There are but a select group of elite riders who have claimed both a Division 1 Classic and a Tour. Giovanny Enrico (now at FFL) is the only modern day rider to do the double - with victory at Perm and the Alpe d`Huez Classic. Ame Anderberg of course took Yellow at Germany on 2 occasions as well as winning the World Championships 3 times, though never achieved a Classic victory. A few days ago, a new rider joined this list.
Monsen writes his own piece of history at Perm
Viggo Monsen is a rider known by all OCM managers to have the ability to win big races. But, for a while it seemed that such potential would not turn into real results. Monsen landed onto the OCM scene in Season 12 with manager JackO promising big things from him. He failed to deliver at first, even being voted Season 12's 'Most Disappointing Rider'. Season 13 was a distinct improvement for the Norwegian, as he claimed 5 victories, including a Clash of Nations win in Rio. However, Season 14 is proving to be the Season where he makes his mark and lives up to his manager's words.
First off, it was victory in this season's Zürich-Bern-Zürich, one of the hardest climbing Classics, that saw Monsen claim his first big | | race. Then last week, he claimed the Classic/Tour double with victory at Perm to write himself into the history books. Still a relatively young rider at 27, Monsen will no doubt see this as the start of things to come rather than settling. The upcoming Germany Tour will be in the forefront of his mind, as the biggest race in OCM. Then, there is the World Championhips to consider, a race which would earn him the Triple, a feat that not even the great Ame Anderberg achieved. With time and talent on his side, who would bet against him achieving these?
Balanchine clears the Blues
Another rider to make his mark at Perm was Nicodemus Balanchine (Gradient Levellers). The Armenian Arrow is another rider who flattered to deceive at the start of his career and another who is showing OCM his real potential this Season. Balanchine won both sprint stages, Stages 1 and 4, to dominate the Sprinter's Blue Jersey competition. This was his first major victory and, indeed, the team's. Balanchine also took victory in Hermanus - Cape Town and Ourense - La Coruna to make it 5 victories in one week (including the Perm SC). The 27 year old will now be eyeing Germany's Green and the Number 1 spot in the rankings.
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Teams line up for Essex
Tomorrow sees the start of the next Division 1 Tour, the Essex Tour. Christophe Frisch (Team iPower) returns to defend his title but it will be a mightily hard defense. Yet another rider making his name this season is Turman Vancil (Equipo Easy On) whose 4 victories, including 2 in England, have propelled him up to 3rd in the OCM rankings. Vancil will start as one of the favourites for Essex as will World Number 1, Salim Wajeeh (Equipe 44). The Syrian has impressed spectators around the world with his performances this season, most notably with 4th in the Volta and a victory in last week's Cymru Taith. This will, however, be his first outing against the big boys of Division 1 so it will be interesting to see how he fares.
These days, a Tour preview is incomplete without a mention of Matthias Drejbo and, despite an unspectacular season, the Danish rider will be another rider fancying his chances. Other riders worth mentioning include Patya Gordyeva (Yuri Super Team), who himself sits Number 6 in the rankings, Urbano Menem (Team Whalers), who will be hoping to take inspirations from Viggo's recent exploits, defending champion Christoph Frisch and Osvald Beyer (Il Grillo).
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