Well, I actually was a huge fan of this story... Too bad to see it in this hiatus...

With the hard drive back, I suppose the story will continue too?

As the thread has sunk to the botton, I am posting this so it will surface, and people will beg for SN to start the story till he either does or gives a legitimate reason (he has the hard drive back) fo him not to be playing it.

cant rush a good story deadpool

yeah I think that you shouldn't rush this. It will come back when SN is ready to bring it back.

But its been so long...

SN always does this - he takes long breaks, then comes back - just look at the posts, and you'll see there are some gaps of even months sometimes - at the moment, he's concentrating on the management game

Its hard to do so manythings at one time. Ive figured it out!

I did actually play Stage 3 of Pais Vasco before my laptop broke. I dont have the screenshots of it but I have the results

1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 4h23'45
2 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 40
3 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
4 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
5 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 1'05
6 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
7 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
8 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'25
9 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
10 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
11 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1'51
12 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
13 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
14 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 2'48
15 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
16 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
17 Simone Masciarelli DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
18 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
19 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM s.t.
20 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
21 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
22 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
23 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC s.t.
24 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
25 Patxi Vila LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
26 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
27 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
28 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
29 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
30 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.

GC
1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 12h28'09
2 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC + 40
3 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 1'12
4 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
5 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'37
6 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
7 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA s.t.
8 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'57
9 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
10 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
11 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 2'23
12 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
13 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
14 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 3'20
15 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

Stage 4

The 4 men placed above Contador in the GC, Di Luca, Schleck, Valverde and Rebellin, did not seem bothered about attacking today so with a couple of kilometres to the top of the final hill, Contador attacked.


Fortunately, the spectator got out of the way as Cobo, Pellizotti, Grivko and 1 or 2 others countered.
Contador thundered down the descent, and he, Pellizotti and grivko caught the breakaway with 4.5km to go, with a 45 second lead on the peleton.


Another attack gave Contador pole position into the sprint


And he makes the most of it, taking his first (of hopefully many) win of the season


The breakaway's slowness meant that only 23 seconds were gained, but Contador can now look towards a podium finish in the GC if he loses no time tomorrow.

1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h16'28
2 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
3 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
4 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 23
5 David De la Fuente ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
6 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
7 Miguel Ochoa GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS s.t.
8 Pierre Rolland CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
9 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
10 Óscar García-Casarrubios COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
11 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
12 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
13 Vicente Reynès CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
14 David Arroyo CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
15 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
16 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
17 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
18 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
19 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM s.t.
20 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM s.t.
21 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
22 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM s.t.
23 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM s.t.
24 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM s.t.
25 Tomislav Danculović DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.

GC
1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 16h45'00
2 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC + 40
3 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 1'12
4 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
5 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'14
6 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
7 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 1'37
8 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 1'57
9 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
10 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
11 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 2'00
12 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 2'23
13 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
14 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'20
15 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.

To bad you didn't pass Rebellin in the GC

Stage 5

The only flat rated stage of the race is actually pretty tough, but no attacks get away and with a 3km sprint, Valverde is the big favourite.


And sure enough, Valverde delivers.


1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 4h05'22
2 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
3 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
4 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
5 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA s.t.
6 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
7 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
8 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
9 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
10 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
11 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
12 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 Pierrick Fédrigo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
14 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
15 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
16 Michael Barry T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
17 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
18 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
19 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
20 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
21 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
22 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
23 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
24 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
25 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.

GC
1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 20h50'22
2 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC + 40
3 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 1'12
4 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
5 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 1'14
6 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
7 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 1'37
8 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'57
9 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
10 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
11 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 2'00
12 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'23
13 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
14 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER + 3'20
15 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.

Some better looking graphics now

Yeah, and its nice for the story to be back

Stage 6



Anuar Manan was the 2nd to start as 13 riders (Including Kaggestad) failed to finish inside the time limit on Stage 5. Manas time was good enough to make sure Radochla finished as Lanterne Rouge.

The early pacesetter was Bradley Wiggins


Over 100 riders later, David Millar came close to beating Wiggins. 6 seconds slower at the first check, but only 1 second behind at the 2nd check, Millar ended up 3 seconds away from Wiggins.


Wiggins' lead would not last though and he will eventually finish 6th. Bernhard Kohl was the first to beat him.


Starting the day 6th overall, but just 2 seconds behind 3rd place, Alberto Contador comfortably moved himself up to 3rd in the GC and finished 5th on the stage.


Nibali was 4th, Cobo 3rd. Kohl ended 2nd as Valverde secured his overall victory with a 3rd stage victory.


1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 20'07
2 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 4
3 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 6
4 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 8
5 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9
6 Bradley Wiggins COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 14
7 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 16
8 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 17
9 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 19
10 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
11 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 22
12 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
13 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 23
14 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 26
15 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 27
16 Dmytro Grabovskyy QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 28
17 Joost Posthuma RABOBANK + 29
18 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 30
19 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
20 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 31
21 Cadel Evans RABOBANK + 32
22 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC + 33
23 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK s.t.
24 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 34
25 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS s.t.



11 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 2'45
12 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 2'58
13 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'11
14 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 3'24
15 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'28
16 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'36
17 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'37
18 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'39
19 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 3'43
20 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 3'46
21 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 3'51
22 Cadel Evans RABOBANK + 3'52
23 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 3'54
24 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'00
25 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM s.t.
26 Beñat Intxausti GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS s.t.
27 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 4'02
28 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'04
29 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
30 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'05
31 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 4'06
32 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 4'07
33 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 4'09
34 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'10
35 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER + 4'11
36 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM + 4'14
37 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
38 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA + 4'15
39 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'18
40 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'20
41 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'21
42 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK s.t.
43 Patxi Vila LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 4'22
44 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'24
45 Vladimir Efimkin PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'25
46 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER + 4'26
47 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'28
48 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'30
49 Michael Barry T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'35
50 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
51 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'36
52 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS + 4'37
53 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 4'41
54 Pierrick Fédrigo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
55 David Arroyo CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'43
56 Marcus Ljungqvist LIQUIGAS + 4'44
57 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'50
58 Simone Masciarelli DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'02
59 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM + 5'03
60 Sergei Kolesnikov UNIBET.COM + 5'05
61 Mauricio Ardila RABOBANK + 5'09
62 Alberto Benítez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'13
63 Vicente Reynès CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'22
64 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA + 5'43
65 Joost Posthuma RABOBANK + 5'52
66 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'56
67 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 6'09
68 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6'10
69 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 6'28
70 Grégory Rast TEAM ASTANA s.t.
71 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 6'29
72 Iñigo Cuesta TEAM CSC + 6'34
73 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC + 6'53
74 Igor Pugaci UNIBET.COM + 6'59
75 Jorge Ferrio ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 7'03
76 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 7'49
77 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 7'55
78 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 8'27
79 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 8'34
80 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK + 9'03
81 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 9'18
82 Dmytro Grabovskyy QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 9'23
83 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 9'46
84 Christophe Brandt PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 10'09
85 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'19
86 Miguel Ochoa GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 10'21
87 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS + 10'25
88 Alexandr Dyachenko UNIBET.COM + 10'48
89 Dani Navarro TEAM ASTANA + 10'52
90 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 11'12
91 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 11'19
92 Kevin De Weert COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 11'51
93 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 11'54
94 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM + 12'26
95 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 12'28
96 Cyrille Monnerais FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 13'02
97 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 13'28
98 Anthony Geslin TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 13'29
99 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 13'44
100 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 13'56
101 Joan Horrach CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 14'05
102 Remmert Wielinga SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 14'34
103 Murilo Fischer LIQUIGAS + 14'48
104 André Steensen TEAM CSC + 14'54
105 Paolo Tiralongo LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 15'41
106 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 15'49
107 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 15'50
108 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 15'56
109 Dario Cataldo T-MOBILE TEAM + 16'42
110 David De la Fuente ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 16'52
111 Maxim Belkov TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 17'32
112 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 17'35
113 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 18'30
114 Vicente Peiró GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 18'40
115 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 19'09
116 Bingen Fernández COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 19'20
117 Jürgen Van De Walle QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 19'28
118 Serafín Martínez RABOBANK + 20'02
119 Tomislav Danculović DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 20'05
120 Francisco José Martínez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 20'16
121 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS + 20'21
122 Nico Keinath T-MOBILE TEAM + 20'53
123 Mickael Buffaz COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 21'03
124 Massimiliano Gentili QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 21'24
125 Juan Olmo ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 22'22
126 Eduard Vorganov EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 23'19
127 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 23'47
128 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM + 24'14
129 David Lelay CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 25'48
130 Pierre Rolland CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 26'38
131 Antxon Luengo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 27'53
132 Arnold Alcolea ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 28'49
133 Frederic Guesdon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 29'34
134 Daniel Musiol TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 31'25
135 Óscar García-Casarrubios COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 31'39
136 Christophe Edaleine CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 35'38
137 Bastiaan Giling TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 36'48
138 Alessandro Cortinovis TEAM MILRAM + 36'59
139 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM + 37'17
140 Antonio García González SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 38'30
141 Aketza Peña EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 38'46
142 Jonathon Clarke GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 38'53
143 Mickael Delage FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 39'03
144 André Korff T-MOBILE TEAM + 39'29
145 Leonardo Scarselli QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 39'35
146 Eric Baumann T-MOBILE TEAM + 39'39
147 Pedro Horrillo LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 40'58
148 Markel Irizar EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 42'45
149 Sergio Domínguez GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 42'51
150 Thierry Marichal FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 45'27
151 Bradley Wiggins COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 45'34
152 José Luis Carrasco ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 45'37
153 Carlo Westphal GEROLSTEINER + 49'07
154 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM + 49'39
155 Kasper Klostergaard TEAM CSC + 52'08
156 Michiel Elijzen COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 53'10
157 Eloy Teruel GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 53'35
158 Bruno Lima GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 55'37
159 Artjom Grafenstein ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 56'32
160 Andoni Lafuente EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 58'26
161 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 58'34
162 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h01'39
163 Stefan Radochla TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1h02'16

Contador was the best young rider and 3rd in the points competition, won by Valverde. Aketza Peña was the King of the Mountains, whiel Caisse were the best team - with DFL in 2nd.

The Profronde van Drenthe is an unusual race. Last year, the profile was hilly and Pliuschin finished 3rd, Mattan 8th and Nolf 10th, but this year, the race is cobbled and a perfect build up for the next day's Paris-Roubaix.

Our team is Nolf, Coyot, Hammond, Thomas, Bodrogi and Smith. Nolf and Coyot are the out and out favourites, while both Hammond and Thomas are 2-Star favourites for the race. What better chance for Nolf to finally take a victory.


The black line on the route indicates when I moved the team forward to take control of the peleton.


And Coyot, Hammond, Thomas and Nolf quickly pulled away. The first 3 are taking relays while Nolf just has to follow.


They came up to the breakaway quite quickly.


And soon dropped them


With 66km to go, Geraint Thomas received his fourth red bar and dropped back. He waited for the 5 man chase group.


With 46km to go, the 3 remaining obstacles came into view. The 3 versions of the same hill will be climbed at 44, 22 and 13km to go.

Hammond gave a last big effort on the first climb before getting his 4th red bar and dropping away.


This was the cue for Nolf to begin taking relays, and their lead is still very strong by the 2nd ascent - Hammond still hasnt been caught by the chase group despite now being out of energy


Hammond is eventually passed by the chase group, where Geraint Thomas is still riding, looking good.


As Nolf and Coyot take the 3rd and final ascent, a lot of riders are still descending from what is their 2nd climb!


Nolf and Coyot are free to just ride to the line. No need to attack each other or sprint, the winner of this race was already known. Frederik Nolf takes his first professional victory!


Thomas couldnt quite keep with the chase group in the closing stages so settles for 7th as Lars Boom grabs 3rd.


1 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 5h08'17
2 Arnaud Coyot DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Lars Boom RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 3'24
4 Stefan Van Dijk TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
5 Ricardo Van der Velde RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
6 Steven Kruijswijk RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
7 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'54
8 Mirko Celestino TEAM LPR + 5'40
9 Dainius Kairelis BARLOWORLD s.t.
10 Jeroen Boelen TIME - VAN HEMERT s.t.
11 Christian Knees ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
12 Luca Solari TEAM LPR s.t.
13 Arne Hassink UBBINK - SYNTEC CYCLING TEAM s.t.
14 Floris Goesinnen TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
15 Jan Kuyckx LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
16 Lucas Persson KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT + 6'19
17 Klaas Vantornout ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
18 Bjorn Hoeben TIME - VAN HEMERT s.t.
19 Daniele Nardello TEAM LPR + 7'18
20 Luca Celli TEAM LPR s.t.
21 Roger Hammond DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'37
22 Roy Curvers TIME - VAN HEMERT + 8'45
23 Simone Cadamuro KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT + 8'53
24 Laszló Bodrogi DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'05
25 Thomas Rabou RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 10'59
26 Enrico Degano BARLOWORLD s.t.
27 Alessandro Maserati TEAM LPR s.t.
28 Rob Ruijgh KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT + 11'24
29 Devis Miorin KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT s.t.
30 Sierk Jan De Haan TIME - VAN HEMERT + 12'02
31 Lucio Capozzi BARLOWORLD s.t.
32 Raymond Kreder TIME - VAN HEMERT s.t.
33 Thomas Berkhout RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 12'22
34 Mattia Parravicini KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT + 12'52
35 Massimo Mazzanti KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT + 14'43
36 James Lewis Perry BARLOWORLD s.t.
37 Bart Aernouts LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER + 17'23
38 Coen Vermeltfoort ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
39 Kasper Jebjerg TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
40 René Jorgensen TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
41 David Polfer TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
42 Joost Van Leijen VAN VLIET - EBH ADVOCATEN s.t.
43 Adrien Saad CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
44 Bart Wellens CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
45 Norbert Poels FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM s.t.
46 Johnny Hoogerland TEAM LÖWIK MEUBELEN s.t.
47 Marco Zanotti ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
48 Sylvain Tabet TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
49 Stefan Huizinga VAN VLIET - EBH ADVOCATEN s.t.
50 Janek Tombak LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
51 Sjef De Wilde LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
52 Martin Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
53 Robert Radosz ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
54 Sébastien Turgot CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
55 Benjamin Vervalle JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
56 Jos Van Emden RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
57 Mario Ickx JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
58 Hein Goolkate UBBINK - SYNTEC CYCLING TEAM s.t.
59 Robin Chaigneau LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
60 Hugues Bonnehorgne TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
61 William Frischkorn TEAM SLIPSTREAM + 17'55
62 Sergej Fuchs ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
63 Torsten Schmidt TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
64 Artur Gajek TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
65 Jan Valach ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
66 Robert Slippens UBBINK - SYNTEC CYCLING TEAM s.t.
67 Wim Vansevenant CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
68 Daniel Foder TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
69 Egon Van Kessel VAN VLIET - EBH ADVOCATEN s.t.
70 Peter Olde Dubbelink TEAM LÖWIK MEUBELEN s.t.
71 Malaya Van Ruitenbeek TEAM REGIOSTROM - SENGES + 18'36
72 Jesper Odgaard Nielsen TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
73 Daniele Callegarin NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
74 Maurice Vrijmoed VAN VLIET - EBH ADVOCATEN s.t.
75 Juan José Oroz TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
76 Simon Schärer TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
77 Mitchell Huenders TEAM LÖWIK MEUBELEN s.t.
78 Paul Voss TEAM REGIOSTROM - SENGES s.t.
79 Pedro Costa LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
80 Jan Boven TEAM REGIOSTROM - SENGES s.t.
81 Taylor Tolleson TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
82 Jos Pronk TEAM LÖWIK MEUBELEN s.t.
83 Jakob Fuglsang TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
84 Glen Alan Chadwick NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
85 Jarno Van Mingeroet JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
86 Stefan Löffler TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
87 André Schulze TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
88 Sven Teutenberg TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
89 Sergiu Cioban TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
90 Marc Weisshaupt ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
91 Heikki Lyskken TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
92 Gideon De Jong FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM s.t.
93 Bernard Van Ulden NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
94 Allan Sødal UBBINK - SYNTEC CYCLING TEAM s.t.
95 Ben Johnson TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
96 Kenny Van Braeckel JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
97 Jurgen Lindhoud UBBINK - SYNTEC CYCLING TEAM s.t.
98 Marcel Wyss ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
99 Thomas Guldhammer TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
100 René Obst TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
101 Tony Precious TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
102 Tomás Buchácek TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
103 Peter Möhlmann TEAM REGIOSTROM - SENGES s.t.
104 Alejandro Borrajo JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
105 Eelke Van der Wal FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM s.t.
106 Marcel Lamberts VAN VLIET - EBH ADVOCATEN s.t.
107 Antonio D'Aniello TEAM LPR s.t.
108 Rubén Martínez TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
109 Wout Poels FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM s.t.
110 Maint Berkenbosch TEAM REGIOSTROM - SENGES s.t.
111 Frank Dressler CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
112 Matt Cooke NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
113 Tobias Erler TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
114 Morten Knudsen CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
115 Bjorn Cornelissen FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM s.t.
116 Mariusz Witecki TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
117 Viktor Rapinski NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
118 Mark Hinnen ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
119 Fabrice Jeandesboz TEAM REGIOSTROM - SENGES s.t.
120 Mark Renshaw TEAM LÖWIK MEUBELEN s.t.
121 Tor Inge Myrold TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
122 François Parisien TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
123 Lars Vierbergen VAN VLIET - EBH ADVOCATEN s.t.
124 Miel Langendijk UBBINK - SYNTEC CYCLING TEAM s.t.
125 Sjoerd Botter TIME - VAN HEMERT s.t.
126 Rick Fransen TEAM LÖWIK MEUBELEN s.t.
127 Krzysztof Miara ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
128 Harald Morscher TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
129 Gregory Baugé TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
130 Noé Gianetti ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 20'15
131 Denis Flahaut JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
132 Yoann Offredo BARLOWORLD s.t.
133 Dzoni Benedejcic TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
134 Stanley Garfield TEAM SLIPSTREAM + 20'53
135 Mickey Smith DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 22'06
136 Indalecio López Duque BARLOWORLD + 23'50
137 Stefan Cohnen FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM + 24'07

Nice racing

Total domination...

Good 1-2, and 3rd with Contador

The Contenders

Alessandro Ballan
Having done the triple last year, ballan has only managed 7th in the Ronde and 3rd in Wevelgem, but it looks as if he is getting better and could repeat his triumph.

Filippo Pozzato
Last years runnerup won the KBC stage races but will have been disappointed with 19th in the Ronde and only 7th in Wevelgem. Does he have the right form to compete?

Matti Breschel
The Gent-Wevelgem winner, and 3rd place in the Ronde would seem to make Breschel CSC's leader. He has also had Top 10s in E3 Prijs, Omloop Het Volk and Milan San-Remo - has he peaked too soon? He must surely imrpove his position of 27th last year.

Fabian Cancellara
Dominant victories in Omloop Het Volk and Dwars door Vlaanderen only led to 4th in the Ronde and 10th in Wevelgem, although since Paris-Roubaix is his big target, it may just be that he took a back seat to Breschel for the first 2 classics, in order to have the teams full support here. He missed last years race through injury, giving added incentive to succeed.

Phillipe Gilbert
Looking to do the double after winning the Ronde, Gilbert has been strong this year, also taking 4th in Wevelgem and 2nd places in Omloop Het Volk and E3 Prijs. He only managed 12th last year, expect him to better that result.

Leif Hoste
The winner of Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne and E3 Prijs, plus 3rd placed finisher last year, Leif Hoste has flopped so far when it matters. 16th in the Ronder and 6th in Wevelgem does not make good reading for him.

George Hincapie
He may never win Paris-Roubaix as his form this year has been dire. 7th in E3 Prijs, 10th in Het Volk and no other top 10s

Frederik Nolf
On a confidence high after winning the Profonde van Drenthe, Nolf cannot wait to improve on the 23rd place he took last year. 2nd in the Ronde van Vlaanderen was the best result of his career and he also took 3rd in E3 Prijs. His form has been timed perfectly but his sprint stat is a drawback

Arnaud Coyot
Although working for Nolf, Coyot will hope for a top 10 finish having come 18th last year. 2nd place in Gent-Wevelgem showed that he is capable of that.

Other possibilites: Flecha, Van Impe (Rabobank), Devolder (Euskaltel), Burghardt (T-Mobile), O'Grady (CSC), Nuyens (Cofidis), Wesemann (Milram)

Injured: Gusev (Discovery)

Missing: Hushovd (Credit Agricole), Boonen, Bettini (Quick Step)