The Paris - Nice starts this year with a time trial in the Yvelines department. The stage is a bit longer than the usual prologue, at 9.4 kilometers, and it features a small hill close to the start. A few seconds are expected to open among the favorites. The main contenders for the stage should be the usual suspects: Cameron Meyer, Tejay van Garderen, Rigoberto Uran and Samuel Sanchez.
Tejay van Garderen (BMC) started very early in the day and made clear that he wanted the stage today as he beat another good time trialist as Lieuwe Westra by 5 seconds in the finish line. The American rider already knows what is to win in several time trials, so it would be no surprise if he took the win today.
Samuel Sanchez changed teams this season to and his role will probably help Mikel Nieve in Discovery. However, he will still have chances to shine in the time trials. The Spaniard started close behind Van Garderen, but he was a bit off his pace and only set the 3rd provisional time 5 seconds behind.
Van Garderen's teammate Marco Pinotti (BMC) was the next among the candidates to do well, but he was way off the pace. The Italian only managed to set the 15th best time 19 seconds behind Van Garderen proving that he was not too bothered to do well in this opening time trial.
Rigoberto Uran (Lotto) was a lot closer but missed on Tejay van Garderen's time by 9 seconds getting the 4th provisional best time. The Lotto rider could even play a role in the GC of this Paris - Nice as he can probably not lose too much time on the way to Nice, where the time trial up the Col d'Eze could suit him well.
Michael Rogers (Saxo Bank) was the last of the favorites for the stage to start in the first half of the day. However, the Australian didn't have a good day and ended up losing 15 seconds on Van Garderen's time and setting only the 11th time so far.
David Millar (Vacansoleil) departed after a period of lower headwind when the best times were improved. Alexander Kristoff now had the best time of the day, 8 seconds better than Tejay van Garderen. However, Millar couldn't match the Norwegian time and set the 3rd best time 3 seconds behind him.
The last riders were unlucky enough that it started to rain on and off. Among them was Cameron Meyer (Quickstep), the stage favorite. However, the worse conditions meant that the Australian could only set the 8th best time so far 9 seconds behind Kristoff.
Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack) also found the road wet when he started his time trial, but the Swiss could place himself on the top 10 nevertheless 9 seconds behind the winner of the stage, Alexander Kristoff. The Norwegian took the first stage of the season in a combination of luck and talent, as he is a good rider in the prologues.
The favorites did not lose a lot of time today, among those outside of the top 10 were: Denis Menchov +18'', Bauke Mollema +20'', Peter Stetina +21'', Robert Gesink +26'' and David Lopez +34''. The GC shouldn't change too much in the next today, only with the time bonuses in the finish, where only Sagan seems to threaten Kristoff's lead.
The route south starts with a very flat stage that will take the riders to the center of the country. The stage arriving in Orleans was only dangerous because of the wind that sometimes blows in the region. However, the weather reports are not predicting a windy day so the interest of the stage will be in the most probable mass sprint.
Jan Barta (Lampre) will be the first leader of the mountain classification as the Czech rider was first in the tiny Cote des Granges-le-Roi (100 kilometers to go). His 4 break fellows were Alexandre Vinokourov (Sky), Lars Bak (Cannondale), Fredrik Kessiakoff (Euskaltel) and Stefan Schumacher (Katusha). The bunch was giving them a manageable distance of 5' 20'' at that point.
The intermediate sprints will be more interesting this year, as the number of points they provide has been increased. Marcel Kittel was the fastest in the bunch to take 5 points in the fight for the green jersey today ahead of Andre Greipel and Jose Joaquin Rojas. With 48 kilometers remaining the break has lost almost all its advantage, as the gap now sits in less than 1 minute.
After a lot of kilometers of playing with the advantage of the break the bunch finally catches Vinokourov and Schumacher with 16 kilometers remaining. HTC is driving the peloton after Lloyd Mondory (Euskaltel) did most of the job to reduce the distance. The American team has worked hard for Rojas all day long.
As the riders enter the last 4 kilometers of the stage there are 3 sprint trains fighting for the lead. Discovery Channel is having an edge on the positioning for Kittel, who has Euskaltel's Modolo behind. The second train is Radioshack's, with Andre Greipel looking for the win, while on the right side of the road HTC is preparing the finish for Rojas.
Jure Kocjan is the last man for Discovery launching Marcel Kittel as they go under the 1 km banner. However, the German has to be careful with Sacha Modolo right behind him. The two of them have a good advantage over Rojas, who still has Borut Bozic working for him. It looks like the stage win will be between Kittel and Modolo
Marcel Kittel leads the way in the last 500 meters but Sacha Modolo seems to be gaining terrain on the German, it is going to be a close finish. Behind them, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Andre Greipel are fairly match and leading the fight for the third place in the stage.
Sacha Modolo wins in Orleans! The Italian was way stronger than Kittel in the last meters of the stage and clearly takes his first win of the season. This is the second straight win for Euskaltel in the Paris - Nice. Marcel Kittel took the second position ahead of Andre Greipel, with Simone Ponzi and Matthew Goss completing the top 5.
The GC doesn't suffer any changes as neither Kristoff nor Sagan could be seen in the first places of the stage. The points jersey goes to the winner of the stage, Sacha Modolo, but he is only 5 points ahead of Kittel.
The route of the third is also very flat, but has an uphill finish in the Lac de Vassiviere. The climb has more than 8 kilometers averaging 3.5%. This finish will be quite open as quite a few of the sprinters will be able to reach the top of the climb with options. It will also be interesting whether Kristoff will be able to maintain his lead of if he will lose some time in the climb.
The break of the day only had 4 riders: Mark Cavendish (Garmin), Jonathan Hivert (Sky), Sylvain Chavanel (Ag2r) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Cannondale). The fight to get into the break was not big today but they had few chances of making it to the finish line. Halfway through the stage they had a gap of 6' 45'', but HTC and Discovery were already controlling the pace in the bunch.
Only Cavendish remained ahead of the peloton at the intermediate sprint, with only 10 kilometers to go. However, his gap was only 15 seconds. In the bunch the fight for the points was tough, as Jose Joaquin Rojas took 9 points for the second place ahead of Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel. Kittel and Greipel will have it hard at the top, but Rojas may add to his count in the finish.
Halfway through the climb, with 4 kilometers remaining Discovery controlled the peloton as Kittel still held on to the front of the pack. Andre Greipel and Peter Sagan are also very close to the front. It could be possible that we have more sprinters than expected in the fight for the stage win.
Radioshack seemed to be working for Andre Greipel as they got close to the 1 kilometer mark but the German couldn't follow the pace of Simon Gerrans and the Australian decided to sprint by himself, as the final suits him better. Peter Sagan stayed behind Greipel, probably timing his sprint. There is no trace of Marcel Kittel in the leading places as the climb was too much for the German.
Simon Gerrans had gone too early, as Peter Sagan and Tony Gallopin got past him with 500 meter remaining. It looks like the Slovak has an edge and could take the stage win and the leader's jersey on the bonus seconds. Behind the leading trio, Jelle Vanendert is also gaining places from behind but he is too far back to be a threat for the stage.
Tony Gallopin wins in Le Lac de Vassiviere! The French takes the first win with the colors of BMC at home. Gallopin took advantage of a fading Sagan in the last meters of the stage to clearly beat everyone and had plenty of time to raise his hands. Sagan got so weak in the last part of the sprint that even Simone Ponzi beat him for the second place in the stage.
However, the third place by Sagan gives him the leader's jersey in the bonus seconds. He now leads the way 3 seconds ahead of Kristoff and 7 seconds ahead of Hubert Dupont. Sacha Modolo will keep the green jersey, but tied in points with Marcel Kittel and Tony Gallopin will wear the KoM jersey.
The fourth stage takes the riders to Rodez. The road south continues, but the race is looking to the east towards the mountains. Even if the stage is catalogued as flat, it will be difficult to see a mass sprint, as the final kilometers are quite hilly. The Cote d'Aubert le Cres is 15 kilometers from the finish line and there is a short hill just before the final kilometer that should put many sprinters out of the game.
Eros Capecchi (Lampre) took maximum points in the first three climbs, leaving himself a good chance of wearing the mountain's jersey tomorrow. The break of the day had 4 more riders along with the Italian: Yoann Offredo (Astana), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Garmin), Julien Simon (Ag2r) and Rein Taaramae (Katusha). At the third climb of the day, the Cote de Quotidiane, they had 5 minutes on the bunch.
The intermediate sprint was placed 40 kilometers from the finish line in Rodez and, even though the break had not been caught yet, the sprinters fought hard for the points on offer. Sacha Modolo easily took the points for being 6th ahead of Andre Greipel and Jose Joaquin Rojas. This way, Modolo breaks the tie he had with Kittel at the front of the green jersey classification. Meanwhile, the gap of the break was greatly reduced as they only had 1 minute on the bunch.
The peloton took a break and only caught Rein Taaramae, the last survivor of the break, in the slopes of the Cote d'Aubert le Cres. That was 18 kilometers from the finish line. Richie Porte would subsequently get the points at the top of the hill ahead of Luke Durbridge.
Radioshack and Discovery were controlling the main bunch in the last kilometers towards Rodez. It was the Luxembourgish team who formed a sprint train first, even though it is not a good finish for Andre Greipel. Right behind them is HTC working for Jose Joaquin Rojas. The Spaniard has only a 6th in the first 3 stages but today's finish suits him well.
As we said, the hill was too much for Andre Greipel and Simon Gerrans left him behind before entering the last kilometer of the stage. Sacha Modolo is progressing well behind the Australian leading the way for Simone Ponzi. Jose Joaquin Rojas and Michael Matthews are also trying to join the party.
Rojas looked quite strong today as he stormed past Modolo and Ponzi next to the fences in the right of the road to take the lead of the sprint with less than 500 meters to go. Another rider putting a good recovery was Tony Gallopin. Yesterday's winner is in the mountain jersey and almost on par with Modolo. The last part of the sprint is going to decide the fate of the stage as the top 4 are fairly matched.
Jose Joaquin Rojas win in Rodez! The Spaniard pays the debts with his team by taking the fourth stage narrowly ahead of Tony Gallopin. The jury almost had to go to the photo finish to decide but in the end it was the HTC rider who took the stage. The podium of the stage was completed by Sacha Modolo, what allows him to extend his lead in the points jersey to 9 points. Gallopin and Ponzi are tied for the second place.
The general classification suffers no changes, even though there were some attempts to break by some of the riders close to the top in the last hilly 10 kilometers. The candidates for the overall win will have to show their cards in tomorrow's stage. The finish in La Croix Neuve is hard enough to open the very tight GC considerably.
The fifth stage looks like the only one that could make a difference among the favorites before the final time trial in Nice. The route will be quite difficult between Onet le Chateau and Mende, including the climbs to the Cote de la Malene and the Cote de l'Estrade. The finish line will be placed at the top of La Croix Neuve, a short (3.6 kilometers) but steep climb that starts from the city. Peter Sagan will probably have a hard time defending his leader's jersey today.
A group of 7 formed today's break, including the mountain jersey holder, Eros Capecchi (Lampre), the World Champion, Alessandro Ballan (BMC), Maxime Monfort (Quickstep) and Andrew Talansky (HTC). Capecchi continued to add points in his mountain classification bid at the top of the Cote de la Malene (83 km to go). Meanwhile, the bunch had a loss of 6' 30'' with the break but Vacansoleil was setting a pace to control the gap.
Eros Capecchi didn't have an easy time getting the mountain points in the rest of the climbs as Peter Kennaugh took the maximum points in the Cote de l'Estrade (32 km to go) ahead of Andrew Talansky. The gap of the break had reduced to 3' 20'' at that point as Belkin had joined Vacansoleil in the front of the peloton and even Rob Ruijgh and Robert Gesink were setting the pace. Belkin must be very confident on the options of Hubert Dupont for today's stage.
The race started to get interesting in the last 30 kilometers as a group of 4 riders broke apart from the bunch: Davide Rebellin, Oliver Zaugg, Laurens Ten Dam and Vasil Kiryienka. They were about to catch the break halfway through the climb to the Cote de Chabrits, only 10 kilometers from the finish line. It was quite surprising that the peloton was having a hard time closing the gap with the break, as they were still 1' 15'' behind.
The two break groups merged in the streets of Mende, where the intermediate sprint was placed. Maxime Monfort seemed to be the only rider interested in the points and the bonus seconds and the attack he placed to get them meant that he started the climb to La Croix Neuve with a small gap in front of the 10 chasers. The bunch made it to the intermediate sprint 1' 30'' later, so that could mean that the break could take the stage win.
The first attacks by outsiders for the win started in the main bunch as soon as they got to the climb. Peter Stetina, Robert Kiserlovski and Samuel Sanchez were the first to break from the peloton and with 3 kilometers remaining they are close to start catching riders from the break. However, it will be difficult for them to reach the head of the race as Laurens Ten Dam and Oliver Zaugg have left behind everyone else in the break.
Oliver Zaugg and Laurens Ten Dam collaborated in the front and managed to keep a gap of 45 seconds over his chasers as they go through the 2 kilometers mark. The bunch has reeled back in all of the other members of the break. Even Robert Kiserlovski, who did a couple of very strong attacks but couldn't keep a high enough pace to stay ahead.
Peter Stetina attacked again in the 1.5 kilometer mark and this time it was a much harder attack. He was getting closer to Zaugg and Ten Dam quickly, as Laurens Ten Dam reached the last kilometer banner 8 seconds ahead of Oliver Zaugg, who was showing signs of weakness. Meanwhile, Samuel Sanchez leads Stetina's chase with Hubert Dupont right behind him.
Stetina was really strong and got past Oliver Zaugg 500 meters from the finish line. However, Laurens Ten Dam keeps 11 seconds on them and looks good for the win. The main group is 27 seconds behind led by Hubert Dupont, Jelle Vanendert and Samuel Sanchez. The work by Belkin doesn't seem to pay off, but Peter Sagan is not too far from the first places and may retain the leader's jersey if he has some strength left.
Laurens Ten Dam wins in Mende! The Dutch takes the win ahead of Peter Stetina, who almost took the win from him as they were given the same time. This is the first win for the team with the Cannondale sponsorship. The two riders put 15 seconds between themselves and the main group, led by Oliver Zaugg, Hubert Dupont and Samuel Sanchez.
Miraculously, Peter Sagan was able to finish in that front group and keep the leader's jersey by only 3 seconds. Peter Stetina is now seconds and Laurens Ten Dam is third 5 seconds behind Sagan. The final time trial in the Col d'Eze has taken an even more important role as it looks like a lot of riders will have a shot at the win.
The riders have a stage of transition again towards the south after the important stage in Mende. The route of today's stage is quite bumpy, but it never gets too difficult, so the peloton should not have any problems if they want to control the race. The mass sprint is the most likely outcome, even if the Cote de Marquises is only 12 kilometers from the finish line.
The break of the day was already formed at the top of the hardest climb of the day, the Cote du Pas du Ventoux (136 kilometers to go). The group of 7 had riders like Bart de Clercq (Lampre), Alberto Contador (Movistar), Alexandre Vinokourov (Sky) and Julien Simon (Ag2r). The French was the most interested in getting the mountain classification points, but he would need many to reach the top places of the classification. Meanwhile, the bunch was taking it easy and losing already 3 minutes.
The stage was very quiet until the last 30 kilometers, when the teams of the sprinters (mainly HTC and Radioshack) started positioning themselves for the intermediate sprint in Sisteron. The break had not been caught yet, so that meant that few points were available. Nevertheless, Andre Greipel won the sprint of the bunch ahead of Sacha Modolo and Jose Joaquin Rojas. The gap of the break had decreased to less than 1 minute at that point.
The break kept fighting and at the Cote de Marquises Alberto Contador and Bart de Clercq attacked and opened a gap over the rest of the break. However, Fabian Cancellara was pulling strongly in the peloton and the gap for the leading duo was only 30 seconds. The final kilometers are very favorable to the bunch so the mass sprint is still very likely.
Contador and De Clercq were finally caught and with 4 kilometers remaining it seemed like Discovery was the only team forming a sprint train for Marcel Kittel. However, Simon Ponzi, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Peter Sagan were also close to the front of the bunch. At that point there were reports of a big pile up in the rear part of the bunch but there are no news of who might be involved.
Jure Kocjan was the last man ahead of Marcel Kittel for the final sprint. The German had Jose Joaquin Rojas and Simon Ponzi on his wheel, but the Italian didn't seem to be able to follow them. Close to the right hand side of the road Alexander Kristoff was also working for Sacha Modolo. The info on the crash was beginning to reach the screens, it looks like Tejay van Garderen (6th overall) and Robert Kiserlovski (leader of the young's classification) were involved.
Marcel Kittel and Jose Joaquin Rojas looked like the strongest in the early part of the sprint and it already looks unlikely that anyone else will be able to challenge for the stage win. It i surprising to see Jure Kocjan still on the third place and Joost Van Leijen progressing ahead of better sprinters. It was not the best of the days for Simone Ponzi, as even though he was well positioned he didn't have the strength to sprint.
Marcel Kittel wins in Sisteron! That was a great sprint by the German as he had Rojas in his tail but the Spaniard was unable to go around him. It is the first win of the season for Kittel. Behind the top 2 there was a good gap to Joost van Leijen, who was thrid, while Peter Sagan and Tony Gallopin completed the top 5 of the stage. The stage win gave Kittel 10 seconds of bonus time that puts him second in the GC.
The bad news of the day were the two retirements of Tejay van Garderen and Chris Anker Sorensen due to the crash in the last kilometers of the stage. Van Garderen was one of the main favorites to take the win in the last time trial in the Col d'Eze. Meanwhile, the points classification suffered a complete revamp. Marcel Kittel now leads 3 points ahead of Jose Joaquin Rojas. Sacha Modolo dropped to 4th after his bad sprint today.
The race finally arrives in Nice in the penultimate stage of the race. The route between Sisteron and Nice is not to difficult without the exception of the Col de Vence. However, the 52 kilometers between its top and the finish line in Nice make an attack of the favorites very unlikely. It is more likely that Vacansoleil has a hard time controlling the break and there are a lot of riders within reach of the yellow jersey if they make it to the finish ahead.
Today there was a huge group of 14 riders in front, as Vacansoleil didn't even attempt to control de race in the early kilometers. The most notable names in it were Eros Capecchi (Lampre), Peter Kennaugh (Radioshack), Thibaut Pinot (Discovery), Gregory Rast (Sky), Rinaldo Nocentini (Katusha), Tom Boonen (Saxo) and Maxime Monfort (Quickstep). The battle for the points of the KoM between Kennaugh and Capecchi was hard as in the second climb (the Col de Luens) the British had cut the lead to 7 points. Meanwhile, Vacansoleil and Belkin were keeping the gap at 8' 30'' with 125 kilometers remaining.
Capecchi confirmed in the Col de Vence that he was going to win the mountain's jersey after beating Kennaugh for the points. The Italian was in a lot of breaks this week and he gets a deserved prize. Meanwhile, Bauke Mollema and Joost van Leijen were both working for Peter Sagan in the main bunch trying to reduce the gap of the break. They reduced the size of the group to less than 100 units and the gap to the break to only 2' 45'' with 52 kilometers remaining.
The break could not keep up with the chasing pace set by Vacansoleil and with 12 kilometers remaining only Thomas Voeckler remained in front with 30 seconds on the main bunch. It looks like a desperate effort by the Frenchman. Meanwhile, Samuel Sanchez (10th overall) crashed in the descent of the Col de Vence and is losing quite a bit of time. He will probably lose his chances in the GC. Vacansoleil and Saxo Bank are trying to control de main bunch.
Several riders tried to break the sprint with 4 kilometers remaining, as Jure Kocjan, Johan Vansummeren and Davide Rebellin broke from the bunch followed by Bjorn Leukemans. They were 8 seconds behind Voeckler and holding a gap of 15 seconds on the main bunch as no team seemed to control the pace. It is possible that not many sprinters are strong enough to challenge for the stage after the fast climb to the Col de Vence.
Only Jure Kocjan was able to hold the battle against the bunch as he went through the flame rouge. The Slovenian was the strongest among those late attackers. However, Peter Sagan and Marcel Kittel seem to be appearing at the front of the bunch already for the final sprint. It will be tough for Kocjan to keep the lead to the finish line.
Kocjan maintains the lead as the riders can already see the finish line. However, it is difficult to know if he will be able to hold off the charging Jose Joaquin Rojas and Simone Ponzi. Both are among the sprinters that can handle the climbs better and it is no surprise that they are fast at the sprint. The fourth at that point was Marcel Kittel, showing why he had let Kocjan go for the win. Meanwhile, Peter Sagan was a bit disappointing and was dropping down the order.
Simone Ponzi wins in Nice! The Italian was amazing in the last part of the sprint. He kept his speed to win by a good margin ahead of Jose Joaquin Rojas and Jure Kocjan. This is the first win of the year for Katusha and it could hint that the Russian team will have a better performance than the last season, when they only got 1 win in the whole season. Two BMC riders completed the top 5, Dries Devenyns and Tony Gallopin.
It is all very open for tomorrow's time trial in the Col d'Eze as the top 10 of the GC is only 17 seconds apart. It is difficult to name a favorite to take the overall win, but I can't see Sagan or Kittel holding on to their lead. Other classifications are more clear, as Eros Capecchi already won the mountain's jersey and Jose Joaquin Rojas will most probably win the point's classification.
The Paris - Nice reaches its final and decisive stage with a very tight general classification. Marcel Kittel and Peter Sagan are expected to drop from the leading positions, while Peter Stetina, Laurens Ten Dam and Hubert Dupont are the main favorites to take the yellow jersey. The climb to the Col d'Eze is almost 10 kilometers long, so the time trial will be one that suits the climbers better. As such, riders like Robert Gesink could have a say in the fight for the stage.
Samuel Sanchez (Discovery) was the first rider to depart among those who are favorites for the stage. The Spaniard, far away in the GC after his crash yesterday, did a good climb but not enough to take the lead at the finish line. He set the 3rd best time 20 seconds slower than Robert Kiserlovski. It will be difficult that he gets a place in the top 10.
Levi Leipheimer (HTC) started the day 1' 50'' behind in the general classification, so his chances of a good overall result were slim. His time trial was not bad, but as Samuel Sanchez he could not beat Kiserlovski's time. The American took the third place from Samuel Sanchez, 19 seconds behind the current leader.
Robert Gesink (Belkin) was one of the main favorites for the stage and he delivered, taking the first place when he crossed the finish line. He was 4 seconds faster than David Lopez, who had improved on Kiserlovski's time a few minutes before. Gesink was 29 seconds behind at the start of the day so he could be aiming for a place in the podium with this performance.
The next favorite for the stage was the best rider in last year's World Tour. Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil) was a bit disappointing and could only set the 4th provisional time 5 seconds behind Robert Gesink. Among those who had made it to the finish Rob Ruijgh was the best in the GC, 4 seconds ahead of Bauke Mollema and 5 seconds ahead of Gesink. But there were still 19 riders to arrive.
Denis Menchov (Quickstep) was also expected to do well and ended up being the disappointment of the day. The Russian was 33 seconds slower than Robert Gesink at the finish, setting only the 18th best time so far. It had been a very disappointing Paris - Nice for Quickstep, as the Belgian team has never had a presence in the race.
Hubert Dupont (Belkin) was the fifth in the overall classification before the stage, but being a great climber he had a good chance of getting the win. However, the French did only just enough to be the first in the GC among those that had already arrived. He set the 7th provisional time in the stage, 15 seconds behind Robert Gesink and that put him 2 seconds ahead of his teammate Rob Ruijgh in the GC.
Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) was next, 4th in the GC before the stage and winner in La Croix Neuve. The Dutch was a very positive surprise and he improved Gesink's time in the stage by 3 seconds, taking the provisional lead of the stage and the lead in the general classification among those who have already finished the Paris - Nice.
But the hopes of Ten Dam were destroyed by Peter Stetina (BMC). The American cruised to the stage win and probably the overall win after improving the best time so far by 23 seconds. This was a great performance by the BMC rider, who will be the winner of the GC as Kittel and Sagan have slim chances of getting close to his time.
Marcel Kittel (Discovery) expectedly lost all chances today. He didn't even put a fight and lost 1' 49'' on Stetina at the finish line. The German sprinter had a good start of the season after taking a stage win in Sisteron.
Peter Sagan (Vacansoleil) was a bit better than Kittel but still lost 1' 38'' on Peter Stetina and dropped to the 19th place overall after the time trial. Sagan has worn the yellow jersey for several days but it end the race with mixed feelings, as he had a good chance to bring a win home. In the end his best result was the second place in the opening time trial.
The final podium of the Paris - Nice will be for Peter Stetina ahead of Laurens Ten Dam and Hubert Dupont. As expected, the last stage played a huge part on the outcome of the race and the climbers who have some ability time trialing came out on top. The point's jersey will go to Jose Joaquin Rojas, while the mountain's jersey was won by Eros Capecchi.
Since we last presented Bauke Mollema the Dutch has gone from a very promising rider for the future to the dominant force in the stage racing panorama. There is barely any stage race, be it 3 week or 1 week, where Bauke is not a favorite if he is at the start line. Some of that success might well be due to the stability that he has enjoyed in the Vacansoleil team. 2014 will be his 4th season with the team where he has obtained all of his most important results.
The winning streak of Mollema started in 2012, when he got overall wins in the Tirreno - Adriatico and the Criterium du Dauphine before winning his first Tour de France. It is remarkable that he did so without having a great climbing support to help him in the mountains. Last year was quite similar, even though he missed on the wins of one week races, but podiumed Tirreno and Romandie. He won the Vuelta a España and got his first major result in a classic when he won the Giro di Lombardia.
However, the low point of his 2013 season was the Giro d'Italia. A crash at the end of the first week caused him some injuries and made him lose lots of time in the subsequent stages. He will not have the chance this year, but most probably he will be keen to participate and try to win in 2015. However, he could find again this year that the amount of support he will get in the mountains will not be great. Only Jakob Fuglsang and Carlos Betancur seem to be able to do a decent job in the stages with big climbs.
Such a short calendar in the World Tour and with teams only allowed to have 11 riders for now means that the Paris - Nice and the Tirreno - Adriatico don't clash so that many riders can do the double. However, the recent winner in Nice, Peter Stetina, decided to skip the Italian race. The route in the Tirreno will be much more mountainous than in France, especially in the stage ending in Prati di Tivo. Apart from that, the opening stage will be the first team time trial of the year and the race will end with an individual time trial which should not be as important as in Nice.
The Tirreno has been traditionally dominated by the stage racers, especially Bauke Mollema and the defending champion Denis Menchov. Both will be in the road. Menchov will hopefully put back his poor performance in France, but if the previous race is an indication of how fit the riders are Hubert Dupont, Laurens Ten Dam and Bauke Mollema would be favorites.
Favorites:
- Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil - DMC): The Tirreno is probably the race where Bauke Mollema has a greatest record. He won two years ago and came third last year. However, seeing at the rest of his trophies the Tirreno might seem little. The Dutch has done a good Paris - Nice in a route that didn't particularly favor him except for the last time trial. He should do better in the Tirreno given that the route will be tougher.
- Frank Schleck (Radioshack - Leopard): Frank Schleck also started the season with a good performance in the Paris - Nice, coming 7th in the end. The Tirreno is supposed to be his main target for the early season, but his win possibilities might be hampered by the two time trials.
- David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi): The Spaniard is very keen on a win in a stage race, as he still has to taste a win in a GC. The Euskaltel rider had a great season in 2013 but he was lacking on the wins department. Only a stage in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco is a bit to little for the 3rd in the World Tour classification. He will again be among the favorites in Italy, so hopefully he can turn things around.
- Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team): Van Garderen is probably the unknown among the favorites. He crashed out of the Paris - Nice a week ago so his physical condition is difficult to asses. If he is on good shape the route favors him with the mountain top finish and the final time trial.
Other notable riders that will surely play a role in the GC will be: Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale Pro Cycling), Denis Menchov and Andy Schleck (Omega Pharma - Quickstep), Hubert Dupont (Belkin Pro Cycling), Robert Kiserlovski (Lotto - Belisol) and Mikel Nieve (Discovery Channel).
Among the sprinters that will show up in San Vincenzo for the start of the Tirreno will be Ben Swift (Sky Procycling), Simone Ponzi (Katusha Team), Sacha Modolo (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Tyler Farrar (Team Saxo - Tinkoff), Matthew Goss (Lotto - Belisol) and Yauheni Hutarovich (Lampre - Merida).
