isnt it catherine tate? she's not funny either

well i wasnt saying i would enjoy

back on topic good win sporting

Colliers Classic
Can we do the Danish Double? Having won GP Herning the day before, we have all angles covered for the race today.

Ian Stannard won the race last year from the break, and both he and Arnaud Coyot went with the first move. It was brought back though, largely due to the fact that only Stannard and Coyot would work. Ruggero Marzoli went with the next attack, I did not expect it to work but it did.


The gap grew and grew and grew. The break would make it and Marzoli is the huge favourite now. But with 12km to go, Luxembourger Carlo Kirsch attacks to create a gap


He had looked like he was struggling a bit beforehand so Marzoli did not rush to chase him in but 6km later, it still looked dangerous


Marzoli put in a short attack and continued at a fast pace. Ripping apart the rest of the break as he closed down Kirsch


Kirsch was easily within touching distance once the sprint began


And its a win for Marzoli, securing his Giro place


Behind the break, Johansen and Nolf had been on the attack for the last 47km and Johanssen pipped Nolf for 9th place.


1 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h10'54
2 Mikel Nieve TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
3 Carlo Kirsch CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
4 Philipp Mamos TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
5 Dann Ottesen TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
6 Janif Hecht TEAM GLS + 1'15
7 Sten Stenersen TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
8 Marcin Osiński ACTION - UNIQA + 2'18
9 Allan Johansen TEAM CSC + 7'36
10 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
11 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM + 8'07
12 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
13 Coen Vermeltfoort ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
14 Jochen Summer ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
15 Hannes Blank CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
16 Niki Ostergaard CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
17 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
18 Jonas Holmkvist TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
19 Jacob Moe Rasmussen TEAM GLS s.t.
20 Fernando Torres TEAM GLS s.t.
21 Fredrik Johansson TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
22 Tom Criel BABES ONLY - VILLAPARK LINGEMEER - FLANDERS s.t.
23 Stefan Löffler TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
24 Tobias Erler TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
25 Wilson Marentes ATLAS - ROMER'S HAUSBÄCKEREI s.t.
26 Alexander Gut ATLAS - ROMER'S HAUSBÄCKEREI s.t.
27 Arnaud Coyot DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
28 Damián Martínez ATLAS - ROMER'S HAUSBÄCKEREI s.t.
29 Daniel Foder TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
30 André Steensen TEAM CSC s.t.
31 Radomir Simunek Jr. BABES ONLY - VILLAPARK LINGEMEER - FLANDERS s.t.
32 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
33 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC s.t.
34 Uwe Hardter ATLAS - ROMER'S HAUSBÄCKEREI s.t.
35 René Schild TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
36 Piotr Chmielewski ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
37 Julien Absalon ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
38 Christian Knørr CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
39 Der Zolt TEAM GLS s.t.
40 Célio Sousa BABES ONLY - VILLAPARK LINGEMEER - FLANDERS s.t.
41 Chris Sørensen TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
42 Wolfgang Murer ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
43 Aidis Kruopis ATLAS - ROMER'S HAUSBÄCKEREI s.t.
44 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
45 Nikola Aistrup TEAM GLS s.t.
46 Jan Valach ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
47 Andreas Henig ATLAS - ROMER'S HAUSBÄCKEREI s.t.
48 Ryder Hesjedal CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
49 Joachim Bohler TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
50 Floris Goesinnen TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
51 Andreas Frisch TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
52 Victor Hugo Peña ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
53 Morten Knudsen CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE s.t.
54 Juan Carlos Rojas ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
55 Rasmus Fjordside TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
56 Justin Leigh Kerr BABES ONLY - VILLAPARK LINGEMEER - FLANDERS s.t.
57 Klaas Vantornout ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
58 Noé Gianetti ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
59 David Abal ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
60 Michael Blaudzun TEAM CSC s.t.
61 Ronny Brunings BABES ONLY - VILLAPARK LINGEMEER - FLANDERS s.t.
62 Jorg Lehmann BABES ONLY - VILLAPARK LINGEMEER - FLANDERS s.t.
63 Gil Suray TEAM CSC s.t.
64 Hernâni Brôco TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
65 Walter Pérez TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
66 Heribert Wanski TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
67 Jens Peter Kyvsgaard TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
68 Juan Pablo Wilches TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
69 Lucas Perez TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
70 Adriano Angeloni TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
71 Frederik Wilmann TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
72 Soren Kirkegaard TEAM GLS s.t.
73 Nichlas Klarlund TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN + 10'25

Great job. I like this story because it isn't way unrealistic like some other threads.

Yeh, because Alberto Contador riding for DFL is realistic

I thought that but realistic in a race standpoint. Also I think it is unlikely that you would get all of those good riders in one year.

Yeh, and its impossible to be realistic in PCM after the first season, team roster wise

Stage 5


2 laps of a very challenging circuit in the toughest stage of the race.

Pliuschin took advantage of the early intermediate sprint to take 6, potentially valuable seconds.


The main climb of the stage is the Col de l'Aiguillon, and the whole team struggled up the first time.


Fortunately no red bars became permanent and they raced round the rest of the circuit until the Aiguillon came again. Jaume Rovira made the first move


Gil, Voigt, Tonti, and Zaugg joined Rovira in makinbg a gap. All other attacks failed.


As a testament to how tough the climb was. When Rovira attacked Anton had a small amount of green energy plus another drink left, and despite not attacking, less than 8km later, Anton was completely out of energy.

Tonti was dropped but the other 4 led over the summit. Pliuschin kept with the next group but struggled and had a red moment over the summit

Perez was lucky not to also go into the red - he had 3 and a half red bars, while Uran was the strongest - he only had 2, leading me to believe that the rating of this stage is slightly better suited to hilly riders.

Voigt, Gil and Zaugg drop Rovira in the descent as they head towards the finish


Jens Voigt wins the stage!


Uran, Pliuschin and Perez finish safely in the next group and manage to gain time on Rodriguez and Kreuziger, who are in the small group just behind.

Josep Jufre, who started the day in the top 10, was further back.

1 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC 6h38'16
2 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
3 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
4 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 49
5 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 1'22
6 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
7 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
8 Patxi Vila LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
9 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
10 Cyril Dessel AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
11 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
12 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
13 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
14 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
16 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
17 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
18 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
19 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
20 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
21 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
22 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
23 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'47
24 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
25 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
26 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
27 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
28 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS s.t.
29 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
30 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA s.t.
31 Tomislav Danculović DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'15
32 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
33 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
34 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM s.t.
35 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
36 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM s.t.
37 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
38 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
39 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 3'33
40 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA s.t.
41 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
42 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'03
43 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS + 4'27
44 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS s.t.
45 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'55
46 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
47 Guido Trentin SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'27
48 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 5'49
49 Francis Mourey FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 6'30
50 Alberto Martínez AGRITUBEL + 7'18

GC
Pliuschin moves up 2 spots to 8th in the GC, while Perez rises 1 to 10th.

1 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC 20h19'44
2 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 42
3 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER + 1'43
4 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 2'08
5 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 2'39
6 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 2'40
7 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 3'08
8 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'11
9 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'27
10 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'32
11 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'57
12 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 3'58
13 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
14 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 4'01
15 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 4'03
16 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'05
17 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 4'13
18 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'16
19 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 4'36
20 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 5'10
21 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 5'47
22 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 5'48
23 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 5'49
24 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 6'04
25 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 6'13
26 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 6'18
27 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6'32
28 Cyril Dessel AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 6'41
29 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 7'02
30 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 8'42
31 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 8'43
32 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 8'57
33 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 9'14
34 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 9'38
35 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'45

Stage 6

The final stage time trial!


Bradley Wiggins (124th overall) was an early leader.


And it held for a while. The first DFL rider to master the correct technique for the course was Konovalovas (67th Overall), who was 1 minute down at the first check, but finished just 17 seconds down, in 3rd place.

Wiggins continued to lead until Rigoberto Uran (27th GC) hit the road. 40 seconds down at the first check did not matter as he came to the finish, nearly catching Dessel, and beat Wiggins by 4 seconds!


Astarloza and Rodas came close but Uran was not to be beaten until teammate Aleksandr Pliuschin finished the course. Pliuschin went 5 seconds faster than Uran (Losing 2 seconds in the final sector) and did well considering a -3 daily form.


It looked like a DFL 1-2 all the way to the final rider, when Jens Voigt went and set the fastest time to secure the Tour de Romandie.


1 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC 28'38
2 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 7
3 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 12
4 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 14
5 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 15
6 Bradley Wiggins COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 16
7 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 19
8 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 20
9 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS s.t.
10 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 29
11 Sebastian Lang GEROLSTEINER + 34
12 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
13 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
14 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 36
15 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 40
16 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 41
17 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
18 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 44
19 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
20 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
21 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM + 45
22 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 47
23 Jakob Fiedler T-MOBILE TEAM + 49
24 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
25 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 51
26 Tomislav Danculović DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 52
27 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 54
28 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
29 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
30 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
31 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA s.t.
32 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
33 Bert Roesems PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 55
34 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
35 Patxi Vila LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 57
36 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK s.t.
37 Michael Schär TEAM ASTANA s.t.
38 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
39 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 58
40 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
41 Maarten Tjallingii T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
42 Marcel Sieberg PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 59
43 Thomas Ziegler T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
44 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'00
45 Kevin De Weert COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1'01
46 Błażej Janiaczyk PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
47 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1'02
48 William Bonnet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'03
49 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
50 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC s.t.

GC
Pliuschin falls an agonising 5 seconds short of 5th overall Moreau but still rises above Rovira and Nocentini. Perez also comes above Rovira and Nocentini, aswell as Rodriguez, to finish just below Pliuschin in 7th overall.

1 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC 20h48'22
2 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'50
3 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 2'28
4 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER + 2'41
5 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 3'13
6 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'18
7 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'51
8 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 3'57
9 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 4'02
10 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 4'16
11 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'27
12 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 4'42
13 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 4'44
14 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'02
15 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 5'03
16 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'05
17 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 5'07
18 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'10
19 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 5'17
20 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 6'02
21 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 6'33
22 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 6'37
23 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 6'38
24 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6'44
25 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 6'56
26 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 7'10
27 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 7'28
28 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 7'56
29 Cyril Dessel AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 8'13
30 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 9'12
31 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 9'51
32 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 10'04
33 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 10'36
34 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 11'01
35 Patxi Vila LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 11'56
36 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS + 12'08
37 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 12'09
38 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 12'10
39 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 12'47
40 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA + 13'23
41 Jérôme Pineau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 13'56
42 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 15'07
43 Guido Trentin SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 15'38
44 Paolo Tiralongo LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 16'18
45 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 16'29
46 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 16'35
47 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 16'53
48 Philip Deignan DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 17'20
49 Samuel Plouhinec AGRITUBEL + 17'41
50 Tomislav Danculović DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 17'43
51 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 17'52
52 David Arroyo CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 18'18
53 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 18'32
54 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC + 19'27
55 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 20'03
56 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 22'23
57 Antonio García González SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 22'38
58 Julien Mazet TEAM ASTANA + 23'38
59 Alexandr Dyachenko UNIBET.COM + 25'32
60 Zdenek Stybar AGRITUBEL + 27'07
61 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS + 27'25
62 Massimiliano Gentili QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 28'58
63 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM + 32'49
64 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 33'39
65 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 34'03
66 Malcolm Lange UNIBET.COM + 34'48
67 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 36'07
68 Mickael Buffaz COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 38'36
69 Staf Scheirlinckx LIQUIGAS + 38'41
70 Francis Mourey FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 40'58
71 Benoit Poilvet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 41'38
72 Alberto Martínez AGRITUBEL + 42'15
73 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM + 43'30
74 Eduardo Gonzalo AGRITUBEL + 45'56
75 Joan Horrach CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 46'00
76 Serafín Martínez RABOBANK + 48'33
77 Sergei Kolesnikov UNIBET.COM + 48'43
78 Tom Stamsnijder GEROLSTEINER + 50'01
79 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM + 51'53
80 Jairo Hernández AGRITUBEL + 52'05
81 Sergio Ghisalberti TEAM MILRAM + 52'23
82 Rubens Bertogliati SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 53'42
83 Anthony Charteau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 54'26
84 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 54'38
85 Blake Caldwell LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 54'39
86 Maarten Tjallingii T-MOBILE TEAM + 55'20
87 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM + 57'04
88 Preben Van Hecke PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 57'35
89 Massimilliano Mori LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 58'15
90 David George DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 59'01
91 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER + 59'31
92 Benoit Salmon AGRITUBEL s.t.
93 Mikhail Timochine LIQUIGAS + 59'38
94 David Lelay CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1h00'08
95 Ivan Santaromita QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1h00'12
96 Daniele Righi LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1h01'12
97 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 1h02'59
98 Cyrille Monnerais FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h03'44
99 Bingen Fernández COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1h04'07
100 Michael Schär TEAM ASTANA + 1h04'40
101 Tim Klinger GEROLSTEINER + 1h04'54
102 Iban Mayoz EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h05'34
103 Javier Mejías SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1h05'53
104 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM + 1h08'37
105 Eduard Vorganov EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h09'06
106 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1h09'48
107 Carl Naïbo AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1h10'05
108 Kevin De Weert COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1h12'08
109 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC + 1h13'43
110 Iosu Uribarrena SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1h13'51
111 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1h15'46
112 Adam Blythe DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h17'44
113 Anders Lund TEAM CSC + 1h18'41
114 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS + 1h18'55
115 Markus Zberg GEROLSTEINER + 1h21'37
116 Stefan Schaefer TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1h21'41
117 Martin Elmiger AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1h21'53
118 Óscar Freire RABOBANK + 1h22'02
119 Torsten Schmidt TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1h22'10
120 Błażej Janiaczyk PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1h22'45
121 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK + 1h22'48
122 Roberto Petito LIQUIGAS + 1h23'37
123 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h23'40
124 Bradley Wiggins COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1h24'03
125 Igor Abakoumov TEAM ASTANA + 1h25'40
126 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC + 1h25'44
127 Patrick Calcagni LIQUIGAS + 1h25'48
128 Nico Keinath T-MOBILE TEAM + 1h25'49
129 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1h27'20
130 Antonio Quadranti UNIBET.COM + 1h27'41
131 Thierry Marichal FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h28'06
132 Lucas De Visscher RABOBANK + 1h28'13
133 Nicolas Roche CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1h29'20
134 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1h29'36
135 Steve Zampieri COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1h30'29
136 Christian Leben TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1h31'47
137 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM + 1h33'43
138 Benny Dinkel TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1h35'10
139 Rick Flens RABOBANK + 1h35'32
140 Kam-Po Wong AGRITUBEL + 1h38'56
141 Robert Förster GEROLSTEINER + 1h39'32
142 Grégory Rast TEAM ASTANA + 1h39'57
143 Joseba Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h40'17
144 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h40'59
145 Scott Davis T-MOBILE TEAM + 1h41'17
146 Alessandro Proni QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1h41'27
147 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM + 1h41'56
148 Bert Roesems PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1h42'08
149 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM + 1h42'23
150 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM + 1h42'34
151 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1h42'57
152 Dirk Müller AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1h45'31
153 Thomas Ziegler T-MOBILE TEAM + 1h45'32
154 Alan Suchoparek DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1h45'46
155 Alexandre Usov AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1h45'59
156 Matthew Hayman RABOBANK + 1h46'32
157 Maxim Gourov TEAM ASTANA + 1h47'53
158 Jakob Fiedler T-MOBILE TEAM + 1h48'10
159 William Bonnet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1h49'08
160 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h49'16
161 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h50'47
162 Guennadi Mikhailov TEAM ASTANA + 1h51'12
163 Hans Dekkers PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1h51'21
164 Sébastien Chavanel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h51'38
165 Uros Murn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1h51'57
166 Sebastian Lang GEROLSTEINER + 1h53'34
167 Andoni Lafuente EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h54'33
168 Maarten De Jonge AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1h55'54
169 Jonathan Balbuena AGRITUBEL + 1h56'23
170 Alberto Loddo TEAM MILRAM + 1h58'38
171 Sebastian Siedler TEAM MILRAM + 1h58'47
172 Marcel Sieberg PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 2h04'05
173 Fuyu Li DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2h06'12

In the teams classification, we started the stage 23 seconds behind Caisse d'Epargne but ended up winning it by over 2 minutes!

The new ProTour rankings are released and still CSC lead thanks to Schleck, Voigt, Breschel and Cancellara all being in the top 10. Contador is our best placed rider in 5th as we maintain 2nd place. Euskaltel have still yet to score.

If we can get a rider in the Top 15, and a Stage win, Ill be happy with the Giro.

Team Leader - Aleksandr Pliuschin
It is fitting that the rider who did the most to get us to the ProTour is the rider who leads us in our first Grand Tour. The recent stat boost and performance in Romandie have elevated Pliuschin to lead our Giro team, having not previously planned to ride here. He will therefore peak towards the latter half of the race, while starting it at just under 80 fitness. My aim is for Top 15 with him and perhaps the long TT on Stage 20 could even be a target for stage victory?

Co-Leader - Fran Perez
He had been planning to lead here, but his new role better suits him since he may not be as strong over a 3 week period and will be a great help to Pliuschin. With top 10s in Tirreno and Romandie, I am expecting him to take a top 20 here in the Giro.

Sprinter - Anuar Manan
The Malaysian sprinters gets his first taste of a Grand Tour and he will hopefully be able to take a couple of Top 3s (if not better) and maybe be the end of the race, he will have gone up an experience level (Assuming he makes it through the mountains).

Rigoberto Uran
His recent performances have been outstanding and he will be a strong helper for Pliuschin. He will hopefully target a stage win at some point during the race.

Alexander Efimkin
Good on the mountains as hills, another strong helper for Pliuschin.

Ruggero Marzoli
As our only Italian, he was always a selection for this race. Having won from a breakaway in the Colliers Classic, he will hope to get lucky and do the same again here.

Frederik Nolf
While he still has a decent form, our cobbled leader will look to fill up his experience bar completely, and thus gain another final boost to his cobbled stat.

Geraint Thomas and Adam Blythe
The two young Brits are here to gain experience and both just hope to finish the race.

Stage 1

The Giro 2008 starts with a 5.8km Prologue.
It was a big surprise to see Valverde at the Giro. Hopefully he won't be riding at the tour now, which would be great for Contador.

He rode against a fierce headwind at 71 km/h, so we cannot judge on his time of 8'58 which will see him finish 90th.


Aleksandr Pliuschin was the 2nd DFL rider to ride, and by now the winds werent as tough, at 53 km/h. Determined to do well, Pliuschin had a daily form of +5 and set a blistering time. 24 seconds faster than the previous best time of Tom Veelers.


On paper, the strongest TT rider is Jose Ivan Gutierrez but he finishes 16 seconds back

Zubeldia goes 9 seconds slower, before Kohl goes 7 seconds slower.

The wind has fallen to 47 km/h as Janez Brajkovic finishes the course. Its going to be very tight between him and Pliuschin and the Slovene is 1 second too slow!


Rigoberto Uran sets what is then 5th place, 11 seconds behind Pliuschin before Marco Pinotti does a stunning ride, only to fall 2 seconds short of Pliuschin.


The wind is now at 44 km/h as the best Italian hope for the stage Paolo Savoldelli takes to the course. Euskaltel have yet to score PT points but he does a great ride to finish 3rd, a fraction of a second behind Brajkovic.


With under 25 riders left to finish, things are getting very tense. Peter Velits goes surprisingly well for Wiesenhof with 5th place @ 3 seconds.


The suspense grows as rider after rider cannot beat Pliuschin.
Di Luca? Goes 6th.
Cummings? Goes 10th
Julich? Goes 6th
Sella? Goes 64th

And thats it! No more riders! Pliuschin has won the Prologue!

1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 8'24
2 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1
3 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
4 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM + 2
5 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 3
6 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC + 5
7 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 6
8 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 7
9 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 8
10 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 9
11 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
12 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11
13 Raivis Belohvosciks SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
14 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK s.t.
15 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM + 12
16 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
17 Matej Jurco TEAM MILRAM s.t.
18 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 13
19 Bert Roesems PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 14
20 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
21 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 15
22 Roberto Petito LIQUIGAS s.t.
23 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 16
24 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
25 Florent Brard CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
26 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 18
27 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
28 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 19
29 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
30 Torsten Hiekmann GEROLSTEINER + 21
31 Kasper Klostergaard TEAM CSC s.t.
32 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
33 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 22
34 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
35 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 23
36 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
37 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 24
38 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC s.t.
39 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
40 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 25
41 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER s.t.
42 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
43 Eduard Vorganov EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 26
44 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
45 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
46 Torsten Schmidt TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
47 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
48 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 27
49 Julien Mazet TEAM ASTANA s.t.
50 Unai Uribarri EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
51 Guido Trentin SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
52 Fabrizio Guidi BARLOWORLD s.t.
53 Mikaël Chérel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
54 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
55 Philip Deignan DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 28
56 Gabriele Bosisio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
57 André Korff T-MOBILE TEAM + 29
58 Francesco Bellotti BARLOWORLD + 30
59 Sébastien Hinault CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
60 Fernando Capecchi CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
61 Alexei Kolessov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
62 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
63 Koen De Kort TEAM ASTANA s.t.
64 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 31
65 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC s.t.
66 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD + 32
67 Johannes Fröhlinger GEROLSTEINER s.t.
68 Luca Mazzanti LIQUIGAS s.t.
69 Jimmy Engoulvent CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
70 Bram De Groot RABOBANK s.t.
71 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS s.t.
72 Ivan Santaromita QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
73 Pietro Caucchioli COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 33
74 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
75 Daniele Colli CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
76 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
77 Matthew Hayman RABOBANK s.t.
78 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
79 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS s.t.
80 Diego Caccia BARLOWORLD s.t.
81 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
82 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
83 Hernán Buenahora QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
84 Thomas Ziegler T-MOBILE TEAM + 34
85 Jean-Marc Marino CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
86 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
87 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
88 Tyler Farrar COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
89 Murilo Fischer LIQUIGAS s.t.
90 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
91 Filippo Savini CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 35
92 Gerhard Trampusch BARLOWORLD s.t.
93 Paolo Fornaciari LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
94 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM + 36
95 Mads Kaggestad CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
96 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
97 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
98 Olivier Kaisen PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
99 Christophe Mengin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
100 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 37
101 Michele Scotto d'Abusco CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
102 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
103 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
104 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
105 Jakob Fiedler T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
106 Sebastian Siedler TEAM MILRAM + 38
107 Robert Retschke TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
108 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
109 Giosuè Bonomi BARLOWORLD s.t.
110 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
111 Mathieu Ladagnous FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
112 Dario Cataldo T-MOBILE TEAM + 39
113 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
114 Anthony Geslin TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
115 Anders Lund TEAM CSC s.t.
116 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
117 Maxime Bouet COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
118 Marc Lotz BARLOWORLD + 40
119 Sébastien Chavanel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
120 Robbie McEwen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
121 Joan Horrach CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
122 Anthony Charteau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
123 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM s.t.
124 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
125 Antonio Aldegani QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 41
126 Daniele Righi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
127 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM s.t.
128 Bastiaan Giling TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
129 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
130 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 42
131 Daniele Pietropolli CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
132 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM s.t.
133 Jose Segura GEROLSTEINER + 43
134 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 44
135 Jakob Piil T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
136 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
137 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
138 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
139 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
140 Blake Caldwell LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
141 Cyrille Monnerais FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 45
142 Antonio García González SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
143 Henk Vogels GEROLSTEINER s.t.
144 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
145 Davide Viganò QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
146 Fabio Baldato COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 46
147 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
148 Evgeni Sladkov BARLOWORLD s.t.
149 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 47
150 Antonio Quadranti UNIBET.COM s.t.
151 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM s.t.
152 David George DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
153 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
154 Bobbie Traksel DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 48
155 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM s.t.
156 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK s.t.
157 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
158 Pedro Barnabé TEAM CSC + 49
159 Paolo Tiralongo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
160 Wilfried Cretskens QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
161 Francis Mourey FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
162 Carlos Zárate SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 50
163 Adam Blythe DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 51
164 Ernesto Bertini LIQUIGAS + 52
165 Diego Ulissi TEAM ASTANA s.t.
166 Christophe Brandt PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 53
167 Ivan De Nobile TEAM CSC s.t.
168 Uros Murn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
169 Leonardo Scarselli QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
170 Joseba Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
171 Luca Barla CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 54
172 Thomas Fothen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
173 Sébastien Portal CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
174 Grégory Rast TEAM ASTANA + 55
175 Taylor Phinney DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
176 Francesco Chicchi UNIBET.COM + 56
177 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
178 Massimiliano Gentili QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
179 Stefan Radochla TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 57
180 Rubén Bongiorno CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
181 Indalecio López Duque BARLOWORLD s.t.
182 Allan Johansen TEAM CSC s.t.
183 André Schulze TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 58
184 Gwenaël Merville COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
185 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
186 Bram Schmitz RABOBANK s.t.
187 Wim De Vocht PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
188 Bart Dockx PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 59
189 Dimitri Fofonov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
190 Vladimir Bileka DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'00
191 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
192 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'01
193 Adamo Casisa RABOBANK + 1'02
194 Thorwald Veneberg RABOBANK + 1'03
195 Scott Davis T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
196 Lander Aperribay EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'04
197 Antxon Luengo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'06
198 Alberto Loddo TEAM MILRAM + 1'16

Great Win. I don't know if you would consider that a stage win. but now Pliuskin should have the pink jersey for a little while.

the "Maglia Rosa" for a moldovian, didn't see that coming

Nice one!

Well, its a stage, and I won it - surely that therefore makes it a stage win

You win a stage if you win the stage. different factors make you win the stage. Possibly the wind helped but in the end thats how Pliuschin won...

If anything the wind was a disadvantage, all of the main riders for the TT had either the same headwind or less headwind than Pliuschin

Exactly i was going to point that out but becuase i did know all the head wind stuff. I didn't he is a very strong rider and he deserves that win and the Maglia Rosa

I just hope I can keep the jersey for as long as possible