Written by Tashkent Browncoats at 15:07 21/4-2021
Erazm Dębski finished 49th in the Tian Shen Stone City Cup, which was the last Cup of his career. The whole Cup was riddled with off-days and general bad luck. This might seem like a weird way to start a press release on a riders retirement, but I wanted to get it out of the way immediately, as there is so much good to say about Erazm's career. So having shed some obligatory light on his final days in the peloton, let me tell you about the greatest rider in our team's history.
Erazm joined us in season 40 from AK Pro Race for the incredibly low price of 45k. He joined in a period of transition, as we used to be a (rather unsuccessful) TT-team. At the time, I was on the brink of selling the whole team and taking off to Guam to start again, but a surprisingly good season with the Uzbek NT kept me from doing so. I decided to reshape my own team instead, to become a downhilling team. Jacenty Niezgoda, also a Pole, was bought on as a captain, and Erazm joined as a prospect. While his potentials were no exceptional, he proved to be very versatile, becoming a fairly good climber, while his hilling and sprinting skills were also decent, and even on flat roads, technique wise and in time trails he was by no means bad.
He started scoring some results in season 43, with a second place in 2x Brugge and a second place as well in the YC of Fast on Wheels (the only time we were ever slightly competitive in the Danish tour). He proved to do well in all-round (climbing) races, and scored his first win in season 45 in Qana-Qana. However, Erazm's seasons fluctuated rather heavily in success, as he managed to only score 4 results in the next 2 seasons. Among these was however a 3rd place in the GC of RotM which is the best we have ever done there. Nevertheless, he was of great value points and money-wise in these seasons as well, despite the relative lack of podium spots.
In the seasons after, Erazm continued to score results, and while he wasn’t able to win a race every season, nor rake up a lot of podium spots in each season, he was always one of the, if not the biggest contributor in terms of points and prize money. Nevertheless, in seasons 47 and 48 he was not exactly the biggest eyecatcher in terms of results. However, he completely set this straight in season 49, a season which completely and irrevocably cemented his spot in Browncoat history.
He started out his milestone season with winning the Vuelta de Mallorca for a second time. He scored 2 3rd places in one day races and an 8th spot in the GC of RotM going on, before achieving quite possibly the biggest achievement to date for our team. The newly introduced competitions of Cups brought the first high-profile cycling event to our home country of Uzbekistan, in the form of the Tian Shen Stone City Cup. A Cup set for the biggest part in Tashkent itself, with stage profile’s suiting our team’s (and especially Erazm’s) qualities.
Throughout the Cup, the parkour was flanked by large swaths of brown-dressed fans, cheering on the home team. In the first stage, a sprinting parade, Erazm finished in 7th, a relatively good result as Erazm was by no means a sprinter. He went on to win both the second and the third stage, which propelled him to a sovereign win in the maiden edition of Tian Shen and granting us the first addition to our palmares. Erazm finished the season with a 2nd place in La Serenissima Repubblica, completing the season with 4 wins and 8 results in total.
In the following season, Erazm scored only three results, of which one win. Nevertheless, the win posed a second highlight in Erazm’s career and our team history, as it was winning the division 4 classic Critérium la Grasse, thus adding a classic to our palmares. Furthermore, he came in second in the Classic Oslo. Nevertheless, in terms of number of results no season could rival season 49 for Erazm. He had to share the captaincy with other riders often, thus limiting the opportunities to score results. But he still rose to the occasion often when he had the chance.
He won Criterium la Grasse a second time in season 52, came in 6th in the GC of Tian Shen in season 53 and 4th in season 54. However, it seemed like his prime had come to an end. He scored at least two results every season, but since winning la Grasse for a second time, he did not manage to win another race and for long, it seemed la Grasse would be the last win he would get.
That changed in the beginning of this season, in which he won the Vuelta de Mallorca for a third time. Also, against expectations, he finished in the top 10 of the GC of Monte Rosa. This led to me pushing the date of retirement to Tian Shen, hoping he would get one last opportunity to shine. And while the race results might not have been what we hoped for, for three races, he rode around in his second home country, being chanted on by the public. After crossing the finishing line in Qibray, a foggy eyed Erazm was lifted into the air by his teammates, fans, and an equally foggy eyed manager.
Thank you Erazm, for making us great.
Erazm Dębski
Wins: 10
Results: 42
NT caps: 10
Subscribers: 17
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Comments
We will miss him in the peloton. Nice lad. Fare well, Erazm!
We will miss him in the peloton. Nice lad. Fare well, Erazm!
GReat write-up
Not yet. I have great trainers already, and I still low-key hope that Nick will implement more staff roles for former riders (especially with a longer duration than 10 seasons)
Besides, Erazm wouldn’t be a great trainer exactly because his odd stat distribution. I have better trainers in all of his key stats.
A great rider. I like these types, they are complex. And it seems Tian Shen suits them well. You didn´t want another trainer?
A long-ass PR, but I felt it is deserved
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