The 3 stage Classica de Alcobendas race is our preperation race for Catalunya. Contador, Anton, Stevic, Millar, Bodrogi, Chtioui, Lloyd and Hoy are hear. Contador is clearly the strongest rider in the race but that does not necessarily mean he will win it.

Theres a mountain stage, then a hilly stage, then a TT.

Stage 1



Dan Lloyd gets himself into the 11 man breakaway


The gap over the peleton grew and grew and grew and grew and grew etc etc It went comfortably over 20 minutes!

This favours the strongest climber in the group, Agritubel's Martinez, who moves away from the others once we reach the climb.


When the peleton do reach the climb, with around a 24/25 minute deficit on Martinez, Contador attacks.


Obviously Alberto just wants to test his legs, as nothing will stop Martinez winning. Jai Crawford takes 2nd place just ahead of Dan Lloyd.


Contador finishes 12th, just under 20 minutes after Martinez, and is satisified with his 'training ride' climb up the Navacerrada.


1 Alberto Martínez AGRITUBEL 3h42'33
2 Jai Crawford ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 1'49
3 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Rubén Reig KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
5 Alessandro Bertolini SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
6 Raúl García de Mateo RELAX - GAM s.t.
7 Josu Agirre ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. s.t.
8 Oleg Chuzhda FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM + 2'29
9 Beñat Albízuri EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 2'49
10 Pablo De Pedro GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 3'23
11 Cláudio Apolo BARLOWORLD s.t.
12 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 18'52
13 Kanstantsin Siutsou BARLOWORLD + 20'04
14 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 20'48
15 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
16 David Arroyo CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 20'57
17 Javier Aramendía ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. s.t.
18 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
19 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
20 Eduardo Gonzalo AGRITUBEL s.t.
21 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
22 Juan Gomis RELAX - GAM + 21'19
23 Antonio Olmo ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 22'31
24 Rui Costa SPORT LISBOA E BENFICA s.t.
25 Paco Lara ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
26 Iván Velasco SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
27 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
28 Arkaitz Durán SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
29 Claudio José Casas ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
30 José Miguel Elías RELAX - GAM s.t.
31 Edgardo Simón SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
32 Bruno Castanheira SPORT LISBOA E BENFICA s.t.
33 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
34 Andrei Sartasov BARLOWORLD s.t.
35 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.

Stage 2



After the breakaway is caught, there is a hill with 20km to go, and Uran takes the KoM points.


As the sprint warms up, Manan is not feeling great - but not knowing that, most of the big sprinters end up following him. This is great news for Lampre, as Bennati is free to lead out Napolitano with only Geraint Thomas and Alejandro Valverde following them.


Bennati unleashes Napolitano into a great postion, and also gives a huge boost to Thomas and Valverde. The young welshman is having a particularly good day today with a +4 daily form, but surely he wont hang on for some ProTour points?


Napolitano takes a comfortable victory, and unbelievably Geraint Thomas takes 2nd! Valverde is 3rd and already looks like a big contender for the race.


1 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL 4h55'11
2 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
4 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
5 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
6 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
7 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
8 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
9 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
10 Robbie McEwen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
11 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
12 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
13 Sébastien Chavanel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
14 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
15 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
16 Francesco Chicchi UNIBET.COM s.t.
17 Mathieu Ladagnous FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
18 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
19 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
20 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
21 Tyler Farrar COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
22 Daniele Righi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
23 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
24 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM s.t.
25 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
26 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
27 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
28 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
29 Fabrizio Guidi BARLOWORLD s.t.
30 Mikaël Chérel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
31 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
32 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
33 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
34 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
35 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
36 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
37 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
38 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
39 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
40 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
41 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
42 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM s.t.
43 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
44 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
45 Francesco Bellotti BARLOWORLD s.t.
46 Pietro Caucchioli COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
47 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
48 Antonio Quadranti UNIBET.COM s.t.
49 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM s.t.
50 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.

GC
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 5h03'35
2 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1
3 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 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 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK s.t.
14 Raivis Belohvosciks SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 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 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 14
20 Bert Roesems PREDICTOR - LOTTO 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.
40 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 25
44 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 26
45 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.

Points
1 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL 25
2 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 25
3 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 20
4 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 20
5 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 16
6 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 16
7 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL 14
8 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM 14
9 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 12
10 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 12

KoM
1 Bastiaan Giling TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 3
2 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM 3
3 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 3
4 Pieter Weening RABOBANK 2
5 Paolo Tiralongo LAMPRE - FONDITAL 1

Very nice with Thomas

Geraint thomas in second and pluischin in pink!!
could it get any better?

and zubeldia and valverde racing the giro
a bit unrealistic

Stage 2



Ivan Stevic went with todays break


With all the riders over 20 minutes down in the GC, there was no reason to chase them down. The only rider who went after them was Contador. His attack alone gained 2 minutes on the peleton but he would not be able to single handely pull back a 7 minute gap.


Stevic is by far the best sprinter in the group but it didnt look like he would make it to the finish before running out of energy, so he tried to conserve as much as possible. But it seemed his companions were struggling to and as the finish approached he started to move away from everyone else - while only relaying at 65%!


And in the end, its an easy stage win for the Serbian


1 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 1h55'53
2 Alexander Kvachuk SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
3 Andrei Sartasov BARLOWORLD s.t.
4 Gorka Verdugo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
5 José Miguel Elías RELAX - GAM s.t.
6 Iván Velasco SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
7 David Belda FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM s.t.
8 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'13
9 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'34
10 Gonzalo Rabuñal KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
11 Anthony Brea GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 5'57
12 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 6'39
13 Edgardo Simón SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
14 Ximo Ortega FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM s.t.
15 Diego Milán GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS s.t.
16 Oleg Chuzhda FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM s.t.
17 David Herrero KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
18 Bruno Lima GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS s.t.
19 Iñaki Isasi EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
20 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
21 Enrico Poitschke AGRITUBEL s.t.
22 Antonio Olmo ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
23 Floren Márquez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
24 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
25 Yon Bru EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
26 Juan Miguel Mercado AGRITUBEL s.t.
27 Javier Aramendía ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. s.t.
28 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
29 Jairo Hernández AGRITUBEL s.t.
30 Eduardo Gonzalo AGRITUBEL s.t.
31 Beñat Albízuri EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
32 Paco Lara ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
33 Lars Croket SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
34 José Ruiz ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
35 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
36 Manuel Vázquez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
37 Arkaitz Durán SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
38 Nicolas Vogondy AGRITUBEL s.t.
39 Santos González KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
40 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
41 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
42 Moisés Dueñas AGRITUBEL s.t.
43 Gustavo Domínguez KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
44 Francisco José Martínez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
45 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
46 Rubén Reig KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
47 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
48 Alessandro Bertolini SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
49 Claudio José Casas ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
50 Rafael Valls CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.

GC
1 Alberto Martínez AGRITUBEL 5h44'45
2 Jai Crawford ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 1'57
3 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'01
4 Rubén Reig KARPIN GALICIA + 2'09
5 Alessandro Bertolini SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
6 Raúl García de Mateo RELAX - GAM s.t.
7 Josu Agirre ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. s.t.
8 Oleg Chuzhda FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM + 2'49
9 Beñat Albízuri EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 3'09
10 Pablo De Pedro GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 3'43
11 Cláudio Apolo BARLOWORLD s.t.
12 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 14'46
13 Alexander Kvachuk SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 16'00
14 Andrei Sartasov BARLOWORLD + 16'04
15 Iván Velasco SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 16'12
16 José Miguel Elías RELAX - GAM s.t.
17 Gorka Verdugo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
18 David Belda FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM s.t.
19 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 17'42
20 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 18'46
21 Gonzalo Rabuñal KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
22 Kanstantsin Siutsou BARLOWORLD + 20'24
23 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 21'08
24 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
25 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 21'17
26 Javier Aramendía ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. s.t.
27 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
28 Eduardo Gonzalo AGRITUBEL s.t.
29 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
30 David Arroyo CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.

nice job grabbing the Maglia Rosa

hard to judge, but Contador should be rounding into decent form for Catalunya

I agree

You have to remember that all realism goes right out the window the second the transfer season opens during 2007, by 2008 realism doesnt exist.

i know i was commenting on the almost unbearable stupidity of cyalogic

I think Valverde in the Giro is perfectly bareable, its great for Contador




World TT Champ Botero finished 4th today.


Race leader Martinez secured victory with 3rd place


Alberto Contador couldnt quite manage a win, finishing 2nd


Ruben Plaza won the stage

1 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 12'46
2 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3
3 Alberto Martínez AGRITUBEL + 6
4 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 8
5 Javier Aramendía ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. + 9
6 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 13
7 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
8 Laszló Bodrogi DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Andrei Sartasov BARLOWORLD + 16
10 Alexander Kvachuk SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
11 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 19
12 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 22
13 Alejandro Ramírez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 23
14 Mikel Pradera SPORT LISBOA E BENFICA s.t.
15 Sergi Escobar GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 24
16 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
17 David Herrero KARPIN GALICIA + 25
18 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 26
19 Josu Agirre ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. s.t.
20 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
21 Oleg Chuzhda FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM + 27
22 Eladio Sánchez FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM + 28
23 Santos González KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
24 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 30
25 Nicolas Vogondy AGRITUBEL s.t.
26 Eloy Teruel GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS s.t.
27 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 32
28 Pablo De Pedro GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 33
29 Jai Crawford ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
30 Floren Márquez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
31 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
32 Edgardo Simón SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 34
33 Juan Gomis RELAX - GAM + 35
34 Bruno Castanheira SPORT LISBOA E BENFICA s.t.
35 Robert Hunter BARLOWORLD s.t.
36 Mario De Sárraga RELAX - GAM + 36
37 Arkaitz Durán SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
38 Lars Croket SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 37
39 Kanstantsin Siutsou BARLOWORLD + 38
40 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 39
41 Rubens Bertogliati SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
42 Rui Costa SPORT LISBOA E BENFICA s.t.
43 Moisés Dueñas AGRITUBEL + 41
44 Jairo Hernández AGRITUBEL + 42
45 Rubén Reig KARPIN GALICIA + 43
46 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA + 44
47 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
48 Gustavo Domínguez KARPIN GALICIA + 46
49 Eduardo Gonzalo AGRITUBEL + 47
50 Paco Lara ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 48

GC
1 Alberto Martínez AGRITUBEL 5h57'37
2 Jai Crawford ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 2'24
3 Josu Agirre ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. + 2'29
4 Rubén Reig KARPIN GALICIA + 2'46
5 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'55
6 Oleg Chuzhda FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM + 3'10
7 Alessandro Bertolini SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 3'14
8 Raúl García de Mateo RELAX - GAM + 3'27
9 Pablo De Pedro GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 4'10
10 Beñat Albízuri EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 4'22
11 Cláudio Apolo BARLOWORLD + 4'33
12 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 14'43
13 Alexander Kvachuk SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 16'10
14 Andrei Sartasov BARLOWORLD + 16'14
15 Iván Velasco SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 17'07
16 David Belda FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM + 17'11
17 José Miguel Elías RELAX - GAM + 17'12
18 Gorka Verdugo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 17'17
19 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 18'06
20 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 19'12
21 Gonzalo Rabuñal KARPIN GALICIA + 19'36
22 Kanstantsin Siutsou BARLOWORLD + 20'56
23 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 21'11
24 Javier Aramendía ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. + 21'20
25 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 21'24
28 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 21'54
81 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 25'14
102 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 27'02
104 Laszló Bodrogi DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 27'09
112 Albert Nafria RELAX - GAM + 30'12

2nd place is really good. Good luck in the Giro.

Keep it up, your going great!

Great Story, try to get loads of riders in the break for your other game then Relay like mad you could pull the time gap back.....
great riding

Alcobendas is only a 3 stage race, it is finished I really am not bothered about trying to win the 2.1 or 2.HC races I am in, since they are there only to build/maintain fitness.

---

Rjc might like this:

Frenchman Maurice Baha won the 5 Days of Dunkerque recently. He is a scouted rider and has an average of just 61 - but rides for Auber 93. He won the final stage in a solo breakaway by 10 minutes 27 seconds, to win the tour by 18 seconds ahead of Kurt-Asle Arvesen.

Now THAT is what i like to see whoooo

Your very loyal to your side, aren't you?

haha, i've grown a fond liking to the team. I keep finding things out about them, like pro riders in previous years that started at Auber 93, but have moved onto bigger and better things. It's a nice set up i think for young french talent (and those slightly older permanent guys) to get noticed by the French Pro Tour teams.

Stage 3



Despite being the first hilly stage of the Giro, it was treated as any other stage: Break goes away, Break gets caught.

For the final sprint, Rigoberto Uran rode at the front just incase the sprint was going to start at 1.5km to go or 1km to go


But unfortunately, it was just like a normal sprint. Perfect for the Milram train of Lorenzetto, Petacchi and Davis.


Petacchi takes an easy victory, with Davis making it a Milram 1-2.


Christophe Mengin became the first abandonment of the Giro.

1 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM 3h56'49
2 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM s.t.
3 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
4 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
5 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
6 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
7 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
8 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
9 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
10 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
11 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
12 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
13 Murilo Fischer LIQUIGAS s.t.
14 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
15 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
16 Luca Mazzanti LIQUIGAS s.t.
17 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
18 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
19 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
20 Robert Retschke TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
21 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
22 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS s.t.
23 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
24 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
25 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
26 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
27 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
28 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA s.t.
29 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
30 Uros Murn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
31 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
32 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
33 Massimiliano Gentili QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
34 Dario Cataldo T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
35 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM s.t.
36 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
37 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
38 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
39 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
40 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
41 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
42 Daniele Righi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
43 Grégory Rast TEAM ASTANA s.t.
44 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
45 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
46 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
47 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
48 Koen De Kort TEAM ASTANA s.t.
49 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
50 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
55 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
56 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
86 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
87 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
112 Adam Blythe DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
181 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 7'51

GC
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 9h00'24
2 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1
3 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 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 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK s.t.
14 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM + 12
15 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM s.t.
16 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 13
17 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 14
18 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 15
19 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM + 16
20 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
21 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
22 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 18
23 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
24 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
25 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 19
26 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
27 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 21
28 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 22
29 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
30 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 23
31 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
32 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 24
33 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
34 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 25
35 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t

Stage 4

Another day for the sprinters and coming into the sprint, its hard to tell who is well placed

Annoyingly, Manan was pushed out of Napolitano's wheel by thin air with around 3.5km to go.

Max van Heeswijk gives Chris Sutton a strong leadout, but Bennati is looking good.


But Sutton is strong today and is holding off Bennati. Riccardo Ricco is doing surprisingly well.


It's a tight finish, but Sutton is given the win!


1 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE 3h51'38
2 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
3 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
4 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
5 Sébastien Chavanel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
6 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
8 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
10 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
11 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
12 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
14 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
15 Robbie McEwen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
16 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
17 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
18 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM s.t.
19 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
20 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
21 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
22 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
23 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
24 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
25 Tyler Farrar COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
26 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
27 Francesco Chicchi UNIBET.COM s.t.
28 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM s.t.
29 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
30 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
31 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
32 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
33 Wim De Vocht PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
34 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
35 Daniele Righi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
36 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
37 Cyrille Monnerais FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
38 Alberto Loddo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
39 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
40 Paolo Fornaciari LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
41 Matej Jurco TEAM MILRAM s.t.
42 Guido Trentin SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
43 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM s.t.
44 Bert Roesems PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
45 Raivis Belohvosciks SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
46 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM s.t.
47 Grégory Rast TEAM ASTANA s.t.
48 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
49 Henk Vogels GEROLSTEINER s.t.
50 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.

GC

1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 12h52'02
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 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 4
7 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC + 5
8 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 6
9 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 7
10 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 8
11 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9
12 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK s.t.
13 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11
14 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK s.t.
15 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM + 12
16 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
17 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 13
18 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 14
19 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 15
20 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM + 16
21 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
22 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
23 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 18
24 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
25 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
26 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
27 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 19
28 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
29 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 21
30 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 22
31 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
32 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER + 23
33 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
34 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 24
35 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 25

don't care but you have the last two stages both saying stage 3 of giro.