It is a nice tour

Very nice wins with Millar

Yes, he must be

DFL are moving clear at the top of the ProTour rankings, just as Barloworld are doing the same in the Continental tour. At the bottom, Stijn Devolder scored some crucial points for Euskaltel which puts Cofidis into the relegation zone. It seems many Cofidis riders are prepared for relegation as Farrar, Sutton, Duque and Wiggins are all leaving while Moncoutie and Caucchioli have yet to sign a new contract with them.


In the monthly awards, Pliuschin was not only rewarded for his successes in Germany but also for the races he won in the same month last year. Odd.


Konovalovas got a stats boost in Eneco, Chtioui had his in Vattenfalls. On the left are there stats in July on the right is their stats at the start of September

I think Konolovas could challenge in the Ardennes next year, maybe manager a top 5 or something

Super win for Millar, very happy that he took it

Konolovas is looking very good for next year

Konovalovas will be in top form for the Ardennes, but it is likely that he will be working for Rigoberto Uran (Currently 78 Hill, will have final stats boost during Vuelta)

Millar!

The fact that Mickey Smith is riding here in Plouay should tell you that this is a weak team. The fact that he wasnt my last choice tells you even more. Other than David Millar (93 Form), every rider here will gain XP Points - and Efimkin will gain an XP level.

Team: Millar, Efimkin, Stannard, Swift, Thomas, Smith, Sulzberger, Pollock

Despite a strong form, David Millar wasnt strong enough when it mattered and 6 men got clear.

Wegmann, Bettini, Grivko and Nocentini lead, with Kirchen and Rodriguez behind them.


All riders then attacked each other leaving 6 solo riders. Wegmann > Grivko > Bettini > Nocentini > Kirchen > Rodriguez


Bettini caught Grivko and Kirchen caught Nocentini. Noone caught Wegmann though.


Millar put in a little attack towards the finish to give enough margin to guarantee 7th ahead of Gadret, Boonen and Gilbert


But the DFL rider of the day by FAR is Ian Stannard. An unbelievable 15th place for him!!!


1 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER 6h07'53
2 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
3 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1'03
4 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
5 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
6 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'57
7 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'47
8 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
9 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
10 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
11 Zdenek Stybar AGRITUBEL s.t.
12 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
13 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
14 Jérôme Pineau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
15 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
16 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
17 Massimilliano Mori LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
18 Emanuelle Bindi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
19 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
20 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
21 Bingen Fernández COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
22 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
23 Tomislav Danculović DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
24 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
25 Simone Ponzi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
26 Giorgio Brambilla LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
27 Alexandre Pichot QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
28 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
29 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
30 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
31 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
32 Joost Posthuma RABOBANK s.t.
33 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
34 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
35 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
36 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
37 Cédric Vasseur LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
38 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
39 Christophe Rinero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
40 Andrea Palini LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
41 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
42 Mathieu Ladagnous FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 6'33
43 Yuri Trofimov QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
44 Mickael Delage FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
45 Julien Loubet AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
46 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER s.t.
47 Francis Mourey FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
48 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
49 Markus Zberg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
50 Kevin Seeldraeyers QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
51 Markus Reich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
52 Jorge Azanza EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
53 David George DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
54 Bernard Sulzberger DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
55 José Luis Arrieta AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
56 Serguey Yakovlev TEAM ASTANA s.t.
57 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
58 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM + 8'55
59 Benoit Sinner AGRITUBEL s.t.
60 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
61 Stéphane Augé COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
62 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
63 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
64 Tyler Farrar COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
65 Carlo Westphal GEROLSTEINER s.t.
66 Staf Scheirlinckx LIQUIGAS s.t.
67 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
68 Marcus Burghardt T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
69 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
70 Jean-Marc Bideau TEAM MILRAM s.t.
71 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
72 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
73 Gil Suray TEAM CSC s.t.
74 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
75 Maarten Wynants GEROLSTEINER s.t.
76 Robbie McEwen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
77 Antonio Quadranti UNIBET.COM s.t.
78 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
79 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
80 Anthony Geslin TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
81 Anthony Charteau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
82 Jairo Hernández AGRITUBEL s.t.
83 Christophe Laurent CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
84 Yannick Talabardon SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
85 Amaël Moinard COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
86 Florent Brard CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
87 Enrique Ferreira CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
88 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
89 Joan Horrach CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
90 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
91 Fumiyuki Beppu DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
92 Carlos Da Cruz FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
93 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK s.t.
94 Yuri Krivtsov AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
95 Murilo Fischer LIQUIGAS s.t.
96 Moisés Dueñas AGRITUBEL s.t.
97 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
98 Alexander Kvachuk SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
99 Aketza Peña EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
100 Emilien-Benoît Bergès AGRITUBEL s.t.
101 Blake Caldwell LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
102 Jean-Marc Marino CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
103 Alexandre Botcharov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
104 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
105 Michael Blaudzun TEAM CSC s.t.
106 Ben Hermans TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
107 Bram Schmitz RABOBANK s.t.
108 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM s.t.
109 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 10'47
110 Daniel Musiol TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
111 Sébastien Chavanel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
112 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
113 Robert Wagner TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
114 Yon Bru EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
115 Jonathan Balbuena AGRITUBEL s.t.
116 Roberto Petito LIQUIGAS s.t.
117 Gert Dockx PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
118 Thorwald Veneberg RABOBANK s.t.
119 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
120 Stefan Schaefer TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
121 Mikel Artetxe EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
122 Maxim Belkov TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
123 Sören Hofmann CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
124 Bert Roesems PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
125 Michiel Van Aelbroeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
126 Didier Lerda AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
127 Nick Ingels PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
128 Koen De Kort TEAM ASTANA s.t.
129 Christian Leben TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
130 Renaud Dion LIQUIGAS s.t.
131 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC s.t.
132 Kam-Po Wong AGRITUBEL s.t.
133 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
134 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
135 Yannick Martinez AGRITUBEL s.t.
136 Geert Steurs PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
137 Raúl Alarcón SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
138 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
139 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC s.t.
140 Trent Lowe DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
141 Rick Flens RABOBANK s.t.
142 Gabriele Tassinari LIQUIGAS s.t.
143 Michael Schär TEAM ASTANA s.t.
144 Mauro Da Dalto LIQUIGAS s.t.
145 Benoit Poilvet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
146 David Navas AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
147 David García Dapena TEAM ASTANA + 13'09
148 Roy Sentjens PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 14'45
149 Bobbie Traksel DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
150 Olaf Pollack GEROLSTEINER s.t.
151 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
152 Guennadi Mikhailov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
153 Gorazd Stangelj LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
154 Troels Vinther UNIBET.COM s.t.
155 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM s.t.
156 Sebastian Siedler TEAM MILRAM s.t.
157 Alexei Kolessov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
158 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
159 Marvin Van der Pluijm UNIBET.COM s.t.
160 Thomas Frei TEAM ASTANA s.t.
161 Kasper Klostergaard TEAM CSC + 16'13
162 Alexeï Markov CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 17'36
163 Antonio Aldegani QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
164 Nick Gates PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 19'07
165 Lars Michaelsen LIQUIGAS s.t.
166 Francesco Chicchi UNIBET.COM s.t.
167 Rhys Pollock DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
168 Mickey Smith DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
169 Anxo Celades CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
170 Michal Golas UNIBET.COM + 21'13
171 Adamo Casisa RABOBANK + 21'45
172 Maurice Coué TEAM ASTANA + 24'01
173 Matthew Hayman RABOBANK s.t.
174 Andoni Lafuente EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 25'05
175 Jesús Herrada EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 30'49

Great of Stannard!

A disturbing 15th for the brit

what are his stats?

The Vuelta starts with a 10km TTT


DFL Team

Igor Anton - 79 MO, 60 TT
Yet to make his Grand Tour breakthrough or win a race this year. Only top 10 results so far have come in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, where he ended 4th overall. Finished 30th in this years Tour. He will have a stats boost early on in the race and is our leader. The 97 ITT km make victory seem unlikely but we are hopefuly of a Top 5 GC spot.

Edvald Boasson Hagen - 80 SP
Making his Grand Tour debut. Showed in Eneco Tour and Vattenfalls that with the correct positioning, he is the man to beat. We have a sponsor goal to wear the points jersey. Its a goal that Hagen must complete. The race will also provide good XP for him.

Ignas Konovalovas - 77 HL
Grand Tour debut for the Lithuanian who has had a quiet season. 3rd in a stage of the Tour de Suisse and 7th in Milan Torino are his only real results. The race will be good XP for him.

Daniel Lloyd - 72 MO
The Dauphine KoM wasnt intending to rider here but will anyway for experience. Finished 51st in the Tour

Laszlo Bodrogi - 77 TT
Bodrogi's grand tour this year is the Vuelta and he hopes to do well in the ITTs. Best results so far this season have come in TTTs but we arent optimistic about a decent Stage 1.

Rigoberto Uran - 78 Hill
Will use the Vuelta to get a stats boost. His target is the World Championships and the Giro di Lombardia. Took 20th in the Giro and 10th in both Fleche Wallone and Amstel Gold.

Rafaa Chtioui - 72 TT
Here for the experience he is possibly the first Tunisian to ride a Grand Tour

Jens Mouris - 69 TT
An original DFL rider is rewarded with a Grand Tour before he leaves the team

Roger Hammond - 74 Cobbles
I needed a 9th rider for the race.

Also, Efimkin after his stat boost:

Vuelta Startlist

Alejandro Valverde - 1st Vuelta al Pais Vasco, Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallone, Liege-B-Liege. 2nd Giro d'Italia. 3rd Paris-Nice.
A danger to Contador's ProTour lead if in form

Danilo di Luca - 1st Paris Nice. 2nd Amstel Gold. 3rd San Sebastien. 12th Giro d'Italia
Presumably the Grand Tour he is peaking in

Janez Brajkovic - 4th Tour de France. 29th Giro d'Italia
Racing Grand Tour number 3. An injury wrecked his Giro, Did well at the Tour - Surely he cant do well here?

Damiano Cunego - 2nd Deutschland Tour. 11th Giro d'Italia
A dark horse for the Vuelta. His TT may let him down but this looks like his season target

Riccardo Ricco - 2nd Fleche Wallone, Liege-B-Liege. 3rd Giro d'Italia
Could do well, we'll have to wait and see

Stijn Devolder - 6th Eneco Tour.
A good performance could keep Euskaltel in the ProTour

I knew Efimkin would be a good rider in PCMSpain Nice with Hagen and Anton! Looking forward to read!

Stage 1

Despite going at 99% for the whole course. DFL only finished .... last


Caisse d'Epargne and Discovery Channel both finished with the same time. Discovery were given the stage win, but the leaders jersey goes to Luis Leon Sanchez




1 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE 15'46
2 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
3 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
4 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
5 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
6 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
8 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
9 Fuyu Li DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
10 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
11 Vladimir Gusev DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
12 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
13 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
14 Vicente Reynès CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
15 Hossein Askari CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
16 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
17 Alejandro Ramírez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
18 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
19 André Steensen TEAM CSC + 9
20 Stuart O'Grady TEAM CSC s.t.
21 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC s.t.
22 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC s.t.
23 Ivan De Nobile TEAM CSC s.t.
24 Iñigo Cuesta TEAM CSC s.t.
25 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC s.t.

Not that far behind... !

That was bad

The best tactic is to set the best TT rider in the front and let him pace to the finish when there are that short stages.

Ill remember that for the even shorter TTT in Poland