Cymru Taith, y daith yn parhau
Welshpool is again the city where it all begins. The, illustrious, Cymru Taith is about to begin.
The stages are set as we go in three days from Welshpool to Cardiff, and visit the cities of Bangor and Newport.
O'r Trallwng i Fangor, o Bowys i Gwynned. Casnewydd yn cynnal digwyddiad undydd. Bydd Caerdydd yn y meistr yn dod i ben y daith o Cymru.
We are here to present to you the teams that are participating in this years event. We have invited every manager at the townhall for a pre-race get together.
Croeso i Cymru a'r Trallwng ac rydym yn dymuno i chi hiliol da.
As a winner of Cymru last year with Anghel Ghidarcea (WVDD), what are your thoughts about this year's race, Mark? "Well im very confident that this will be another miracle from my starrider, no rider is as good as mine."
Well, this a very confident manager speaking here.
Delion of Drapeau Noir was a great opponent last year, but he lost almost one and a half of a minute to secure second spot. Do you think you can do better now with your Danish star? "My Dane will shine. He is the best of all the riders. Not because he is so good, but because he is in a French team. French' teams are the best. Everybody knows that.
Cillian Cassidy of Burren Connemara is laughing, he speaks to his neighbour Rik Andersen of Fertiberia Cajasur, but forgets his microphone is already working, so we hear: "Hehe, the Frenchy will be in for a surprise. No one likes Frenchies, especially when they are on our soil. Let us work together to keep him away from the podium."
Rik Andersen smiles, but wisely, does not respond. We see that Delion heared that comment and he is about to say something.
Lets move on. blast is coming from Argentina to bring in another Danish powerhouse to the race. bernard, as their manager, how do you see your chances, especially with the rumour that your team is not up to this task. "Who says we are not up to it! It was you who is telling this lies", as he points to Anthony Leutenegger of HC Alpine.
Anthony Leutenegger is not responding and looks the other way, pretending to speak to his neighbour Morten Rytgaard of mortenryt.
We quickly move on to the next as we let bernard of blast cool down for a bit. If we ask more he will explode we think.
We have come to two managers sitting together talking amongst themselves. It is Holger from Asymm Project and Quick Step minded of the same team. Your teams are much alike. Two great riders as captain, but the team is not all that. Are you two targetting one specific stage or do you want to go all out from the start?
Quick Step minded wants to react but, as a proper Belgium guy, he is put aside by a more assertive Holger. "My team is riding for our captain Aksana Putin, he wants to get another podium and maybe even a victory. Maybe we will do that using an attacking tactic."
Quick Step minded nods in agreement. Looks like they are going for an early attack from the start.
A Fool, from The Doomsday | | Bunnies, suddenly talks and says that "Breakaway riders will cause to much trouble and are not good for my team. We need to push hard and it will be not for the better of the race."
This is offcourse oil on the fire and we suddenly have a discussion going on. Simon Jones, from Telstra, is responding with "What are you afraid of? Goddard Scothern will ride away from your riders any day of the week if they want to." Michael of TKT says "Joselito Rangel does not fear breakaways. In fact he will use them to win the stage."
Fabio Grego, from Cyclemotor, and Finz, from NightmareChaos, burst out in laughter when they hear that. In choir they say Joselito Rangel is no match for our riders, let him ride, and we will take him at the end."
As this quarrel continues we ask the two Italian squads what they think of Wales and we are shocked.
Marco Perugini of TEAM SERFIN97 says "It is rainy in here, and the people are all pale, we are here for the points, not the scenery. I would rather be back home. Luinos of Team Zero1 agrees with him and, he even goes a step further. Why did I even signed up. This is no good for my riders, Clement Cheregi even said that he felt a bit sick when he saw where he landed."
OK, those are two teams that will not be supported by the Welshmen along the way, let us hope they all make it alive.
Now let us hear what our Eastern European friend has to say. Indurain from team Pomada, do you think you have a good team for the hills of Wales. "We are good."
Onie responds to this with laughter "You are good, well as long as you believe in it yourself, but you are the only one that thinks that. Nicolaas Arnolds will crush your team." Patrik of Unibet SWE goes even further. "What I have seen here is good. Good for my team to win, the competition is mediocure and I could not wish for better opponents. This will be an easy win for my team."
"Your team is not up to this." Alexx of Die Tour Phatome says to Patrik. And Delion even compares it to the two teams of Burren Connemara and Fertiberia Cajasur. "Three teams that look good, if you are missing three teams to get twenty particpants. They are nice, but only to serve as peleton riders."
Who do you call not good?" blast heard Delion's remark and thinks it is meant for him. "Do you believe the rumours, I will show you what is true about those rumours, my riders will make your riders look like his."
Anthony Leutenegger is the one he points at. "Do you want something from me? I will give you something!
Please people, behave like civilized managers. This is not the time to fight. Save your strength and do it on the course.
Do not trow that chair! Please sit down and stop yelling at eachother. This is not what we are here for.
bernard let go of Anthony right away. Fabio stop trowing cups to Simon.
What is this? Elementary school?
Please call the police before this is getting out of hand, let us just show some slides of the teams.
Written by pundit Finz from NightmareChaos to OCM Magazine
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| | | | Onie
Dutch team Onie will be participating in Wales and has put his money on their Dutch captain Nicolaas Arnolds. He will be supported by a mixture of
teammates. And will rely heavilly on the services of Klaudian Filipiak. Arnold can be dangerous in the hills, but he lacks the ability to finish fast. This might be a problem.
NightmareChaos
NightmareChaos from Russia have entered with a team that is build around Czech star Slavomil Dittrich. Slavomil is missing his trusted helper in the mountains, Matvei Nikiforov.
So he will have to do it alone. Rumour has it that Slavomil is wanting to ride this tour for a while, and he is in TopForm.
The Doomsday Bunnies
All the way from the island of St. Lucia we have The Doomsday Bunnies. They have a great captain in Spanish Damario Crusellas and he will be supported by no other then Nicolas Brunschwig.
Brunschwig is a top nine finisher from last years episode. And what is true about Crusellas reaching TopForm?
WV De Dommel
The titledefender has arrived. Anghel Ghidarcea from WV De Dommel has entered the tour. He will be the man everybody is watching. With the supportteam he has in the form of Gao Jianbin and Nico-Jan Stubbe, we believe everybody is watching his behind, and then they do not see him anymore.
Telstra
When there is a tour, there is mister Tour himself. Goddard Scothern has arrived for team Telstra. He really wants another tour. We believe team Telstra has not the right riders for supporting Scothern in this task. Rumour has it that they will ride ahead to save Goddard the strength to chase others. Will this tactic work?
blast
Jan Thomsen, will he be the one to take the title of Prince of Wales this year? He is a great rider, and he loves the hils. But will he get enough support from his team. We hope he does, but we fear he does not.
mortenryt
Danish mortenryt is coming with his man from El Salvador, Vidal Lizarraga. He will be after the glory of the first stage and maybe continue that streak towards the final stage.
Local rider Caroll Hoofnagel is the one people should be carefull about, being on homesoil, he might just go away early and then the classification can be final after stage one.
Die Tour Phantome
Egidio Bonomi is captain of the Dutch outfit Die Tour Phantome. People are talking that this team is not in full support of this Italian great.
They want stage two. The time trial, with Toine Touzet. Egidio is not commenting on this rumours and teammanager Alexx pretended that he did not see us when we asked him this question.
Cyclemotor
Team Cyclemotor has arrived in Welshpool. And what we saw was very interesting. Elvio Aguiar and Alfeu Freitas and Theodor Bagger in one team. This will be a fantastic team or a great failure in tactics. Who will ride for who, and will it work. If it does we already know the first three men in Cardiff.
Drapeau Noir
Ruddy Lind is the captain of French team Drapeau Noir. Ruddy is supported by his teammates Juan Lizaragga and Merlin Limes. Ruddy already scored a podium last year. He will staying on Ghidarcea's wheel as long as possible.
Asymm Project
Malayan team Asymm Project is always there when it is about multiday racing. In Wales he will place Aksana Putin in the role as captain. But he will have to do it alone, as he has only one teammate.
The team is filled with riders that will start racing quick. Asymm Project wants to be in a breakaway and be on TV as soon as possible.
Quick Step Minded
Belgium based team Quick Step Minded wants to win the last stage. This flat into the city of Cardiff will be broadcasted life in Belgium. And Izak van Bethlehem wants to win this one.
We believe that that is the only goal for this team, unless they want to join forces with Assym Project in the first stage.
Unibet SWE
Swedish team Unibet SWE is an outsider with their specialist Willem Zethof. The Youth Classification is something they are going for. Zethof has the skill and the age for that competition but for the General Competition he lacks experience and support from his team.
TKT
As the only team from Spain, TKT sets camp in Cardiff. We have no idea why they do that, because they now have to go north for the starting stage. This can be a fantastic move by manager Michael of TKT or a complete waste of money. Joselito Rangel does not want to spoil his preparation with this minor setback. And will do his best to score high in this years Cymru Taith.
Fertiberia Cajasur
Is this a homerace? It is in the backyard of the team's headquartors. You only have to swim the Irish sea. Alban Sergent and Martijn Vande Populiere are the riders that should deliver points. Alban in the streets of Cardiff where he should outsprint his fellow sprinters. And Martijn Vande Populiere is aiming for a good top ten spot in the General Classification.
Pomada
Pomada has entered with a great team of hillers. From Slovakia he comes with three very good domestic riders. And they are riding for Zins and Laino.
These two great hillers will be ready to ride with the best to take home the flowers at the end.
Burren Connemara
The four Irish rider of Burren Connemara are all working for Freek van der Werff and Hannes Jönsson. Freek van der Werff will be the leader of this Irish team and Hannes Jönsson will be supporting him in the hills of Wales. Will he succeed to get another podium finish like last year? He will do good and a top nine finish is possible.
Team SERFIN97
The first team from Italy is Team SERFIN97. Built around Spanish captain Humberto Villaroel they are in Wales for when the stage finishes on a flat road and with the complete peleton together.
A bunchsprint is what they are looking for, and the assingment for the team is to bring every breakaway back in the pack. Will this be possible, maybe with the help of fellow sprinting team Quick Step Minded, if they work together.
Team Zero1
Instead of his fellow Italian manager, Luinos of Team Zero1, is having a team that is aiming for a top nine result at the end. Romanian Clement Cheregi is being supported by a great team that will guide him through the little mountains and hills of Wales. Can they succeed in the first stage and keep the pace high enough in the following stages to smile in Cardiff, only time will tell.
HC Alpine
Canadian HC Alpine is the final team that has entered the Cymru Taith. They rely heavily on their two Spanish riders, Gaspar Espinosa and Bartoli Edo. With the help of their Canadian teammates they can try to do their best in the first stage. Maybe if they finish up front they can keep their places and work their way into the top nine.
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