2023 Power Rankings - Part 4

Welcome the fourth part of the analysis of 2023 Power Rankings, in which the 31th-35th placed teams will be investigated from Corratec to Burgos.

The Italian Corratec - Selle Italia team finished in 35th place. This was the young team's first time at ProConti level, a very commendable result for a debut season - and if you add to that the fact that they crowned it with a Giro d'Italia appearance, you can immediately feel better about what was a rather mixed season. If we only consider that the Giro exceeded expectations by far with two top 5 stage results, this could be considered a successful season... but in the case of the whole picture, they did not necessarily deliver what was expected before the season. Statistically, German Nicolas Tivani was the best of the squad. The 27-year-old Argentine sprinter was the clear leader of Corratec in the first half of the season, specifically, finishing 12th on GC in San Juan, it was him who sprinted into the top 5 on the Giro at stage 5 (if I can recall correctly), who almost took Corratec's first and biggest win in the Reggio Calabria one-day race... he had a miraculous season, which came to a sad end - in the last month something was not right for him, he couldn't finish a race, his fitness was not right - as it turned out it was caused by mononucleosis, which unfortunately hit Tivani, but after the offseason rest he will hopefully be able to get back to the same fitness he had at the beginning of the season The team delivered a .Pro victory at the Qinghai Lake Tour, thanks to Davide Baldaccini. The 25-year-old Italian youngster won a quite tough stage in a very brutal way - as he made a long breakaway with Burgos' Eric Fagundez on a stage that often climbed above 3,500 metres and sprinted against the Uruguayan at the end in a heroic fight. Baldaccini has improved a lot this year and could even set himself bigger goals next year. Other than the two, Valerio Conti is a 30-year-old Italian rider with many years of World Tour experience who joined Corratec this year and, although he unfortunately had to give up the Giro early, the numbers show that he was by far the only rider who could really finish in the top 10 or top 20 in a really high-level race. Karel Vacek went on a rampage on stage 7 of the Giro - it was the Campo Imperatore climb that was a total borefest - but Vacek took the opportunity and managed to finish on the podium on the Giro stage, which might save his career in the long run, at least at a level where he could have a contract next year. 2024 will bring positive changes in the life of the team. We don't know yet who will go, but we know for sure that Jakub Mareczko, Niccolo Bonifazio and Kristian Sbaragli will arrive on the sprinter front, which will definitely be a reinforcement, and Mark Stewart will come in the climber front... we'll see what this brings, of course it also depends on who stays, but a little progress should be anticipated for next year.

Human Powered Health finished our competition in 34th place, and it hurts to write about them because this is the last time I can write about the team in this form, since the men's part of the team will not continue competing next year, only the women's division will remain as participants. This season was interesting, since from August they competed, knowing that they were going for their own further careers and contracts, and this released new energy in some of the riders. Stanislaw Aniolkowski was one of those who could capitalize on the opportunities. The 26-year-old Polish rider was able to consistently finish in the top 5 in the .1 races throughout the season, supporting this with two stage victories in Hellas, and he was able to reach the top 10 in the stronger .1 and .Pro races. Aniolkowski has been able to achieve this level very stably for years now, the reward for this was a World Tour contract from Cofidis, and in some ways this is a perfect move, as he will have the same (maybe even more) opportunity to succeed than he had in his previous teams. Bart Lemmen, a former air force soldier, is perhaps the most unique member of the entire peloton, his life path is quite different even from riders with eccentric and strange career paths. His rise is incredibly rapid, last year he even competed at Conti level, this year he didn't bring any shame in the ProTeam category either, top 5 at the Slovak Tour GC, Top 15 at the Belgium Tour and Castilla y Leon, he showed quite a lot in only 43 racedays... result: contract from the best team in the world. Really, I don't think you can get more than that out of a season, and the next two years will be a bonus - if he wins his first pro race, that would be really extra. Who else was good? Paul Double has been brilliant again this year and has performed beyond his abilities and the abilities of the team, the reward for this will be a Polti-Kometa contract for 2024, where he might finally get all the opportunities, including a Giro d'Italia. Sasha Weemaes did not excel at the Belgian classics races this year, but he did particularly well in the sprints of the Tour de Langkawi, winning a stage, and Bingoal at the same time pounced on him with a two-year contract. Adam de Vos was 3rd in Drenthe held in horrible conditions, and Scott McGill was 7th in Maryland and 8th in Paris-Chauny, for example, I think he deserves a contract next year as well.

The Spanish Caja Rural-Seguros finished in 33rd place - and perhaps here is the first time where you can be a little surprised at this ranking, because to my eye test, the team looked much, much better than what the final standings showed - a clear jump follows compared to previous teams. There were a lot of very positive performances this year, much more than originally expected, but Orluis Aular can clearly be named as the clear leader and #1 rider in the team. The Venezuelan sprinter produced by far the best season of his career and showed much more than what can be expected from a natural sprinter. I say this even though the first half of the season didn't turn out the way he and the team thought it would, then from May he slowly got his engine moving, he finished 4th on the Morbihan, and then he also had a top 10 on the Occitanie Tour and meanwhile he also won the Central American Games and the Venezuelan Championship - and here something really clicked for him. At the Vuelta, he was brilliant, he took advantage of the opportunities that presented him perfectly, with 3 top 10s, and then, to everyone's surprise, he won the Cro Race GC, even though he literally fell on his head in the last stage. He will stay with Caja Rural next year, but after a season like this, it is worth thinking about if he maintains this level, will he have a chance to get a World Tour contract in 2025, at the age of 29? It's not the current trend, but he deserves it terribly... Another extremely positive surprise of the 2023 season was Iuri Leitao. I wrote about the Portuguese sprinter at the end of 2021 that it will be a huge question when his talent will be able to convert from track cycling to road cycling - this happened definitively this year. Interestingly, in the second half of the season he started delivering the results he was meant to achieve, top 10 at the Tour of Burgos, 2 top 6 at Poitou-Charentes, 3 top 7 at the Tour of Slovakia and the crown for the season was his stage victory at the Cro Race up. Although it was a very difficult decision for him and for us, journalists, to figure out what to do with his career, in the end he made the very best decision: he signed a 2-year contract extension. The future is bright for him, and, in principle, he is only now entering his prime as a sprinter. But what happened to the climbers? Cause we haven't talked about them yet. Well, they were fine too. Jon Barrenetxea, for example, who will be a Movistar rider next year, had a particularly versatile season behind him, he finished 5th on one of the Vuelta's most difficult stages, with mud and irregular climbs, won the mountain jersey at Itzulia and 3rd at Boucles de l'Aulne, which is quite a difficult sprint/hill race. The two of them, him and Lazkano will blow up the 1.1 races next year. The Scots-named but very Spanish Abel Balderstone is also steadily improving, his top 10 GC at the Tour de Hongrie is an indication of his ultimate potential, and the Ethiopian Mulu Hailemichael has also improved in the second half of the year, especially at the Tour of Slovakia, with a GC 4th place, which drew attention to himself – all in all there could easily be several similar appearances in 2024. The squad will remain almost unchanged for the 24th, 4 riders have come from the Devo team so far, apart from Barrenetxea, the team has no major departures, and this constancy can bring more great results to Caja Rural.

In 32nd place is Flanders-Baloise, where we will look back on this year, but I am more interested in what will happen in 2024, as the team has strengthened a lot in the off-season. It was clear the situation for the 2023 season: sprinters, a Belgian one-day classics rider, and a single Kamiel Bonneu who can climb mountains. Well, that one Kamiel Bonneu was by far the best of the 2023 bunch. The 24-year-old climber and puncheur has surpassed last year's already decent level this year and had the consistency I expected from him after last season. This was especially true for the second half of the season, when he finished in the top 10 on GC level at the Czech Tour, the Arctic Race of Norway, and the Tour of Britain. Bonneu has a particularly difficult task, as he is the only climber in the team who is worth a lot of money, and without a team you can only get good results on these stages with full skills. Kamiel has this - so it is particularly strange that he is still not sure about his career, even though he has every chance and opportunity to continue his career at a high level. Behind him, it's hard to pick anyone out as deserving of a highlight, so I'll just pick out a selection of riders who did reasonably well in ’23. Milan Fretin was one of them. The young 22-year-old sprinter has produced at least 1 stage top 10 from every stage race in the last six months, and that included everything from .2 races to World Tour races. He's a complex rider who has already proven his speed, so if he can add a one-day race skill to his repertoire, he could be a contender at a higher level - and he'll have the opportunity to do so next year at Cofidis. Another 23-year-old sprinter, Vito Braet, has also had a great season, which I could even call very complex, starting the season with a mountain jersey in Besseges, followed by 2 top 10s in Samyn and Monsere, and later in the season 2 stage top 5s in 2.Pros in Hungary and Denmark. Braet is a great talent in my opinion, the time should finally come when he can do it at a very high level - I don't know if that will happen next year at Intermarche, but I'm rooting for him. But next year... That said, a very strong transfer window is an exaggeration, with both Fretin and Braet leaving, Bonneu's future is uncertain - what is certain is that in Dylan Vandenstorme and Jasper Dejaegher we have two riders coming in who were performing tremendously well in Belgian U23 races this year, I expect them to make an instant impact - and Lars Craps, if Bonneu stays, will finally be able to help him in the hills. Finishing in 31st place, Burgos-BH, who had a couple of ups and downs this year, but had a disappointing season in some ways, with several riders not performing to the level expected, but fortunately they stayed in the top 40 and secured the chance to receive Grand Tour wildcards - and with some very out-of-the-box tactics next year, they could even have a very positive season in ’24. The one who doesn't fall into either category, as he was a total genius and will be riding for Movistar in World Tour next year, is Pelayo Sanchez. The 23-year-old Asturian has had a total breakthrough season this year, with a string of excellent results from January to September. Mallorca, Galicia, and the Tour de Doubs were already signs that he was on to something special this year, and his solo win on home soil in Oviedo, the first professional victory of his career, only reinforced that fact. And just when we thought that was it for this season in July, the Vuelta came, the penultimate stage came - and that's what I think we can expect from him next year at Movistar, endless energy, attacks and hopefully more wins. One thing is for sure: this season has proven that Pelayo Sanchez is ready for the World Tour. The man who is not ready, and due to his age is unlikely to make the World Tour, but whose progress could get him to Sanchez's level next year is Monegasque Victor Langellotti. Small country with a big heart, you could say in his case, but Victor has really proved that he is a decent climber. Stage win over Lutsenko and Pelizzarri at the Tour of Turkey, top 10s in Valencia, Galicia and Oman, and he really seems to be step up year on year - obviously the higher the level the harder it is to do, so I'll be curious to see what he can achieve. Let's talk about the positives rather than the negatives, Jose Manuel Diaz finished in the top 20 in World Tour race on GC in Catalunya, on Andalucia, he was 16th, the Vuelta took a bit of a hit of his season, but overall, it was a good one, as was for Ander Okamika, another experienced Spaniard in the team. Next year is also worth talking about, as Burgos will be quite international. Already the signing of Guatemala's best rider, Sergio Chumil, has made the team exciting, but the way they have snapped up Bolton Equities' bests, the mullet George Jackson, and Aaron Gate, Mongolian champion Jambaljamts Sainbayar, and Greek Georgios Bouglas... 10/10. One of the most exciting projects for next year, even with the departures of Penalver (Polti-Kometa) and Sanchez. The Italian Corratec - Selle Italia team finished in 35th place. This was the young team's first time at ProConti level, a very commendable result for a debut season - and if you add to that the fact that they crowned it with a Giro d'Italia appearance, you can immediately feel better about what was a rather mixed season. If we only consider that the Giro exceeded expectations by far with two top 5 stage results, this could be considered a successful season... but in the case of the whole picture, they did not necessarily deliver what was expected before the season. Statistically, German Nicolas Tivani was the best of the squad. The 27-year-old Argentine sprinter was the clear leader of Corratec in the first half of the season, specifically, finishing 12th on GC in San Juan, it was him who sprinted into the top 5 on the Giro at stage 5 (if I can recall correctly), who almost took Corratec's first and biggest win in the Reggio Calabria one-day race... he had a miraculous season, which came to a sad end - in the last month something was not right for him, he couldn't finish a race, his fitness was not right - as it turned out it was caused by mononucleosis, which unfortunately hit Tivani, but after the offseason rest he will hopefully be able to get back to the same fitness he had at the beginning of the season The team delivered a .Pro victory at the Qinghai Lake Tour, thanks to Davide Baldaccini. The 25-year-old Italian youngster won a quite tough stage in a very brutal way - as he made a long breakaway with Burgos' Eric Fagundez on a stage that often climbed above 3,500 metres and sprinted against the Uruguayan at the end in a heroic fight. Baldaccini has improved a lot this year and could even set himself bigger goals next year. Other than the two, Valerio Conti is a 30-year-old Italian rider with many years of World Tour experience who joined Corratec this year and, although he unfortunately had to give up the Giro early, the numbers show that he was by far the only rider who could really finish in the top 10 or top 20 in a really high-level race. Karel Vacek went on a rampage on stage 7 of the Giro - it was the Campo Imperatore climb that was a total borefest - but Vacek took the opportunity and managed to finish on the podium on the Giro stage, which might save his career in the long run, at least at a level where he could have a contract next year. 2024 will bring positive changes in the life of the team. We don't know yet who will go, but we know for sure that Jakub Mareczko, Niccolo Bonifazio and Kristian Sbaragli will arrive on the sprinter front, which will definitely be a reinforcement, and Mark Stewart will come in the climber front... we'll see what this brings, of course it also depends on who stays, but a little progress should be anticipated for next year. Human Powered Health finished our competition in 34th place, and it hurts to write about them because this is the last time I can write about the team in this form, since the men's part of the team will not continue competing next year, only the women's division will remain as participants. This season was interesting, since from August they competed, knowing that they were going for their own further careers and contracts, and this released new energy in some of the riders. Stanislaw Aniolkowski was one of those who could capitalize on the opportunities. The 26-year-old Polish rider was able to consistently finish in the top 5 in the .1 races throughout the season, supporting this with two stage victories in Hellas, and he was able to reach the top 10 in the stronger .1 and .Pro races. Aniolkowski has been able to achieve this level very stably for years now, the reward for this was a World Tour contract from Cofidis, and in some ways this is a perfect move, as he will have the same (maybe even more) opportunity to succeed than he had in his previous teams. Bart Lemmen, a former air force soldier, is perhaps the most unique member of the entire peloton, his life path is quite different even from riders with eccentric and strange career paths. His rise is incredibly rapid, last year he even competed at Conti level, this year he didn't bring any shame in the ProTeam category either, top 5 at the Slovak Tour GC, Top 15 at the Belgium Tour and Castilla y Leon, he showed quite a lot in only 43 racedays... result: contract from the best team in the world. Really, I don't think you can get more than that out of a season, and the next two years will be a bonus - if he wins his first pro race, that would be really extra. Who else was good? Paul Double has been brilliant again this year and has performed beyond his abilities and the abilities of the team, the reward for this will be a Polti-Kometa contract for 2024, where he might finally get all the opportunities, including a Giro d'Italia. Sasha Weemaes did not excel at the Belgian classics races this year, but he did particularly well in the sprints of the Tour de Langkawi, winning a stage, and Bingoal at the same time pounced on him with a two-year contract. Adam de Vos was 3rd in Drenthe held in horrible conditions, and Scott McGill was 7th in Maryland and 8th in Paris-Chauny, for example, I think he deserves a contract next year as well. The Spanish Caja Rural-Seguros finished in 33rd place - and perhaps here is the first time where you can be a little surprised at this ranking, because to my eye test, the team looked much, much better than what the final standings showed - a clear jump follows compared to previous teams. There were a lot of very positive performances this year, much more than originally expected, but Orluis Aular can clearly be named as the clear leader and #1 rider in the team. The Venezuelan sprinter produced by far the best season of his career and showed much more than what can be expected from a natural sprinter. I say this even though the first half of the season didn't turn out the way he and the team thought it would, then from May he slowly got his engine moving, he finished 4th on the Morbihan, and then he also had a top 10 on the Occitanie Tour and meanwhile he also won the Central American Games and the Venezuelan Championship - and here something really clicked for him. At the Vuelta, he was brilliant, he took advantage of the opportunities that presented him perfectly, with 3 top 10s, and then, to everyone's surprise, he won the Cro Race GC, even though he literally fell on his head in the last stage. He will stay with Caja Rural next year, but after a season like this, it is worth thinking about if he maintains this level, will he have a chance to get a World Tour contract in 2025, at the age of 29? It's not the current trend, but he deserves it terribly... Another extremely positive surprise of the 2023 season was Iuri Leitao. I wrote about the Portuguese sprinter at the end of 2021 that it will be a huge question when his talent will be able to convert from track cycling to road cycling - this happened definitively this year. Interestingly, in the second half of the season he started delivering the results he was meant to achieve, top 10 at the Tour of Burgos, 2 top 6 at Poitou-Charentes, 3 top 7 at the Tour of Slovakia and the crown for the season was his stage victory at the Cro Race up. Although it was a very difficult decision for him and for us, journalists, to figure out what to do with his career, in the end he made the very best decision: he signed a 2-year contract extension. The future is bright for him, and, in principle, he is only now entering his prime as a sprinter. But what happened to the climbers? Cause we haven't talked about them yet. Well, they were fine too. Jon Barrenetxea, for example, who will be a Movistar rider next year, had a particularly versatile season behind him, he finished 5th on one of the Vuelta's most difficult stages, with mud and irregular climbs, won the mountain jersey at Itzulia and 3rd at Boucles de l'Aulne, which is quite a difficult sprint/hill race. The two of them, him and Lazkano will blow up the 1.1 races next year. The Scots-named but very Spanish Abel Balderstone is also steadily improving, his top 10 GC at the Tour de Hongrie is an indication of his ultimate potential, and the Ethiopian Mulu Hailemichael has also improved in the second half of the year, especially at the Tour of Slovakia, with a GC 4th place, which drew attention to himself – all in all there could easily be several similar appearances in 2024. The squad will remain almost unchanged for the 24th, 4 riders have come from the Devo team so far, apart from Barrenetxea, the team has no major departures, and this constancy can bring more great results to Caja Rural.

In 32nd place is Flanders-Baloise, where we will look back on this year, but I am more interested in what will happen in 2024, as the team has strengthened a lot in the off-season. It was clear the situation for the 2023 season: sprinters, a Belgian one-day classics rider, and a single Kamiel Bonneu who can climb mountains. Well, that one Kamiel Bonneu was by far the best of the 2023 bunch. The 24-year-old climber and puncheur has surpassed last year's already decent level this year and had the consistency I expected from him after last season. This was especially true for the second half of the season, when he finished in the top 10 on GC level at the Czech Tour, the Arctic Race of Norway, and the Tour of Britain. Bonneu has a particularly difficult task, as he is the only climber in the team who is worth a lot of money, and without a team you can only get good results on these stages with full skills. Kamiel has this - so it is particularly strange that he is still not sure about his career, even though he has every chance and opportunity to continue his career at a high level. Behind him, it's hard to pick anyone out as deserving of a highlight, so I'll just pick out a selection of riders who did reasonably well in ’23. Milan Fretin was one of them. The young 22-year-old sprinter has produced at least 1 stage top 10 from every stage race in the last six months, and that included everything from .2 races to World Tour races. He's a complex rider who has already proven his speed, so if he can add a one-day race skill to his repertoire, he could be a contender at a higher level - and he'll have the opportunity to do so next year at Cofidis. Another 23-year-old sprinter, Vito Braet, has also had a great season, which I could even call very complex, starting the season with a mountain jersey in Besseges, followed by 2 top 10s in Samyn and Monsere, and later in the season 2 stage top 5s in 2.Pros in Hungary and Denmark. Braet is a great talent in my opinion, the time should finally come when he can do it at a very high level - I don't know if that will happen next year at Intermarche, but I'm rooting for him. But next year... That said, a very strong transfer window is an exaggeration, with both Fretin and Braet leaving, Bonneu's future is uncertain - what is certain is that in Dylan Vandenstorme and Jasper Dejaegher we have two riders coming in who were performing tremendously well in Belgian U23 races this year, I expect them to make an instant impact - and Lars Craps, if Bonneu stays, will finally be able to help him in the hills.

Finishing in 31st place, Burgos-BH, who had a couple of ups and downs this year, but had a disappointing season in some ways, with several riders not performing to the level expected, but fortunately they stayed in the top 40 and secured the chance to receive Grand Tour wildcards - and with some very out-of-the-box tactics next year, they could even have a very positive season in ’24. The one who doesn't fall into either category, as he was a total genius and will be riding for Movistar in World Tour next year, is Pelayo Sanchez. The 23-year-old Asturian has had a total breakthrough season this year, with a string of excellent results from January to September. Mallorca, Galicia, and the Tour de Doubs were already signs that he was on to something special this year, and his solo win on home soil in Oviedo, the first professional victory of his career, only reinforced that fact. And just when we thought that was it for this season in July, the Vuelta came, the penultimate stage came - and that's what I think we can expect from him next year at Movistar, endless energy, attacks and hopefully more wins. One thing is for sure: this season has proven that Pelayo Sanchez is ready for the World Tour. The man who is not ready, and due to his age is unlikely to make the World Tour, but whose progress could get him to Sanchez's level next year is Monegasque Victor Langellotti. Small country with a big heart, you could say in his case, but Victor has really proved that he is a decent climber. Stage win over Lutsenko and Pelizzarri at the Tour of Turkey, top 10s in Valencia, Galicia and Oman, and he really seems to be step up year on year - obviously the higher the level the harder it is to do, so I'll be curious to see what he can achieve. Let's talk about the positives rather than the negatives, Jose Manuel Diaz finished in the top 20 in World Tour race on GC in Catalunya, on Andalucia, he was 16th, the Vuelta took a bit of a hit of his season, but overall, it was a good one, as was for Ander Okamika, another experienced Spaniard in the team. Next year is also worth talking about, as Burgos will be quite international. Already the signing of Guatemala's best rider, Sergio Chumil, has made the team exciting, but the way they have snapped up Bolton Equities' bests, the mullet George Jackson, and Aaron Gate, Mongolian champion Jambaljamts Sainbayar, and Greek Georgios Bouglas... 10/10. One of the most exciting projects for next year, even with the departures of Penalver (Polti-Kometa) and Sanchez.