Hoped for more from Kristoff than a shitty 13th place.

surprising high finish for Aquali

Very happy with the team effort at OHN, Haussler grabbing a top 5 was the icing on the cake, especially when he got dropped earlier.

Kevyn Ista's top 10 was nice too.

Rudy Verboven

Looks like Florencio and García provided him with some decent support along the way based on their finishing positions. Best cobbled classic in history for Euskaltel - Euskadi

Edit: Slightly disappointed with McDermotts finish after his secodn place last year though...

Another flat day, which also features the final KOM of the race.




Todays break consists of Boev, Potgieter, Hovelynck, Hatanaka and Murphy.
With 100 km to go they have 5'36
90 km and 4'57
80 km and 4'25

For no apparent reason Hatanaka and Murphy battle out for the KOM. Murphy takes it while Lequatre will get the jersey.
70 km and 4'24

The usual alliance is pulling the peloton.
60 km and 3'21
50 km and 2'53
40 km and 2'19
30 km and 1'39
20 km and 1'05
15 km and 49 seconds
10 km and 39 seconds

Potgieter blasts into the final 5 km with the peloton trailing by only 23 seconds.

That pushes the speed up just enough to keep the break alive going into the final 2

Some strong looking trains behind though.

Boev is first under la flame rouge but Hutarovich have started his leadout behind.

500 m

AG2R mistimes the leadout due to taking the responibility of reeling in the beak while Orica once again benefits from the other teams doing all the dirty work.

1	Leigh Howard	Orica - GreenEdge	3h09'16
2	Barry Markus	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
3	Fabian Brookes	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	s.t.
4	Jempy Drucker	Wanty-Groupe Goubert	s.t.
5	Mario Guido	Colombia	s.t.
6	Naveed Alinejad	Champion System Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
7	Igor Boev	RusVelo	s.t.
8	Kurt Hovelynck	Crelan - Euphony	s.t.
9	Yauheni Hutarovich	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
10	Nicola Ruffoni	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	s.t.

1	Diego Johnson	Orica - GreenEdge	24h54'35
2	Thomas Damuseau	CCC Polsat - Polkowice	+ 42
3	Jose Alarcon	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 55
4	John Gadret	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 1'48
5	Gorka Verdugo	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 2'33
6	Esteban Chaves	Colombia	s.t.
7	Cadel Evans	Orica - GreenEdge	+ 2'55
8	Janez Brajkovi�	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
9	Simon Clarke	Orica - GreenEdge	+ 3'16
10	Alfredo Balloni	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	+ 3'36

1	Barry Markus	AG2R La Mondiale	20	101
2	Leigh Howard	Orica - GreenEdge	25	83
3	Fabian Brookes	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	16	81
4	Mario Guido	Colombia	12	66
5	Naveed Alinejad	Champion System Pro Cycling Team	10	46

1	Geoffroy Lequatre	Bretagne - Séché Environnement	0	36
2	Gaël Malacarne	Bretagne - Séché Environnement	0	34
3	John Murphy	UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team	6	22
4	Diego Johnson	Orica - GreenEdge	0	20
5	Tomohori Hatanaka	Drapac Cycling	4	17

1	Diego Johnson	Orica - GreenEdge	24h54'35 (1)
2	Thomas Damuseau	CCC Polsat - Polkowice	+ 42 (2)
3	Jose Alarcon	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 55 (3)
4	Esteban Chaves	Colombia	+ 2'33 (4)
5	Alfredo Balloni	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	+ 3'36 (5)

1	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	74h48'59 (1)
2	Orica - GreenEdge	+ 1'17 (2)
3	Astana Pro Team	+ 6'23 (3)
4	CCC Polsat - Polkowice	+ 11'52 (4)
5	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 13'04 (5)

Another Podium for Markus after a not completely perfect leadout this time.
Anyway our team is doing a great job and I hope that we will keep on pulling back the break in the last few stages

That was a very tight sprint! Breakaway were just about reeled in which is good.

Probably the best result Potgieter will ever have

Well I guess it isn't breakaway city in Langkawi yet - very educational for me though about pccn14. That is pcm14 isn't it Atlantius?

Pcm13

Another break for Hatanaka and a top 20, more than I would have hoped for

It is time for the 29th edition of the Clasica de Almeria. The 184 km long race starts in Almeria and finishes in Roquetas de Mar. While there are a few hills along the way, this race is more often than not a prey for the sprinters. However, the master of breakaways, De Maar, is here looking to cause an upset. Last season Belkin's Willem Brouwer won here, but he is no longer with us, so we will see a new guy on the podium.







Other riders that are worth keeping an eye on are Ricardo Martinez Machado, Abasi Abundi and O'Callaghan.

Aww, damnit, Kittel is here. Please race, be selective and make us achieve our win goal...

Should finish in a bunch sprint, but break could be dangerous.

Come on Martinez Machado!

Anything but a win for Belkin is abject failure. Most likely a break to take it though

Yeah, we really need that win after that cobble failure.

Breakaway is definetly my goal, but it seems to be working so far.

JJ loaned out Carlos leadout for once. He's the answer to belkins challenge since we expect #2 be competitive enough to challenge the world's leading one...

Things are looking good considering Paris - Nice and I've just made the reports for the first 3 stages Preview will be out when Atlantius is finished with Langkawi, to make sure that there is something to enjoy, when that race is finished