14 riders representing as many different teams form the early break after a plentitude of attacks early on.
They are: Urtasun, Vaitkus, Smukulis, Vanmarcke, Fenn, Erviti, Mezgec, Dockx, Kakhi, Owsian, Mashaba, Boivin, Tewelde and Shaqif.
Apart from Shaqif and Owsian everyonne ships in ahead and with 100 km to go they have a gap of 4'09
80 km and 4'55
70 km and 4'24
60 km and 3'42
50 km and 2'56
De la Cruz leads the peloton over Arboleda without any drama.
40 km and 2'32
30 km and 1'52
Purito opens the attacking from the peloton with as much as 27 km to go. Antón follows.
Moments later Daniel Martin tries to bridge the gap, but gets stuck between the peloton and Rodríguez-Antón.
Vanmarcke manages to drop the other breakers on the small hills before the final climb, but things are really heating up behind now with a big group of top riders breaking away from the peloton.
De las Campos leads the charge behind with the rest of the group composed of Brajkovic, Spilak, De Clerq, Kangert, Majka, Owniak, Intxausti, Kwiatkowski, Kim, I.Izagirre, Nokkvason, Niemiec and Mikel Nieve.
With just the final ascent remaining this is the situation:
Majka is first to attack from the chasing group and is immediately followed by Ion Izagirre and Kangert.
They manage to bridge the gap to the front where Purito is trying to tire out the others with a massive pull not leaving the front or slowing down for a second.
It has the effect he wanted and with 5 km to go he is alone in front:
Intxausti and Kwiatkowski bridges the gap to Martin and Kangert with 2,5 km to go wihle Spilak is trying to copy that feat.
It's tiny gaps all over the place.
Going into the final km again only Rodríguez has a real gap.
He takes a deserved win at the summit.
Of the remaining no one has the legs to put in a real accelleration so they pretty much crosses the line in the same order as they went under the red flame.
Many had hoped to see something of Gorka Nieve on this route, but the Euskadian national team continue riding a very invisible EHST.
The Sagastín award also goes to Rodríguez for his insisting attack the entire 27 km never leaving the front or even looking at his changing companions.
Race Results
Individual
1
Joaquím Rodríguez
Catalunya
3h59'18
2
Michał Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 25
3
Simon Spilak
Katusha Team
s.t.
4
Daniel Martin
Ireland
s.t.
5
Po-ding Kim
Asia
+ 36
6
Beñat Intxausti
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
s.t.
7
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
s.t.
8
Tanel Kangert
Baltic Way
s.t.
9
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Poland
+ 56
10
Rafal Majka
Poland
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Bart De Clercq
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
12
Mikel Nieve
Euskaltel - Navarre
s.t.
13
Ion Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
s.t.
14
Damian Owniak
Poland
s.t.
15
Cristiano De las Campos
Euskaltel - Navarre
s.t.
16
Janez Brajkovič
Slovenia
+ 2'10
17
Johann Nokkvason
Scotland-Iceland
s.t.
18
Rajesh Kakhi
Asia
+ 7'15
19
Pablo Urtasun
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
20
Tomas Vaitkus
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 7'29
21
Sep Vanmarcke
Vlaanderen
s.t.
22
Gatis Smukulis
Katusha Team
s.t.
23
Jani Tewelde
Eritrea
s.t.
24
Husani Mashaba
MTN South Africa
+ 7'40
25
Andrew Fenn
Scotland-Iceland
s.t.
26
Łukasz Owsian
CCC Polsat - Polkowice
+ 8'01
27
Imanol Erviti
Euskaltel - Navarre
+ 8'38
28
Luka Mezgec
Slovenia
s.t.
29
Gert Dockx
Lotto Belisol
+ 8'53
30
Marouane Shaqif
Team Africa
+ 9'00
31
Guillaume Boivin
Quebec
+ 9'09
32
Nicolas Roche
Ireland
+ 10'07
33
Thomas De Gendt
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 10'26
34
Merhawi Kudus
Eritrea
+ 10'43
35
Jan Bakelants
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
36
Gorka Verdugo
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
37
Mikel Landa
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
s.t.
38
Haimar Zubeldia
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
s.t.
39
Sylwester Szmyd
CCC Polsat - Polkowice
s.t.
40
Gorka Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
s.t.
41
David López
Euskadi
s.t.
42
Rein Taaramäe
Baltic Way
+ 10'56
43
Philip Deignan
Ireland
s.t.
44
Tomasz Marczynski
Poland
s.t.
45
Jonathan Castroviejo
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
s.t.
46
Alberto Losada
Catalunya
s.t.
47
Firmansyah Sinaga
Asia
s.t.
48
Jan Polanc
Slovenia
s.t.
49
Natnael Berhane
Eritrea
s.t.
50
Xabier Zandio
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
51
Juan José Oroz
Euskadi
s.t.
52
Gorka Nieve
Euskadi
s.t.
53
Amets Txurruka
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
s.t.
54
Tsgabu Grmay
Team Africa
+ 11'34
55
David De la Cruz
Catalunya
s.t.
56
Juan Manuel Gárate
Euskadi
s.t.
57
Daryl Impey
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
58
Romain Sicard
Euskaltel - Navarre
s.t.
59
Jacques Janse Van Rensburg
MTN South Africa
s.t.
60
Dennis Van Niekerk
MTN South Africa
s.t.
61
Jorge Azanza
Euskaltel - Navarre
s.t.
62
Ricardo García
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
s.t.
63
Muhamad Othman
Asia
s.t.
64
Yannick Eijssen
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 12'00
65
John-Lee Augustyn
MTN South Africa
+ 12'29
66
Juan Antonio Flecha
Catalunya
s.t.
67
Ramunas Navardauskas
Baltic Way
s.t.
68
Hugo Houle
Quebec
s.t.
69
Michal Golas
CCC Polsat - Polkowice
s.t.
70
Arkaitz Durán
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
s.t.
71
François Parisien
Quebec
s.t.
72
Iker Camaño
Euskadi
s.t.
73
Pello Bilbao
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
s.t.
74
Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg
MTN South Africa
s.t.
75
Kristjan Koren
Slovenia
s.t.
76
Marek Rutkiewicz
CCC Polsat - Polkowice
s.t.
77
Garikoitz Bravo
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
s.t.
78
Pieter Serry
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
79
Songezo Jim
Team Africa
s.t.
80
Meron Russom
Eritrea
s.t.
81
David Millar
Scotland-Iceland
s.t.
82
Miguel Mínguez
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
s.t.
83
Egoi Martínez
Euskaltel - Navarre
+ 13'08
84
Rudy Verboven
Vlaanderen
+ 13'15
85
Mikel Astarloza
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
s.t.
86
Tim Wellens
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
87
Louis Meintjes
MTN South Africa
s.t.
88
Matej Mohorič
Slovenia
s.t.
89
Jacobus Venter
MTN South Africa
s.t.
90
Iván Velasco
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
s.t.
91
Haritz Orbe
Euskaltel - Navarre
+ 13'48
92
Daniel Teklehaimanot
Eritrea
s.t.
93
Xavier Florencio
Catalunya
s.t.
94
Egoitz García
Euskaltel Sprinters
s.t.
95
Freqalsi Debesay
Eritrea
s.t.
96
Bartosz Huzarski
Poland
+ 14'06
97
Adrián Sáez de Arregi
Euskadi
+ 14'24
98
Adrien Niyonshuti
Team Africa
s.t.
99
Tiesj Benoot
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
100
Omar Fraile
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
101
David Veilleux
Quebec
s.t.
102
Maciej Paterski
CCC Polsat - Polkowice
s.t.
103
Ben Hermans
Vlaanderen
s.t.
104
Amir Rusli
Asia
s.t.
105
Jasper Stuyven
Vlaanderen
+ 14'57
106
Sam Bennett
Ireland
s.t.
107
Julien Vermote
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
108
Ignatas Konovalovas
Baltic Way
s.t.
109
Yonas Tekeste
Eritrea
s.t.
110
Evaldas Siskevicius
Baltic Way
s.t.
111
Jens Keukeleire
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
112
Markel Irizar
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
s.t.
113
Koldo Fernández
Euskaltel Sprinters
s.t.
114
Borut Božic
Slovenia
s.t.
115
Grega Bole
Katusha Team
s.t.
117
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel Sprinters
s.t.
118
Javier Francisco Aramendia
Euskadi
s.t.
119
David Lozano
Catalunya
s.t.
120
Tosh Van der Sande
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
121
Klaas Lodewyck
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
122
Stephen Clancy
Ireland
s.t.
123
Gediminas Bagdonas
Baltic Way
s.t.
124
Marko Kump
Katusha Team
s.t.
125
Youcef Reguigui
Team Africa
+ 16'17
126
Jan Ghyselinck
Vlaanderen
s.t.
127
Dennis Vanendert
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
128
Enrique Sanz
Euskaltel Sprinters
s.t.
129
Jarosław Marycz
CCC Polsat - Polkowice
s.t.
130
Aleksejs Saramotins
Baltic Way
s.t.
131
Maciej Bodnar
Poland
s.t.
132
Dominique Rollin
Quebec
s.t.
133
Gregor Gazvoda
Katusha Team
s.t.
134
Tom O'Callaghan
Ireland
s.t.
135
Blaz Jarc
Slovenia
s.t.
136
Kris Boeckmans
Vlaanderen
s.t.
137
Jens Debusschere
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
138
Robert Hunter
MTN South Africa
s.t.
139
Abasi Abundi
Team Africa
s.t.
140
Mart Ojavee
Baltic Way
s.t.
143
Tarik Chaoufi
Team Africa
s.t.
144
Jack Pullar
Scotland-Iceland
s.t.
145
Sander Cordeel
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
146
Bartlomiej Matysiak
CCC Polsat - Polkowice
s.t.
147
Frederique Robert
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
148
Lue Khamse Khamphan
Asia
s.t.
149
Jon Aberasturi
Euskaltel Sprinters
s.t.
150
Louis Verhelst
Vlaanderen
s.t.
151
Aidis Kruopis
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
153
Stig Broeckx
Vlaanderen
s.t.
154
Aldo Ino Ilesic
Slovenia
s.t.
155
Mateusz Nowak
CCC Polsat - Polkowice
s.t.
156
Kristjan Palmarsson
Scotland-Iceland
s.t.
157
Matthew Brammeier
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
158
Piotr Gawroński
Poland
s.t.
159
Bradley Potgieter
Team Africa
s.t.
160
Adrian Honkisz
Poland
s.t.
161
Martyn Irvine
Ireland
+ 19'49
Team Results
1
Poland
12h00'42
2
Euskaltel - Navarre
+ 7'42
3
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
+ 9'07
4
Asia
+ 15'59
5
Ireland
+ 18'40
Spoiler
6
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 18'46
7
Slovenia
+ 18'56
8
Scotland-Iceland
+ 19'31
9
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
+ 19'34
10
Catalunya
+ 19'42
11
Katusha Team
+ 20'03
12
Lotto Belisol
+ 20'16
13
Baltic Way
+ 21'13
14
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
+ 26'06
15
Eritrea
+ 26'20
16
MTN South Africa
+ 28'00
17
CCC Polsat - Polkowice
+ 28'25
18
Euskadi
+ 29'47
19
Team Africa
+ 30'15
20
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 31'12
21
Quebec
+ 31'19
22
Vlaanderen
+ 32'20
23
Euskaltel Sprinters
+ 41'19
Current EHST Standings
Place
Name
Team
Total
1
Joaquím Rodríguez
Catalunya
79
2
Michał Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
68
3
Ion Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
57
4
Simon Spilak
Katusha Team
54
5
Daniel Martin
Ireland
51
6
Beñat Intxausti
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
43
7
Po-ding Kim
Asia
43
8
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
40
9
Tanel Kangert
Baltic Way
40
10
Rafal Majka
Poland
32
Spoiler
11
Rudy Verboven
Vlaanderen
32
12
Nicolas Roche
Ireland
22
13
Bart De Clercq
Lotto Belisol
21
14
Rajesh Kakhi
Asia
21
15
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Poland
17
16
Damian Owniak
Poland
17
17
Jan Bakelants
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
15
18
Mikel Nieve
Euskaltel - Navarre
14
19
Cristiano De las Campos
Euskaltel - Navarre
8
20
Rein Taaramäe
Baltic Way
6
21
Janez Brajkovič
Slovenia
5
22
Koldo Fernández
Euskaltel Sprinters
5
23
Johann Nokkvason
Scotland-Iceland
4
24
Thomas De Gendt
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
4
25
David Veilleux
Quebec
3
26
Pablo Urtasun
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
2
27
Andrew Fenn
Scotland-Iceland
2
28
Tomas Vaitkus
Orica - GreenEdge
1
29
Juan Antonio Flecha
Catalunya
1
30
Mikel Landa
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
1
Place
Team
Total
1
Euskaltel - Euskadi Old
80
2
Poland
75
3
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
60
4
Asia
52
5
Euskaltel - Euskadi Young
46
Spoiler
6
Euskaltel - Navarre
44
7
Catalunya
40
8
Ireland
39
9
Astana Pro Team
31
10
Vlaanderen
30
11
Baltic Way
29
12
Katusha Team
28
13
Lotto Belisol
23
14
Scotland-Iceland
22
15
CCC Polsat - Polkowice
18
16
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
17
17
Slovenia
16
18
Euskadi
14
19
MTN South Africa
12
20
Quebec
8
21
Eritrea
6
22
Team Africa
2
23
Orica - GreenEdge
1
24
Euskaltel Sprinters
0
The next race in the series will take place in Vlaanderen, where the riders will have to tacke a cobbled route.
After Ion finishing on the podium here last year thanks to a surprisingly good sprint on stage one and some massive work by Cristiano on stage 3 we come here with hiogh hopes.
This year Cristiano won't have to worry about working for anyone else as he is the undisputed leader of the team.
On stage one though we hoped for a good results from Enrique Sanz and he placed himself perfectly heading into the sprint.
Sadly he got blocked by the riders at the front of the train as they fell back thus robbing him for a good result.
We hadn't brought anyone for the time trial and didn't get detailed results either.
We finished off with the big mountain stage where we quite frankly blew it big time.
Around halfway through the stage Txurruka attacked from the peloton along with some others. He never made it to teh frotn and for some reason none of the really big names and teasm could be bothered chasing.
Except Belkin that is.
I really can't say exactly what went wrong, but I extend my appologies to all of our fans after this horrific effort.
Back to Australia it is. The Tour Down UNder wasn't a great success for me, so I hope to do better in the Continental Championships. With a relatively flat course and JJ Lobato traded out, I'm expecting the team will look at me again. It's not my favourite course though, I prefer something hillier. My expectations are that most of the sprinters will still be there in the last kilometre, and they are going to be a bit too fast for me. As most of the team would prefer a heavier course, a breakaway might be the best option, but I'll be ready for that sprint anyway.
In many ways this is a highlight of the early season for us. It's on home soil and Antón won it last year in a close sprint.
This year he is back, but Ion is our designated leader.
Ion missed it when Valverde made the first move among the favourites, but he managed to bridge the gap without much trouble. Too bad he pulled Nerz and Slagter along with him.
Ion did well to stay awake covering the attacks from Valverde in the finale.
In the end he probably used a bit too much energy as Nerz managed to overtake him right on the line denying Ion his rightful place on the podium.
Great racing but disappointing result…
At least Igor just managed to squeeze into the top 20.
The EHST challenges the riders in all terrains and now it's time for the least favourite terrain for Basques as Vlaanderen hosts a cobbled race on the route of De Ronde van Vlaanderen Espoirs.
The route provides enough cobbles for the specialistas to get a huge advantage, but also with enough regular tarmac and non-cobbled hills in the finale for other riders to find a moment that suits them.
Vanmarcke and Khampan are the obvious favourites for the win, but it will also be interesting to see which of the top riders from the rankings will score and who will not.
Kwiatkowski and Ion Izagirre seems they might have a small advantage over e.g. Rodríguez, who will probably have to assist Flecha a bit today, but with the right tactics anything can happen.
With the main part of the peloton knowing that they have no chances on the cobbles we have quite a lot of riders aiming for the break instead.
Even some rather big names hoping to limit their losses.
In the end 12 riders form the break of the day, They are: Berhane, De las Campos, R.García, Majka, Martin, Paterski, Nokkvason, Jarc, Durán, Meintjes, Taaramäe and Kakhi.
Kahki is just sitting along to help Khamphan later on.
With 150 km to go they have a gap of 6'40
140 km an 6'56
It's no big surprise to see Team Vlaanderen leading the peloton over the first cobbled sections.
130 km and 5'40
The work put in by Vlaanderen causes the first gap in the peloton dropping 57 riders. Main names lost behind are Intxausti, The Nieve cousins, Bennett and Gárate.
120 km and 5'21. The peloton is back together
110 km and 5'44
Kwiatkowski on the ground!
His team helps him back in but the question is how badly he hurt himself in the fall.
100 km and 5'16
90 km to go. The break has 3'12 to Lodewyck and Spilak, who have broken away and created a 1'44 gap to the peloton.
With 75 km to go all the breakers are united with 4'06 to the peloton.
60 km and 3'42
As the cobbled sections starts getting frequent Vlaanderen doesn't leave the front of the peloton for even a moment causing the peloton to be spread over a long distance, which on these narrow roads involves high risks of cracks appearing.
Things are really chaotic and with 50 km to go this is the situation:
Florencio puts in a massive pull and gets his group back in contact with Groupe Vlaanderen.
With 38 km to go for the front they have 2'30 to the peloton.
Lodewyck and Spilak does the most of the work but De las Campos impresses by hanging on for this long
35 km and no more cobbles to go. The riders are spread all over the place in small groups with Ion Izagirre just hanging on the teh first big group ahead of top ranked Kwiatkowski, who must have hurt himself on the crash.
Rankings leader Rodríguez sits in the 25-rider peloton 4'45 behind the lead duo.
These are the gaps:
Spilak drops Lodewyck by setting a hard pace while Vanmarcke, Khamphan and Bozic are putting in a lot of hard turns trying to catch up while also keeping Flecha/Florencio behind.
Izagirre attacks from his group behind as even duos fail to hang on to each other ahead. Verboven tries to follow, but have used a lot of energy preparing Vanmarckes attack.
15 km to go for Spilak:
Vanmarcke and Khamphan are clearly the riders with the most left in the tank after the cobbles and with 10 km to go it's almost over for Spilak.
The next 8 riders are spread over 7 groups…
Vanmarcke continues his impressive attack - now alone.
Vanmarcke gives the home fans what they came for.
Spilak has nothing left to put in a sprint for 2nd.
Bozic just manages to keep Lodewyck at bay in the sprint.
Paterski takes 6th as the best finisher of the early break.
He couldn't follow Izagirres attack, but seeing the home audience gives Verboven the energy needed to win the sprint for 10th by a good margin.
Being raced in our neighbouring region of Catalunya, who have had similar struggles as ours with the Spanish oppressors over the time this is a very important race for us.
On top of that Samuel Sánchez got us a surprising podium last year. This time around its up to Intxausti and Nieve.
The first stage went by without drama for us. Good to see Lobato get a good result for himself while helping Calzone bag a win though.
The following day was a bit more hilly but came down to some sort of bunch sprint nonetheless.
Beñat decided to test his legs and came just short of the podium. A brilliant result from him that gives promise of further great things to come.
For stage 3 we had the first uphill finish deemed to bring more answers.
With Intxausti and Nieve as dual leaders we had good tractical options and Nieve was the first to attack along with a bunch of other big names like Valverde, Nibali and Rodríguez.
They got caught by some more riders from the back and then it was Intxausti's turn to attack. In the finale things got back together a bit more but Beñat proved that he is where he needs to be by finishing in the same time as most of the big names.
On the hard stage 4 we sent Landa in the break, but nothign really came of it and in stead we found ourselves riding a very defensive finale costing us a lot in terms of the GC.
The following day was much easier no paper, but also a lot more tricky. Beñat once again rode a very anonymous satge, but managed to climb a sport to 11th in the GC, while the break took the stage win.
The completely flat penultimalte stage saw us just as anonymous as expected. Disappointing since only one rider was in the break and he ended up taking the stage win as well…
On the final stage we were back in some lumpy terrain. Xavier finally made his way into the break in his home race. Good to see even though he didn't have much left when they reached the finish line.
A good top 5 for him, but even more importantly Intxausti stayed awake and managed to climb another spot in the GC saving us from a complete disaster.
It has been a while since I updated you on my season progress. After a great Tour of Oman, things have not gone quite my way.
I seem to be having some sort of problem with Italian roads. No matter what race I ride there, it always goes badly. This time I couldn't follow the big guys in the Tirreno - Adriatico. It was quite disappointing, knowing that the Giro d'Italia is coming up soon. The team started really well in the team time trial, but I did not have the legs to get a result in the two mountain stages.
The next race was on the beautiful island of Corsica. After last year, I felt confident that I could get a great result in the Criterium International. After staying in the peloton on stage 1 and riding a decent time-trial, it all went downhill on stage 3. It all went really well until the Col de Bacinu. Just before Txurruka went on the attack and I was hoping that he could be of use on the final ascent. However, on the Col de Bacinu the peloton split in two, and I found myself behind. This should not have been a problem as there was enough time to get back, but for some reason everyone sat up in our group. Not even our team director knew what was going on. In the end I finished almost 14 minutes behind the winner.
I am now working hard to get ready for the Giro d'Italia and hopefully I will have some better luck than last year. Otherwise it is going to be a very long season.
The final race of this season part for us featured another set of cobbles with Rudy being on home soil.
50 km from the finish he tried to get rid of some of the competition but ultimately didn't manage to make the difference.
In the end a solid top 10 in the final sprint makes it an approved race without impressing. Perhaps due to Xavier Florencio being busy in his home race leaving Rudy without his usual main supporter.
April was in general a long line of disappointments. Sure a podium and a top 10 in De Panne was solid - and quite a lot better than last year, but with a TT to ruin the GC the points yield still didn't quite measure up to the four days used there.
Crit. International stands as the 2nd worst race under our management, after last years TdF, while Indorain was disappointing with Ion just missing out on a home podium for us.
Catalunya started solid, got really bad but then Beñat found his legs and fought his way back in to a decent overall finish leaving it as an approved race points-wise though with quite a few beautyspots.
Dwars door Vlaanderen was marked as a measurement for how dedicated we should be in our attempt to get Rudy into Brabantse Pijl. An 8th place wasn't bad but not enough to make us push on either.
On mark but not much more than that…
2014
2013
Driedaagse De Panne - Koksijde
17
5
Criterium International
0
134
Gran Premio Miguel Indurain
32
120
Volta a Catalunya
84
210
Dwars Door Vlaanderen
45
0
All in all a month much under par, but thanks to a good start to the season we still have scored more points pr race day than last year in general.
Rider of the Month
A hard decision this month due to the many sub-level performances. In the end one rider fought hard to come back in his debut/comeback race for us so the award goes to:
Beñat Intxausti
Attacker of the Month
As in all other aspects we were in general less active in breaks than we should have been.
Participating in half of our breakaways (2/4) this month gives the award to:
Xavier Florencio
Monthly Rankings
Name
Days
Pts
Pts/Day
Izagirre, Ion
1
24
24,00
Verboven, Rudy
5
62
12,40
Intxausti, Beñat
7
76
10,86
Antón, Igor
8
8
1,00
Florencio, Xavier
11
8
0,73
Spoiler
Bilbao, Pello
11
0
0,00
Landa, Mikel
8
0
0,00
Bravo, Garikoitz
7
0
0,00
Nieve, Mikel
7
0
0,00
Orbe, Haritz
7
0
0,00
Velasco, Ivan
7
0
0,00
Aberasturi, Jon
5
0
0,00
Fernandez, Koldo
5
0
0,00
García, Egoitz
5
0
0,00
Irizar, Markel
5
0
0,00
Txurruka, Amets
4
0
0,00
Azanza, Jorge
3
0
0,00
de las Campos, Cristiano
3
0
0,00
Sanz, Enrique
3
0
0,00
Sicard, Romain
3
0
0,00
Durán, Arkaitz
1
0
0,00
Erviti, Imanoel
1
0
0,00
García, Ricardo
1
0
0,00
Izagirre, Gorka
1
0
0,00
Mínguez, Miguel
1
0
0,00
Pérez, Ruben
1
0
0,00
Something Basque
With this being the time where our least favourite roadraces culminate let's have a look at the 2013 Basque Championships of another disciplin where Euskadi doesn't have a strong tradition: Cyclocross.
The mid season is in many ways the highlight of our season with our home stage race and this year even Klasika Primavera.
At the same time we have our least favourite races on the calendar in Vlaanderen and Roubaix. If any of our riders do anything else than crashing in those we will be happy.
We have also entered quite a few small stage races where we have high hopes for good results.
Other than that we have our eyes set on the Giro where we hope to do a better GC than last year even though it would be brilliant to repeat our achievement of only missing one break in the last two weeks if our leader should get hit by bad luck one again.
The next race in EHST will favor the fast men, though the small hill at the finish line will make it slightly more complicated than as such.
The race will be on a curcuit around Getxo:
This will be the first time we get to see some of these riders after progressing through training.
There will unfortunately be a big change to the startlist as the rules dictate that only riders with active managers will get to race unless they are needed to fill a national team. Sadly that means that current shared 3rd in the rankings Kwiatkowski and his teammates at Omega-Pharma won't be allowed to start until they get a new manager.
Also we have been made aware that Juan Pablo Asquez has a Basque heritage as well so he will be joining his teammates at Caja Rural from now on.
As usual in these races we fairly quickly get a pretty big group that gets away. Today the 10 fortune-sekers are:
Deignan, Teklehaimanot, Reguigui, Verdugo, Camaño, De la Cruz, Txurruka, Dockx, García and Smukulis.
With 100 km to go the break only has a gap of 3'58 after having had just over 5 minutes a short while.
90 km and 3'31
80 km and 3'01
70 km and 2'43
50 km and 2'03
Asia/Sinaga and Vlaanderen are the ones doing most of the work in the peloton.
With 40 km to go and 1'13 to the break Konovalovas decides to attack. His can't quite bridge the gap though.
With just under two curcuits left Verdugo, De la Cruz, Deignan and Camaño decides that it's time to move if they are to do anything.
The gap is quickly closed from behind though.
The breakers take turns attacking and that pushes the speed up enough for them to hold on to a gap of 1'30 with 20 km to go.
Verdugo and Dockx seem to break with 15 km left after both having been very active.
The final time over the small hill at the finale sees Txurruka and Reguigui getting a small gap.
With 10 km to go these are the gaps:
With 5,5 km Flecha have joined the two in front while the peloton have caught the other breakers but remain trailing by 44 seconds.
Flecha uses mis massive engine to just go straight past the other two entering the final 3 km alone.
Orica puts together a great train but with only 2 km to go Flecha looks hard to catch with about 40 seconds gap.
A massive sprint from Impey sees him entering the final km with quite a gap.
The hill might be small but it has it's effect and Verboven catches up with the South African with 500 m to go.