If all fails try again

Obviously thought you could do better

2nd time, good time

Take 2

Frederik Nolf is finally ready to lead us in the cobbles, and his tactic for the day is simple - stick with Cancellara. Cancellara won Dwars Door because he managed to ride away, so sticking with him either means Nolf will go with him or Cancellara just wont get away at all.

The plan worked


Although we got caught, if our riders hadnt been there, it would have been game over, win to Cancellara.

Instead, it turned into a battle of attrition. Nolf and Coyot were amongst the front 13 riders with 21km to go.


On the final cobbled section and subsequent non-cobbled hill, Hoste attacked!


Gilbert and Nolf also got away


But the pairing couldnt catch Hoste.

Nolf takes 3rd - he really needs to get a better sprint stat.

Cancellara took 4th place, part of a CSC 4-5-6, why didnt they chase the 3 attackers down?

Gusev beat Hoste here by 0 seconds last year, with no Gusev this year, expect Hoste to look to win.

Team: Nolf, Coyot, Hammond, Hagen, Swift, Thomas, Blythe, Konovalovas

Stage 1

The cobbled stage of the race tore apart the peleton


And by the time the final sprint came, just 7 were left - including Nolf


Hincapie led out but the stage one goes to Phillipe Gilbert


Quite a few riders finished outside the time limit, including Adam Blythe and the whole of the Panaria team

1 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 4h23'09
2 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
3 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
4 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
5 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
6 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
7 Enrico Franzoï LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 28
8 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'39
9 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
10 Arnaud Coyot DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
11 Kevin Van Impe RABOBANK s.t.
12 Sergei Ivanov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
13 Marcus Burghardt T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
14 Steffen Wesemann TEAM MILRAM + 3'14
15 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'47
16 Roger Hammond DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
17 Kevin Hulsmans QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'35
18 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
19 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM s.t.
20 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK s.t.
21 Joost Posthuma RABOBANK s.t.
22 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS + 6'26
23 Manuel Quinziato LIQUIGAS + 7'42
24 Wilfried Cretskens QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
25 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
26 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
27 Markus Eichler UNIBET.COM + 9'23
28 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM + 9'56
29 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK s.t.
30 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.


Stage 2

It should have come down to the sprint, but as the sprinters realised when they took a right hand turn with the sprint in full flow, 2 men remained infront of the field.


And Brett Lancaster wins the stage!


1 Brett Lancaster TEAM MILRAM 4h50'44
2 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM s.t.
3 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
4 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
5 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
6 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
7 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
8 Gabriele Balducci ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO s.t.
9 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
10 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
11 Nico Sijmens LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
12 Mickael Delage FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
13 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
14 Alexandre Pichot QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
16 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
17 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM s.t.
18 Kenny De Ketele CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
19 Marvin Van der Pluijm UNIBET.COM s.t.
20 Joaquín Sobrino TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI s.t.
21 Nico Eeckhout CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
22 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
23 Steffen Wesemann TEAM MILRAM s.t.
24 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
25 Arnaud Coyot DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
26 Kobe Vanoverschelde NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
27 Tom Steels JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
28 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
29 Roger Hammond DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
30 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM s.t.


Stage 3

This time it did come down to a sprint, with Rigotto leading out Hagen and Thomas


But Greg van Avermaet charged away to win the stage.



3rd for Pozzato puts him into the race lead

1 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO 5h11'12
2 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
3 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
4 Gabriele Balducci ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO s.t.
5 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
6 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
7 Nico Eeckhout CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
10 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
11 Kenny De Ketele CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
12 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
13 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
14 James Vanlandschoot LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
15 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
16 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
17 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
18 Kobe Vanoverschelde NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
19 Marvin Van der Pluijm UNIBET.COM s.t.
20 Iljo Keisse CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
21 Carlos Da Cruz FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
22 Marcus Burghardt T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
23 Nick Ingels PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
24 Steffen Wesemann TEAM MILRAM s.t.
25 Sergei Ivanov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
26 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
27 Arnaud Coyot DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
28 Alexandre Pichot QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
29 Dimitri Muravyev TEAM ASTANA s.t.
30 Joaquín Sobrino TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI s.t.


Stage 4

Sebastien Rosseler won the time trial


Leif Hoste took 2nd, and it looked to be enough to secure the overall victory


But Filippo Pozzato just does enough, and wins the tour by 1 second.


So Hoste is runner up for the 2nd year running, 0 seconds off last year, 1 second off this year.
Nolf rode brilliantly to take 8th and he wins the young riders classification

1 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 12'45
2 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 22
3 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 28
4 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS + 31
5 Joost Posthuma RABOBANK s.t.
6 Manuel Quinziato LIQUIGAS + 34
7 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM + 35
8 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 39
9 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 40
10 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 41
11 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM + 44
12 Enrico Franzoï LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 46
13 Kevin Van Impe RABOBANK + 49
14 Michiel Van Aelbroeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 50
15 Brett Lancaster TEAM MILRAM s.t.
16 Olivier Kaisen PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
17 Volodymyr Dyudya TEAM MILRAM + 51
18 Markus Eichler UNIBET.COM s.t.
19 Ben Hermans TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 52
20 Steffen Wesemann TEAM MILRAM + 56
21 Gerben Löwik RABOBANK s.t.
22 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
23 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 58
24 Thomas Ziegler T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
25 Rubens Bertogliati SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
26 Andrei Kunitski ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO s.t.
27 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK s.t.
28 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'00
29 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'01
30 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'02



GC

1 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS 14h38'11
2 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1
3 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 7
4 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 15
5 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 18
6 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 27
7 Enrico Franzoï LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 53
8 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'18
9 Kevin Van Impe RABOBANK + 2'07
10 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 2'09
11 Arnaud Coyot DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'23
12 Sergei Ivanov TEAM ASTANA + 2'25
13 Marcus Burghardt T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'28
14 Steffen Wesemann TEAM MILRAM + 3'49
15 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'16
16 Joost Posthuma RABOBANK + 4'45
17 Roger Hammond DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'03
18 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK + 5'19
19 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM + 5'22
20 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM + 5'23
21 Kevin Hulsmans QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 5'45
22 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS + 7'29
23 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'23
24 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'29
25 Wilfried Cretskens QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 8'59
26 Markus Eichler UNIBET.COM + 9'53
27 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM + 10'10
28 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM + 10'13
29 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 10'16
30 Olivier Kaisen PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 10'25
31 Ben Hermans TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 10'27
32 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 10'31
33 Gerben Löwik RABOBANK s.t.
34 Thomas Ziegler T-MOBILE TEAM + 10'33
35 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK s.t.
36 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'42
37 Andy Cappelle LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
38 Robert Radosz ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
39 Damien Gaudin LIQUIGAS s.t.
40 Bart Vanheule LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
41 Kenny De Ketele CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 10'43
42 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
43 Antonio Quadranti UNIBET.COM + 10'45
44 Jussi Veikkanen FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 10'50
45 Huub Duyn TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI s.t.
46 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM + 10'52
47 Jérémy Roy FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 10'53
48 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM + 10'54
49 Carlos Da Cruz FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 10'57
50 Geert Omloop JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
51 Daniel Musiol TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 10'58
52 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 11'00
53 Nico Eeckhout CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 11'05
54 Lars Michaelsen LIQUIGAS s.t.
55 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 11'06
56 Marvin Van der Pluijm UNIBET.COM + 11'07
57 Alexandre Pichot QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 11'09
58 Gabriele Balducci ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO + 11'11
59 Manuel Quinziato LIQUIGAS + 11'13
60 Bert Scheirlinckx LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER + 11'14
61 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 11'15
62 Nick Ingels PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 11'19
63 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM + 11'23
64 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
65 Simone Masciarelli DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
66 Guido Trenti TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI + 11'24
67 Andrey Mizourov TEAM ASTANA + 13'12
68 Mario Ickx JARTAZI PROMO FASHION + 13'28
69 Geert Verheyen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 13'44
70 Bart Dockx PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 13'52
71 Mauricio Ardila RABOBANK s.t.
72 Marcus Ljungqvist LIQUIGAS + 15'00
73 Jürgen Van De Walle QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 15'08
74 Dimitri Muravyev TEAM ASTANA + 15'11
75 Frederik Veuchelen CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
76 Dario Cataldo T-MOBILE TEAM + 15'22
77 Frederic Guesdon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 15'24
78 Thorwald Veneberg RABOBANK + 15'38
79 Brett Lancaster TEAM MILRAM + 15'45
80 Andrei Kunitski ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO + 16'03
81 Nico Keinath T-MOBILE TEAM + 16'11
82 Mickael Delage FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 16'15
83 Grégory Rast TEAM ASTANA + 16'27
84 Jean-Marc Bideau TEAM MILRAM s.t.
85 Angelo Furlan UNIBET.COM + 16'51
86 Michiel Van Aelbroeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 17'15
87 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM + 17'29
88 Rubens Bertogliati SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 18'34
89 Bernard Van Ulden NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 18'42
90 David Abal ACTION - UNIQA + 18'50
91 Tom Steels JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
92 Serguey Yakovlev TEAM ASTANA + 18'59
93 Björn Papstein TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 19'07
94 Daniele Contrini TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 19'15
95 Joaquín Sobrino TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI + 19'23
96 Francesco Gavazzi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
97 Igor Pugaci UNIBET.COM s.t.
98 Christian Murro TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI + 19'31
99 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 19'38
100 James Vanlandschoot LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER + 19'39
101 Johan Coenen CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 19'43
102 Daniele Callegarin NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 19'47
103 Óscar Gatto TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI s.t.
104 Nico Sijmens LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER + 20'03
105 Kristian House NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 20'46
106 André Korff T-MOBILE TEAM + 21'01
107 Benjamin Vervalle JARTAZI PROMO FASHION + 21'06
108 Volodymyr Dyudya TEAM MILRAM + 21'16
109 Pieter Ghyllebert CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 21'17
110 Alexander Arekeev ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO + 21'24
111 Alan Suchoparek DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 21'34
112 Vytautas Kaupas JARTAZI PROMO FASHION + 21'40
113 Kobe Vanoverschelde NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 21'45
114 Cyrille Monnerais FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 21'48
115 Geert Steurs PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 21'52
116 Hirota Mori TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI + 22'00
117 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 22'35
118 Mariusz Wiesiak TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 22'40
119 Niki Terpstra TEAM MILRAM + 22'51
120 Mauro Da Dalto LIQUIGAS + 23'02
121 Taylor Phinney DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 23'03
122 Marcin Osiński ACTION - UNIQA + 23'04
123 Jason McCartney DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 23'39
124 Artur Gajek TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 24'13
125 Fabien Patanchon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 26'27
126 Kjell Carlström LIQUIGAS + 26'38
127 Fabrice Piemontesi TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI s.t.
128 Gorazd Stangelj LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 26'55
129 Guido Trentin SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 27'08
130 Felix Odebrecht TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 29'32
131 Mauro Santambrogio TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI + 29'35
132 Stefan Schaefer TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 29'40
133 Marko Ullmann T-MOBILE TEAM + 30'12
134 Klaas Vantornout ACTION - UNIQA + 30'14
135 Krzysztof Miara ACTION - UNIQA + 30'44
136 Kenny Van Braeckel JARTAZI PROMO FASHION + 30'52
137 Robert Banach ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
138 Jan Soetens JARTAZI PROMO FASHION + 31'16
139 Maxim Iglinskiy TEAM ASTANA + 31'51
140 Benjamin Brooks NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 32'53
141 Iljo Keisse CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 33'20
142 Evert Verbist CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 33'28
143 Jaime Castañeda LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 33'59
144 Yannick Talabardon SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 34'59
145 Florian Morizot TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 35'39
146 Steffen Weigold TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 35'49
147 Nick Krings NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 36'30
148 Hayden Josefski ACTION - UNIQA + 37'17
149 Jonas Hoberg ACTION - UNIQA + 37'37
150 Lino Candotti ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO + 37'48
151 Andrea Rossi ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO + 37'57
152 Grégory Sagnol ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO + 38'29
153 Aurélien Passeron ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO + 38'42
154 Raúl Alarcón SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 40'21
155 Vincent Bastaens JARTAZI PROMO FASHION + 40'51
156 Daniele Righi LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 41'13
157 Bram Schmitz RABOBANK + 49'12
158 Kenny De Haes CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 59'57

Well, my prediction was correct

Top 5, and top 3 with luck, and the take-two was luck

nice results
keep em coming

The KBC race saw both Geraint Thomas and Edvald Boasson Hagen reach level 3 experience

78 sprint, awesome

hagen really does become one of the best

I know, but in all of my CT games I don't have the money to sign him and a GC contender for the big races (that has changed with my A and S team, with Garzelli, I can win in the protour).

Pliuschin won here last year, and while the organisers may have been disappointed that he will not ride this year, they cannot complain with the selection of David Millar and Alberto Contador.

And when the action came, both were amongst it (despite Millar's daily form of -4)


Contador, Arvesen and Millar were the first to bridge across to the break, with Brandt and Weening soon following.

But Contador did not wait long before attacking again


He got away as Millar stayed with the group. But as Weening looked to chase down Contador, Millar was ready to respond


And with a helpful green moment, Millar came past Weening and even left Contador behind.


Contador refused to help Weening and the gap looks good for Millar with 3km to go


And it is victory for the Brit!


1 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h55'03
2 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 21
3 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
4 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Christophe Brandt PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
6 Jonas Holmkvist TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 1'20
7 Marco Osella VAN VLIET - EBH ADVOCATEN s.t.
8 Bjorn Hoeben TIME - VAN HEMERT s.t.
9 Brad Armstrong NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
10 Mathieu Criquiélion JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
11 Stefan Cohnen FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM s.t.
12 Sander Oostlander TEAM LÖWIK MEUBELEN s.t.
13 Błażej Janiaczyk PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
14 Arnaud Coyot DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
15 Pedro Barnabé TEAM CSC s.t.
16 William Ford TIME - VAN HEMERT s.t.
17 Roger Hammond DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
18 André Steensen TEAM CSC s.t.
19 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC s.t.
20 Bram Deprez LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
21 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
22 Janek Tombak LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
23 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
24 Björn Schröder CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
25 Jasper Benneker UBBINK - SYNTEC CYCLING TEAM s.t.
26 Steven Kleynen LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
27 Rubén Pérez LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
28 Lucas De Visscher RABOBANK s.t.
29 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK s.t.
30 Bert De Waele TEAM CSC s.t.
31 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
32 Rafaele Ferrara CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
33 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC s.t.
34 Elias Schmäh CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
35 Dries Devenyns PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
36 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
37 Laszló Bodrogi DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
38 Koos Moerenhout TIME - VAN HEMERT s.t.
39 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC s.t.
40 Bart Wellens CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
41 Serge Pauwels CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
42 William Walker UBBINK - SYNTEC CYCLING TEAM s.t.
43 Rick Flens RABOBANK s.t.
44 Carlos Castaño TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
45 Bram De Groot RABOBANK s.t.
46 Søren Nissen CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
47 Román Osuna NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
48 David Blanco RABOBANK s.t.
49 Serafín Martínez RABOBANK s.t.
50 Gert Dockx PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 3'55
51 Hein Goolkate UBBINK - SYNTEC CYCLING TEAM s.t.
52 Daniel McConnell TEAM CSC + 4'19
53 Mickey Smith DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
54 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
55 Piet Rooijakkers SKIL - SHIMANO + 6'51
56 Saïd Haddou CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
57 René Schild TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
58 David Deroo SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
59 Tobias Erler TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
60 Daryl Impey VAN VLIET - EBH ADVOCATEN s.t.

Nice win at -4 (and double post)

great team tactics from Contador and Millar, especially with the -4 form

A very good start to the season - some nice wins (especially the Brit ones), and hopefully a good strong, PT season

Team: Nolf, Coyot, Hammond, Bodrogi, Hagen, Thomas, Pliuschin, Manan

As the pack descended the Oude Kwaremont, Gilbert and Masciarelli found themselves with a 40 second gap somehow.


Gilbert leaped upon the opportunity, dropped the Italian, and then caught the breakaway.


He was soon alone against the pack


But his lead kept growing, he topped the Muur with noone even close to him!


As we reach the Bosberg, Gilbert may be gone but Nolf attacks as he looks for 2nd place.


He pushes hard and gets himself a decent gap!


Gilbert wins!!


Going into the last 3km with 3 red bars and a 40 second lead, Nolf went as fast as he could without risking a 4th bar, so he did not sprint. The CSC boys closed in on him, but he hung on to take a great 2nd!

Nice 3rd place... Nolf's on form for the cobbles...

Nolf to win paris-roubaix..... and hammond for ghent-wevelgem

Hagen just followed the attacks, and his companions in the move decided he should lead out the sprint ... idiots.




1 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 5h07'19
2 Maarten Tjallingii T-MOBILE TEAM + 20
3 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
4 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC s.t.
5 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
6 Rubén Pérez LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER + 1'19
7 Mirko Celestino TEAM LPR s.t.
8 Tom Stamsnijder GEROLSTEINER s.t.
9 Simone Ponzi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
10 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
11 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
12 André Schulze TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
13 Matej Jurco TEAM MILRAM s.t.
14 Pavel Brutt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Kevin Hulsmans QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
16 Markus Zberg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
17 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC s.t.
18 Raivis Belohvosciks SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
19 Jakob Piil T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
20 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
21 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER s.t.
22 Björn Schröder CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
23 Gerben Löwik RABOBANK s.t.
24 Petr Bencik TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
25 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.