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Friday, August 22, 2014

Stagiaires Update: Stagiaires Strike Back

So being focused on Tour de l'Avenir, I haven't had a lot of time to write on the riders who have actually been getting the big break with stagiaire riders on professional teams. Let's check in on how they are doing...

Tour de l'Ain

Marc Sarreau has a great year going so far with 5 wins for Vendée U and the rider from Vierzon, smack dab in the middle of France, got a deal to join FDJ.fr for the remainder of the season. Sarreau took advantage of this opportunity at l'Ain by going 2nd on stage 1 to Raymond Kreder and 5th on stage 2 behind four professionals including Gianni Meersman, Romain Feillu, Leonardo Duque and Julian Alaphilippe. If he keeps it up, he could be looking at a pro contract.

GP Stad Zottegem

Tiesj Benoot kept up the great season with a 4th place in the GP Stad Zottegem, where he won the chasing group sprint 15 seconds behind Edward Theuns. This was Benoot's 16th top 10 of the year in a UCI race and nearly his 20th overall this year. He should be in some smoking form for l'Avenir but even if he isn't on his top game, he always likes to show himself in the sprint.

Vuelta a Burgos

Steven Lammertink gave the best stagiaire result with a 2nd place on stage 2 behind Matteo Pelucchi, who got a superb lead out from Mimo Reynes. Lammertink, who is the current Dutch U23 TT Champ, used the lack of sprint talent here to his advantage to get a nice podium spot.

Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev was using Burgos for a bit of Tour de l'Avenir prep where he finished top 20 on a couple of stages. Nothing too outrageous but a strong ride by a rider who is looking to go top 5 once again in the Tour de l'Avenir.

Arctic Race of Norway

The Arctic Tour, which was a big stupid and simultaneously awesome, saw some of the best stagiaire results from the past week or so.

Kevin Ledanois (Bretagne Séche Environment) and Loïc Vliegen (BMC) went 8th and 9th on the opening stage to Nordkapp, which is essentially the the northern cap of Norway. Vliegen got another top 10 placing on stage 3 while Ledanois gained more time on the final stage into Tromsø when he finished 6th, which was just 4 seconds behind winner Alexander Kristoff.

Ledanois ended up 6th overall, 229 seconds behind winner Kruijswijk, while Vliegen was 8th. Ledanois has a bit of pedigree as his father, Yvon, was a pro for a decade and is now a director at BMC. Ledanois was 6th in the Tour de Normandie earlier this year and has been doing quite well in his short time as a stagiaire with BSE. Vliegen has been lights out as a stagiaire with BMC having been in the top 10 four out of seven times, including the Arctic Tour GC.

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Currently, stagiaires are at the USA Pro Challenge of the Territory of Colorado, Tour du Limousin and more. More updates will happen soon.

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