I'm back . Just in case anyone wants to know I've been at a football trial period all week with the last one in about 2 hours and I've got into an academy which sends people to top clubs all around the world, as an Australian, not a bad achievement . Next report coming in about 10 minutes.
We'll be lead by Atapuma, hopefully we can go one better than last time. John was rated 3rd favourite, good signs.
Ospina tried to break at the start, but failed. Duber Quintero suffered the same fate not long after. We ended up with a 3 man break, with no-one great. Atapuma was on flying form, while I was also in good shape. Maybe this would be our day.
When the first split happened, Valencia was getting water. He and Camacho were dropped, however managed to get back to the peloton. Meanwhile, C.J. Quintero got water for the rest of us.
With 23.4 km left for the break, this was the situation:
Camilli (PPO), Brandle (IAM) and Havik (RIJ) lead Pauriol (SOJ) by 20". He leads Denifl (IAM) by 16" and he leads Delfosse (CRE), Firsanov (RVL) and Arroyo (CJA) by 1'08". That group has 50" to Lofkvist (IAM), Cardoso (CJA) and Klimov (RVL) who have 2'40" to the peloton. We unfortunately missed the jumps, but Atapuma and I pushed a really hard pace to try and gain some ground, and we did just that, catching group Cardoso. However, when everything seemed like it was going great...
CRASH! Myself, Ospina and D. Quintero hit the tarmac, while you can see Arango getting water. He then hit the deck with us. While things were heating up in front, I worked hard and brought A1 back to the peloton.
Atapuma went solo, and tried to get to the leaders. However, he was completely out of gas with no-one to help him,
Denifl got the win ahead of Arroyo and Pauriol, while John Darwin came home just short in 4th.
Back in the bunch, I still had some energy, so I tried to jump away.
I passed the group in front to get 12th. Not so bad for someone who was on the deck with 6km to go .
1. Fabian Cancellara (RLT)
2. Juan Antonio Flecha (VCD)
3. Tom Boonen (OPQS)
Paris-Vimoutiers
Atapuma 29th, 46" dehind.
Amstel Gold Race
We were lucky to get a wildcard here, but Fabio Duarte could only manage 28th place, as you can see.
Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
To add to the disappointment of a terrible result, J.J. Romero was injured in Spain and was forced to withdraw from the race.
Training Camp
After the riders were done in Spain, Leo Duque and Edwin Avila were shipped off to a sprint training camp in L.A. Anyone else who wanted to come could, as long as it didn't interfere with proper racing. J.S. Arango and I were the only voluntiers. Why me? You may ask. Well, I feel that if I don't get better at sprinting then I will be left at a huge disadvantage in the future of my career. I will be back with pictures soon. But until then...
ADIOS
Just driving into the city I knew it would be great. But I wasn't here to party, I was here to become a better sprinter!
In typical L.A. style, we got a great hotel. A good sleep is important before a nice day of training.
The perfect sprinting road. No doubt Leo was the fastest and I was the slowest, but I still feel like a much better sprinter, and the others agree with me. (Or they're just being nice )
Despite having a wildcard to the Fleche Wallone, we send our best squad here, as it is our most important sponsor goal. Fabio Duarte will be the main leader, but we have plenty of backup if something goes wrong.
Every stage is tough. To start off the tour, a hard climb before a running downhill, then a flat finish. We'll try to get away on the climb, obviously. Duarte was the favourite and Atapuma was 5th favourite, so let's go!
As per usual, we had a break. Failli (VIN) and Louder (UHC) joined the 3 man group up front to make it 5, later on in the stage.
The first attacks from inside the bunch came from Voss (TNE) and Rutkiewicz (CCC). Meanwhile, Amorison (CRE) attacked from the break.
There was a hard chase from the bunch, and the pair were caught swiftly. Amorison made a 2nd, successful move. Most of the team paced hard up the climb, with Suarez protecting Duarte. We were making the peloton struggle big time, but still it wouldn't break.
Atapuma went over the climb first, and with it being over, we started to make a train for Duarte.
BUT NO! The peloton split literally ON THE SUMMIT! Atapuma, Chaves and I were ahead for our team. CCC and Bardiani were rewarded for their pacing throughout the whole stage with 2 men each up front. Androni and Vini also had 1 each. Bardiani's 2 included Enrico Battaglin, who lead us by 5".
Our train formed, with the worst sprinter (me) at the head. Atapuma would lead out the best sprinter out of us 3, Chaves. Duarte was told to sit back in the peloton so we wouldn't get caught. Still, we had the downhill in our favour.
Pirazzi (BAR) tried a daring attack in the closing kilometres, but we caught him.
When I jumped out, it was Atapuma, Chaves and Battaglin at the front. The Italian being the best sprinter of the 3, however Oscar Gatto (VIN) was coming fast from behind (74 sp).
Unfortunately Battaglin didn't crash in the last corner, and Chaves would have to settle for 2nd, Atapuma 3rd and Gatto only 4th. Duarte came 31st and Suarez 32nd, while I finished 6th, after Pirazzi, Kiendys (CCC) and Rebellin (CCC) got dropped.
Chaves will become the new team leader. Hopefully we can stay in touch in the TTT. We'll soon see, but until then...
ADIOS
I just wanted to appologize for the slowness recently, I've been studying for exams and trying to get content for the story. Expect it to speed up for a short time now .
The TTT, we were ready to go, but mostly hoping not to lose too much time on the other GC favourites.
We passed the intermediate point 11th, 21" behind leaders Cofidis. Corti, Suarez and Camacho were told to stop relaying, despite their previous pulls only lasting 1".
We soon found ourselves in a tough spot, we had 4 riders up front, but our time would be counted from when the 5th rider crossed the line. Quintero was the man chosen to come to the front.
We finished in 8th, 30" behind.
No difference at the top of the GC and teams' rankings. Tomorrow's stage will be a tough one, but until then...
ADIOS
I was 4th in the young riders' classification, but was able to wear the jersey as all of the Top 3 were in other jerseys.
A 4-man break got away at the start, as is the norm.
Yelko Gomez (CJA) just won the intermediate sprint, KoM sprint, and subsequently the KoM jersey.
Corti, Quintero and Camacho were struggling on the 1st climb, but managed to stay in.
The peloton split hugely, 32 were in front. We didn't go for it, despite Atapuma's KoM jersey. Firsanov (RVL) and de Maar (UHC) did though, and they got away, and started chasing the morning breakaway. Keep in mind we still have 80km to go .
The dropped group got back on the downhill, but was soon exterminated again. A few riders managed to stay in the lead group, making 51 men in the peloton. Our 5 main climbers were up front.
Lots of riders attacked before the next climb, but none succeeded. With 15km to go, the breakaway lead by 50". Suarez tried to get us water, but he couldn't get back up, he was out of it. The rest of us were pacing hard, trying to force gaps.
Eventually it was Duarte, Battaglin, Taaramae (COF) and Pirazzi ahead, with Chaves and Atapuma chasing behind. I was in E3.
Everyone was out of water, but we were inside 10km now. We had to survive.
Duarte showed why he was initially the team leader, riding away from his group, Taaramae also got away in his attempt to keep up. The 2 Bardiani guys looked dead, goodbye for them it seemed. Unless they were bluffing, which would be extremely stupid.
Atapuma was just behind, he was pulling Wyss (IAM) in his wheel.
Chaves was just behind them, moving away from his groupetto.
I was in a Cofidis-dominated 9-rider E6, along with Pellizotti (AND).
Atapuma swiftly overtook the Bardiani boys, and started to make friends (or the opposite) with Taaramae.
Chaves was behind with Tschopp (IAM), but he had no more energy left.
Duarte entered the last kilometre 2' ahead of Atapuma. Meanwhile, I was still feeling good, and tried to ride away from my group.
Fabio Duarte took a well deserved win! If he tried he probably could've gotten changed into his suit before the next rider arrived:
Atapuma came in a bit ahead of Taaramae, a great ride by him too. 1-2 for Team Colombia!
Battaglin would lose his yellow jersey, along with most hopes of getting it back.
Chaves came in a little behind him.
Then there was me at some point .
There are the full stage results! We should be able to keep the lead, with more than 2 minutes to the next foe.
Today is about keeping the yellow jersey, nothing else.
Again we had a 4-man break.
After attacking for the Cat. 2 points, our friend Firsanov tried to bridge the gap up to the breakaway group. He took a VERRRRYYYYY long time.
None of the riders ahead were a GC threat, so we decided to relax, and let MTN do the chasing.
With 60km left, Wyss lead the attacks from the peloton. Our main guys all paced hard and tried to bridge away from the peloton after missing the chance to go with the attacks.
Suarez was out after bringing water to Chaves and me, while Duarte was struggling. Atapuma protected him but was dead too soon. The 2 were 1'12" behind the favourites' group - E3.
Keeping in mind there were still 30km to go, the peloton chased. We were all very tired when we were swept up with 20km left.
We all relayed but it wouldn't be enough to catch the favourites OR the breakaway. When he had 13km left to ride, Taaramae had 3'20" on the peloton.
Vachon (BSE) and Barta (TNE) were still ahead from the breakaway, and the former tried to jump early before the final sprint. 5km from the line, to be more precise.
Duarte rode very hard but it still wasn't going to be enough.
Vachon took it! Sagan-ing to the finish line ahead of Barta and then Rabottini (VIN).
The small bunch of mid-stage attackers finishing.
Bagot (COF) won the sprint of our not-so-little group, which broke away from the peloton in the closing stages of the race.
We'd somehow lost the jersey! The 2'12" gap also enough to probably keep us away from it. Looks like it'll be a two-horse race between Battaglin and Taaramae now.
Still 2 classifications lead for us!
Tomorrow could be a stage where 2 minutes is a possible gain. Unlikely, but we have Fabio Duarte! After his performance on stage 3, we have the utmost trust in him, although not beyond readon . You'll soon se what happens on the Giro del Trentino's 5th stage, but until then...
ADIOS
The queen stage, probably the only chance we have to get back in touch with yellow. Unlikely though. Fabio Duarte was the favourite though, but by 2 minutes?
Suarez got in the BoTD, along with Sono (VIN) and Laengen (BSE). The other 2 guys attacked because Suarez wasn't working, so he got back and started, but it still happened again - much later though.
A split left 42 in the peloton, I was sent back to get the water for the remainder of our guys.
However there was another split! I was caught behind and had to do a lot of work on the downhill to get back up to the now 35 man group, but I was dead too early.
Meanwhile, Suarez was long gone from the break, and Laengen was ahead.
I didn't know this was a cyclocross race!
Anyway, I got back to the main group, and was relieved to see that Chaves had gotten the water in my abscence. At the start of the climb, several minors attacked, we all paced ourselves and used the usual team tactic of riding away. I was protecting Duarte - who was obviously the team leader once again.
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I was dead too early, but Atapuma was destroying the field, catching the remaining breakaway riders in the process.
With 5km to go, Atapuma and Duarte were ahead. Chaves stopped working in the peloton-obviously.
At 3.3km to go, Group Battaglin+Melani was 1'20" behind Duarte, and 1'50" behind Atapuma. The yellow jersey was really struggling. Could we do the impossible? And if so, with who? Atapuma was dead at 3km, while Duarte was almost so.
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In the spirit of the team, despite being the strongest today, Atapuma let Duarte take the bonus seconds. A great 1-2 yet again by our two amazing climbers.
Pardilla (MTN) went solo to 3rd.
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We did it! The bonus seconds came in handy! The gap is small, but at least we won! Cololombia's main season goal has been achieved!
. Just in case anyone wants to know I've been at a football trial period all week with the last one in about 2 hours 
. Next report coming in about 10 minutes. 
GP PRIMAVERA
Fabian Cancellara (RLT)
Juan Antonio Flecha (VCD)
Tom Boonen (OPQS)
We should be able to keep the lead, with more than 2 minutes to the next foe.
