
Current skills (12/19 at age 24): 48-79-79-48-47
Role/Goal: Gautier is a cheap helper and just needs to save energy of his team mates.

Finn Iles – Canada
Name: Professional mountain bike racer from Banff, Alberta
Starting skills (age 21): 53-72-78-54-47, 50
Current skills (12/19 at age 24): 57-85-78-54-47
Role/Goal: Finn should be 60-80 for hilly terrain and also a rider for pave classics (82,9 pave now). Also he can be used as a helper for Arminas.

Arminas Jasikonis – Lithuania
Name: Professional Motocross rider
Starting skills (age 21): 50-71-78-56-56, 36
Current skills (12/19 at age 24): 50-85-78-56-60
Role/Goal: Leader for pave classics. Furthermore Flat rider and “sprinter” . He wants to be in topform at Paris-Roubaix.

Hugo Svard – Finland
Name: Professional Enduro rider
Starting skills (age 21): 46-72-76-47-56, 52
Current skills (12/19 at age 24): 48-84-78-47-56
Role/Goal: Helper and flat rider. Also an option for escape groups on easy terrain.

Pol Tarres - Spain
Name: Professional Hard Enduro rider
Starting skills (age 21): 47-69-72-49-48, 48
Current skills (12/19 at age 22): 47-77-77-49-48
Role/Goal: Helper for pave and flat races.

Blake Gutzeit – South Africa
Name: Professional Hard Enduro rider
Starting skills (age 21): 49-67-79-48-44, 63
Current skills (12/19 at age 21): 53-71-81-48-44
Role/Goal: Helper for hilly terrain. Escape groups. After his great training in the beginning, the goal is to get another 60-80 with lots of reg. In Bearclaw tradition he is brilliant in downhill.

Hamish MacDonald – New Zealand
Name: Professional Enduro rider
Starting skills (age 21): 71-55-77-54-52, 52
Current skills (12/19 at age 21): 75-59-77-54-52
Role/Goal: Leader for tours and hilly one day races. Although he started with less mountain skill than many other climbers, he should be the leader and hopefully he will train well. #TA2020

Adrien VanBeveren – France
Name: Professional Motorcycle offroad rider
Starting skills (age 27): 47-80-76-48-44, 45
Current skills (12/19 at age 27): 47-81-76-48-44
Role/Goal: Adrien is a cheap helper and just needs to save energy of his team mates.

[Bear]

New rider for February

Normally it was planned to buy a classic rider first. But then there was a really good option to get a cheap rider with sprint skill.

Toby Price - Australia
Name: Professional motorcycle offroad rider, Dakar rally winner
Starting skills (age 21): 46-66-78-48-66, 38 (bought for 1.380.010; 95%)
Role/Goal: Toby should develope into a rider with flat and sprint skill. 80 flat and 70+ should be the goal or the other way around.

[Bear]

One more rider for February

A second rider was bought from the youth market for 95% of the value. No perfect skills, but good enough for the price. Actually I didnt expect to get this rider for this price and I was ready to wait for the next option.

Steve Holcombe - Great Britain
Name: Professional Enduro rider
Starting skills (age 21): 55-71-76-52-45, 47 (bought for 1.675.620; 95%)
Role/Goal: Steve should become a 70-80 at least, a classic rider to support Hamish in the mountains.

[Bear]

Tour Down Under 2020

Last stage win was in 2016. I did not participate at many races since then, but it felt like ages. Hugo made it happen on stage 4. I thought this stage might be the one to have a good chance with an escape. With best form for Hugo... it was a good day for the team.

Without any classic rider it was hard to compete. But the team made the best out of it. Hamish followed some attacks by Poke who dominated the tour. Hamish fourth in the GC and one stage win was a solid result.

[Bear]

February Review:

01.02.20: Trofeo Andratx – 22km solo win after attack with Hugo at 42km to go. The peloton was not chasing together and slowed done a little so that Tim saved 2sec at the line. Brave win!
02.02.20: Cadel Evans Great Ocean RR – Cheap team without Hamish. Escape group got no real gap. Late attack by Poke was followed by Steve instead of Finn. So then tried to get Arminas in position but too much behind after last climb.
05.02.20 – 09.02.20: Besseges – GC no goal because off on mountain stage. So every other day in escape. No success in the beginning but going for the mountain categories. Stage three went brilliant with top form of Hugo. He showed his strength in escapes again and won with a dominant sprint.
13.02.20 – 16.02.20: Provence – totally messed up stage one. Thought I could handle a mass sprint but Hugo+Arminas too weak and Toby's sprint bad either.2nd stage missed first 18km and had the helper settings of stage one. Stage 3 was a disappointment again. At Mont Ventoux Hamish was the first climber to attack – too early – so he lost the most time.
19.02.20 – 23.02.20: Ruta del Sol – Hamish 5th overall (2nd in Youth classement). No chances to win a stage but always in the top ranks. So Hamish was in a good position before TT. But there lost too much time to save the white jersey. But a good tour for such a mediocore team.
25.02.20: Premio Lago Llanquihue – Arminas 1st after late attack with Finn. Strong run to the finish and easy sprint to the line, even with a mistake by Finn.
29.02.20: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – Only 4 teams at 23h – so unfortunately not the open race I hoped for. Finn second after following late attack by Lorient. No chance in the sprint. Pol minimized the group after a sieb at km147. Lorient's classics were behind but his pave riders were too strong in the sprint.

Rider of the month

In January nobody was crowned rider of the month although there was the first win since years. Hugo got this win out of an escape on a day with best form. He repeated this at Besseges in February - top form and win out of early escape group. Since Hamish missed to win the youth classement of Ruta del Sol by seconds, it's obvious that Hugo is the rider of the month.

[Bear]

March review:

01.03.20: Autour de Bruxelles – Arminas 2nd – lost in the sprint against Pincemail. First part of the race was slow, no early escape. At Kwaremont (60km to go) Finn set the pace and just the best pave riders could keep up. Arminas was in this group of five. Finn did everthing to create a solid gap. With 36km to go Pincemail, Verhulst, Schreiner and Arminas took over, Finn came back to the peloton. The gap was almost 2min so that some games started. In the end Pincemail was the strongest sprinter.
03.03.20: GP Samyn – Finn second. Dont remember what happened.
08.03.20 – 15.03.20: Paris – Nice: Hamish the leader. He gets the youth classement in the end but it was no big fight about it. 5th in GC is fine – but the group really was not good in climbers. Had some ok daily results but nothing special.
18.03.20 – 20.03.20: Nokere/Denain/Handzame – no good results. I just filled up the peloton.
21.03.20: MSR – Toby my leader but with no real chances against better sprinters with more mtn skill. Fraegg with a good attack. Main group did not chase immediately and was too slow afterwards. With help of Finn, Arminas and Tim, Toby came back to the main group. But was just one of the guys watching.
25.03.20: De Panne – first race after a small break. It was just the warm up for Harelbeke.
27.03.20: Harelbeke – Finn 1st and Arminas 2nd – Gipfel controlled the race, JJ his leader. That was kind of obvious. Strange part was that he did not siebed early with his 60+ mtn armada. Good for me as I good keep my guys fit till Mariaborre. Strong sieb there, Gipfel behind and just a group of 10-15 riders. 4 Bearclaws making the pace. At Kwaremont Finn and Arminas attacked. They gained about a minute. It was the only option for the win and I was pretty sure it wont be enough. But Gipfel kind of surprised with a soft chase. In the end Finn made the difference with topform and good skills. Great win!
28.03.20: Classic Loire – Good escape. Blake in the mix. In the end he followed the right attack and sprinted to victory with just inches ahead. Nice win with 44 sprint and 87 form.
29.03.20: Deinze – Wevelgem: Finn just 9th – sprinter win. Arminas and Tim attacked. Attack was good but not enough to make it to the line. Maybe with Rasmussen online, but not sure. But fun race anyway with trying the attack after a sieb on Kemmelberg.
30.03.20: Cholet Pays de Loire – last race this month for me. Big group from the beginning. It was clear very early that the group will make it. Blake in it by mistake. With 85 form and 44 sprint not the right guy for this escape. Gautier was the guy to go with good form... Blake gets 4th and created some nice chats after resting early :

Finances: + 1.457.084

Rider of the month - March

No question - Finn Iles. In general a good month for Finn with Harelbeke as the highlight. He really likes to separate the group as early as possible. Great type of rider.

[Gipfelstuermer]

Finn Iles. Heroic win at E3 Harelbeke. So will make sure, that our chase is not too "soft" if he escapes during RVV or PR

[Bear]

Maybe I come up with other ideas in April.

[Bear]

Team roster on 31.03.2020

Average skills: 55,18 - 79,27 - 78,18 - 50 - 50,81; 46,90reg; 73,15pave; 25,73years

RSF 310320.PNG (57.8 KiB) Viewed 9717 times

[Bear]

April - Cat2(+) races:

DDV – Arminas 9th . Bad race of me. Seperated the group but was not strong enough to stay in front.

Route Adelie – Arminas 2nd. Small group if I remember correctly. Nothing to keep in mind for a long time.

GP Miduel Indurain – I did a mistake when I set the lineup. With Hamish at home not much to do, just watching the CC dominance.

RVV – big disappointment. Arminas 24th. A lot of mistakes, by the favourites and by myself. The favourites did not talk to each other – kind of a problem for late evening races. Maybe because some people are already sleepy. Escape group was doing good and was allowed to get through. In the main group no hard race. Almost no strong sieb at the climbs. Finn did some siebs at the cobblestones but noone wanted to go ahead. In the end Finn and Arminas did it back to main group – sprint for 5th. Desaster sprint – Nothing more to say. I am looking forward to next year – maybe with a classic rider who can win this race. I am ready to use my team if needed.

La Roue– Arminas 1st, Tim 2nd, Blake 6th – cannibal ride for redemption. Blake in the early group which was going to be caught. Sprinters were not working together really well. So Arminas and Tim attacked with 12km to go. They saved 1sec at the line and easy sprint win for Arminas. Although it couldnt compensate the bad day of RVV, it was nice to get a win just a day after.

Schelde – Toby 3rd, good sprint in end. Attack at the last pave section ** with Arminas and Finn but caught on the last km. For sure, a sieb at both ** could have been more selective. I missed the first section because I just thought about other things and for the second part I decided that ** is not selective enough anyway.

Paris – Roubaix – Arminas 3rd, Finn 4th. The actual plan was to make the race hard as early as possible. With Mosca in the group it was a little different because he set the pace really well, with not so much room to speed up. Mosca with 81,8pave with 66 sprint and 86pave with 90 flat and 53 sprint. Furthermore there was Bone with a better sprinting pave leader and Lorient with his two good sprinting pave riders. So how winning against those riders – either way I would be in a situation with less sprint – even if I can follow 86 pave. So the plan was to have more helpers late in the race to have Finn and Arminas fit for the final. In the end this was a bad idea since you cannot go for two riders in the hardest race of the calender. I had 5 riders at 1000 when the pave sections began so that I was in a good position. Even later when Pol and Tim made it harder in front I was with more helpers. Mosca siebed with Benfatto at Arbre and attacked right after. Nobody followed and Finn kept the gap at 15sec. Bramsen (Bonebreakers), Meslier (Lorient) and Arminas/Finn got back to Benfatto. I still had in my mind that Arminas can win the sprint. Attack with Finn to check who follows who and the chance for the lucky punch. Lorient attacks at the last km – so sprint of Bramsen, Meslier and Arminas – Finn and Benfatto did not follow. Sprint was a desaster for Arminas – just too weak. Next year, next try. I would like to be back with such a great time as this year. Combo Finn/Arminas is just fun to ride with. But we will see...

Brabant – not much to say. Escape worked well in the beginning but then stopped because rider skills were not very balanced. In the main group I tried to go for Toby with help of Arminas/Finn- that failed.

Tro Bro Leon – Arminas 1st and Finn 5th – small group, just 6 teams. Early escape controlled with FL. Fraegg and Adma did a good job to stay in front as long as possible. With just ** hard to get anybody siebed. So Finn/Arminas double attack with 12km to go. Just FL with two and Fraegg can follow – the rest too weak at -1**. With flat power group got through. Arminas waited some km to compensate the sprint skill with king Karl. Arminas the strongest in the end, nice win.

Fleche Wallone – one of the great classic races of Cycling/C4F. This year, just with Hamish 84-61. Just? The Kiwi won an exciting race which was dominated bei Leinad and Ansach. But Hamish kept the pace at the way up to Huy and sprinted to victory. Very surprising win as it was hard to keep Hamish fit. Anyway, one of the highlights so far as April was up and down.

LBL – Hamish 15th after brave attack. 4Km short of an epic day, Hamish was first caught by one of Mangahn's superclassic and then chased down by Lorients bunch of classics. Early group with Adrien/Blake. Although the group got a good gap, Blakes chances against the others were minimal. That's why plan b was started. Hamish and Steve attacked with 96km to go. With a lot of effort and help of Blake, Hamish got a gap of slightly over 4min. But that was not enough against Mangahn and Lorient. Too bad. Hamish was under 100 energy in the end, he tried everything. Maybe I was wasting energy too early. But most likely it was just too much flat parts. Anyway, it was worth a try.

Finances: + 1.239.876 (18 races)

Rider of the month April - Hamish MacDonald

Although Finn or Arminas was planned at the stars for the Spring classic season, it was Hamish who got the prestigous win at FW. With another good performance at LBL (although the result was shit) he earned the April team crown.

[Bear]

New rider for May 20

Since I did not found the rider I am really looking for, I bought this Belgian talent. Depending on his training effort he could become a nice option for the 21 Spring classics.

Joël Robert - Belgium
Name: Former Motocross rider
Starting skills (age 21): 49-61-78-53-60, 40, 67 pave (bought for 1.364.000; 95%)
Role/Goal: Possible leader for PR and RVV in 2021. He will train flat and mountain. I hope for skills like... 58-80-78-5X-6X (80,3pave)

[Bear]

New rider for June 20

Next talent in the team. I couldnt resist to buy this one. Too much tt, but thats ok. Almost impossible to get the perfect/dream riders. Tyler will start his training group with Finn beginning in June. Goal is to reach April 21 in best shape.

Tyler Medaglia - Canada
Name: Motocross rider
Starting skills (age 21): 53-73-79-53-47, 48, 73,3 pave (bought for 1.959.999; ~95%)
Role/Goal: Almost the same skills as Finn Iles, Tyler should become a similar rider and take the same role for the Spring classics and as a 60-80.

[Robyklebt]

Excellent rider, should have looked for 60-80/half-classics too, would have tried to buy that guy for sure.