sutty: Really hope so, really had to sign with those U23-results

Jakstar: It is, but we knew they would be in the risk of abandoning on such a tough route as this one, but we just don't have enough half-decent climbers for three GT's a year. At this time Orica - GreenEdge only has two riders left, so it isn't that bad
In total there's 122 riders left out of 198, so five is about average

Last year Michael Færk Christensen won this race for Falcon – STARK. Since he is still in Italy he will not repeat that, but none the less the Falcons seem very motivated to do well after the disappointment in Glava Tour of Norway.

Stage 1
We'll start the race with an almost completely flat stage.
Falcon – STARK is known for not missing a decent chance for a breakaway and today is no exception. Havard Nybö is off along with 12 other riders but NSP is keeping them close throughout the day.

When the break crosses the first hill of the day they have just over 2 minutes to the peloton and CCC Polsat – Polkowice has gone to the front of the peloton helping NSP wheel the break back in.

On the biggest hill of the day Falcon – STARK decide to spice things up a bit setting a hard pace. Leaving a front group of 38 rider almost two minutes in front of the others at the top. Cort will be wearing the mountain jersey tomorrow. Still 96 km to go though and with 80 km to go the peloton has been reunited leaving only 11 riders behind.

The rest of the stage sees a lot of smaller breakaway attempts, but none manage to get more than a minutes advantage.
With 10 km to go Falcon – STARK take over in the front of the peloton. Jebjerg is not on shape to win, so what are they up to? Haavardsholm try attacking early, but Saxo-Tinkoff go to the front pushing up the speed, so the break is impossible. Bäckstedt looks annoyed but jumps from Haavardsholms wheel to the Saxo-Tinkoff train.

Results:
1. Lucas Sebastian Haedo, Saxo-Tinkoff
2. Magnus Bäckstedt, Falcon - STARK
3. Dominik Roels, NSP - Ghost





Stage 2
Another mainly flat stage.
A lot of riders tried getting in a break, but NSP drove a hard bargain today not letting anyone go until 50 km in on the stage when Juul-Jensen get away with Kaspar Larsen (Concordia) later to be joined by Golcer (Adria Mobil). With 70 km to go the group has just under 7 minutes to the peloton, but the gap is getting smaller.

Larsen can’t keep up with the two others on the hills and with the second KOM passed Juul-Jensen is in the mountain jersey and the front duo has just over 4 minutes to the peloton.
30 km and three minutes. Could be close…
With 18 km to go Golcer sprints for the intermediate. Juul-Jensen let him have it but takes advantage of Golcers use of energy to counterattack right after the sprint. Christopher manage to build and maintain a small gap and with 11 km to go he has a minute to Golcer and about two minutes to the peloton.

What a splendid solo victory!

Results:
1. Christopher Juul-Jensen, Falcon - STARK
2. Jesper Mørkøv, Blue Water Cycling
3. Lucas Sebastian Haedo, Saxo-Tinkoff

Provisional Standing:

Great 2nd place and WIN. Great tour so far

The team have got off to a flyer in Germany with a win and a second place, lets hope it keeps getting better

Wow, brilliant riding
Apparently this is a race that suits the team well!

Yeah. The team has really gone of to a flying start in Germany. If they had only shown this form in Norway

Stage 17

Yet another killer stage all about survival for everyone but the strongest climbers. With 270 km and 5 hard climbs we might even see the peloton go under 100 riders after today.
Fiver riders attack already on the first small climb. It will be nearly impossible for them to last all day, but Talansky is on the hunt for the mountain jersey.

The early attacking have its effect immediately. 20 km in to the race the break has 4’30’’ to the favourites group, but the peloton is already split into several groups. The first one with only 21 riders counting all five remaining Falcons, Löfkvist and most of Euskaltel-Euskadi, but none of the other main GC-riders. Scarponi and Quintana are in the second group, who catch Groupe Antón on the descent but the other seven top-10 riders are all in the peloton 2’30’’ behind. They also catch up with the front on the descent, but had to put in a lot of work this early on the stage.

Halfway through the stage Talansky wins his fourth KOM-sprint of the day putting him in lead of the competition, but he seems to have used a lot of energy already. He has more than 19 minutes to the peloton.
The following two climbs are won by José Serpa, who now forms a front duo with John Gadret 2’30’’ in front of Talansky and more than half an hour in front of the peloton, who seems content in letting the break tage the stage win today.
On the final climb, Passo San Marco, the Colombian finds his limits losing more than 10 minuts to Gadret in the climb and getting passed by Henao coming up from behind and crossing the summit in solitude as the first rider.

In the peloton Euskaltel is keeping everything together without pushing it too much still 56 riders left at the top of Passo San Marco.
When Henao crosses the finish line the peloton still has 27 km to go! Realizing that Hansen’s spot in top 20 is threatened by the breakers make Falcon – STARK goes to the front of the peloton helping to pull the last 15 km.

Results:
1. Sergio Henao, Sky
2. John Gadret, AG2R la Mondiale
3. Paolo Tiralongo, Astana
30. Jesper Hansen, Falcon – STARK



Stage 18 – TT
With 50 km of TT’ing this is probably the stage that both Anton and Hansen have feared the most.

First half-decent TT’er on the course is Burghardt, who is 3rd rider off the ramp, but it seems there is a reason he’s starting so early and when Ludvigsson is sent off as the first Falcon Vaugrenard is in the lead in front of Michael Mørkøv. On the first intermediate the Swede gets provisional third as he passes the rider in front of him. Is he having a fabulous day or did he start out too hard?

Same situation on the second intermediate, but he is starting to look tired and he is 17th in goal.
Behind Bak looks like he have distributed his energy much better, though his times in the intermediates are not as impressive. But races are won on the finish line and Bak gets provisional 3rd.

Same position as Bøchman got on the first intermediate time. Lasse is looking strong as he passes Favilli with 15 km to go. He is only 16th at the second intermediate but clocks an astonishing provisional 2nd after Spilak in goal.

By now Jesper Hansen has begun his chase for the top 20. The hilly course should be in his advantage, but he is up against some tough competition and already at the first intermediate he is caught by former Italian TT-champion Ascani. While Hansen is riding along in his own tempo making sure he has energy for the whole way Froome completely destroys all opposition setting best time on all intermediates and in goal.
Hansen is 40th in goal 3’28’’ behind Froome.

Antón is putting in a good effort by his standards though he can’t match Nibali, Urán and Scarponi. On the first intermediate he has only lost 40 seconds to his closest rival Scarponi. The Spaniard is still pink. On the second intermediate he has lost just over a minute. This is probably the best TT Igor has ever raced finishing 10th!

Results:
1. Michael Rogers, Orica - GreenEdge
2. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas - Cannondale
3. Michele Scarponi, Lampre - ISD
25. Lasse Bøchman, Falcon – STARK

Provisional standing:

20.	Sergio Henao	Sky Procycling	+43’07’’
23.	Jesper Hansen	Falcon – STARK	+46’33’’

Mountains: Andrew Talansky, Garmin – Sharp
Points: Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas – Cannondale
Young rider: Nairo Quintana, Movistar
Team: Lampre - ISD

Jesper still doing well in twenty third place

Jesper is a revelation in GT I don't know his age and if he has progression left but if he's quite young I see him riding top 15.

Sutty: 23rd is great for his first GT, but it looks like it will be hard to get back in that magic top 20.

Ian: He is only 22 years old and have some progression left, mainly in the mountains. When fully developed top 15 should be possible, perhaps even top 10 in a GT without much TT'ing. But I think it will be in the shorter tours he really will show himself in the future. The big dream right now would be him winning a GT-youth jersey at some point

Doing well. In the Giro and Bayern Rundfart. Keep it up

CAN YOU PLEASE POST THE TEAM STATS???

did the capitals to get your attention

Thanks.

And yes: They sure did

Stage 3
A mostly flat stage. We will probably see Falcon – STARK defending Juul-Jensens jersey most of the day.
Cort is covering the early breaks to make sure there would be no surprises and to seize the opportunity should he get away with a group of riders far behind in the GC.

But each and every break had Sebastian Lander in it, and with him being 2nd in the youth classification and 7th overall the team could not allow him to get away.

With 20 km to go the peloton starts preparing the seemingly inevitable bunch sprint.
Bäckstedt looks good as the sprint begins but is seriously lacking a decent lead-out today and can’t quite get back in the struggle on the last steep part of the sprint…

Results:
1. Rasmus Guldhammer, Christina Watches - Onfone
2. Lucas Sebastian Haedo, Saxo-Tinkoff
3. Jesús Del Nero, Christina Watches - Onfone
10. Magnus Bäckstedt, Falcon – STARK



Stage 4 - TT
This 26 km TT-stage is usually where the GC is decided. Among the favourites for the stage are Quaade, Boaro, Fuchs and Brink, but Juul-Jensen will be motivated to defend his leaders jersey.
When Søren Nissen is sent off as the first Falcon Boaro holds the best time with Quaade second in both intermediates and in goal.

That changes while Nissen is out on the route as Fothen clocks in the best time. Nissen is provisional 5th behind the German.
Brink ride to second best time in the first intermediate 5 seconds slower than Fuchs. Also second in the second intermediate time now 20 seconds behind. He loses a bit of power on the last couple of kilometers but manage to hold on to a provisional 2nd.

That is still the case when Bäckstedt and Juul-Jensen go out as the last two Falcons. On the first intermediate Juul-Jensen have lost 38 seconds of his 1’44’’ lead. On the second that is up to 1’17’’. Looks like it will be close in the GC-battle!
Bäckstedt is putting in a good effort almost catching Kaspar Larsen on the line as Juul-Jensen is giving it all he’s got only losing 2 seconds on the last part of the stage!

Results:
1. Sergej Fuchs, NSP - Ghost
2. Dominik Roels, NSP - Ghost
3. Jesús Del Nero, Christina Watches - Onfone
4. Morten Kruse Brink, Falcon – STARK
9. Magnus Bäckstedt, Falcon – STARK



Stage 5
The last 164 km of the day is pretty much as flat as they get. Today is all about securing the win for Falcon - STARK.
After about 50 km a 12-man break gets away. Cort is not only in there. He is the best placed rider in the break, so Falcon – STARK will not be chasing.

Back in the peloton NSP is working hard to secure the sprint.
With 12 km to go the break has 1’30’’ to the peloton and NSP has pretty much disappeared leaving Christina Watches – Onfone the only team willing to lead the peloton – and that only with one rider.
Cort is terrible in a sprint, so if the stage is to be decided from the break he has to make a move fairly soon.

He uses a small hill 8 km from goal to give it his best go. He gets a small gap but going in to the last three km it is only 14 seconds. That was not quite enough.

Results:
1. Tomasz Nose, Adria Mobil
2. Simon Clarke, Joker MErida
3. David Dvorsky, Whirlpool - Author
5. Magnus Cort, Falcon – STARK



Final Standing:


Mountain: Christopher Juul-Jensen, Falcon – STARK
Points: Lucas Sebastian Haedo, Saxo-Tinkoff
Young Rider: Christopher Juul-Jensen, Falcon – STARK
Team: Falcon - STARK

What a Magnificent win for Juul-Jensen

The Team were just awesome in Germany

Looking at those team stats: your team owns in hills

The stats are good. Nice job winning yellow.

Sutty: Thanks. They were great, but I think a large part of the success is due to what Ian noted on the stats. It's a solid bunch of riders, that can deal with small hils without to many problems. That way we could put pressure on the German CT-sprinters and make their teams disappear from the front before goal allowing the breaks to make it.
Edit: NSP was pulling all day on every RR-stage but was completely gone in the finish in spite of them having 3-star favourites for all four flat-ish stages...

Jakstar: Thanks. It is a solid bunch of riders, but we could use a few profiles more to make us able to compete in the real mountains and the Ardennes...

Stage 19

Another day for the climbers but with nearly 100 fairly flat km before they hit Colle San Carlo it is one of the least terrifying mountain stages of the race. It could be a good day to try something from a break, and depending on how the race develops Hansen should probably try to regain some of the lost time in the GC.
Bøchman tries to get in the early break but with strong climbers like Froome in the break the Dane wouldn’t stand a chance on the final mountain so he stops following the attacks and instead he helps making sure the break don’t get too far away as Hansen can’t afford to lose much time to some of the breakers.
With 32 km to go everyone in the peloton seems to be waiting for the climb to begin with about 10 km to go. But then Antón goes on the attack. He is reeled back in 10 km later, but Liquigas and Lampre had to use a lot of energy sooner than they had hoped and right at the foot of the mountain Igor Anton is off again. He is really showing the pink jersey beautifully.

Hansen is fighting with all he’s got, but the long race is starting to have an effect on the young Dane as Antón have build his lead to more than a minute with 3 km to the top. Going in to the descent Antón has 1’40’’ to Nibali, Pozzovivo and Scarponi.
Hansen has completely emptied himself on the climb, but does well to finish 24th placing him 21st in the GC.

Results:
1. Igor Antón, Euskaltel - Euskadi
2. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas - Cannondale
3. Domenico Pozzovivo, Colnago – CSF Inox
24. Jesper Hansen, Falcon – STARK





Stage 20

Time for the GC to be settled with 230 km of mountainous terrain. A battle for survival for most of the peloton and last chance to turn things around for the rest…
Knowing that they can’t afford to use much energy early on the stage Falcon – STARK is passively watching as a lot of riders try to get away even before the peloton hit the first climb of the day. Meanwhile Euskaltel and Liquigas make sure the breakers don’t get much of a gap.

At the top of the first climb Kelderman is in front with Hernández, Henao, Moreno, Failli and Gadret. A total of 8 riders in the GC top-25 havde decided to attack early. With a bit of luck some of them will break leaving an open opportunity for Jesper Hansen later on the stage. More or less same story on the second summit of the day.

Halfway through the stage on the top of Colle dell’Iseran the six riders in front have just under 2 minutes to the second group and about 10 minutes to the peloton and Jesús Hernández have fought his way back in to the mountain jersey.

With 70 km to and two major climbs to go Liquigas have sent Basso to the front to orchestrate a massacre slowly reeling in the breakers and shelling riders off the back of the peloton, which now count 47 riders and with only the front-six still out there.

First to fall behind in the break is Hernández, who used a lot of energy on the mountain sprints. A long way home for the tired Spaniard, but he should be happy knowing he is in the mountain jersey.

Jesper is not having the best of days, but seeing Ascani and Montaguti is suffering as well gets him to hang in there with the help of Jeppe Hartvig Nielsen, who is looking strong today. Still he is the first of the three to lose contact with the peloton. Looks like the dreams of top-20 will have to wait till next year.
Henao wins the second to last climb of the day with Nibali, Urán and Antón chasing him. 8 km to go and a nine-rider group in front.
4 km. Nibali goes on the attack. No one can follow him at first, and when Urán and Antón tries it is to late. Nibali ends the mountain campaign with a well-deserved solo win.
A lot of riders fell to the time-limit leaving only 104 riders in the peloton for the final stage.

Results:
1. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas - Cannondale
2. Igor Antón, Euskaltel - Euskadi
3. Domenico Pozzovivo, Colnago – CSF Inox
30. Jeppe Lykke Hartvig Nielsen, Falcon – STARK
31. Jesper Hansen, Falcon – STARK

The Danish riders are really showing well in Italy

Can't wait for the finish!