Dominik Nerz: The Next Level
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dienblad |
Posted on 12-02-2012 18:56
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This was excellent racing. Nerz showed himself with aggressive cycling!
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FreitasPCM |
Posted on 12-02-2012 19:42
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Grand Tour Champion
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Dominik rode very well, Caruso and him make a great team.
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fcancellara |
Posted on 12-02-2012 19:54
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Good race by Nerz!
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Teddy The Creator |
Posted on 12-02-2012 21:43
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Awesome last stage, and now the Vuelta awaits!
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cunego59 |
Posted on 13-02-2012 09:59
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Thanks guys! I really appreciate all your nice comments!
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cunego59 |
Posted on 13-02-2012 10:00
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Team Manager
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August 14, 2012 – Eneco Tour
In 2005, the Eneco Tour appeared on the race calendar as a replacement for the Ronde Van Nederland. From the beginning, it was part of the ProTour, now the World Tour. The only rider in the race's short history who could score more than one win was Ivan Gutierrez.
Due to the course being in the Netherlands and Belgium, the stages are traditionally almost completely flat with mostly only small hills. As a result, the decision is mostly made in the time trials. Strong sprinters might take the win through the bonus seconds, though. And the small hill on the fourth stage even gives puncheurs a good possibility for at least a stage win.
1 | Thor Hushovd | Team Garmin - Cervelo | 2 | Sylvain Chavanel | Quick·Step Cycling Team | 3 | Filippo Pozzato | Katusha Team | 4 | Lars Boom | Rabobank Cycling Team | 5 | Sebastian Langeveld | Rabobank Cycling Team |
Thor Hushovd (Garmin) , Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky)
Tony Martin (T-Mobile)
Tom Boonen (Quick·Step) , Lars Boom (Vacansoleil)
Taylor Phinney (BMC)
Sylvain Chavanel (Leopard) , Geraint Thomas (Sky)
Heinrich Haussler (Sky)
Especially Sky comes here with an enormously strong team. It'll be interesting to see whether a time trialist like Tony Martin, Lars Boom or Taylor Phinney or rather a sprinter like Tom Boonen or Heinrich Haussler has the best chances.
Nibali is our best bet here, he'll try to use the fourth stage to make up some time as he won't be able to compete with the best. But he's basically just here for preparation, so he doesn't have much ambitions.
Apart from Nibbles, we have a very, very strong sprinting squad here with three top class sprinters so we hope for some nice results in the sprints.
Stage 1
Most of the favorites already showed their strength today. Geraint Thomas started early and it took hours for the time to be beaten. Only Thor Hushovd and today's winner Lars Boom were faster.
1 | Lars Boom | Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team | 7'18 | 2 | Thor Hushovd | Team Garmin – Cervélo | + 2 | 3 | Geraint Thomas | Sky ProCycling | + 3 | 4 | Sylvain Chavanel | Leopard – Trek | s.t. | 5 | Tom Boonen | Quick·Step Cycling Team | + 5 | … | 22 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas – Cannondale | + 17 |
Stage 2
A strong 14 men breakaway was caught early enough. With a late attack, Nico Eeckhout tried to play a trick on the sprinters but was overtaken on the last kilometers by the dashing riders. Despite a nice leadout, the Liquigas riders Cimolai and Sabatini again could only achieve the places 8 and 9 while Tyler Farrar won so dominantly he had enough time to luck back to see where the hell the others were.
1 | Tyler Farrar | Team Garmin – Cervélo | 4h10'17 | 2 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky ProCycling | s.t. | 3 | Tom Boonen | Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. |
Stage 3
The break of the day was easily caught by the sprinter teams 20 kms from the finish line. But with about 12 kms to go, a huge crash happened and ripped most sprint trains apart. Eventually, only 98 riders would finish in the first group, among the top riders affected are the likes of Taylor Phinney and Heinrich Haussler.
Some riders tried to use the confusion with late attacks but the sprint trains of Skil and Liquigas kept everything together. These two teams dominated the very close sprint and Tom Veelers edged out Fabio Sabatini by very little. Finetto comes in fourth behind Tyler Farrar, who overtakes the leader's jersey, so finally a good sprint result for Liquigas.
1 | Tom Veelers | Skil – Shimano | 3h59'34 | 2 | Fabio Sabatini | Liquigas – Cannondale | s.t. | 3 | Tyler Farrar | Garmin – Cervélo | s.t. |
Stage 4
The break had no further impact today. As this stage was the only opportunity to gain time before the deciding time trial tomorrow, Vincenzo Nibali attacked on the last hill and created a small group with Chavanel, Vinokourov and Horner. Nibali did a lot of work in the last kilometers and thus, the group could stay in front. Unfortunately, they were assigned the same time as the sprinting group behind them. Nibali finished only forth so his work wasn't really rewarded. Sylvain Chavanel wins the stage and overtakes the yellow jersey.
1 | Sylvain Chavanel | Leopard – Trek | 4h37'35 | 2 | Chris Horner | Unicef – Oracle | s.t. | 3 | Alexandre Vinokourov | Pro Team Astana | s.t. | 4 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas – Cannondale | s.t. | 5 | Tom Boonen | Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. |
Stage 5
The time trial was supposed to decide the overall with only two flat stages remaining. The first remarkable time was set by Taylor Phinney, who was only parts of a second faster than Joost Posthuma. Vincenzo Nibali did pretty well, he came in 20 seconds slower than Phinney, unfortunately that can't improve his overall ranking.
Phinney's time lasted until top favorite Tony Martin crossed the finish line. He was 8 seconds faster than the American but surprisingly, his time only lasted some minutes. Alexandre Vinokourov bested it by four seconds. That did not only bring him the stage win but also the overall lead! Martin on two, Boom on three (overall).
1 | Alexandre Vinokourov | Pro Team Astana | 20'28 | 2 | Tony Martin | Team T-Mobile | + 4 | 3 | Taylor Phinney | BMC Racing Team | + 12 |
Stage 6
The penultimate stage has to be reported in two parts. The first part is the sprint for the stage win, as the break again didn't have any chance. Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Sabatini led Mauro Finetto out very nice but then, with 2 kms to go, Tom Boonen shot like a rocket from behind. Quick-thinking, Finetto jumped on his wheel and those two managed to get away from the other by several bike lengths. And eventually, Finetto could even overtake the Belgian to take Liquigas' first sprint stage win in a long time! Boasson Hagen came pretty close in the end but the gap was too big.
Don't be misled by the screen: The actual finish line was a couple of hundreds of meters in front of the indicated line.
The second part of today's stage story is a major crash that happened with 5 kms to go. That crash led to only 56 riders finishing in the first group and some of the Top 10 riders were affected. Above all Alexandre Vinokourov, who lost his yellow jersey. Tony Martin is the new overall leader. Vincenzo Nibali advances to 10th.
1 | Mauro Finetto | Liquigas – Cannondale | 4h30'16 | 2 | Tom Boonen | Quick·Step Pro Cycling | s.t. | 3 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky ProCycling | s.t. |
Stage 7
Just like the previous day, the final stage was overshadowed by a big crash on the last kilometers. Again, some top riders like Hushovd, Chavanel and Devolder were affected and they lost their Top 10 places. Nibali thus advances to seventh overall.
The final was therefore quite chaotic with again only Liquigas being able to form a decent sprint train. This time, Finetto led out Sabatini, who later stated that he had incredible legs, and Sabatini got the job done! Second stage win for Liquigas in a row. Finetto even managed to hold on to the fourth spot!
1 | Fabio Sabatini | Liquigas – Cannondale | 5h02'34 | 2 | Denis Galimzyanov | Katusha Team | s.t. | 3 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky ProCycling | s.t. |
Overall
1 | Tony Martin | Team T-Mobile | 2h48'31 | 2 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky ProCycling | + 11 | 3 | Lars Boom | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling | + 14 | 4 | Tom Boonen | Quick·Step Pro Cycling | + 22 | 5 | Geraint Thomas | Sky ProCycling | + 24 | 6 | Niki Terpstra | Quick·Step Pro Cycling | + 47 | 7 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas - Cannondale | + 50 | 8 | Romain Sicard | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 1'01 | 9 | Nick Nuyens | Omega Pharma - Lotto | + 1'03 | 10 | Yohan Offredo | FDJ | + 1'06 |
Points
1 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky ProCycling | 112 | 2 | Tom Boonen | Quick·Step Pro Cycling | 99 | 3 | Thor Hushovd | Team Garmin - Cervélo | 77 | 4 | Fabio Sabatini | Liquigas - Cannondale | 73 | 5 | Mauro Finetto | Liquigas - Cannondale | 71 |
Young Riders
1 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky ProCycling | 22h48'42 | 2 | Romain Sicard | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 50 | 3 | Juraj Sagan | Liquigas - Cannondale | + 2'36 | 4 | Dennis Van Winden | Rabobank Cycling Team | + 3'57 | 5 | Denis Galimzyanov | Katusha Team | + 4'07 |
Teams
1 | Quick·Step Pro Cycling | 68h29'03 | 2 | Liquigas - Cannondale | + 57 | 3 | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 2'01 | 4 | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 2'43 | 5 | Sky ProCycling | + 3'18 |
After his overall win at the Dauphiné Libéré, Tony Martin could celebrate his second World Tour triumph this year. Adding his overall at the Bayern-Rundfahrt, this might become his most successful season ever. Also, if he can maintain that shape, he should be hard to beat in the Worlds next month.
We had no real ambitions for the overall and leave with the seventh place. We hoped for some decent sprint results and scored two stage wins and a second place. This Eneco Tour was so much better than we could expect! If you also consider the second place in the team ranking and Juraj Sagan's great third in the young riders classification, this was a perfect preparation for the Vuelta.
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Teddy The Creator |
Posted on 13-02-2012 10:11
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Small Tour Specialist
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Great race for Leaky Gas. 2 stage wins, and 7th for Nibbles is very good. Now La Vueltatatatata! ;P
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johannes-w |
Posted on 13-02-2012 12:19
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congrats on the latest results - finally some really good sprinting from your talanted guys and also great gc in the end for dom!!!
cant wait to see the vuelta preview now especially the favorites for the young riders jersey...
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sutty68 |
Posted on 13-02-2012 12:31
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Tour de France Champion
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Sabatini had a fine race with some good sprinting
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Posted on 26-11-2024 14:24
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cunego59 |
Posted on 13-02-2012 18:10
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Yep, the race was pretty great for us. Finally, Sabatini and Finetto showed something...
And nice to see that you obviously can't wait for the Vuelta to start. But you'll have to wait a little bit longer, two updates are yet to come before the preview. But since you seem so excited, here's the first one:
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cunego59 |
Posted on 13-02-2012 18:10
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Team Manager
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August 16, 2012
+++ Unicef folds – Ferrari shows ambitions +++
After only one year of sponsorship, Unicef announced to end their involvement in professional cycling. Team director Johan Bruyneel announced that he couldn't find a new sponsor so far and doesn't expect that to change, which means that after two years as RadioShack and one year as Unicef-Oracle, the team will most probably dissolve, leaving prominent riders like Alejandro Valverde, Levi Leipheimer or Tiago Machado without a contract for the next season.
Four years ago, Lance Armstrong initiated Team RadioShack. Now, the project is history.
One sponsor folds, another one evidentally considers to enter the cycling business: Italian luxury car manufacturer Ferrari is said to look for a team to sponsor. And considering the image and self-understanding of the company, we might witness the beginning of something big here. But for such a project, the company would need a license and fitting riders – according to unconfirmed reports, Ferrari is in talks with Androni and already looks around for bigger names to sign...
Ferrari has the highest demands on their cars. Will the same apply for their new cycling team?
Meanwhile, the Spanish Caja Rural team seems to be in financial trouble. The équipe aroused attention lately with the spectacular signing of Fabio Duarte but due to the financial crisis, Caja Rural had to make dramatic budget cuts on short notice. Duarte's big salary won't help here. The management stated that they are currently looking around for additional sponsors but can't guarantee for the team's future.
Fabio Duarte was meant to be the indication of Caja Rural's new ambitions. Now, he may become their ruin.
Edited by cunego59 on 13-02-2012 18:11
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johannes-w |
Posted on 13-02-2012 19:02
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Breakaway Specialist
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mhh interesting news will ferrari bring in their own bikes? I just googled it and found some funny concept bikes and a pretty nifty colnago (cf7) bike!
anyways can we expect transfer news from liquigas for the new season or arent you signing anymore riders?
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fcancellara |
Posted on 13-02-2012 19:23
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Yay
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Alakagom |
Posted on 13-02-2012 20:33
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World Champion
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Epic ride by Nerz. Very well done ! As well as Nibali did great in Eneco. Great reports as usual, love it as always. You as always do an epic job
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cunego59 |
Posted on 13-02-2012 20:34
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Team Manager
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@ johannes-w: You mean like this?
And the DS will accompany the riders on that:
But you're right, the cf7 looks pretty nice.
I will see how good I'll be able to edit the equipment. And of course there is still some transfer news. That'll be the second of the two announced updates before the Vuelta, expect it tomorrow! The one huuuuge signing will be revealed after the Vuelta, though
@ fcancellara: Thanks in advance for your contribution
@ Alakagom: Wow, nice comment! Even two times "epic", that's nice to read I'm also very pleased with the results and the performances, and glad that the reports are still so good Oh, and by the way: I'm working a lot on my FIFA skills, so be prepared for some revenge matches
Edited by cunego59 on 13-02-2012 20:37
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Alakagom |
Posted on 13-02-2012 20:46
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World Champion
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BTW, I am ready to kick you ass once again with Englad/Athletico Bilbao
Just joking As long as there's no Ibra I have a chance
Which football team does Nerz support ?
Spoiler Trying to stay on topic with that question
Edited by Alakagom on 13-02-2012 20:47
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FreitasPCM |
Posted on 13-02-2012 21:10
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Grand Tour Champion
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Nice top-10 with Nibali. Constant results from Liquigas.
And I believe Nerz supports Hoffenheim. Or is that you, cunego?
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fcancellara |
Posted on 13-02-2012 21:25
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Cunego59, do you play FIFA on xbox or PS3?
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valverde321 |
Posted on 13-02-2012 22:20
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World Champion
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I think he has it for PC
Anyway love these rumours.
Ferrari would be cool in Cycling, maybe Red Bull will come too
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fcancellara |
Posted on 13-02-2012 22:30
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valverde321 wrote:
I think he has it for PC
Anyway love these rumours.
Ferrari would be cool in Cycling, maybe Red Bull will come too
Made a jersey for Red Bull too
But Deksel's Red Bull - Cervélo is way better, IMO.
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