Day 13 and the days since have seen one of the biggest shifts in OCM history. Taking a look at the free agents currently available, we have former Young Guns, Germany Winners, World Champions, Netherlands and Volta Champions and more. So what’s going on? Well, changes in the way contracts are interpreted meant that many older riders were going to be costlier to keep on teams. Additionally, it’s been observed that the performance of the grandfathers of the Peleton has been suffering recently. This meant many OCM old-timers have been released from their contracts far earlier than expected. To take just one example, former World Champion and Czech number 1 Jaroslav Brychta cannot find a team, despite being only 32 years old.
With so many great riders likely to retire in the next few weeks, it’s time to take a look back at the careers of a few of them and in doing so take a look back at the Middle Ages of OCM.
Isaak Papadimitriou
Isaak Papadimitriou (Club Ciclista Riaza) was one of the first set of fledging riders to be dubbed a Young Gun. Back in Season 12 as one of OCM’s first ‘Red Riders’, the Greek looked to have a highly promising career ahead of him. He came 2nd in the second edition of the Volta (winning the Youth Classification) and became one of the youngest World Champion in OCM history, beating out Keegan Shiable (Team Kernow). However, his career would never again touch the heights of Season 12 and became very much the nearly-man on many occasions. In Season 14, he came second in both the Germany Tour and the Alpe d`Huez Classic and then two seasons ago he came second in the Worlds in Spain. OCM managers will probably remember him as one of the riders you always had to mark in the big races, but who ultimately never quite fulfilled the promise shown in his debut season. Papadimitriou is, however, the most successful of the Young Gun 1 riders. Indeed, other former Young Guns 1, Bartosz Ozóg (Velo Club Bored Man) and Jeraldo Piedrahita (Team Zyte), are also part of the OCM cut.
Yegor | | Astapkovich
Many managers may say ‘Who?’. However, Yegor Astapkovich was part of the ‘Mypa revolution’ that took OCM by storm in Seasons 13 and 14. It started in the 3rd edition of the Volta, as Herbert Andersson walked away with the Gold jersey. However, it was his teammate in 5th place, Yegor Astapkovich, who would make heads turn later in the Season. Astapkovich entered Germany as a relative unknown but left it with the Yellow jersey for winning Germany’s biggest race. Season’s 13 Germany Tour was also made famous for the rift between CCFC’s Kyle Abston and Giovanny Enrico, when the Green Goblin outsprinted his teammate on Stage 9, denying him the time bonus which would have given the Italian overall victory. Astapkovich started Season 14 with a bang claiming top 5s in both the early season climbing Classics, Alpe d`Huez and Zürich-Bern-Zürich. Unfortunately, for the Swedish team that marked the end of the revolution, but for those two seasons Mypa’s two top climbers were marked men.
Travis Plowman
With 8 teams in 12 seasons, Travis “TP” Plowman certainly has a story to tell. TP spent a number of years at Team Kernow, where he faithfully supported climbing captain Keegan Shiable. However, after many seasons playing second-fiddle, he moved on to CCFC, where he finished his training and finally got his chance to captain on a regular basis. Kernow’s loss was certainly CCFC’s gain, as within 2 months Plowman finished 4th in the both Perm and Germany (winning stages in both) before crowning a remarkable season in Poland by becoming Season 14’s World Champion. The next season saw more success for the American as he won the Perm Tour, and in doing so joined a short list of riders who have won a Tour and the Worlds. Finishing 20th in the rankings that season was his best and marked the peak of his career. He hung around at CCFC for another couple of seasons, but wins became more difficult to come by and it seemed we’d heard the last of him. However, Season 19 saw an 11th hour career performance in Spain’s new Tour, Vuelta de los Castillos. Having moved on to Team Revolutie,
| | he lead for most of the Tour, before ultimately fading and finished 5th behind winner Godo Figueiredo (Greenride). TP, you’ll be missed.
Yasir Sahir
After taking Torreira up through the divisions, Yasir Sahir broke through in the OCM Division 1 in Season 12. Season 12 was a remarkable one for the rider from Oman and his team. Despite not starting as favourite he claimed the Volta’s Gold jersey ahead of Papadimitriou, before keeping up with the Division 1 boys in Russia, finishing 4th in Perm. He finished the season 22nd in the rankings and it looked like a star had been born. However, like many promising riders before him and since, Yasir faded and was sold on and never took another Division 1 result.
Conrado Fraga
Season 12 also saw the debut of fiery, young,
Portuguese sprinter Conrado Fraga (Gradient Levellers). In the Germany and Netherlands Tours of that season, it was clear that the rider had tons of promise but his temperament led him to blow up in races. However, he slowly calmed down and during the next three seasons remained in the top 30 in the rankings, claiming a number of results in the process. It was rumoured that Fraga had his nose put out of place with the rise of Nicodemus Balanchine, his Armenian teammate, and he was eventually sold on to alberta1. The next season, Season 16, saw his career highlight as he took three stages and overall victory in Netherlands. However, the Portuguese volcano’s fiery temper saw him fall out with team bosses and he was sold on once again. Two more successful seasons with Team Tirilla and Portugal turned out to be his swansong. Fraga was a model of consistency during his career, finishing the season inside the top 70 seven seasons in a row. And for one week in Netherlands he was unbeatable. OCM managers who look back at his impressive career, will note that he only scored one big win. He should have achieved much more.
(written by Tim Johnson of Gradient Levellers)
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