This is my favourite of the Ardennes classics and also the one that most favours Contador. There are not as many hills as in Amstel Gold, and the gradient of the Mur de Huy will definately suit Contador.

Maarten Wynants was the sole breakaway rider today, in an obviously planned move as his friends had written his name on the Mur in anticipation of it. He might have hoped for someone to go with him though.


70km to go saw the first real action as Dekker attacked. Rovira, Azevedo and Verbrugghe went with him and they soon passed Wynants.


With 40km to go, a more high profile move was launched as Cobo, Kirchen, Ten Dam, Sanchez and Rebellin made their move.


28km to go and at last Valverde attacks, Ricco and Contador counter.


All 12 of the attackers came together and held a 1 minute lead over a peleton still containing Schleck and Di Luca.


Many of the 12 put in short bursts on the Cote de Ben-Haim, but Contador kept at a steady tempo, no point wasting energy just yet, and at the end of it all. 12 became 8 as Dekker, Rovira, Verbrugghe and Azevedo were dropped. All eyes are now on the Mur de Huy.


Valverde attacked the climb full on as he looked to get away


Contador also made a move up the left hand side. He did not get a gap but the positioning would be vital


Having been ready to counter either Schleck or Di Luca, Uran gave up patience and made his attack in the flat section before the Mur, aiming for another top 10 finish


Back in the front, Valverde is pulling away


Contador and Ricco are battling it out for 2nd place


The finish line comes into view


Victory for Alejandro Valverde!


Riccardo Ricco pulls away to take 2nd while Contador is a brilliant 3rd.


Laurens Ten Dam is 4th, continuing his good record in this race (He was 5th last year) but his teammate Di Luca had a poor race, experience should have told him that he could not close down over 2 minutes on the Mur alone. He did come past Uran though and takes 9th


Another good 10th place for Uran.


1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 5h27'51
2 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 29
3 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 36
4 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 43
5 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA s.t.
6 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM + 49
7 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 57
8 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 1'09
9 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 2'10
10 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'44
11 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'53
12 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'03
13 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 3'04
14 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC + 3'05
15 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 3'11
16 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 3'12
17 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 3'15
18 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER + 3'17
19 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 3'20
20 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA + 3'23
21 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER + 3'27
22 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 3'31
23 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'40
24 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS + 3'43
25 Karsten Kroon LIQUIGAS s.t.
26 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'47
27 Johan Vansummeren QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'52
28 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'53
29 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'58
30 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 3'59
31 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC + 4'04
32 David Arroyo CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'09
33 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'10
34 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM s.t.
35 Christophe Brandt PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
36 Sergei Kolesnikov UNIBET.COM + 4'19
37 Tom Stamsnijder GEROLSTEINER s.t.
38 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
39 Jérôme Pineau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 4'21
40 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
41 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
42 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 4'24
43 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 4'25
44 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC + 4'27
45 Dominique Cornu PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'29
46 Staf Scheirlinckx LIQUIGAS + 4'32
47 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'35
48 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
49 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS + 4'38
50 Michael Barry T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'40
51 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'43
52 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'45
53 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 4'49
54 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'52
55 Igor Abakoumov TEAM ASTANA + 5'00
56 Cyrille Monnerais FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 5'04
57 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'09
58 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'13
59 Gil Suray TEAM CSC + 5'15
60 Alexandr Dyachenko UNIBET.COM + 5'16
61 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 5'20
62 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 5'25
63 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 5'26
64 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 5'29
65 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 5'30
66 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 5'32
67 Mauricio Ardila RABOBANK + 5'35
68 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK + 5'36
69 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'39
70 Cadel Evans RABOBANK s.t.
71 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 5'40
72 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'42
73 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 5'49
74 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 5'50
75 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
76 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'55
77 Alexandre Botcharov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 5'58
78 Geert Steurs PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 5'59
79 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
80 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL + 6'00
81 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'01
82 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'05
83 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6'07
84 Simone Masciarelli DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'08
85 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 6'10
86 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
87 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'11
88 Geert Verheyen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 6'12
89 Ben Hermans TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 6'16
90 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 6'18
91 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 6'19
92 Kevin De Weert COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 6'21
93 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'23
94 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'27
95 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 6'28
96 Anthony Geslin TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 6'29
97 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 6'36
98 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM + 6'39
99 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 6'41
100 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6'49
101 Frederic Guesdon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 6'53
102 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 6'54
103 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM + 6'59
104 Koen De Kort TEAM ASTANA + 7'04
105 Samuel Plouhinec AGRITUBEL + 7'11
106 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 7'28
107 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 7'56
108 Eric Berthou CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 8'01
109 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 8'07
110 Claudio Corioni AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 8'12
111 Nicolas Vogondy AGRITUBEL + 8'17
112 Simone Ponzi TEAM MILRAM + 8'22
113 Thierry Marichal FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 8'23
114 Bingen Fernández COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 8'28
115 Joan Horrach CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 8'30
116 Nico Keinath T-MOBILE TEAM + 8'34
117 Gorazd Stangelj LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 8'36
118 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 8'40
119 Gerben Löwik RABOBANK + 8'45
120 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'47
121 Marco Marzano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 8'48
122 Juan Miguel Mercado AGRITUBEL + 8'51
123 Nicolas Jalabert AGRITUBEL + 8'52
124 Robert Retschke TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
125 Javier Mejías SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'05
126 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'13
127 Moisés Dueñas AGRITUBEL + 9'15
128 Massimilliano Mori LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 9'27
129 Eduard Vorganov EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 9'43
130 Alberto Ongarato LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
131 Servais Knaven T-MOBILE TEAM + 9'51
132 Pedro Horrillo LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 9'59
133 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 10'07
134 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 10'15
135 Kam-Po Wong AGRITUBEL + 10'23
136 Gorka Verdugo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 10'31
137 Alessandro Cortinovis TEAM MILRAM + 10'47
138 Pierre Rolland CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 10'55
139 Antonio García González SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
140 Iban Mayoz EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 11'03
141 Benoit Poilvet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
142 Błażej Janiaczyk PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 11'11
143 Jean-Marc Bideau TEAM MILRAM + 11'19
144 Leonardo Scarselli QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 11'59
145 Yuri Krivtsov AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 12'07
146 Kevin Neirynck LIQUIGAS s.t.
147 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 12'23
148 Pedro Barnabé TEAM CSC + 12'55
149 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM + 13'03
150 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
151 Carlos Da Cruz FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 13'11
152 Hans Dekkers PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 13'19
153 Julien Loubet AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 13'35
154 Yvan Muratet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 14'23
155 Mario Aerts PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 14'31
156 Sébastien Hinault CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
157 Jakob Fiedler T-MOBILE TEAM + 14'47
158 Carlo Westphal GEROLSTEINER + 16'39
159 Niki Terpstra TEAM MILRAM + 17'51
160 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM + 18'07
161 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 18'15
162 Iñaki Isasi EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 18'23
163 Uros Murn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 18'31
164 Markus Reich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 18'47
165 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK + 18'55
166 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM + 19'03
167 Alexandre Usov AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 20'31
168 Bradley Wiggins COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 20'55
169 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM + 21'19
170 Yannick Martinez AGRITUBEL + 21'35
171 Mario Franca COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 21'59
172 Joseba Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 22'23
173 Maarten De Jonge AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 22'39
174 Maarten Wynants GEROLSTEINER + 26'15
175 Will Routley AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 30'07
176 Jesús Herrada EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 35'27

btw your teams jersey is awesome. It reminds me a little bit of the Black Rock Racing jersey.

Back on topic though. 3rd is good. Hope you can get some more good results.

Not only was Fleche Wallone a good race in terms of result for Contador and Uran, Pliuschin and Konovalovas also used it to move up an experience level.

good improvement in terms of pluischin-a future vuelta winner
and konovalovvas could be really good

Very nice 3rd at La Fleche Wallonne

Great stuff SN

Piluschin can't win a grand tour, not with a 57 DH, believe me, the only reason why Savodeli is on or close to the podium when you play the Giro in the first year is that he has so much energy when you reach the end of descents. DH counts more than it seems

Really now? B)

Can Valverde seal a triple victory in the Ardennes classics?

There was a 10 man break, Theo Eltink of Saunier Duval is the best hilly rider in it


With 50km to go, Chris Horner attacked, most of the big names countered him but Contador did not since it was nearly the top of the hill. Other than Horner, only Di Luca got a gap.


Neither Di Luca or Horner could pull away and after letting them waste energy for 12km, Valverde launched an attack and went straight past them.


Noone could keep up with Valverde and he went solo. Ricco, Cobo and Schleck form group 2 while Contador is on his own.


Valverde pulls away from the 3 chasers who pull away from Contador. Contador remains around a minute ahead of the pack, where Di Luca, Horner and Visconti are constantly attacking - they just dont have enough blue.

Di Luca and Horner do eventually manage to catch Contador ... with 6km to go.


Its a victory for Valverde!

Hopefully he is in top form now and won't be as good at the tour.

In the battle for 2nd place, Cobo had a gap with 2km to go but just a few hundred metres later, the gap was gone.


And it is Riccardo Ricco who takes 2nd. Schleck 3rd, Cobo 4th


Di Luca takes 5th as Contador end 7th.


9th, 3rd and 7th is definately a satisfying Ardennes campaign for Contador and he is now ranked 4th in the ProTour standings. His next aim is to repeat his 2007 victory of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. Pliuschin, Perez and Anton head to Romandie before Perez and Anton continue on to the Giro d'Italia.

1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 7h11'42
2 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'36
3 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC + 1'54
4 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
5 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 3'50
6 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'01
7 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
8 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA + 4'48
9 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 5'01
10 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
11 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
12 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
13 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
14 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
15 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC s.t.
16 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
17 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
18 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
19 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA s.t.
20 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
21 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
22 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
23 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM s.t.
24 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
25 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA s.t.
26 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
27 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
28 Karsten Kroon LIQUIGAS s.t.
29 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
30 Johan Vansummeren QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
31 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
32 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
33 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
34 Staf Scheirlinckx LIQUIGAS s.t.
35 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
36 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC s.t.
37 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
38 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS s.t.
39 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
40 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC s.t.
41 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
42 Hernán Buenahora QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
43 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
44 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
45 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
46 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'58
47 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
48 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
49 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA s.t.
50 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
51 Cyril Dessel AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
52 Preben Van Hecke PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 6'41
53 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
54 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 7'01
55 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 7'58
56 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
57 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM s.t.
58 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
59 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 8'06
60 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM s.t.
61 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
62 Marco Marzano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 8'14
63 Vladimir Efimkin PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
64 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
65 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
66 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 8'22
67 Gil Suray TEAM CSC + 8'30
68 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
69 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC + 8'38
70 Aketza Peña EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 8'46
71 Frederic Guesdon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 8'54
72 Alexandre Botcharov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 9'26
73 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM s.t.
74 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 9'34
75 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 10'06
76 Iban Mayoz EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
77 Nico Keinath T-MOBILE TEAM + 10'14
78 Dominique Cornu PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 10'38
79 Simone Ponzi TEAM MILRAM + 10'54
80 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 12'06
81 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
82 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 12'14
83 Alberto Martínez AGRITUBEL s.t.
84 Giorgio Brambilla LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 12'22
85 Kevin De Weert COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 12'30
86 Aleksandr Kuschynski LIQUIGAS s.t.
87 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 12'38
88 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
89 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
90 Bastiaan Giling TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
91 Igor Abakoumov TEAM ASTANA + 12'54
92 Christophe Brandt PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
93 Jakob Piil T-MOBILE TEAM + 13'02
94 Yuri Krivtsov AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
95 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 13'18
96 Gorazd Stangelj LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 13'26
97 Cyrille Monnerais FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
98 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
99 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK s.t.
100 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
101 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 13'34
102 Samuel Plouhinec AGRITUBEL s.t.
103 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
104 Remmert Wielinga SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 13'42
105 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 13'50
106 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 14'06
107 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 14'38
108 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
109 Zdenek Stybar AGRITUBEL s.t.
110 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM s.t.
111 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 14'46
112 Jean-Marc Marino CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 14'54
113 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 15'10
114 Cadel Evans RABOBANK + 15'34
115 Thomas Ziegler T-MOBILE TEAM + 15'42
116 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK + 15'58
117 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
118 Gerben Löwik RABOBANK s.t.
119 Robert Gesink RABOBANK s.t.
120 Stefan Schaefer TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
121 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 16'06
122 Kevin Hulsmans QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
123 Alexandre Usov AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
124 Paolo Tiralongo LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 17'26
125 Yann Huguet COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
126 Geert Verheyen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
127 Eduardo Gonzalo AGRITUBEL s.t.
128 Daniele Righi LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 17'34
129 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
130 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
131 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM + 17'42
132 Maarten Wynants GEROLSTEINER + 17'50
133 Alberto Benítez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 17'58
134 Benoit Poilvet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 19'02
135 Damien Gaudin LIQUIGAS + 19'10
136 Sergio Ghisalberti TEAM MILRAM s.t.
137 Óscar García-Casarrubios COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
138 Florent Brard CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
139 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA + 19'18
140 Michiel Van Aelbroeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 19'26
141 José Luis Arrieta AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 20'14
142 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM + 20'30
143 Yvan Muratet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 20'54
144 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 21'26
145 Aivaras Baranauskas AGRITUBEL s.t.
146 Jean-Marc Bideau TEAM MILRAM s.t.
147 Juan Miguel Mercado AGRITUBEL s.t.
148 Nicolas Roche CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 21'50
149 Guillaume Levarlet AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 22'06
150 Pedro Horrillo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
151 Philip Deignan DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
152 Thierry Marichal FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
153 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM + 22'14
154 Markus Reich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 22'22
155 Maxim Belkov TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 22'38
156 Yon Bru EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 22'54
157 Iñaki Isasi EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 24'54
158 Markel Irizar EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
159 Robert Wagner TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
160 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM + 25'26
161 Arkaitz Durán SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 25'42
162 Sebastian Siedler TEAM MILRAM + 31'02
163 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
164 Lars Michaelsen LIQUIGAS + 31'42
165 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 32'06
166 Mathieu Heijboer COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
167 Carl Naïbo AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 32'22
168 Scott Davis T-MOBILE TEAM + 32'30
169 Carlo Westphal GEROLSTEINER + 32'54
170 Ludovic Auger FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 33'10
171 Jonathan Balbuena AGRITUBEL + 33'34
172 Thomas Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 35'34
173 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 35'58
174 Anxo Celades CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 36'14
175 Lander Aperribay EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 42'54
176 Iban Iriondo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 45'26

7th is still pretty good. Hopefully you will get a little bit better results.

first ever dfl grand tour

the giro will be interesting

hehe who will be your leader in the giro?

Ill decide that after Romandie

I like being back at uni, the internet connection actually uploads photos so i don't have to wait 20 minutes to read whats at the bottom of the page. Which is good, because a post by SN usually means another race, which usually means great racing by DFL, which is what i like to read.

Keep up the good work, and well done on the classics so far B)

Alexander Efimkin is eager to earn a place in the Giro and leads a team here in Germany.


Pagoto, Ten Dam, Wegmann, Laverde, and Kuschinyski are the rivals for Efimkin today, with 25km to go.

But the group is split in 2 as Efimkin, Wegmann and Ten Dam pull away


And with 6km to go it looks like Ten Dam is dropped too


But Ten Dam makes it back in time for the sprint


Fabian Wegmann is an easy winner, to the delight of the german fans.


1 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER 5h12'11
2 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM s.t.
4 Aleksandr Kuschynski LIQUIGAS + 52
5 Andrea Pagoto CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
6 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 1'53
7 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
8 José Antonio Redondo TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
9 Francesco Failli LIQUIGAS s.t.
10 Mauricio Ardila RABOBANK s.t.
11 Marco Marcato TEAM LPR s.t.
12 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
13 Rubén Pérez LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
14 Daniele Pietropolli CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
15 Michael Barry T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
16 Antonio D'Aniello TEAM LPR s.t.
17 Robert Retschke TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
18 Matteo Tosatto LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
19 Taylor Tolleson TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
20 Matej Jurco TEAM MILRAM s.t.
21 Robert Wagner TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
22 Nico Sijmens LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
23 René Weissinger TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
24 Petr Bencik TEAM VORARLBERG - VOLKSBANK s.t.
25 Gerben Löwik RABOBANK s.t.
56 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
82 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
83 Rhys Pollock DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
150 Hamish Haynes DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'58
179 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 16'18
180 Mickey Smith DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
182 Fernando Capecchi CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 17'54

Team: Pliuschin, Perez, Anton, Uran, Manan, Stevic, Blythe, Konovalovas

Whoever does the best in the GC here is likely to lead the team at the Giro. Anton is the strongest on paper but isnt in particularly great form and will ride mainly to try and complete his level 4 experience for a stats boost for his main season aim, the Vuelta. Perez is currently well placed to lead the team but Pliuschin could pull off something special here and take that role from him - but if Perez does better, then Pliuschin won't ride the Giro at all. Uran and Konovalovas are potential Giro riders while Manan will be the teams Sprinter in Italy.
By competing in the prologue alone, Stevic will increase to level 4 experience and have a new sprint stat of 76.

In terms of opposition here, well, there isnt much. Voigt, Savoldelli, Fothen, Gil, Kreuziger, Augustyn and Joaquin Rodriguez are probably the best here.

Stage 1

Pliuschin set the best time when he finished the course


But Kreziger went 1 second faster, and Voigt also went quicker than him. Todays winner was Bradley Wiggins though.


1 Bradley Wiggins COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE 5'19
2 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 4
3 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 5
4 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6
5 Sebastian Lang GEROLSTEINER + 7
6 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 10
7 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11
8 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER + 12
9 Roberto Petito LIQUIGAS s.t.
10 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 13
11 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
12 Tom Stamsnijder GEROLSTEINER + 14
13 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
14 Kevin De Weert COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 15
15 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
16 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
17 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 16
18 Jérôme Pineau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 19
19 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
20 Dirk Müller AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 20
21 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 22
22 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
23 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 23
24 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
25 Maarten Tjallingii T-MOBILE TEAM + 24
26 Thierry Marichal FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
27 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 25
28 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
29 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
30 Antonio Quadranti UNIBET.COM s.t.
31 Alan Suchoparek DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
32 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 26
33 Bingen Fernández COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
34 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 27
35 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
36 Christian Leben TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
37 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS + 29
38 Jairo Hernández AGRITUBEL s.t.
39 Grégory Rast TEAM ASTANA s.t.
40 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
41 Stefan Schaefer TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
42 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 30
43 Nicolas Portal CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
44 Torsten Schmidt TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 31
45 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
46 Robert Förster GEROLSTEINER s.t.
47 Martin Elmiger AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 32
48 Markus Zberg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
49 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM s.t.
50 David Lelay CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.

sorry did i miss something
who is mickey smith?

oh i see - the next bradley wiggins

Yeh, he is a scouted rider.

He also used to be on Doctor Who

he has changed jobs evidently - a hidden talent - does he get paid more?



nice to see an interracial bbc