The European Championships will be hosted by Belgium in 2016. The time trial will be raced in the surroundings of Postel, very close to the Dutch border, where the start and finish is placed. The terrain in the area is completely flat so the specialists will have no excuses to grab the final win. The best riders against the clock will feature in the race, led by last year's winner, Jean-Christophe Peraud. The French has stated that he does not feel as good about the race as he was last year and played down his chances.
The podium last year was completed by David Millar and Marco Pinotti but it gives no hints as to what might happen this year as the race will be much more open than the Rest of the World Championship. There are plenty of riders that could potentially get in the podium at the end of the day. It will also be an interesting day for Lotto. The Belgian team did not have any good time trialist last year and they signed Tony Martin and Bradley Wiggins this winter, both potential candidates for the podium.
Favorites:
- David Millar (HTC - Highroad): David Millar has already won 3 time trials this season: the last stage in the Tirreno - Adriatico and twice in the Tour de Romandie. If we add the 4 days when he was a leader at the Giro d'Italia it adds for a very good season so far. That makes him the clear favorite to take the European Championship and to succeed Jean-Christophe Peraud. However, this should be a much closer battle than in the Rest of the World Champ.
- Tony Martin (Lotto - Soudal): Riding at Lotto - Soudal it is not often that Tony Martin gets a chance to shine on his own. This is why he has prepared much for the National Championship this year. The German does not have any win this season but has demonstrated a very good progress in the discipline, especially with a 6th place in the time trial of the Criterium du Dauphine. It has been too long since Martin took his last win, a stage in the 2009 Paris - Nice.
- Fabian Cancellara (Team Cannondale - Garmin): It was not the best cobbles season for Fabian Cancellara this year and that hurts for a rider that is at its best in those races. However, Cancellara is also very good against the clock and is therefore a favorite for the European Championship. A good result would at least complement the 5th position he achieved in the Paris - Roubaix but a lot more is expected from the Swiss in Cannondale.
- Marco Pinotti (Etixx - Quickstep): Marco Pinotti has been outstanding this season so far and took the win in the long time trial of the Giro d'Italia. There he proved that he has to be considered as a favorite, although that time trial was a bit hilly and has nothing to do with the completely flat route today. The last result for the Italian was the 6th final position in the Criterium du Dauphine. He is the only one among the favorites that is a very good stage racer.
Other riders with a chance could be Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery Channel), Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil - DMC), Rui Costa (Ag2r - La Mondiale), Bradley Wiggins (Lotto - Soudal), Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Tiago Machado (Tinkoff - Saxo).
The time trial in Postel is completely flat as is all the terrain in the area. The abbey is north of Lommel and very close to the Dutch border. The riders will have to do 2 laps to a 24 kilometers circuit that has one loop to the North and another one to the South of the start and finish line. The race is 49 kilometers long in total, enough to generate considerable differences even among the best riders against the clock.
Bradley Wiggins (Lotto) was the only one of the favorites to start in the first set of riders. The British signed for Lotto during the winter and has not had a chance to shine so far as he is a domestique in most of the races. The early pace had been set by Bauke Mollema, the winner of the 2012 Tour and the 2013 Vuelta. Wiggins was close but could not improve on Mollema's time. He had to settle for the 2nd position provisionally, 16 seconds behind.
By the time Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) started his teammate Bauke Mollema was still leading the way. Vacansoleil had decided to send Westra later as he had prepared this race better than Mollema but it was not his best day. His time was not bad but could not improve on Mollema's time and crossed the line 4 seconds slower. It has not been a good season for Westra so far as he has not had any results whatsoever and it did not look as if today was going to be different considering the riders still to go.
Chris Froome (Sky) started right behind Lieuwe Westra. He is one of the top time trialists among the Grand Tour riders so he was expected to have a good performance. However, his time was even better than anticipated as he improved 56 seconds over Mollema's time. That was more than 1 second per kilometer over the second placed rider so far. Froome disappointed in the Giro by not getting into the top 10 but had already got a podium in the Tour de Romandie. He would probably add something else to his record given his performance today.
The performance from Tiago Machado (Tinkoff) today is a reflection of the season that the Russian team has suffered this year so far. The Portuguese was meant to be in the mix for a top 10 place in today's time trial but with several favorites still to run could only manage to record the 8th best provisional time. He was 1' 20'' behind Chris Froome, far more than what was expected from him. It might be that the fans expecting more from him were wrong given that his only result this season was an 8th place in the Tour de Romandie.
The demise of Tinkoff had much to do with the depart of the next rider on the road, Rui Costa. The Ag2r rider was solid but did not even get close to the best time set by Chris Froome. Nevertheless, Costa took the provisional 2nd place in the stage and clocked a time 31 seconds slower than the leader at the time. Rui Costa has had a decent season so far but has not managed a single win yet. His 2nd position overall in the Paris - Nice was his best result of the year.
Last year's winner of the European Championship was Jean-Christophe Peraud. However, the French had already stated that he did not feel that he was prepared to repeat the feature. He was right, given that he took the 2nd provisional time when he crossed the finish line 21 seconds behind Chris Froome. With 4 riders still to go it would be difficult even to get a podium finish for Peraud. Given that he had successfully raced and won the Criterium du Dauphine it was always going to be difficult to extend his peak of form until the European Championship 1 month later.
Fabian Cancellara (Cannondale) had a very disappointing cobbles season as he only took a 5th place in the Paris - Roubaix. He was given a leading role in Cannondale at the start of the season and his results have been quite disappointing. He has not justified the kind of salary he is making and should start producing results soon. However, it would not be today as he only managed to take the 3rd provisional place after recording a time that was 23 seconds slower than Chris Froome. The British meanwhile is getting very close to having a podium place guaranteed.
Marco Pinotti (Quickstep) started when only two more riders were left behind him. Therefore, the podium would be guaranteed for him if he snatched the first position. However, he was far from doing it and was actually quite disappointing. The Italian crossed the line in the 5th provisional place, 50 seconds behind Chris Froome. It was quite clear that his form had been going down from the Giro, when he won the long time trial. Today's performance was nowhere near that.
With only David Millar behind it was the turn of Tony Martin (Lotto). It was very important for the German to have a good result in the National Championship because he has to be a domestique for other Lotto riders in most of the races this season. Martin did ok but was not able to improve on Chris Froome's time. He missed out by only 15 seconds and took the 2nd provisional place, which guaranteed a podium finish for him. Even if he finishes 3rd it would be a very good achievement for Martin, who has shown clear signs of progress this year.
The last rider to start today was the favorite for the win, David Millar (HTC). The British had already won 3 time trials this year and it is 4 at the end of the day. Millar clearly improved on Chris Froome's time to take the European Championship with a margin of 1' 32'' over his fellow British. We said that the differences in this race should be smaller than in the previous race won by Cameron Meyer but Millar got very close.
Even though the favorite took a clear win it was rather surprising to see Chris Froome in 2nd. The Sky rider had not particularly prepared the race and still managed to get a podium. The third place in the podium went to Tony Martin, the best result for the German in the last few years. HTC has proven this week that they have a very solid team of time trialists and they will probably be the favorites to take the win in the TTT of the World Championship in September.
Given that he is already 31, it might be a bit late for Michele Scarponi to have presented his best form, However, he might still have a few years of top cycling if he manages to keep performing as well as he has done it during 2016. The Italian joined the World Tour in its first season with Lampre - ISD and he had 2 different periods in the team. He stayed there a total of 4 years and even though he was mainly a domestique he managed to get his two professional wins with them: one stage in the Paris - Nice and one in the Volta a Catalunya.
However, it was not Lampre or Radioshack that ever trusted Scarponi to give him a leading role or even a free rider role at some races so that he could pursue his own results. It had to be Movistar that went looking for Scarponi at the end of 2014 after another rather mediocre season but capped by the stage win in the Volta. The Spanish team was looking for a rider that could complement Cadel Evans and Davide Rebellin, a role where Luis Leon Sanchez and Alberto Contador could not fulfil in the previous season. It was probably Rebellin who suggested that Scarponi might be a good fit.
Movistar expected from him that he fit into the team and got a leading role in some races, like the Giro d'Italia. Cadel Evans skipped the race to focus on the Tour de France and that meant that Scarponi finally found himself as a leader in a Grand Tour. He did not disappoint and against tough rivals managed to get a top 10 finish. This might not sound outstanding in the overall scheme of things but it was for a rider that barely had any results before. The season was much better than 2014 had been for Movistar.
Given his results in 2015, Movistar followed the same strategy and gave Scarponi the leading role in the Giro. He improved on his previous results and got a 5th position overall. Not only that, he had a very good week in the Ardennes, not his speciality, and grabbed the 4th place in La Fleche Wallonne and a top 10 in Liege. We might be witnessing the emergence of the next rider that can take a podium in a Grand Tour or even a win. In the end, even if he is not getting any younger, he was less than 2 minutes away from the podium of the Giro this year.
Buninyong will also be hosting the road race of the Rest of the World Championships. The circuit is quite simple around the town, which sits around 100 kilometers West from Melbourne. It has the climb to the Mount Buninyong and the descent. There will not be much flat riding in today's race. There will be a total of 18 laps to the 10 kilometers long circuit, which makes for 18 climbs each 3 kilometers long and averaging 5.2% gradient.
The defending champion is Andrew Talansky, who was joined in the podium by Cadel Evans and Peter Stetina. This year's circuit should also be hard enough so that the fact that only 40 riders take part of the race does not cause the race to be completely out of control. The strongest riders should come up benefited in the end even if the length is well short of 200 kilometers. It will be difficult for Talansky to repeat his performance given that he does not handle the hills as well as he does the mountains.
Favorites:
- Simon Gerrans (Trek Factory Racing): If there is a rider in the startlist that has a good record in hilly classics in the past it is Simon Gerrans. The winner of the Liege - Bastogne - Liege and the Amstel Gold Race also has 2 silver medals in the World Championship and 2 other podiums in monuments. The only thing that could make him more of a favorite would be the length of the race and the fact that the race might be difficult to control.
- Cadel Evans (Movistar Team): Evans was very close to getting the win last year in Duitama but had to settle for the second place in the podium. For Evans it will be an special race as it is very close to home and he would like to do well. Also, his third place in the time trial proves that he has come to the National Championships well prepared, unlike a few other riders that did not pay much attention to it. However, he will have to find a very small group to have a chance of winning as he is not too fast when it comes to a final sprint.
- Peter Stetina (BMC Racing Team): Stetina has had a lot of bad luck this season with the crashes so having a good race in the National Championships might be reassuring for the American. However, last year's circuit in Duitama was much better suited to his characteristics. The race will be much more open and the BMC rider might not be as used to the tactics of this kind of races as the Ardennes riders. Also, he will not have any support as he is the only BMC rider in the race.
- Cameron Meyer (Trek Factory Racing): Cameron Meyer already won the time trial race so it would be a major achievement to do the double. Plenty of Australians should do well in the race so it might be down to a battle among them. He has improved a lot in the hills and mountains during the last couple of years and he is not much more than a good rider against the clock. To take a win in the National Championships would be a milestone in his career.
Other riders with a chance could be Michael Matthews (Lotto - Soudal), Tejay van Garderen (Trek Factory Racing), Andrew Talansky and Levi Leipheimer (HTC - Highroad) and Jose Serpa and Miguel Angel Rubiano (Ag2r - La Mondiale).
The route of this year's Rest of the World Championship is really hilly and there will be almost no flat sections in the circuit in the surroundings of Buninyong. The weather is quite sunny but there are strong winds that will blow in favor of the riders during the climb, which will make the climbing a tad easier. However, the crucial factor in the race will probably be the lack of teammates for most of the riders in the race. There are a few of the favorites that have one or no riders with them.
There was not much of a fight to get into the break, which was not too big. This was a relief for the favorites as a strong break could have easily taken the race by a mile. The group of 4 that took the lead was formed by Luke Durbridge (Cofidis), Julian Arredondo (Orica), Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) and Heinrich Haussler (Ag2r). Halfway through the race they had built a gap of 6' 30'' ahead of the bunch. Juan Jose Haedo was leading the bunch for most of the day but was not the best rider to chase in the hills.
Matthew Goss joined Juan Jose Haedo leading the group for Movistar as Cadel Evans seemed very keen on taking the win today. The two riders managed to cut the gap of the break progressively but with 3 laps remaining Peter Stetina surprisingly joined them. The BMC rider was the only rider of his team and instead of attacking he decided to join the chase and increase the pace of the group. With 27 kilometers remaining the gap of the break had come down to 1' 35'' so their chances were effectively over. Meanwhile, Trek was doing nothing when they should be attacking with one of the 4 strong riders they had in the race.
Another lap went by and in the penultimate climb Trek decided to send Cameron Meyer ahead. He almost caught up with the early break at the top of the climb but his gap to the chasing group was not too big as Peter Stetina increased the pace quite considerably and narrowed the size of the group. Michael Matthews tried to follow Meyer but was swiftly chased down by another Trek rider, Simon Gerrans, and had to give up. The American finally did something right in sending one of his riders and letting others do the chasing.
Cameron Meyer was caught shortly after the top of the climb to Mount Buninyong and that was the moment that Maxim Iglinskiy and Julian Arredondo used to open the gap a bit more with the favorites group. They crossed the finish line with a gap of 45 seconds over the chasers, probably not enough to hold on to the lead but it might be to fight for a good finishing position. Peter Stetina and Cadel Evans were the riders keeping up with the pace in the descent as they were keen to reach the last climb of the day.
That last climb was decisive as Simon Gerrans attacked very hard and could only be followed by Peter Stetina, Cadel Evans and Michael Matthews. They got to the top at the front of the race as they easily got past Maxim Iglinskiy and Julian Arredondo, although only by 20 seconds. It was unclear how good this movement was for Trek as they seemed to be in a weaker position than in the group. However, there was no turning back as the rest of the riders gave up chasing. It was not a good day for HTC as neither Andrew Talansky nor Levi Leipheimer tried to close the gap.
Peter Stetina led the group at the start of the descent, only 4 kilometers from the finish line in Buninyong. They had increased the gap a bit with the chasers so the podium places were clearly for the 4 of them. Michael Matthews was the clear favorite and it was surprising that the others were even relaying. Their only hope was that the sprint was in a slight downhill and they could surprise the Lotto rider. However, this looked unlikely. It was 3 Australians against 1 American rider.
The descent towards the finish line was very fast and it finished barely 1 kilometer from the finish line. Cadel Evans took the lead of the final sprint with 700 meters to go after getting past Peter Stetina, while Michael Matthews was still keeping behind the wheel of the American. It was difficult to judge who would take the win but Simon Gerrans had dropped a bit behind and seemed out of energies to sprint for the win. Meanwhile, Julian Arredondo and Maxim Iglinskiy were 35 seconds behind and would fight for the 5th place.
Michael Matthews wins in Buninyong! The Australian was the favorite to win a sprint between the 4 riders in the front group but he had more trouble than expected and only got past Cadel Evans almost over the finish line. This is only the first win for Matthews this year but it will allow him to wear the Australian flag jersey until June 2017. Cadel Evans and Peter Stetina will join him in the podium, both repeating their performance from last year.
The most disappointing camp after the race was Trek as Simon Gerrans could only be 4th and missed on the podium. The team had two of the clear favorites and another 2 good riders and missed out completely. They should have attacked a lot more to make the race harder and make others work. In the fight for the 5th place Maxim Iglinskiy easily beat Julian Arredondo but both will be happy that the early break gave them a place in the top 10 in the end.
The road race of the European Championship will not be held in Postel as the time trial was but in Tervuren, much closer to Brussels. The route will be fairly easy and straightforward, which suggests a mass sprint is the most probable outcome of the race. However, at more than 250 kilometers some riders could also try to surprise the peloton. The Belgians don't have a clear favorite for the stage so some of the locals might try to surprise the peloton in the last kilometers.
The defending champion is Jose Joaquin Rojas, who took the win in Lannilis, France last year. He was joined in the podium by Bjorn Leukemans and Elia Viviani. The Spaniard could well repeat but he will have it tougher this year as his results have not been what Movistar expected from him and the route is far simpler than in France. The weather, especially the wind, could be the only factor that alters the race but given that the race is in a circuit they will not ride long section with cross winds.
Favorites:
- Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel - Euskadi): The main favorite for the European Championship this year is Alexander Kristoff. This should not be a surprise given how solid Kristoff has been in the last couple of seasons. He has already won 4 times this season, the most important of his wins being the Milano - Sanremo. It was the first monument in his career and marked his appearance in the elite of the sprinters and classics riders.
- Lloyd Mondory (Etixx - Quickstep): Another classics rider is also a big favorite for the race. Lloyd Mondory is better known for his results in the cobbles but is also a great sprinter. He won the E3 this year and also got 2nd places in the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris - Roubaix. It is difficult to separate who is quicker in a sprint or handles better long races but traditionally in races without cobbles the Norwegian has been a tad better.
- Simone Ponzi (Team Katusha): Simone Ponzi is another of the sprinters that normally does well in classics. However, while he is very good in the flat as well his options would increase exponentially if the route had a couple of small hills in the circuit around Tervuren. Ponzi preceded Alexander Kristoff in winning the Milano - Sanremo but also won the GP Cycliste de Quebec last year, which finishes uphill.
- Andre Greipel (Lotto - Soudal): Andre Greipel is the pure sprinter in the mix. He is by far the one among the 4 that tackles hills worst but that will not be a problem today. However, this means that his wins are normally in stages of Grand Tours or week-long races. Nevertheless, he managed to be 3rd in Sanremo earlier this year and had 2 stage wins in the Giro d'Italia. Additionally, Lotto can play Bjorn Leukemans card to make other teams work.
Other riders with a chance could be Ben Swift (Vacansoleil - DMC), Marcel Kittel (Astana Pro Team), Elia Viviani and Theo Bos (Team Cannondale - Garmin), Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar Team) and Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL - Jumbo).
The route around Tervuren is fairly easy but the length of the race should mean that the riders will get a lot of energies to use before the expected mass sprint. There are a total of 14 laps and 253 kilometers so the classics riders will likely be favored today. To add to the difficulties, the weather is expected to be awful with rain joining the riders for most of the day. The peloton is, at 192 riders, one of the biggest in the season which will also make for a lot of nerves to get close to the front.
It was not a very strong break that made it to the lead after a lot of kilometers of fight between escapees and the teams of the sprinters. The riders in the break were Jakob Fuglsang (Vacansoleil), Alejandro Valverde (Cofidis), Fabio Aru (BMC) and Michal Kwiatkowski (IAM). Halfway through the stage they had built a gap of 7' 45'' but they were perfectly controlled by the main bunch. Cannondale, Quickstep, Euskaltel and Lotto were leading the group as many teams were interested in a mass sprint at the end of the day.
Today's race was not the typical sprint stage in a week long race and with 40 kilometers to go Katusha decided to make things a bit more difficult for the bunch and attacked with Jure Kocjan and Ben Hermans. Jurgen Roelandts also joined the group and they opened a gap of 25 seconds over the bunch. The early break was still 2 minutes ahead of this group but was completely under control. Meanwhile, Quickstep, Euskaltel and Cannondale kept chasing with riders like Fabian Cancellara, Greg van Avermaet and Maarten Tjallingii leading the chase.
The Katusha group was eventually caught and that allowed the riders in the early break to breathe a bit better as the peloton rested for a couple of kilometers. However, with a bit more than 1 lap to go Quickstep got to the front again and Euskaltel followed with important riders like Rinaldo Nocentini, David Lopez and Hubert Dupont. The gap to the break was 1' 25'' at the 22 kilometers to go mark. The crashes had also been important with Chris Froome and Kanstantsin Siutsou as the most renowned of those falling.
There were many riders that could not wait for the final sprint and Bjorn Leukemans was one of them. The early break was about to be caught at the 9 kilometers mark and the Belgian attacked followed by Yoann Offredo. Tom Boonen and Simone Ponzi were also trying to follow the move but the two riders had already opened a gap and Euskaltel was organizing the chase. With almost 250 kilometers in the legs of the riders any gap would be difficult to close in the remaining kilometers so the peloton had to get chasing quickly.
Yoann Offredo stayed at the front as Bjorn Leukemans was reeled back in by the main bunch but with 4 kilometers to go his adventure came to an end and it was quite clear that the mass sprint would be unavoidable. Euskaltel was the only team that managed to set up a sprint train and it would be Fran Ventoso leading out Alexander Kristoff for the line. Among the other sprinters close to the front we could recognise Andre Greipel, Jose Joaquin Rojas, Simone Ponzi, Ben Swift and Giacomo Nizzolo. As usual, the sprints after such long races might bring surprises in the form of unexpected winners.
Euskaltel in general and Fran Ventoso in particular did a perfect lead-out for Alexander Kristoff. With 1 kilometer to go they had the group completely stretched out and many sprinters were too far from the lead to fight for the win. The bad news for Kristoff were that the rider that was right behind him was Andre Greipel, one of the most dangerous sprinters in the World. Also close to the front were Jure Kocjan, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Ben Swift. Among those that were already too far back were Marcel Kittel, Lloyd Mondory and Elia Viviani.
The final sprint started with Alexander Kristoff at the front but in the last corner the Norwegian crashed right in front of Andre Greipel. They only had 600 meters to go and the German was able to avoid him but others like Giacomo Nizzolo and Mark Cavendish also hit the ground. The crash did not affect Greipel, who had a clear run towards the finish line and was leading Jose Joaquin Rojas and Ben Swift, while Jure Kocjan and Fran Ventoso were a bit behind. It was a disgrace for Kristoff and the Euskaltel team after the good work they had done to deliver him there.
Andre Greipel wins in Tervuren! The German took full advantage of the crash suffered by Alexander Kristoff in the final sprint to easily grab the European Champion title in 2016. Lotto has won both National Championships and they will feature a whole range of jerseys in the races were Michael Matthews and Andre Greipel meet. The sprint for the 2nd position was really close and Jose Joaquin Rojas narrowly took it ahead of Ben Swift.
The top 5 was completed by Tom Boonen and Lloyd Mondory. The French was a bit disappointing but also Simone Ponzi was underwhelming. The fact that the weather was so bad during the race probably contributed to the fact that some riders underperformed at the end. The race was much tougher than originally predicted. This was Greipel's 3rd win this year, all of them very important as the other 2 were in the Giro d'Italia. The German has had a very good season so far.
The last weekend of July, San Sebastian hosts the first of the classics in the second part of the season. The race will also mark the start of the preparation of many riders for the upcoming Vuelta a España. The race is typically one for the riders that can handle climbs like Jaizkibel, which is climbed twice. The mountain in the surroundings of San Sebastian is much longer than the typical climb in the Ardennes and will therefore mean that a different type of rider comes out on top. Typically it is one of the classics better suited to Grand Tour riders.
Jakob Fuglsang is the record holder in the race as he won the first 2 editions. However, even though the Dane will be at the start line he seems past his best years of cycling and for him to get another win would be a major surprise. The defending champion is Pieter Weening, who won 2 years ago. He is one of the few riders that have won a Grand Tour and also a classic in his career along with Bauke Mollema. Among the favorites for today's race, the one that did best in the past was David Lopez with a 2nd place in 2014.
Favorites:
- David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi): Lopez seems unstoppable this season and considering he races at home in the Basque Country he must have prepared the race with much care. The race fits Lopez very well with the climbs to Jaizkibel being hard enough for the hills riders to have a bit of trouble. Lopez already won the Vuelta al Pais Vasco this year but his best result in San Sebastian was a 2nd place 2 years ago.
- Cadel Evans (Movistar Team): Cadel Evans comes from getting podiums in both the ITT and Road National Championships back in Australia. He also got a podium in the Tour de Suisse along with 2 stages. Movistar must be quite happy with his performance. The race is very important for Movistar so Cadel Evans is well prepared and Michele Scarponi will also be at the start to support him. The problem for Evans as with other favorites is that he is not very fast in a sprint and it is difficult to get to the finish alone.
- Mikel Nieve (Discovery Channel): Mikel Nieve is another of the local Basque riders that might have a chance to do well today. The Discovery Channel rider, who has 3 podiums in Grand Tours, has overperformed so far this season. His best result was the 2nd place in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, where he also took the 3rd stage. Nieve holds on in long races very well normally so the length of the race will most likely play in his favor.
- Jelle Vanendert (Lotto - Soudal): Jelle Vanendert has been one of the best classics riders of the season. He won La Fleche Wallonne and the Liege - Bastogne - Liege back in the spring. However, he said that he is a bit late in his preparation for the Vuelta a España and therefore his form is not the ideal for the race. Nevertheless, he has to be taken into account because if he manages to filter in a small group he is quite fast a rider. Only Simone Ponzi would be quicker among the favorites.
Other riders with a chance could be Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil - DMC), Frank Schleck (Etixx - Quickstep), Simone Ponzi (Team Katusha), Philippe Gilbert (Trek Factory Racing), Levi Leipheimer (HTC - Highroad) and Peter Stetina (BMC Racing Team).
