Written by Navarone Cycling Team at 12:56 21/10-2021
We were about to write a team recap for S58, after hiding ourselves like cockroaches at the end of S57 because we didn't win anything significant. But then we noticed that our S58 can be simply summarized by one management move, and its 2 main consequences in the sports side, plus some nice temporal coincidences:
* Selling the CB team to strenghten the SP team, and, as a result:
* Radko getting very solid results all accross the season, and
* Antonov having his best season ever, and likely the best season from anyone this team ever had.
The ripple effects of selling the CB team have not been fully felt yet, but is assumed that is is in 1-3 seasons where the lack of points in that department will be felt, and we might miss important targets like Germany Tour. At the same time, the team was degrading its performance, and we used a good moment to sell with the hype of trains and need of LO2. But at the moment, this win-now move brought strong SP reinforcements (Johannesen, Haavarsholm) that have been crucial in supporting the SP team all accross the season.
Radko, besides his important stints as captain, has also done an unparallelled job being the main lead out man in all tours. His creditable 3rd in Norwich-London and a win in Junin - Buenos Aires have been his main results, though one can't summarize his season without mentioning his amazing run at the World Tour. Since Uzbekistan is extremely unlikely to score, we'll also be supporting the Czech Republic in the last SP race of the WT season, and hope for another win for Radko. Management believes the 675k transfer fee we paid looks cheaper and cheaper every day he stays at the team, and we hope he stays within our structure until retirement.
Antonov's season might very well be this team's all-time crowning achievement, along with the 5 consecutive TvA wins by Rolf. Winning Helsinki, GT SC, 2 GT stages, and 2 coveted races of the FR calendar, and finishing off in style with Lübeck - Hannover, along with 5 other results, put him at 14 wins and 40 results, making it likely that he becomes the all-time team leader in both departments, and hopefully the first rider ever from Navarone to enter the Kenny Hakoon list. 1500 points, for 2nd in the live ranking, and an astounding 185k in earnings, round up this season. Antonov is not one to celebrate early, but he likes to think he has very solid chances to also win the individual FR competition, and hopefully make a solid case for sprinter of the season also.
We don't expect this string of fantastic results to continue forever, since management is well aware that Radko and Antonov both turn 30 this season, and we know well how races tend to favour riders slightly below this age. Nonetheless, nothing can take this season away from us.
Plans for next season:
* Top9 performance in N-L, maybe in TF
* Top 2 in Vuelta SC
* Essex Stage 3 (yes I want stage performer gold achievement)
* NEW STUFF > Strong bid for Cali in TF, if I haven't triggered accidentally all my riders by then
* Helsinki & GT duo with Antonov, ranking permitting. Hopefully Helsinki is a win, for GT a stage and 2-4 in the SC is the target.
* NEW STUFF > YOLO bid for Nederlandse GC with whoever is still not accidentally triggered by D78, ranking permitting. If all goes well might do a duo attempt with Johannesen for YC + Ochoa for a decent GC placement but likely no chance of winning. It is assumed that next season we won't be so lucky, and losing 500 points is a given since no CB team, so we could be close to signing up. We won't give up signing to GT to purposefully drop for Nederlandse though.
Team goes into slumber mode with immediate effect to recharge all important guys and we'll just make the pretense of an attempt at Milano - Torino, for the semiclassic achievement. Hopefully this is still enough to keep us in the top10 at the end of the season, something our manager would like to cross of his bucket list also.
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Comments
Good luck the next season.
Antonov has indeed been amazing, congratulations! It will not even take a season for him to become the best Uzbek in history
Amazing season for Antonov and the whole Navarone team !
Congrats on a fantastic season!
Congratulations. Hope you can have another Antonov when he becomes grampa ;) or a Rolf.
Thanks! I am aware he still has good seasons ahead, just not *that* good. I think that won't repeat, and that's fine. Hopefully another Helsinki might still be in the legs though.
NJ: don't worry, my TF rider is likely to be Karcev or Upton. I'd be much more worried about Fragoso Trinta, if dustin sends him back. By 'strong bid' I mean racing with good DP and TS there, which often I couldn't do
Nice season! The TF in Cali scares me and my plans for then ...
Great to see Antonov doing well!
I believe Dadakos was 36 yo when he won Vuelta SC, so he should still have some very good seasons ahead of him.
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