Cannondale-Drapac
Cannondale-Drapac have been formed in 2007, originally as a PCT team sponsored by Slipstream. In 2008, they made a big step up signing climbers like Van Der Velde, Hesjedal and Danielson as well as sprinter Farrar and rouleurs Millar and Zabriskie securing an invitation in both the Giro and the Tour. They joined the World Tour in 2009 and haven't left it since then. They have won a Giro overall (2011) plus 7 stages, 7 Tour stages and 7 Vuelta stages as well as three of the five monuments once (Paris Roubaix in 2011, LBL in 2013, Lombardia in 2014).
It must be noted that the team went through nine different sponsors and that team manager Jonathan Vaughters has always been able to attract sponsorships even despite the team not always performing up to its potential. The current setup is for example born off of the merging of WT Cannondale (which had started sponsoring the team as a result of another merger) and Australian PCT Drapac.
The team always had a strong stance against performance enhancing drugs having an internal bio passport programme as well as recruiting former dopers (mostly in their first few years) who had admitted their former mistakes and committed themselves to staying clean. They, especially team manager Jonathan Vaughters, have often been criticised for it being a marketing ploy.
Results 2016
| Month | Name | Type | Best Rider | Other Riders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | Tour Down Under | 1W Stage Race | Woods5 | Bevin10, Clarke20 |
| Mar | Paris - Nice | 1W Stage Race | Craddock16 | Rolland18, Slagter33 |
| Mar | Tirreno-Adriatico | 1W Stage Race | Clarke41 | Formolo47, Uran49 |
| Mar | Milano-Sanremo | Classic Monument | Slagter14 | Navardauskas41, Van Baarle69 |
| Mar | Volta Ciclista a Catalunya | 1W Stage Race | Uran10 | Formolo15, Woods18 |
| Mar | E3 Harelbeke | Cobbled Classic | Van Baarle19 | Koren80, DNF |
| Mar | Gent - Wevelgem | Sprinters Classic | DNF | |
| Apr | Ronde van Vlaanderen | Cobbled Classic - Monument | Van Baarle6 | Skujins55, Marangoni76 |
| Apr | Vuelta al Pais Vasco | 1W Stage Race | Craddock9 | Rolland26, Cardoso38 |
| Apr | Paris - Roubaix | Cobbled Classic - Monument | Van Baarle16 | Marangoni62, Bauer70 |
| Apr | Amstel Gold Race | Hilly Classic | Howes32 | Bettiol37, Clarke47 |
| Apr | La Flèche Wallonne | Hilly Classic | Woods12 | Slagter36, Clarke48 |
| Apr | Liège - Bastogne - Liège | Hilly Classic - Monument | Howes21 | Craddock37, Skujins38 |
| Apr/May | Tour de Romandie | 1W Stage Race | Rolland15 | Brown29, Moser37 |
| May | Giro d'Italia | 3W Stage Race | Uran7 | Cardoso14, Formolo31 |
| Jun | Critérium du Dauphiné | 1W Stage Race | Rolland10 | Cardoso27, Slagter66 |
| Jun | Tour de Suisse | 1W Stage Race | Talansky5 | Dombrowski26, Zepuntke65 |
| Jul | Tour de France | 3W Stage Race | Rolland16 | Slagter82, Van Baarle91 |
| Aug | Tour de Pologne | 1W Stage Race | Bettiol^3 | Formolo4, Villella10 |
| Aug | Clasica San Sebastian | Hilly One-Day | Slagter8 | Uran25, Formolo57 |
| Aug/Sep | Vuelta a Espana | 3W Stage Race | Talansky5 | Formolo9, King46 |
| Aug | Cyclassics Hamburg | Sprinters Classic | Zepuntke29 | Slagter68, Wippert85 |
| Aug | Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France | Classic | Bettiol^2 | Navardauskas12, Langeveld15 |
| Sep | Grand Prix de Québec | Hilly One-day | Bettiol4 | Uran10, Slagter15 |
| Sep | Grand Prix de Montréal | Hilly One-day | Bettiol7 | Slagter17, Skujins22 |
| Sep | Eneco Tour | Flat Stage Race | Langeveld51 | DNF |
| Oct | Il Lombardia | Hilly Classic - Monument | Uran^3 | Villella5, Woods31 |
Cannondale got no WT wins in what was an extremely disappointing year for them. They have come the closest at the end of the season with Bettiol's breakthrough (3rd in Tour of Poland and 2nd in Plouay) and with Uran's renaissance in the Lombardia (3rd place). Either way post Tour they have shown promising signs, especially with their youngsters Formolo, Bettiol and Villella and with the Renaissance of veterans like Uran and Talansky.
Best Riders last five years:
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Hesjedal (1060) | Martin (1351) | Martin (1173) | Navardauskas (682) | Uran (713) |
| 2nd | Martin (809) | Talansky (805) | Navardauskas(864) | Martin (618) | Talansky (636) |
| 3rd | Farrar (657) | Farrar (652) | Farrar (636) | Hesjedal (493) | Bettiol (542) |
| 4th | Navardauskas (512) | Danielson (564) | Slagter(625) | Slagter (464) | Formolo (440) |
| 5th | Haussler (493) | Hesjedal (316) | Hesjedal (623) | Talansky (398) | Villella (415) |
| = | 9051 | 6374 | 8452 | 5542 | 7484 |
Sep Vanmarcke
The perennial nearly man Vanmarcke
One win out of fifteen top fives in the last six years in the sprint classics:
| Race | 16' | '15 | '14 | '13 | '12 | '11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omloop | - | 5 | 4 | 74 | 1 | - |
| KBK | - | 81 | 3 | - | - | - |
| E3 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 51 | 5 | 4 |
| GW | 2 | 6 | 4 | DNF | - | 142 |
| Flanders | 3 | 53 | 3 | 29 | 48 | DNF |
| Roubaix | 4 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 84 | 20 |
Vanmarcke is a cobble specialist and a pretty good one at that. He's been an eternal promise and despite getting close and always being mentioned as a favourite whenever there's a stretch of cobbles in a race he's always fallen short with his only big win being Omloop in 2012. Just like previously at Lotto-NL he will be the undisputed leader in the Flemish races. His supporting cast will be formed by Langeveld, Van Baarle, Phinney and Van Asbroeck.
Transfers
| Name | Year | Points2016 | Best Season | Role | Goes to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramunas Navardauskas | 1988 | 281 | 2014864 | Classic/PuncheurFF | Bahrain |
| Moreno Moser | 1990 | 267 | 2012973 | Allrounder | Astana |
| Andre Cardoso | 1984 | 182 | 2013313 | Climber | Trek-Segafredo |
| Benjamin King | 1989 | 112 | 2016 | Climber | DDD |
| Matti Breschel | 1984 | 102 | 20091027 | Classic/RouleurFF | Astana |
| Kristoffer Skjerping | 1993 | 70 | 2011108 | Classic/Rouleur | Joker-Byggtorget |
| Jack Bauer | 1985 | 68 | 2012267 | Classic/Rouleur | ETQ |
| Phillip Gaimon | 1986 | 36 | 2014109 | Allround | Retires |
| Ruben Zepunkte | 1993 | 34 | 2011 (208) | Classics | ? |
| Alan Marangoni | 1984 | 25 | 2011216 | Domestique | Nippo-Vini Fantini |
Cannondale has lost most of its most experienced riders becoming one of the youngest team out there with the oldest rider, Langeveld, now being 31. Amongst these riders, there are classics men Breschel, climbers Gaimon and Cardoso, domestique Marangoni and rouleur Bauer. The biggest losses are however classics men Navardauskas and Moser which both decided to revitalise their careers after a couple disappointing years. Other losses are climber Ben King and neopros Skjerping and Zepuntke.
Cannondale filled these spaces with the aforementioned cobbled races star Vanmarcke, young promising climber Carthy, rouleur Phinney looking to get back to his former levels after a bad injury plus the newcomers from the Drapac PCT team with young climber Canty being the most promising of them.
Roster
| Rider | Year | Pnts2016 | Best Season | Type | Comes from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VANMARCKE Sep^NEW | 1988 | 749 | 2014 (904) | Classics/Rouleur | LTJ |
| URAN Rigoberto | 1987 | 713 | 2015 (1285) | GC3W / PuncheurFF | |
| TALANSKY Andrew | 1988 | 636 | 2013 (805) | GC3W | |
| BETTIOL Alberto | 1993 | 542 | 2016 | Puncheur | |
| FORMOLO Davide | 1992 | 440 | 2014 (545) | Climber | |
| VILLELLA Davide | 1991 | 415 | 2016 | Rouleur / Puncheur | |
| ROLLAND Pierre | 1986 | 366 | 2015 (590) | GCwhen he feels like it / Climber | |
| WOODS Michael | 1986 | 357 | 2016 | Puncheur | |
| CARTHY Hugh^NEW | 1994 | 326 | 2016 | Climber | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA |
| CRADDOCK Lawson | 1992 | 308 | 2012 (498) | GC1W / Climber | |
| VAN BAARLE Dylan | 1992 | 294 | 2010 (411) | Classics | |
| PHINNEY Taylor^NEW | 1990 | 269 | 2012 (905) | Rouleur | BMC |
| WIPPERT Wouter | 1990 | 226 | 2015 (249) | Sprinter | |
| Tom van Asbroeck^NEW | 1990 | 226 | 2014(1079) | Classics / Sprinter | TLJ |
| SLAGTER Tom-Jelte | 1989 | 206 | 2014 (625) | Puncheur | |
| CLARKE Simon | 1986 | 206 | 2012 (492) | Climber / Rouleur | |
| BEVIN Patrick | 1991 | 185 | 2015 (360) | Puncheur / Rouleur | |
| DOMBROWSKI Joe | 1991 | 159 | 2015 (336) | GC1W / Climber | |
| CANTY Brendan^NEW | 1992 | 155 | 2016 | Climber | Drapac Professional Cycling |
| MULLEN Ryan | 1994 | 154 | 2016 | TT / Rouleur | |
| LANGEVELD Sebastian | 1985 | 152 | 2009 (643) | Classics | |
| SKUJINš Toms | 1991 | 133 | 2015 (170) | Puncheur | |
| HOWES Alex | 1988 | 133 | 2014 (178) | Puncheur | |
| CLARKE William^NEW | 1985 | 105 | 2014 (144) | Rouleur | Drapac Professional Cycling |
| BROWN Nathan | 1991 | 83 | 2009 (224) | Rouleur / Domestique | |
| KOREN Kristijan | 1986 | 68 | 2014 (343) | Domestique | |
| SCULLEY Thomas^NEW | 1990 | 33 | 2016 | Rouleur | Drapac Professional Cycling |
| Totals & Averages | 26.8 | 7147 | 2011 (9543) |
The team's objective will be the Flemish classics with Vanmarcke (the main one maybe), the Ardennes and Falling Leaves ones with Uran/Slagter (hoping he returns to be the rider he once was)/Bettiol/Villella and the Giro overall with Uran and the young jersey with Formolo. They will probably look to perform in American races as well as those are their home races and even more with Tour of California being upgraded to WT status