Stage 3: Norwood - Campbelltown



The third stage is again one difficult to predict. Although classified as flat, the climb to Montacute should upset a mass sprint. It is a 2.5 kilometers climb with its summit 7.5 kilometers from the finish line and gradient above 10% for prolonged sections. The outcome of the stage will depend on the pace of the climb. It will be difficult to make a solo attack survive in the run towards Campbelltown but the peloton should be split in the climb.



Maarten Tjallingii (Ag2r) was alone at front at the second intermediate sprint of the day, in Williamstown (92 kilometers to go). However, his break was by no means consolidated as he only had 30 seconds over the main bunch. If other riders are willing to join they could probably do it. In the sprint for the points' jersey Ben Swift beat Andre Greipel, while Marcel Kittel could not be bothered to join the fight given that he is more focused on defending his leaders' jersey.



No other rider joined Maarten Tjallingii in the break today and obviously he had a very tough time to hold the bunch behind. Trek, Astana and Sky had it very easy to keep a pace hard enough to hold him within 30 seconds at the start of the climb to Montacute (10 kilometers to go). Fabian Cancellara had paced the peloton in the descent towards the start of the climb and the bunch was quite stretched at the bottom. It will be interesting to see which among the sprinters manage to keep up with the best today.



There were no attacks in the climb but the hard pace at the front was too much for many riders. The front of the bunch was mostly held by Trek, especially Philippe Gilbert and Tejay van Garderen. They had easily reeled back in Maarten Tjallingii halfway through the climb. The Belgian was the first to cross the KoM sprint with a surprising Andre Greipel not too far behind. Among the sprinters that were in the leading positions were Marcel Kittel, Fran Ventoso and Simone Ponzi.



The climb was tougher than expected and a group of 19 riders, including a few sprinters, David Lopez and Dries Devenyns managed to get away from the main bunch. They quickly started relaying towards the finish line in Campbelltown. At the middle of the descent Simone Ponzi decided to attack in order to try to gain a few seconds at the finish line. With 3 kilometers to go the Italian had 15 seconds on the group of the leader and 55 on the bigger bunch. They could well make a good selection for the GC today.



Trek had plenty of riders in the front group and Giacomo Nizzolo worked hard at the front of the chaser group to reel back Simone Ponzi before the flame rouge. The Italian was giving Andre Greipel a very good lead-out but the German is not the best hills rider and there were doubts on his performance in the sprint. Francisco Ventoso, Marcel Kittel and Michael Matthews had taken the wheel of the German and were keen to take the stage win today.



Andre Greipel had used too much of his energy going through Montacute in the front group and he soon started losing positions as the sprint started. Francisco Ventoso was in the lead with 500 meters remaining but Marcel Kittel and Michael Matthews were starting to gain on the Spaniard. Kittel seemed very strong, although he isn't either one of the best through the hills, or at least not as good as Ventoso and Matthews.



Francisco Ventoso wins in Campbelltown! Today was a great day for Euskaltel as they took the first win of the season. It seemed like Ventoso would be overtaken by either Marcel Kittel or Michael Matthews but the German lost power in the second part of the sprint and Matthews ran out of space. The Australian could have won if the stage had been a few meters longer.

The third place in the stage was for Ben Swift, while the top 5 was completed by Marcel Kittel and David Lopez. The second group was 48 seconds late at the finish line with Matthew Goss winning that sprint. That leaves only 13 riders with a great chance to take the overall win in Australia, including Simone Ponzi, Dries Devenyns, Tejay van Garderen and David Lopez.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Francisco José Ventoso	Euskaltel - Euskadi	3h39'49
2		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
3		Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
4		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
5		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
6		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	s.t.
7		Dries Devenyns	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
8		Luca Paolini	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
9		Sacha Modolo	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
10		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.

General Classification

1		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	10h22'36
2		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	+ 2
3		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
4		Francisco José Ventoso	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 3
5		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	+ 4
6		Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
7		Giacomo Nizzolo	Trek Factory Racing	+ 7
8		Dries Devenyns	BMC Racing Team	+ 8
9		Tejay Van Garderen	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
10		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.

Points

1		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	132
2		Ben Swift	Team Sky	106
3		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	94
4		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	90
5		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	82

Mountain

1		Sylvain Chavanel	Giant - Shimano	29
2		Geraint Thomas	HTC - Highroad	23
3		Philippe Gilbert	Trek Factory Racing	16
4		Peter Sagan	Vacansoleil - DCM	15
5		Nick Nuyens	Garmin - Sharp	13

Young

1		Francesco Gavazzi	Cannondale	10h23'32
2		Jens Debusschere	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
3		Przemyslaw Niemiec	Movistar Team	s.t.
4		Ian Stannard	Team Sky	s.t.
5		Sergey Chernetskiy	Team Katusha	+ 26

Teams

1		Euskaltel - Euskadi	31h08'12
2		Team Sky	s.t.
3		Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
4		Team Katusha	+ 48
5		BMC Racing Team	+ 1'36

Nice to see the top ten on the GC so close

Stage 4: Unley - Victor Harbor



The route today takes the riders towards the south of Adelaide. The stage will be quite flat and a mass sprint will be the flavor of the day. The finish line will be in Victor Harbor, a town in the coast that has been a usual destination for the Tour Down Under. The favorites for today will be the likes of Marcel Kittel, Andre Greipel and Ben Swift.



The break was on the large side today. At 8 riders it is the largest we have seen in the Tour Down Under so far. The group included Mark Renshaw (Discovery), David Millar (Vacansoleil), Borut Bozic (HTC) and Marco Marcato (BMC) among others. They reached the only categorized climb of the day, the Myponga Dam, with a gap of only 2' 30'' over the bunch. Astana was determined to keep control and never let them take much of an advantage. Sebastian Langeveld was the rider to take the points in the KoM sprint.



The second intermediate sprint was only 32 kilometers to the finish line, in Yankalilla, but only Andre Greipel seemed interested in taking the few points that were available with such a big break ahead. However, that also meant that the gap to the break decreased considerably to around 1' 30'' as Fabian Cancellara worked for a few kilometers at the front of the pack. The mass sprint looked unavoidable.



The chase of the break was not as easy as we had anticipated and with 8 kilometers remaining the front group still enjoyed a gap of around 25 seconds. It looked insufficient for them to make it to the line but the fight was straining the resources of the SKY team, who were doing most of the job in these last kilometers of the stage. It is surprising how Katusha cannot be bothered to work for Simone Ponzi. The Italian might be thinking of tomorrow's stage instead.



Sky is the only train that is properly formed with 3 kilometers remianing. The small uphill that the riders climbed with 5 kilometers remaining seems to have delayed some of the other teams. However, Tom Boonen is already ahead and the Belgian is the last man for Ben Swift. Radioshack is also trying to set up a train with Giacomo Nizzolo leading Andre Greipel out. Among the rest of the sprinters the best positioned are Chris Sutton, Alexander Kristoff and Marcel Kittel.



Giacomo Nizzolo has done a great job to deliver Andre Greipel to the front ahead of the last kilometer of the stage. They were quite far behind and now they are slightly ahead of Tom Boonen and Ben Swift. Let's see if the German can make the work by his teammates good by taking the stage win today. There are not many sprinters well positioned and the sprint could be a matter of 5 or 6 sprinters.



Giacomo Nizzolo held on ahead of Andre Greipel until the last 500 meters, what should give the German a good advantage in the final rush towards the line. Ben Swift had kept the wheel of Greipel until that point and was third in the racing order at that point. Meanwhile, on the right of that group Chris Sutton was making progress towards the front of the race. The fifth position at that point was for Alexander Kristoff.



Chris Sutton wins in Victor Harbor! The Australian takes his second stage win this week and shows how committed the local riders are with the Tour Down Under. This is a sprint that should have been won by Andre Greipel after the great job that the whole Trek team made to deliver him to the win but a very surprising Sutton managed to overtake him in the last few meters of the stage.

The top 5 was completed by Ben Swift, Michael Matthews and Alexander Kristoff. The disappointment of the day was Marcel Kittel as, even though he was well positioned, he could only get the 9th place in the sprint. The most decisive stage of the Tour Down Under will take place tomorrow with the double climb to Willunga Hill, where the puncheurs should battle for the overall win.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	3h26'12
2		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
3		Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
4		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
5		Alexander Kristoff	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
6		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
7		Matthew Goss	Movistar Team	s.t.
8		Yauheni Hutarovich	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
9		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
10		Francisco José Ventoso	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.

General Classification

1		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	13h48'47
2		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	+ 1
3		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	+ 3
4		Ben Swift	Team Sky	+ 4
5		Francisco José Ventoso	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
6		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	+ 5
7		Giacomo Nizzolo	Trek Factory Racing	+ 8
8		Dries Devenyns	BMC Racing Team	+ 9
9		Tejay Van Garderen	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
10		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.

Points

1		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	146
2		Ben Swift	Team Sky	136
3		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	126
4		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	120
5		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	90

Mountain

1		Sylvain Chavanel	Giant - Shimano	29
2		Geraint Thomas	HTC - Highroad	23
3		Philippe Gilbert	Trek Factory Racing	16
4		Peter Sagan	Vacansoleil - DCM	15
5		Nick Nuyens	Garmin - Sharp	13

Young

1		Francesco Gavazzi	Cannondale	13h49'44
2		Jens Debusschere	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
3		Ian Stannard	Team Sky	s.t.
4		Przemyslaw Niemiec	Movistar Team	s.t.
5		Sergey Chernetskiy	Team Katusha	+ 26

Teams

1		Team Sky	41h26'48
2		Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
3		Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
4		Team Katusha	+ 48
5		BMC Racing Team	+ 1'36

After such good work on the front, Team Sky will be unhappy that they didn't get the win

It's a pleasure to see this story came so far! Keep on doing the great job, the reports and everything in this story is/are just amazing.

Yeah totally agree with you admir, this story is well worth following, pity that a lot more don't stop by and comment

Stage 5: McLaren Vale - Willunga Hill



Today is the day when the Tour Down Under should be decided. The double climb to Willunga Hill is hard enough that the sprinters will not be able to follow the pace of the best puncheurs and the time gaps can be significant for the current gaps in the GC. The route will have 3 laps to a mostly flat circuit in the surroundings of Willunga before tackling the climb twice.



The break of the day took a good while to be formed as a few teams did not want too strong a break. In the end it contained 7 riders, including Tony Gallopin (BMC), Gregory Rast (Orica), Sylvain Chavanel (Giant) and Geraint Thomas (HTC). They reached the first intermediate sprint in Snapper Point with a gap of 3' 30'' on the main bunch. The sprint in the bunch was won by Andre Greipel ahead of Stefan van Dijk and Matthew Goss.



The battles among the favorites started quite early in the stage today as Davide Rebellin attacked and was about to catch the break at the bottom of the first climb to Willunga Hill. Lots of riders had lost almost 1 minute in the third stage and they had to take risks in order to progress in the GC. Joost van Leijen and Kanstantsin Siutsou were chasing the Italian close behind while Trek was having difficulties controlling the bunch.



Sylvain Chavanel was the first to go through the KoM sprint at the top of Willunga Hill (23 kilometers to go) and was almost guaranteed to win the KoM jersey. He was a few meters ahead of the break together with Joost van Leijen and Kanstantsin Siutsou. The gap with the bunch has started decreasing and now sits at 1' 15'' after Katusha started to work with Rinaldo Nocentini and Jure Kocjan.



The group at the front surprisingly increased the gap to the bunch in the favorable kilometers between the two climbs and with 5 kilometers remaining the difference was 1' 40''. They had lost Sylvain Chavanel in a crash, so they were 11 riders. The gap was significant enough that the stage win should be in that group. Trek is the only team chasing in the bunch, which is a mistake from Euskaltel and Katusha, who have no riders at the front.



Davide Rebellin was the first rider in the front group to attack. The Movistar rider did it at the very bottom of the climb. He was less than 1 minute behind in the GC so he did not want the pace to decrease in the break. Cameron Meyer is the only local rider in the break but if he wins the stage he has a chance of taking the overall win as well. The gap now was 1' 50'' to the bunch.



Tejay van Garderen attacked in the main bunch but it seemed too late for the move to be enough to close the gap with the break. However, he is ahead in the GC and might close the gap enough so that he is not overtaking there. Carlos Betancur and Oliver Zaugg are trying to follow the American. In the front, the rest of the break is not able to catch Davide Rebellin back with less than 2 kilometers to go. The gap of the Italian is now 20 seconds to the chasers and 1' 45'' to Van Garderen.



Several riders attacked from the break and managed to make contact with Davide Rebellin inside the last kilometer of the stage. With 600 meters remaining the Italia had been overtaken and Kanstantsin Siutsou was leading the sprint to the line ahead of Joost van Leijen, Ben Hermans and Rebellin. Meanwhile, the more serious attacks had started in the bunch with Simone Ponzi being followed by David Lopez.



Joost van Leijen wins in Willunga Hill! The Dutch managed to get past Kanstantsin Siutsou in the last meters of the climb to take the stage win and the overall lead in the GC. This has been a great week for Vacansoleil with 3 stage wins already and it could get even better tomorrow in Adelaide. Siutsou held on to the second place in the stage while Ben Hermans, Cameron Meyer and Luca Paolini completed the top 5.

Among the riders that came from the bunch the first to cross the line was David Lopez, in the 9th place. He gave time to a rather big group of 16 riders including Simone Ponzi, Michael Matthews and Francisco Ventoso. Ponzi is the best placed among those that made it in the group in the GC, in the 6th place 17 seconds behind Van Leijen. In the end the third stage was not decisive for the outcome of the race but surely it contributed to seeing a better show today in Willunga Hill.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Joost Van Leijen	Vacansoleil - DCM	3h22'29
2		Kanstantsin Siutsou	Cannondale	s.t.
3		Ben Hermans	Discovery Channel	s.t.
4		Cameron Meyer	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
5		Luca Paolini	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
6		Davide Rebellin	Movistar Team	s.t.
7		Grégory Rast	Orica - GreenEdge	+ 44
8		Tony Gallopin	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
9		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 1'06
10		Samuel Dumoulin	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.

General Classification

1		Joost Van Leijen	Vacansoleil - DCM	17h12'08
2		Kanstantsin Siutsou	Cannondale	+ 2
3		Ben Hermans	Discovery Channel	+ 4
4		Cameron Meyer	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 5
5		Davide Rebellin	Movistar Team	s.t.
6		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	+ 17
7		Francisco José Ventoso	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 18
8		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	+ 19
9		Tejay Van Garderen	Trek Factory Racing	+ 23
10		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.

Points

1		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	146
2		Ben Swift	Team Sky	136
3		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	131
4		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	120
5		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	91

Mountain

1		Sylvain Chavanel	Giant - Shimano	45
2		Geraint Thomas	HTC - Highroad	35
3		Joost Van Leijen	Vacansoleil - DCM	24
4		Kanstantsin Siutsou	Cannondale	22
5		Philippe Gilbert	Trek Factory Racing	16

Young

1		Francesco Gavazzi	Cannondale	17h13'57
2		Diego Ulissi	Lampre - Merida	+ 1'14
3		Sergey Chernetskiy	Team Katusha	+ 1'23
4		Sep Vanmarcke	Lotto Belisol	+ 9'12
5		Przemyslaw Niemiec	Movistar Team	+ 9'34

Teams

1		Euskaltel - Euskadi	51h38'11
2		Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
3		BMC Racing Team	+ 36
4		Team Sky	+ 38
5		Team Katusha	+ 48

two in a row for Vacansoleil

Thanks for the encouragement guys. It is not that easy to comment on a story where the top riders are not exactly the same as in reality and where I don't control any team.

Any suggestions that make the story easier to follow are welcome, as also are suggestions on which riders to follow more closely.



Not a bad way to start the season. Tomorrow Van Leijen will probably win the overall.

With no stand out riders in the story is what makes this one special

Stage 6: Adelaide - Adelaide



The last stage in Australia is definitely one for the sprinters. The stage is actually closer to a criterium than a real World Tour stage. The riders will have to do countless laps to a 5 kilometers long circuit in downtown Adelaide to total less than 100 kilometers. If there is one risk today though it is crashes, as this kind of circuits tend to be dangerous for the riders.



By the time the riders reached the first intermediate sprint of the day (65 kilometers to go) there was not a break settled and the sprinters fought for the points available. The best this time was Andre Greipel, ahead of Ben Swift and Marcel Kittel. Sky and Trek were very interested in keeping things together and they brought back countless breaks, including a lonely attempt by Nick Nuyens that seemed like progressing.



A break had emerged halfway through the stage but by the time they reached the second intermediate sprint (32 kilometers to go) they barely had 1 minute on the main bunch. The group of three was composed of Gregory Rast (Orica), Sylvain Chavanel (Giant) and Maarten Tjallingii (Ag2r). The sprint in the bunch was won by Marcel Kittel this time, ahead of Andre Greipel and Ben Swift.



Even though the group of 3 was strong in the flat they were reeled back in with 14 kilometers to go. With 3 kilometers to go the sprint trains were already taking shape. Astana was the team best placed, with Robbie McEwen ready to lead out Marcel Kittel. Mark Cavendish was right behind the German. Sky was next, with Tom Boonen again working for Ben Swift and Matthew Goss on the British wheel. Trek had also formed a train but they were trailing behind with Giacomo Nizzolo as usual ready to lead Andre Greipel out. The bad news of the last lap are the crashes of Kanstantsin Siutsou, 2nd in the GC, and Philippe Gilbert.



Robbie McEwen was very strong in the approach to the final sprint and he was delivering Marcel Kittel to a perfect position ahead of the last kilometer. He was so strong that they had dropped Mark Cavendish from Kittel's wheel. However, it looks like he has run out of gas and Kittel is starting the sprint from too far out. Behind them Tom Boonen and Giacomo Nizzolo were solidly ahead of their respective sprinters.



Marcel Kittel was still in front with 600 meters remaining but it looks like the German is losing speed already and the riders behind are closing in fast. The second place at that point was for a charging Andre Greipel with Michael Matthews and Francisco Ventoso. Ventoso has already won one stage in this TDU and the rest of them should be wary of the Spaniard.



Andre Greipel wins in Adelaide! The German finally won a stage in the Tour Down Under after a lot of work from his teammates in the previous stages. Greipel got past Kittel with 500 meters to go and fended off the final charge from Michael Matthews. The Australian from Lotto was very strong but run out of stage to take the win. Francisco Ventoso was third completing a good TDU, with Ben Swift and Simone Ponzi completing the top 5.

The final classification of the TDU was won by Joost van Leijen but Kanstantsin Siutsou lost his place in the podium after his crash inside the last 10 kilometers of the stage. The final podium was therefore completed by Ben Hermans and the local Cameron Meyer. Kittel's last bad sprint also meant that he lost the points' jersey, which went to Kittel instead.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	2h09'01
2		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
3		Francisco José Ventoso	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
4		Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
5		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	s.t.
6		Matthew Goss	Movistar Team	s.t.
7		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
8		Alexander Kristoff	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
9		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
10		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	s.t.

General Classification

1		Joost Van Leijen	Vacansoleil - DCM	19h21'09
2		Ben Hermans	Discovery Channel	+ 4
3		Cameron Meyer	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 5
4		Davide Rebellin	Movistar Team	s.t.
5		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	+ 16
6		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	+ 17
7		Francisco José Ventoso	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
8		Tejay Van Garderen	Trek Factory Racing	+ 23
9		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
10		Carlos Betancur	Team Sky	s.t.

Points

1		André Greipel	Trek Factory Racing	194
2		Ben Swift	Team Sky	176
3		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	173
4		Michael Matthews	Lotto Belisol	155
5		Simone Ponzi	Team Katusha	113

Mountain

1		Sylvain Chavanel	Giant - Shimano	45
2		Geraint Thomas	HTC - Highroad	35
3		Joost Van Leijen	Vacansoleil - DCM	24
4		Kanstantsin Siutsou	Cannondale	22
5		Philippe Gilbert	Trek Factory Racing	16

Young

1		Diego Ulissi	Lampre - Merida	19h24'12
2		Sergey Chernetskiy	Team Katusha	+ 9
3		Francesco Gavazzi	Cannondale	+ 2'54
4		Przemyslaw Niemiec	Movistar Team	+ 8'20
5		Riccardo Zoidl	Lotto Belisol	+ 9'04

Teams

1		Trek Factory Racing	58h05'14
2		Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
3		BMC Racing Team	+ 36
4		Team Sky	+ 38
5		Team Katusha	+ 48

Great to see Greipel win the last stage , but a very nice Overall victory for Van Leijen and Vacansoleil

UCI World Tour rankings riders (after Tour Down Under)

1		Joost Van Leijen	Vacansoleil	61.6
2		Ben Hermans	Discovery	46.75
3		Michael Matthews	Lotto	38.5
4		Cameron Meyer	Quickstep	37.95
5		Simone Ponzi	Katusha	31.35
6		Davide Rebellin	Movistar	30.8
7		Francisco Ventoso	Euskaltel	27.89
8		Andre Greipel	Trek	21.13
9		Tejay Van Garderen	Trek	17.28
10		David Lopez	Euskaltel	15.24
11		Ben Swift	Sky	13.75
12		Carlos Betancur	Sky	11
13		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil	11
14		Marcel Kittel	Astana	10.45
15		Luca Paolini	Astana	9.35

UCI World Tour rankings teams (after Tour Down Under)

1		Vacansoleil - DMC	72.6
2		Euskaltel - Euskadi	47.3
3		Discovery Channel	46.75
4		Trek Factory Racing	42.35
5		Lotto - Belisol	38.5
6		Omega Pharma - Quickstep	37.95
7		Team Katusha	33
8		Movistar Team	31.35
9		Team Sky	24.75
10		Astana Pro Team	19.8
11		BMC Racing Team	4.95
12		Cannondale	4.4
13		Lampre - Merida	3.3
14		HTC - Highroad	2.75
15		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	2.2
16		Tinkoff - Saxo	0
17		Garmin - Sharp	0
18		Ag2r - La Mondiale	0

UCI Pro Continental rankings riders (after Tour Down Under)

1		Sylvain Chavanel	Giant	5.5
2		Stefan Van Dijk	Giant	1.65

UCI Pro Continental rankings teams (after Tour Down Under)

1		Giant - Shimano	7.15
2		FDJ.fr	0
3		Orica - Greenedge	0

The Dutch will certainly be happy with the way the Rankings look at the moment

I am liking the rankings at the moment, thanks sutty

And off we go now to the Paris - Nice...

SSJ2Luigi wrote :

Nice one
mpardo - Just remind me who won there last year ?

The European season starts as usual with the Paris - Nice, the race to the Sun. However, the race doesn't always reflect the nickname that it has been given, as the rain and the wind are present in many editions. This is normal especially in the first few stages. The route this year is quite different to what we have seen in the Paris - Nice in the past. Whereas last year we had 2 time trials, a prologue and the climb to Eze, this year there are no such stages. The organizers have presented it as a race with 8 classics and, although some of them could be considered that, the description is curious.

The lack of mountains is another characteristic of the routes and the time gaps will probably quite small, what may even lead to the race being decided on the bonus seconds, although they have been decreased this year to a maximum of 5 seconds for the winner of the stage for all the races. The change compared to last year are so big that the last winner, Peter Stetina, hasn't even bothered showing up, prefering to start his season in the Volta a Catalunya. The others in the podium last year will be here, but they don't rate among the top favorites for the win.

Favorites:

- David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi): David Lopez already raced in Australia this season and, even though the result was not very good, the sensation was that he was already strong at that point of the season. The Spaniard rider has marked the Paris - Nice as one of the targets in his season, even above the already close Volta a Catalunya and the stage in Fayence should be the one that he has marked in his calendar.
- Jelle Vanendert (Lotto - Belisol): Jelle Vanendert will start his season in the outskirts of Paris, but he has also marked the Paris - Nice as one of his targets for the season. The Belgian is not too different a rider from Lopez but he has a way better punch in the sprint finishes, what could give him a few bonus seconds in the hillier stages in the Paris - Nice.
- Frank Schleck (Omega Pharma - Quickstep): Frank Schleck will make his debut for the Omega Pharma - Quickstep team in the Paris - Nice. The Luxembourgish will have to fight for the leading role in the team with his brother Andy and they have decided to focus on slightly different races. In this start of the season Frank's target will be the Paris - Nice, while Andy's will be the Volta a Catalunya.
- Simon Gerrans (Trek Factory Racing): Simon Gerrans is a quite different rider compared to the other favorites for the Paris - Nice. The Australian is much more of a hills rider and this route is one of the few that will allow him to fight for the overall win in the race. However, with only one mountain in the whole route on the way to Fayence and the rest of the route being so hilly Gerrans has to be taken into account.

Other important riders fighting for the podium in France will be Robert Gesink (Ag2r - La Mondiale), Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale), Dries Devenyns (BMC Racing Team), Andy Schleck (Omega Pharma - Quickstep), Simone Ponzi (Team Katusha) and Rob Ruijgh (Belkin Pro Cycling Team).

There will also be several good sprinters such as Marcel Kittel (Astana Pro Team), Kenny van Hummel (Belkin Pro Cycling Team), Ben Swift (Team Sky), Andre Greipel (Trek Factory Racing), Chris Sutton (Vacansoleil - DMC) and Fran Ventoso (Euskaltel - Euskadi).

Previous winners

	First	Second	Third
2009	Hubert Dupont	Tony Martin	Lloyd Mondory
2011	Peter Sagan	Janez Brajkovic	Sylvain Chavanel
2014	Peter Stetina	Laurens Ten Dam	Hubert Dupont

Startlist

With such a strong field here its going to be hard to predict a Winner

Stage 1: Mantes-la-Jolie - Mantes-la-Jolie



The Paris - Nice starts with a fairly easy stage int he surroundings of Mantes-la-Jolie. The town in the outskirts of Paris is in the Yvelines department, from where the Paris - Nice has been starting lately. The riders will make a look to the northern of the city before facing 4 laps to a 30 kilometers loop to the south of the town that features the Cote de Vert. However, the mass sprint seems unavoidable.



The first intermediate sprint is placed at the first passage through the finish line. The break of the day only had 3 riders but it was not consolidated yet as they had only 1' 30'' on the main bunch. The riders in the break were Alessandro Ballan (BMC), Tiago Machado (Tinkoff) and Geraint Thomas (HTC). Cameron Meyer tried to join the front group but he was eventually reeled back in. The sprint in the group was won by Ben Swift ahead of Marcel Kittel and Kenny van Hummel.



At the third climb to the Cote de Vert, but only the second that awarded points, the gap of the break had grown to 4' 15''. The three riders are good rouleurs but the main bunch still has 55 kilometers to chase. Alessandro Ballan won the KoM sprint and will wear the mountains' jersey tomorrow. Meanwhile, Euskaltel, Trek and Lotto are marking the pace in the main bunch.



Tiago Machado tried a desperate late attack from the break but the bunch finally reeled him back with 13 kilometers to go. Astana, Belkin and Sky have taken over the work at the front of the bunch, which reflects the confidence they have in their respective sprinters. The remaining kilometers to the finish line are completely flat so the mass sprint will be unavoidable.



The teams of the sprinters left no room for surprises and with 3 kilometers to go 3 trains had already formed. Belkin was the first on the road, with Alessandro Petacchi ready to lead Kenny van Hummel out and Tyler Farrar behind. Astana was next as Anthony Roux was ahead of Marcel Kittel with Chris Sutton behind and Sky was on the left hand side of the road with Tom Boonen at the front ahead of Ben Swift. Jurgen Roelandts was also joining the party, right behind the British. The three trains were fairly matched, so lots of riders have a chance today.



Alessandro Petacchi was the strongest of the helpers and delivered Kenny van Hummel to a perfect position ahead of the last kilometer of the stage. However, Astana will probably suffer in the sprints as Anthony Roux is not as good a lead-out man as Luca Paolini is and Marcel Kittel was dropping back. Simone Ponzi was also trying to join the final sprint in a bid to add a few bonus seconds that help him in the chase for the win in the French race.



The sprint seemed controlled by Belkin but Jose Joaquin Rojas emerged from behind to overtake the Dutch sprint train and take the lead with 500 meters remaining. Van Hummel reacted to that move and came out from behind Alessandro Petacchi, at a time when the two Belkin riders were second and third on the road. The leading places in the sprint were completed by Tyler Farrar and Elia Viviani.



Kenny van Hummel wins in Mantes-la-Jolie! Jose Joaquin Rojas eventually lost speed and dropped behind so Kenny van Hummel took the win in the opening stage of the Paris - Nice. The Dutch had only won once last year, albeit a stage in the Tour de France, and has already matched that record today. The threat in the latter part of the sprint came from Elia Viviani, who progressed next to the barriers and was very close to snatching the win. The Italian has shown progress on his sprinting abilities and could soon be battling regularly for the wins.

The top 5 in the stage was completed by Tyler Farrar, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Marcel Kittel. As we mentioned, the German might have a problem with the lead outs as today he was already blocked by the time he started sprinting. He could even be better off trying to follow other trains. Tomorrow another sprint is expected but in a quite longer stage.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	3h35'26
2		Elia Viviani	Cannondale	s.t.
3		Tyler Farrar	Tinkoff - Saxo	s.t.
4		José Joaquín Rojas	HTC - Highroad	s.t.
5		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
6		Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
7		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
8		Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
9		Francisco José Ventoso	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
10		Matthew Goss	Movistar Team	s.t.

General Classification

1		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	3h35'21
2		Elia Viviani	Cannondale	+ 2
3		Tiago Machado	Tinkoff - Saxo	+ 3
4		Geraint Thomas	HTC - Highroad	s.t.
5		Tyler Farrar	Tinkoff - Saxo	+ 4
6		José Joaquín Rojas	HTC - Highroad	+ 5
7		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
8		Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
9		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
10		Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	s.t.

Points

1		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	57
2		Elia Viviani	Cannondale	35
3		Ben Swift	Team Sky	32
4		Marcel Kittel	Astana Pro Team	31
5		Tyler Farrar	Tinkoff - Saxo	30

Mountain

1		Alessandro Ballan	BMC Racing Team	10
2		Geraint Thomas	HTC - Highroad	8
3		Tiago Machado	Tinkoff - Saxo	6
4		Maarten Tjallingii	AG2R La Mondiale	1
5		Thibaut Pinot	Discovery Channel	1

Young

1		Francesco Gavazzi	Cannondale	3h35'26
2		Michael Van Staeyen	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
3		Moreno Hofland	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
4		Michael Morkov	Tinkoff - Saxo	s.t.
5		Zdenek Stybar	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.

Teams

1		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	10h46'18
2		Astana Pro Team	s.t.
3		Lotto Belisol	s.t.
4		Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
5		Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.