For the second year in a row, OPQS accumulated nearly 60 hard fought road victories. The teamwork, dedication, and tradition was evident with each win, starting with the first OPQS win of sprinting legend Mark Cavendish at Tour de San Luis, as well as four victories and the overall at Tour of Qatar.
The wins continued throughout the season, including a rare bunch sprint victory for Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel at Paris-Nice, various time trial victories for chronoman Tony Martin, including Tour de France Stage 11 after a terrible crash in Stage 1, a comeback victory after injury for Tom Boonen — King of the Classics — at Tour de Wallonie, a dominant performance of Zdenek Stybar at Eneco Tour with multiple victories and the overall, and ending with another dominant time trial performance of Tony Martin at Chrono des Nations to close out the impressive season of all our riders.
While there are many moments to choose from besides these few previously mentioned, we picked eight of our most special OPQS moments to review in detail over the next weeks. Sometimes, new insight can be found upon looking back. We hope to accomplish this with every story, so the public can also relive all the moments that made us proud and motivated as a Belgian team with international reach.
We will also have an exit poll at the conclusion of our eight-part series, so fans can vote on the best OPQS moment of 2013. Thanks for following us and we look forward to carrying this momentum into 2014!
CAV IN PINK
The pressure was on for OPQS going into the Giro d'Italia. For the first time, the Manx Missile would rely on his dedicated OPQS leadout train in a grand tour. They also had a chance to earn the coveted pink jersey in Stage 1 in Napoli, and a possible victory in the flat stage could set the tone for the pursuit of the red jersey — the one points jersey Cavendish needed to complete the impressive feat of earning at least one points jersey in all three grand tours. Perhaps the greatest sprinter of all-time had the full support of his teammates, and it was clear Cavendish wanted this victory as he approached 100 in his career.
"Napoli was really the big moment for us," Sports Director Davide Bramati said. "Going into the race we knew it would be a fight to the last centimeter for the pink jersey. Iljo Keisse, Matteo Trentin and Gert Steegmans would have their hands full in guiding Cav to the line with many strong teams wanting the same accolade. But, we went into the race confident with a strong team dedicated to the sprint. If there was an opportunity, we would do everything to take advantage as we already had great morale. It helps to have great team chemistry!"
The win itself was as difficult as anticipated. Five riders remained for Cav in the final, shortened 8-lap circuit, and the tempo was so high that the peloton split, only to split once again in the final kilometers after a crash eliminated several teams from contending the stage. Despite some bad luck for the leadout in the final, Cavendish simply wouldn't settle for less than a victory after the fantastic, selfless efforts of his teammates. He also couldn't disappoint designer and friend Paul Smith, whom he promised to win the pink jersey on the opening stage so long as Smith designed the pink jersey of the Giro d'Italia general classification.
Cavendish launched from several riders back, and was able to take the win to wear the maglia rosa. Furthermore, the win was an avalanche of momentum as he went on to win five stages, and finally add the maglia rossa to an already decorated career.
You can also review photos from the OPQS Stage 1 victory in Napoli here!