FSA 2017 WORLDTOUR ROUND-UP

Our partnerships with pro cycling teams allows us to work alongside some of the world’s best riders to develop our products, and 2017 was a memorable season for FSA with an impressive collection of victories across the WorldTour races. Here are some of our favorite highlights of the season – uniting gear and talent for unrivalled success.

ASTANA – FSA gear: groupset, cockpit, chainrings, crankset and brakes

Until June 2017, Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang had never won a WorldTour race. By the end of the Critérium du Dauphiné, the 32-year-old had bagged two stages and the overall title. Four mountain passes were crammed into the 115km final stage with Richie Porte holding GC including a minute-plus on Fuglsang. But on the final day, the wily Dane rode under the radar to take an unlikely, but thoroughly deserved, victory. The team’s French success continued soon after when Fabio Aru won stage five of the Tour de France, unleashing a devastating attack with 2.4km to the La Planche des Belles Filles summit. The Italian would finish fifth overall. It was also the season Colombia’s Miguel Ángel Lopez came of age, winning two stages of the Vuelta a España en route to eighth overall – not bad for a 23-year-old.

BAHRAIN MERIDA – FSA gear: cockpit

Bahrain Merida can be happy with their debut season. The team racked up 12 victories with the Italian contingent showing strongly. Sonny Colbrelli kick-started things by winning stage two of Paris-Nice back in March before handing the victorious baton to Vincenzo Nibali. The former Tour de France winner registered the team’s first overall multi-stage win at the Tour of Croatia. He carried that form over to the Giro d’Italia, winning a stage and taking third overall. Nibali then finished the season in style, reigning supreme at Il Lombardia for the second time.

CANNONDALE-DRAPAC – FSA gear: cockpit and chainrings

What a rollercoaster season for Cannondale-Drapac. The American team enjoyed arguably their finest season for years. The future looks bright, especially after Rigoberto Uran enjoyed his finest Grand Tour since the 2014 Giro with second at the Tour de France. Uran’s resurgence built on Pierre Rolland’s stage victory at the Giro, the team’s first Grand Tour triumph for two years. Uran capped a fine season by winning Milano-Torino in October.

QUICK-STEP FLOORS – FSA gear: cockpit

Once again, Quick-Step Floors were the winningest team on the WorldTour, accumulating an incredible 56 victories. Powerful German Marcel Kittel won five stages at the Tour de France and also picked up the overall crown at the Dubai Tour. It was an astounding effort… but one matched by rising star Fernando Gaviria. The 23-year-old Colombian notched up four wins at the Giro d’Italia. Gaviria repeated that quartet of success at the inaugural Tour of Guangxi later in the season. Special mention must also go to Matteo Trentin, who won three stages of the Vuelta; Philippe Gilbert for a memorable spring in which he won the Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold Race; and Tom Boonen, who retired after finishing 13^th at Paris-Roubaix.

TEAM LOTTONL–JUMBO – FSA gear: cockpit

In 2011, Primoz Roglic set his personal best ski jump of 183m. Just six years later, the Team Lotto NL Jumbo rider became the first Slovenian to win a stage of the Tour de France. What a transformation. Roglic also helped the Belgian team to overall victory at the Volta ao Algarve. In a season of firsts, George Bennett became the first New Zealander to win GC at a WorldTour event with victory at the Tour of California. Hats off, too, to Jos Van Emden who won the final stage of the Giro d’Italia – a 29.3km individual time trial from Monza to Milan. And that’s not forgetting the team’s success at the Tour of Britain where Lars Boom took the overall title for the second time, while teammate Dylan Groenewegen won stage seven.