More transfer news
Ruben Escobar quits cycling, Pousson leaves team
As it was rumoured before, Columbian Ruben Escobar ended his career right after the beginning of the new season at the age of 34. The elder brother of Pablo saw no more challenges for him in the next few months and opted to step down from professional road race cycling, rather than staying part of the team without any further race action.
Being interviewed at the Barbadian headquarter of the team in Bridgetown, Escobar revealed that he never reached the level of racing that he once aspired. "I cannot say I didn't have fun in my career. Racing at the side of Pablo has always been a great pleasure for me. Together we met with success several times. But to be honest, I expected more from my career. When we both started at Team LunaLounge, we had big plans for the Grand Tours. We thought together we would be difficult to beat. Pablo made a good progress during his career, but for myself I have to admit that I never reached the full potential that I longed for. So after what we've seen at the Giro it was a wise decision to leave me at home for the Tour. I just couldn't make up with the best climbers. At one point I just stagnated. That was just discouraging and dampened my further progress. There I got a bit into a vicious circle".
Ruben's career started well, winning the best young riders jersey at both, the Tasmanian Wombat Tour (cat 1) and, two month later, the Tour of Southland in New Zealand (cat 2), where he also finished 2nd overall. In March he won the Critérium International, much thanks to the help of his brother. After he also reached overall victory at the Giro del Trentino in the next month, he was highly motivated to share captaincy with Pablo at the Giro d'Italia. But his hopes vanished early after he lost all gc chances at the Strade Bianche stage, where he struggled bitterly. After all he still had his share in his brothers 2nd plave overall and finished 8th for himself.
At the Critérium du Dauphiné he was the sole leader again, supported by Pablo. He finished the stage race in 5th place. Having skipped the Tour de France, he returned to the action in August, where he also occupied 5th position at the Vuelta a Burgos. But this time it happend in support for his younger brother, who won the overall title there. Following Burgos he made only one appearance at a small one day race, before he ultimately called an end to his career.
His best stage results are places 2 and 3 at the Giro del Trentino and one 2nd place at the Critérium du Dauphiné. He also reached 2nd place at a small cat 1 race prior to the Vuelta a Burgos in August.
Contract of Pousson not extended
Another rider who left the team is Columbian time trial specialist William Pousson. Aged 31, Pousson was happy to have won at least one individual time trial. He was fastest against the clock at the Tour du Limousin in August. Pousson never reached the potential of Matias Medici, his time trialling predecessor at Team LunaLounge. But he was nonetheless an essential part of the team when it got to stage races that contained a team time trial. By this means he helped winning the team time trials at the Tour du Jura as well as at the Tour of Southland. He also was present when the team got 3rd at the Giro TTT, and he layed the basis for Pablo Escobar's overall win at the Vuelta a Burgos when he pulled hard for the team's 5th place in the TTT at the 3rd day.
In Burgos as well as at the Critérium International he had some podium time together with his team mates after winning the teams competitions of both.
Pousson is not of an age to retire completely from the sport. But since the team couldn't offer him any more races in the coming weeks and months, both parties agreed in releasing him and thus giving him the chance of maybe getting hired by another team for the remainder of his career.
First Chilean rider for Team LunaLounge
Miguel Vidal is the first rider from Chile to be employed by Team LunaLounge. Aged 28, he fills the gap between two parts of the team, the young guns at one side with Federico Duran being the oldest with 25 years, and the veterans at the other side with 30-year-old Shawn Williams being the youngest.
Vidal is a strong rider in the flat and has also some ability for a fast sprint finish in smaller groups. He started his career with 21 years at Team Kajutschka, where he rode until August 21st. After only one week of unemployment he was picked up by the Luna squad. "We just needed one rider who's capable of setting a high pace in the flat", team manager Luna explained. "There's always the possibility of having to defend something, be it a jersey or a gc position. Then you need riders to bring back a dangerous group. Also in case of having to win a race or a stage Vidal will be able to keep a bunch together. We're happy with his signing and we hope we will have a good time with him".
Team LunaLounge
Moderator: englishmods
Re: Team LunaLounge
First-time appearance at Tour of Britain a success
Back-to-back victories for Team Lunalounge
Columbian Federico Duran and Barbade Jack Fishmonger scored two stage wins in a row at the team's first participation in the Tour of Britain during the past week.
On wednesday 25-year-old Duran won the sprint out of a group of 30 riders, that survived the hilly terrain of the 171km 5th stage between Travistock and Glastonbury. Thereby he swapped places with Radunion's Juliusz Schauder, who outsprintet Duran two days before in a similar stage finale. "There were these two stages in the tour I had picked out for me. Thanks to our good-working team and that of Radunion we managed to set up a group sprint in both occasions. You have to consider that all teams started with only 7 riders each. While from today on there are even only six of us, since Mustarrudin had to abandon the race yesterday. But the guys did a perfect job", Duran said after his win.
One day later it was Jack Fishmonger (24), who had the luck to be part of the race winning break, that spent the whole day in front. He left the bunch together with Alejandro Echeverry (Team Ruhrgebiet), Arlington Highsmith (Steel Riders), Sergej Sobolev (Radunion) and Jose Yazalda (Team Suessem) early in the 190km stage from King's Lynn to Great Yarmouth. Midway into the race the gap was still at 15 minutes, when riders and spectators began to realize that this break would stay away. The group worked well together until around 20km from the finish. Then they started slowing down, watching each other. After Fishmonger's first try failed to seperate himself with 4km to go, he eventually succeeded 2km later, when the group fell into pieces. He solod home to his first win of his career, 6 seconds ahead of Yazalda and Highsmith. 21 further seconds later the defeated Sobolev and Echeverry rolled over the line.
As for the general classification the team relied on new arrival Shawn Williams. The American had a good start into the stage race with forming the tour deciding 3 man break at the end of the first day. Charles MacHampelton (RC Hachen), Ruben Vallejo (Rhino Cycling) and Williams escaped the peloton 29 km before the finish of the 132 km stage from Blackpool to Rochdale. The trio brought home an advantage of 23 seconds over the first chase group, with Williams sprinting to 2nd place behind MacHampelton, who subsequently defended his overall lead until the end of the tour.
On stages 2 and 4 he lost some precious gc seconds and dropped out of the podium ranks to finish 4th overall. Nevertheless the team is content with the performance of Williams, who for the first time led a stage race for Team LunaLounge without Vietnamese Khoi Nguyen by his side.
Back-to-back victories for Team Lunalounge
Columbian Federico Duran and Barbade Jack Fishmonger scored two stage wins in a row at the team's first participation in the Tour of Britain during the past week.
On wednesday 25-year-old Duran won the sprint out of a group of 30 riders, that survived the hilly terrain of the 171km 5th stage between Travistock and Glastonbury. Thereby he swapped places with Radunion's Juliusz Schauder, who outsprintet Duran two days before in a similar stage finale. "There were these two stages in the tour I had picked out for me. Thanks to our good-working team and that of Radunion we managed to set up a group sprint in both occasions. You have to consider that all teams started with only 7 riders each. While from today on there are even only six of us, since Mustarrudin had to abandon the race yesterday. But the guys did a perfect job", Duran said after his win.
One day later it was Jack Fishmonger (24), who had the luck to be part of the race winning break, that spent the whole day in front. He left the bunch together with Alejandro Echeverry (Team Ruhrgebiet), Arlington Highsmith (Steel Riders), Sergej Sobolev (Radunion) and Jose Yazalda (Team Suessem) early in the 190km stage from King's Lynn to Great Yarmouth. Midway into the race the gap was still at 15 minutes, when riders and spectators began to realize that this break would stay away. The group worked well together until around 20km from the finish. Then they started slowing down, watching each other. After Fishmonger's first try failed to seperate himself with 4km to go, he eventually succeeded 2km later, when the group fell into pieces. He solod home to his first win of his career, 6 seconds ahead of Yazalda and Highsmith. 21 further seconds later the defeated Sobolev and Echeverry rolled over the line.
As for the general classification the team relied on new arrival Shawn Williams. The American had a good start into the stage race with forming the tour deciding 3 man break at the end of the first day. Charles MacHampelton (RC Hachen), Ruben Vallejo (Rhino Cycling) and Williams escaped the peloton 29 km before the finish of the 132 km stage from Blackpool to Rochdale. The trio brought home an advantage of 23 seconds over the first chase group, with Williams sprinting to 2nd place behind MacHampelton, who subsequently defended his overall lead until the end of the tour.
On stages 2 and 4 he lost some precious gc seconds and dropped out of the podium ranks to finish 4th overall. Nevertheless the team is content with the performance of Williams, who for the first time led a stage race for Team LunaLounge without Vietnamese Khoi Nguyen by his side.
Re: Team LunaLounge
Four wins at three continents in ten days
Luna boys relish wave of success ahead of October classics
After Team LunaLounge scored double wins at the Tour of Britain, its riders continued to collect race wins on a nearly daily basis. In the period from September 27 to yesterday's October 6 four different riders scored victories on various terrains, with the most prestiguous one being the win of Khoi Nguyen at the Züri Metzgete on this monday.
Nguyen in Switzerland
The Vietnamese kept up with the front group of eight that made it over the hills in the final lap of the traditional circuit race after an accelaration of the Bentley duo John Demong and Mateja Robnik. The group saved an advantage of 11 seconds over the chasing main field. Nguyen positioned himself perfectly to win the sprint out of the group ahead of Demong and Juri Kostlow (Alster-Wasser), becoming the first Asian rider to have won a race for LunaLounge in 4 years team history.
Being now 35 years of age, Nguyen was already close to end his career. Awaiting the cancellation of his contract every day, he has been left out of the races for most of September, since the team preferred the services of American Shawn Williams, who was brought to the team at the end of August. Nguyen rode in support of Ruben and Pablo Escobar since he got hired in February. He backed the Columbians in their fight for the general classification at the Giro d'Italia and was a helping hand for several stage and overall wins at the Tour de France, Vuelta a Burgos, Critérium International and others.
Every once in a while he had his own chance of going for a win, but never got beyond two third places at the Giro and one 2nd plus a 3rd at the Tour. He wasnt't expected anymore to increase his performance and so was planned to leave the team soon after the arrival of Shawn Williams. With his win in Zurich, the first of his career, he convinced the team management to hold on to him for at least one more season, giving him the opportunity to ride the classics in October and to do what he can best: helping the leaders
Pablo Escobar in Germany
Exactly one week before Nguyen's win in Zurich Pablo Escobar took first place at the queens stage of the Germany Tour at the final day of the week-long event. The mountain top finish at the Osterfelderkopf in Bavaria has been the season's highlight for the then 33-year-old Columbian, who didn't contest the Vuelta a Espana in the weeks before the Germany Tour. Being the freshest and most rested climber in the race he beat Jacob Abo (RC-Steiermark) and Jasmin Tschepp (Team Toto) at the unsteady 14km climb, achieving the sixth stage win of his career.
After the classics of October Escobar will return to the Tour du Jura at the end of the month, where he accomplished the first results of his career in last year, winning the best young rider's jersey in addition to 2nd place overall. How long he will continue to race his bike after that is stil to decide.
Lucas Fairbrother in Mexico
Only one day after the Germany Tour has ended Briton Lucas Fairbrother won the difficult Criterium de la Calle Sanchez in Mexico on a short circuit with many cobbles including a nasty little climb 4km from the finish. The now 36-old cobbles specialist managed to stay with the best riders up to the final lap and flew past his rivals on the cobbled finishing straight. He won solo ahead of Cerro Torre's Juan Mata and James Greaves of Skullz, sealing his 4th race win in total.
Fairbrother is understood to continue racing for some more seasons, given his still powerful stroke in the flat, even if he might be losing a bit of his maneuvering skills on pavé. In the middle of this month he will attend the Tour des Pavés for the second time, trying to repeat his stage victory of 2009.
Duran Duran in India
Yesterday it was young Columbian Federico Duran, who finished off an excellent groundwork of Jack Fishmonger to win the small Indian race from Kurnool to Komarolu. After around 170km of undulating racing the 26-year-old Tour de France stage winner surprisingly still kept up with the strong group of classic riders and hill sprinters, that set out to encompass a sprint of the 40-man lead group. But Barbade Fishmonger spoiled the party with a huge effort over the final 3 kms. After the last escapees were reeled in he set such a high pace that a split occured in the field between seventh and eighth position. At that moment only few sprinters rode that near to the front, with Duran being one of them. Fishmonger piloted the front seven through the final curves and corners and thus allowed the group to sprint for the win, one second ahead of the chasing bunch. Duran celebrated the third victory of his career clearly ahead of Nathan Ruchaud (RC Hachen) and Damir Obasi (Dream Rider). Fishmonger, for himself, seized 4th place.
"That's a funny string of victories", team manager Luna said in a team statement. "We just hope we can keep that momentum going over the coming big classics. There are many meaningful races still to come and we desire to win at least one of them, taking into account the successful October we had last year". In 2009 the team had won both, Milano - Torino and Giro del Piemonte with Keenan O'Reileigh, followed by stage wins by Fairbrother and Vazquez at the Tour des Pavés and the win in the team time trial at the Tour du Jura.
Luna boys relish wave of success ahead of October classics
After Team LunaLounge scored double wins at the Tour of Britain, its riders continued to collect race wins on a nearly daily basis. In the period from September 27 to yesterday's October 6 four different riders scored victories on various terrains, with the most prestiguous one being the win of Khoi Nguyen at the Züri Metzgete on this monday.
Nguyen in Switzerland
The Vietnamese kept up with the front group of eight that made it over the hills in the final lap of the traditional circuit race after an accelaration of the Bentley duo John Demong and Mateja Robnik. The group saved an advantage of 11 seconds over the chasing main field. Nguyen positioned himself perfectly to win the sprint out of the group ahead of Demong and Juri Kostlow (Alster-Wasser), becoming the first Asian rider to have won a race for LunaLounge in 4 years team history.
Being now 35 years of age, Nguyen was already close to end his career. Awaiting the cancellation of his contract every day, he has been left out of the races for most of September, since the team preferred the services of American Shawn Williams, who was brought to the team at the end of August. Nguyen rode in support of Ruben and Pablo Escobar since he got hired in February. He backed the Columbians in their fight for the general classification at the Giro d'Italia and was a helping hand for several stage and overall wins at the Tour de France, Vuelta a Burgos, Critérium International and others.
Every once in a while he had his own chance of going for a win, but never got beyond two third places at the Giro and one 2nd plus a 3rd at the Tour. He wasnt't expected anymore to increase his performance and so was planned to leave the team soon after the arrival of Shawn Williams. With his win in Zurich, the first of his career, he convinced the team management to hold on to him for at least one more season, giving him the opportunity to ride the classics in October and to do what he can best: helping the leaders
Pablo Escobar in Germany
Exactly one week before Nguyen's win in Zurich Pablo Escobar took first place at the queens stage of the Germany Tour at the final day of the week-long event. The mountain top finish at the Osterfelderkopf in Bavaria has been the season's highlight for the then 33-year-old Columbian, who didn't contest the Vuelta a Espana in the weeks before the Germany Tour. Being the freshest and most rested climber in the race he beat Jacob Abo (RC-Steiermark) and Jasmin Tschepp (Team Toto) at the unsteady 14km climb, achieving the sixth stage win of his career.
After the classics of October Escobar will return to the Tour du Jura at the end of the month, where he accomplished the first results of his career in last year, winning the best young rider's jersey in addition to 2nd place overall. How long he will continue to race his bike after that is stil to decide.
Lucas Fairbrother in Mexico
Only one day after the Germany Tour has ended Briton Lucas Fairbrother won the difficult Criterium de la Calle Sanchez in Mexico on a short circuit with many cobbles including a nasty little climb 4km from the finish. The now 36-old cobbles specialist managed to stay with the best riders up to the final lap and flew past his rivals on the cobbled finishing straight. He won solo ahead of Cerro Torre's Juan Mata and James Greaves of Skullz, sealing his 4th race win in total.
Fairbrother is understood to continue racing for some more seasons, given his still powerful stroke in the flat, even if he might be losing a bit of his maneuvering skills on pavé. In the middle of this month he will attend the Tour des Pavés for the second time, trying to repeat his stage victory of 2009.
Duran Duran in India
Yesterday it was young Columbian Federico Duran, who finished off an excellent groundwork of Jack Fishmonger to win the small Indian race from Kurnool to Komarolu. After around 170km of undulating racing the 26-year-old Tour de France stage winner surprisingly still kept up with the strong group of classic riders and hill sprinters, that set out to encompass a sprint of the 40-man lead group. But Barbade Fishmonger spoiled the party with a huge effort over the final 3 kms. After the last escapees were reeled in he set such a high pace that a split occured in the field between seventh and eighth position. At that moment only few sprinters rode that near to the front, with Duran being one of them. Fishmonger piloted the front seven through the final curves and corners and thus allowed the group to sprint for the win, one second ahead of the chasing bunch. Duran celebrated the third victory of his career clearly ahead of Nathan Ruchaud (RC Hachen) and Damir Obasi (Dream Rider). Fishmonger, for himself, seized 4th place.
"That's a funny string of victories", team manager Luna said in a team statement. "We just hope we can keep that momentum going over the coming big classics. There are many meaningful races still to come and we desire to win at least one of them, taking into account the successful October we had last year". In 2009 the team had won both, Milano - Torino and Giro del Piemonte with Keenan O'Reileigh, followed by stage wins by Fairbrother and Vazquez at the Tour des Pavés and the win in the team time trial at the Tour du Jura.
Re: Team LunaLounge
Classics campaign hampered by sprained wrist
4th national title for the Escobar family
Pablo Escobar won the Columbian national championship on sunday after being in front for most parts of the race. In the final 40km he's been accompanied by his team mate Silvano Vazquez, who, for himself, won the title one year before in October '09. It was the first national title for the team since Vazquez took home his jersey. At that time also Barbadian Amani Morissey won the national title on the Carribean island.
Being 34 years of age Pablo is the 4th member of the Escobar dynasty to have won the road race championship of their home country. Only his brother Ruben is missing in the palmares, while Carlos, Alvaro and Rodrigo all have been proud wearers of the yellow, blue and red bodice.
Togethter with the successes of Jeovani Betancourt, Ramon Arriazola and the still active Silvano Vazquez it's even been the 7th Columbian national title for the team in the 13th edition of the race.
"I'm glad to have won here. After I failed in the classics this month this comes as a good consolation. Receiving this jersey for it makes it even more special. It will be a pleasure for me to carry it through the Jura. And I can't imagine to end my career without showing it to my fans in South America at the Campeonato de los Andes", Escobar said to journalists after the race.
The Giro d'Italia runner-up had big plans for October. Having travelled to Italy right after winning the queens stage of the Germany Tour in late September, the climber was set to prepare well for the Giro dell Emilia as well as for the Giro di Lombardia. But a crash on his last training ride before the first of his Italian races spoiled his ambitions. "I felt good and I just wanted to ride the course of the race one last time when immediately I was lying on the asphalt. I don't quite know how it actually happened. I just knew that my hand was hurting. The doctors said I better take a break for a week. But that was not possible for me. The whole team was lined up and waiting to tackle the big races. So I got to the start to see what's possible. It's a pity. I was in pain the whole race. In the first half it was okay. But later when I needed to pull on the handle bars it became nearly impossible to concentrate on the race. I was more busy dealing with the pain all the time."
Although being hampered by his injury Escobar managed to finish 5th at Emilia, constantly supported by Khoi Nguyen, one of his trustiest supporters not only at this race, but also nearly during his whole career. "When the attacks went I didn't feel able to follow. But Khoi pushed me to follow his wheel. Without him I would have ended up 20th or even worse. He is a real treasure, and has always been."
The Giro di Lombardia has been skipped by the team for unknown reasons.
Also at the other classics of the month the team wasn't able to deliver another win. At the french races from Paris to Bourges and Tours Federico Duran only finished 21st and 16th respectively. And while the team wrapped up the Italian double of Milano - Torino and Giro del Piemonte in 2009, this year only an 11th place in Turin by Duran and place 9 by Nguyen at Gran Piemonte was all what's been achieved.
In the end the team is happy to at least having won the Züri Metzgete in the beginning of the month.
4th national title for the Escobar family
Pablo Escobar won the Columbian national championship on sunday after being in front for most parts of the race. In the final 40km he's been accompanied by his team mate Silvano Vazquez, who, for himself, won the title one year before in October '09. It was the first national title for the team since Vazquez took home his jersey. At that time also Barbadian Amani Morissey won the national title on the Carribean island.
Being 34 years of age Pablo is the 4th member of the Escobar dynasty to have won the road race championship of their home country. Only his brother Ruben is missing in the palmares, while Carlos, Alvaro and Rodrigo all have been proud wearers of the yellow, blue and red bodice.
Togethter with the successes of Jeovani Betancourt, Ramon Arriazola and the still active Silvano Vazquez it's even been the 7th Columbian national title for the team in the 13th edition of the race.
"I'm glad to have won here. After I failed in the classics this month this comes as a good consolation. Receiving this jersey for it makes it even more special. It will be a pleasure for me to carry it through the Jura. And I can't imagine to end my career without showing it to my fans in South America at the Campeonato de los Andes", Escobar said to journalists after the race.
The Giro d'Italia runner-up had big plans for October. Having travelled to Italy right after winning the queens stage of the Germany Tour in late September, the climber was set to prepare well for the Giro dell Emilia as well as for the Giro di Lombardia. But a crash on his last training ride before the first of his Italian races spoiled his ambitions. "I felt good and I just wanted to ride the course of the race one last time when immediately I was lying on the asphalt. I don't quite know how it actually happened. I just knew that my hand was hurting. The doctors said I better take a break for a week. But that was not possible for me. The whole team was lined up and waiting to tackle the big races. So I got to the start to see what's possible. It's a pity. I was in pain the whole race. In the first half it was okay. But later when I needed to pull on the handle bars it became nearly impossible to concentrate on the race. I was more busy dealing with the pain all the time."
Although being hampered by his injury Escobar managed to finish 5th at Emilia, constantly supported by Khoi Nguyen, one of his trustiest supporters not only at this race, but also nearly during his whole career. "When the attacks went I didn't feel able to follow. But Khoi pushed me to follow his wheel. Without him I would have ended up 20th or even worse. He is a real treasure, and has always been."
The Giro di Lombardia has been skipped by the team for unknown reasons.
Also at the other classics of the month the team wasn't able to deliver another win. At the french races from Paris to Bourges and Tours Federico Duran only finished 21st and 16th respectively. And while the team wrapped up the Italian double of Milano - Torino and Giro del Piemonte in 2009, this year only an 11th place in Turin by Duran and place 9 by Nguyen at Gran Piemonte was all what's been achieved.
In the end the team is happy to at least having won the Züri Metzgete in the beginning of the month.
Re: Team LunaLounge
No stage victory this time for Team LunaLounge
Fairbrother 9th at Tour des Pavés
Lucas Fairbrother improved on his 12th place overall of the 2009 Tour des Pavés by finishing 9th at the 2010 edition of the RSF classic stage race, that's been held for the 5th time. Although he wasn't unable to repeat his stage victory from the year before he performed constantly enough on each of the 5 stages to secure a top ten position at the cobbled race with an 8th rank on the third day being his best stage result.
With 36 years of age Fairbrother was one of the two oldest participants in the tour. The other being his team mate Columbian Silvano Vazquez, who also won a stage the year before.
Vazquez tried his luck on the 4th stage, the Souvenir Mauro Monticulo, when breaking away at km zero. Only accompanied by two riders of the Alf Team, who send riders into the escape on nearly every day, he abondoned his venture midway through the race, accepting the hopeless prospect of their move that day.
More luck has been with Jack Fishmonger. The Barbadian went into the early group at the final stage and managed to stay in front of the field for more than 180km. Together with Deuseburger's Alex Galvin he formed the escape duo of the day, which has only been caught by later stage and overall winner Hernando Guerrilla (Merz Racing) right at the end of the last cobble section 8km from the finish. The two struggled hard to stay in Guerrilla's wheel and were therefore rewarded with 2nd and 3rd place respectively, with Fishmonger being the latter one.
Compared to former appearances at the Tour des Pavés the team showed a rather avarage performance. In 2007 Danilo diLuna has reached the best overall result when he reached 4th place. One year later Salomon Bricks finished only one rank behind on his second participation. 2009 has created the most successful outcome for the team with stage wins by Fairbrother and Vazquez in addition to Randy Fender (6th in gc) winning the points competition.
For the first time since its introduction in 2006 the Tour des Pavés has been run over 5 days with one road race stage each day. The missing individual time trial definitely played in favour to Fairbrother. The Briton probably would have lost several minutes in a race against the clock.
Currently rider and team management consider the future of the 4 time race winner, who was rumoured to continue racing until he falls from his bike. Given the need of further team developement it might happen that he will leave the team on short-term basis, would there be a promising rider on offer. But Fairbrother himself hopes to be at the start of the cobble race at one of the first days of November.
Fairbrother 9th at Tour des Pavés
Lucas Fairbrother improved on his 12th place overall of the 2009 Tour des Pavés by finishing 9th at the 2010 edition of the RSF classic stage race, that's been held for the 5th time. Although he wasn't unable to repeat his stage victory from the year before he performed constantly enough on each of the 5 stages to secure a top ten position at the cobbled race with an 8th rank on the third day being his best stage result.
With 36 years of age Fairbrother was one of the two oldest participants in the tour. The other being his team mate Columbian Silvano Vazquez, who also won a stage the year before.
Vazquez tried his luck on the 4th stage, the Souvenir Mauro Monticulo, when breaking away at km zero. Only accompanied by two riders of the Alf Team, who send riders into the escape on nearly every day, he abondoned his venture midway through the race, accepting the hopeless prospect of their move that day.
More luck has been with Jack Fishmonger. The Barbadian went into the early group at the final stage and managed to stay in front of the field for more than 180km. Together with Deuseburger's Alex Galvin he formed the escape duo of the day, which has only been caught by later stage and overall winner Hernando Guerrilla (Merz Racing) right at the end of the last cobble section 8km from the finish. The two struggled hard to stay in Guerrilla's wheel and were therefore rewarded with 2nd and 3rd place respectively, with Fishmonger being the latter one.
Compared to former appearances at the Tour des Pavés the team showed a rather avarage performance. In 2007 Danilo diLuna has reached the best overall result when he reached 4th place. One year later Salomon Bricks finished only one rank behind on his second participation. 2009 has created the most successful outcome for the team with stage wins by Fairbrother and Vazquez in addition to Randy Fender (6th in gc) winning the points competition.
For the first time since its introduction in 2006 the Tour des Pavés has been run over 5 days with one road race stage each day. The missing individual time trial definitely played in favour to Fairbrother. The Briton probably would have lost several minutes in a race against the clock.
Currently rider and team management consider the future of the 4 time race winner, who was rumoured to continue racing until he falls from his bike. Given the need of further team developement it might happen that he will leave the team on short-term basis, would there be a promising rider on offer. But Fairbrother himself hopes to be at the start of the cobble race at one of the first days of November.
Re: Team LunaLounge
Campeonato de los Andes
Duran takes stage win in Moquegua
Columbian Federico Duran reliefed Team LunaLounge from a 4 weeks winning abstinence by outsprinting his rivals in the bunch gallop after 208 km of the Campeonato de los Andes' 9th stage from Mazo Cruz to Moquegua on Monday in Peru. He thereby took the maybe last chance for him to get to victory at the Campeonato after failing several times in the first week as well as the day before, where he got 3rd in the final sprint.
"I am very happy. I wanted very much to win a stage here on South American soil. After me and my team have been beaten 3 times at the flat and medium stages I thought it was over. The last difficulty in today's stage was so long from the finish that I didn't believe the few sprint specialists in the peloton could be taken out of the race once more. But Team Australia did a goog job when they rode hard at the first 1,5 hours. So the team shared in the work and I set myself for the sprint again. It's so difficult with only that few sprinters. It happens quite often that we're all just watching each other while somebody else slips past us and takes the win. We saw it yesterday when the Bentley rider won the stage. But i knew I would have no chance if Australia's Salas rides behind me when it gets on the finishing straight. So I took care of having him in my sight for the final 20km. As long as I see him he is in front of me. My team mates delivered me directly onto his backwheel with 2km to go. That laid the basis for my win. Two Bentleys tried to escape under the red banner, but Jacky didn't let them go. It looked so easy but I know he was suffering. I have to thank him and the rest of the team."
It is the team's 5th stage win at the Campeonato de los Andes in its 3rd participation. In 2006 it was Barbadian cobble specialist Averus Verlin who won out of an escape group at the 11th stage of the inaugural edition of the race. After Team LunaLounge skipped the Andes in the next year it bounced back with 3 further stage wins in 2008 with Matias Medici winning both individual time trials and Zak Thompson finishing first on medium mountainous terrain at stage 11.
Team manager Luna was also satisfied with the victory of Duran. "That was a very important win. We've been seeking for success since Duran won that small race at the beginning of October. We lost our rhythm and couldn't find it back during the classics. I was fearing we could finish also this tour or maybe even the whole season without a single victory. Great to see this fears vanish"
Duran takes stage win in Moquegua
Columbian Federico Duran reliefed Team LunaLounge from a 4 weeks winning abstinence by outsprinting his rivals in the bunch gallop after 208 km of the Campeonato de los Andes' 9th stage from Mazo Cruz to Moquegua on Monday in Peru. He thereby took the maybe last chance for him to get to victory at the Campeonato after failing several times in the first week as well as the day before, where he got 3rd in the final sprint.
"I am very happy. I wanted very much to win a stage here on South American soil. After me and my team have been beaten 3 times at the flat and medium stages I thought it was over. The last difficulty in today's stage was so long from the finish that I didn't believe the few sprint specialists in the peloton could be taken out of the race once more. But Team Australia did a goog job when they rode hard at the first 1,5 hours. So the team shared in the work and I set myself for the sprint again. It's so difficult with only that few sprinters. It happens quite often that we're all just watching each other while somebody else slips past us and takes the win. We saw it yesterday when the Bentley rider won the stage. But i knew I would have no chance if Australia's Salas rides behind me when it gets on the finishing straight. So I took care of having him in my sight for the final 20km. As long as I see him he is in front of me. My team mates delivered me directly onto his backwheel with 2km to go. That laid the basis for my win. Two Bentleys tried to escape under the red banner, but Jacky didn't let them go. It looked so easy but I know he was suffering. I have to thank him and the rest of the team."
It is the team's 5th stage win at the Campeonato de los Andes in its 3rd participation. In 2006 it was Barbadian cobble specialist Averus Verlin who won out of an escape group at the 11th stage of the inaugural edition of the race. After Team LunaLounge skipped the Andes in the next year it bounced back with 3 further stage wins in 2008 with Matias Medici winning both individual time trials and Zak Thompson finishing first on medium mountainous terrain at stage 11.
Team manager Luna was also satisfied with the victory of Duran. "That was a very important win. We've been seeking for success since Duran won that small race at the beginning of October. We lost our rhythm and couldn't find it back during the classics. I was fearing we could finish also this tour or maybe even the whole season without a single victory. Great to see this fears vanish"
Re: Team LunaLounge
Luna news update November
Campeonato: Last trip for Pablo Escobar
Columbian climber Pablo Escobar ended his career after completing the Campeonato de los Andes in 7th place overall. His dream of winning a stage in his Columbian champions jersey didn't come true. Although initially scheduled to ride the Fleche Jurassienne as his final race he contacted the team management 2 days prior to the Swiss RSF classic to announce his retirement. He stayed with his family in Columbia and didn't return to Europe.
Escobar finished 2nd overall at the Giro d'Italia and 6th at the Tour de France. He was a vital help for his brother Ruben's overall successes at the Criterium International and the Giro del Trentino, before he finally went on to win the first and only stage race for himself, the Vuelta a Burgos in August. Apart from the national championship in October he never won a one day race, but achieved a total of 6 stage wins, including two at each, Tour de France and Vuelta a Burgos.
Coppa Mosella: Andrés Messi still hunting first professional win
Lionel Andrés Messi once more showed off his potential when he finished 2nd at the Coppa Mosella. The team went into the race with 3 equal team leaders, Williams, Garcia and Andrés Messi. All free to attack when they would feel it were a good moment. In the race finale Andrés Messi waited until the first move with Shawn Williams was brought back. Then he launched his own attack in a moment of hesitation in the main group. He was soonly joined by 2 riders of Killers and Helmfried Ohnemut of RV Allagen. While the Killers couldn't keep up at the cobbled section of the finishing circuit, Andrés was the only one to follow the wheel of Ohnemut. Although trying to conserve as much energy as possible the Argenitian wasn't able to come past the Allagen rider and had to settle for second place, nevertheless the best result of the team at this race. 22-year-old Luis Jaime Garcia rounded up the good team performance with a honorable 8th rank.
Andrés already got 2nd at stage 5 of the Campeonato de los Andes the same month after a long breakaway ride. He often knows to read a race well, keeping himself in touch with the winning groups, but unfortunately constantly misses out the top spot of the podium. The time may run out for him. He is now 34 years of age and might be dismissed by the team in the following weeks or months.
Fleche Jurassienne: What to do without a climber?
Two years after Rodrigo Escobar won the Fleche Jurassienne for Team LunaLounge the team was left without a real contender for a 2nd win in the Swiss Jura following the withdrawel of Pablo Escobar some days before. As a compromise solution American Shawn Williams was declared the protected rider for the race and brought home a modest 23rd place result. Silvano Vazquez and Luis Jaime Garcia went into the group of the day but faded on the final climb.
The team regrets to have attended the race without a competitive leader but promises to be present with a climber at the next edition in 2011.
Normandie: Ted Delacourse en tête de la course
Canadian Ted Delacourse achieved his first race victory when winning the opening stage of the Tour de Normandie on Monday. He was part of a 4 man breakaway group that stayed clear until the end, and won the sprint against Bjarni Brynjolfsson (LibertySeguros), Freddy Vasseur (VC Bressan) and Bruce Buffer (Claw - CVIII) 40 seconds before the main field arrived at the finish. Delacourse subsequently took over the race leaders jersey for the second half stage of the day, where he finished far off in the gruppetto.
It took 20 months for the team to add win number 16 to the 15 Canadian victories by sprinter Ben Johnson in the period between April '08 and March '09.
Lucas Fairbrother: Mediocre career despite premature praise
After Lucas Fairbrother made his first appearances in the world of cycling in July '09, the pundits were full of praise for him, predicting him to be the next winner of Paris - Roubaix. But the Briton never could live up to the expectations. Only 4 wins stood to his account when he ended his career at the end of October '10, with a stage win at the Tour des Pavés '09 beeing the most meaningful of them. At Paris - Roubaix '10 he surprised the masses with a brave solo attack some 50km from the finish. He got the cheers on his side but in the end gained nothing from it. At the Tour de France he was near the win at the Arenberg stage but eventually had to settle for 6th place. He participated twice at the Tour des Pavés, but wasn't able to repeat success in 2010.
Khoi Nguyen: First Asian Luna race winner resigns
Also Vietnamese Khoi Nguyen called an end to his career in November. Nguyen turned professional with the team amor lux bzh before he started his 2nd career with Team LunaLounge at an age of 27 as a support rider for the brothers Escobar in the high mountains. He took part in the Giro d'Italia as well as the Tour de France, where he used to be a reliable team mate for his captains. He also delivered his own Top 3 results in both Grand Tours. But his personal breakthrough came when he won the Züri Metzgete in October, making him not only the first Asian rider at the team, but also the first Asian rider delivering a race win. Further top results of Nguyen include 4th places at Paris - Camembert as well as at the GP Frankfurt.
New signings: Team bolsters classics crew
In order to stay competitive in the classics the team hired the services of American cobble specialist Herculez Gomez. He is joined by Argentinian Ales Carboni, who arrived to the team at December 1st. While Gomez favours the more flattish races, Carboni intends to survive even some hills, not to speak of Hellingen...
Another signing, Columbian Lavinio Rocafuerte, is set to become the team leader at the non-cobbled classics. He will find support by Venezuelan Luis Jaime Garcia, who joined the team in October. In addition to Federico Duran Duran and Jack Fishmonger the team will have plenty of options in one day races or at stages. A team meeting is planned to coordinate the different goals and abilities of all the riders. There will be races for everyone of them, while everyone has to fulfil team duties in case of another one beeing the designated leader.
Also a new climber was hired by the team. César Escobar, son of Giro d'Italia winner Rodrigo Escobar, has high hopes of performing well in the GTs. It is planned to set a helper by his side in the coming months, who would also be able to lend a hand to the classics riders if needed. Further details will be released soon.
Campeonato: Last trip for Pablo Escobar
Columbian climber Pablo Escobar ended his career after completing the Campeonato de los Andes in 7th place overall. His dream of winning a stage in his Columbian champions jersey didn't come true. Although initially scheduled to ride the Fleche Jurassienne as his final race he contacted the team management 2 days prior to the Swiss RSF classic to announce his retirement. He stayed with his family in Columbia and didn't return to Europe.
Escobar finished 2nd overall at the Giro d'Italia and 6th at the Tour de France. He was a vital help for his brother Ruben's overall successes at the Criterium International and the Giro del Trentino, before he finally went on to win the first and only stage race for himself, the Vuelta a Burgos in August. Apart from the national championship in October he never won a one day race, but achieved a total of 6 stage wins, including two at each, Tour de France and Vuelta a Burgos.
Coppa Mosella: Andrés Messi still hunting first professional win
Lionel Andrés Messi once more showed off his potential when he finished 2nd at the Coppa Mosella. The team went into the race with 3 equal team leaders, Williams, Garcia and Andrés Messi. All free to attack when they would feel it were a good moment. In the race finale Andrés Messi waited until the first move with Shawn Williams was brought back. Then he launched his own attack in a moment of hesitation in the main group. He was soonly joined by 2 riders of Killers and Helmfried Ohnemut of RV Allagen. While the Killers couldn't keep up at the cobbled section of the finishing circuit, Andrés was the only one to follow the wheel of Ohnemut. Although trying to conserve as much energy as possible the Argenitian wasn't able to come past the Allagen rider and had to settle for second place, nevertheless the best result of the team at this race. 22-year-old Luis Jaime Garcia rounded up the good team performance with a honorable 8th rank.
Andrés already got 2nd at stage 5 of the Campeonato de los Andes the same month after a long breakaway ride. He often knows to read a race well, keeping himself in touch with the winning groups, but unfortunately constantly misses out the top spot of the podium. The time may run out for him. He is now 34 years of age and might be dismissed by the team in the following weeks or months.
Fleche Jurassienne: What to do without a climber?
Two years after Rodrigo Escobar won the Fleche Jurassienne for Team LunaLounge the team was left without a real contender for a 2nd win in the Swiss Jura following the withdrawel of Pablo Escobar some days before. As a compromise solution American Shawn Williams was declared the protected rider for the race and brought home a modest 23rd place result. Silvano Vazquez and Luis Jaime Garcia went into the group of the day but faded on the final climb.
The team regrets to have attended the race without a competitive leader but promises to be present with a climber at the next edition in 2011.
Normandie: Ted Delacourse en tête de la course
Canadian Ted Delacourse achieved his first race victory when winning the opening stage of the Tour de Normandie on Monday. He was part of a 4 man breakaway group that stayed clear until the end, and won the sprint against Bjarni Brynjolfsson (LibertySeguros), Freddy Vasseur (VC Bressan) and Bruce Buffer (Claw - CVIII) 40 seconds before the main field arrived at the finish. Delacourse subsequently took over the race leaders jersey for the second half stage of the day, where he finished far off in the gruppetto.
It took 20 months for the team to add win number 16 to the 15 Canadian victories by sprinter Ben Johnson in the period between April '08 and March '09.
Lucas Fairbrother: Mediocre career despite premature praise
After Lucas Fairbrother made his first appearances in the world of cycling in July '09, the pundits were full of praise for him, predicting him to be the next winner of Paris - Roubaix. But the Briton never could live up to the expectations. Only 4 wins stood to his account when he ended his career at the end of October '10, with a stage win at the Tour des Pavés '09 beeing the most meaningful of them. At Paris - Roubaix '10 he surprised the masses with a brave solo attack some 50km from the finish. He got the cheers on his side but in the end gained nothing from it. At the Tour de France he was near the win at the Arenberg stage but eventually had to settle for 6th place. He participated twice at the Tour des Pavés, but wasn't able to repeat success in 2010.
Khoi Nguyen: First Asian Luna race winner resigns
Also Vietnamese Khoi Nguyen called an end to his career in November. Nguyen turned professional with the team amor lux bzh before he started his 2nd career with Team LunaLounge at an age of 27 as a support rider for the brothers Escobar in the high mountains. He took part in the Giro d'Italia as well as the Tour de France, where he used to be a reliable team mate for his captains. He also delivered his own Top 3 results in both Grand Tours. But his personal breakthrough came when he won the Züri Metzgete in October, making him not only the first Asian rider at the team, but also the first Asian rider delivering a race win. Further top results of Nguyen include 4th places at Paris - Camembert as well as at the GP Frankfurt.
New signings: Team bolsters classics crew
In order to stay competitive in the classics the team hired the services of American cobble specialist Herculez Gomez. He is joined by Argentinian Ales Carboni, who arrived to the team at December 1st. While Gomez favours the more flattish races, Carboni intends to survive even some hills, not to speak of Hellingen...
Another signing, Columbian Lavinio Rocafuerte, is set to become the team leader at the non-cobbled classics. He will find support by Venezuelan Luis Jaime Garcia, who joined the team in October. In addition to Federico Duran Duran and Jack Fishmonger the team will have plenty of options in one day races or at stages. A team meeting is planned to coordinate the different goals and abilities of all the riders. There will be races for everyone of them, while everyone has to fulfil team duties in case of another one beeing the designated leader.
Also a new climber was hired by the team. César Escobar, son of Giro d'Italia winner Rodrigo Escobar, has high hopes of performing well in the GTs. It is planned to set a helper by his side in the coming months, who would also be able to lend a hand to the classics riders if needed. Further details will be released soon.
Re: Team LunaLounge
Luna news December
GP Brescia: Williams gets lost in the shuffle
One of the more important races in the off-season month of December, the RSF classic GP Brescia once more ended without a win of a Luna rider. Although Shawn Williams was in good shape he lost contact to the main group near the top of the final climb to the Castello di Serle about 20km from the finish. Together with riders from Liberty Seguros, francais and Wookie he desperately tried to come back before their chase ultimately collapsed with 5km to go. As a consequence they got passed by several riders, among others Williams' team mate Lionel Andrés, who finished the race as best placed rider of the team in 10th position 1:55 behind race winner Marius Wagner (Team Warriors). Williams came in 12th. The 3rd place finish of Zak Thompson in 2008 thus remains the teams best result on the lightly cobbled uphill finish in Brescia.
Silvano Vazquez decorates his final season with win on Elba
Former Columbian national road champion Silvano Vazquez added race win number five to his palmares when he won solo at the Elba Raceday on December 5, 5 seconds ahead of breakaway companions Daniel Schoonraad (Deuseburger) and Latcu Luncanu (ByZickl). Knowing that it was the last season of his career he took every opportunity to go on the attack during the weeks leading to the race in the hope to achieve one final result for himself and for the team. This time the 38-year-old finally found a group that made it to the finish, and 4 km from the line he took his heart in both hands and launched his attack to free himself from the others. Vazquez, who resigned minutes before season change, won stages at the Tour des Pavés and the Ster Elektrotoer. He was 5th at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and 3rd at Monte Paschi Eroica. At the Ronde van Vlaanderen he came close to repeat the success of Eddie Walloon of 2009, but sprinted only to 4th place. He rode the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in service of compatriot Pablo Escobar.
Shawn Williams' first race win for LunaLounge
Despite failing at the GP Brescia American Shawn Williams had a rather positive season in December. At the cat 1 Rigolato Road in Italy he even scored his 2nd career win, his first in Luna colours. In the second last lap of the difficult circuit race he followed an attack of Auxilium Torino's FabioLuca Razcon to form a group of four, that stayed in front for the rest of the race. 2km from the finish the group split in two, and in the subsequent two-party sprint he prevailed over Deepak Chopra (Team Buddha), 5 seconds ahead of their two chasers. In addition to his win he achieved two further podium results this month, finishing 3rd at both, the Philippine race Bantay - Nueva Era two days after Rigolato and the classical RSF years ending race La St Sylv on December 31.
Duran Duran: Dance on the volcano
The December usually is full of more or less meaningless cat 1 races. Nevertheless two of them attracted the teams special interest. The first one was the Elba Raceday, maybe because of its Italian classical character, won by Silvano Vazquez. The second one was Rodeando el Popocatepetl on Dec 10, probably owed to the beautiful scenery around the Mexican volcano Popocatepetl and to the fact that the team basically values races that come out of the creation of the organizing company of the Cerro Torre RT. The management is proud to have won both. In the Mexican race it was Federico Duran Duran who took the glory. He was the fastest sprinter in a group of four that seperated from the main bunch short before the finish. And it was once more his friend Jack Fishmonger who organised the split and upheld the gap for the final 3 km to enable Duran to achieve an easy sprint win over Björn Hengst (Rolling Stones) and Ivan Dragunow (Sandow Racing). Fishmonger himself finished 4th.
Ales Carboni: Neo-pro shows his pedegree with a win
21 years of age, Argentinian Ales Carboni scored his first victory by outsprinting his breakaway rivals at Lake Magadi - Nairobi in Kenya. Carboni was part of an early group of 10 that left the bunch in the first kilometers. At a 20km climb midway of the race the group reshuffled, losing 5 and gaining 2, so that 7 riders made their way to the finish. The group saved 30 seconds over the main field and 500m from the line Carboni surprised the others with an early sprint. Only Siboniso Gaxa (clubucs) followed his wheel but wasn't able to come past the highly motivated Luna talent and had to settle for 2nd place. After Jools Krieger (Tarifa - Cadiz 2006) and Isandro Avila (Corso Pompei 2007) Carboni is only the 3rd Luna rider to have won a race at the young age of 21.
César Escobar: Promising first season
Unlike Ales Carboni the Columbian climbing hope César Escobar hasn't won a race in his first season, but nonetheless showed good performances as a neo-pro. His very first race was the GP Brescia, where he rode in service of Shawn Williams. After he fulfilled his duties to the satisfaction of the team he fought his way all alone to finish the race in 25th position, although a long flat had to be tackled, not yet a speciality of Escobar. At the Rigolato Road he was placed only 35th, but played an important tactical role when splitting the field at the main climb of the circuit race to lay the ground for the later race winning move of the Williams group. After several other top 25 results he enjoyed his first captaincy at the Mémorial Laurent Fignon, where he finished the stages in 12th, 22th, and 19th position. As a result he completed the stage race in 14th place overall. His first top 10 result came in the Christmas race Nazareth - Bethlehem, where he was ranked 9th, one place behind team mate Shawn Williams.
Mémorial Laurent Fignon: Big win for Lionel Andrés Messi
At the age of 34 Argentinian Lionel Andrés Messi finally found the way to his first victory of his career. Winning the 2nd stage of the Mémorial Laurent Fignon meant not only his maiden success, but also the biggest win for the team in the December season. Andrés beat Los Galacticos' Adriano Perreira in a 2-man-sprint after the duo attacked out of the main field of 40 riders with 17 km to go. They reached the finish 30 seconds ahead of the first chasing group and 54 seconds in front of the main bunch. Thanks to the stage win Andrés even fought for the win in the points classification, but although getting 3rd at the final stage he had to concede the jersey to Iwan Kokorin (Team Kajutschka), who won the sprint for 2nd place.
Pavés de Noel: Delacourse misses deciding move
The classical December cobble race, the Pavés de Noel, turned out to be a chance for Canadian Ted Delacourse to score the 2nd win of his career. But unfortunately he had to settle for fourth place after missing the winning attack of ErnirRafn Hreggvidsson of LibertySeguros 30km from the line. Delacourse was part of a 5 man breakaway that had been underestimated by the main field. With about 40km from the finish the escapers began to play their tactic games, with Delacourse constantly being marked by the others. In the end he remained part of the chasing trio that had to let go Hreggvidsson and later Robson deSouza (Team AGHN). Out of the main field Miguel Vidal got 14th and, more important, American cobble specialist Herculez Gomez reached his first individual result, finishing in 19th position.
GP Herne Mémorial Les Dubray: Problem child Rocafuerte best placed Luna rider
The second of two cat 3 races attended by the team in December. And none of the scheduled captains got his feet on the ground. Nobody was there when the attacks went in the finale. All what's left was sprinting for 11th place, 11 seconds behind race winner Sueito Purnomo from Team Lulu. Lavinio Rocafuerte was only beaten by Raja Gandhi (lesossies), meaning rank 12 in total. The Columbian also reched 5th place at the 2nd stage of the Mémorial Laurent Fignon, winning the sprint of the chasers, while in front Lionel Andrés celebrated his success. Although showing good results Rocafuerte is far behind his training schedule. A fact that causes some trouble to the team mangement, since he was expected to become the teams leader for the classics in 2011. It's not yet totally over for him, but if it continues that way the sport directors will have to think about an alternetive plan. For the moment the 22-year-old gets another chance. But he will remain under observation.
GP Brescia: Williams gets lost in the shuffle
One of the more important races in the off-season month of December, the RSF classic GP Brescia once more ended without a win of a Luna rider. Although Shawn Williams was in good shape he lost contact to the main group near the top of the final climb to the Castello di Serle about 20km from the finish. Together with riders from Liberty Seguros, francais and Wookie he desperately tried to come back before their chase ultimately collapsed with 5km to go. As a consequence they got passed by several riders, among others Williams' team mate Lionel Andrés, who finished the race as best placed rider of the team in 10th position 1:55 behind race winner Marius Wagner (Team Warriors). Williams came in 12th. The 3rd place finish of Zak Thompson in 2008 thus remains the teams best result on the lightly cobbled uphill finish in Brescia.
Silvano Vazquez decorates his final season with win on Elba
Former Columbian national road champion Silvano Vazquez added race win number five to his palmares when he won solo at the Elba Raceday on December 5, 5 seconds ahead of breakaway companions Daniel Schoonraad (Deuseburger) and Latcu Luncanu (ByZickl). Knowing that it was the last season of his career he took every opportunity to go on the attack during the weeks leading to the race in the hope to achieve one final result for himself and for the team. This time the 38-year-old finally found a group that made it to the finish, and 4 km from the line he took his heart in both hands and launched his attack to free himself from the others. Vazquez, who resigned minutes before season change, won stages at the Tour des Pavés and the Ster Elektrotoer. He was 5th at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and 3rd at Monte Paschi Eroica. At the Ronde van Vlaanderen he came close to repeat the success of Eddie Walloon of 2009, but sprinted only to 4th place. He rode the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in service of compatriot Pablo Escobar.
Shawn Williams' first race win for LunaLounge
Despite failing at the GP Brescia American Shawn Williams had a rather positive season in December. At the cat 1 Rigolato Road in Italy he even scored his 2nd career win, his first in Luna colours. In the second last lap of the difficult circuit race he followed an attack of Auxilium Torino's FabioLuca Razcon to form a group of four, that stayed in front for the rest of the race. 2km from the finish the group split in two, and in the subsequent two-party sprint he prevailed over Deepak Chopra (Team Buddha), 5 seconds ahead of their two chasers. In addition to his win he achieved two further podium results this month, finishing 3rd at both, the Philippine race Bantay - Nueva Era two days after Rigolato and the classical RSF years ending race La St Sylv on December 31.
Duran Duran: Dance on the volcano
The December usually is full of more or less meaningless cat 1 races. Nevertheless two of them attracted the teams special interest. The first one was the Elba Raceday, maybe because of its Italian classical character, won by Silvano Vazquez. The second one was Rodeando el Popocatepetl on Dec 10, probably owed to the beautiful scenery around the Mexican volcano Popocatepetl and to the fact that the team basically values races that come out of the creation of the organizing company of the Cerro Torre RT. The management is proud to have won both. In the Mexican race it was Federico Duran Duran who took the glory. He was the fastest sprinter in a group of four that seperated from the main bunch short before the finish. And it was once more his friend Jack Fishmonger who organised the split and upheld the gap for the final 3 km to enable Duran to achieve an easy sprint win over Björn Hengst (Rolling Stones) and Ivan Dragunow (Sandow Racing). Fishmonger himself finished 4th.
Ales Carboni: Neo-pro shows his pedegree with a win
21 years of age, Argentinian Ales Carboni scored his first victory by outsprinting his breakaway rivals at Lake Magadi - Nairobi in Kenya. Carboni was part of an early group of 10 that left the bunch in the first kilometers. At a 20km climb midway of the race the group reshuffled, losing 5 and gaining 2, so that 7 riders made their way to the finish. The group saved 30 seconds over the main field and 500m from the line Carboni surprised the others with an early sprint. Only Siboniso Gaxa (clubucs) followed his wheel but wasn't able to come past the highly motivated Luna talent and had to settle for 2nd place. After Jools Krieger (Tarifa - Cadiz 2006) and Isandro Avila (Corso Pompei 2007) Carboni is only the 3rd Luna rider to have won a race at the young age of 21.
César Escobar: Promising first season
Unlike Ales Carboni the Columbian climbing hope César Escobar hasn't won a race in his first season, but nonetheless showed good performances as a neo-pro. His very first race was the GP Brescia, where he rode in service of Shawn Williams. After he fulfilled his duties to the satisfaction of the team he fought his way all alone to finish the race in 25th position, although a long flat had to be tackled, not yet a speciality of Escobar. At the Rigolato Road he was placed only 35th, but played an important tactical role when splitting the field at the main climb of the circuit race to lay the ground for the later race winning move of the Williams group. After several other top 25 results he enjoyed his first captaincy at the Mémorial Laurent Fignon, where he finished the stages in 12th, 22th, and 19th position. As a result he completed the stage race in 14th place overall. His first top 10 result came in the Christmas race Nazareth - Bethlehem, where he was ranked 9th, one place behind team mate Shawn Williams.
Mémorial Laurent Fignon: Big win for Lionel Andrés Messi
At the age of 34 Argentinian Lionel Andrés Messi finally found the way to his first victory of his career. Winning the 2nd stage of the Mémorial Laurent Fignon meant not only his maiden success, but also the biggest win for the team in the December season. Andrés beat Los Galacticos' Adriano Perreira in a 2-man-sprint after the duo attacked out of the main field of 40 riders with 17 km to go. They reached the finish 30 seconds ahead of the first chasing group and 54 seconds in front of the main bunch. Thanks to the stage win Andrés even fought for the win in the points classification, but although getting 3rd at the final stage he had to concede the jersey to Iwan Kokorin (Team Kajutschka), who won the sprint for 2nd place.
Pavés de Noel: Delacourse misses deciding move
The classical December cobble race, the Pavés de Noel, turned out to be a chance for Canadian Ted Delacourse to score the 2nd win of his career. But unfortunately he had to settle for fourth place after missing the winning attack of ErnirRafn Hreggvidsson of LibertySeguros 30km from the line. Delacourse was part of a 5 man breakaway that had been underestimated by the main field. With about 40km from the finish the escapers began to play their tactic games, with Delacourse constantly being marked by the others. In the end he remained part of the chasing trio that had to let go Hreggvidsson and later Robson deSouza (Team AGHN). Out of the main field Miguel Vidal got 14th and, more important, American cobble specialist Herculez Gomez reached his first individual result, finishing in 19th position.
GP Herne Mémorial Les Dubray: Problem child Rocafuerte best placed Luna rider
The second of two cat 3 races attended by the team in December. And none of the scheduled captains got his feet on the ground. Nobody was there when the attacks went in the finale. All what's left was sprinting for 11th place, 11 seconds behind race winner Sueito Purnomo from Team Lulu. Lavinio Rocafuerte was only beaten by Raja Gandhi (lesossies), meaning rank 12 in total. The Columbian also reched 5th place at the 2nd stage of the Mémorial Laurent Fignon, winning the sprint of the chasers, while in front Lionel Andrés celebrated his success. Although showing good results Rocafuerte is far behind his training schedule. A fact that causes some trouble to the team mangement, since he was expected to become the teams leader for the classics in 2011. It's not yet totally over for him, but if it continues that way the sport directors will have to think about an alternetive plan. For the moment the 22-year-old gets another chance. But he will remain under observation.
Re: Team LunaLounge
Today we have a lunar eclipse. Could there be any better moment to announce the ultimate end of Team LunaLounge? I just don't enjoy it anymore. I wish you well. Good bye everybody.
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