There are only 3 stages left in the Tour de France and considering that tomorrow there is a very long time trial it is unlikely that the GC riders want a tough day. The stage between Blagnac and Brive-la-Gaillarde is 216 kilometers long but relatively flat. If it was a stage in the first half of the race it would most likely be a mass sprint but so close to the end of the Tour a break always has chances. There are no KoM climbs today but the second part of the stage has a couple of climbs that could have been considered 4th category climbs.
The break of the day was quite large. As many as 12 riders made it to the front group, including riders like Joost van Leijen (Giant), Ian Stannard (Sky), Paul Martens (HTC), Peter Kennaugh (Tinkoff), Yoann Offredo (IAM) and Sebastian Langeveld (Cannondale). They had 160 kilometers to go when they already had a gap of 6' 45'' over the main bunch. A few teams had riders at the front of the group but none of them seemed too keen on working to chase them back so far. Etixx could not be worried as the closest man in the GC was more than 50 minutes behind in the GC.
The intermediate sprint was placed in L'Hospitalet, 111 kilometers from the finish line in Brive-la-Gaillarde. However, there was nothing to play for in the peloton given that the 12 riders in the break took all the points. Marcel Kittel (Astana) and Andre Greipel (Lotto) were close to the front but the peloton did not look like chasing as the gap had grown to 11 minutes. If they wanted a mass sprint they should start chasing rather soon because otherwise the gap would be too large. It had been almost a rest day so far for the riders that are fighting for the GC.
With 20 kilometers to go it was very clear that the peloton had refused to chase as the gap was still at the 11 minutes mark. Peter Kennaugh was the first to attack at the front group and he was followed by Lars Bak (Cofidis) and Zdenek Stybar (Euskaltel). Most of the riders in the break should be worried about fighting for a stage against Joost van Leijen as the Dutch has already taken 2 wins in the race so far. Ian Stannard is the other rider in the break to have won but he is not as good a sprinter as Van Leijen is. The riders barely have any climbing left to do so it is quite likely that a sprint among a few riders will happen at the finish line.
The attack led by Peter Kennaugh was not successful and, even if they stayed away for a few kilometers, they were caught back with 8 kilometers to go. Ian Stannard, Sebastian Langeveld and Joost van Leijen did most of the work to bring them back as they are the best riders in the flat among those in the group. From that point onwards it was mainly a descent towards Brive-la-Gaillarde so it would be difficult for anyone to open a gap at the front but there was a bit of a standstill after the attackers were caught that someone could take advantage of.
Peter Kennaugh attacked again in the descent towards the finish line but his gap was only 12 seconds with 2 kilometers to go. The British was really keen on the stage and did not want to wait for the final sprint as he did not stand much of a chance. Meanwhile, Martin Elmiger (Orica) attacked in the group and was followed by Joost van Leijen and Adriano Malori (Trek). This was effectively starting the final sprint towards the line. The last kilometer was also quite favorable so they should cover it rather quickly as they did not wait to start the sprint.
Once Peter Kennaugh was caught back, Joost van Leijen took the lead of the sprint and started to pull away from the rest of the group. He was only followed by Romain Feillu (FDJ), who is also quite fast in this kind of finishes. With 700 meters to go they already looked far from the rest of the group, which was led by Adriano Malori but other riders like Yoann Offredo, Sebastian Langeveld and Paul Martens were right behind. IT already looked like Van Leijen was too far ahead to be caught, especially considering that the sprint was slightly downhill and he would not run out of gas that quickly.
Joost van Leijen wins in Brive-la-Gaillarde! This is an outstanding 3rd win in the race for the Giant rider, who had also won in Seraing and in Pau. It is clear that the decision to invite Giant to the Tour was the right decision as they have in Van Leijen one of the best riders in the peloton currently. The Pro Continental teams have done a great job in the Tour so far as Orica also got a stage win. The 2nd place in the stage went to Romain Feillu, who took the tow from Van Leijen but did not really have the legs to beat him in an outright battle.
The top 5 was completed by Yoann Offredo, Ian Stannard and Sebastian Langeveld. It was not much of a surprise that the stage ended up being won by a break as the teams of the sprinters are much weakened. They will surely have their sights put on the last stage at the Champs-Elysees two days from today. The peloton rolled over the finish line almost 7 minutes behind led by Ben Swift (Vacansoleil) and Fran Ventoso (Movistar). The stage tomorrow will be much more important in terms of the GC as the time trial is completely flat and more than 50 kilometers long so the gaps should be significant.
The final time trial of the Tour de France will take the riders from Bonneval to Chartres, a city in the region of Eure-et-Loir which is quite close to Paris. The route is completely flat, as it is expected in the central part of France, and 52 kilometers long. This is the longest time trial that we have had in Grand Tours in the last few years and in 2014 it produced significant gaps. Something similar is expected today as the day is quite nice and there is not much wind. Therefore, with perfect conditions the specialists should have an edge and put significant time on the pure climbers.
As is expected from a sprinter, Marcel Kittel (Astana) started the time trial quite early in the day, 116th in the GC. However, Kittel is more than a sprinter and was one of the candidates to take the stage win. The early pace had been set by Tom Dumoulin (Cannondale) but it was a piece of cake to beat that time for Kittel, who put 1' 39'' on the Dutch. This result was probably going to give him a few points in the fight for the green jersey. He is the top favorite to wear it tomorrow when the Tour ends in the Champs-Elysees with Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) the other rider that could win it.
Tony Martin (Lotto) has been the best against the clock this year but he could not win in the first long time trial in this Tour de France as he was beaten by Jerome Coppel. He had his sights set on the win today and he clearly improved on Marcel Kittel's best time by a margin of 8 seconds. Given that Kittel was not among the top favorites for the stage this was not such a great performance for Tony Martin and some of the other riders could overtake him. The time trials this late in a Grand Tour are typically dominated by the riders that are involved in the GC.
The next among the favorites was Cameron Meyer (Trek). The World Champion had not had such a great Tour de France and his only decent result had been the 4th place in the prologue. He is typically a rider that performs very well in the Grand Tours but this was not the case this year. When he crossed the finish line he was 3rd, 51 seconds behind Tony Martin. It was a big gap considering that Meyer was expected to fight for the stage win. If things don't change considerably before the World Championship he will not be considered among the favorites to retake the rainbow jersey.
Cadel Evans (Lotto) started as one of the main favorites to take the overall win in the race but he has been one of the most disappointing riders in the race. He never found the legs that he had in the Tirreno - Adriatico or in the Tour de Suisse. Today was no different as the Australian could only take the 7th best position as he crossed the finish line, 1' 33'' slower than Tony Martin. He narrowly saved his 9th place in the GC from Chris Froome (Lampre) who will be only 14 seconds behind him in the GC. Nevertheless, this is a much worse result compared to what he expected.
Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil) used to be the best GC rider for a couple of seasons between 2012 and 2014 but he has fallen to the second step of favorites. The Tour de France 2017 was more or less as expected as he was fighting for a place in the top 5 in the GC in this time trial. However, his performance was not that good as he expected in a time trial. He was 8th as he crossed the finish line, 1' 14'' behind Martin. He was unexpectedly slower than Peter Stetina (BMC) in the time trial but now enough that he lost the position against him in the GC.
Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel) was probably the worst rider against the clock among those in the top 10 of the race. Therefore, his 5th position in the GC was under threat from Bauke Mollema, even though he had a 1 minute advantage before the stage. When he crossed the finish line he was provisionally 17th, 2' 08'' behind Tony Martin. It was just enough to keep his 5th position with a gap of 7 seconds over Mollema and 22 seconds over Peter Stetina. A 5th position is not that great for Dupont, who has been 6 times at the podium of a Grand Tour, but nevertheless better than what he expected before the race.
The last winner of the Tour, Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale), started the Tour with the target of winning the race again but has reached the last time trial with the target of getting into the podium. It would be a tough job given that Jean-Christophe Peraud is in general a better rider against the clock. When he crossed the finish line he was 7th, 1' 07'' behind Tony Martin. It was a good performance but most likely not enough for a podium given that he had to take time off his rivals. It has not been the best season for Ten Dam so far and it will be hard to make up for it in the final part of the season.
Although it was a long shot, Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery) started the day with the target of catching Jerome Coppel to win the Tour de France. The French is very good against the clock and should be a good contender today. His performance was even stronger than expected and he managed to grab the best time at the finish line. He was 7 seconds faster than Tony Martin and was most likely going to take the stage win. Additionally, considering the small gap between him and Gesink, the Dutch would need to be very fast to conserve the 2nd position in the GC.
The next up was Robert Gesink (Ag2r), 2nd in the GC before the start of the stage. The Dutch had been 2nd in the Criteruim du Dauphine and is still looking for his first podium in a Grand Tour. However, he was under threat from Jean-Christophe Peraud and he could not keep the 2nd place in the GC. He finished the time trial on the 14th provisional place, 1' 47'' behind the French. Actually, he almost lost the podium place to Laurens Ten Dam and will finish the stage only 7 seconds ahead of his fellow Dutch. Considering there is only the party in Paris remaining he should not have trouble finishing in the podium.
Jerome Coppel (Etixx) needed to hold off Jean-Christophe Peraud but he had a gap that should be big enough after the great stage he had in Peyragudes a couple of days ago. Nevertheless, he did not settle for holding on to the leader's jersey but he also won the stage by improving on Peraud's time by a margin of 43 seconds. It was a huge gap and only 3 riders were able to finish within 1 minute of the French. An outstanding performance from Coppel, who is on his way to the first win in a Grand Tour and already took 4 stage wins in the race.
Coppel may not have been among the top favorites for the win but he clearly was the strongest rider in the race and will be a deserved winner. His gap increased to 2' 14'' over Peraud and 3' 38'' over Robert Gesink. This was the last relevant stage of the Tour de France and tomorrow should be a day of celebration for the riders. It is also worth noting that Romain Bardet (IAM) managed to retain the white jersey against Ruben Plaza (BMC), even if the Spaniard had been expected to make up for the gap that the French had in the time trial.
Today's featured rider is an unlikely character in the cycling peloton. The French of Algerian descent has only started to get results this season but he has done it in style so far. He took a very surprising 2nd position in the Paris - Nice after taking bonus seconds in the first few stages and then holding on with the best in the hilly stages. This was only the start of a series of good results, capped by the 2 stages that he has won so far in the Tour de France. Nacer Bouhanni is one of the few muslim riders in the peloton and at only 26 years of age he probably has a very good future ahead.
Nacer has been associated his whole career to the Ag2r - La Mondiale team as he is riding his 5th season with the team. He joined when he was 22 in a team that desperately needed results and had Sylvain Chavanel and Thibaut Pinot as leaders. However, they have never been riders that a team could rely on to be leaders who brought many wins home. This is especially true for Pinot, who promised much but has drifted into being a domestique for Jerome Coppel and Frank Schleck in the Etixx squad.
However, Ag2r has improved a lot during the last few years. They invested heavily to bring a couple of marquee riders like Robert Gesink and Rui Costa, who can cover the calendar that Ag2r targets quite nicely. They have also uncovered riders like Nacer Bouhanni. This has propelled them to their current 5th place in the 2017 World Tour ranking, which leave them far from being worried from being relegated to the Pro Continental division.
It looks like the near future of Bouhanni will still be linked to the Ag2r team as he has a contract through 2018 with the French team. However, he is starting to attract attention and some of the bigger teams are starting to ask about his future beyond that. His most similar rider in terms of age and conditions is Mark Renshaw and he already made the move to BMC Racing. However, his first season with the team has been difficult so maybe a rider like Bouhanni will perform better if he stays surrounded by the familiarity of a French squad.
Best results:
Tour de France
2 stages (2017)
Milano - Sanremo
8th (2017)
Paris - Nice
2nd (2017)
Road European Championship
4th (2017)
UCI World Tour Rankings:
- 2013 Ag2r - La Mondiale: 147th (0.71 pts)
- 2014 Ag2r - La Mondiale: 174th (0 pts)
- 2015 Ag2r - La Mondiale: 188th (0.78 pts)
- 2016 Ag2r - La Mondiale: 120th (0.78 pts)
Most of the riders will be relieved that we are close to Paris for the last stage of the Tour de France. This stage should be a reward for all of those who have made it back to Paris after a very long route plagued with difficult stages. The route itself is completely straight-forward as they will have a completely flat route from Rambouillet to the Champs-Elysees, where the Tour de France always finishes. There should be no big surprises and even though the green jersey has not been settled yet, Marcel Kittel should take the points' classification home.
The break of the day was really large considering that it was the last stage of the Tour and a mass sprint was expected. A group as big as 11 riders were ahead with 90 kilometers to go. It included riders like Peter Kennaugh (Tinkoff), Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Paul Martens (HTC), Michael Albasini (IAM), Lars Bak (Cofidis) and Zdenek Stybar (Euskaltel). They had built a 4 minutes gap but even if the peloton was not in a chasing mode yet, Lotto, Vacansoleil and Etixx were at the front of the peloton and ready to chase. They were not lucky either with the weather as it was raining considerably.
The intermediate sprint was placed in Issy-les-Moulineux, shortly before the riders reached the circuit in the Champs-Elysees. There was nothing to fight for in the main group but the teams of the sprinters were already chasing with Alexander Kolobnev (Vacansoleil), Davide Formolo (Astana) and Matteo Trentin (Astana) and the gap had already decreased to 3' 30''. Even though the break was quite big the chase was not too frantic for the peloton as they started to chase quite early. It was a quiet day for the riders in the GC as they were well protected by their teammates.
The peloton was about to catch the break in the Champs-Elysees when there was a crash in the main group where Romain Bardet (IAM) was involved. He was at risk of losing the white jersey after that crash as he did not have that much of a gap ahead of Ruben Plaza (BMC). Another rider that crashed was one of the sprinters: Matthew Goss (Movistar). Meanwhile, Damiano Cunego attacked at the front group but he only had a gap of around 20 seconds with 12 kilometers to go so the peloton seemed to have everything under control. Rob Ruijgh (Lotto) was leading the group as they brought most of the break back.
Lotto and Vacansoleil had the two sprint trains with 3 kilometers to go. It was surprising that Astana had not come to the front yet. On the Belgian squad it looked like Chris Sutton (Lotto) would be the last man for Andre Greipel (Lotto), while Mark Renshaw (BMC) was on the wheel of the German. On the other side of the road it was Tom van Asbroeck (Vacansoleil) ahead of Ben Swift (Vacansoleil), while Denis Galimzyanov (Trek) was right behind. Other sprinters that were well positioned were Nacer Bouhanni (Ag2r), Mark Cavendish (IAM) and Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL).
Chris Sutton was doing a great lead-out for Andre Greipel but Vacansoleil's train was not far behind with a bit more than 1 kilometer to go. Mark Renshaw looked to have a prime position as well as he was holding on to Greipel's wheel. Meanwhile, Andrea Guardini (Astana) had brought Marcel Kittel (Astana) forward and the German had taken Ben Swift's wheel from Denis Galymzyanov. Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) was also making progress, while Kenny van Hummel and Nacer Bouhanni also kept within reach of the head of the race. It looked like many riders would have an option in the sprint of the Champs-Elysees.
Chris Sutton was still leading Andre Greipel with 600 meters to go but Mark Renshaw had already started his sprint and ahead of Greipel already. It looked like the German was going to run out of space to accelerate if he did not start the sprint. Nacer Bouhanni was sprinting very fast and he already won 2 stages in this Tour so they should be worried about him. We could also see Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff) and Denis Galymzyanov close to the front. Meanwhile, the riders that should be fighting for the green jersey, Marcel Kittel and Lloyd Mondory were nowhere to be seen.
Mark Renshaw wins in Paris! This is the first win for Renshaw riding for BMC and what a better way to do it than winning in the Champs Elysees. His season had been a bit disappointing so far as he had not had any meaningful results after the podium in the Tour Down Under. However, this is a quality win that will make him look much better at the end of the season. He had to hold off Nacer Bouhanni, who sprinted very well but was not positioned close to the front. Andre Greipel was 3rd while the top 5 was completed by Ben Swift and Marcel Kittel.
In the end there were no changes as expected in the general classification. It was a great day for the French as Jerome Coppel (Etixx) won his first Grand Tour and will be joined in the podium of the Tour by Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery) and Robert Gesink (Ag2r). However, the big change came in the white jersey as Romain Bardet's crash meant that he lost a lot of time and Ruben Plaza (BMC) inherited the jersey. Marcel Kittel won the green jersey while the mountains classification was won by Christophe Riblon (Cofidis) as known since the last of the Pyrenees stage.
The first race after the Tour de France is typically the Clasica de San Sebastian. This race is normally considered a hilly classic but the climbs are quite a bit longer than the typical classic in the Ardennes. The route has been unchanged for the last few years and the circuit including the climbs to the Alto de Jaizkibel and the Alto de Arkale should be the key part of the race. However, the flat sections between the climbs and the distance between the last climb and the finish line in San Sebastian make attacks difficult to get to the finish line.
In terms of the participation, there is a mix coming from the Tour de France and riders starting to prepare the Vuelta a España. The record winner of the race is Jakob Fuglsang but, although he still rides with Dimension Data, he is not even close to the rider that he used to be. The only previous winner in the only Spanish classic that will be at the start will be Pieter Weening, who is among the outsiders for the race. Meanwhile, among other riders that have been in the podium, David Lopez was 2nd in the last two editions of the race and is one of the top favorites.
Favorites:
- Simone Ponzi (Team LottoNL - Jumbo): Simone Ponzi is quite a rare case of a rider that can be among the best in the hills and also very fast in the sprints. He was focussed mainly on the sprints in the past but this year he prepared the hilly classics better given that LottoNL - Jumbo also have Kenny van Hummel in the squad. His results in the Ardennes, where he got 3 top 10s, were very encouraging and the race in San Sebastian should fit him better. If he is not dropped in the climbs it will be very hard for the climbers to win the race.
- David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi): David Lopez did not race the Tour de France and starts his preparation for the Vuelta a España in this race. This is one of the key races for Euskaltel, as it is in their home base of the Basque Country. Therefore, even if the Spaniard is not yet on top of his game he should be involved in the fight for the win. However, his problem for the win in the race is that he is among the slowest in a sprint of the top favorites. Euskaltel will have to make the race as hard as possible in the climbs so that the final group is small.
- Jelle Vanendert (Lotto - Soudal): Jelle Vanendert is another of the riders that skipped the Tour de France. In his case, the amount of kilometers against the clock meant that he barely had a chance in the GC. The Clasica de San Sebastian should be a race that fits him very well given that the climbs are a bit harder than the typical hilly classic. However, he has never been in the podium so far. He has a similar problem to David Lopez as he also needs the race to be quite hard. The potential of Lotto and Euskaltel should be enough to do it.
- Mauro Finetto (Team Katusha): Finetto was the response of Katusha to Simone Ponzi leaving at the end of the 2016 season. Both Italians are very similar riders although Finetto is only 23 years old and therefore a rider that still might need the experience to fight for this kind of important classics. Nevertheless, he was 5th in the Amstel Gold Race and won a stage in the Tour de Romandie. If Finetto continues the progression he has had so far he could be a very important rider in the near future in the classics.
Other riders with a shot at the podium are Joost van Leijen (Team Giant - Alpecin), Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Emanuele Sella (Movistar Team), Davide Rebellin (Astana Pro Team), Frank Schleck (Etixx - Quickstep) and Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale - Drapac).
The riders will have nice weather in late July in the north of Spain to tackle the Clasica de San Sebastian. It has only been 1 week since the Tour de France ended and it is said that a small rest before the next race would benefit some of them. The route will be the same that we have witnessed in the last few years. There is a circuit with climbs to the Alto de Jaizkibel and the Alto de Arkale but the climbs are a bit far from the finish line. This causes the race to be quite unpredictable and we have seen groups of many sizes come out of the circuit.
There was not much of a fight to form the break of the day. It was settled at the front by the time they climbed the Alto de Garate. After many easy kilometers their gap was 7' 15'' as they went through Andoain. The group of 6 included riders like Nacer Bouhanni (Ag2r), Christophe Riblon (Cofidis), Andriy Grivko (Giant), Vincenzo Nibali (Lampre) and Grega Bole (Astana). Meanwhile, with 119 kilometers still in the race, the peloton was not panicked at all. The wind was quite strong and that could potentially determine the outcome of the race.
The first passage through the climb of the Alto de Jaizkibel was not meant to cause any difficulties for the favorites. With 77 kilometers to go and a head-wind there was no one to lose contact with the main bunch even though there were riders leading the group like Dries Devenyns (Euskaltel), Enrico Gasparotto (Etixx) and Danilo di Luca (Euskaltel). The gap for the break had decreased to 4' 30'' so it was completely controlled. It was interesting to see Katusha always very close to the front, including Mauro Finetto (Katusha). The Italian could be very important in the end.
The gap for the break was steadily decreasing for the break. At the second climb to the Alto de Arkale it was down to 2' 10'' with 54 kilometers to the finish line. It would be quite hard for them to get to the top of Jaizkibel ahead as it was clear that the amount of kilometers that they had been in the break was taking a toll. Meanwhile, Euskaltel, Lotto and Etixx were making the race a lot harder but they were unable to drop many riders. It was what we expected from these teams that need to drop the quicker riders and they were trying to make the race hard.
The second climb to Jaizkibel was the point where the race could be broken and there were many more attacks than expected. Diego Ulissi (Lampre) and Samuel Sanchez (Movistar) were leaders at the top of the climb but there were other important riders chasing. Tejay van Garderen (Trek) was only 20 seconds behind, while Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) had also jumped and was losing 1 minute. A group of 17 favorites was 1' 10'' behind the leaders. Meanwhile, Mauro Finetto had missed the move and was losing more than 2 minutes. There were many important riders in the group of favorites and could be a winning move.
The attacks triggered by Samuel Sanchez in Jaizkibel was the key move of the race and at the bottom of the Alto de Arkale there was a group of 15 riders that was meant to fight for the race. They left behind all of the riders that were in the early break. Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil) was leading the race at the start of the 3rd climb to Arkale but they would have a head-wind again in this climb. Other important riders that had not caught the move were riders like Emanuele Sella (Movistar) and Davide Rebellin (Astana). The climb to Arkale was only 2.5 kilometers long and the last of the race.
Both Frank Schleck (Etixx) and Laurens Ten Dam attacked in the climb to Arkale but no one was able to open a gap given the head-wind. The 15 riders were already at the descent but Tejay van Garderen was struggling in the start of the descent to hold on with the group. They still had 14 mostly flat kilometers but there was a small hill at the entrance to San Sebastian. The race was starting to move towards riders like Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) or Joost van Leijen (Giant). Nevertheless, it was going to be hard to control the attacks that would surely come towards the end.
David Lopez attacked in the flat at around 7 kilometers to the finish line and opened a significant gap by the time he reached the last small uphill section. He was 25 seconds ahead as there had were doubts as to who had to chase when the Spaniard attacked. Simon Clarke (HTC) and Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) were leading the chase but they had to push hard if they wanted to catch Lopez. With 4 kilometers to go it looked like Lopez could finally take the win in San Sebastian. There was little understanding among those chasing and the groups behind were too far behind.
There was no understanding among the chasers and David Lopez got to the last kilometer with a gap big enough to grab the win in the Clasica de San Sebastian. The group crossed the final kilometer kite 40 seconds behind with Simon Clarke leading the final sprint for the podium places ahead of Mathias Frank (IAM). They were followed by Tom Slagter (Cannondale), Jelle Vanendert and Joost van Leijen. Van Leijen would have been a very good challenger for the overall win. However, Simone Ponzi started the sprint quite a long way from the front of the group and was at risk of not being in the podium.
David Lopez wins in San Sebastian! The Spaniard finally made it and after coming home 2nd twice in the race he managed to grab the win. Lopez had a difficult start of the season but since he won the Vuelta al Pais Vasco he has been really solid and won the Tour de Suisse as well. Things are looking really good for him if he can make progress towards the Vuelta a España. The second place in the podium went to Simon Clarke, a big surprise. It is the first time that the Australian is in the podium of a race, so the 26 year-old had every reason for celebrating.
The podium was completed with Mathias Frank, who came home third ahead of Tom Slagter and Jelle Vanendert. Simone Ponzi was very disappointing as he grabbed the 9th final position. It is most likely that he is not as fit as he would have liked to fight for the race. Overall, it was a very interesting race and it broke apart much sooner than expected. The fact that riders like Tejay van Garderen, Simone Ponzi or Laurens Ten Dam attacked in Jaizkibel made the race much more interesting. Although a big number of riders gave up in chasing, the fight for the win was very interesting.
hard work for nothing.
