Written by The OCM Season 17 Awards Committee
Season 17 will go in the books as a season full of great performances, big transfers, epic tour wins, great under-performances and lots of other drama. In other words: another day at the office in OCM.
Day 5 - We will never forget this day. The podium in Alpe d'Huez classic was dominated by 2 legends that retired before the end of the season. Keegan Shiable (Team Kernow) brought the big prize home and Joos Valkenaers (Team Unibet) was stronger than Nico Holt (FFL) in the fight for the 2nd place. Keegan and Nico we will miss this races!
Day 9 - What a way to start the season in the Zyte division. Ainet - Bruggen put an american in front of 2 dutch riders. Roderick Soule ( Zoncolan) didn’t give any chance to Sjaak van Fessum (NECFTW) and Co Posthuma (Darkwave Recordings)
Day 10 - Team RI owns the Roubaix Classic and for the 3rd season in a row and with the 3rd different rider they got the biggest cobbles prize! Ronaldinho Vivas (Team RI) was the man who achieved it. Not even Lance Le Noir (spartak) or Algernon Dealy (JJL24SS) were able to stop the tradition from Team RI.
Day 13-14 - As always, the first tour of the season was decided on the cobbled streets around Antwerpen. Sieuwerd Schimmel (Team RI) was hoping to win it three times on the trot but in the end he didn’t even finish on the podium. Maas de Wolf (Monkeys United) proved to strong. Heinrich Uttenberger (The Killers) and Victor Giffurt (sprint4live) completed the top 3, with Schimmel only milliseconds behind. Rytis Kondrotas (Red Star) won YC.
Day 15 - Mas''ud Qutaiba (Ponsbach CST) made the big move for the victory in Zürich-Bern-Zürich. Garcia Dabino (Legia) was the runner up and Rudi Pogaènik (Team iPower) came to an incredible 3rd place. Can you guess the 4th place? No other than Nico Holt (FFL) great last season from this monster!
Day 17-22 - Winning a race on home turf is a dream for every rider. Winning one of the biggest tours around in your own country is the equivalent of a 6 day wet dream. Celso Leitão (blast) won Volta ao Porto in great style. The youngster also picked up the Youth classification on the way. Vincent Aerssen (minions of static) was “best of the rest” followed by Ferdl Adams (NECFTW). “The Beast” (ABK) did what he does best and won the Sprinting Classification.
Day 20 - Teodor Fogh (deadalus) was never afraid of the cobbles from Minsk CBGP. He won it and gave no chance to either Filipos Papakonstadinou (Kremer) or Alberto Mori (Quick step minded) who did a great race too.
Day 20-22 - Jim Österman (Crescent DBS) was victorious in the 4th edition of Monta Rosa tour. The jewel in the crown in a long and successful career. Silvanio Mantilla (Eixample ATH) was a close second with Fabrycy Pietrzyk (Team Chili) on the last step of the podium. 4th in GC Freek van der Werff (Burren Connemara) was the best of young guns.
Day 22 - First sprinting classic and first classic win for Hanneken Engelborgh (Monkeys United)! Norwich-London usually gives us a very good technical sprinter and this season was no exception. Ex-winner Nicodemus Balanchine (Gradient Levellers) came 2nd and Patya Gordeyeva (Yuri SuperTeam) | | 3rd.
Day 24 - Equipe Hollandia sold Primoz Mihelie for 145k to MCT. The highest fee ever payed for an untrained rider in OCM-history. Unfortunately Primoz suffered from premature maxiculation.
Day 33 - Brazilian star time trialist Natanael Buso moves from Cenas to sprint4live. Victor Giffurt plus an undisclosed fee are included in the deal.
Day 35 - Let’s sprint! Mito - Tokyo is known for it’s great peloton every season. This season Shimon Vandresser (Connaught) won in front of 2 beasts Conrado Fraga, (Team Tirilla) and Winfried Reinhold (Team Thüringer Energie).
Day 40 - Ralph van Bon moves from speedyb to team Trillia for a whopping $425.000
Day 43 - Former world number 1 skils announces his return. Some high profile riders like Otto Hagman (Team Crazy Downhillers), Max Rogaars (WV de Dommel), Niek Schaars (Greenride), Max Iwers (Greenride) and Mark Studsgaar (mortenryt) join the highly ambitious squad. The investments made exceed the $1.000.000 mark easily.
Day 40-41 - Anghel Ghidercea (WV de Dommel) in Cymru Taith: All 3 stages, GC and YC. In one word: Perfection. Ruddy Lind (Drapeau Noir) and Freek van der Werff (Burren Connemara) were mere bystanders in this one man show.
Day 41-42 - The big Dane Matthias Drejbo (Gradient Levellers) showed his class in Russia. By winning the General and Sprinting classification there could be no doubt who was strongest in Perm Tour. The Youth Classification was won by Portuguese rider Ludovico Raposo (EpoTopTeam), before fellow countryman Celso Leitão (blast).
Day 49-52 - Twice. The 2nd ROTM, 2nd win by Otto Hagman (Team Crazy Downhillers) and 2nd SC for Goddard Scothern (Telstra). Was this a complete reprise off last season? No, Otto Hagman is a big boy now and Celso Leitão (blast) picks up his 2nd YC in a tour this season.
Day 50-51 - Essex tour is all about consistency. Like last season the winner of the GC failed to win a stage, but by finishing in the top 9 three times, William D?browski (Red Star) took home the Gladioli. Winner of the YC? Can you guess it? of course: Celso Leitão (blast).
Day 51 - Another cobbler classic and another win from Scilian in Antwerpen - Huy. Curtis Defore (Scilian) won ahead of Sieuwerd Schimmel (Team RI) and Hamlin Chessman (Team Thüringer Energie).
Day 54 - After loosing two star riders to skils, Greenride contracts English sprinter/hiller Avery Nijholt. His former team Emerge receives a staggering $575.000 and talent Vince Newlon joins the english outfit..
Day 54 - So many hills we can’t even see the winner in the middle of it... oh wait it’s Wit Portai (omega pharma lotto) he won the Lappi Sea GP. Ignatiu Irimia(TEAM SERFIN97) missed it by a wheel and Hannes Jönsson (Burren Connemara) finished some meters behind him. Great race!
Day 55 Portuguese star Guilhermo Rios joins all Portuguese outfit Torreira. CCFC get Jannic De Keijsere with some additional cash in hand ($150.000 it is rumoured) on the side.
Day 56 - Just 2 days after the last classic and we have another one this time in France. Grasse
| | - Toulon is a sprinting classic for riders like.... Spiridon Apetri (Equipe Hollandia). Almost there Frank Croxford (YCO) and Nicolaas Arnolds (Onie), but even so great race for them!
Day 61 - Hello Astana! What a great race we had to finish the cobbles classics. Astana GP had a great finish. A never suspected podium with Mauricio Viola( Glamourade), on top and Joannes De Loose (The Doomsday Bunnies) and Julian Pope (Team Revolutie) next to him!
Day 65- After the cobbles, the sprint, and Helsinky GP is the perfect place for that. Ask Guilherme Rios,( Torreira) what he felt when he won it. Broderick Rimmer (Equipo Easy On) almost got his first victory in a classic and Nicolai Hermansen (JJL24SS) proved he can still achieve good things!
Day 70 - After seeing the peloton every season I can’t understand why this classic is called Helsinki GP Mini. Might be because of another classic in Top division but the quality here is as good! Seems like Spiridon Apetri (Equipe Hollandia) did it again after France. In front of The Beast, Lean Ahnfeldt-Mollerup (ABK), and Jan-Joost Dussel (peddelen).
Day 71-76 One of the tightest Germany Tours ever contested was decided by Australian tour rider Goddard Scothern (Telstra). 4 riders finished within 10 seconds of each other, with Grover Skinner (johny2) taking 2nd and Garcia Dabino (Legia) 3rd. The young Lihuanian star Rytis Kondrotas (Red Star) made it clear he is a force to be reckoned with for many seasons to come, by winning both SC ànd YC.
Day 75- End of the season comming up and in the middle of the Germany Tour the climbers stop to race the Critérium La Provence. Nico Gouffroy (Team airik) had a brilliant day winning it in front of Joop Daems (Yuri SuperTeam) and Iancu Statie (Siporex) completed the podium.
Day 79-81 The tour season finished with the Sprinters Ball known as Nederlandse Tour. Every stage is sure to end in a mad dash to the finish and there is no man better suited for this than Torben Sturmann (Shinboners). A hattrick for the German veteran. Avery Nijholt (Greenride) and Julius Delavignette (Equipe Hollandia) both entered in topform but had to settle for 2nd and 3rd place respectivly. 4th placed Rytis Kondrotas (Red Star) was victorious in the YC.
Day 87 skils continues the big spending: Matthias Drejbo leaves Gradient Levellers. How much you wonder? The GDP of a small country...
Day 89 - Once again the World Championship ITT proved the betting men wrong. Byron Wallis (Dodge) has always been a great TT rider but not many figured he would win the biggest race of the season. His companions on the podium: Takaki Takeshi (CCFC) and Domingo Asterloza (Bywater CT)
Day 90 - To top off a wonderful season for Polish cycling, Boris Bednarski (Kremer) decided this would be his day. The outsider outsmarted all the other riders and won his country’s first gold medal ever in the WC road race. Silver medalist: Ruddy Lind (Drapeau Noir) while the bronze went to Damario Barba (Luveaucek). A great finish of a great season.
Don’t forget to vote for the Season 17 OCM Awards
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