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Nordic Cycling | Final Farewell
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 23-01-2014 12:28
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Rider of the Month:  Edvald Boasson Hagen, Novo Nordisk - SAS. The Norwegian may only have performed on top level a week the following month, but when that results in a monument and two world championships a week is plenty...
Nordic Rider of the Month:  Willy Ipsen, Novo Nordisk – SAS. Willy started the month by winning the two biggest mountain stages of the Vuelta and then went on to fight with every last ounce of energy to become the first Nordic Vuelta-winner ever.
The final struggle
With only two weeks of racing left in the season nothing is yet decided in terms of relegation and promotion.
Let’s start by having a look at the bottom of the World Tour standing. With only Tour of Beijing left on the calendar as many as 6 teams are in a real risk of relegation. All six are even worse ranked in the WT than CT-teams Volkswagen and Statoil – Stoerensoe…
| 15 |  Colnago – CSF Inox | 316 | | 16 |  FDJ – BigMat | 314 | | 17 |  Commonwealth Bank – GreenEdge | 302 | | 18 | Liquigas – Cannondale | 259 | | 19 |  Omega Pharma – QuickStep | 243 | | 20 |  Euskaltel – Euskadi | 214 |
OPQS are in this situation for the third year in a row. The last two years they were saved by Peter Velits, but the Slovakian is gone, so they will have to come up with something new in China.
FDJ – BigMat is the worst ranked WT-team on the CQ-ranking so in some way it would seem just if they went down, as would it if Commonwealth as the 2nd worst WT-team on the CQ-ranking would go down. In reality Liquigas is probably the best looking team of the six at the moment and small miracles will be needed for the Belgians and the Basque.
It doesn’t get the slightest but less exiting when it comes to the battle for promotion, where three teams battle for two places.
| 8 | Het Nieuwsblad – Willems Veranda’s | 4220 | | 9 |  Volkswagen | 4140 | | 11 | Statoil – Stoerensoe | 3998 |
Statoil and Volkswagen are currently ranked better on the World Tour than six teams actually in there, while Het Nieuwsblad have been focusing on CT-races and especially got a lot of points in the early season.
The main share of Volkswagen’s points can be attributed to some great shows in both the Tour and the Vuelta, where they have proved that they are strong enough to compete in the WT.
Statoil have been more balanced as they are both the 2nd best ranked CT-team in the WT- and CQ-rankings.
The UCI have organized for all three teams to participate in every single October-race so it should be an exciting battle to follow.
| 1 | Jakob Fuglsang | Novo Nordisk – SAS | 634 | | 2 | Vincenzo Nibali | Nissan | 619 | | 3 |  Andy Schleck | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | 520 | | 4 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Novo Nordisk – SAS | 516 | | 30 |  Thomas Löfkvist | Novo Nordisk – SAS | 148 | | 48 |  Jussi Veikkanen | Novo Nordisk – SAS | 104 | | - |  | - | - |
| 1 | Novo Nordisk – SAS | 2018 | | 2 |  Nissan | 1105 | | 3 | Team Santander | 1050 | | 4 | Team Saxo – Tinkoff | 984 | | 14 | Statoil – Stoerensoe | 348 |
| 1 | Kristof Goddaert | Het Nieuwsblad – Willems Veranda’s | 998 | | 2 | Zico Waeytens | Dirk Grepdon Wanzele – Mercator | 769 | | 3 |  Zdenek Stybar | Team Whirlpool – PKN Orlen | 658 | | 22 | Kasper Jebjerg | Statoil - Stoerensoe | 337 | | 71 | Gunnar Grönlund | IKEA Cykling | 171 | | 81 | Frans-Leonard Markarskard | Belavia | 165 | | - | | - | - |
| 1 | Het Nieuwsblad – Willems Veranda’s | 2675 | | 2 | Statoil – Stoerensoe | 1935 | | 3 | Dirk Grepdon Wanzele - Mercator | 1814 | | 10 | Joker Merida | 1263 | | 20 | TDC – LRØ Rådgivning | 809 | | 35 | Blue Water Cycling | 409 | | 36 | Ikea Cykling | 366 | | 51 | Team Øster Hus | 209 | | 55 | DONG Energy – Himmerland | 193 | | 73 | Jardar Sykling | 68 | | 79 | Christina Watches Development Team | 13 |
Vincenzo Nibali have finally announced where he will be racing next year. The team that cam out on top were: Spoiler [img-l]https://users.telenet.be/belimech/Images/Logo_Belisol.jpg[/img-l]
Nibali will be a more than sufficient replacement for Roman Kreuziger, who is leaving for
Other noteworthy transfers:
| Rider | Age | Avg | Current Team | New Team | | Damiano Cunego | 34 | 78 | Team ISD - Ferrari | Alstom | | Arnaud Demare | 24 | 75 | FDJ - BigMat | Cofidis | | Davide Appolonio | 27 | 77 | Commonwealth Bank - GreenEdge | FDJ - BigMat |  Janez Brajkovic | 32 | 77 | Astana Pro Team | Het Nieuwsblad - Willems Verandas | | Domenico Pozzovivo | 33 | 77 | Liquigas - Cannondale | ISD - Ferrari |  Fabio Duarte | 30 | 79 | Vacansoleil - DCM | Liquigas - Cannondale | | Arkaitz Durán | 30 | 76 | Euskaltel - Euskadi | Movistar Team |  Peter Sagan | 26 | 79 | Team Santander | Nissan | | Romain Bardet | 25 | 78 | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | Omega Pharma - Quickstep | | Luis León Sánchez | 32 | 76 | Movistar Team | Omega Pharma - Quickstep | | Jurgen Van den Broeck | 33 | 78 | Colnago - CSF Inox | Rabobank Pro Cycling | | Giovanni Visconti | 33 | 77 | Liquigas - Cannondale | Team Selle Italia |  Yuri Trofimov | 32 | 77 | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | Team Selle Italia | | Sep Vanmacke | 27 | 76 | Omega Pharma - QuickStep | Vacansoleil - DCM |  Geraint Thomas | 30 | 75 | Team NSP - Ghost | Team Santander | | Rüdiger Selig | 27 | 76 | Volkswagen | Movistar Team |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 23-01-2014 13:32
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Rider of the Month was never in doubt, it just had to be Edvald 
And is it third time unlucky for Omega Pharma 
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| VoetsT |
Posted on 23-01-2014 13:37
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Not again OPQS
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 23-01-2014 18:48
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Some interesting transfers there... I hope OPQS don't get relegated
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 23-01-2014 20:18
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sutty: At least OPQS have experience in this situation 
VoetsT: Yes again. Since Velits have saved them by winning Beijing the last two years and has now left them I think it will be tough for them this time around 
the_hoyle: Some interesting transfer in deed. Nibali is really turning in to quite a nomade. Time will tell who gets relegated, but it doesn't look too god for OPQS when looking at their roster (mainly consisting of decent cobblers)...
Edited by Atlantius on 24-01-2014 11:32
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 24-01-2014 11:32
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Sparkassen Münsterland Giro 
We will go to the European October races with a team composed of the riders with the fewest race days. They will all get free roles to prove that they should get more chances next year.
Young Finnish rider Karjalainen if off early, but he has a very hard time matching the attacks of Gusev and Gilbert (the Canadian one that is).
That break only lasts for about 20 km and it seems Jens Erik Madsen have found some decent form approaching the end of his career.
With 100 km to go Jens Erik has 4’30’’ along with 13 other riders among them Rudaskov of Volkswagen and Clausen of Statoil both fighting for promotion to the WT.
80 km left the alliance in front of the peloton have allowed the break to extend the gap to 5’40’’
Madsen takes some good turns in front of the break, but can’t quite keep the peloton at bay.
With 60 km to go the peloton has reduced the gap to 4’20’’
50 km and 3’30’’
30 km and 2’11
With 14 km left there is visual contact between the peloton and the break.
We have no strong sprinters so with 5 km to go Larsson tries his luck
He is 2nd after Graziato into the final 3 km with a small gap to the peloton.
With 1 km to the line it can still go either way.
With 400 m to the line Viganó is the first sprinter to get in contact with the breakers.
In the end Kump is the strongest and Larsson is the only Novo-rider capable of mixing with the sprinters.
Who would have thought I would ever say that?
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 24-01-2014 11:40
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Seems like a very closed mass sprint there.
Larsson the new sprinter? 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 00:36
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| VoetsT |
Posted on 24-01-2014 11:59
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Can't win every race
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 24-01-2014 13:29
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Nice ride from Larsson
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| Matthew21rp |
Posted on 24-01-2014 14:26
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Larsson will be beating Cavendish and Kitell soon
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 24-01-2014 14:39
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Still a good finish for Larsson. Nice job
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| welker3257 |
Posted on 24-01-2014 15:43
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What happened to Novo, they didn't win the race 
Gig 'em Aggies
Fast N' Loud Cycling Project - ICL
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 24-01-2014 21:47
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Ian: Well if you give him 30 seconds and a leadoutman at 3km he is able to battle for a top 10 against a weak field
VoetsT: Probably could have won had I not decided to give the October classics to the riders with the least race days...
sutty: It certainly was. A much stronger finish than I expected from him!
Matthew21rp: That could happen... In a time trial
Jakstar: Thanks. It was nice to see that the old man still has something to offer outside TTT's 
welker: We decided we couldn't be bothered winning neither this nor the other October classics by sending our big names. Now it's time for the ones who didn't get a lof of chances to prove they should get more next year
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| The Rider |
Posted on 24-01-2014 22:08
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Everyone, Larsson is not going to win the sprints.......
Quite ironic that the team go from winning a GT to scraping a top 10 against the continental teams!
If we get another season of Nordic cycling I am looking forward to see new names coming to the fore and maybe some older names moving on.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 25-01-2014 08:55
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The Rider: I wanted to feel a bit more how some of the guys, who didn't get a lot of chances are at the moment, so the big stars have been left at home
Time will tell what happens exactly, but I'm sure the Nordic's won't stop cycling just yet...
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 25-01-2014 10:09
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Coppa Sabatini Before we move on to this race I just want to tell you that Statoil moved up to a promotion spot after taking a 2-3 in Paris – Bourges.
For us this is another race where we will be looking for surprise attacks. At least the finish should suit the team better than the one yesterday. Last year we got a 3rd place with Riis by the way.
Wallin tries to form the early break with Seedraeyers and Ignatiev.
They couldn’t quite make it last though and in the end Cort became our man in the main break.
Liquigas isn’t handing out any presents today though.
Magnus does his best to make it last and with 62 km to go they have a gap pf just over five minutes. Other interesting riders in the break count Horner, Ignatiev and Del Nero.
30 km and 2’45’’
Orange put in a lot of work near the finish, but it looks like they won’t be able to ride for the win.
Cort tried to follow but was too tired after all his hard work when Caddeo went away with 14 km to go.
8 km from the line Caddeo has 47 seconds to Cort & Co. and a further 34 seconds to the peloton.
When Cort is caught 5 km from the line Wallin attacks again even though the win looks far away.
With the win gone both Orange and Liquigas have stopped their pace-making allowing Wallin to quickly build a fairly big gap.
A surprising win for Caddeo while Joel is giving his all to keep Visconti at bay behind.
That was too big a mouthful in spite of the Swede having a gap of more than 50 seconds when the sprint began. Still a third is by far his best result ever so he should be happy about that.
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 25-01-2014 10:45
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A very nice podium finish
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| VoetsT |
Posted on 25-01-2014 11:15
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Good podium finish
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 25-01-2014 13:37
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Both: It was, but also a bot lucky that the peloton decided to give him almost a minutes advantage so close to finish
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 25-01-2014 14:51
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A very nice 3rd. Great job!
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George Preidler
Miguel Rubiano
