Nice to the Americans dominate the Grand Tours

wow no big victories by any french riders!

I just wanted to give an update and to confirm that even though it is summer this story is not dead. With the new teams I am adding and the stats updates it is taking me a while to update everything though.

I will also bring back the calendar that we will have this year with continental championships and time trial worlds.

2015 Calendar

	Race	Date	Category
	Tour Down Under	20/01/2015 - 25/01/2015	2.HC
	Paris - Nice	08/03/2015 - 15/03/2015	2.WT
	Volta a Catalunya	23/03/2015 - 29/03/2015	2.WT
	E3 Prijs Vlaanderen	01/04/2015	1.HC
	Gent - Wevelgem	04/04/2015	1.WT
	Vuelta al Pais Vasco	06/04/2015 - 11/04/2015	2.HC
	Paris - Roubaix	12/04/2015	1.WT
	La Fleche Wallonne	19/04/2015	1.WT
	Liege - Bastogne - Liege	26/04/2015	1.WT
	Tour de Romandie	28/04/2015 - 03/05/2015	2.WT
	Giro d'Italia	09/05/2015 - 31/05/2015	GT.WT
	Tour de Suisse	13/06/2015 - 21/06/2015	2.WT
	ITT European Champs	24/06/2015	NC
	ITT Rest World Champs	24/06/2015	NC
	Road European Champs	28/06/2015	NC
	Road Rest World Champs	28/06/2015	NC
	Tour de France	04/07/2015 - 26/07/2015	GT.WT
	Eneco Tour	10/08/2015 - 16/08/2015	2.HC
	Vattenfall Cyclassics	23/08/2015	1.HC
	GP Ouest France - Plouay	30/08/2015	1.WT
	Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec	13/09/2015	1.HC
	TTT World Championship	22/09/2015	WC
	ITT World Championship	24/09/2015	WC
	Road World Championship	27/09/2015	WC
	Giro di Lombardia	04/10/2015	1.WT
	Tour of Beijing	09/10/2015 - 13/10/2015	2.HC

looks like an exiting year again

No Vuelta this year then

Quite strange then.

well there is always only two GT's this year it was the Vuelta's time to be cut

I keep adding racing days with each season that goes by, but it is still a quite reduced calendar. The good part is that the game progresses relatively fast considering I report each racing day in the story.

wow it is pretty high, didn't realise it until now. you managed to do 6 season in 3 years time. don't think that many people are able to do that

Very Good calendar except of Beijing being in the calendar

2015 squads - World Tour

Ag2r - La Mondiale


Astana Pro Team


Belkin Pro Cycling Team


BMC Racing Team


Cannondale


Discovery Channel


Euskaltel - Euskadi


Garmin - Sharp


HTC - High Road


Lampre - Merida


Lotto - Belisol


Movistar Team


Omega Pharma - Quickstep


Team Katusha


Team Sky


Tinkoff - Saxo


Trek Factory Racing


Vacansoleil - DMC


2015 squads - Pro Continental

FDJ.fr


Giant - Shimano


Orica - Greenedge

The 2015 season will start again in Australia with the Tour Down Under after the race was missing from the 2014 calendar. Australia is always a great place to start the season for the riders, as most of them can get away from Europe and the winter to start putting kilometers in their legs in sunny Adelaide. The race itself has few changes in the route as the years go by. It is difficult to gain time in most stages other than Willunga Hill, in the penultimate day of the race.

The race in Australia is a favorite of Peter Sagan, the winner of the last two Tour Down Unders. However, the Slovak is not among the favorites this year after his lackluster 2014 season. Tony Gallopin, the second to Sagan twice in a row will also be present in Australia to try to gain his first overall win in Australia.

Favorites:

- Simone Ponzi (Team Katusha): The Italian Simone Ponzi was one of the best finishers in stages that were a bit difficult for the pure sprinters to contend in 2014, so he will be looking to open his stage win count in Australia. However, the bonus seconds that he might get and the fact that he is among the best hills riders could well mean that he will be looking for the win at the end of the week.
- David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi): It is quite of a surprise that a typical Grand Tour rider like David Lopez starts his season so early in Australia. However, it looks like the Spaniard will skip the Giro to focus on the Tour de France this year and, therefore, he can bring forward in the year his first peak of fitness.
- Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Belisol): Leukemans has to appear among the favorites in any race that is based on cobbles or hills and the Tour Down Under is no different. He will probably have difficulties winning stages other than in Willunga hill given his lack of sprinting speed but the Belgian is capable of putting time between himself and others in the penultimate stage of the race.
- Rinaldo Nocentini (Team Katusha): Katusha might not be one of the strongest teams in the World Tour but they have brought their best riders to Australia. If something might happen to Simone Ponzi, Rinaldo Nocentini will be there to take the role of leader for the team. Given how good they both are in the hills and the size of the competition they could well place a couple of riders in the podium.

Other important riders that will be important in the Australian race will be Emanuele Sella and Dries Devenyns (BMC Racing Team), Philippe Gilbert (Trek Factory Racing), Rui Costa (Tinkoff - Saxo), Davide Rebellin (Movistar Team) and Andy Schleck (Omega Pharma - Quickstep).

There will also be several good sprinters Down Under, like Marcel Kittel (Astana Pro Team), Andre Greipel (Trek Factory Racing), Ben Swift (Team Sky), Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Kenny van Hummel (Belkin Pro Cycling) and Christopher Sutton (Vacansoleil - DMC).

Previous winners

	First	Second	Third
2010	Tyler Farrar	Alexandre Vinokourov	Francisco Ventoso
2012	Peter Sagan	Tony Gallopin	Sacha Modolo
2013	Peter Sagan	Tony Gallopin	Marcel Kittel

Startlist

Looking forward to the new season

Stage 1: Nuriootpa - Angaston



The season opener is a quite simple stage between the towns of Nuriootpa and Angaston, to the north of Adelaide. The riders will have to complete 3 laps to a circuit, although the last one is slightly different and includes Menglers Hill, a 2.5 kilometers climb, which top is 12 kilometers from the finish line. The hill is, however, not hard enough that a mass sprint can be avoided.



The main bunch was not willing to let a break go away today and halfway through the stage the bunch was still keeping things together. The second intermediate sprint was therefore contended by the main sprinters. Andre Greipel, who had already won the first one, took the second one ahead of Marcel Kittel and Ben Swift. Astana, Trek and Sky have been the teams that have been working at the front of the pack to bring back the numerous attacks in the first half of the stage.



A group of 4 riders finally managed to get away before the start of the last lap to the circuit: Nick Nuyens (Garmin), Maarten Tjallingii (Ag2r), Sylvain Chavanel (Giant) and Geraint Thomas (HTC). They reached the start of Menglers Hill with a gap of 50 seconds on the main bunch but Katusha and Movistar were determined to bring them back soon. At the top of the hill Thomas was first and he will therefore wear the first mountain's jersey of the year tomorrow.



The break was eventually reeled back in with 8 kilometers remaining and the mass sprint was unavoidable. Trek had their train set up very early with their new signing, Giacomo Nizzolo, replacing Daniele Bennati as the last man to lead Andre Greipel out. Alexander Kristoff was behind the German to try to profit from the good setup. On the left hand side of the road it was Sky doing their train with Tom Boonen working for Ben Swift. The local Michael Matthews were behind them. Other sprinters that were also well positioned were Marcel Kittel, Kenny van Hummel and Simone Ponzi.



The lead-out by Giacomo Nizzolo was perfect and he delivered Andre Greipel clearly ahead to the last kilometer of the stage. Now it is the time of the German to bring home the stage win. However, it will be interesting to see the kind of damage that the climb to Menglers Hill has done to some of the sprinters. Sky's train fell apart and that means that the order behind Greipel is Alexander Kristoff, Marcel Kittel, Matthew Goss and Ben Swift.



Andre Greipel is still leading the way with 500 meters remaining but has two very threatening shadows behind in the shape of Marcel Kittel and Alexander Kristoff. It looks like the winner of the stage will come from one of these three riders. Behind them a bigger group of sprinters led by Michael Matthews and Kenny van Hummel is trying to close the gap that has opened between them and the win.



Marcel Kittel wins in Angaston! The German has come back as strong in 2015 as he was last season. It did not matter that he changed teams and Astana will already be more than happy with the performance of Kittel. It is worth noting that Astana only managed to get 1 win in the whole 2014 season and they have already tied that record. The second place in the stage went to a surprising Simone Ponzi, who gained lots of places in the last few meters of the stage.

The top 5 was completed by the local Michael Matthews, Stefan van Dijk and Alexander Kristoff. Van Dijk has managed to get the first points in the Pro Continental circuit for the Giant - Shimano team. The stage tomorrow will not be for the sprinters, as the final in Stirling is slightly uphill so the leader's jersey for Kittel might be short lived.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	2h59'36
2		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	s.t.
3		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
4		Stefan Van Dijk	Giant - Shimano	s.t.
5		Alexander Kristoff	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
6		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
7		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
8		Francesco Gavazzi	Cannondale	s.t.
9		Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
10		Francisco José Ventoso	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.

General Classification

1		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	2h59'30
2		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	+ 2
3		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	+ 3
4		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	+ 5
5		Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
6		Stefan Van Dijk	Giant - Shimano	+ 6
7		Alexander Kristoff	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
8		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
9		Francesco Gavazzi	Cannondale	s.t.
10		Francisco José Ventoso	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.

Points

1		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	62
2		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	42
3		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	35
4		Ben Swift	Team Sky	31
5		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	30

Mountain

1		Geraint Thomas	HTC - Highroad	16
2		Sylvain Chavanel	Giant - Shimano	12
3		Nick Nuyens	Garmin - Sharp	10
4		Maarten Tjallingii	AG2R La Mondiale	8
5		Peter Kennaugh	Trek Factory Racing	6

Young

1		Francesco Gavazzi	Cannondale	2h59'36
2		Maxime Vantomme	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
3		Przemyslaw Niemiec	Movistar Team	s.t.
4		Ian Stannard	Team Sky	s.t.
5		Jens Debusschere	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.

Teams

1		Lotto Belisol	8h58'48
2		Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
3		Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
4		Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
5		BMC Racing Team	s.t.

First win of the New season goes to the German sprint King

Kittel gets the victory.He should be happy now

It seems Kittel is as good in the story as he is in real life. I am sure that Astana is very happy with their new man.

Will be interesting to see how many victories he can rack up this season

Stage 2: Prospect - Stirling



The second stage in Australia could be decided in several different manners. The pure sprinters will have it difficult, as the last 8 kilometers are slightly uphill and the last kilometer itself goes up to almost 6% in gradient. The uphill section in Stirling could well be a good point for an attack by one of the many punchers in the field and also an uphill finisher could take the win.



The break of the day was on the small side, as only 2 riders managed to break away from the tough control of the main bunch: Peter Sagan (Vacansoleil) and Sylvain Chavanel (Giant). Even though they were only 2 it was going to be a hard day for the bunch to bring them back. At the second climb of the day, Checker Hill, Peter Sagan won the sprint ahead of the French but Chavanel will be the one wearing the jersey tomorrow. Meanwhile, there is no shortage of teams trying to control the bunch, including Trek, Astana and Sky.



The second intermediate sprint was placed in Balhannah (66 kilometers to go). The sprint in the group was joined by a lot of sprinters as there were lots of points up for grabs. The winner was Andre Greipel, who easily beat Marcel Kittel and Ben Swift. The break still had 3' 30'' on the bunch as they were closing in on the final circuit of the day. Astana is holding the lead in the main bunch but it is going to be tricky for Marcel Kittel to keep the leader's jersey today.



The main bunch took things a bit too easy today and with 10 kilometers to go the two leaders still had 50 seconds on them. They are close to starting the last uphill section towards the finish line. It is surprising that no hills riders have tried to attack in the penultimate climb as they could have discarded lots of fast men. Simone Ponzi is probably the main favorite for the stage and his team is not even doing that much work to deliver him with options to the last kilometer.



Marcel Kittel surprisingly stayed at the front of the pack even after Sylvain Chavanel and Peter Sagan were reeled back in. Astana was, in fact, the only team to build a sprint train with Robbie McEwen as the last lead-out man. Among those behind Kittel were Chris Sutton, Ben Swift and Matthew Goss, some of the sprinters that handle the hills best. Joost van Leijen and Johan Vansummeren look also ready to join the final rush.



Marcel Kittel launched himself with 1.5 kilometers to go, surely too far away from the finish line. He held the lead before the last kilometer but in truth he seemed to be leading out Chris Sutton, who was clever in taking the Germans' wheel. Simone Ponzi, the main favorite for the win today, was around the 10th place at this point but he seemed to have plenty of time to recover. The riders should be very careful with possible gaps opening up in the bunch today.



As expected, Marcel Kittel started dropping back inside the last kilometer and it was Chris Sutton who took the lead with 500 meters to go. The Australian was outstandingly positioned before the sprint and was taking full advantage of that fact. Behind Kittel there were a few sprinters keen to fight for the win as well, Ben Swift was third at that point ahead of Simone Ponzi and Matthew Goss. The Italian was coming back from behind and if he doesn't lose speed he is going to be contending for the win.



Chris Sutton wins in Stirling! The Australian was the best today in the uphill sprint and easily fended off the final punch by Simone Ponzi, who had to settle for the second position for the second day in a row. Sutton had only won once in 2014 so he matched that record very early in the season this year. The top 5 in the stage was completed by Ben Swift, Michael Matthews and Kenny van Hummel. It showed how many of the sprinters lost places in the end after trailing Kittel's early burst.

The German will retain the leader's jersey today after collecting 2 bonus seconds in the first intermediate sprint of the day, what leaves him 2 seconds ahead of Simone Ponzi and 3 ahead of Chris Sutton. The decrease on the amount of bonus seconds for this season means that the GCs will be very tight at the start of some stage races.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	3h43'19
2		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	s.t.
3		Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
4		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
5		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
6		Cameron Meyer	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
7		Alexander Kristoff	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
8		Johan Vansummeren	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
9		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
10		Joost Van Leijen	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.

General Classification

1		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	6h42'47
2		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	+ 2
3		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	+ 3
4		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	+ 4
5		Ben Swift	Team Sky	+ 6
6		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	+ 7
7		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 8
8		Alexander Kristoff	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
9		Johan Vansummeren	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
10		Cameron Meyer	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.

Points

1		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	95
2		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	70
3		Ben Swift	Team Sky	67
4		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	59
5		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	50

Mountain

1		Sylvain Chavanel	Giant - Shimano	29
2		Geraint Thomas	HTC - Highroad	23
3		Peter Sagan	Vacansoleil - DCM	15
4		Nick Nuyens	Garmin - Sharp	13
5		Maarten Tjallingii	AG2R La Mondiale	10

Young

1		Francesco Gavazzi	Cannondale	6h42'55
2		Maxime Vantomme	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
3		Jens Debusschere	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
4		Przemyslaw Niemiec	Movistar Team	s.t.
5		Ian Stannard	Team Sky	s.t.

Teams

1		BMC Racing Team	20h08'45
2		Tinkoff - Saxo	s.t.
3		Discovery Channel	s.t.
4		HTC - Highroad	s.t.
5		Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.

Yay, Uncle Chris wins