A Great battle in the high mountains, and Andy Schleck comes out on top
Now he must defend his four second lead on the GC

ANDY
And,mpardo still Andy fans are left.

ANDY
And,mpardo still Andy fans are left.

@sutty68: I think he will be fine unless he crashes. I don't think his rivals will get any bonus seconds.

@The Schleck Fan: Glad there are still fans out there. He needs the support.

Lets hope he avoids those pile ups then

Stage 5: Tiananmen Square - Bird's Nest



The season draws to an end inside the huge metropolis that is Beijing. The last stage starts in front of the Forbidden Palace and will finish in a circuit around the Olympic venues where the 2008 Games where celebrated. The stage is really easy and short so a mass sprint is the most likely outcome by far. That would mean that Andy Schleck would win the race, as it is difficult to think that any of his rivals can get enough bonus points.



No break had been allowed to go away before the second intermediate sprint of the day as Lampre made a good work to bring everyone back. Marcel Kittel easily won the maximum points ahead of Yauheni Hutarovich and Andre Greipel, what brings him a bit closer to winning the points competition. Only 7 laps (55 kilometers) were left from that point to the finish.



A trio of riders were hopeful enough to try a late attack in the stage: Anthony Roux (Astana), Jos van Emden (Saxo Bank) and Nick Nuyens (Garmin). 10 kilometers from home they still are 50 seconds ahead as they are good rouleurs. However, Radioshack seems to have everything under control especially because Fabian Cancellara is imposing a high pace.



Discovery was quicker than Radioshack to set up their sprint train as soon as the break was reeled back in. As usual Mark Renshaw will be the lead-out man for Marcel Kittel, while Jose Joaquin Rojas and Yauheni Hutarovich are in the wheel of the German. In Radioshack, Daniele Bennati will be the last man for Andre Greipel with Grega Bole behind. The main bunch is much stretched as there is quite a bit of wind in Beijing today.



Marcel Kittel emerged very soon from Mark Renshaw's wheel, with more than 1 kilometer to go. It seems that the German might be sprinting a bit too early. His main rivals at this point are Jose Joaquin Rojas, who has already proven how dangerous he is, Yauheni Hutarovich and Ben Swift. Andre Greipel is quite a few meters back, as Radioshack could not manage to make his train work as well as it should again.



All of Marcel Kittel's rivals are starting to gain with still more than 500 meters to go. If the German does not have another gear he will find it difficult to win today. Ben Swift and Yauheni Hutarovich are specially threatening on the right hand side of the road, while Jose Joaquin Rojas seems to be losing gas as well. The fifth on the road is Tyler Farrar, still ahead of Andre Greipel.



Ben Swift wins in Beijing! The British rider was the fastest of the sprint surprising the favorites by coming close to the fences in the right hand side of the road. He might not be the quickest in a pure sprint but will be the sprinter with the highest number of points of the World Tour this season narrowly ahead of Marcel Kittel. The second place in the stage was for Tyler Farrar after a very strong finish, he would have needed 200 more meters to win the stage. The top 5 was completed by Yauheni Hutarovich, Marcel Kittel and Jose Joaquin Rojas.

The season finally comes to an end with the win in the GC in Beijing for Andy Schleck, surrounded in the podium by Laurens Ten Dam and Andrew Talansky. During the Tour de France we mentioned that Andy had never won a stage race in the story and, even though this is an HC race, this could mark an inflection point in his career. It is still unknown whether Quickstep will sign another stage racer or renew Menchov but probably Schleck will have a bigger role to play in the team next year.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Ben Swift	Sky Procycling	2h33'37
2		Tyler Farrar	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	s.t.
3		Yauheni Hutarovich	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
4		Marcel Kittel	Discovery Channel	s.t.
5		José Joaquín Rojas	HTC - Highroad	s.t.
6		André Greipel	RadioShack - Leopard	s.t.
7		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
8		Michael Matthews	Garmin - Sharp	s.t.
9		Tom Boonen	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	s.t.
10		Luca Paolini	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.

General Classification

1		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	20h01'32
2		Laurens Ten Dam	Cannondale Pro Cycling	+ 4
3		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	+ 10
4		Johan Vansummeren	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
5		Bart De Clercq	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
6		Hubert Dupont	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
7		Juan José Cobo	Sky Procycling	s.t.
8		Stefano Garzelli	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
9		Simon Gerrans	RadioShack - Leopard	s.t.
10		Janez Brajkovi�	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.

Points

1		Marcel Kittel	Discovery Channel	181
2		André Greipel	RadioShack - Leopard	173
3		Ben Swift	Sky Procycling	157
4		Yauheni Hutarovich	Lampre - Merida	150
5		Tyler Farrar	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	122

Mountain

1		Anthony Roux	Astana Pro Team	59
2		Enrico Gasparotto	Astana Pro Team	52
3		Nick Nuyens	Garmin - Sharp	50
4		Thomas Voeckler	Garmin - Sharp	48
5		Jos Van Emden	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	28

Young

1		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	20h01'42
2		Gianni Meersman	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	+ 1'28
3		Mark Renshaw	Discovery Channel	+ 1'30
4		Nairo Quintana	Sky Procycling	s.t.
5		Diego Ulissi	Lampre - Merida	s.t.

Teams

1		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	60h05'06
2		Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
3		RadioShack - Leopard	+ 1'17
4		HTC - Highroad	s.t.
5		Sky Procycling	+ 1'30

Andy still in lead

Swifty nicks it at the line

UCI World Tour rankings riders (final standings)

1		Peter Stetina	BMC	647.53
2		David Lopez	Euskaltel	611.1
3		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC	610.58
4		Bauke Mollema	Vacansoleil	577.48
5		Rob Ruijgh	Belkin	481.31
6		Björn Leukemans	Lotto	423.17
7		Laurens Ten Dam	Cannondale	410.85
8		Mikel Nieve	Discovery	373.42
9		Jelle Vanendert	Lotto	344.09
10		Simon Gerrans	Radioshack	299.05
11		Hubert Dupont	Belkin	295.95
12		Ben Swift	Sky	294.1
13		Marcel Kittel	Discovery	290.05
14		Jose Joaquin Rojas	HTC	248.01
15		Fränk Schleck	Radioshack	242.8

UCI World Tour rankings teams (final standings)

1		BMC Racing Team	1784.15
2		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	1255.05
3		Lotto - Belisol	1031.05
4		Omega Pharma - Quickstep	949
5		Euskaltel - Euskadi	935.3
6		Radioshack - Leopard	931.4
7		Vacansoleil - DMC	876.35
8		Discovery Channel	851.6
9		Team Saxo - Tinkoff	649.3
10		Sky Procycling	603.5

Nice to see the Americans doing well

BMC wins by a landslide, there's enough room to park the GreenEDGE bus

Andy wins the overall

wow andy

Transfer market update 3

Omega Pharma - Quickstep has been very active in the market lately. Their most important signing this season has been Frank Schleck, as the Belgian team will reunite the two brothers in the same team. It is difficult to separate the two of them in terms of performance this season, so it will be interesting to see who takes the leading role. They have also hired a good helper in the mountains and good time-trialist, Marco Pinotti. Their latest recent signing was the Dutch sprinter Theo Bos.

Another of the riders that should make good performances in the mountains also changed teams in the last few days, as Juanjo Cobo has agreed to move to HTC - Highroad. The Spaniard was in the podium in the Volta a Catalunya and will be looking to improve next season. The American team has also signed Jonathan Tiernan-Locke from Ag2r, although the Britishman season was unimpressive.

Discovery Channel has also announced a few new contracts including the climber Jean-Christophe Peraud, who will be the most important helper for Mikel Nieve in the mountains. They have also signed a couple of Spaniards: Luis Leon Sanchez, who has had a very solid season with Movistar, and Pablo Lastras.

Another surprising signing has been the new agreement between Oscar Freire and Lampre - Merida. The Spaniard can be in the top 10 in any cobbled race and will also be important for Yauheni Hutarovich, as Freire can be a very good lead-out man for the Belarusian.

Wow, are you still doing this story? Respect for your dedication!!!

Schlecks in the same team

@dienblad: Yes, I take it easy and only play the story slowly. I think that helps me not losing interest.

@The Schleck Fan: I knew you'd be happy about that but was a completely random event, I did not force it.

The Schlecks together at Omega Pharma

Transfer market update 4

One of the riders that comes back home is Denis Menchov, who will return to Team Katusha on a 2 year contract. The Russian rider has been largely wasteful this year, but will probably still be the man for the Grand Tours in Katusha. The Russian had won Tirreno - Adriatico and a stage in the Vuelta last year has been nowhere as good in 2014.

Cannondale is taking advantage of the new funding that has come from their sponsor after the good performances of Laurens Ten Dam to improve their climbers. They have signed Jurgen van den Broeck from Lotto - Belisol. The Belgian was in the shadow of Jelle Vanendert and Robert Kiserlovski and will enjoy more freedom in the Italian team.

Movistar Team has decided to change their sprinters, as Denis Galymzyanov is leaving the team and Matthew Goss is joining from Lotto. The Australian is a rider that is able to fight for sprints in hilly stages and, even though the Spanish team will probably have no chances in the flat stages, it is a style that suits better the profile of the team.

The last highlight of the new movements is Bart de Clercq, who will move from Lampre to Sky Procycling. The Belgian has not had a great season and Chris Froome will probably be the main climber in the team. However, de Clercq is a very versatile rider that can shine or help in lots of places.

2014 End of Season

	Race	Category		Winner
	Paris - Nice	2.WT		Peter Stetina
	Tirreno-Adriatico	2.WT		Bauke Mollema
	Milano - Sanremo	1.WT		Simone Ponzi
	Volta a Catalunya	2.HC		David Lopez
	Gent - Wevelgem	1.WT		Tom Boonen
	Ronde van Vlaanderen	1.WT		Johan Vansummeren
	Amstel Gold Race	1.WT		Simon Gerrans
	Liege - Bastogne - Liege	1.WT		Simon Gerrans
	Criterium du Dauhpine	2.WT		Tejay van Garderen
	Tour de France	GT.WT		Tejay van Garderen
	Clasica de San Sebastian	1.WT		Pieter Weening
	Tour de Pologne	2.HC		Simon Gerrans
	Eneco Tour	2.WT		Marcel Kittel
	Vuelta a España	GT.WT		Peter Stetina
	GP Ouest France - Plouay	1.WT		Alessandro Ballan
	Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal	1.HC		Bjorn Leukemans
	Road World Championship	WC		Bjorn Leukemans
	Tour of Beijing	2.HC		Andy Schleck