The Team are on fire at the moment, long may it continue

Liege Bastogne Liege

Squad: Is same as in Amstel and La Fleche...


This was really interesting stage. First 4 riders got away from the pack.



It looked like normal stage but then 160 kms before finish on a really steep hill pack split to 5 big groups.
All our riders were in the first group. So we said why not? And started to do really hard pace.





After 40 kms Intxausti, Bikazakova and Bellón couldn´t keep up with us.



We constantly had 1:30 to the group behind us.
But when only me Visconti and Quintana doing the pace the gap started decreasing.




With 60kms to go even Quintana couldn´t keep up so Valverde went to the front and only me and Visconti could keep up with him.



We created a gap of 1 minute.



With 40kms to go Two big groups get together and create one big group of 40 riders. Than something bad happend! Rodriguez couldn´t control his bike on one of dangerous turns and could forget about win here.



After another 10kms they we only 40 seconds behind us I took one last relay and let them go.




Group behind soon caught me.



Visconti with Valverde were only 30 seconds in front of us.
And after 5kms we were back together.



Gilbert was doing the pace and lot of riders including me couldn´t follow.
Visconti stood with Alejandro for another 5kms but then he also couldn´t keep up.
Now it was up to Valverde himself.




On penultimate slope Gerans looked totaly empty.



Alejandro again found a wheel of Gilbert.



Gerans tried a long sprint but it didn´t woked out for him.
When Gilbert started to sprint Alejandro had no chance he was too tired.



Phillipe took great victory. Alejndro sprinted for 2nd and Gerans took 3rd.



I finished with Visconti next to me. We took 15th and 16th place.



We were all little bit depresed but we knew 2nd place is still perfect result!




I have a great news about my next race! Alejandro said that he was so pleased with my help that he be my main helper in Romandie!
Isn´t that great!?
I´m really looking forward there.

Seeya.

Rui.

Great performance from Alejandro

There is no shame in finishing second to Gilbert

Thanks! I was little bit disapointed as we would won all 3 Ardennes classics

So close. Good stuff nonetheless though.

thanks

Excellent racing

Hi it´s after really short only 3kms long prologue so I will just post you results and go sleep.

Stage:

1	Geraint Howell Thomas	Sky ProCycling	4'33
2	Luis León Sánchez Gil	Rabobank Cycling Team	+ 4
3	Manuel Quinziato	BMC Racing Team	+ 7
4	Gustav Erik Larsson	Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
5	Tony Martin	Omega Pharma-QuickStep	+ 8
6	Bradley Wiggins	Sky ProCycling	s.t.
7	Maxime Monfort	RadioShack-Nissan	+ 9
8	Mikhail Borisovich Ignatiev	Katusha Team	+ 10
9	Janez Brajkovič	Astana Pro Team	+ 12
10	Steve Morabito	BMC Racing Team	+ 13
11	Ian Dexter Stannard	Sky ProCycling	+ 14
12	Rui Alberto Faria Costa	Movistar Team	+ 15

I ended on perfect 12th place. Here is the rest.



I´m really looking forward to next stage as I´m on the room with Alejandro we will try to work out something .

Seeya.

Rui.

Hi we just ended the hilly stage I was talking about.



Right from the start 5 riders created a 2 minutes gap and thus created a BOD.
As Sky had the leaders jersey we knew they don´t let them make it to finish.
I was perfectly placed behind Lopez.
With 50kms they still had more than 5 minutes lead. Sky sent to front best possible rider they could. Danny Pate!



With 20 kms they only had 1 minute but riders more and more riders attacked from the pack. On the final climb we sent Quintana to chase them down. He not only brought everybody back but also split the pack.
Then we let sky do the pace for a while and let Quintana regenerate a little bit. With 5 kms to go we created a sprint train.


´´Quintana-Valverde-Costa´´

With 3.3 kms to go Quintana was empty. Valverde took the charge.



He gave me perfect lead-out. We were 10 meters in front of the pack.



Can I bring home the bacon?








I won!
My first stage win this season! I really want to thank my teammates for giving me such great lead-out! Alejandro sprinted for 2nd.

Stage:

1	Rui Alberto Faria Costa	Movistar Team	4h47'09
2	Alejandro Valverde Belmonte	Movistar Team	s.t.
3	Karsten Kroon	Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank	s.t.
4	Tony Martin	Omega Pharma-QuickStep	s.t.
5	Johann Tschopp	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
6	Michele Scarponi	Lampre - ISD	s.t.
7	Luis León Sánchez Gil	Rabobank Cycling Team	s.t.
8	Bradley Wiggins	Sky ProCycling	s.t.
9	Geraint Howell Thomas	Sky ProCycling	s.t.
10	Jérémy Roy	FDJ-Big Mat	s.t.

GC:

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Geraint Howell Thomas	Sky ProCycling	4h51'42
2	Luis León Sánchez Gil	Rabobank Cycling Team	+ 4
3	Rui Alberto Faria Costa	Movistar Team	+ 5
4	Gustav Erik Larsson	Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	+ 7
5	Tony Martin	Omega Pharma-QuickStep	+ 8
6	Bradley Wiggins	Sky ProCycling	s.t.
7	Maxime Monfort	RadioShack-Nissan	+ 9
8	Mikhail Borisovich Ignatiev	Katusha Team	+ 10
9	Stephen Philip Cummings	BMC Racing Team	+ 12
10	Steve Morabito	BMC Racing Team	+ 13

Points:

1	Rui Alberto Faria Costa	Movistar Team	25	26
2	Geraint Howell Thomas	Sky ProCycling	7	22
3	Luis León Sánchez Gil	Rabobank Cycling Team	9	21

KOM:

1	Bram Tankink	Rabobank Cycling Team	15	15
2	Pierrick Fédrigo	FDJ-Big Mat	14	14
3	Stephen Philip Cummings	BMC Racing Team	8	8

Tommorow is another hilly stage.

Seeya.

Rui.

What a Brilliant time Rui is having in Switzerland

This one's for the banana counter! Wait a minute:



Brilliant job, brilliant. The team did well, Rui did well, and all is well

sutty68: Yes he is on top of his peak.
Ian Butler: thanks! Banana counter now reached 6 bananas

Wonderful win!

thanks all it mean much for me that you are following always give me a moral boost when I see someone comented

btw: banana counter reached 7 now

Seeing that i am in a good mood, have banana number eight

thanks

Great win.

How to get tenth banana: Win a stage in tour de Romandie

Daggen,Miguel98: thanks guys, banana counter now reached double digit

I like your new avatar juan