Levi Leipheimer seemed to enjoy his best years as a cyclist when he was a bit younger but at 30 he seems to be living a second youth. To be honest, he never was a very promising rider to start with but on 2011 he surprisingly got himself a 4th place in the Giro d'Italia. However, it seemed like a one hit wonder for Leipheimer as he never managed to repeat that kind of performance. His inconsistency meant that most of his career he has enjoyed a more or less free role but seldom has been the leader of a team.
However, having a free role seems to suit Leipheimer better than having the pressure to perform and bring consistent points to the team to survive in the rankings. Take as an example this season. The leaders of HTC are Andrew Talansky, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Juanjo Cobo. However, no one is performing as well as Leipheimer so far. It is true that the targets of the American this season were in the early part of the year but it is also true that he exceeded the expectations that were put in him.
Leipheimer seems to have broken most of the curses he had in his career. In the beginning of May he managed to get his first podium in a race, the Tour de Romandie, while at the end of the month he managed to get his first win in the last time trial of the Giro d'Italia. There is a key improvement from Leipheimer to get these wins, his time trial abilities. He had always seemed good against the clock but this year he has been one notch above his average performances. It will be interesting to see if he can maintain his peak of form until the "national" championships that will be held in Colombia but he will have difficult rivals, like Cameron Meyer and Tejay van Garderen.
Leipheimer has one more year at HTC and, even if he manages to finish the season on a high it would seem wise to keep Leipheimer from the spotlight and give him lower targets to get the best out of him. The American will probably never win a Grand Tour but in the week-long races he can do great performances.
The sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse is the last that the sprinters will be able to contend. However, as yesterday, the stage is not completely easy as there are a few hills along the route and especially in the final circuit around Bischoftzell. The favorites should therefore be the same riders as yesterday. Michael Matthews could well have another chance to take the stage if he has the legs he had yesterday.
The break of the day was rather large considering that Euskaltel and Katusha were willing to control the race. The group of 9 had riders like Maxim Iglinskiy (Tinkoff), Enrico Gasparotto (Quickstep), Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil), Lars Bak (Ag2r) and Richie Porte (Orica). They had a gap of 4' 30'' at the second intermediate sprint in Mullheim, with 97 kilometers to go. The bunch is going to have to work hard if they want to chase back the break because the quality of the riders and the terrain will make it more difficult than in the usual flat stage.
The main bunch, with Euskaltel and Katusha still leading the way, does not want any surprises and it started to close the gap quite early. With 50 kilometers to go, in the first climb to the third category hill in the final circuit, the gap to the front group was at the 4 minutes mark. They were slowly but steadily decreasing the gap. The most interesting part of the stage is the fight between Lieuwe Westra and Jonathan Hivert on the KoM classification. However, the Dutch had a big lead and was 20 points clear of David Lopez at that point.
The adventure of the break was not destined to reach the finish line. Nevertheless, Lieuwe Westra tried to make it survive a while longer and attacked from the group. He had 20 seconds on the bunch with 8 kilometers remaining. Trek had started working at the front to help Katusha and Euskaltel, especially with Philippe Gilbert. The Belgian set a high pace at the front of the pack during the previous 10 kilometers and quickly reeled them back in.
The favorites passed the last hill without problems but there was a crash shortly before that involved riders that were doing a good job in the race, like Andriy Grivko and Anthony Roux. Once the climb was done, the last 5 kilometers are mostly downhill except for part of the last kilometer. Katusha was trying to form a sprint train but Alexandre Serebryakov lost Simone Ponzi from his wheel. They are not as experienced as other teams forming sprint trains. Meanwhile, Daniele Bennati is working for Giacomo Nizzolo and there are other riders that will play for the stage like Alexander Kristoff, Peter Sagan and Stefan van Dijk.
Sacha Modolo reached the front of the pack with a couple of kilometers to go and delivered Alexander Kristoff to the first position ahead of the last kilometer. The Italian was so strong that most of the other sprinters have lost track with the Euskaltel train and are going to have a hard time closing this gap. By the looks of it, Euskaltel should probably have gone for the Italian to win the stage instead of Kristoff as he already showed yesterday that he was the strongest in the team.
Sacha Modolo was still leading Alexander Kristoff with 600 meters remaining and it seems like the rest of the field is already too far behind to catch the Norwegian when he launches his final sprint. Actually, the third on the road is another Euskaltel rider, Fran Ventoso. Among those leading the chase are Stefan van Dijk and Simone Ponzi but they don't look to have the speed to close the gap they have ahead of them. Michael Matthews, who won yesterday, is not even in the picture as the first Lotto rider is Robert Kiserlovski.
Alexander Kristoff wins in Bischofszell! The Norwegian takes the win almost without sprinting after Sacha Modolo delivered him to the last 400 meters with no one around. This is the fourth win in the season for Kristoff, who at his 29 years is emerging as one of the top sprinters. With 4 wins this season he ties at the top of the wins with Peter Stetina and Michael Matthews. The good news for Euskaltel did not finish with the win as Sacha Modolo took the second position in the stage ahead of Giacomo Nizzolo. Peter Sagan and Simone Ponzi completed the top 5.
Ponzi's 5th place and the points he collected in the intermediate sprint have put him very close to the win in the points' competition. Meanwhile, Andriy Grivko lost the best young rider jersey after crashing 7 kilometers from the finish line. Tomorrow's stage will be crucial for the GC, given that the 35 kilometers long time trial can produce significant differences among the favorites.
The time long time trial will probably be one of the most important stage in the race in order to determine the final winner of the Tour de Suisse. Today's stage with the start and the finish line in Gossau is not exactly ideal for the specialists against the clock. The hills around the way will probably make it good for the strongest riders. Nevertheless, it should be a stage that will make the GC a bit clearer.
Cameron Meyer (Quickstep) is a rider to take into account in any time trial. However, he could not match the best time of the day when he started and he took the second provisional place 15 seconds behind David Millar. There is lots of wind around the town of Gossau and the marks set by some riders will be conditioned by when they started. This was the last test for Cameron Meyer before the Rest of the World Championships, where he will be the favorite.
Levi Leipheimer (HTC) was also one of the favorites to take the stage win but the American's fitness seems to be fading and he could only get the 3rd provisional place 11 seconds behind the new leader of the stage, Tiago Machado. Leipheimer was 19th in the GC ahead of the stage and ended up gaining 1 place but his performance was a bit disappointing considering his recent good results.
Emanuele Sella (BMC) was inside the top 10 ahead of the time trial but the Italian was not among the best riders in the time trial. Sella lost 1' 03'' with Andrew Talansky, who had taken over the first position of the stage. The Italian is the leader of the BMC team taking advantage of the absence of Peter Stetina from the race. However, he is only 7 seconds ahead of his teammate Oliver Zaugg in the GC which might put his leadership of the team in question.
Marco Pinotti was the surprising best GC rider for Quickstep given that Andy Schleck lost a lot of time in the Verbier stage. The Italian was quite good today but he did not manage to take the lead, he was 2nd 9 seconds behind Andrew Talansky. Pinotti has a good chance of getting a top 10 in the GC, which good be a great result for the Italian, given that he is not a leader of the team.
Chris Froome (Sky) had also a good chance to get a top 10 in the final classification. He managed to keep the 6th place in the GC after taking the 3rd provisional spot in the stage 12 seconds behind Andrew Talansky. The British has not been particularly good this season, with a 6th place at the Liege - Bastogne - Liege as his best performance of the season.
The time trial did not seem to produce any big differences among the top riders in the GC. Cadel Evans (Movistar) was the next up and he took the second provisional place from Marco Pinotti, 8 seconds behind Andrew Talansky. The Australian has had a few good results this season and maintaining a place in the top 5 in the Tour de Suisse will add to his improving reputation.
Tejay van Garderen (Trek) made the predictions good and took the provisional lead of the stage 3 seconds ahead of Andrew Talansky. The American basically won the Tour last year on the time trials but he would have favored a flatter stage today. This will leave Van Garderen 14 seconds clear of Cadel Evans in the GC and is a good test for the Tour de France and the time trial of the Rest of the World Championships.
Rui Costa (Tinkoff) looks really fit for the Tour de Suisse and he surprisingly managed to beat Tejay van Garderen in the time trial. The Portuguese was 19 seconds quicker in the 34 kilometers. This result tells a lot about the profile of this time trial. As with the prologue, it is much more suited to the hills riders than it is to the time trial specialists. Rui Costa will finish the day 3rd in the GC but still will be within reach of the first place.
The second place in the GC before the stage belonged to Mathias Frank (Garmin). The Swiss was again outstanding and took the first place from Rui Costa improving 8 seconds on the Portuguese time. Frank could well take the lead if David Lopez has a bad day at the office today. In fact, the Spaniard almost has to improve on Tejay van Garderen's time to keep his yellow jersey given the performance by the Swiss.
David Lopez (Euskaltel) had his leader's jersey at risk given that he needed a very good performance and he is not the best in the time trials. However, he only lost 21 seconds to Mathias Frank and that gave him the third place in the stage. The Spaniard was even better that Tejay van Garderen in the stage.
In the end, Lopez kept the leader's jersey and maintained a 9 seconds advantage on Mathias Frank in the GC. Rui Costa will keep the 3rd place, 1' 11'' behind Frank. The two stages remaining will be very interesting as the race is up for grabs for a few riders.
The last couple of stages of the Tour de Suisse will be decisive in the GC, especially considering that the top 2 is only 9 seconds apart. Today's stage will be much easier than tomorrow's but the climb to Arosa could well provide some differences among the favorites. However, the stage is quite short (less than 150 kilometers) and not really hard taking out the last climb of the day. Nevertheless, there are many riders that have to take back time in the GC and will be willing to attack sooner than later.
The break of the day had a good chance of taking the stage win today, especially considering that Euskaltel did not bother to control the pace of the bunch too much. Therefore, the break had as many as 10 riders, including Cameron Meyer (Quickstep), David Millar (Vacansoleil), Jose Serpa (Ag2r), Michael Rogers (Trek) and Geraint Thomas (HTC). With 90 kilometers to go they had a gap of 7 minutes over the main bunch and growing.
Tinkoff started to chase for a while but bailed out of it before the first intermediate sprint of the day, in Sarganz. The Russian team probably wanted to see if other teams collaborated but no one seemed to be willing to make the effort. The break reached the sprint 7' 30'' ahead, quietly increasing their lead bit by bit. The size of the break meant that there were no points available for the riders in the bunch, what puts Simone Ponzi very close to getting the final points' jersey.
The interesting part of the stage started with the climb to Castiel. The climb to Arosa could even be considered as 1 big climb but the organizers decided to put a KoM sprint in Castiel. With 26 kilometers to go and 4 to the top of the climb the break still held 6' 45'' on the main bunch. Euskaltel had started to increase the pace not to encourage the attacks and to reduce the gap to the break, given that Michael Rogers and Carlos Betancur are 9 minutes behind in the GC.
The climb to Castiel was quite fast in the peloton but that did not prevent several attacks from outsiders to the overall win in the Tour de Suisse. Chris Froome was the most successful as the British crossed the KoM sprint 20 seconds ahead of Kanstantsin Siutsou and Andrew Talansky and 30 seconds ahead of the group of the leader. Euskaltel was not very worried, given that the slightly uphill terrain of the middle part of the climb to Arosa would be very hard to do alone. Nevertheless, the peloton had already been reduced to 75 riders.
Jose Serpa had attacked from the break in Castiel looking for the KoM points. However, he did not wait for the rest of the break and tried to continue on his own. With 10 kilometers to go the Colombian, who won the mountains jersey in the Giro, had a gap of 30 seconds on his fellow riders from the break. Among the favorites, Hubert Dupont, Mathias Frank and Robert Kiserlovski had joined Chris Froome but their gap to the peloton was only 15 seconds. David Lopez seems very calm even with Mathias Frank on the attack. Among the riders who dropped from this group the biggest surprise was Dries Devenyns, who should have stayed with the best.
The dangerous group that had attacked from the group of the leader was quickly reeled back in by Euskaltel. However, Mathias Frank had not wasted all his bullets and attacked again as soon as the riders reached the final steeper part of the climb to Arosa. The Swiss was quickly followed by David Lopez and Rui Costa this time, as they were very close to the finish and David Lopez could afford no gaps to appear. In the meantime, Jose Serpa was caught in the front of the race and Nairo Quintana tried to attack, although unsuccessfully.
Domenico Pozzovivo had opened a gap at the front of the race but he was caught inside the last kilometer by Michael Rogers. The break group was starting to open up and some riders were losing contact after the Australian increase in the pace. Rogers was followed closely by Geraint Thomas and Carlos Betancur ahead of the final sprint for the line. In the group of the leader all the favorites are together again. It seems like everyone is waiting for the last couple of kilometers to attack.
Michael Rogers wins in Arosa! The Australian was the strongest climber in the break and he had enough with a final kilometer push to take the victory, his first of the season. It will probably give him some confidence, as his season so far had been unremarkable. Rogers was only followed by Carlos Betancur, who seemed able to overtake him for the win at some point, but the Colombian had to settle for the second place in the stage. The top 5 was completed by Geraint Thomas, Sergey Firsanov and Cameron Meyer.
The group of the leader crossed the finish line 2' 47'' behind Michael Rogers led by David Lopez. The Spaniard wanted to make a statement and attacked in the last kilometer. His final rush was so good that he almost put a bit of time between him and the rest of the favorites. Mathias Frank and Robert Kiserlovski followed him across the line. With today's result everything will be decided in tomorrow's final stage. Only 9 seconds separate David Lopez from Mathias Frank so the stage will probably be thrilling.
The UCI took advantage of the international peloton being close to its headquarters in Switzerland to announce the calendar for the 2016 season. As always in the recent seasons, there will be 2 Grand Tours, the Tour de France missing out for the next term. On the other hand, this will be the first season that will feature the 5 monuments of cycling.
The venues of the National and World Championships wre also announced. The Worlds will probably favour the sprinters as they will be held in Qatar, while the routes of the National Championships are expected to be hillier, as they take place in Belgium and Australia.
The Tour de Suisse comes to an end with the most difficult stage of the week. The 217 kilometers that separate Nafels-Lintharena from Sorenberg could potentially make significant changes in the GC, but it could also mean nothing depending on the attitude of the riders. If they don't attack it won't be for a lack of opportunities, as the climbs to the Glaubenbielen and, especially, the Glaubenberg are categorized HC. The last of those climbs is 42 kilometers from the finish line, so a solo attack will be difficult to maintain.
The break of the day was rather big. 15 riders made it in the group, including Francesco Gavazzi (Cannondale), Oscar Freire (Lampre), Pablo Lastras (Discovery), Giovanni Visconti (Trek), Samuel Dumoulin (Belkin), Rein Taaramae (Katusha), Jonathan Hivert (Sky) and Riccardo Zoidl (Lotto). At the first categorized climb of the day, Rengg, they had a gap of 8' 30'' on the peloton. However, with 113 kilometers remaining and a lot of hard climbs it was difficult to guess whether they would be able to maintain the gap.
Euskaltel had no rush in chasing the break and no team seemed willing to increase the pace in the main bunch during the climb to the Glaubenbielen. The finish line in Sorenberg is placed 4 kilometers before the top of the climb, just before the hardest part of the mountain starts. The gap to the break had rocketed to 11 minutes and the confidence in the break seemed to be increasing, as they only had the Glaubenberg and the final climb to Sorenberg ahead of them. Jonathan Hivert might take the KoM classification if he is strong in the next climbs.
The Glaubenberg starts with a very tough first couple of kilometers. Some riders from the break started to suffer at that point but the group still was intact with 15 riders. 12 kilometers from the top of the climb they maintained a gap of 10' 30'', only slightly reduced from the top of the Glaubenbielen. In principle, Pablo Lastras and Rein Taaramae should be the strongest riders in the break but it was difficult to make predictions in such a varied group. On the other hand, Francesco Gavazzi had it all in his favor to take the best young rider classification.
Euskaltel had increased the pace at the beginning of the Glaubenberg but it did not prevent the attacks from outsiders to the overall win halfway through the climb. Jean-Christophe Peraud, Cadel Evans and Andrew Talansky were the first to attempt an attack but their first effort was quickly reeled back in. Jurgen van den Broeck and Robert Kiserlovski seemed also willing to go on the attack. The increase in pace of the bunch meant that the gap decreased to 8' 30''. With 47 kilometers remaining it could not be enough.
The first attacks in the middle part of the climb soon were followed by other attempts and the race broke among the favorites in the second part of the climb. A group of 5 riders (Hubert Dupont, Jurgen van den Broeck, Jean-Christophe Peraud, Robert Kiserlovski and Andrew Talansky) had opened a gap at the top of the climb of 55'' over another group of 4 riders (Cadel Evans, Chris Froome, David Lopez and Oliver Zaugg). The group with the rest of the favorites was losing 1' 35'' to Peraud's group. This race situation was very favorable for David Lopez. The Spaniard was not relaying in his group and he was forcing Mathias Frank to work beacuse he had no teammates. Tiago Machado was chasing for Tinkoff as well in Frank's group.
The harmony was broken in the break shortly after the descent of the Glaubenbeg. An attack from Rein Taaramae, Wilco Kelderman and Peter Velits meant that the three riders crossed the 20 kilometers mark 25 seconds ahead of the rest of the break. Their gap to the favorites had dramatically decreased in the last part of the climb to the Glaubenberg and now was only 3 minutes to Jean-Christophe Peraud's group. The group of the leader was following, 3' 40'' behind and the rest of the favorites were trailing 4' 25'' behind. The gaps have not decreased in the last favorable 20 kilometers, which plays in the hands of David Lopez. The Spaniard might take the overall win more easily than expected.
Ryder Hesjedal did a great job of bringing the back group to catch the 2 groups that were ahead. The numbers counted in the chase and with 10 kilometers remaining all of the favorites are together again. It was quite a surprising move from BMC, as they had Oliver Zaugg in the second group but decided to play for Emanuele Sella today. If it had not been for Hesjedal, Garmin and Tinkoff did not seem to have the legs to chase them down. The gap to the break was still 2' 55'', which should be enough. Once the groups were reunited Dani Moreno set the pace for Euskaltel, not to encourage further attacks.
Oscar Freire made the job of bringing the escapees back to the bigger group of the break and with 5 kilometers remaining the 15 riders are again together. This is the point where the climb to the Glaubenbielen started to get tougher. They cannot take a respite because the pace increased again in the group of the leader. Mathias Frank attacked from the group and left David Lopez behind. Only Jean-Christophe Peraud and Jurgen van den Broeck tried to follow but they could not keep up with the pace of the Swiss. David Lopez will have to respond to this attack because otherwise the overall win will slip through his fingers.
Mathias Frank stayed ahead of David Lopez's group until the last kilometer of the stage. That was the point when he caught up with the riders from the early break and he got past them quite easily. However, his gap was being reduced by the work of David Lopez. With 800 meter remaining Frank was at the front, looking to open a few seconds between him and his chasers. Rui Costa, David Lopez, Hubert Dupont and Marco Pinotti were starting to overtake riders from the early break as well. The situation was a bit chaotic.
David Lopez wins in Sorenberg! The Spaniard did not allow Mathias Frank to get the stage win and won the stage and the race with an outstanding attack in the last kilometer of the stage that had no answer from the rest of the field. Lopez was so strong that he even managed to put 9 seconds between him and Frank, who took the second place in the stage and in the GC. The third place was for Yannick Martinez, a great result for Orica, while Rui Costa and Oscar Freire completed the top 5.
The Tour de Suisse win is the best result in the career of David Lopez, whose next target should be an improvement on his third places in Grand Tours. His performance in Switzerland means that he will get to the Tour as one of the favorites to take the overall win. He was surrounded in the podium by the local Mathias Frank and Rui Costa. Frank seems to also be in a good position ahead of the Tour de France but for Rui Costa this is the final to this part of the season as he will be skipping the Tour and will focus on the end of year classics.
The National Championships will be held for the first time since the new organization of the World Tour was presented in 2009. The setup of the Championships this first year will be of two separate competitions: the European Championships and the Rest of the World Championships. The first edition of the Rest of the World Championships will be held in Duitama, where the World Championships were held 20 years ago, in 1995.
The route of the time trial will be quite flat. The riders will head to Sogamoso and then come back to Duitama in a route that follows the river Chicamocha. Therefore, the favorites will be the pure time trial specialists, mainly Cameron Meyer and Tejay van Garderen. We have no history of the Championships but it would be very surprising if the national champion jersey does not go either to USA or Australia.
Favorites:
- Cameron Meyer (Omega Pharma - Quickstep): The Australian Cameron Meyer is still the reference on the time trial space but he seems to be losing his touch this year. He has not been able to win any of the time trials this year and his performances have been a bit lacking. Nevertheless, there has not been too many really flat time trials and that usually hurts his chances.
- Tejay van Garderen (Trek Factory Racing): The season of Van Garderen has been a bit lacking so far. The American only has a podium in the Tour de Romandie and a 5th place in the Tour de Suisse so far with no wins. However, his main target for the year is again the Tour de France, which he won last year. The Tour de Suisse was not completely satisfying so there are many doubts as to whether he will be able to perform as well as last year.
- Cadel Evans (Movistar Team): Cadel Evans has had a solid first part of the season and is the rider holding the Movistar team together, as he has 37% of the points of the team in the World Tour rankings. His latest result, 6th in the Tour de Suisse, proves that he has become an alternative to the usual rider in the week-long races. A win today will be difficult against Meyer and Van Garderen so he will probably be happy with a place in the podium.
- Andrew Talansky (HTC - Highroad): The last of the favorites is another American, Andrew Talansky. The American skipped the Giro d'Italia this year to focus on the Tour de France but in the Tour de Suisse he seemed to be a bit short of fitness. The National Championships will be a good testing ground to see how Talansky is approaching the French race.
Other important riders that will take part in the time trial will be Levi Leipheimer (HTC - Highroad), Michael Rogers (Trek Factory Racing), Peter Stetina (BMC Racing Team), Tom Danielson (Belkin Pro Cycling), Michael Matthews (Lotto - Belisol) and Richie Porte (Orica - Greenedge).
The route of the time trial championships was completely flat. The riders started and finished in Duitama and the route went back and forth to Sogamoso. At 38 kilometers long it would be a bit longer than the upcoming time trial in the Mont Saint Michel in the Tour de France so we might have an idea of what the differences among the favorites could be in the main time trial of the Tour de France.
The first among the favorites to start was Levi Leipheimer. The American has come to Colombia looking to extend his peak in form a bit more before resting for the Tour de France. He will only come back to racing in the Eneco Tour. Leipheimer easily took the first position at the finish line by being 52 seconds faster than George Hincapie. However, even given the big gap, this did not mean it was an outstanding performance.
As Levi Leipheimer, Michael Rogers (Trek) was the second option of his team to attempt to win the national championships. The Australian is also at the end of his peak of fitness, as he will also skip the Tour de France. However, he was a very good reference for his teammate Tejay van Garderen. Rogers managed to improve on Leipheimer's best time and took the lead by completing the route 15 seconds quicker than the American.
Richie Porte (Orica) is the only rider from a Pro Continental team that might have a chance of filtering in the final top 10 of the race. However, his result was not very hopeful as he took the 6th provisional time 1' 13'' behind Michael Rogers. Orica has been the weakest team in the Pro Continental Tour so far but this did not seem to be changing today.
The only rider Belkin could send to Duitama was Tom Danielson. He did not have a chance to take the overall win but his performance was quite solid. When he crossed the finish line he was 3rd best, 32 seconds behind Michael Rogers. The American will head to the Tour de France after Sunday's race to support Hubert Dupont in his bid to win another Tour.
Michael Matthews was Lotto's best chance to take a good result in the time trial but he was short of beating Tom Danielson. The Australian took the 4th provisional time at the finish line 36 seconds behind Michael Rogers. Lotto will have a hard time on Sunday as well, given that only Rigoberto Uran and him will be at the starting line.
The winner of the Giro d'Italia, Peter Stetina (BMC), did not want to miss the first edition of the National Championships and, even though he does not have many chances of winning the time trial, gauge himself against some of the rivals for the Tour de France, especially Tejay van Garderen. However, his test was not completely satisfactory as he took the 5th provisional time, 37 seconds behind Michael Rogers.
Cadel Evans (Movistar) has had a very solid season so far and today's time trial was no less than what he has been achieving so far. The Australian managed to beat Michael Rogers' best time by clocking a 51' 42'', 20 seconds quicker than the Trek rider. This will guarantee at least the 4th place in the championships for him.
Andrew Talansky (HTC) will also be using the National Championships to gauge his form with the looks set in the Tour de France. The American has put a lot of effort on preparing the Tour this year, leaving results in other races aside. His 6th place in the last Vuelta a España makes us being optimistic about him. This sentiment got confirmed today as he improved on Cadel Evans' time by 25 seconds taking the lead and a guaranteed place in the podium.
The first of the two major favorites the take the win in the Championships was Tejay van Garderen (Trek). The defending champion of the Tour de France put everything he got in today's stage and managed to improve on Andrew Talansky's time and take the lead. The gap was an impressive 38 seconds, which put him well in the lead and looked very threatening for Cameron Meyer. The gap between him and Peter Stetina, probably the reference for the Tour, was 2 minutes, a significant amount of time.
The reference in the time trials for a long while has been Cameron Meyer. However, he seems to be losing the edge this year and he proved it again today. The Australian could only be 2nd, 14 seconds behind Tejay van Garderen. One has to wonder whether the leading role for Meyer in the Quickstep team was a bit too much but it is also true that only Frank Schleck and, to a lesser extent, Marco Pinotti are holding the team in the top 5 of the teams' classification.
The outcome of the race was very positive for Tejay van Garderen, who will have the honor of wearing the American jersey in the time trials for 1 year, starting with the upcoming Tour de France. This will also be a boost in morale for him, something he seemed to need after a season that was a bit inconsistent.
The European Championships will take place in Lannilis, France, for the first edition of the Championships. The area is known for hosting the Tro Bro Leon, a minor race with lots of dirt roads, the Roubaix of Bretagne. The time trial will be almost completely flat with only a couple of small hills in the final part of the stage. It will take the riders from Kernilis to Lannilis.
The quality of the field for the European Championships is much more even than that of the Rest of the World's. The clear best riders against the clock are Cameron Meyer and Tejay van Garderen so this will give other riders the chance to fight for the national jersey. Among the local riders only Jean-Christophe Peraud seems to have a shot at the win so he will probably have all the local support.
Favorites:
- Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery Channel): The only French among the favorites for the final win in the ITT Championships will surely be looking forward to winning the French national jersey at home. Peraud arrived in Discovery Channel this year and has had a few solid yet unspectacular performances, most notably the 4th place in the Tour de Romandie and a stage win in Pais Vasco.
- Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing): Cancellara had his eyes on the cobbled season this year but he only managed to get a 4th place in the Paris - Roubaix as the best result in the spring. As a very good time trialist he will also be willing to prove himself today. The Swiss will be heading to the Tour de France afterwards in a support role for his leader, Tejay van Garderen.
- Marco Pinotti (Omega Pharma - Quickstep): Marco Pinotti comes to the time trial in top shape after taking the 4th final place in the Tour de Suisse. The Italian has had a very solid season so far and his free role in the team is starting to look as not much for his performances. The fact that other Quickstep riders like Andy Schleck and Cameron Meyer have not done too well in the first half of the season is also helping raise the profile of the Italian.
- Chris Froome (Team Sky): Froome also has his best result of the season in Switzerland, where he got the 7th place the last week. However, he is on a different schedule from Pinotti, as he is preparing for the Tour de France after having skipped the Giro. The British will be probably grateful for a completely flat time trial as most of the ones that we had this year were hilly.
Other important riders that will feature in the European Time Trial Championships will be Robert Gesink (Ag2r - La Mondiale), Marcel Kittel (Astana Pro Team), Tiago Machado (Tinkoff - Saxo), Denis Menchov (Team Katusha), Bauke Mollema and David Millar (Vacansoleil - DMC).
The time trial from Kernilis to Lannilis, in Bretagne, is completely flat except for the last kilometers, with a couple of tiny hills that will also be part of the road race on Sunday. At 46 kilometers, the European Championship is quite a bit longer than the one celebrated in Colombia. The longer the time trial the more favored that the specialists against the clock normally are. There is also the possibility of wind affecting the stage but the last reports do not suggest that it will be a major factor.
Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil) was the first of the favorites to start and he did it quite a bit earlier than the rest of the men that opted to a podium today. However, it was not the best day at the office by Mollema and he could not even beat the time set by Mathias Frank a bit earlier in the day. The Dutch took the 2nd place, 10 seconds behind but his options of it being a good result were remote.
Denis Menchov has been pretty solid in his return season to Katusha and narrowly missed a top 10 place in the Giro d'Italia. However, given some of the results from the Russian in previous seasons it is clear that he can target something better. Today's time trial was very solid from him but even though he was 4 seconds ahead of the best time set by Rui Costa in the second intermediate step he could not beat the Portuguese's time at the finish line. Menchov took the second provisional time, only 2 seconds behind Costa.
Marcel Kittel (Astana) is a good against the clock, although he is clearly more focused in the mass sprints. He was Astana's best choice for a good result today and he was not bad, taking the 4th provisional best, 24 seconds behind Rui Costa. Kittel collected a few good positions in the Giro but is still lingering with only 1 win in the season, the first stage of the Tour Down Under. A good portion of Astana's opportunities to stay in the World Tour next season will lie on the back of the German, who will be showing up in the Tour de France next week.
Although he could not make it to the podium, Robert Gesink (Ag2r) passed his first serious test as a leader of the Ag2r team with good marks in the Giro d'Italia. The Dutch is a solid time trialist and was looking for a good result ahead of the Tour de France. However, his time was not that good and finished right behind Marcel Kittel, in the 5th provisional position, 24 seconds behind Rui Costa. It seems like Gesink might have had too much rest after the Giro and delay his top form in the Tour to the last week.
The local Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery) was among the top favorites to take the final win ahead of today's race. The French did not disappoint and managed to improve on Rui Costa's time by a massive 29 seconds. This performance would be very difficult to improve by any of the riders still to run today. Peraud has already opened his win count in the Discovery Channel team after taking one stage in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.
Fabian Cancellara (Trek) has had a disappointing season so far after only getting the 4th place in the Paris - Roubaix and missing out on the top 10 in the other cobbled races. The Swiss will be looking for other races to shine and the National time trial championships are perfect for him, as will the ITT World Championship. He did not manage to beat Jean-Christophe Peraud's time but took the 2nd provisional time, although 28 seconds behind. Nevertheless, this performance could well give him a place in the podium.
David Millar was the best chance for Vacansoleil today, even ahead of Bauke Mollema. The team was right, given that the British clearly improved Mollema's time and even got very close to Jean-Christophe Peraud. Millar was only 13 seconds slower than the French through the 46 kilometers of the stage and will be on the final podium almost for sure.
Chris Froome (Sky) was a solid candidate for the final podium in the race but he was slightly disappointing today and only managed to grab the 6th provisional time when he crossed the finish line in Lannilis. The British lost 41 seconds, almost 1 per kilometer, to Jean-Christophe Peraud. Froome was very good last week in the Tour de Suisse, where he finished 7th, but could not repeat his good performance today.
Tinkoff also had two good choices for the time trial and they chose to let Tiago Machado start last. However, he could not improve the time of his fellow Portuguese, Rui Costa. Machado took the 6th provisional place, 39 seconds behind Peraud. Machado has been completely overshadowed by Rui Costa so far this season and it is not looking to change anytime soon given the good performances from Costa.
Marco Pinotti (Quickstep) was the last rider to start and the only one that could prevent the win by the local rider. Pinotti rode hard but it was not possible for him to take the win. The Italian had to settle for the 3rd place of the podium, finishing 23 seconds behind the winner, Jean-Christophe Peraud. Quickstep was in the podiums of the two time trials but did not manage to win any of them.
The European rider that will have the opportunity to wear the national champion jersey in the time trials for the next year will be Jean-Christophe Peraud. The French will start to do it in the Tour de France, where better for him. The French will be delighted to have a national take the first win in the European Championships.
The Road National Championships will take the riders from Tunja to Duitama, where a circuit similar to the one raced in the 1995 World Championships has been prepared. The route is actually quite tough for this kind of championships, which normally favor either the hills riders or the sprinters. At 231 kilometers and almost 4,000 meters of cumulative height gained the winner of the day will have to be one of the strong riders in the field.
However, the race could also be a bit of a lottery given that only 38 riders are registered. The teams with the most riders, 4, are HTC - Highroad and Orica - Greenedge. The Australian team should try to take advantage of the situation as there are not many races in the season when they start with an advantage. Other than that, the lack of helpers that most leaders will suffer could turn the race in chaos or an early break could take the final win.
Favorites:
- Peter Stetina (BMC Racing Team): The current winner of the Giro d'Italia has to be the main favorite to take the win in Colombia. The American has been resting since the Giro ended and his performance in the time trial was not ideal but the route has a couple of climb that should be too hard for more than half of the riders in the small peloton. Additionally, he will enjoy the support from Ryder Hesjedal and George Hincapie.
- Cadel Evans (Movistar Team): Evans comes from a very solid 4th place in the ITT Championships and will be looking for a podium in the road race. The Australian will have Matthew Goss and Juan Jose Haedo with him but they will probably be a bit useless when they reach the final circuit in Duitama. Evans will have to battle on his own most probably for the last 100 kilometers.
- Tejay van Garderen (Trek Factory Racing): The ITT Champion will look forward to repeat, although he will be sharing the lead of the team with Simon Gerrans. Actually, it would make sense for Trek to put Gerrans' interests first, given that Van Garderen has already won the ITT. The American will have a good testing ground against some of his rivals in the Tour, especially Peter Stetina.
- Simon Gerrans (Trek Factory Racing): The National Championships seems to suit Simon Gerrans perfectly, given that the climbs are not that hard that the Australian cannot hold on with the best riders in the field. Additionally, Trek has probably the strongest team in the field and have plenty of cards to play. This should give them a tactical advantage but is not necessarily good for the personal options of the Australian.
Other important riders that will be at Duitama are Michael Matthews (Lotto - Belisol), Cameron Meyer (Omega Pharma - Quickstep), Andrew Talansky and Levi Leipheimer (HTC - Highroad) and Michael Rogers (Trek Factory Racing) and Miguel Angel Rubiano (Ag2r - La Mondiale).
The route of the day is completely conditioned by the double climb to El Hato and San Antonio. The climbs, close to Duitama, are part of the 21 kilometers long circuit that will be raced 6 times around the Colombian town. The first one is longer, between 4 and 5 kilometers, while the second one is 2 kilometers long but averages more than 8% gradient. The small peloton will also probably condition the strategies of the teams as well.
Surprisingly, there was not too much of a fight to form the break of the day and only 3 riders were ahead of the main bunch as the riders arrived in Duitama. They were Nairo Quintana (Orica), John Atapuma (Sky) and Mark Renshaw (Discovery). The Colombians were quite active in trying to open the gap, which had risen to as much as 8' 15'' with 123 kilometers remaining. The pace making in the peloton was done by HTC and Movistar but they were not in a rush to bring the break back.
BMC replaced Movistar at the front of the pack after 2 laps in the circuit. Matthew Goss and Juan Jose Haedo dropped out of the pack and this meant that Cadel Evans was alone. The riders doing the chasing for BMC were Ryder Hesjedal and George Hincapie. They managed to reduce the gap to 5 minutes with 75 kilometers remaining. The double climb was proving to be quite hard and several other riders are also suffering at the back of the pack.
The first important attack was done by Andrew Talansky in the penultimate lap. The American attacked halfway through the first climb in the circuit, El Hato, and that triggered an immediate response by Trek, who started chasing with their whole team: Tejay van Garderen, Simon Gerrans and Michael Rogers. The main group could start breaking up in this lap. The gaps with 38 kilometers to go are: 1' 35'' from the break to Andrew Talansky and 2' 05'' to the group of the favorites.
Andrew Talansky managed to catch up with the break in the climb to San Antonio and only Nairo Quintana could follow him. In the group of the favorites Cadel Evans started collaborating with Trek in order to follow Talansky but the gap to the American had actually slightly grown to 35 seconds. The American seems to be quite strong and the chasers barely have any domestiques to work for them in order to catch.
Andrew Talansky and Nairo Quintana were caught back in the descent towards the finish line in Duitama. This proves how difficult it is going to be for a solo attack to succeed, even in the last lap of the race. There were no further moves in the bunch as the circuit crossed Duitama and at the 19 kilometers to go mark the group of the favorites, with around 18 riders, started the last climb to El Hato. Cadel Evans and Peter Stetina started working straight away to keep the pace high and discard as many riders as possible early in the lap. Miguel Angel Rubiano and Rigoberto Uran are the local hopes for a podium today.
Peter Stetina made the first climb of the final lap very hard at the front of the pack and as soon as the second one started he attacked straight away. The second climb is the easier one to attack in for a pure climber, given that its slope is much harder in general. Only three riders managed to follow the hard attack by the American: Andrew Talansky, Cadel Evans and Tejay van Garderen. There is no reaction from anyone else in the group and with 12 kilometers remaining they might not be caught again if they reach some kind of agreement to collaborate.
Peter Stetina attacked again right at the top of the climb and, even though initially only Tejay van Garderen had followed, the four riders came together again at the start of the descent. With 5 kilometers remaining they were starting to play cat and mouse as they seemed to have built a big enough lead over the chasing group. The national champion jersey was going to go either to USA or Australia today.
Andrew Talansky attacked with 3 kilometers to go and the doubts on the rest of the break gave him a lead of 30 seconds with 1.5 kilometers to go. It seems like the National Champion will go to the USA as the time trial championship did. Tejay van Garderen decided to chase but it seemed like it was already too late for them to catch back Talansky. The 24 year old seemed set to take the win.
Andrew Talansky wins in Duitama! The American was the most attacking rider of the day and he got his reward by taking the National Championship home. It is very important for an American team to grab the USA national jersey, as that will give them a lot more exposure at their home markets. This is Talansky's second win of the season, after the stage he took in the Paris - Nice. It will also mean a good boost to his confidence ahead of the Tour de France.
In the sprint for the second place Cadel Evans was the strongest. The Australian from Movistar was quite ambitious today but in the end he had to settle for a place in the podium. He will be joined also by Peter Stetina in the podium, while Tejay van Garderen was 4th in the stage. The second group was not in a rush to get to the finish line, once the medals were out of reach. The sprint in that group was won by Robbie McEwen, ahead of Miguel Angel Rubiano.
The first edition of the European Championships will take place in a circuit around the French town of Lannilis. The route is part of the Tro Bro Leon and it will include one of the dirt tracks or sterratos that form the French race. The circuit will be suitable for strong riders because it is a continuous up and down of small hills. It will be a race difficult to control by the main bunch but a more or less mass sprint is not discarded either.
Unlike in Colombia, the favorites for the race have nothing to do with the favorites in the time trial. The sprinters that can go over the hills should be the favorites and the distance of the race, close to 250 kilometers, will also be an added difficulty.
Favorites:
- Ben Swift (Team Sky): Swift has not had the best of the seasons so far but he has still managed to get two quality wins, in the Tour de Romandie and the Giro d'Italia. The British is the Sky rider with the most points in the World Tour so far, which tells you that Sky is not having a great season either. Swift should be able to hold on with the best today and if he manages to stay with the front group he will be among the top 3 favorites to take the win in the sprint.
- Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel - Euskadi): Kristoff has been outstanding so far this season. The Norwegian has already managed to win 4 times this season in an Euskaltel team that is crowded with riders with more or less the same characteristics as him, including Fran Ventoso, Lloyd Mondory and Sacha Modolo. As a matter of fact, it is unclear what the strategy that Euskaltel will follow today in order to maximize their chances.
- Marcel Kittel (Astana Pro Team): Kittel probably has on his shoulders one of the most difficult tasks that a rider can have. He is the rider where Astana placed their hopes to keep them in the top division of World Cycling. The German, who is perceived among the top 3 sprinters in the World, has had a very inconsistent season and only managed to get 1 win in the season opener Tour Down Under. He will be hoping for a race that is not too hard today in order not to lose track with the best and get to contend in a final sprint.
- Francisco Ventoso (Euskaltel - Euskadi): Fran Ventoso is the best rider in the hills among the favorites. The Spaniard needs the race to be quite tough in order to eliminate all those sprinters that are better than him. However, he could be very dangerous in a reduced sprint. As we said, Euskaltel has many options and they could well send Ventoso on breaks in the last laps to diversify their chances.
Other important riders that might have a chance to win are Simone Ponzi (Team Katusha), Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing), Lloyd Mondory (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Jose Joaquin Rojas (HTC - Highroad), Kenny van Hummel (Belkin Pro Cycling) and Stefan van Dijk (Giant - Shimano).
A beautiful day in the north of France welcomes the riders to the 250 kilometers long European Road Championship. They will have to do 13 laps to a 19 kilometers long circuit around the town of Lannilis that is plagued with small hills, one of them (Kerneach an Traon) with sterrato. The circuit has a resemblance to the GP Ouest France in Plouay and the outcome could be similar, either with a late attack winning or a rather big sprint finish.
The break of the day was not allowed to be very big in size and was controlled by the bunch in the first part of the race. The group of 5 was formed by Pablo Lastras (Discovery), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Franco Pellizotti (Astana), Diego Ulissi (Lampre) and John Gadret (FDJ). Euskaltel tried to filter Daniel Moreno in the break but in the end they could not do it and the Spaniard team took control of the bunch. They have plenty of riders that might do well today, including Alexander Kristoff and Fran Ventoso.
The race was fairly quiet but the gap to the break started to drop slowly after half the race was done. With 34 kilometers to go, slightly less than 2 laps, it was only 2' 10''. Chris Froome was leading the group through the sterrato hill for Sky, which was now helping Euskaltel. Other riders that aim to do well in the Tour de France, like David Lopez and Laurens Ten Dam, were also collaborating at the front of the pack and showing that they can also help their teammates.
As the peloton crossed the finish line for the last lap it seemed like the race was headed for a mass sprint in Lannilis. However, Gregory Rast did not think so and attacked. The Swiss was followed by Lieuwe Westra and Fabian Cancellara but there were others like Simone Ponzi and Philippe Gilbert that tried to followed but did not have the legs. At the 16 kilometers mark the break still had 45 seconds to Rast's group and 1' 10'' on the main bunch. Euskaltel and Cannondale are leading the chase of these dangerous riders.
The first attempt in the last lap did not succeed but almost as they were caught Tom Boonen tried it. The three that were ahead, Lieuwe Westra, Gregory Rast and Fabian Cancellara followed the Belgian. However, Cancellara seemed not to be relaying at the break as Trek had Andre Greipel at the bunch. This is a dubious decision by the American team. Nevertheless, this attack made the peloton doubt and Euskaltel was not willing to do all the work of chasing.
Not everyone in the break was collaborating and Lieuwe Westra decided that he would better try it on his own. The Dutch attacked with 6 kilometers to go and had a gap of 25 seconds with 4 kilometers remaining. Westra was going to be difficult to catch back but the main bunch had awakened and had swallowed everyone else. Tom Boonen is now leading the chase. Sky has Ben Swift close to the front but other important riders like Simone Ponzi and Elia Viviani are also around.
Lieuwe Westra was still at the front of the race with 2 kilometers remaining, although his gap had been reduced to 15 seconds at that time. It might even be enough for the Dutch but the last kilometer is slightly uphill and is going to feel long. Chris Froome jumped after his wheel in a desperate attempt but in the group it is his teammate Tom Boonen who is working for Ben Swift now that his chances are over. Simone Ponzi, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Elia Viviani are all well positioned behind the British. It will be a good sprint if Westra is caught.
Lieuwe Westra tried until the end but was eventually caught in the last kilometer of the race. As the peloton had turned left to face the last 800 meters Jose Joaquin Rojas led the way ahead of Elia Viviani. However, it was not all sprinters that joined the sprint as Philippe Gilbert was third ahead of Ben Swift and Bjorn Leukemans. The length of the race and the slightly uphill finish seems to have encouraged some of the classics riders to join the party.
Jose Joaquin Rojas wins in Lannilis! The Spaniard took the lead at the left hand turn and never gave it back. This is the first win of the season for Rojas, who won 8 times last year but was having trouble winning in 2015. The Spaniard only marginally beat Bjorn Leukemans. The World Champion was surprisingly quick for a rider that does not have sprinting as one of his characteristics. The third spot in the podium was for Elia Viviani, while the top 5 was completed by Philippe Gilbert and Giacomo Nizzolo.
The disappointing performance of the day was for Euskaltel. The Spanish team controlled the race during the whole day but their best rider at the end of the day was Alexander Kristoff, 11th. The race in Lannilis was the last before the Tour de France, which starts next Saturday. Jose Joaquin Rojas will proudly wear the National Champion jersey starting in the Tour.
