At Milan-San Remo there was one raging favourite for the win. The Slovakian national champion Peter Sagan had millions waged on him crossing the line and performing yet another idiosyncratic victory celebration. The victor in La Primavera was, to many, an obscure winner riding for an even obscurer team. Gerald Ciolek had previously won the German national road race title and U/23 road world champions but didn’t have great opportunities at either the Columbia, Milram or Quick Step teams. When MTN-Qhubeka offered the German a contract it was as team leader and guaranteed support.
The South African team entered the first monument of 2013 happy enough to have been invited. The organisers RCS had taken a gamble on inviting the small the team to its races as they have preferred, as does the French ASO, to invite Italian wildcards then foreign teams. With the farcical Katusha saga looking likely to compromise the place of pro-continental squads at World Tour races, thankfully no team has received a withdrawal notice for races because of their inclusion into the World Tour ranks. When Ciolek signed for MTN it was considered by many to be a significant step down for the sprinter. Although results had dried up he was still a young sprinter with loads of talent and the new team seemed like the environment for him flourish in.
The decision to step down from World Tour ranks after several years would be unthinkable for many of the World Tour riders. The risk of not being invited to races and taking a pay cut being two reasons why they would resist. However as Ciolek has shown, a pro-conti team can provide support that a second string sprinter would never receive at Team Sky or BMC unless it was a smaller race. Heinrich Haussler is another example of a rider who stepped down a level after a few seasons at Garmin. He and Ciolek have both said of their teams that they have the most professional set up they have ever encountered. This is coming from seasoned riders no less and both are riding for new or only recently created teams.
In the finale of Milan-San Remo, Sagan and Fabian Cancellara were too busy watching each other to consider Ciolek’s chances for the win. These two riders have been tipped by many to dominate the podiums of the classics season and Ciolek would be just another rider chewed up and spat out by the two. However, Ciolek was slipping under the radar as a pro-conti and wasn’t seen to be any threat at all. For many of the World Tour teams there is a hunger which appears to be lacking. Sagan opened up is sprint all but certain this would be his first monument win. Alas, the young Slovakian may have been the smartest but he is still learning the tricks of the trade. Ciolek was riding for a lesser team than Sagan’s World Tour Cannondale team but he has years of experience at the higher level.
Ciolek won’t be flying under anyone’s radar no longer, nor will his team. MTN-Qhubeka were an interesting prospect as the first African team in the peloton but now their idiosyncrasies are well are truly trumped by their winning ways
The South African team entered the first monument of 2013 happy enough to have been invited. The organisers RCS had taken a gamble on inviting the small the team to its races as they have preferred, as does the French ASO, to invite Italian wildcards then foreign teams. With the farcical Katusha saga looking likely to compromise the place of pro-continental squads at World Tour races, thankfully no team has received a withdrawal notice for races because of their inclusion into the World Tour ranks. When Ciolek signed for MTN it was considered by many to be a significant step down for the sprinter. Although results had dried up he was still a young sprinter with loads of talent and the new team seemed like the environment for him flourish in.
The decision to step down from World Tour ranks after several years would be unthinkable for many of the World Tour riders. The risk of not being invited to races and taking a pay cut being two reasons why they would resist. However as Ciolek has shown, a pro-conti team can provide support that a second string sprinter would never receive at Team Sky or BMC unless it was a smaller race. Heinrich Haussler is another example of a rider who stepped down a level after a few seasons at Garmin. He and Ciolek have both said of their teams that they have the most professional set up they have ever encountered. This is coming from seasoned riders no less and both are riding for new or only recently created teams.
In the finale of Milan-San Remo, Sagan and Fabian Cancellara were too busy watching each other to consider Ciolek’s chances for the win. These two riders have been tipped by many to dominate the podiums of the classics season and Ciolek would be just another rider chewed up and spat out by the two. However, Ciolek was slipping under the radar as a pro-conti and wasn’t seen to be any threat at all. For many of the World Tour teams there is a hunger which appears to be lacking. Sagan opened up is sprint all but certain this would be his first monument win. Alas, the young Slovakian may have been the smartest but he is still learning the tricks of the trade. Ciolek was riding for a lesser team than Sagan’s World Tour Cannondale team but he has years of experience at the higher level.
Ciolek won’t be flying under anyone’s radar no longer, nor will his team. MTN-Qhubeka were an interesting prospect as the first African team in the peloton but now their idiosyncrasies are well are truly trumped by their winning ways
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