Vuelta a Espana Stage 5


A lot of escapes in front, but nothing important as they can't count for the overall rankings or the KoM jersey. Also the wind could have an important role today.


Disaster! Crashes in the pack with just 8 km to go. Andreas Kloden, the big favourite to win Vuelta this year, is down


One of the Liquigas' leaders is down. The Spanish guy, Lastras


Also 2 of the CSC guys are down: Larsson and Cuesta. But no one seems to be injured and they will all continue the race


Now lets get back to the front of the race, where Barloworld are in front, not Columbia


Though that's not the main problem for us. Because of the strong wind Cavendish couldn't take the wheel of Ciolek in the way he wanted and so he couldn't sprint properly


It all seems to go for a Barloworld win. Cooke, who is in great form after his stage wins in Eneco Tour, was perfectly placed by Roby Hunter


And yes, the win goes to Baden Cooke, but he is still far away from the points jersey


Talking about that jersey, Ciolek was faster than Cavendish today and with the points won they now both have 73 points, but somehow Ciolek is pointed to be the one who will wear the jersey tomorrow.


Some Agritubel riders waited for Kloden but it was too hard to bring him back in the pack and he lost almost 3 minutes and a half there.


Stage
1. Baden Cooke Barloworld 3h57'10
2. Robert Förster Gerolsteiner s.t.
3. Daniele Bennati Liquigas s.t.
4. Danilo Napolitano Lampre s.t.
5. Robert Hunter Barloworld s.t.
6. Koldo Fernández de Larrea Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
7. Tom Boonen Quick·Step s.t.
8. Gerald Ciolek Team Columbia s.t.
9. Sébastien Chavanel Française des Jeux s.t.
10. Paolo Bettini Team Milram s.t.

Overall
1. Damiano Cunego Lampre 19h56'43
2. Franco Pellizotti Liquigas + 1'07
3. Fränk Schleck Team CSC - Saxo Bank + 1'21
4. Mauricio Soler Barloworld + 1'37
5. Vladimir Karpets Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
6. Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
7. David Arroyo Caisse d'Epargne + 2'05
8. Luis León Sánchez AG2R La Mondiale + 2'27
9. Pieter Weening Rabobank s.t.
10. Toni Colom Astana Cycling Team s.t.

Points
1. Gerald Ciolek Team Columbia 73
2. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia 73
3. Baden Cooke Barloworld 43

Mountain
1. John Devine Team Columbia 54
2. Ronny Scholz Gerolsteiner 36
3. Davide Rebellin LPR Brakes - Ballan 22

Young: Luis León Sánchez AG2R La Mondiale
Teams: Caisse d'Epargne

where is your favourite for the overall? lövkvist, rogers?

Rogers isn't here

And Lovkvist is 16th now. Kloden, Cuesta and Lastras are now behind him and he also beat today some of the guys that finished in the same group with him in the previous stage. So those are the 4 places won.

Deutschland Tour Stage 5


Vogondy and Tjallingii, some of the most combative riders this year in Germany, are today in the breakaway.


Di Luca made an really early attack, just before the climb started


On the climb he caught all the escapes one by one and took the lead


Menchov decided to make his move after a few kilometres, when Di Luca was all by himself in front


Sastre is going there. He's probably the best climber in this tour


Gerdemann is going there too as all Menchov, Di Luca or Sastre could take his yellow jersey at the end of the day


Di Luca is still looking good in front of the race


While a chasing group was made behind him by Menchov, Sastre, Cobo, Martinez and Gerdemann


But Sastre feels like the others are slowing him down so he tries to go after Di Luca by himself


Menchov doens't want to let him go, after also Cobo tried to maintain in the wheel of Sastre


Gerdemann and Martinez are slowly getting back there


Still Sastre looks like the strongest there and he almost caught Di Luca


Menchov is now in the third position, with Gerdemann, Martinez and Cobo still together behind him


Less than 1km to go and Sastre still isn't too close enough to Di Luca


Now just a few metres, and a German fan is cheering for him?! He isn't a Gerdemann fan or not...


Di Luca wins. Too bad for him that CSC was one of the poor teams in the TTT


Somehow Gerdemann didn't get Martinez and Cobo's time, but still kept his jersey in front of Sastre. But the main opponent for him seems to be Menchov, for the decisive time-trial.


Stage
1. Danilo Di Luca Team CSC - Saxo Bank 4h25'15
2. Carlos Sastre LPR Brakes - Ballan + 14
3. Denis Menchov Rabobank + 46
4. Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'38
5. Egoi Martínez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
6. Linus Gerdemann Team Columbia + 1'50
7. Maxim Iglinskiy Astana Cycling Team + 2'22
8. Janez Brajkovic Astana Cycling Team + 2'58
9. Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux s.t.
10. José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.

Overall
1. Linus Gerdemann Team Columbia 18h55'59
2. Carlos Sastre LPR Brakes - Ballan + 6
3. Denis Menchov Rabobank + 13
4. Danilo Di Luca Team CSC - Saxo Bank + 59
5. Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'41
6. Johan Vansummeren Silence - Lotto + 1'43
7. Egoi Martínez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'58
8. José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 2'39
9. Bauke Mollema Rabobank + 2'49
10. Fran Pérez Caisse d'Epargne + 2'59

Points
1. Danilo Di Luca Team CSC - Saxo Bank 51
2. Carlos Sastre LPR Brakes - Ballan 45
3. Óscar Freire Rabobank 40

Mountain
1. Nicolas Vogondy Agritubel 39
2. Danilo Di Luca Team CSC - Saxo Bank 28
3. Harald Totschnig Astana Cycling Team 27

Vuelta a Espana Stage 6


3 non-important escapes.


Spilak is leading the pack on the final climb for Cunego. This should be really fun and interesting to see.


Luis Leon Sanchez is the one who makes the first attack


Cunego, Lovkvist, Pfannberger, Barredo and Horner are after him


And as in the previous mountain stage, Cunego proves to be the strongest man in the pack this Vuelta


While Lovkvist is in the chasing group lead by Pfannbereger


Cunego is first at the summit


Though he made a seriously effort he could make a big gap between him and the others


An attack by Lovkvist!


He really seems to be downhilling faster than Cunego, as he catches the gold jersey wearer


Cunego's solo effort on the climb pays back now and Lovkvist is faster than him in the sprint for the stage win


Impresive day for Lovkvist, very good fellings and it's a stage win! He still isn't in top 10 overall, being 11th, but with just 3 seconds behind the 6th place


Stage
1. Thomas Lövkvist Team Columbia 4h40'36
2. Damiano Cunego Lampre s.t.
3. Franco Pellizotti Liquigas + 41
4. Christian Pfannberger Barloworld s.t.
5. Luis León Sánchez AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
6. Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
7. Chris Horner Gerolsteiner s.t.
8. Fränk Schleck Team CSC - Saxo Bank s.t.
9. Carlos Barredo Quick·Step s.t.
10. Toni Colom Astana Cycling Team s.t.

Overall
1. Damiano Cunego Lampre 24h37'19
2. Franco Pellizotti Liquigas + 1'48
3. Fränk Schleck Team CSC - Saxo Bank + 2'02
4. Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 2'18
5. Mauricio Soler Barloworld s.t.
6. Luis León Sánchez AG2R La Mondiale + 3'08
7. Christian Pfannberger Barloworld s.t.
8. Carlos Barredo Quick·Step s.t.
9. Toni Colom Astana Cycling Team s.t.
10. Pieter Weening Rabobank s.t.

Points
1. Gerald Ciolek Team Columbia 73
2. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia 73
3. Damiano Cunego Lampre 45

Mountain
1. John Devine Team Columbia 54
2. Ronny Scholz Gerolsteiner 36
3. Damiano Cunego Lampre 32

Young: Luis León Sánchez AG2R La Mondiale
Teams: Barloworld

Lovkvist

Deutschland Tour Stage 6


Tony Martin was the only rider in the breakaway. That means that the pack had no problems getting him back so we shall see a mass sprint for the line.


Ignatiev is really doing a great job today. Nobody is even close to us


Now it's time for Hagen to go his job for Eisel. Still no one seems to be a threat for us today


But sudenly O'Grady appears in Eisel's wheel, and the ex-Austrian Champion has to do something.


Eisel somehow manages to keep O'Grady away from the first place and wins the stage! Hagen is third, Gerdemann still in yellow, so great day for Columbia in Germany.


Stage
1. Bernhard Eisel Team Columbia 4h16'10
2. Stuart O'Grady Quick·Step s.t.
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen Team Columbia s.t.
4. Óscar Freire Rabobank s.t.
5. Max Richeze Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
6. Matteo Carrara Quick·Step s.t.
7. Mikhail Ignatiev Team Columbia s.t.
8. Joachim Tolles Team Kuota - Senges s.t.
9. André Schulze Team Volksbank s.t.
10. Michael Kurth Team Kuota - Senges s.t.

Overall
1. Linus Gerdemann Team Columbia 23h12'09
2. Carlos Sastre LPR Brakes - Ballan + 6
3. Denis Menchov Rabobank + 13
4. Danilo Di Luca Team CSC - Saxo Bank + 59
5. Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'41
6. Johan Vansummeren Silence - Lotto + 1'43
7. Egoi Martínez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'58
8. José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 2'39
9. Bauke Mollema Rabobank + 2'49
10. Fran Pérez Caisse d'Epargne + 2'59

Points
1. Óscar Freire Rabobank 53
2. Danilo Di Luca Team CSC - Saxo Bank 51
3. Bernhard Eisel Team Columbia 45

Mountain
1. Nicolas Vogondy Agritubel 39
2. Danilo Di Luca Team CSC - Saxo Bank 28
3. Harald Totschnig Astana Cycling Team 27

Nice with Lovkvist and what place is he at the moment

he is 11trh, 3 seconds behind LL Sanche, who is 6th. I've mentined that in the report

Veulta a Espana Stage 7


The breakaway. John Devine would wanted to be there but he didn't get in the right group


Really early attack from Samuel Sanchez, right on the first early metres of the last climb


2km later he caught all the escapes and now he is leading the race


But it seems that someone is coming fromt the pack. An another Sanchez, this one is Luis Leon


Luis Leon caught Samuel and now they are both leading before the hardest portion of the last climb


That's the place where Lovkvist made his move


Also Cunego had to do something as he could lost his jersey


The Sanchez duo is still leading with a pretty good advantage


Soler seems to be their main chaser


And then a group with all the big names


So far they've worked great together but now someone has to take the stage win


That's Samuel Sanchez, who managed to beat Luis Leon with only a few centimetres


Cunego won some time on the last part of the climb over them and he keeps the gold jersey.


Stage
1. Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi 5h12'49
2. Luis León Sánchez AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
3. Mauricio Soler Barloworld + 46
4. Vladimir Karpets Caisse d'Epargne + 1'02
5. Andreas Klöden Agritubel s.t.
6. Damiano Cunego Lampre s.t.
7. Franco Pellizotti Liquigas + 1'16
8. Thomas Lövkvist Team Columbia + 1'24
9. Carlos Barredo Quick·Step s.t.
10. Fränk Schleck Team CSC - Saxo Bank + 1'40

Overall
1. Damiano Cunego Lampre 29h51'10
2. Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'16
3. Mauricio Soler Barloworld + 2'02
4. Franco Pellizotti Liquigas s.t.
5. Luis León Sánchez AG2R La Mondiale + 2'06
6. Fränk Schleck Team CSC - Saxo Bank + 2'40
7. Vladimir Karpets Caisse d'Epargne + 3'20
8. Carlos Barredo Quick·Step + 3'30
9. Thomas Lövkvist Team Columbia + 3'33
10. Christian Pfannberger Barloworld + 4'20

Points
1. Gerald Ciolek Team Columbia 73
2. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia 73
3. Damiano Cunego Lampre 55

Mountian
1. John Devine Team Columbia 54
2. Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi 52
3. Damiano Cunego Lampre 42

Young: Luis León Sánchez AG2R La Mondiale
Teams: Barloworld

YAY Løvet

yeah I really expect a good place now from Lovkvist. The first mountian stages seems to be the hardest in this Vuelta and Lovkvist didn't lost a lot of time there. Also there are 3 TTs - 2 flat ones and one half mountain half flat where Lovkvist could win some time over the rest big names, that aren't too good in TT.

what are his stats

72 flat
77 hill
76 mountain
78 TT

Deutschland Tour Stage 7


The breakaway.


There was a early crash in the pack. Grabsch was involved and had to withdrew


Somehow Pineau seems to be the fastest main in the pack


But he is caught by Ignatiev's fast pace


Columbia seems to be now in a perfect position


But Freire appears from nowhere and now Eisel and Hagen are in big trouble


This looks like Eisel will fight just for the third place with Klemme, while Freire and O'Grady will fight for the stage win


And the win goes to O'Grady. Freire keeps his points jersey


Stage
1. Stuart O'Grady Quick·Step 4h20'46
2. Óscar Freire Rabobank s.t.
3. Bernhard Eisel Team Columbia s.t.
4. Domenik Klemme Team 3C Gruppe s.t.
5. Joachim Tolles Team Kuota - Senges s.t.
6. Edvald Boasson Hagen Team Columbia s.t.
7. Mirko Lorenzetto Lampre s.t.
8. Murilo Fischer Liquigas s.t.
9. Alexandre Pichot Bouygues Télécom s.t.
10. Mikhail Ignatiev Team Columbia s.t.

Overall
1. Linus Gerdemann Team Columbia 27h32'55
2. Carlos Sastre LPR Brakes - Ballan + 6
3. Denis Menchov Rabobank + 13
4. Danilo Di Luca Team CSC - Saxo Bank + 59
5. Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'41
6. Johan Vansummeren Silence - Lotto + 1'43
7. Egoi Martínez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'58
8. José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 2'39
9. Bauke Mollema Rabobank + 2'49
10. Fran Pérez Caisse d'Epargne + 2'59

Points
1. Óscar Freire Rabobank 73
2. Bernhard Eisel Team Columbia 61
3. Stuart O'Grady Quick·Step 55

Mountain
1. Nicolas Vogondy Agritubel 39
2. Danilo Di Luca Team CSC - Saxo Bank 28
3. Harald Totschnig Astana Cycling Team 27

i love your sprints
almost every sprint preparation is perfect but why not
it´s a sprint team will you sign a climber?

Karpets, Maaskant, Meersman, Fuglsang and Cornu are our new signs for 2010

Vuelta a Espana Stage 8


The breakaway.


Really poor lead-out by Burghardt. Barloworld really kicked our asses there


Bennati and Boonen are right after the Barloworld duo, Hunter & Cooke.


But Ventoso appears from nowhere to take the lead


And it's a win for Paco Ventoso. Really poor sprint for Columbia today.


Stage
1. Fran Ventoso Andalucía - Cajasur 3h48'46
2. Koldo Fernández de Larrea Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
3. Baden Cooke Barloworld s.t.
4. Danilo Napolitano Lampre s.t.
5. Robert Förster Gerolsteiner s.t.
6. Assan Bazayev Astana Cycling Team s.t.
7. Sébastien Chavanel Française des Jeux s.t.
8. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia s.t.
9. Gert Steegmans Quick·Step s.t.
10. Paolo Bettini Team Milram s.t.

Overall
1. Damiano Cunego Lampre 33h39'56
2. Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'16
3. Franco Pellizotti Liquigas + 2'02
4. Mauricio Soler Barloworld s.t.
5. Luis León Sánchez AG2R La Mondiale + 2'06
6. Fränk Schleck Team CSC - Saxo Bank + 2'40
7. Vladimir Karpets Caisse d'Epargne + 3'20
8. Carlos Barredo Quick·Step + 3'30
9. Thomas Lövkvist Team Columbia + 3'33
10. Christian Pfannberger Barloworld + 4'20

Points
1. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia 81
2. Gerald Ciolek Team Columbia 73
3. Baden Cooke Barloworld 59

Mountain
1. John Devine Team Columbia 54
2. Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi 52
3. Damiano Cunego Lampre 42

Young: Luis León Sánchez AG2R La Mondiale
Teams: Barloworld

Deutschland Tour Stage 8


Zabriskie, in his preparation for the WC ITT, had a good time today, just that his team-mate Mikhail Ignatiev had a great day and Ignatiev was faster than Z.


Gutierrez was also one of the strong men today


Now the battle for the yellow jersey, Menchov had a great TT and he is a the new leader, Ignatiev is now second.


Gerdemann crosses the line in front of Sastre and... he is faster than Menchov. Stage win for Linus and probably nothing can stop him now winning the Tour of Germany. It's a great win as he is also the German National Champion.


Stage
1. Linus Gerdemann Team Columbia 1h02'01
2. Denis Menchov Rabobank + 12
3. Mikhail Ignatiev Team Columbia + 17
4. David Zabriskie Team Columbia + 35
5. José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 56
6. Edvald Boasson Hagen Team Columbia + 1'04
7. Tony Martin Team Columbia + 1'12
8. Steve Morabito Astana Cycling Team + 1'23
9. Janez Brajkovic Astana Cycling Team + 1'26
10. Bauke Mollema Rabobank s.t.
11. Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'28
12. Peter Velits Team Milram + 1'34
13. Danilo Di Luca Team CSC - Saxo Bank + 1'44
14. Sven Krauss Gerolsteiner + 1'51
15. Michael Rogers Team Columbia + 1'52
16. Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux s.t.
17. Laurens Ten Dam Rabobank + 1'54
18. Manuele Boaro Liquigas s.t.
19. Paul Martens Rabobank + 2'03
20. Beñat Intxausti Saunier Duval - Scott + 2'04

Overall
1. Linus Gerdemann Team Columbia 28h34'56
2. Denis Menchov Rabobank + 25
3. Carlos Sastre LPR Brakes - Ballan + 2'29
4. Danilo Di Luca Team CSC - Saxo Bank + 2'43
5. Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott + 3'09
6. José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 3'35
7. Egoi Martínez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 4'06
8. Johan Vansummeren Silence - Lotto + 4'11
9. Bauke Mollema Rabobank + 4'15
10. Peter Velits Team Milram + 4'56
11. Laurens Ten Dam Rabobank + 5'05
12. Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux + 5'24
13. Fran Pérez Caisse d'Epargne + 5'29
14. Bernhard Kohl Gerolsteiner + 5'39
15. Beñat Intxausti Saunier Duval - Scott + 5'47
16. Maxim Iglinskiy Astana Cycling Team + 6'09
17. Amets Txurruka Euskaltel - Euskadi + 6'14
18. Janez Brajkovic Astana Cycling Team + 7'28
19. Matteo Carrara Quick·Step + 8'00
20. Alberto Losada Caisse d'Epargne + 8'50

Vuelta a Espana Stage 9


Sorry guys but the game crashed during the replay and I could take just one screenshot. The stage was won by Martin Elmiger, who was in the winning breakaway. No big changes at the top as all the favourites finished in the same group, between the breakaway and the pack. Lovkvist lead the favourites group to the line.