Movistar Starting List
Sam Bennett
Luis Leon Sanchez
Alex Dowsett
Ruben Fernandez
Jasha Sutterlin
Jesus Herrada
Antonio Puga
Isidro Pintassilgo
Following on from a good start to the season, Movistar return to the race where they took a rather unexpected win last year. Defending champion Luis Leon Sanchez was back to try to defend his title. However, the main contender for the team would be Sam Bennett with Antonio Puga and Jasha Sutterlin the primary helpers. Five of the six stages were mostly flats, so it would be an ideal playground for the sprinters.
Stage 1 - Flat with 2 major intermediate climbs
A very flat stage to start off with saw the teams of sprinters chase down the early breakaway with relative ease. Sam Bennett was the fastest off the blocks after a good leadout but was caught and overtaken by the hard charging Aidis Kroupis. Bennett eventually settled for 2nd with Sanchez getting 5th place.
Stage winner - Aidis Kroupis Movistar - Sam Bennett 2nd, Luis Leon Sanchez 5th
Stage 2 - Flat with 1 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
Pretty much a carbon copy of stage 1, the sprint finish saw Movistar old-boy Rojas take the win. Sam Bennett was tripped up in the leadout and finished well back in the pack. Sanchez managed another top 10 finish.
Stage winner - Jose Joaquin Rojas Movistar - Luis Leon Sanchez 7th
Stage 3 - Flat with 3 major intermediate climbs
Ruben Fernandez put himself into the break in search of the KOM points available on this stage. He managed to end the stage in second place in the KOM, with one more stage to try to pick up more. The stage was won in another bunch sprint with Rojas taking back-to-back stage wins.
Stage winner - Jose Joaquin Rojas Movistar - Sam Bennet 2nd, Luis Leon Sanchez 5th
Stage 4 - Flat with 2 major intermediate climbs
Ruben Fernandez once again put himself into the breakaway, and this came away with the lead in the KOM classification. With no more points on offer in the final two stages, he ensured the win in this jersey. The stage saw an all-too familiar winner with Rojas taking it again. Where was this form till last season!
Stage winner - Jose Joaquin Rojas Movistar - Sam Bennett
Stage 5 - Flat
A very short stage saw the early breakaway hold out till just a kilometre to go! This time, Rojas was unable to keep pace with the other sprinters and did not figure in the top 10. Caleb Ewan took victory and the lead in the Young Riders classification. Bennett got another top 5 finish.
Stage winner - Caleb Ewan Movistar - Sam Bennett 4th
Stage 6 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 10.1 km
The race would be settled in this short flat ITT. Movistar put their hopes on the better than decent TT abilities of Sanchez but it wasn't to be. He managed only 14th place, 25 seconds off the pace. Tobias Ludvigsson surprised the field with a winning run which pushed him up into second place in the GC. Ramanus Navardauskas with his 7th place finish, 18 seconds down on Ludvigsson did just enough to win the GC for Europcar. Rojas settled for 3rd place overall. There was some good news for Movistar as Isidro Pintassilgo pipped Caleb Ewan to the Young Riders jersey.
Stage winner - Tobias Ludvigsson Movistar - Jasha Sutterlin 13th, losing 25", Luis Leon Sanchez 14th, also losing 25" Other important results - Ramanus Navardauskas 7th, losing 18", J J Rojas 107th, losing 54"
Team Classification
1)MTN Qhubeka
2)Orica GreenEgde
3)Giant-Alpecin
This race was not a repeat of last season, and to tell you the truth we weren't expecting it to be. The team was disappointed with the fact that we could not convert the top 3 and top 5 finishes into a stage win. Overall, the team came away from this race with two jerseys. The performance of Pintassilgo is a positive sign for the future. The scouting has been good for us. We're off to Portugal and Andalucia net, the latter being a sponsor objective.
Colombia National Championship - Road Race
Having had a disappointing ITT, the Movistar riders in the Colombia team recovered well to help Nairo to a first victory in the NC. Having been protected up until the last undulations, he sped away from Janier Acevedo and Sergio Henao to take victory. It's always good to have a National Champion in the team
Tour du Haut Var
Movistar sent a strong climbing team to the Haut Var including the likes of Kreuziger, Valverde, Pello Bilbao and Gorkha Izagirre. Kreuziger started off well taking 2nd place on stage 1 behind Louis Meintjes. He, however could not follow this up and settled for 13th place on stage 2 and 5th in the GC. Pello Bilbao did well in his first outing for Movistar grabbing a top 10 finish and 6th place in the GC. A 1st place and a 3rd place on the two stages ensured overall victory for Meintjes. Rui Costa took 3rd with Clement Koretzky a surprise 2nd place finisher in the GC. Movistar claimed 1st place in the Team classification and Estaquio Sanchez took 2nd place in the Young Riders' classification.
Movistar Starting List
Mikel Landa
Benat Intxausti
Ion Izagirre
Sam Bennett
Jesus Herrada
Jasha Sutterlin
Isidro Pintassilgo
Perfecto Gastesi
Many of the big names had registered themselves to be a part of this race. Movistar sent Mikel Landa, backed up by a strong climbing team, to lead their charge against the likes of Chris Froome, Dan Martin, Carlos Betancur and Adam Yates. This race would be the first showdown between the big names from Sky, Tinkoff-Saxo and Movistar. The moderately long ITT on stage 4 favoured Froome but there were enough hills and mountains to keep the others interested.
The following is a summary of stages...
Stage 1 - Hilly with 1 minor intermediate climb
On a seemingly nonchalant stage, the peloton fell asleep and let the breakaway build up a lead of 17 minutes! They realised their error and started chasing but by that time it was clear that the only possible outcome of their efforts would be damage control. As it turned out, the breakaway won by almost 9 minutes, giving winner Laurens de Vrees an almost unassailable lead in the GC. Was this race already over on stage 1?
Stage winner - Laurens de Vrees from breakaway, 8'49" ahead of the peloton (favourites)
Stage 2 - Flat with 1 major and 1 minor intemediate climbs
A flat stage ensured status quo in the peloton as this time they kept their wits about them and pulled back the breakaway a long way before the finish. Nacer Bouhanni took the win.
Stage winner - Nacer Bouhanni
Stage 3 - Hilly with uphill finish, including 1 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
Another stage where the peloton allowed the early breakaway to stretch their legs for too long! This time the gap to the breakaway winner Ian Stannard was under 4 minutes, but it was looking less and likely that the pre-race favourites would manage to live up to their billing. de Vrees kept his lead at the top of the GC. Landa and Intxausti lost some time to Froome and Dan Martin.
Stage winner - Ian Stannard Movistar - Benat Intxausti 4'2" behind, Mikel Landa 4'25" behind Other important results - Dan Martin 7th, Chris Froome 8th, both 3'37" behind, Carlos Betancur 10th, 4'2" behind
Stage 4 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 34.7 km
If ever it was the time for the favourites to claw back time to the surprise leader de Vrees this where they'd do well to start. The ITT went according to script with Chris Froome winning it by a comfortable margin. He was able to shave off 2 minutes from de Vrees's lead but it still at over 6 minutes. Landa lost more time in his weak element.
Stage winner - Chris Froome Movistar - Benat Intxausti 4th, 1'21" behind, Jesus Herrada 8th, 1'37" behind Other important results - Andrey Amador 2nd, 1'18" behind, Andrew Talansky 5th, 1'28" behind, Zdenek Stybar 6th, 1'34" behind
Stage 5 - Mountain with mountain top finish, including 4 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
The showpiece stage turned the race on its head. (I had to simulate this stage because the game kept crashing ). Overnight leader Lauren de Vrees lost 21 minutes to stage winner Chris Froome and lost all hope of a high GC finish. Movistar riders Landa and Intxausti took the lower podium spots on the stage respectively and also climbed on to the podium in the GC with this result.
Stage winner - Chris Froome Movistar - Mikel Landa 2nd, 20" behind, Benat Intxausti 3rd, 49" behind Other important results - Carlos Betancur 4th, Andrew Talansky 5th, Dan Martin 6th, all 1'13" behind
Team Classification
1)Sky
2)Tinkoff-Saxo
3)Movistar
A topsy-turvy race eventually went to the favourites. The peloton was rather careless in its pursuits of the breakaway in the early stages causing some rather anxious riding from the teams of the leaders. Both Benat and Landa are showing some good early season form. The team are also doing its job well. It is important to keep this good momentum going through to the GTs. Another pleasing aspect is the consistent high finishes by the Young Riders in their classification. Its a sign that the scouting is working well for us. The second sponsor objective, Andalucia, is next.
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 23-12-2015 04:13
Movistar Starting
Leopold Konig
Mikel Nieve
J J Lobato
Alex Dowsett
Ruben Fernandez
Winner Anacona
Eduard Korniets
The team head into Andalucia hoping for a repeat of last season's success. Last year's winner Roman Kreuziger is absent from the start list this time with Leopold Konig given the responsibility of leading Movistar. Defending 2nd place man Mikel Nieve is back, however. The mostly hilly race will see competition mainly from Ilnur Zakarin, Warren Barguil and Simon Yates. One must say that the field is not the strongest, but it would give some of the secondary leaders a chance to shine.
The following is a summary of stages...
Stage 1 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 5.7 km
An extremely short time trial to start the race is not exactly the best indicator of things to come. As it turned out, Luke Durbridge took the win with Zakarin impressing early on to take 2nd place.
Stage winner - Luke Durbridge Movistar - Alex Dowsett 7th, losing 26", Leopold Konig 27th, losing 33" Other important results - Ilnur Zakarin 2nd, losing 8", Jan Barta 3rd, losing 18"
Stage 2 - Mountain with uphill finish, including 3 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
A tough mountain stage proved too hard for the early breakaway to sustain their pace and they eventually surrendered to the peloton. The peloton on their stayed together mainly till the climb to the finish, where Simon Yates placed a well timed attack to take the win. All the pre-race favourites finished in the top 10 without losing much time.
Stage winner - Simon Yates Movistar - Mikel Nieve 2nd, Leopold Konig 4th, both 8" behind Other important results - Warren Barguil 5th, Ilnur Zakarn 6th, Edoardo Zardini 7th, all 8" behind, John Darwin Atapuma 10th, 30" behind
Stage 3 - Hilly with uphill finish, including 2 minor intermediate climbs
A moderately difficult hilly stage saw the peloton keep the breakaway in check and pull them back before the finish. On a rather long ascent to the finish, Konig slowly but surely pulled away from the pack, and built up a big enough lead to take the GC lead. Nieve took 3rd place on the stage.
Stage winner - Leopold Konig, took the overall lead as well Movistar - Mikel Nieve 3rd, 46" behind, Movistar took the lead in the team classification Other important results - Simon Yates 4th, Ilnur Zakarin 6th, both losing 59", Edoardo Zardini 7th, 1'33" behind
Stage 4 - Hilly with flat finish, including 2 minor intermediate climbs
The peloton chased down the early breakaway after they had built up a big lead. Movistar got some help from the teams of the sprinters to pull them in with some distance to go from the finish. The stage ended in a bunch sprint with Jasper Stuyven proving too fast for the others. Lobato finished 3rd.
Stage 5 - Hilly with flat finish, including 1 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
The peloton allowed the breakaway to stay clear at the front as there was no real danger from any of the riders. Movistar controlled the pace in the second half of the race, not allowing any attacks from the other GC contenders. The leaders finished in the pack with no time gaps.
Young Riders Classification
1)Adriano Jorge Benedito (Sky)
2)Mathieu van der Poel (Philips)
3)Eduard Korniets (Movistar)
Team Classification
1)Movistar
2)Sky
3)Aeroflot
A change in leader for Movistar did not see any change in their fortunes. Leopold Konig took the win riding within himself. He has started the season well. The team won their classification again and there was another podium finish in the Young Riders' classification. Overall, things are looking good for Movistar as they start getting into the really challenging races. A week of classics coming next followed by two important WT races - Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 23-12-2015 04:14
Ripley wrote:
With such good results in the warm-up month I expect a lot from the upcoming WT races.
That's the hope . Also hoping for a good Nairo versus Froome showdown at the Giro. That should really be good. And with Froome aging, this might be one of last years when he's competitive. Last year, Nairo wasn't at the Giro and by the time both of them went to the TDF, Froome was tired.
Updates from a couple of weeks of One-day Races...
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
The Omloop was the first chance for Viviani to showcase his cobble skills for Movistar. He put in a decent performance, leaving the main pack behind past the cobbles and finished 4th.
Movistar Starting List
Roman Kreuziger
Luis Leon Sanchez
Ion Izagirre
Sam Bennett
Ruben Fernandez
Winner Anacona
Eduard Korniets
Antonio Puga
The first WT race in Europe saw a very challenging field. Movistar gave Roman Kreuziger leadership duties with Sam Bennett responsible for the sprinting lead. Luis Leon Sanchez and Ion Izagirre would be the support. The challenge to Movistar would come from the likes of Dan Martin, Michal Kwiatkowski, Rui Costa and Vicenzo Nibali, as well as the sprinters who could spring a surprise if they hung on for a couple of hard stages. This would be very interesting given that the course was a mixed bag, not particularyly suited for either the punchers or the climbers.
The following is a summary of stages...
Stage 1 - Flat
A sprinter's stage to start off with saw the peloton play to the script and ensure a bunch sprint. Alexander Kristoff held off a strong field to claim the win. Movistar ended up with a podium and another top 10.
Stage winner - Alexander Kristoff Movistar - Sam Bennet 3rd, Luis Leon Sanchez 9th
Stage 2 - Flat with 1 minor intermediate climb
Another stage saw the sprinters flex their collective muscle and power to a bunch sprint. Sacha Modolo took the honours this time with Bennet claiming another top 5 for Movistar.
Stage winner - Sacha Modolo Movistar - Sam Bennett 4th
Stage 3 - Flat with 1 minor intermediate climb
An almost 250 km stage 3 saw the peloton chase down a very long breakaway by the end of the stage. The incredibly fast pace set by the sprint trains split the pack by over a minute to leave the leaders playing catch-up over the next stages. Movistar had three riders - Bennett, Puga and Sanchez - who made the split. Another strong finish saw Kristoff take his second win of the race. Bennet continued his consistency.
Stage winner - Alexander Kristoff Movistar - Sam Bennet 5th
Stage 4 - Hilly with 1 major and 3 minor intermediate climbs
The first of five consecutive stage through the mountains saw Sergio Henao and Mathias Frank fall early on. Although Henao was able to back to the peloton, Frank's knock saw him lose almost four minutes to the leaders, effectively ending his chances. After the breakaway was caught, Francesco Bongiorno launched a well timed late attack to take the win, but without any time gaps. Bennett tied up another top 10 finish.
Stage winner - Francesco Bongiorno Movistar - Sam Bennett 7th Other important results - Mathias Frank lost 3'52"
Stage 5 - Hilly with 1 major and 3 minor intermediate climbs
Another hilly stage with a flat finish saw the sprinters still hold on to their lead at the top of the GC. Not much incident to report on this stage, as the peloton chased down the ever-ready breakaway and sprinted down to the finish line. Sacha Modolo took his second stage win to keep up the contest with Kristoff for the Green jersey. Mr. consistent Sam Bennett took another top 5 with Movistar claiming three top 10 positions.
Stage winner - Sacha Modolo Movistar - Sam Bennett 5th, Ion Izagirre 7th, Luis Leon Sanchez 9th
Stage 6 - Hilly with 2 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
The first stage which saw the cream rise to the top, with time gaps coming into play. The end of the stage played out like a one-day race as the punchers made hay. In what turned out to be a strongly tactical and interesting stage, Rui Costa took advantage of the favourable profile to attack his challengers and pull away to a stage win. Ion Izagirre put in a splendid ride to stand on the second step of the podium. Bennett was another surprise package, holding on to the front of the pack for yet another top 5 finish. This put him into second place on the podium provisionally. All the big names finished within a minute and a half of Costa.
Stage winner - Rui Costa Movistar - Ion Izagirre 2nd, 52" behind, Sam Bennet 5th, Roman Kreuziger 9th, both 1'25" behind Other important results - Vicenzo Nibali 3rd, Michal Kwiatkowski 7th, Dan Martin 8th, Mathias Frank 10th, 1'25" behind
The standings after stage 6...
Stage 7 - Mountain with undulating finish, including 3 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
The stage started on a a disappointing note for Movistar with both Bennett and Kreuziger falling on the second descent of the day. They spent all stage trying to get back in touch with the leaders, but could not do so. The long breakaway kept whittling down as the stage kept progressing with only Eduardo Sepulveda surviving till the last undulations. The cat and mouse game between the leaders allowed Sepulveda to stay just out of reach of the peloton and claim a hard earned win. Rui Costa, the leader going into this stage was left behind up the third and biggest climb of the day, and he lost a couple of minutes at the finish. The other contenders finished with the same time, 24 seconds down on Sepulveda.
Stage winner - Eduardo Sepulveda from breakaway Movistar - Luis Leon Sanchez 9th, Ion Izagirre 10th, both 24" behind, Ion took the lead in the GC Other important results - Dan Martin 3rd, Michal Kwiatkowski 4th, Fabio Felline 6th, Alexander Kristoff 7th, Vicenzo Nibali 8th, all 24" behind
The shake-up after stage 7, with new leader Ion Izagirre...
Stage 8 - Hilly with 5 major intermediate climbs
An incredibly strong early breakaway formed having the likes of Ilnur Zakarin, Fabio Aru and Andrey Amador. They were all well down in the GC, the best among them being 18 minutes. This ensured that the peloton were not overly concerned despite the repute of the riders out in front. The jockeying for advantage continued among the leaders, as Movistar put all their resources into protecting Ion. At the base of the last climb, Sanchez was the only one left protecting Ion as the leaders pushed for an advantage. Ion then attacked and joined a six man chase group which had Rui Costa in it. This group was caught by Vicenzo Nibali and Dan Martin. The latter followed an attack by Costa and built up a half minute lead over Ion. Ion followed the wheels of Nibali to the line, reducing the gap to 19 seconds at the finish. He kept his lead, and got the win! In the breakaway, Amador had the strongest legs and won the stage.
Stage winner - Andrey Amador from breakway Movistar - Ion Izagirre 13th, 3'18" behind Other important results - Dan Martin 11th, Rui Costa 12th, 2'49" behind, Michal Kwiatkowski 14th, Vicenzo Nibali 15th, 3'18" behind
An incredible win for Ion! A gritty and attritional ride gave him a well deserved win. This has to classify as one of the most topsy-turvy races in my management history, probably second only to the 2016 Vuelta a Espana. The disappointment of Bennett's loss on stage 7 was overcome with Ion's strong reply. This was followed by a concentrated team effort to keep Ion at the head of the pack. The sweet taste of victory and of a job well done still lingers. A good showing from Bennett too as he kept up his consistency until the time he fell. The only downside was perhaps Kreuziger's inability to challenge for the win, either on any stage or overall. That is something that will be looked at going ahead.
Without knowing Kreuziger's exact stats, but P-N probably isn't his favorite terrain, most variants are more suited to punchers than climbers. So I wouldn't worry that he didn't do well here. Especially with Izagirre jumping in to bag the victory.
and these early season races don't mean too much. 
). Overnight leader Lauren de Vrees lost 21 minutes to stage winner Chris Froome and lost all hope of a high GC finish. Movistar riders Landa and Intxausti took the lower podium spots on the stage respectively and also climbed on to the podium in the GC with this result.
