The final Ardennes warmup for Uran and Konovalovas is the Tour de Finestere. Konovalovas was 4th here last year, but with our two leaders fully fit this season, and the added support of Franco Pellizotti, here is another chance to stake a claim as one to watch in the upcoming week. It won’t be easy though, with 81 hill Schumacher also in attendance for Ag2r.

In initial attacks, Casar of Credit Agricole was strongest and closed the gap to the remaining break, with Schumacher next and Konovalovas a little bit after. The 3 came together though and by 8km to go Pellizotti and Uran has made their way across together – with the Italian now doing the work on front.


Feeling strong, Uran then jumps away with 4km to go


And with an uphill finish, leading into the final kilometre is all he needs – and thats his first win of the season! Schumacher took 2nd but Konovalovas does make the podium in 3rd – Pellizotti 5th,


1 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h14'12
2 Stefan Schumacher AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 13
3 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Sandy Casar CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
5 Franco Pellizotti DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
6 Maxim Iglinskiy CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'07
7 Santo Anzà AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
8 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
9 Chris Horner FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
10 Matteo Carrara BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.

Can't wait for Amstel!

But, first:



Back to the Tour de Georgia, for we left one man behind! (Intentionally!)

At level 2 experience, a HC race such as this is perfect for Dan Martin – but he started the race still nursing an injury and although getting stronger as the race went on, he lost time on the peloton on every stage. A good learning experience nonetheless.


In terms of the race overall, Ruben Plaza closed in on Oscar Sanchez with 2nd in the TT (behind Slipstream’s Zabriskie) and winning the Brasstown Bald stage – gaining 20 seconds on the Colombian there, with Tom Danielson also up there. But Sanchez still led by 8 seconds into the ‘hilly’ Stage 6. It was flat really though, and a break took away any chance of time bonuses for Plaza. And on the final stage Plaza crashed and lost time anyway, allowing Sanchez to secure the HC-American race double. So for now at least, Slipstream are in a promotion position.

1 Óscar Sánchez TEAM SLIPSTREAM 25h56'29
2 Carlos Barredo TEAM CSC + 2'20
3 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
4 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'41
5 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 3'38
6 Pierre Rolland QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'52
7 David Abal BMC CYCLING TEAM + 3'55
8 Trent Lowe PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 3'59
9 Fran Pérez DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'37
10 Tiago Machado SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'23
105 Daniel Martin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h03'11



Also on this day is the Tro Bro Leon. Nolf is on team duty in Netherlands, so an opportunity for Verbist or Sabatini for personal triumph, with support from Thomas.

After the initial moves the Belgian Vanspeybrouck had a 40 second gap on Verbist, Sabatini and another Belgian Vervalle. At this stage Verbist appeared strongest of our 2, so Sabatini set to work and reduced the gap to 20 seconds. Still over 40km to go.


But Vanspeybrouck put up quite a fight and rode away again – we concede victory hopes. And it turned out that Sabatini was our strongest today, not that he or Verbist could keep with Vervalle either when the Jartazi rider pressed on with 6km to go – although Sabatini nearly sprinted back the gap at the end as he took 3rd, his first Top 10 placing of the year after his early crash put his fitness behind schedule for most of the cobbles – but on the plus side, it has seen him be nominated in our provisional Giro startlist.


Geraint Thomas was also able to take a Top 10 placing.

1 Pieter Vanspeybrouck BRETAGNE - ARMOR LUX 5h34'44
2 Benjamin Vervalle JARTAZI PROMO FASHION + 3'29
3 Fabio Sabatini DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Evert Verbist DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Jimmy Engoulvent FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 5'48
6 Anthony Colin ROUBAIX LILLE MÉTROPOLE s.t.
7 Aleksejs Saramotins AUBER 93 s.t.
8 Koen Barbé COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
9 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
10 Dominique Testa CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
11 Lars Boom TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
12 Zdenek Stybar TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
13 Xavier Florencio BRETAGNE - ARMOR LUX s.t.
14 Loic Laurier BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
15 Jonas Ljungblad ROUBAIX LILLE MÉTROPOLE + 7'30

The Ardennes classics!

Uran and Konovalovas are of course our leaders here, but despite their status as World and Lithuanian Champion, they are still underdogs in terms of the victory fight. With 81 and 80 hill respectively, it will be a tough ask against the likes of Valverde (85 hill), Di Luca (84 hill), Ricco (82 hill), Cunego (81 hill) and Frank Schleck (81 hill).

Konovalovas has reason to be confident though – 2nd place in Liege Bastogne Liege last year, to go with 10th in Amstel Gold and 14th in Fleche Wallone. Our World Champion Uran was injured at the time last season – although he did achieve 10th in Amstel Gold and Fleche Wallone in 2008.



We start, of course, with Amstel Gold. Frank Schleck took victory from Grivko, Ricco, Valverde and Rovny last year with Konovalovas unable to match the moves as finishing 5 minutes down in 10th. Similarly, Uran’s 10th in 2008 came at quite a gap – 9 minutes. With 2 leader we can take 2 differing approaches – and hope one works out well, with the riders going well enough to capitalise on any opportunity.

Team: Uran, Konovalovas, Pellizotti, Evans, Nolf, Efimkin, Sulzberger, Chtioui

The support for Uran and Konovalovas has got a very Giro theme. Other than Nolf, who still maintains good form from the earlier classics, the rest of the team have all got their ticket booked for Italy next month. Pellizotti and Evans will be of particular importance in support today.

And another thing, this race is a sponsor goal. Top 3. Hmmm.

It is soon clear that this race is not going to be easy. T-Mobile (Di Luca), Astana (Cunego) and most notably Barloworld (Ricco) have been setting a tough tempo and with 46km to go, the pack is down to 56 and about to catch the day’s early breakaway. Efimkin, Pellizotti and Evans are still here in support, but only just. And surprisingly, Ricco attacks!

Seems like an early one as Di Luca thinks about responding but doesn’t.

The rise in pace reduces the group to below 50, and pop goes Pellizotti and Evans – the duo aren’t set to be in top form for another couple of weeks afterall. In the distance you can see the red blur of Ricco closing on a Unibet rider from the break


And Ricco has gone too soon. 36km to go and Valverde attacks, Cunego is doing his best to follow – both have passed Ricco


We can’t just sit here and with Konovalovas looking strongest, he counters a move by Di Luca. But Di Luca gets nowhere so Konovalovas is alone in briding across. But that is a brilliant attack, and he joins with Valverde and Cunego – already an 80 second gap to the peloton.


With 1 red bar for his efforts, and 29km to go – making the move is not even half the battle for Konovalovas. He must keep up with 2 riders who have had quite contrasting fortunes over the years. Cunego may have won the Giro in 2007, but hasn’t won a thing since his Giro di Lombardia triumph in 2008. By contrast, Valverde has won Pais Vasco for 3 years in a row, Liege and Lombardia last year, the Ardennes triple in 2008, and the Tour de France in 2007. And here with them is Konovalovas!


But with 18km to go, common sense must kick in. Now up to 3 red bars, there is a real danger of self-destruction, and Ignas has no choice but to let go – a 2 minute advantage on the next group, which is shrinking increasingly as the kilometres pas by.


In there is Uran – as well as previous animators Di Luca and Ricco. No red bars for our Colombian, but no blue bar either – he is just looking to stay as near to the front as possible, without actually hitting the front. In the distance, Konovalovas.


And here he is. He has found a good rhythm and is 1’35 clear of the next group – 10 seconds more than in the previous photo. Valverde and Cunego are long gone though.


It’s all about securing that final podium spot, with Uran aiming to track any moves. But Di Luca gets himself away with 5km to go – gap to Konovalovas down to 1 minute. Aiming for a good placing of his own Uran then looks to follow a move by Vanendert – inside the final 2km.


Up front, another win for Valverde!


And 3 minutes later, 3rd for Konovalovas!!! Brilliant ride.


Pipped by the Rabobank pair of Muto and Dekker, Uran takes 8th – so we have two in the Top 8, a great achievement.


Evans 34th, Pellizotti 37th. In a group led in by Japanese rider Terauchi Otsuka – fastly developing into a strong looking rider for FDJ having lost out to Wegelius for the Paris-Nice KoM jersey earlier in the season. FDJ for some reason did not select last years runnerup Grivko in their lineup today.


Coming through not long after in 43rd is Alex Efimkin, a good effort from him – finishing just behind a former DFL rider in Igor Anton. Nolf finishes within a large 72 man group, while Chtioui and Sulzberger ride in together a short while after.

1 Alejandro Valverde LAMPRE - FONDITAL 6h14'10
2 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 7
3 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'09
4 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'41
5 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 3'48
6 Pasquale Muto RABOBANK + 3'59
7 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK s.t.
8 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
10 Samuel Sánchez LIQUIGAS s.t.
11 Stijn Devolder QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
12 Vincenzo Nibali CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
13 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD s.t.
14 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
15 Martin Gilbert T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
16 Giovanni Visconti BARLOWORLD s.t.
17 Dainius Kairelis TEAM ASTANA s.t.
18 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 5'10
19 Sylvain Chavanel TEAM CSC s.t.
20 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
21 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
22 Dario Cataldo GEROLSTEINER s.t.
23 Juanjo Cobo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
24 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
25 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC s.t.
26 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
27 Rinaldo Nocentini CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 7'25
28 Matthew Lloyd RABOBANK + 8'05
29 Terauchi Otsuka FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 8'50
30 Yuri Trofimov COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
31 Kim Kirchen CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
32 Simone Masciarelli DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
33 Sergei Ivanov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
34 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
35 Johan Vansummeren TEAM MILRAM s.t.
36 Yaroslav Popovych LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
37 Franco Pellizotti DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'13
38 Dimitry Kozontchuk RABOBANK + 9'57
39 Sandy Casar CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 10'53
40 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 11'03
41 Andrea Pagoto LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
42 Igor Antón BARLOWORLD s.t.
43 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
44 Laurent Lefèvre QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
45 Joost Posthuma TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 11'28
46 Kurt-Asle Arvesen T-MOBILE TEAM + 11'38
47 Vitor Rodrigues T-MOBILE TEAM + 14'06
48 Maxim Iglinskiy CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
49 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
50 Maarten Tjallingii TEAM CSC + 14'20
90 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 16'31
134 Wes Sulzberger DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 20'37
135 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
But where was defending champion Frank Schleck? Waaaay down
155 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC + 27'17

Awsome ride for konovalovas just unlucky he couldn't keep up with valverde and cunego KUTGW!

Nice ride for both of them.

I only realised after the race that I actually had a Top 3 goal, so yes, very pleased - it looked like Konovalovas was going to fall apart with 20km to go, but he clung on.

Keeping up a fast pace, to try to catch up to where I am in the season. Heres some more action.

Btw, wacko - got any good British Championship stages for PCM07? I finally got round to adding it to the savegame.

--



As useful as Cadel Evans is in his Ardennes support role, it’s time for him to take the next step in his Giro preparations – skipping Fleche Wallone – and taking on the Giro del Trentino, the first time we as a team have entered this Italian race. Alex Efimkin will also be involved here, Dan Lloyd, Chtioui and Sulzberger also continuing Giro preparations alongside Cadel – the numbers being made up by Verbist, and British neo-pro Henshaw.

This race is a good opportunity for Evans – not only to gain form, but gain results. A look at the field shows him as favourite, infact Efimkin could also be up there. Potential rivals include Chris Anker Sorensen from the Endeka squad, on Mikel Astarloza for Euskaltel – the Basque squad of course aiming to bounce back from relegation last season. Mountain stages on Day 1 and Day 3, with a rising time trial inbetween and a flat stage to end it all.

And in Stage 1 the intent for Euskaltel is clear, dominating pacesetting


We notice however, that Astarloza is sat some way back so with 7.5km to go Efimkin attacks. Evans follows and passes him but the Russian is still clear of a few attempted countermoves and so Evans holds back a little and they join up.


Evans sets the pace to create some gaps as Efimkin follows. Leading into the final kilometre, you would expect Evans to win – but Efimkin put on a searing sprint and went past to take victory. Very much deserved, now in his 3rd year of service at the team – and at 28, it is infact his first victory as a pro!


1 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h00'35
2 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Mikel Astarloza EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 53
4 Jonathan Castroviejo TEAM LPR + 1'19
5 Nelson Vitorino BARLOWORLD + 1'33
6 Evgeni Sladkov BARLOWORLD s.t.
7 Harald Totschnig ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
8 Miguel �ngel Rubiano CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
9 Edgardo Simón BARLOWORLD s.t.
10 Sylvain Calzati BARLOWORLD s.t.

The Stage 2 time trial was less satisfactory though. Evans the favourite on the route that averaged a 2/3% rise over 19km, but he could only finish 9th, 47 seconds down – Chtioui also disappointed with 20th. Evans takes over the race lead from Efimkin and will now look to the mountains on Stage 3 for a stage win in this race.

GC after Stage 2 (Won by Keinath):
1 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h27'59
2 Mikel Astarloza EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 42
3 Nico Keinath EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 52
4 Saturnino Ferrer CERAMICA FLAMINIA + 56
5 Luca Zanasca CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD + 1'14
6 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'19
7 Alexander Khatuntsev BARLOWORLD + 1'21
8 Bradley McGee EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'24
9 Danny Pate AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S + 1'37
10 Matías Médici SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 1'43
17 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'59
31 Evert Verbist DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'46
51 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'01
76 Fabio Sabatini DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'12
132 Wes Sulzberger DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 7'16
150 Matthew Henshaw DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 15'40

Cadel looks strong here... great story!

Can't stop winning, can you?

And regards a British National Champs - what kind of course do you want and does it need to have been a real one?

Thanks, and yeh, it may not be the strongest field here, but it surely bodes well for the harder tests to come.



Well, Cavendish is going to be my only Brit in any sort of form, so not too testing Real or not I dont care, at the moment the route set to use is some flattish Polish Champs course.

---




Dont believe the profile, the finish line isnt before the Mur de Huy!

Fleche Wallone is next – a very hard race to judge. The allocation of two water bottles is not enough – but the AI so often seems to cope better at this. Our support squad here is quite different to the one from Amstel – ultimately weaker, but Trentino was given some importance in terms of Giro lineup and it is more beneficial for Evans and Efimkin to be there.

Only Pellizotti joins Uran and Konovalovas in making this the 2nd Ardennes Classic. Michael Rogers gets his first real test of action this season, but he, Kittel and Deignan aren’t in huge form with the Tour being their goal, but not as bad as Froome’s form. He rides for the experience gains, as does Erik Hoffman.

Uran had the marginally better form of the day (+2 to +1) so decided to risk going with the early moves (around 30km to go). But while Di Luca is pursued by Cunego, Ricco and Valverde, he is only with Rodriguez and Cobo – and energy reserves don’t look overly promising.


The peloton decide to chase him aswell (although they seem less interested in chasing everyone else) and anyway, attacking early is clearly a stupid move on Extreme for player controlled teams. By the time we are approaching the foot of the Mur de Huy with just under 4km to go, Uran has been caught and dropped by a 60 man peloton – absolutely no energy left. Pellizotti is also close to empty – the rest of the squad already empty and dropped previously – but fortunately Konovalovas does have energy, having opted to wait for the decisive finale to try to salvage something. Off he goes.


Cunego, Ricco and Valverde lead with 1’45 over Cobo and Rodriguez, 2’45 over Di Luca and 3 minutes on the peloton. Uran can take some comfort in the fact that the AI doesn’t completely cheat – Di Luca is paying for his early efforts aswell and Konovalovas shoots past him.


The charge continues – Rodriguez’ overperforming of his stats has also come to an end and so Konovalovas is up to 5th.


And moving past Cobo aswell, that’s 4th.


Up front Valverde has outlasted Ricco and Cunego and takes victory – his 2nd Ardennes of the season, all set to repeat the triple in Liege in a few days time then.


Valverde’s teammate Rovny leads the charge of the peloton behind, but Konovalovas has done enough to secure 4th – certainly a good result here.


Uran is down in 67th. While attacking early clearly does not work, the Uran specific chase at least meant the other attackers didn’t pull away too much, perhaps helping Konovalovas’ ability to catch them going up the Mur de Huy.


1 Alejandro Valverde LAMPRE - FONDITAL 5h15'14
2 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 50
3 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 1'35
4 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'35
5 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 3'01
6 Rinaldo Nocentini CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'08
7 Kim Kirchen CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'10
8 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'14
9 Vincenzo Nibali CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'17
10 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'18
11 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER + 3'20
12 Martin Gilbert T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'24
13 Samuel Sánchez LIQUIGAS s.t.
14 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 3'28
15 Pasquale Muto RABOBANK + 3'31
16 Giovanni Visconti BARLOWORLD + 3'34
17 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 3'39
18 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
19 Juanjo Cobo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'42
20 Johan Vansummeren TEAM MILRAM + 3'43
21 Jaume Rovira AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 3'46
22 Mathieu Sprick AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 3'47
23 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 3'53
24 Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'58
25 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'01
26 Denis Menchov QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'07
27 Francesco Failli TEAM MILRAM s.t.
28 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 4'11
29 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 4'17
30 Sylvain Chavanel TEAM CSC + 4'23
63 Franco Pellizotti DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 7'27
67 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 7'56
122 Erik Hoffmann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 15'15
128 Michael Rogers DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 16'43
130 Marcel Kittel DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 17'07
162 Philip Deignan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 22'35
171 Chris Froome DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 26'03

That ought to do it...shouldn't be very difficult (shame, cos I have a couple of brutes...)

great ride again by konovolovas have his stats changed since the start of the season or not?

Thanks wacko



I think his sta/res/rec stats have each gone up 1

Back to Italy then for the conclusion of the Giro del Trentino. Evans well placed for overall victory, but hoping for a stage win in Stage 3, the 2nd of the Mountain stages. Rob Ruijgh leads attacks from the foot of the climb and Efimkin immediately counters – our plan is for Evans to make his move a little later


But as things developed it seems an early attack was the best idea. 5km to go and Ruijgh still leads with Efimkin still in pursuit at 20 seconds


Evans is another 50 seconds later in a group of 13. The Aussie does have scope to attack if need be, although one red bar already (compared to Efimkin’s 2) but it’s time to take a back seat for Cadel.

He won the Deutschland Tour last year, after challenging for the Tour, and is now aiming for the Giro – with Efimkin as a key supporter. Efimkin does not have a huge palmares but as things stands theres a real opportunity.


At the start of the day Efimkin was 1’19 behind Evans and 38 seconds ahead of Ruijgh. His current gap to the Dutchman is 20 seconds, plus an extra 4 from time bonuses – so he could soon be in a race winning position. And indeed as Evans holds back, the group he is in loses ground.

Efimkin pushes all the way to the line, and while he cannot catch Ruijgh, he manages to reduce the gap to 16 seconds on the line


A controlled ride by Evans sees him take 3rd on the stage, 1’45 behind Efimkin


1 Rob Ruijgh ELK HAUS - SIMPLON 2h55'51
2 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 16
3 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'01
4 Mauricio Ardila CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 2'24
5 José Carlos Rodrigues TEAM LPR + 2'33
6 Davide Malacarne CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 2'37
7 Saturnino Ferrer CERAMICA FLAMINIA + 2'38
8 Chris Sørensen CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD + 2'39
9 Marco Osella TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
10 Luca Zanasca CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD + 2'41

And so as the GC standings shows, Alex Efimkin regains the lead of the race!
1 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 7h25'19
2 Rob Ruijgh ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 18
3 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 28
4 Mikel Astarloza EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 2'02
5 Saturnino Ferrer CERAMICA FLAMINIA + 2'05

The final stage is a sprint stage and Wes Sulzberger takes 8th – despite the fact that a few of the breakaway held on to take the victory – just. More importantly, Efimkin finishes safely and so the Giro del Trentino title is his!


1 Vladimir Bileka MICHE 4h06'58
2 Luca Orlandi TEAM LPR s.t.
3 Michael Morkov TEAM LPR s.t.
4 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
5 Paride Grillo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
6 Tiziano Dall'Antonia TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
7 Cândido Barbosa ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO s.t.
8 Wes Sulzberger DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Víctor Manuel Gomes TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI s.t.
10 Francesco Ginanni SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
17 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

Final GC:
1 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 11h32'17
2 Rob Ruijgh ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 18
3 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 28
4 Mikel Astarloza EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 2'02
5 Saturnino Ferrer CERAMICA FLAMINIA + 2'05
6 Luca Zanasca CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD + 2'26
7 Alexander Khatuntsev BARLOWORLD + 2'37
8 Davide Malacarne CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 2'53
9 Nico Keinath EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 3'04
10 Matías Médici SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 3'10
11 Ben Gastauer TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK + 3'13
12 Cândido Barbosa ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO + 3'15
13 Marco Osella TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
14 Dan Craven EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 3'21
15 José Carlos Rodrigues TEAM LPR + 3'25
28 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'22
56 Evert Verbist DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'56
97 Fabio Sabatini DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'49
136 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 15'57
145 Wes Sulzberger DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 19'21
153 Matthew Henshaw DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 24'16

I really enjoy these older stories.

You've also built quite a strong team there, compared to what the team was back when you began. I wish I had PCM 07, it looks like a lot of fun.

Yeh, I do like PCM07 - not just the gameplay but on the management side. They changed the system of rider development and rider training schedules for PCM08, and I prefer it how they are in PCM07.

I did love the expierance levals in PCM07 but tbh i like the stars now in PCM10 seems to make people increase a few stats at a times not just a great big leap everynow and then

@jt1109 Sure, the more random, flowing system has its merits, I just like to see the percentages - just how close a rider is to improving, and at what rate theyre doing so. Plus the XP levels work well to give a bit of structure to where to race young talents.

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Amstel Gold, check.
Fleche Wallone, check.
Well, that leaves ...



We move to Liege, the scene of Konovalovas’ breakthrough performance to take a 2nd place last year. He and Uran of course co-lead, and Pellizotti is re-joined in support by Evans and Efimkin. Completing the team are Verbist – and coming into action at last, Justo Tenorio and Edvald Boasson Hagen.

Danilo di Luca was 4th in Amstel Gold, but fell apart up the Mur de Huy a few days ago for 50th. Confidence appears restored as his T-Mobile team sets a strong place. The peloton down to 75 with 65km to go – Tenorio, Verbist and Boasson Hagen have all said their goodbyes to Uran and Konovalovas already.


Rodriguez and Grivko start the moves with just under 60km to go. Seems early, but we have to respond and it is Konovalovas who does so – Uran not having a good ride at all today, form wise.


As attacks end Cunego is the leader, 20 seconds on Ricco and Konovalovas – a further 50 seconds to the peloton where all other attackers failed.


Those gaps are pretty much the same with 37km to go – but Di Luca and Rovny have joined Konovalovas and Ricco. Interesting that Rovny is the Lampre rider on the attack, as opposed to the so-far dominant Valverde – who is sat in the pack with Uran.


Skip forward to 18km to go, the attackers are edging away from the pack, but uh-oh. Konovalovas blows.


Uran immediately attacks but suddenly, the peloton decide to chase an attacker...


Such that by the Cote de-St.Nicolas with 6km to go, Uran is about to be caught. This race just hasn’t worked for us.


Up front, and victory to Danilo di Luca – T-Mobile’s earlier work paid off.


Cunego takes another 2nd, with Ricco 3rd, Rovny 4th and then a clearly strong, but unusually lazy, Valverde wins the group sprint for 5th – to such an extent he gets given a time gap. Konovalovas was able to pull himself together in the end, and salvage a 12th.


Uran held off the chasing pack until inside the final 2km, but that was all he had, and in the end he is rewarded with only 30th place. Dissapointing Ardennes campaign for the world champion.


A couple minute later and finishing together, inside the Top 50, are Efimkin, Evans and Pellizotti.

1 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM 6h57'17
2 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 38
3 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 1'07
4 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1'16
5 Alejandro Valverde LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2'26
6 Rinaldo Nocentini CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'33
7 Martin Gilbert T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
8 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
9 Juanjo Cobo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
10 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
11 Pasquale Muto RABOBANK s.t.
12 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
13 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
14 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
15 Matteo Carrara BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
16 Kim Kirchen CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
17 Samuel Sánchez LIQUIGAS s.t.
18 Dario Cataldo GEROLSTEINER s.t.
19 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM s.t.
20 Dainius Kairelis TEAM ASTANA s.t.
21 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
22 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
23 Andrea Pagoto LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
24 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
25 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK s.t.
26 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
27 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
28 Stijn Devolder QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
29 Yaroslav Popovych LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
30 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
31 Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
32 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
33 Diego Milán LIQUIGAS s.t.
34 Carlos Sastre SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
35 Terauchi Otsuka FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
36 Mauricio Soler DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
37 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
38 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
39 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
40 Mickael Buffaz GEROLSTEINER s.t.
41 Denis Menchov QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
42 Javier Mejías SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
43 Tadej Valjavec SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'30
44 Johan Vansummeren TEAM MILRAM + 4'13
45 Olivier Kaisen T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'20
46 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'29
47 Paul Martens AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
48 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
49 Franco Pellizotti DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
50 Vincenzo Nibali CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
117 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 15'14
152 Evert Verbist DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 17'03
156 Justo Tenorio DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 20'32

Sublimely good Fleche. Great Trentino and a few cobble results, and still some solid results considering it's on extreme in the other races too. Looking forward to the Giro, and the Tour!